Lily Allen
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Lily Allen has been forced to postpone six West Coast tour dates, as well as her previously announced appearance at this year's MTV Video Music Awards on September 9, as her work visa has been revoked. Allen's publicist said in a press release that authorities revoked the visa earlier this month when Allen was entering the U.S., and that because the reinstatement process is taking longer than expected, she won't be able to launch her tour September 6 in San Diego. There's no word yet on when the concerts — which were set to take place in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Seattle, among other cities — might be rescheduled. "I am so disappointed that I won't be able to come to the States at this time," Allen said in the press release. "I was really looking forward to playing these shows and being part of the Video Music Awards. I want my fans to know that I'll be back as soon as I possibly can." ...

Yung Joc has partnered with Rockport to launch the "Roc With Joc" contest, a multi-city talent search for the next aspiring music mogul. The search kicked off Thursday in Detroit and will make stops in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlanta, where contestants can call into radio stations to list their various skills. The Bad Boy rapper will then bring the finalists to the album-release party for his August 28 LP, Hustlenomics, after which the winner will hit the road with Joc to put their talents to the test. ...

Jordin Sparks has signed to — what else? — 19 Recordings/ Jive Records, the label run by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller. Her lead single "Tattoo" — produced by Stargate (Beyoncé and Ne-Yo) and co-written with Amanda Ghost (James Blunt's "Beautiful," Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar") — will hit radio August 27, while her yet-untitled debut is set to street in November. ... Paris Hilton had another encounter of sorts with police on Thursday when she launched her new clothing line at Kitson, a Los Angeles boutique. The store was mobbed — cops and city workers were called to manage the crowd, and a traffic lane had to be shut down. ...

Jamie Foxx will portray another musician on the big screen — but this time, it's probably not someone you've heard of. In "The Soloist," which is based on a 12-part Los Angeles Times series, the actor will play a homeless schizophrenic who dreamed about playing at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall. "Atonement" director Joe Wright and "Ghost Rider" producer Gary Foster are also on board for the DreamWorks flick. ... A video clip of Jack White playing a kung-fu Elvis Presley in the upcoming flick "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" is making the rounds online. The comedy, co-written by Judd Apatow, will also star John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer. ...

Nine Inch Nails have surreptitiously revealed on their Web site that a Year Zero remix album, Y34R Z3R0 R3M1X3D, is in the works. ... Beck has pumped out a new track, "Timebomb," his first new material since October's The Information. The song will be available exclusively on iTunes on Tuesday, then be made available to other digital outlets starting a week later. Interestingly, the single is not preceding an album — Beck doesn't have any LP plans at the moment. ... Flea joined Patti Smith onstage for a free outdoor concert at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday night. Playing to a massive crowd that virtually spilled over into the Pacific Ocean, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist helped Smith burn through "Gloria," "Pissing in a River" and the show-closing "People Have the Power," as well as covers of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," Elvis Presley's "Love Me" and Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." ...

After an investigation, what authorities originally thought was a sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl by a male college student during Tuesday's Dave Matthews Band concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, has taken a bizarre turn. According to Albany TV station WNYT, the unidentified girl actually had consensual sexual contact with a 15-year-old male in the woods at the venue, and authorities said she was drunk at the time on alcohol provided by the mother of one of her friends. The woman, Lisa Vedder, reportedly bought a bottle of vodka on the way to the venue and provided it, in sports bottles, to her daughter and several friends. Vedder, 42, has been charged with three counts of unlawfully dealing with a child and could face additional charges of endangering the welfare of a child for providing the alcohol to her daughter. ...

Police are investigating the "suspicious" deaths of two men who attended Thursday's Ozzfest stop at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. According to New Jersey State Police Captain Al Della Fave, paramedics were summoned to the venue at 3:15 p.m. to treat Raymond Guarino, 26, of Forked River, who went into cardiac arrest. Guarino was resuscitated on site and then transported to nearby Bayshore Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m. Police, who searched his vehicle and found small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, have received information that Guarino ingested both drugs, as well as alcohol, during the concert. An autopsy is being performed, but it could be up to six weeks before toxicology results come in. Police believe that another concertgoer — Patrick Norris, 24, of Coram, New York — who died at the same hospital at 10 p.m., had also ingested the same combination of drugs and suffered cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, police arrested 83 people during Ozzfest's Thursday stop. Fifty-nine were charged with underage drinking, while 30 others were booked on a variety of charges. ...

Kid Rock's onetime DJ Uncle Kracker was arrested Friday morning (August 17) in Raleigh, North Carolina, and charged with a second-degree forcible-sex offense, The Associated Press reports. According to police spokesman Jim Sughrue, a 26-year-old woman complained that a man had committed an unwanted sexual act against her at the Ess Lounge, a downtown nightclub. Kracker, 33, whose real name is Matthew Shafer, was arrested at a nearby hotel and is being held at the Wake County Jail on a $5 million bond. There are no additional details regarding the arrest, and Kracker is due to appear in court Friday afternoon. ...

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler admonished Phil Spector's defense attorneys on Thursday, saying they made a "deliberate and egregious" violation of discovery rules pertaining to forensics expert Dr. Michael Baden's testimony. Without the jury present, Fidler said he would give an instruction to jurors at the end of the case to make sure they knew what happened.

08.16.07

Allure magazine didn't get its scheduled interview with Britney Spears, but it did complete its photo shoot, which features the star topless. (Check out excerpts right here.) The accompanying article is an amusing meditation on Britney's past, Dick Cheney (!) and the writer's experiences waiting for the interview to happen. For more, check out allure.com/go/britney. ...

Always bank on Jay-Z: The hip-hop mogul has topped Forbes.com's list of "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" after earning an estimated $34 million in 2006. 50 Cent ranks second with an estimated $32 million, and is followed by Diddy ($28 million), Timbaland ($21 million), Dr. Dre ($20 million), Eminem ($18 million), Snoop Dogg, Kanye West ($17 million), Pharrell ($17 million), Scott Storch ($17 million), Ludacris ($16 million), T.I. ($16 million), Outkast ($14 million), Lil Jon ($14 million), Ice Cube ($13 million), Jermaine Dupri ($12 million), Swizz Beatz ($12 million), Chamillionaire ($11 million), Game ($11 million) and Yung Joc ($10 million). ...

Joel Madden was caught in an interesting predicament on "Live! With Regis and Kelly" on Thursday morning (August 16) when Philbin let a little secret slip: the Good Charlotte frontman has a "surprise" for girlfriend Nicole Richie. "You're going to present her, maybe, with — did I hear the right thing, or should I not even talk about this?" Philbin said on the program, to which Madden, who was appearing on the show with his band, coyly replied, "Uh, what?" After Philbin clarified by saying, "A little ring or something," Madden answered, "I was hoping it would be a surprise, but now. ..." Philbin tried to change the subject after that, turning to Joel's brother Benji and asking who he is dating. Nicole is four and a half months pregnant with her and Joel's child. ...

A judge is allowing the four parties who are suing Brandy over the fatal multi-car crash she was involved in late last year to combine their civil-court cases, TMZ.com reports. The trial will start January 28. ...

Rock the Bells just got a little quieter. The show that was slated for Sunday at Sacramento, California's Sleep Train Amphitheatre — but wasn't set to feature Nas, Rage Against the Machine and the Roots, among others — has been scrapped due to poor ticket sales, The Sacramento Bee reports. The Saturday gig at San Francisco's McCovey Cove parking lot is still a go, and promoters just released 5,000 more tickets for the show. ...

Mike Jones, OK Go and the Rapture are getting a kick out of "MLS Represent," a new Major League Soccer/ Adidas campaign that is asking artists to come up with theme songs for MLS teams. The Polyphonic Spree, Meg & Dia, Barenaked Ladies, Kinky and Bad Brains are also involved in the effort, the results of which can be heard here. ... Elvis Costello covering Christina Aguilera? Why not? The esteemed singer/songwriter has contributed a rendition of Xtina's "Beautiful" to the "House" soundtrack, due September 18. ...

Serj Tankian recently debuted his new solo track "The Unthinking Majority" and accompanying video on his Web page, and now his System of a Down pals Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan are following suit by getting their Scars of Tomorrow project rolling. "Accompanied by some great musicians, we are preparing to go into the studio really soon to record our debut album," Malakian wrote in a post on the band's just-launched MySpace page. ...

Blaqk Audio are setting out to prove that CexCells on the road. AFI's Davey Havok and Jade Puget will bring their recently released project to the masses with 13 North American dates starting August 30 in San Francisco and ending September 27 in Los Angeles. And in the event that you're in Southern California this week, the group will sign copies of its debut LP at Best Buy stores in West Hollywood and Oceanside on Friday and Saturday, respectively. ...

Seether have canceled two upcoming concerts — in Idaho Springs, Idaho (Saturday), and Southaven, Mississippi (August 24) — after frontman Shaun Morgan's brother Eugene passed away Monday. In a MySpace post, the band said Morgan's brother "was an awesome human being, the type of person you want to be around. He never failed to put a smile on the face of all who he met and left a lasting impression on all whose lives he touched." ...

A new Pearl Jam release? No way. The band got together with famed photographer and rock-doc director Danny Clinch for "Immagine in Cornice (Picture in a Frame)," a film that provides highlights of five concerts Eddie Vedder and the gang played in Italy last year. The flick also follows PJ as they travel through the country, and includes interviews and more. Fans who preorder the DVD on the band's site during a pre-sale on August 22 will get a bonus limited-edition tee. ...

Violent Femmes have a new blister to pick at: Founding bassist Brian Ritchie has sued Gordon Gano, claiming the singer wrecked the band's reputation by allowing its best-known song, "Blister in the Sun," to be used in a Wendy's commercial. Ritchie also alleges that he wasn't given credit for, and proper account of, some of the band's songs. Gano told The Associated Press that the suit was "a complete surprise. ... We just played a really, really good tour [in South Africa]." Ritchie is seeking unspecified damages, a ruling that would declare him to be half-owner of the Femmes' catalog, and an accounting of royalties. ...

Bruce Springsteen will release his first album in five years with the E Street Band on October 2. The 11-song Magic was produced by Brendan O'Brien (Velvet Revolver, Red Hot Chili Peppers), and features "Radio Nowhere," "You'll Be Comin' Down," "Livin' in the Future," "Your Own Worst Enemy," "Gypsy Biker" and "Girls in Their Summer Clothes." ... Eric Clapton dropped $120,000 this week for 12 paintings by graffiti artist Lee Quinones, RollingStone.com reports. Each painting portrays the artist shoplifting a different '70s album, from James Brown's Sex Machine to Isley Brothers' Get Into Something. ...

And the remakes keep coming: "The Shield" producer Kurt Sutter will write and direct a new take on Bruce Lee's landmark martial-arts flick "Enter the Dragon," to be called "Awaken the Dragon." The cast and shooting schedule have yet to be revealed. ... Phil Spector murder-trial defense witness Dr. Michael Baden's credibility was called into question on Wednesday when prosecutors scrutinized the fact that the forensics expert is married to defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden. ...

Legendary jazz drummer and bebop founder Max Roach died Wednesday night in New York. Roach, considered to be one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, worked with everyone from Duke Ellington and Sonny Rollins to Miles Davis and Charles Mingus.

• Lily Allen
• Beck
• Patti Smith
• Flea
• Dave Matthews

Fans wait outside CBGB on closing night
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — A throng of reporters, cameramen, middle-aged punks in bomber jackets and porkpie hats, celebrities like Chloë Sevigny, Elijah Wood and Ed Burns, cigarette-scrounging panhandlers, the Hungry March Band and a Segway-riding man in a pink trench coat flooded the sidewalk outside 315 Bowery Sunday night.

It was the last night for seminal punk club CBGB, which is closing this week after a lengthy rent dispute ended with the building's owner, the nonprofit Bowery Residents' Committee, opting not to renew 76-year-old owner Hilly Kristal's lease.

The media folk were gunning for just the right shot — which they got when punk legend Patti Smith, CBGB's final performer, stepped outside into the crush to snap some Polaroids of the club's faded awning. The aged punks — who seemed to feel it was their right to be there even if they didn't have a ticket for the gig — wanted to be a part of rock and roll history and kiss one of the city's most beloved musical landmarks goodbye. The rest of the mob just wanted to party.

The police showed up too. The cluttered sidewalk choked off the flow of pedestrian traffic, forcing the club's security to constantly ask revelers to move along until something dawned on them — if the club was issued a ticket, "We won't have to pay it," as one employee declared.

At that moment, reality seemed to finally hit everyone who'd been standing outside the grimy club for hours in the brisk fall cold like a brick to the forehead — this was it. Tomorrow, CBGB would be boarded shut, its contents packed up for the club's impending move to Las Vegas. Kristal, the club's owner for all of its 33 years, has to be out by Halloween (see "CBGB Owner Relocating Club — Urinals Included — To Vegas This Spring").

Despite this heavy truth, the mood inside CBGB wasn't one of mourning, but of celebration. For most present, Smith's closing concert was about honoring the bastion of punk's fabled past, its lasting impact on a still-vital genre and all the bands whose careers the decrepit place helped to launch, including the Ramones, Blondie, Television and Talking Heads. American punk rock may not have been born here, but Kristal — who is battling lung cancer — certainly gave the genre its first big break (see "Good Charlotte, Audioslave, Blink-182 Weigh In On CBGB's Plight As Deadline Looms").

			Remembering CBGB Watch Bono, Beck and more share their favorite memories as the seminal punk club closes its doors.

Still, that didn't stop reporters from asking Smith whether she considered the event to be the equivalent of a punk-rock funeral during a brief press conference that preceded CBGB's swan-song gig. And Smith's response proved she still possesses plenty of punk-rock attitude: "That's too much of a f---ing stupid question for me to answer."

Smith, punk's poet laureate, stood at the edge of the club's sticker-coated stage, the rim of which has been worn away from years of hearty slam dancing, and talked about her favorite CBGB memory (the first time she set foot in the venue, to see Television in 1974), the prospect of playing the Las Vegas CBGB ("We had a job in Las Vegas four years ago and we sold 85 tickets and they canceled the show — I vowed never to return") and what the institution's closure means for the future of underground music ("CBGB is a state of mind. and what's going to happen is young kids all over the world are going to have their own f---ing clubs and they won't care about CBGB because they're going to have the new places, and the new places are always the most important.")

Backed by her longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye, drummer/bassist Jay Dee Daugherty, multi-instrumentalist Tony Shanahan, and, for most of the night's second set, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea on bass, Smith rocked the beer-swigging audience members, who were crammed uncomfortably close to each other in front of the stage and down the length of the club's bar. Television's Richard Lloyd took the stage for a rendition of his band's classic track "Marquee Moon." Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads wandered the crowd, as did E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, who had battled to keep the club open amid a very public, venomous rent dispute (see "Public Enemy, Blondie Rally For Naught: CBGB Lease Expires").

Dozens of well-wishers approached Kristal at his private table to shake his hand and thank him for the musical legacy he's leaving, while Smith and friends ripped through two raw, impassioned 90-minute sets plus an encore. The night began with Smith's "Piss Factory," and included several apropos covers, including "Tide Is High," which was made popular by Blondie, the Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes," the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer," the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," the Who's "My Generation," and a medley of Ramones classics — "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat," "Rock and Roll Radio" and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker." Smith's voice was smoky, and the band was tight — but the show wasn't perfect.

Smith stumbled through several songs in the first set, cutting the band off and then taking it from the top after she forgot the words. She had to refer to lyric sheets, insisting, "It's not a result of old age. I had to do this 30 years ago. I'm not good at memorizing stuff. That's why I didn't become a mathematics genius."

During the second, stronger set, a newly energized Smith swayed back and forth and bounced across the grungy stage as the band tackled tunes like "Redondo Beach," "Free Money" and "Pissing in a River." The entire audience seemed to sing her words back at her, as they danced atop chairs and tables under the neon light of the beer signs hanging from the dingy ceiling.

Flea, who turned 44 at the stroke of midnight, was treated to a thunderous and heartfelt "Happy Birthday," supplied by Smith's band and the crowd. After a few political rants in which Smith implored the crowd to take action to change the world — specifically referencing the environment and the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay — she concluded with a high-voltage rendition of "Gloria," at times replacing the "Gloria! G-L-O-R-I-A!" chorus with "Hey ho, let's go!," a fitting homage to the Ramones.

Before she left the stage, Smith played a somber "Elegie," which concluded with a list of the many musicians who have died in the years since they'd played CBGB, including Joe Strummer, Johnny Thunders and Joey Ramone. The moment brought tears to her eyes, and many in the crowd paused to consider the gravity of the club's closing before they strode out the entrance for the very last time. Some tore mementos from the walls as they left.

This week, Kristal will pack up as much of the club as he can with plans of re-creating a CBGB franchise in Las Vegas this spring. CBGB's lease with the BRC expired on August 31, 2005, but the club continued to operate for several months before both sides reached an agreement that mandates Kristal vacate the premises by October 31, 2006 (see "CBGB Served With Eviction Notice").

Last week the Bowery Residents' Committee's executive director, Muzzy Rosenblatt, refused an interview request from MTV News to discuss what the future might hold for the CBGB space.

• Remembering CBGB

• Patti Smith, Punk Fans Bid Farewell To CBGB

• Patti Smith
• Flea
• Tony Shanahan
• Lenny Kaye
• Richard Lloyd

Perry Farrell (file)
Photo: Amy V. Cooper

When it comes to big ideas, Perry Farrell's certainly had a few. Of course, there's his much-lauded work fronting both Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros, two bands for which he served as the creative force. And that whole Lollapalooza thing, that was his idea. But ideas don't come much bigger than Farrell's next project, Satellite Party.

For months now, Farrell's been recording material he characterizes as a hybrid of electronic, rock, experimental house and hip-hop with guitarist Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme — yes, Extreme — and seasoned world-music percussionist Gabriele Corcos, who is married to "Entourage" actress Debi Mazar. But at its heart, Farrell says Satellite Party's much more than a band. In fact, it's not much of a band at all.

"I've basically created a musical, and the musical involves a group of artists who call themselves the Solutionists," Farrell explained. "What they do is create flash mobs, where the dancers and musicians and fashionistas and fine artists all get together and collaborate and do these flash mobs in the city. They become a nuisance to the city, and one of the flash mobs causes a riot. The main guy in the story gets hurt, and he's brought to a hospital where he meets this beautiful night nurse and asks [her] to have his friends bring a radio. They begin to listen to the radio together at night, and one night they are transported up to the heavens through this radio transmission ... there's a vast visitation of energy that takes them up to the heavens, where they are involved in this lovely gala. That's what we call the Satellite Party."

Again, it's a big idea. Nevertheless, Farrell's project has attracted major-label interest, and he's even lured some of music's biggest names to join the Party. The Black Eyed Peas' Fergie will appear on three of the self-titled disc's 13 tracks, which include "The Woman in the Window" and "You Make My Hard Life Easy." He's also recruited Porno guitarist Peter DiStefano, Joy Division/ New Order bassist Peter Hook and Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante and Flea. Jack Irons, the Peppers' original drummer (and Pearl Jam's subsequent one), pounds the kit on a few tracks.

Beyond the Satellite Party album, which Farrell produced and hopes to release in early 2006, there's much more to this project than meets the ear.

"You're not going to just go into this place and watch it like a regular musical," he said. "I want to make it where it's like a dance party and people are participating in the Satellite Party themselves. The places we're going to go to, we're going to have to build a location, just like we're building Lollapalooza this year. We want to make it a very special occasion that people dress up for and participate in. It will take at least four months to render the visuals, to build the sets. I am combining a lot of different elements."

Farrell will debut his Satellite Party during this summer's two-day Lollapalooza event in Chicago but said it will be an abbreviated Satellite show. "An entire Satellite show would be basically a play with sets and everything else," he said. "We will bring the music, the musicians and perhaps the dancers, and then, maybe do just a short set to set a good vibe for people."

But, there's still one obvious question that needs answering: "Dude, Nuno?" Farrell said he met Bettencourt while attending a party at Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello's pad. "We got together and I come to find out that he, too, is kind of getting into a hybrid sound with his projects," Farrell said. "I'm thinking very carefully about how to choose the musicians for the project, because it's a hybrid of electronics and live playing. Not everybody can do that. He can, and he can deliver an incredible sonic boom with a guitar, but he can also pick up a beautiful flamenco guitar and be romantic."

Farrell also said another Porno for Pyros album isn't too far off.

"What's great about Porno for Pyros is that we never broke up — we just kind of couldn't get it together," he said. "But Peter and I have a whole album's worth of music that we never recorded properly. We have it on cassette tapes, actually, and Pete comes over and we play them. And man, what's kind of cool about it is, you don't have to live through that stuff anymore, because it's already recorded. All we have to do now is get in the studio and remember those days. It's a really cool thing, but it warrants full attention. I think most likely after the Satellite Party, then I would think to do a Porno record."

• Perry Farrell
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Flea

The Neptunes
Photo: Virgin Records

The Neptunes, Perry Farrell, Mos Def and Coldplay's Chris Martin have the privilege of nominating albums for this year's Shortlist Music Prize.

Other panelists selected for the third annual contest include Dave Matthews, Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, Erykah Badu, Musiq, Pete Yorn, the Chemical Brothers, Tori Amos and Tom Waits.

The Shortlist Music Prize, which went to Sigur Rós in 2001 and N.E.R.D. last year (see "N.E.R.D. Win Shortlist Prize"), honors adventurous albums that have sold fewer than 500,000 copies.

The panelists — which also include filmmakers Spike Jonze and Cameron Crowe, journalists Josh Tyrangiel ("Time") and Kim Osorio ("The Source") and radio personality Nic Harcourt (KCRW-FM) — will compile a list of approximately 100 nominees that will be announced in late August and will appear on the contest's Web site.

The Neptunes, Farrell and the others will then shorten the nominees to 10, the official Shortlist, which will be announced in mid-September. In October, select finalists will perform at a concert in Los Angeles that will also double as the award presentation, where the winner is given a $5,000 cash prize.

This year a Shortlist tour and TV special are also in the works, according to a spokesperson for the contest, founded by music industry veterans Greg Spotts and Tom Sarig.

Last year's panel, which selected albums by Björk, Cee-Lo and the Hives, among others, included Beck, Metallica's Lars Ulrich, and the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi (see "Strokes, Neptunes, Beck, Spike Jonze Nominate Discs For Shortlist").

• The Neptunes
• Flea
• Pete Yorn
• Tori Amos
• Dave Matthews Band