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The show’s era as an icon ended with the death of Johnny Carson, but as long as his “hi-yo” sidekick, Ed McMahon, was still with us, some part of the era was as well. Tuesday, at age 86, McMahon died, taking what was left of the old Tonight Show with him. McMahon put himself through college pitching products on the Atlantic City boardwalk, which may have been a more useful education than college itself. In a way, that’s what McMahon did with startling success for 30 years: He pitched Carson to the public. His laugh made Carson’s jokes seem funnier;… Read more »

Alberta rockers Nickelback may have picked up a leading three trophies at the MuchMusic Video Awards last night, giving music critics across the country another reason to groan, but in the end it was all about Lady Gaga’s “flaming boobies.” The critically unpopular group, who picked up three Juno Awards back in March, went into the televised street-oriented awards show – which saw thousands of fans take over the blocks surrounding MuchMusic’s Toronto Queen and John Sts. headquarters – with a leading five MMVA nods, tied with R&B Toronto newcomer Danny Fernandes. Nickelback’s trio of trophies were for best video… Read more »

Sting has confirmed plans to return this fall with a new solo album titled If On a Winter’s Night… The October 27th album, inspired by what Sting calls his favorite season, will feature two original compositions along with carols, lullabies and traditional songs from the British Isles. “The theme of winter is rich in inspiration and material,” Sting said. “By filtering all of these disparate styles into one album I hope we have created something refreshing and new.” The two Sting songs on the disc are called “Lullaby for an Anxious Child” and “The Hounds of Winter,” and both have… Read more »

Miley Cyrus took a break from shooting “The Last Song” on the Georgia coast by borrowing a guitar and treating fans to an impromptu, two-song performance on the patio of a beachside seafood restaurant. “By the time she finished the first song, there must have been 50 little girls and their moms who came rushing up,” said Ray Rogers, owner of StingRay’s restaurant on Tybee Island. He caught Miley’s surprise gig on video. Rogers said the 16-year-old “Hannah Montana” star dined on snow crab legs with a friend after wrapping up Monday’s first day of filming of the Walt Disney… 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 »

The Black Eyed Peas scored their first No. 1 album on the U.S. pop charts on Wednesday, buoyed by heavy promotion for its first release in four years. The Peas also claimed the top two spots on the singles chart. The hip-hop act topped the Billboard 200 with “The E.N.D.,” which sold 304,000 copies during the week ending June 14, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was the group’s best sales week ever. Its previous set, 2005’s “Monkey Business,” bowed at No. 2 with a then-best 291,000. Believe it or not, the Black Eyes Peas have hit the top 10 only… Read more »

The Pixies took the stage at the Isle of Wight festival last night, marking its first gig since wrapping up its 2004 reunion tour and its subsequent festival gigs in 2007. Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering treated the crowd to a nearly hour-and-a-half greatest-hits set that kicked off with “U-Mass” and featured “Debaser,” “Gouge Away” and “Gigantic” along with a cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” and a version of Neil Young’s “Winterlong.” The show went off without a hitch, save for a moment when Black and Deal laughed off a mistake that… Read more »

TV stations across the U.S. started cutting their analog signals Friday morning, ending a 60-year run for the technology and likely stranding more than 1 million unprepared homes without TV service. The Federal Communications Commission put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers, and set up demonstration centers in several cities. Volunteer groups and local government agencies were helping elderly viewers set up digital converter boxes that keep older TVs functioning. Any set hooked up to cable or a satellite dish is unaffected. “When you’re alone like me, that’s my partner,” Patricia Bruchalski, 82, said about her TV.… Read more »

What’s one way to ensure your mega music festival is well attended in the middle of a recession? Book a reunited Phish. The jam band’s legions of ardent followers sell out arenas in minutes, so with little difficulty they will flood the Tennessee fields of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday. In its eighth year, Bonnaroo – arguably the country’s biggest festival – will have a distinctive Phish flavor. Oh, and a guy named Bruce Springsteen is playing, too. With that lineup, organizers expect that tickets to sell without a hitch along the way, in… Read more »

Psych-pop duo MGMT has finally unveiled the video for its Oracular Spectacular track “Kids” nearly 10 months after it was released as a single. The 2008 Artist To Watch and last year’s Hot Band Everyone Wants To Be In has assembled a true labor of love: a six-minute video starring Joanna Newsom as a mom who totes around a toddler who sees monsters worthy of GWAR’s percussion section everywhere he looks. (The band insists no children – and presumably no monsters or harpists – were injured during the shoot.) MGMT said that the video has been in the works for… Read more »