Search Results for: The Maine

Los Angeles – Maybe Mario Vazquez suspected the “American Idol” judges would be in a foul mood this week. On Tuesday night’s show, Randy Jackson managed to be as dismissive as Simon Cowell, who remained true to form. And even Paula Abdul – yes, sweetie pie Paula – turned a bit sour. “That was very safe and boring,” she said of Carrie Underwood’s performance of “When Will I Be Loved,” inflicting serious wounds, or at least paper cuts. Jackson employed a scalpel. “That definitely sounded like I was in a bad hotel,” he said of Anthony Fedorov’s “Breaking Up is… Read more »

“SYNERGY AND OTHER LIES” would be a good first reading assignment for Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s new chief executive, to be followed by “The Synergy Myth.” Then Sir Howard should recognize that the Sony he inherits is constitutionally incapable of making one (electronics) plus one (entertainment) equal three. Both books were written by Harold Geneen, the number cruncher who directed International Telephone and Telegraph during its heyday in the 1960’s. He engineered 350 mergers and acquisitions, which brought such names as Hartford, Avis, Sheraton and Madison Square Garden under one roof. Mr. Geneen, however, harbored no illusions that ITT’s individual… Read more »

Janet Jackson may be wishing her bodyguards had exerted just a bit more control last Friday. A New York man hit Jackson with a whopping $120 million lawsuit, alleging her security detail gave him such a beatdown outside a New York nightclub that he suffered “permanent damage” according to the New York Daily News. Bronx resident Leonard Salati claims Jackson’s goons grabbed him, put him in a chokehold and then proceeded to start “dragging him down the steps” of the Marquee club on Feb. 4. All this, he claims, because he tried to pass a note to the “Nasty” singer… Read more »

Los Angeles – Mike Love and the rest of the surviving Beach Boys stayed away, but luminaries such as Neil Young and Jeff Beck showed up in Hollywood on Friday as the music industry honored Brian Wilson at a black-tie bash. The troubled genius behind the fabled vocal group was feted as man of the year at the 15th annual MusiCares dinner, a Grammy-related event that raises money for musicians in need. While previous gatherings took place in glamorous hotel ballrooms, this year’s was held at the Hollywood Palladium, a run-down concert venue infamous for attracting drive-by shootings a few… Read more »

Forget the stage, it’s been almost a decade since Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez – a.k.a. 75 percent of ’90s grunge icons Alice in Chains – have even been in the same room. Sure, they’ve jammed with each other in various permutations since Alice last played a show together (a 1996 taping of MTV’s “Unplugged”), but never all three together. So when they announced that they’d be taking the stage again this month, it had to be for a good reason. “We all saw what happened with the tsunamis in Southeast Asia. It was such an overwhelming tragedy,”… Read more »

It seems that things really are “unwell” in the Matchbox Twenty camp, as guitarist Adam Gaynor has reportedly left the band. According to Billboard.com, after being with Matchbox Twenty throughout their three albums – which have sold 20 million copies worldwide – the guitarist has left without any official statement. The band have also remained tight-lipped, but a source told Billboard that the band didn’t want to “renew his services.” Ouch. Matchbox Twenty are currently on a break as many of the members are busy with other projects. Obviously, the most highly anticipated of those is singer Rob Thomas ‘s… Read more »

New York – Tenacious D will be joined by such rock heavyweights as Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Beck, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and Queens Of The Stone Age principal Josh Homme at a Jan. 17 benefit in Los Angeles for the victims of the Asian tsunami. The Wiltern Theatre event will also boast an appearance by actor Will Ferrell. Tickets are $60 and $100. The show is being organized via the new collective Music for Relief, with proceeds to benefit the American Red Cross. Meanwhile, producers Quincy Jones and Jermaine Dupri have postponed the all-star recording of “We… Read more »

New York – Christmas sales came in the nick of time, saving the holiday selling season for most merchants at the last minute. After watching sales waver on an almost daily basis in the first half of December, most retailers say that because the weeks before and after Christmas were strong, stores could top last year’s numbers. “Christmas was late coming, but once it did, it came crushing in,” says Geoffrey Caruso, manager of the Amoeba store in Berkeley, Calif. “In the first part of December, it vacillated from day to day.” Indeed, Nielsen SoundScan numbers confirm that for the… Read more »

Los Angles – You only need one word to sum up the year in pop 2004: Usher. Clearly, it was his house. The rest of us were just overnight visitors. It began innocently enough, right at the beginning of the calendar year. On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Jan. 10, 2004 (coincidentally, the 55th anniversary of the introduction of the 45 rpm record), the highest new entry was “Yeah!” by Usher Featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris. Six weeks later, “Yeah!” had assumed pole position, and remained there for 12 weeks, tying it as the longest-running No. 1 (with “Lose Yourself”… Read more »

Los Angeles – Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz continued their reign on the year-end Top Independent Albums chart for the second year in a row. The self-proclaimed “Kings of Crunk” finish the year with two of the top five titles on the indie chart. After breaking through in 2003, the Atlanta-bred party-rap trio of Lil Jon, Big Sam and Lil Bo remained steady sellers throughout 2004. The act’s BME/TVT release “Kings of Crunk” has spent more than 100 weeks on the Top Independent Albums chart, and has now led the chart two years running. To date, the album… Read more »