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Los Angeles – When Billy Idol hits the stage at Stubb’s at the South by Southwest Music Conference March 16 in Austin, he is sure to show some of those young whippersnappers how it’s done. Idol’s performance is to promote his first album of original material since 1993’s “Cyberpunk.” On March 22, Sanctuary releases “Devil’s Playground.” Its first single, the “Rebel Yell”-sound-alike “Scream,” hit No. 7 on the Billboard Heritage Rock chart. The rest of the album synthesizes Idol’s many styles, ranging from punk to rockabilly to straight-ahead pop. For “Playground,” he reunited with longtime producer Keith Forsey. But he… Read more »

New York – There are several good reasons why Motley Crue didn’t play the halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl, and most of them were on display as the reunited ’80s rockers assaulted Madison Square Garden for the first time in 21 years. Having reigned as the Bad Boys of Rock ‘n’ Roll for most of the decade, the California quartet saw their decadence crown snatched away in the late ’80s by Axl Rose and Guns ‘N’ Roses. Motley’s own fortunes ebbed, the victim of substance abuse, supermodel divorces (drummer Tommy Lee managed to lose both Pamela Anderson and… Read more »

You know the saying “you’re always the last to know”? On Monday evening, radio listeners in New York were privy to news that the G-Unit were severing ties with the Game before he even knew. Late that afternoon, Game had been a guest of Hot 97’s Angie Martinez and downplayed the rumors of problems between himself and 50 Cent. Simultaneously, 50 and the rest of the G-Unit were telling a different story on rival station Power 105.1. “Where does he stand with your camp?” Power 105.1’s Ed Lover asked 50. “Across the street or around the corner,” he answered. “He’s… Read more »

Kasabian Rock’s back pages are littered with tall tales and weird stories about murder and mayhem. Everyone’s heard the one about the woman murdered while the Ohio Players recorded “Love Rollercoaster,” her blood-curdling scream inadvertently making it into the final mix; of Charles Manson’s dalliances with the Beach Boys; or the backwards messages in Judas Priest songs that made middle-American teenagers kill themselves. Well, here’s another one – while recording their self-titled debut in a rural farmhouse, U.K. electro-rock troupe Kasabian whiled away their evenings of pastoral isolation with bloody killing sprees. True story. Well, sort of. “There were shitloads… Read more »

SAYREVILLE, New Jersey – This small Jersey ‘burb is pretty far removed from Banda Aceh or Phuket (and even though it’s Jon Bon Jovi’s hometown, it’s pretty far removed from Manhattan, too). But on Wednesday night, Sayreville played host to the first in a series of benefit shows dubbed the Concerts for Tsunami Relief. It was a big show for an even bigger cause. The concert – co-sponsored by Linkin Park’s Music for Relief charity and New York radio giant K-Rock – was held at the Starland Ballroom, a very un-ballroom-like venue just off of Sayreville’s winding Jernee Mill Road,… Read more »

The message posted in an Internet chat room read, “Seeking well-built man, 18-30 years old for slaughter.” A few months later, a user responded: “I offer myself to you and will let you dine from my live body. Not butchery, dining!!” It wasn’t a joke, and what followed was far more gruesome and bizarre than the plot of nearly any horror film. In March 2001, Armin Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer technician in Hesse, Germany, killed, dismembered and ate 43-year-old microchip engineer Bernd Juergen Brandes. While Brandes was still alive, the two dined on parts of his flesh together, then Meiwes… Read more »

2004 may go down in history as the year of the runaway breast. Yes, there was Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash, but don’t forget Tara Reid’s absent-minded red carpet dress-drop or the uproar over a sexy “Desperate Housewives” promo for Monday Night Football. Add in Colin Farrell’s missing manhood from the movie “A Home at the End of the World” and the curtailed puppet sex in “Team America: World Police,” and this was the year of nudity both seen and imagined. MOST INFAMOUS WARDROBE MALFUNCTION: Janet is disqualified because nobody believes it was an accident. So the prize goes to… 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 »

DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS, Texas – For many fans who came to pay respects Thursday to slain rock star “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, the hand-painted red sign on the mailbox said it all. “You were the peoples rock-star. We love you bro!” The guitarist for the North Texas heavy-metal band Damageplan was shot to death Wednesday night during a concert at an Ohio nightclub. Authorities and witnesses said the gunman jumped onto the stage and also killed three others before he was fatally shot by police. Abbott – who along with his brother Vinnie Paul Abbott formed Damageplan last year after the breakup… Read more »

Record labels are embracing new technologies in search of music’s next big thing Joe Berman looks for new bands. Typically, that means hanging out in dive bars, enduring hours of unlistenable music by groups whose rock-and-roll dreams far exceed their talent, praying for the occasional act that shows promise. About 16 months ago, however, the Los Angeles-based talent-finder sat at home scouting the globe for groups. He typed “New Zealand indie rock bands” into his computer search engine and found Steriogram, five lads from the town of Whangarei in New Zealand. They had a song and a video posted on… Read more »