Search Results for: when we were young

Timothy White, Billboard editor in chief since 1991, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack June 27, just as the magazine was going to press. He was 50. Timothy collapsed in an elevator in the Billboard offices at 770 Broadway in New York and was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he succumbed. Timothy is survived by his wife Judy Garlan, his 10-year-old twins Christopher and Alexander, and seven siblings. Born on Jan. 25, 1952, in Paterson, N.J., to John Alexander and Gloria White, Timothy had a boundless passion for music and its creators that filled the pages of Billboard.… Read more »

Fred Durst reiterated claims of inadequate security on Monday during a hearing looking into the death of a 15-year-old concertgoer last year. From Los Angeles, the Limp Bizkit frontman spoke via videolink to the Glebe Coroner’s Court in Sydney, Australia, according to his manager, Peter Katsis. He claimed to have warned organizers of the touring Big Day Out festival of potential security problems at the Sydney stop, which took place January 26, 2001, and threatened to withdraw from the show if they weren’t remedied, following a similar crowd-crushing incident that occurred days prior in Auckland, New Zealand. “We definitely said… Read more »

Radio remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available to the recording industry, despite skyrocketing costs of gaining access to the airwaves via independent promoters. While word-of-mouth, video and Internet brush fires occasionally catapult unknowns to stardom, radio remains the most reliable and efficient means of enticing listeners to record stores. Yet many fans surfing the airwaves are far from satisfied. The complaint: Consolidation has made radio even more cookie-cutter bland, with narrow, unimaginative playlists. Demographic targeting and audience testing eliminate variety, stifle regionalism and foist the least objectionable music on the public. Failing to recognize that an individual’s… Read more »

Perhaps the most nebulous whine in fandom concerns a perceived dearth of good music. Roughly 27,000 titles are dumped into the marketplace annually, yet many consumers, particularly casual or older fans less prone to rooting out new sounds, grumble about a shortage and pine for the days of plenty. The complaint: Record labels sign only what they hope will sell, jumping on the latest bandwagon and flooding the market with sound-alikes. Everything radio and MTV plays sounds as if it fell off the same assembly line. Record companies focus on radio-friendly and videogenic acts to the exclusion of worthy mavericks… Read more »

British music industry svengali Dave Stewart is launching a new record label to nurture acts left out in the cold by the mass-produced pop phenomenon. Stewart told BBC radio Wednesday that the big five record labels were overlooking significant talent in their bid to mass-produce fashionable hits. “We’re approaching it completely from a different way,” said Stewart, who hopes to shake up the big players with his new label Artists’ Network. Stewart produced the 1980s hit “Sweet Dreams” together with Eurythmics co-star Annie Lennox who performed at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations Monday. Artists’ Network, will hit the music scene… Read more »

Marshall “Eminem” Mathers may liken himself and his daughter Hailie Jade to Bonnie and Clyde, but on the The Eminem Show, they’ll remind you more of Master P and Lil’ Romeo. “I swear to you she was so natural at it,” Eminem said of Hailie’s appearance on the track “My Dad’s Gone Crazy.” “I would tell her something one time and she would do it. She would do all the little sound effects and whatever. And she’s geeked to be on the song.” Shady said that many times when he makes music in one of his two studios he brings… Read more »

Bennett Zier has a fine idea for a new radio format. His eyes light up as he tells you about it. “We play Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bobby Darin,” he says. “The great thing about it is what we call it. You ready?” He pauses. “Vegas Radio! Is that great or what?” Zier can imagine the whole scene – the deejays, the jingles, the ironic retro-swinger patter. It’s his music, the kind he plays in his car. He’s in love with this idea, and with his natural salesman’s charm, he’s making you love it, too. So why doesn’t… Read more »

In the city of sin, Britney Spears behaved. There was no dissing of Justin Timberlake during the opening night of the second leg of the Dream Within a Dream Tour. No cigarette smoking. No… whatever vice the rumor mills have her doing this week. Things may have changed in Britney’s well-chronicled life since the last time we saw her onstage – and that’s only if you believe the gossip – but there were no signs of it Friday at Mandalay Bay. The 20-year-old headliner was the same pop princess she was at 19. Nearly every part of Spears’ 90-minute show… Read more »

More than two dozen people were injured – most of them slightly – in a mosh pit stampede while rapper Eminem was performing Saturday night at RFK Stadium, officials said. One man suffered a heart attack during the melee and was taken to a local hospital, District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said. His condition was unavailable. Four others were taken to area hospitals with injuries not considered to be life-threatening, he said. The rest were treated at the scene for less serious injuries. “There were fights and a lot of pushing and shoving,” said Brent Turner, 17, of… Read more »

A sold-out suburban Detroit crowd showed its love for the red and white Wednesday at the Royal Oak Music Theatre by overzealously welcoming home the rock duo White Stripes. Fans punched their fists in the air and screamed heartily as singer/guitarist Jack White began the show in true rock star fashion – by dropping to his knees for an introductory blistering guitar solo from “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” the opening track from the White Stripes’ breakthrough album, White Blood Cells. “Good evening, children,” Jack said to the crowd. “My name is Jack White and this is my big… Read more »