Courtney Love leaves the Los Angeles court on November 10th
Photo: Neil Jacobs/ Getty Images

There was no love lost on Friday between Fabolous and Power 99 DJ Golden Girl at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center. According to the DJ, a member of Fabolous' entourage slammed her to the ground after she and a girlfriend asked for a ride on the rapper's tour bus out of the venue. "He told me no, so I said, 'That's OK. I won't play your records anymore,' " Golden Girl said of the incident. "There were words exchanged, and then his bodyguard pushed me. Then he picked me up and slammed me to the ground." The alleged assault took place backstage at the station's annual Powerhouse concert. In response, Fabolous released the following statement via his label: "In regards to the incident in Philadelphia, I was on my tour bus and did not witness the alleged incident so I'm not aware of any details concerning the matter. I never touched or did anything to Golden Girl, therefore, I am not involved and do not have anything further to say or do with that incident." At press time, no charges were filed. ...

Courtney Love pleaded not guilty — for the second time — to a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday. She's accused of attacking L.A. musician Kristin King when she found her sleeping on her ex-boyfriend's couch in April. King had previously testified that Love dumped a bottled of whiskey all over, threw the bottle at her face, threw a lit candle at the back of her head, sat on her, pulled her hair, dug her nails in her arm, pinched her breasts, and chased with her a flashlight, leaving her with bruises, nail marks and a chipped tooth. Love rolled her eyes when the prosecution asked the court to remind the singer that a restraining order was still in place prohibiting Love from contacting King. Love is due back in court December 15. ...

Alicia Keys flexed her literary muscles Tuesday night at the release party for her book "Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics." Held at New York's Harlem Grill, the party, which also celebrated the recent release of Keys' DVD "The Diary of Alicia Keys," turned into a poetry slam hosted by poet/actor Mums and featured performances by Keys, Kanye West, Mos Def and Common, among others. ... The New York restaurant where Keys filmed her "You Don't Know My Name" video was devastated by a fire early Wednesday morning (November 10). More than 100 firefighters came to the aid of Harlem's neighborhood institution Pan Pan, where it took them close to 90 minutes to get the fire under control. According to TV station NY1, the owners of the restaurant say that Pan Pan's future is uncertain, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. ...

It's splitsville for Nicky Hilton and her money-manager husband, Todd Meister. On Monday a Las Vegas judge granted an annulment to the couple, who had been married for less than three months. Court papers, now sealed, indicated that neither side sought any compensatory gain. "Both parties have ended the marriage amicably, and they remain good friends," the couple said in a joint statement. The two had wed in a surprise ceremony orchestrated by Hilton's sister, Paris, on August 15. ... Also breaking up are Madonna and her longtime manager Caresse Henry, who, after 13 years, have "mutually agreed to go their separate ways," according to the singer's rep. ...

Classic rockers Cream are re-forming for a week-long residency in London next week. Singer/guitarist Eric Clapton, drummer Ginger Baker and singer/bassist Jack Bruce will soon begin to rehearse for the shows at the Royal Albert Hall, the same venue that housed the band's last gig nearly 36 years ago. ... Some of Johnny Ramone's vintage movie posters, including ones for "Frankenstein" and "Dracula," will be going up on the auction block on November 18 at Heritage Galleries in Dallas. The late guitarist, a known fan of sci-fi and horror movies, consigned parts of his collection before his death in September. ...

Do you love your iPod, but are troubled by its inability to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays? Well, sunglasses manufacturer Oakley has the product for you: the Thump, the world's first-ever "digital music eyewear." The shades come in seven color combinations and two different versions: 128 megabytes, which holds 60 songs; and 256 megabytes, which holds 120 songs. Prices start at $395. ... Glassjaw have a show scheduled on December 26 in New Jersey, but Todd Weinstock won't be there. The guitarist believes he's no longer a part of the band, since no one thought of inviting him to play. Instead, guitarist Justin Beck and singer Daryl Palumbo will perform with a hired bassist and drummer. In a statement, Weinstock said, "After seeing Beck's vision of Glassjaw, I realized I was not part of it anymore." ...

Damon Dash was honored for his philanthropy efforts with Team Roc Tuesday night at B.B. King's in New York by the S.H.I.N.E. (Seeking Harmony in Neighborhoods Everywhere) organization. Roc-A-Fella recording artists Rell, Denim, Nicole Wray and Samantha Ronson performed. ... Jason Mraz is midway through recording his follow-up to 2002's Waiting for My Rocket to Come. Steve Lillywhite, coming off of U2's new album, is producing the sessions in both Woodstock, New York, and Mraz's hometown of San Diego. ...

Although the Derderian brothers had hoped to postpone civil proceedings until after their criminal case surrounding the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island is closed, a judge ruled otherwise. The Derderians and the former manager of Great White, the band playing at the time of the fire, face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. ... Soft Cell singer Marc Almond is recovering faster than expected from a recent motorcycle accident and was moved this week from Royal London Hospital to a private facility. "Although he has some way to go to full recovery he is looking forward to getting back to work when he can," a statement on Almond's Web site read. ...

The Exies will release their second major-label album, the Nick Raskulinecz-produced Head for the Door, on November 30. First single "Ugly" was released to radio last week. The band is currently opening some shows for Velvet Revolver. ... Paperwork on both sides of the peer-to-peer debate was filed in court earlier this week. While groups representing the movie and music industries filed friend-of-the-court briefs that urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's ruling that services like Grokster and Kazaa were not responsible for the widespread copyright infringement that takes place on their networks, Streamcast Networks, the company behind Morpheus, filed a brief pushing the court to uphold the ruling. ...

11.09.2004

Britney Spears isn't limiting her writing to her Web site — the singer scrawled a missive on the wall of a Hollywood shop, alerting readers that her husband, Kevin Federline, is "the sexiest man alive." In capital letters, Spears also noted while photographers captured the moment, "Britney Spears wuz here with her fine hubby." ...

Lil' Flip is being sued for copyright infringement yet again. According to reports, Louisiana songwriter/producer Tommy Granville is suing the Houston MC for $1.5 million in damages and an unspecified amount for alleged willful infringement of Granville's copyrights. The suit alleges that Flip used three of Granville's melodies, without permission, for his Columbia debut, Undaground Legend. Earlier this year, NamCo America, the owner of the "Pac-Man" video-game franchise, filed a $10 million lawsuit against Flip for sampling sounds from "Pac-Man" for his hit "Game Over." Representatives for Columbia Records, Lil' Flip's label, declined to comment. ... Want to work for Good Charlotte? For no money? Well, you're in luck! Because over at DCFlagRecords.com, the Web site for Benji and Joel Madden's record label, they're taking applications for "people all over North America to help run our record co." Duties include "working with our worldwide street team" and "gorilla marketing," all for no pay. Just send the band an e-mail stating "in 25 words or less ... what you are willing to do," and the boys will take it from there. ...

Gwen Stefani is offering a unique incentive to pre-order her upcoming album — if you buy Love, Angel, Music, Baby in advance at in advance at Musictoday.com, you'll get a free limited-edition T-shirt that she's custom designed. The black shirt features the singer's new logo, with the phrase "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" written on the front and back. ... "The Devil's Rejects," the new film from director/occasional musician Rob Zombie, is set for an August release. The film, a sequel to Zombie's 2003 gorefest "House of 1000 Corpses," was originally due in theaters in February of next year, but Zombie announced last week that the film would not be ready by that date. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea will speak at the second annual We the Planet Music & Activism Festival, which will take place Saturday in Oakland, California. Already on the lineup are the Roots, Third Eye Blind, Joan Baez, the Coup, Michelle Shocked and Mickey Hart. The festival, which will include workshops on civil disobedience and building grass-roots movements, will run primarily on solar power and generators using biodiesel fuel. ... Madonna, who released her fourth children's book, "The Adventures of Abdi," this week, plans on putting out the fifth and final book of the series, "Lotsa De Casha," in June. She's also releasing a box set of her first three children's titles ("The English Roses," "Mr. Peabody's Apples" and "Yakov and the Seven Thieves") this holiday season, according to her publisher. ...

Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), who was removed from a flight and asked to leave the U.S. in September when his name appeared on a terrorism watch list, will be honored with the Man for Peace award from a foundation headed by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, according to The Associated Press. A press release from the Gorbachev Foundation said the singer will receive the prize "for his dedication to promote peace, the reconciliation of people and to condemn terrorism" at a ceremony on Wednesday. ... Zone.MSN.com offers the chance for you to see if there's something you should know with its latest quiz-show-style game, "OutSmart Duran Duran," in which you're pitted against Simon LeBon and Roger Taylor, answering questions about everything from Alfred Hitchcock to the Notorious B.I.G. If the Wild Boys are too tough for you, try one of the other stars who lent their smarts to the pre-existing "OutSmart" games, like Beyoncé, Fantasia or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. ...

Kids everywhere might drop a hint to their parents by giving them the new Snow Patrol DVD with the long-winded title of "Mums and Dads of the World Be Patient With Your Children," due November 23. Coinciding with the home video is the DualDisc re-release of the band's latest album, Final Straw. Meanwhile, in memory of the late John Peel, the band has made its cover of the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks," purported to be Peel's favorite song, available on its Web site. ... MxPx are releasing a DVD this fall that they consider to be the culmination of an era for them. The "B Movie" DVD, out November 23, shows the band touring Europe and Japan, working in the recording studio and performing a special homecoming show at Seattle's Graceland in September. "This is coming out at the right time for us," singer Mike Herrera said in a statement. "If we never did anything again, it's something worthy for us to leave people with." They don't plan on never doing anything again, though — the group is also working on an album due next summer. ...

• Fabolous
• Alicia Keys
• Courtney Love
• Glassjaw
• Cream

Jack Bruce
Photo: David Scheinmann

NEW YORK — Now that Eric Clapton has sworn off future world tours, a full-scale Cream reunion seems a distant possibility. Add that drummer Ginger Baker was denied re-entry into the United States following a squabble with the Immigration and Naturalization Service two years ago, and the odds diminish substantially. For a few brief days in London last December, however, Clapton and Cream bassist Jack Bruce reconvened with instruments in hand for the first time since their 1993 performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the majesty of Cream was reborn.

The two entered the studio to record new versions of their late-'60s hits "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room" for Bruce's new solo record, Shadows in the Air, which also features guests such as Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, Dr. John, blues guitarist Gary Moore and various Cuban horn players. Bruce originally planned to have Clapton sing "Sunshine" while Reid played guitar. Then he reconsidered.

"I thought, 'Well, I can't ask Eric to come down without bringing his guitar,'" he said recently. "So we did it, and it was great — just like old times. It definitely didn't feel like work."

Like the rest of the record, the tracks are embellished with Latin flavor, courtesy of Cuban percussionist Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana, who didn't know much classic rock before he entered the studio.

"He had never heard of 'White Room' or 'Sunshine of Your Love,' but he really liked them," recalled Bruce. "That was another little seal of approval that these songs are still valid." Working again with Clapton on tunes that jump-started their rock careers made Bruce crave a more substantial Cream reunion.

"I would love to do a couple of concerts with Cream," he said. "We could raise a lot of money for some very good causes, and I think it would be real fun." When they were together in the studio, Bruce asked Clapton if he might be interested in scheduling a few Cream concerts to benefit Baker, who has suffered financial and personal problems Bruce was unwilling to describe.

"I said to Eric, 'Do you think we should do something to help Ginger out?' And Eric said, 'I think it's time he helped himself out.'" As uninterested as Clapton now seems in playing live with Cream again, Bruce still hopes that he and Clapton will someday work again on a full album together, with or without Baker.

"After the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance, Eric and I talked about maybe doing a record," Bruce said. "There was a magic with that band, and it would be a blast to do it. Maybe it will still happen."

• Eric Clapton
• Jack Bruce
• Cream

Bob Dylan
Photo: Sony

Bob Dylan, the Police, Frank Sinatra and the Kinks are about to be made members of the family — the Soprano family, that is, as part of a soundtrack you won't soon fuhgeddabout.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs, slated for a May 8 release, collects two CDs worth of the music that plays such a crucial rule in the acclaimed mob series. A seamless (and otherwise unreleased) mix of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" with Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn," for example, underlined the tension in the current season's premiere episode, in which authorities were trying to bug mob boss Tony Soprano's basement. A few weeks later, the Kinks' "Living on a Thin Line" — a relatively obscure '80s album cut — served as both the opening and closing music for an episode centering on volatile mobster Ralphie Cifaretto and his troubled stripper girlfriend.

The soundtrack, which follows up another "Sopranos" disc released in 1999, also features a previously unreleased Bob Dylan cover of Dean Martin's 1958 hit "Return to Me," according to a Columbia Records spokesperson. Actor Dominic Chianese, who plays Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano on the show, performs the classic Italian love song "Core 'Ngrato," which means ungrateful heart. A reprise of A3's "Woke Up This Morning," which serves as the series' opening theme, is also included.

Dylan, R.L. Burnside, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison return from the first "Sopranos" soundtrack, which featured tracks by Bruce Springsteen ("State Trooper"), Cream ("I Feel Free"), Wyclef Jean ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water") and Little Steven Van Zandt, who plays made man Silvio Dante on the show.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs track listing, according to the album's publicist: Disc 1:

• The Police/Henry Mancini - "Every Breath You Take/Theme From Peter Gunn (Mr. Ruggerio's Remix)"
• Pigeonhed - "Battle Flag"
• The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson - "I've Got A Feeling"
• Kasey Chambers - "The Captain"
• R.L. Burnside - "Shuck Dub"
• The Lost Boys - "Affection"
• Otis Redding - "My Lover's Prayer"
• Madreblu - "Certamente"
• Nils Lofgren - "Black Books"
• Cake - "Frank Sinatra"
• Frank Sinatra - "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"
• The Rolling Stones - "Thru and Thru"

• Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "High Fidelity"
• The Kinks - "Living on a Thin Line"
• Vue - "Girl"
• Cecilia Bartoli - Vivaldi's "Sposa son disprezzata"
• Ben E. King - "I (Who Have Nothing)"
• Bob Dylan - "Return to Me"
• Keith Richards - "Make No Mistake"
• Jovanotti - "Piove"
• The Pretenders - "Space Invader"
• Tindersticks - "Tiny Tears"
• Van Morrison - "Gloria"
• Dominic Chianese - "Core 'Ngrato"
• Dialogue From "The Sopranos"
• A3 - "Woke Up This Morning"

• Bob Dylan
• The Rolling Stones
• Frank Sinatra
• A3
• Elvis Costello