Search Results for: decade

Approximately two-and-a-half decades after beginning his career, Cure mastermind Robert Smith is working on his first solo album, a collection of collaborations with several of his friends. Smith actually began working on the concept during the making of the last Cure album, last year’s Bloodflowers, but has had to put the project aside three times due to various concerns surrounding his group as well as the availability of others. He said, “The basic songs have been recorded and I’m intending to collaborate with on each one with a different artist. That’s why I have to have, like, a clear run… Read more »

In a world where artistic lifespans are often judged in terms of fads, most pop music acts last no longer than the trends that briefly catapulted them to fame. And those are just the ones that are lucky enough to end up in the “where are they now?” files. It’s rare to find a band like the Bee Gees, who started their musical career when nine-year-old brother Barry was joined by his six-year-old twin siblings Robin and Maurice. The group scored their first No. 1 hit in their native Australia back in 1966 and broke out to a world audience… Read more »

Janet Jackson will make her second concert appearance on HBO when the cable network airs “Janet Jackson: All for You: Live in Concert From Hawaii” on February 17. The program, which is expected to feature the greatest hits from Jackson’s two-decade recording career, will be culled from footage shot during a performance at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, according to a Virgin Records spokesperson. The date of that show is still being worked out. Jackson’s first HBO concert, “Janet: The Velvet Rope,” premiered in 1998 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Music Direction. It won… Read more »

ARTISTdirect CEO Ted Field today announced that industry veterans Jim Swindel and Marc Benesch have joined the executive management team. Swindel has been named executive vice president of sales and marketing, while Benesch joins as executive vice president of promotion. Both appointments are effective immediately. Swindel is a 25-year veteran of the record business who will oversee all sales and marketing efforts aspects of the label’s roster, beginning with upcoming releases by singer/songwriter Custom, and hip-hop trio NAAM Brigade. He will also work closely with Field and Vice Chairman Marc Geiger on the development of other digital music ventures. As… Read more »

Throughout their two-decade career, the Cure have always made music for lonely hearts, so it’s only fitting that frontman Robert Smith be alone for once. Smith hopes to begin recording his first solo album in January or February, once he’s through promoting the Cure’s Greatest Hits, which includes two new songs and acoustic renditions of fan favorites. The pale-faced misanthrope said he started fostering ideas for the LP after finishing the Cure’s last studio album, 2000’s Bloodflowers, and it’s been an on-and-off endeavor ever since. “I was just at the point of coordinating it all earlier this year when the… Read more »

It’s unusual for an artist to have released only three proper studio albums in the course of a career that spans over a decade. When the sonic auteur in question is Trent Reznor, mastermind behind techno-industrial pioneers Nine Inch Nails, though, fans have been accustomed to pacifying themselves with various EPs, soundtracks and remixes, while adopting the proverb “All good things come to those who wait” as a mantra. Now, more than two years’ worth of anticipation might be drawing to a close. While keeping busy with various endeavors, most recently a remix of N*E*R*D’s single “Lapdance,” soundtrack work and… Read more »

Fireplaces and feet are not the only places you’ll see tube socks this Christmas season. Southern California funk rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose members occasionally wear only a strategically placed tube sock, are getting ready to release their first concert video in a decade. “Off the Map,” due December 4 on VHS and DVD, was filmed by Dick Rude at a September 2000 show in Portland, Oregon. The video includes recent Chili Peppers hits “Californication,” “Scar Tissue,” “Otherside,” “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away,” along with older gems like “Blackeyed Blonde” from 1985’s Freaky Styley, according to… Read more »

After months of rumor and supposition, the Rolling Stones have announced they will mount a world tour to celebrate their upcoming 40th anniversary. So far, there are no details regarding when the trek will start and whether it will be a full-blown extravaganza or a more intimate affair. The legendary rockers started playing together in London in 1962, but their roots go back to 1950 when vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards met in primary school. Of course, they weren’t rocking at the time, but after the two ran into each other a decade later and discovered they had… Read more »

Madonna’s acclaimed DROWNED WORLD TOUR 2001 which played to sold out audiences around the world this past summer will arrive in stores on video and DVD November l3th. A tour-de-force concert extravaganza, DROWNED WORLD TOUR 2001 was originally broadcast live on HBO from the diva’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan at The Palace of Auburn Hills on August 26th, 2001. DROWNED WORLD TOUR 2001 is a dazzling all-out revue which focuses on a mix of material primarily from Madonna’s two most recent releases as well as show stopping versions of her signature songs HOLIDAY and LA ISLA BONITA. The San Francisco… Read more »

In a move seen as almost inevitable by many in the music business, Nancy Berry has resigned as vice chairman of Virgin Records Group. The move comes just days after her estranged husband Ken Berry was replaced at the helm of Virgin parent EMI Recorded Music by ex-Polygram chief Alain Levy. Nancy Berry’s departure marks Levy’s first visible action to reshape EMI’s embattled U.S. label divisions, which have given up substantial market share over the past few years; EMI is currently in last place among the big five record congloms. Nancy Berry, who has been with Virgin’s U.S. operations for… Read more »