• The New Issue: The Jonas Brothers
• Nas Delivers Petitions to “Racist” Fox
• Townshend E-Mails RS to Talk Rock Honors
• On the Charts: Nas Reigns Supreme
• Breaking Artist: Love as Laughter
• George Clinton Celebrates 67th Birthday
• On Tour: Billy Bob Thornton, Squeeze
• Ozzfest Plans Dimebag Darrell Tribute
• Behind the Scenes With The Jonas Brothers
• Metallica Reveal “Death Magnetic” Track List
• Dr. Dre Says “Detox” Almost Done
• Slayer Think About the Future
• News Ticker: Kid Rock, Satellite Radio
Top stories from the last three days:
• 10 People Who Escaped the Music Industry
• Britney Spears’ E! True Hollywood Story
• New Reviews: U2, Nas, CSS, Dr. Dog
• Exclusive Clip From “CSNY: Deja Vu”
• Kanye West Gives Back To War Vets
• Nas to Lead Protest at Fox
• Karen O Debuts Side Project
• Natalie Portman in Devendra Banhart Video
• Rick Ross a Former Cop?
• New Music Report: CSS and Dr. Dog
• Smashing Pumpkins, ABBA Get Movie Boosts
• Inside the Dennis Wilson Reissue
• Is It Safe to Ask John Lydon About PiL?
Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 4:00 pm
Nas Delivers Petition to Fox News, Says Network Is “Scared”
About four hours after the announcement that his controversial, politically charged ninth album was number one in the country, Nas was on a small podium in front of Fox News headquarters in New York City protesting what he sees as racist attacks against Black Americans and presidential candidate Barack Obama. In a brief prepared statement, the multi-platinum rapper pointed out examples of what he and ColorOfChange see as a long racist smear campaign against the Obama family: The onscreen graphic that referred to Michelle Obama as the Senator’s “baby mama”; Bill O’Reilly casually using the phrase “lynching party” to refer to attacks on the Senator’s wife; referencing to the couple’s infamous fist thump as a “terrorist fist jab.” Said Nas, “Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person that may be the first black president.”
The rapper stood next to 19 neatly stacked cardboard boxes, with the number 620,127 taped to the side of each one — over 600,000 signatures gathered by ColorOfChange demanding that network president Roger Ailes “find a solution to address racial stereotyping and hate-mongering before it hits the airwaves.” Fox rejected the petitions, but Brave New Films says that Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will accept them instead.
ColorOfChange reached out to Nas after seeing the lyrics to “Sly Fox” posted on the Brave New Films website. “We looked at it and said, ‘This is exactly what we’re talking about,’” ColorOfChange deputy director Andre Banks tells Rolling Stone. Just two weeks later, Nas was here speaking to fans, protesters and press spilling out into 6th Avenue, some even holding homemade signs markered with lyrics from the song. When asked if there was a response to “Sly Fox,” Nas rebutted quickly with, “Nah, they’re scared of me.”
More Nas
• On the Charts: Nas Reigns Supreme
• Nas: “Let Me Say What’s On My Mind”
[Photo: Altaffer / AP Images]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 3:55 pm
Tour Tracker: Billy Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters, Squeeze and 1997
Billy Bob Thornton temporarily quits his day job for a jaunt with the Boxmasters, Squeeze are tempted by the fruit of another summer tour and 1997 party like it’s 1999 in 2008. Full dates for all three treks are waiting for you after the jump.
Billy Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters
July 22 - Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
July 23 - San Antonio, TX @ Scout Bar
July 24 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
July 25 - Corpus Christi, TX @ Brewster Street Ice House
July 26 - Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
July 28 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theater
July 29 - Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco
July 30 - Jackson, MS @ Hal and Mal’s
July 31 - Mobile, AL @ Soul Kitchen
August 1, 2 - Huntsville, AL @ Merrimack Hall PAC
August 6 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
August 7 - St. Charles, MO @ Ameristar Casino
August 8 - Kansas City, MO @ Knucklehead’s Saloon
August 12 - Interlochen, MI @ Interlochen Center for the Arts
August 13 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
August 15 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
August 16 - Port Huron, MI @ Military Street Music Cafe
August 17 - Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
August 18 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
August 19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Sellersville Theater
August 20 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
August 21 - Harrisburg, PA @ Whittaker Center
August 22 - Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage
August 23 - Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios
August 24 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater
August 26 - Salina, KS @ Steifel Theater
August 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Miller Park
August 29 - Chicago, IL @ Joe’s on Weed Street
August 30 - Apple Valley, MN @ Weesner Amphitheater
September 4 - Los Angeles, CA @ Crash Mansion
September 5 - Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel
Squeeze
August 21 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
August 22 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
August 24 - Farmingville, NY @ Brookhaven Amphitheatre
August 25 - Torrington, CT @ Warner Theatre
August 26 - Foxborough, MA @ Showcase Live!
August 28 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
August 29 - Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
August 30 - Cleveland, OH @ Taste of Cleveland
August 31 - Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival
September 2 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
September 3 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
September 5 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
September 6 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
September 9 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
September 10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
September 12 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Center
September 13 - Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery
September 15 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
September 16 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
September 19 - New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
1997
August 14 – Bakersfield, CA @ The Dome
August 17 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
August 19 – Spokane, WA @ The Blvd
August 20 – Boise, ID @ The Venue
August 21 – Ogden, UT @ Club Boom
August 22 – Grand Junction, CO @ VFW Hall
August 23 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
August 24 – Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
August 27 – Kansas City, MO @ Mainstreet Café
August 29 – Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club
August 30 – Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
September 2 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Platinum Lounge
September 3 – Rockville Centre, NY @ Vibe Lounge
September 5 – Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Café
September 7 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Steppin’ Out
September 11 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
September 12 – Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
September 19 – Dallas, TX @ The Door-Prophet Bar
September 20 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
September 22 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
September 24 – Las Vegas, NV @ Jillian’s
September 26 - Hollywood, CA @ The Knitting Factory
September 27 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
[Photo: Getty]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 2:55 pm
Members of Metallica, Slayer Taking Part in Ozzfest’s Dimebag Tribute
This year’s Ozzfest, being held August 9th in Dallas, will feature an all-star metal tribute to slain Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. The participants include Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Slayer’s Kerry King, Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains and Anthrax’s Scott Ian. Bob Zilla of Damageplan and Dimebag’s brother Vinnie Paul will also take part in the event, which was orchestrated by Abbott’s partner Rita Haney. The set is expected to pull strongly from Pantera’s catalog. Dimebag Darrell, who called Dallas home, was shot and killed onstage by a deranged fan during a concert in December 2004.
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 1:39 pm
On the Breaking Blog: Love as Laughter
This week’s featured artist on the Breaking blog is Brooklyn’s Love As Laughter, a band that has been kicking around in one form or another for 14 years. Click below to find out what job frontman Sam Jayne has to quit in order to go on tour and for an exclusive acoustic performance of “Babyshambles.”
• Breaking Artist: Love As Laughter
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 12:48 pm
George Clinton Celebrates 67 Funky Years With Chili Peppers, Sly Stone
Last night George Clinton proved you don’t have to be young to have fun in Hollywood. The Parliament-Funkadelic legend celebrated 67 colorful years on Planet Funk at Zune in L.A. with a bevy of babes in the house and celebrity well-wishers, including Sly Stone, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ John Frusciante, Lili Hayden and others.
“This party right here is my best birthday present all day,” said Clinton of his birthday bash/early release party for his new album, George Clinton and Some Gansters of Love, out October 7th on Shanachie Records and featuring covers/classics with the help of Sly Stone, Carlos Santana, the RZA, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, El DeBarge, and, of course, the P-Funk All-Stars. Clinton and his usual cast of characters nibbled on mini burgers, cheese balls, and later white birthday cake, and ran through a set of classics such as “We got the Funk” and “One Nation Under a Groove.”
Frusciante, who with his fellow Peppers and rapper RZA played on “Let the Good Times Roll” on Clinton’s new album, told Rolling Stone that he was honored to play with the legendary musician. “George is the real God of Rock,” he declares.
[Photo: Winter/Getty]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 11:39 am
Metallica Reveal “Death Magnetic” Track List
After a sheet music website accidentally revealed (and then deleted) the track list for Metallica’s Death Magnetic earlier today, the band confirmed the ten songs that will appear on their Rick Rubin-produced album, due out in September. One title immediately jumps out: “The Unforgiven III,” following the Metallica’s “The Unforgiven” and roughly 11 years after ReLoad’s “The Unforgiven II.” The rest of the song titles are packed with common Metallica-esque themes of nightmares, suicides and the apocalypse. There’s also a song called “The End of the Line,” which shares its title with a Traveling Wilburys song, but we’re assuming it’s not a cover. Despite reports from earlier in the day, there’s no track called “Death Magnetic” included. The album isn’t due out for another two months, so you still have plenty of time to figure out if you want these ten songs delivered to you in a coffin box and sufficiently prepare yourself to play “Broken, Beat & Scarred” on Guitar Hero III. The full track list and proper running order are after the jump.
- “That Was Just Your Life”
- “The End Of The Line”
- “Broken, Beat & Scarred”
- “The Day That Never Comes”
- “All Nightmare Long”
- “Cyanide”
- “The Unforgiven III”
- “The Judas Kiss”
- “Suicide & Redemption”
- “My Apocalypse”
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 10:48 am
Pete Townshend Muses on Rock Honors, Smashing Computers, Eddie Vedder in E-Mail to Rolling Stone
After taping VH1 Honors: The Who, Pete Townshend e-mailed Rolling Stone’s Jenny Eliscu with a post-mortem discussing his own performance, his desire to smash plastic Rock Band instruments and the advice he gave Eddie Vedder a few years ago. Here’s the message:
Despite my smiley face, I was on guard on the red carpet and didn’t say much although the New York Times guy caught me off guard with the best question of my life, delivered almost dead-pan: “WHY DON’T YOU JUST DO WHAT ROGER WANTS?” For a split second I tried to answer.
The show felt clunky to me because I find it hard to mix work and pleasure, and so much of it was about mixing with people and accepting their good wishes. I tend to shut myself away before and after shows, it’s about making the best of the very little I have left to give the audience. Trying to increase the force of the water by closing down the valve on the hose, so to speak. I thought Roger sounded good. He’s been keeping himself active, doing small shows, and it showed.
It always takes me 20 minutes or so to loosen up. This was our first show for a year or so, so I was rusty on guitar. I felt like I was holding a spade (shovel). I dreamed last night of trying to play the show with a guitar actually covered in soil. I have been playing piano since last July, and only acoustic guitar (on the sofa while watching episodes of Medium or Boston Legal as my way of remembering America). Electric guitar and arm-swinging is not what I do between dog-walks and arthritis.
You probably know that VH1 Rock Honors was originally floated as an idea to help sell Viacom’s Rock Band. My son and his buddies did play with Rock Band around Christmas, until I lent it to the much younger son of Rachel’s drummer. I never tried it. I thought I’d probably end up smashing it.
I did have an idea for a stunt — if Viacom is VH1, and they own Rock Band, what about giving me a plastic guitar to smash on the show? Even better, what about giving me five hundred thousand plastic guitars to smash on the show? Maybe I could drive over them in a Monster Truck? I kept it to myself, as I knew they’d be happy to give me one, but not half a million. Then I thought, hey, I don’t want to smash plastic guitars, I want to smash the X-Box computers, the DVD drives, the expensive bit made of wire and metal. And you know, I really do. When I get home I’m going to do it. Who hasn’t smashed a computer at some point in their life? It’s where the Pete Townshend smashing thing becomes normal life, and not “…how could he?” We’ve all done it, bashed our plastic keyboard in frustration and out popped the letter “k.” $1,000 later, new computer, all is well, the old one we try to pass off on some project for poor people or some guy we know who can “fix anything.” Throw it in the fucking Hudson. No one wants it except the Stasi. It was built in 2007. This is Jetsons’ time we live in. Imagine, soon it will be 2011. That is most definitely going to be a Jetsons’ year. Even oil will be plastic in 2011 and marketed by Viacom. And available only in grey, pink or orange.
In the end, I enjoyed it. I only heard Pearl Jam from my trailer-dressing room, and it sounded amazing. Eddie seems to be very shiny these days. To think he nearly quit in 1993 and went back to some surfing beach. Lucky he came to speak to Uncle Pete. I told him — submit.
It’s not appropriate for me to come up with ideas about who I want to sing my songs, I have enough trouble serving Roger. I was grateful to have three great bands like Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Flaming Lips on the show. Sweet as it all is, Adam Sandler and Jack Black parodying the Who is as interesting to me as a plastic guitar you can’t really smash. Even so, their affection for me and the Who is tangible, and that’s a relief. Parody with affection is a form of love and regard, unlike satire. I feel lucky in that respect.
I think when I said on a blog that the Who was a glorified Who cover band I was trying to make people laugh. Much as I am now. Some people take me too literally. Just think how small I will feel when Arianna Huffington calls me a dope for my prediction that Viacom oil will only be available in three colours. Seriously, the covers thing happens in a good way I think when the audience truly take total possession of a part of your work. Those songs that seem to belong entirely to them, and not at any level at all to me or Roger any more, are the ones that feel best to play. They are the most famous — “Baba O’Riley,” (made more famous by a million YouTube viewings of Blue Man Group playing drums covered in paint than any other use); the CSI songs; “The Seeker” used in American Beauty (a naked girl covered in rose petals is hard to shake off). So, those particular songs do not feel like we are covering them, it feels like we are miming to a backing track that is the audience itself. That must be the apotheosis of my craft. Function flying high over form and my earliest artistic endeavour and pretensions.
How to keep the legacy going? Check the same Website blog. I’m quite obviously lost.
I’m hoping Ricky Gervais will hire me for his future comedy brainstorming sessions. He’d better. I’m losing the gift of irony.
Pete
For complete coverage of VH1 Rock Honors, check out rocknrolldiary.com.
• Photo Gallery: VH1 Honors the Who With Pearl Jam, Flaming Lips and More
• The Who Deliver Big at Rock Honors Tribute
[Photo: Winter/Getty]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 10:04 am
On the Charts: Controversy Doesn’t Keep Nas Out of First Place
The Big News: It took an Untitled album to finally unseat Lil Wayne and Coldplay from the chart’s upper echelon, as Nas‘ latest debuted in the top spot with 187,000 copies. Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III dropped to number two, selling another 105,000 copies while the Mamma Mia soundtrack rose from seven to three, selling 91,000 units. Coldplay’s Viva La Vida finally fell out of the top two after five weeks, dropping to four, while the Camp Rock soundtrack rounded out the top five.
Debuts: John Mellencamp’s Life, Death, Love and Freedom debuted at seven, selling 56,000 copies. David Banner’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, despite his problems with our review, landed at eight. Frat rockers O.A.R. grabbed thirteen with All Sides, the Kraftwerkian Dark Knight soundtrack took 20 and the Hold Steady’s Stay Positive came in at 30.
Last Week’s Heroes: With three debuts in the top ten, there was some reshuffling atop the charts. Beck’s Modern Guilt was the biggest victim, dropping from four to 16 thanks to a 66% sales dip. G-Unit’s T.O.S. suffered a similar fate, falling from nine to 24. Next week, we’ll find out if Miley Cyrus can retake her charts throne, and how many copies Nine Inch Nails‘ physical version of free album The Slip will sell.
[Photo: Getty]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 9:30 am
Slayer Consider Retirement As Record Deal Nears End
With nine albums in the tank and a tenth set to be recorded next year, thrash metal forefathers Slayer are considering life after their contract with Rick Rubin expires, says singer/bassist Tom Araya. “Let’s put it this way, this is the final record of our commitment with Rick Rubin. When we first signed a deal with him back in 1986, we never sat down and said, ‘How long do you guys want to keep this together?’” Araya tells Thrash Hits. The band still has another album to record, which they’ll begin after their Unholy Alliance tour ends. After that, the future is unclear. “Once we’ve put together new material, we can get together and discuss our future plans,” Araya said. Retirement is an option, as the band is “maybe” financially secure enough to pack it in. Plus, “Seeing a 50-year-old man headbanging on stage would make me cringe. If I was watching that, I’d think, ‘Dude, you’re a little too old for that, aren’t you? You’re gonna fall off!’”
[Photo: Evansen/AFP/Getty]
Source: | 23 July 2008 | 8:50 am
