Search Results for: The Cab

In early 1984, when Epic Records executives presented their slate of upcoming releases at the convention in Hawaii of parent company CBS Records they couldn’t resist playing up the success they were experiencing. So between the pitches for new albums, Epic inserted stock footage of semi trucks and a voice-over that thunderously announced, “There goes another load of Michael Jackson’s Thriller albums!” Trucks weren’t really leaving the warehouse every few minutes, but Thriller was still shattering expectations more than a year after its November 30, 1982, release. Epic was selling more than 1 million copies per month in the United… Read more »

Vans Warped Tour kicks off its 15th year of rocking up summer in Pomona, Calif. on June 26, and this year Fearless Records has four acts heading out for two months of punk rock mayhem. The Maine continues a killer year with a headlining slot on The Hurley Stage, while both  A Skylit Drive and  Breathe Carolina will play the entire tour on the SmartPunk Stage.   Also joining them on select dates will be  Every Avenue, which is set to take Warped by storm for a second year from July 24 – August 23. The Fearless tent will be… Read more »

Last month the music industry and Apple, long uneasy partners, seemed a picture of harmony when they agreed on new terms for pricing on iTunes, Apple’s online music store. Behind the scenes, however, the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever. The announcement on Jan. 6 seemed to signal a rapprochement between the music industry and its biggest distributor: record companies gave up their demand for copyright protection (called digital rights management) and Apple allowed flexible pricing, so the labels could charge more for new or popular tracks. But according to one music industry executive involved in the negotiations,… Read more »

Could the Jonas Brothers become the next Beatles ? Or merely the new Monkees ? The chart-topping teen idols, who elicit piercing shrieks from their young fans wherever they go, are starring in a Disney Channel series inspired by the Beatles’ movies as well as the zany American made-for-TV group the Monkees The Jonas siblings — Kevin, 21, Joe, 19, and Nick, 16 — will appear as themselves in the barely fictional comedy series “Jonas,” premiering on the cable channel in May. The squeaky clean brothers, beloved by the young daughters of President-elect Barack Obama, play members of a popular… Read more »

Television networks paid more than $5 million for exclusive rights to show events surrounding President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, including Sunday’s Lincoln Memorial concert and the Neighborhood Ball where Beyonce will serenade the new first couple.Nearly half the money, $2.5 million, will be paid by HBO. The cable network is showing Sunday’s concert – featuring U2, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and others – live and will repeat it that night. Obama’s inaugural committee said the Walt Disney Co. is paying $2 million to show Tuesday’s Neighborhood Ball on ABC and for a kids’ concert Monday on The Disney Channel. MTV is… Read more »

According to the Chinese calendar, 2008 was the year of the rat. But if you ask us, ‘08 belongs to a different animal: The Collabo. And no artists cross-pollinated more than Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump (he got down with Questlove!), Elvis Costello (he went emo!) and T-Pain (he was permanently attached to a vocoder!) Here’s your guide to this year’s most collabo-happy stars: Patrick Stump Collaborations: Gym Class Heroes; Tyga; Pete Wentz protégées the Cab. And Stump’s stamp was all over hip-hop – he teamed up with Ne-Yo (”Finish Your Food”), the Roots (”Birthday Girl”) and T.I. (”Out in… Read more »

Start the countdown clock on MTV’s countdown era: “Total Request Live” will soon shut down after 10 years on the air. The music video show will conclude in a two-hour special on a Saturday afternoon in November, Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of “TRL,” said Monday. He stressed that the show wasn’t ending for good, but felt now was the right time to give it a break after an unprecedented run on the cable music channel. “We want to close this era of `TRL’ in a big celebratory way, and 10 is a great number,” Sirulnick said. “And 10 is the… Read more »

Backstage notes from the 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. 1. After winning three Moonmen, including video of the year, Britney Spears got cold feet before she met the press. She peeked into the media room with personal assistants and camera crew in tow, then promptly turned around and left. A few moments later, Chris Brown hurried in to take her place — prompting a round of disappointed “Awwwww!” from disappointed Britney-wannabe paparazzi (a reaction that seemed to miff Brown, who maybe didn’t understand that he wasn’t being booed personally.) Never fear, Britney returned after Brown; she said… Read more »

Looks like Avril Lavigne can prove she’s “The Best Damn Thing” in Kuala Lumpur after all. The Malaysian government has given the go-ahead for the wannabe punk rocker’s gig on Aug. 29 as scheduled, despite scrapping the concert last week for being “too sexy.” The decision was reversed after Lavigne’s promoters assured the performance wouldn’t corrupt the mainly-Muslim country’s youth or disrupt its independence day celebration on Aug. 31. “In giving the approval, the cabinet also instructed the (arts and cultural) ministry to monitor the concert to ensure that the performances do not clash with the Malaysian culture and values,”… Read more »