Search Results for: the wonder years

PARK CITY, Utah – Deciding to shelve an album is never easy, but it helps when writing another one only takes a month. “I wrote a record and I didn’t like it so much,” Dashboard Confessional singer Chris Carrabba said recently. “It didn’t feel like the right songs for where I’m at in my life right now, so I started again about four weeks ago. Now I’ve got another one and I like it a lot – I can talk about these stories truthfully for the next two years. I didn’t think the last batch would mean something to me… Read more »

New York – New York’s legendary rock club CBGB, which helped launch everybody from Blondie to the Ramones, faces closure if it does not resolve a dispute over unpaid rent with the homeless charity that owns the building. Club owner Hilly Kristal said the dispute dated from 2001, when the landlord presented a $300,000 bill for unpaid rent. Though most of that has now been repaid, the club was handed another bill earlier this year for $76,000 which CBGB has not paid. The club’s lease comes to an end in August and talks on renewal are stalled. “The real thing… Read more »

New York – Have you ever wondered who actually reads the obituaries page in your daily newspaper? One answer – a running joke in New York – is a renter who wants to find an apartment. But who else would tear out obits from The New York Times and take them to work? One regular obit reader is Gary Roth, assistant VP of legal and business affairs for performing rights at Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) in New York. He is one of the society’s executives who deals with royalties payable to the heirs of deceased songwriters. Tracking heirs entitled to… Read more »

Ray Charles’ Genius racked up plenty of company in the form of gramophone-shaped statuettes. The late soul legend won a total of eight awards at the 47th annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Genius Loves Company and Record of the Year for “Here We Go Again” with Norah Jones. Jamie Foxx, who is considered a lock for the Best Actor Oscar later this month for his portrayal of Charles in biopic Ray, took the stage with Alicia Keys for a tribute to Charles. Later in the show, Bonnie Raitt and… Read more »

New York – OK, let’s see: The former Guns N’ Roses bandmates have exchanged one loose cannon, Axl Rose, for another who seems even more volatile, Scott Weiland. And rock critics are placing bets on whether Weiland can get through a worldwide tour without winding up in either rehab, jail or a body bag. But after three Grammy nominations and one hit album, the supergroup known as Velvet Revolver is just getting started. The band consists of heavyweights from two of the biggest – and most troubled – rock bands of the past 15 years: Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman… Read more »

Detroit – Karl Haas, who brought classical music to millions of listeners through his syndicated radio program, “Adventures in Good Music,” has died. He was 91. Haas died Sunday at a hospital in Royal Oak, according to WCLV-FM in Cleveland, which produced his program. “Adventures in Good Music,” an hour-long program in which Haas blended music and talk aimed at casual listeners, was syndicated to hundreds of stations in the United States, Australia, Mexico and Panama and was broadcast by Armed Forces Radio. Haas delighted listeners with his vast musical knowledge and his penchant for punny program titles, such as… Read more »

New York – Nobody, but nobody was worried when Paul McCartney stripped off his jacket midway through his halftime performance at the Super Bowl. All he revealed was a long-sleeved red shirt. Nothing malfunctioned. And if he wore any nipple jewelry, he mercifully kept it to himself. NFL officials wanted a safe halftime show after last year’s Janet Jackson fiasco, and McCartney delivered. It was sweet nostalgia for the people stunned by Jackson’s MTV-produced spectacle, if a bit off-putting for the kids: Each of his four songs was more than 30 years old. Surely you recall last year’s climax to… Read more »

New York – It’s been a stunning year for Brian Wilson. The former Beach Boy released his rerecording of the group’s “SMiLE” album to critical acclaim, and staged a worldwide tour chock-full of standing ovations. The original “SMiLE,” recorded more than 37 years ago, was never released officially. The Nonesuch Records release bowed at No. 13 on The Billboard 200. The set, whose full title is “Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE,” has sold more than 300,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has been nominated for three awards at the Grammys on Feb. 13. Two nights before that, he will be… Read more »

Musicians and record companies have spent years in court trying to quash free music file sharing, which they claim has hurt sales and infringed on their copyrights. In the race to shut down free P2P sharing systems, however, 54 top recording acts and their labels are running out of road. According to Billboard.com, The Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), along with The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and other music groups, have signed a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn an opinion by the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that unauthorized P2P systems, like Kazaa and Morpheus, are… Read more »

CANNES, France – In the music business, it’s a vision that may soon be consigned to history: Grandpa slumping into the recliner, closing his eyes and enjoying a favorite rendition of an operatic solo. For music lovers these days, the sedentary lifestyle is out. A generation after the birth of portable tunes on the Walkman, technology has made music available nearly everywhere for today’s on-the-go consumer – and the recording industry sees a new wave to ride. The buzzwords Sunday at the Midem music industry conference in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes were mobile music, seen as the… Read more »