The Sex Pistols

Malcolm McLaren Remembered By John Lydon, Vivienne Westwood, More

09 Apr 2010 10:03:00 EDT

'I don't think I would have been the singer that I am today if it hadn't been for him,' said Bow Wow Wow lead singer Annabella Lwin.
By Gil Kaufman

Musical bomb-thrower, cultural rabble-rouser, fashion icon, ultimate hype man. A day after the death of former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren from cancer at the age of 64, tributes poured in for the irrepressible self-promoter who many consider the godfather of punk rock.

McLaren died on Thursday in a Swiss hospital after a long battle with a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma, and even though they had a fraught professional relationship, former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (a.k.a. "Johnny Rotten") had uncharacteristically kind words for his former boss. "For me Malc was always entertaining, and I hope you remember that," Lydon said in a statement attributed to his stage name. "Above all else he was an entertainer and I will miss him, and so should you."

Also paying tribute was David Johansen, frontman of the New York Dolls, the gender-bending stateside punk progenitors that McLaren briefly managed before turning his attention to creating England's Pistols.

"Malcolm McLaren was such a marvelous amalgam of exuberation, sensuality, culture, and literacy salted with the essential recognition of his own rascality," he told Entertainment Weekly. "He was the perfect preservation against stuffiness and a lack of humanity. We are going to miss him."

Annabella Lwin, who was discovered by McLaren at age 14 while working at a dry cleaner, said the flame-haired impresario changed her life by plucking her from obscurity, changing her name (from Myant Myant Aye) and hiring her as the frontwoman of the new-wave act Bow Wow Wow in 1980. On the day he rescued her from minimum-wage drudgery, Lwin said she thought McLaren was "a strange creature from another planet. He had a chat with my mother, and asked her — well, he didn't ask. He said, 'We need her for this band.' And the rest of it was pretty much an everyday thing.

"We got to work together on songs, and I was told to sing certain things, and he was the one that really gave me encouragement in that situation, as opposed to the band. He was the one that said, 'Use your imagination,' which is something that will never leave me," she told EW.

"Malcolm McLaren recognized something within me I didn't even know I was capable of. I don't think I would have been the singer that I am today if it hadn't been for him, even long after I had an association with him on a professional level. I'm so grateful to have known somebody like him. ... "Down the road, I discovered the other stuff he'd done, and I realized that he was like a big schoolboy, and he was having a bit of fun with these building blocks. And if it didn't go his way, he'd knock 'em all down and start all over again with some other situation. It's great to know that he did so much in his life. I mean, what an accomplishment! He started the punk rock movement, and there are a lot of groups out there that have him to thank for them being so big today in the industry.

"A lot of people will definitely be feeling the loss of this genius. Because he was a genius. He saw such great potential in people. He just went all these different directions. You can't really say any less than that: The guy was a genius."

McLaren's former partner fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood described him as a "very charismatic, special and talented person." The couple's son, Joseph Corre, the founder of the Agent Provocateur line of lingerie, called his dad the "original punk rocker," who "revolutionized the world," according to BBC News.

"He's somebody I'm incredibly proud of. He's a real beacon of a man for people to look up to," Corre said.

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Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistols Manager, Dead At 64

08 Apr 2010 15:44:00 EDT

McLaren had been suffering from cancer 'for some time,' his spokesperson said.
By James Montgomery

Malcolm McLaren, the manager of infamous punk act the Sex Pistols and the man for which the term "music impresario" was probably coined, died Thursday (April 8) in New York. He was 64.

McLaren was born in London in 1946 and left home as a teenager, attending several art colleges (all of which he was expelled from) and taking up with the so-called "Situationist" movement, which favored absurd public demonstrations as a way of enacting social change. In 1971, he and designer (and partner) Vivienne Westwood opened a London clothing shop called Let It Rock, which would become the go-to outfitter for acts in the burgeoning punk scene on both sides of the Atlantic, starting with the New York Dolls, whom McLaren met in 1972.

In 1975, he had begun to manage a London act called the Strand, who become the Sex Pistols after McLaren and his assistant spotted a snarling punk named John Lydon and made him audition for the group. Lydon was rechristened "Johnny Rotten," and with him fronting the group, the Pistols began an assault on London's art-school scene. With McLaren at the helm, the Pistols' legend began to grow, reaching its pinnacle in 1977, when, during the Queen of England's Silver Jubilee, they released their incendiary second single "God Save the Queen."

The song was regarded by many in the British public as an assault on both Queen Elizabeth II (mostly because it equated her to the head of a "fascist regime") and the monarchy itself, because, as Rotten sneered, England had "no future." In May of '77, McLaren organized a boat trip down the Thames River, where the Pistols would perform the song outside the Houses of Parliament. The boat was raided by police, and McLaren was arrested, though he did succeed in his main goal: achieving massive amounts of publicity for both himself and his fledgling group.

Riding that wave, the Pistols released their (only) album, Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's The Sex Pistols, in October 1977 and geared up for an American tour in January 1978. They would implode after only 12 days in the States, splitting after a disastrous San Francisco gig. McLaren was accused by bandmembers (mostly Lydon) of not only mismanaging them, but refusing to pay them. The two would battle it out in court during the 1980s, with Lydon winning the rights to the entire Pistols catalog in 1987. The two men never spoke to each other again.

McLaren also released albums of his own, most notably 1983's Duck Rock, which saw him incorporate influences like pan-African rhythms, early hip-hop and even country. One of the singles from the album, "Buffalo Gals," showcased scratching and a square-dance cadence, and the opening lines were even referenced by Eminem in his 2002 single "Without Me." He continued to release albums well into the 2000s and branched out into painting, radio presenting and even the movie business, serving as a producer on the film adaptation of "Fast Food Nation."

McLaren's spokesperson told London's The Daily Mail that he had been suffering from cancer for "some time ... but recently had been full of health, which then rapidly deteriorated" and that his body would be brought back to London for burial in Highgate Cemetary.

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The Sex Pistols

Johnny Rotten On Sex Pistols Comeback, Britney Spears Meltdown, Green Day's Stench

12 Oct 2007 08:02:00 EDT

Punk icon also has a lot to say about Kid Rock's VMA fight with ... Tommy Lee Jones?
By Chris Harris

John Lydon has a lot on his mind, and he's not afraid to share it with the world.

The outspoken frontman, who's perhaps better known by his stage name, Johnny Rotten, said he is excited for the Sex Pistols' upcoming comeback gigs in the U.K., which will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the band's seminal release, 1977's Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, which is slated for an expanded vinyl re-release later this month.

But according to him, this is no reunion. Prior to this recent revival, the Pistols re-formed in 1996 for a six-month tour, which included dates in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Japan.

"I don't like words like 'reunited' or 'reunion' — we just come together every now and again, when we feel the time's right," Lydon explained. "This year, the time was right because in England, they were celebrating 30 years of punk, and we let it go all year. After listening to the bands that were putting forth a load of nonsense and getting punk wrong, we thought it was about time we went back and sorted them out, and that's exactly what we're doing."

In addition to the band's seven U.K. dates, a Pistols concert has been scheduled for October 25 in West Hollywood, California — the only U.S. date thus far. Lydon did indicate that, in 2008, the Pistols will remain intact for a North American tour, and are even tinkering with the idea of starting their own festival — which would feature up-and-coming punk acts, stamped with Rotten's seal of approval — comparable to an Ozzfest or Warped Tour.

"But better than that," he insisted, "we're not using any model at all. It would be a typical Sex Pistols approach — from the ground up. We build our own brick sh--houses, and we make sure they're indestructible. The work involved in any of these processes is overwhelming."

For the first time in decades, the Sex Pistols recently returned to the studio to re-record two of its classic songs for use in the "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" video game: "Pretty Vacant" and "Anarchy in the U.K." Lydon said the sessions weren't much different from when the band last recorded together.

"We thought we had the masters, but the record company told us they couldn't find them, so we had to go in and re-record 'Anarchy' and 'Pretty Vacant,' " he explained. "It meant whatever money we would have made doing these games we lost re-recording — that's what the experience is like. It's brilliant fun. Brilliant. Brilliant fun. Really brilliant. It was just me, [guitarist] Steve [Jones] and [drummer] Paul [Cook], which is how Bollocks was recorded anyway. It was back to basics for us, and we really, really liked each other. We remembered the good times, instead of just moaning about the bad ones. They sent me 'Guitar Hero,' and I loved it immediately. It's great. It's fun and then some."

But would Lydon ever consider recording fresh material with the Pistols and possibly release an album? He's not so sure about that.

"I've said for years, 'No,' and I'm still kind of of that mind," he said. "If I feel it's right, we'll do it, and we'll do it the way we always did it. It happens instinctively and instantly. The idea of booking a recording studio to go in and specifically come up with new songs is too format for any of our tastes. That's not the way we do things. Things happen for the right reasons, or otherwise they don't happen at all."

And what's the punk's response to fans, who might criticize the video game move as an act of — gulp — selling out? "I have certainly, in 30 years, not once ever joined the establishment, or put out anything of inferior quality, just to part fools from their money," Lydon defended. "That's never been the way, and it never will be. We don't demand attention, we just do what we do. And oddly enough, that seems to be what everybody wants to copy.

"One thing people got to understand is, the Sex Pistols started as a genuine band, from a working-class background, facing serious social and economic situations," he continued. "Massive unemployment, riots in the street, Margaret Thatcher in power — this was a serious time, so the songs relate directly to that. And lo and behold, 30 years later, it's the same situation. But people aren't standing up anymore. Everybody seems to be rolling over, because I think they're bored with confrontation, and that's ridiculous. The very fact that you have to, as a human being, express your individuality in this world, or you get sucked up into the malaise, doesn't seem to be sinking in. You have very apathetic younger generations at the moment, and they're turning their rage and anger in on themselves. They're killing themselves in colleges, because there's no focus in them. That's a sad state of affairs."

So what's the answer? "Think," he offered. "Just try thinking. Get off the video games."

Lydon, who has been working on his own solo album for several years now, also hinted at a revival of his other band, Public Image Ltd., which went on an indefinite hiatus back in 1993.

"Public Image Ltd. is only what I want it to be, so as long as I'm in it, it's consistent," he said, adding that he hopes to release another album from the act in the not-so-distant future. "I'm in the middle of a solo album at the moment, which I'm putting together myself, and I can't give you any release date because, indeed, I don't have a label to release it on as of yet," he said. "It's now up to about 12 songs, and I've been working on it on and off for a while."

Really, much of Lydon's time in recent years has been taken up by television. Lydon is a regular on European nature programs, he said; he did a series for the Discovery Channel on insects and has worked on documentaries about great white sharks and gorillas in the Congo. "I'm always doing something," he said. "It might not always be directly in the public eye, but there is a quality level for what I do."

Lydon's now pitching a new show, which he hopes will air on American television too. "It will be a 10-episode series called 'Rotten Loves America,' " the California resident said. "But we don't know if that's going to take off or not. I love this country very much — more so than George Bush. I can't talk about the show, really, but it will be seriously interesting. There's a few little bubbles to burst along the way, because America doesn't seem to have a voice anymore, and anybody that expresses any opinion that differs from the current government seems to be claimed as un-American. I find that shocking. Have you allowed your country to be kidnapped by those right-wing idiots? They're fools, they're loonies, they're bonkers, and they shouldn't be listened to."

Without being prompted, Lydon lashed out once again against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted the Pistols in 2005 — an honor the original members turned down (see "Sex Pistols Respond To Rock Hall Invite With Filth And Fury").

"This was what they call a silent vote, by record-company executives, who voted us into their wonderful little museum," Lydon explained. "That's trying to suck us up into the sh--stem, but at the same time fob us off. We don't take awards like that as a compliment; we take them as an insult. If you can't put your name behind us, and say you truly support us, we don't want you anywhere near us. It's stand-up-and-be-counted time, and that might be the difference between our ideology and the current state of the nation."

He also had some choice words for Green Day and Britney Spears. And the 2007 Video Music Awards were also targeted during Lydon's recent conversation with MTV News.

"I love to tease that lot, because I think they're dopey," he said of Green Day. "They hold no promise, no future. They jumped on a bandwagon that was all clearly laid out for them, forgetting all the bands that did the groundwork, putting together a punk movement. They came in and said, 'Yes, we can wear these clothes and have our hair like this, wear those boots and play music that way, and we'll call ourselves punk.' Not much thought went into them. Nothing — nothing original. Therefore they smell, big time. They're like old gorgonzola cheese in old boots.

"The current state of music is dour — it's lifeless and listless and mediocre," he continued. "When you look at the last Video Music Awards fiasco, when you get Kid Rock and Tommy Lee Jones [note: It was actually Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, not the actor — although that would have rocked] fighting over that worn-out old blown-up woman. It's insane. It's daft. How were they let in? I've never been invited. Maybe they were afraid I'd cause trouble — what? Like everybody else does?"

Then, he turned his attention toward Ms. Spears' VMA performanceVMA performance.

"Didn't anybody take a look at Britney before she trotted onstage like dobbin the donkey?" he wondered. "It was like a school play by 11-year-olds — that's what it came over as. How grim. I'd like to think it was a clever decision to let her go on like that, but sadly, it wasn't, so the event became humorless."

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Mariah Carey Wins In Court; Plus Marc Ecko, Notorious B.I.G., Michael Vick, Lil Wayne, Smashing Pumpkins & More, In For The Record

26 Sep 2007 17:38:00 EDT

Ecko sends Bonds ball to Cooperstown — with an asterisk; Biggie case takes another twist; Vick fails drug test.
By MTV News staff

Mariah Carey got a win in court last week when a federal judge decided that a copyright-infringement case against her had no merit. Singer Rachele Chafir had sued Carey in April 2006, claiming that Carey's hit "It's Like That" was copied from her song "Sexy" and lifted key pieces, including the music, for the chorus. Chafir, who copyrighted the song in 2004, claimed Carey had access to "Sexy" since it was available on a Web site, but U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood decided that wasn't proof Carey or her collaborators had gone to the Web site or lifted the material, which wasn't "strikingly similar" enough to be considered infringement. With "no genuine issues of material fact," Wood closed the case. "It was the right decision," Carey's lawyer Ilene Farkas told MTV News. "The record was clear in this case." Meanwhile, Carey is moving on with her yet-untitled follow-up to The Emancipation of Mimi, which her record label confirmed is now due December 4. ...

Going, going ... to Cooperstown. And with an asterisk on it. Baseball star Barry Bonds' record-breaking home-run ball, which was purchased two weeks ago in an online auction by hip-hop fashion mogul Marc Ecko, will be heading to the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum after all. Ecko bought the ball and launched a Web site giving fans the chance to vote on the ball's final destination: outer space or to Cooperstown, with or without an asterisk signifying Bonds' alleged steroid use in helping him become the all-time home-run king. The announcement was made Wednesday morning (September 26) on the "Today" show after a week of voting. According to Vote756.com, over 10 million votes were cast, of which 47 percent chose to send the tagged ball to the famed baseball museum. ...

The twisted saga of the investigation into the unsolved 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G. took another turn this week when Waymond Anderson, an inmate serving life for murder, recanted testimony in which he had implicated the Los Angeles Police Department in the rapper's murder. The Los Angeles Times reports that Anderson said in a recent deposition that he lied about LAPD involvement as part of a "scam" cooked up with two other convicts to get a big monetary settlement from the city of Los Angeles. Most shockingly, Anderson accused the rapper's family — which has filed a wrongful-death suit seeking damages from the city — and its lawyer of taking part in the scheme and offering to pay him a percentage of the settlement for false testimony against the LAPD. In the August 20 testimony, Anderson said he had never met the officers he implicated, despite earlier statements in which he described conversations with the two disgraced ex-LAPD cops. A lawyer for Biggie's family, Perry Sanders, called Anderson's allegations "100 percent, demonstrably false," adding yet another twist to the already-knotted-up story by saying that Anderson appeared to be changing his story at the behest of Chuck Philips, a Times reporter who has written extensively about the murder investigation and has questioned the theory of LAPD involvement. Phillips and the Times dismissed the allegations. ...

In other Biggie news, the recently released documentary "The Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life" follows the rapper's life from his early days to his death with interviews from many of the behind-the-scenes music-industry figures and friends who watched the rapper rise from a street-corner hustler to one of the biggest rap stars in the world. The film also features several minutes of previously unreleased footage shot by a bystander of the scene on the night Biggie was gunned down. The fan's video — which director Peter Spirer ("Beef," "Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel") said has been reviewed by authorities — doesn't capture the moment Biggie's car was shot at, but it does have audio of the shots and shaky footage of the chaotic aftermath. ...

Embattled football player Michael Vick is facing stricter release conditions after testing positive for marijuana earlier this month, The Associated Press reports. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson imposed the new conditions, which include restricting Vick to his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. with electronic monitoring and making him submit to random drug tests. He was ordered to continue participating in substance-abuse and mental-health counseling. Vick was put under pretrial release supervision in July, and the restrictions included refraining from the use of narcotic drugs or other controlled substances. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback, who pleaded guilty in August to federal dogfighting charges, is awaiting sentencing December 10 — and Vick's violation of the conditions of his release could be taken into consideration by the judge. He faces up to five years in prison for the federal charges, and has been indicted on additional state charges in Virginia as well. ...

A second woman has filed a lawsuit against Lil Wayne over a melee that broke out during one of his shows at Morgan State University in Baltimore in October. According to an AP story, Carlisa Dixon said she was impaled on a metal pole after the crowd surged to snatch up money that was being tossed from the stage. Dixon is seeking $1 million from Wayne's record label and touring companies, and another $1 million from the university, claiming she underwent surgery for a puncture wound as a result of the crowd surge. A lawsuit was filed in August by another woman who claimed she was trampled in the same money-throwing incident. A spokesperson for Wayne could not be reached for comment at press time. ...

A man died at a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Monday night in what police think may have been a crowd-surfing or moshing accident. The Canadian Press reports that Vancouver police say the man was unconscious when he was dragged out of the crowd at the Pacific National Exhibition Forum during the show and worked on by first-aid personnel on site before being transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have ruled out foul play. ... The Voodoo Music Experience is shifting locations, but just slightly. The fest, to take place October 26-28, has a new site in New Orleans City Park to accommodate ongoing restoration and improvement of the park. The shift brings the fest closer to Tad Gormley Stadium, where Voodoo was first held in 1999. ...

Do you march to Nelly's beat? The rapper is cobbling together a marching band for his performance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards on October 13. Auditions will be held Sunday starting at 11 a.m. in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New Orleans and St. Louis, and Nelly is looking for girls who can play drums, tri-toms, bass drum, tuba or trumpet. Prospective players need to know how to perform his song "Grillz" and move to the beat of the song while playing their instruments. Final auditions will be held October 8 in Atlanta, and those who can't make the auditions in person can post a one-minute video clip on Nelly's drum-line-audition site. ... If you've been doubting Swizz Beatz's fashion sense, think again — Gap has tapped the hugely popular producer for its spring ad campaign. ...

VH1 Rock Docs picked up its first Emmy win on Monday as "DMC: My Adoption Journey" earned the award for News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming. The program, which revolves around the Run-DMC member's search for his birth mother, premiered in February 2006 and will re-air on VH1 on Saturday at 10 p.m. ... Have you already imported Babyface's Playlist into your own playlist? Then mark you calendar — the singer is putting together a tour in support of his recently released LP. Babyface will play a gig in the Philippines on October 13, followed by a stretch in Japan; after that he'll hit Oakland, California, on November 23, and Sparks, Nevada, the following day. ...

During a recent visit to "The Howard Stern Show," Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx spoke out about drummer Tommy Lee and his apparent departure from the band. He told Stern that Lee quit, and Sixx blamed the current legal problems the band is having with one of its former managers for the turmoil. Sixx said that, since Lee isn't the Crüe's frontman or chief songwriter, the band should be fine without him. He added that he harbors no ill will toward Lee. ... Snow Patrol keyboardist Tom Simpson was expected to appear in court in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday to answer to drug-possession charges filed against him this summer. While the charges weren't dropped, the prosecution doesn't intend on taking "further action," meaning the charges will either have to be re-raised again or dropped altogether. ...

Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard's side project Brad are getting back together for a one-night-only show on October 17 at New York's Webster Hall. The benefit event will also feature Billy Bragg and be hosted by Tim Robbins. It is being held to support Woody and Marjorie Guthrie, and the 40th anniversary of the Huntington's Disease Society of America, which was founded by Marjorie. ... Puddle of Mudd aren't ones for Southern hospitality, apparently. Frontman Wesley Scantlin has been banned from Memphis' Graceland after hopping in the pool in Elvis Presley's mansion during a tour on Monday. ...

The Eagles will perform on an awards show for the first time when they ta

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Joel Madden Talks 'Future' Marriage With Nicole Richie; Plus Vanessa Hudgens, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Zack De La Rocha & More, In For The Record

18 Sep 2007 20:13:00 EDT

'High School Musical' star sued by attorney; 'Ye, Jay optimistic about Graduation sales; de la Rocha reportedly finishes solo LP.
By

Joel Madden spoke on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on Tuesday (September 18) about his plans to marry Nicole Richie, People reports. The Good Charlotte rocker — who saw his marriage-proposal secret slip after Regis Philbin spilled the beans — told Seacrest, "Obviously, marriage is in our future. I don't know when or where or how, but right now our priority is our family and is the baby. That's all we've been thinking about. We are in love and are really happy." Richie announced on "Good Morning America" in late July that she was four months pregnant. And it looks like Madden is taking on some of the shopping responsibilities. "I already went to Target and got a stroller and a playpen," he told Seacrest. ...

Vanessa Hudgens, who has recently been dogged by leaked nude photos, is facing a new problem: The "High School Musical" star's attorney is suing her for $150,000 in unpaid fees, TMZ.com reports. The suit, filed by Brian L. Schall, alleges that she owes him for contract-signing services dating back to October 2005 and that he wants 5 percent of her earnings. ...

Kanye West and Jay-Z were all smiles on Tuesday, the day before the first-week-sales figures for 'Ye's Graduation and 50 Cent's competing Curtis were due to be released. "Everyone is coming up to me and telling me how proud they are of me," West told The Associated Press, adding, "it feels overwhelming." Jay was a bit more cautious in his enthusiasm over the yet-unannounced results, saying, "We're not gloating. He's celebrating his win ... in his mind, he believed he could win the whole time." ...

Hell has frozen over ... and Zack de la Rocha has finally put the finishing touches on his forever-in-the-works solo LP, Billboard reports. According to the news outlet, sources say de la Rocha plays keyboards on the yet-untitled effort — which has been in the works since the singer initially left Rage Against the Machine in 2000 — and that it sounds like a cross between Led Zeppelin and Dr. Dre. Ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore also collaborated heavily on the album, according to Billboard, and some of it was recently recorded at Jack Johnson's Los Angeles studio. De la Rocha is reportedly unsigned and considering offers for how to distribute the LP. ...

Nicole Scherzinger is launching her second single this week, "Baby Love" (featuring Will.I.Am). But the Black Eyed Pea doesn't get to play her love interest in the video, despite the song being "about us being in love." "I love Will, but I'm not in love with Will," the singer laughed. "I have a guy playing my lover, a sweet guy with a great energy that I cast for it." Francis Lawrence (Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani) directed the clip, which takes place off the coast of Southern California's Catalina Island. ... Fat Joe has hooked up with Imperial Records — a division of Capitol and Terror Squad — for the release of his eighth album, The Elephant in the Room. The LP, due early next year, will be studded with stars: Diddy, Rick Ross and Fabolous make guest appearances, while Scott Storch, Danjahandz and DJ Khaled lend their production skills. ...

The last of four secret Van Halen rehearsal shows reportedly took place Sunday night in Los Angeles before more than 500 fans — including guitarists Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Also on hand, apparently, was Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who attempted to get onstage during the set but was denied by frontman David Lee Roth. In a video making the rounds on the Internet, Wylde, who appeared to be in the front row, tried to hoist himself onto the stage. Security shuffled in to remove him, but Roth took to the microphone. "Nah, nah, nah. Are you in show biz?" he said. "Then get off the stage. Get off the f---ing stage." ...

Legendary punk rockers the Sex Pistols have announced that they'll squeeze into their bondage pants again for one night only on November 8 at the Brixton Academy in London for a 30th anniversary celebration of the release of their landmark 1977 album, Never Mind the Bollocks ... Here's the Sex Pistols. Original singer John Lydon, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock will be on hand for the show, the group's first in more than four years. Bollocks, the only studio album recorded by the Pistols, features such punk classics as "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the U.K." ...

The Gorillaz are prepping their second B-sides collection, D-Sides. The 22-track double-disc is slated for release November 6 and will feature demos; B-sides ("68 State," "Murdoc Is God," "Hongkongaton"); and remixes of songs like "Kids With Guns" and "Dare" by everyone from DFA and Hot Chip to Jamie T and Soulwax. ... Our long national nightmare is over ... sort of. After years of holding out, Radiohead have finally begun offering their albums for download. The group, which has held back from offering landmarks like The Bends and OK Computer to iTunes in the past because of its dislike for the site's practice of allowing individual songs for download, is now offering all its albums and some early singles in a high-quality, DRM-free format on 7digital.com. The albums will only be sold as complete packages. ...

David Bowie has made a $10,000 donation to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund and is lending his voice to aid the six black teenagers who defenders have said faced overly aggressive prosecution and extended incarceration over their role in an alleged altercation with a white classmate in the small town (population: 3,000) of Jena, Louisiana, last year. The teens are alleged to have assaulted a white student in December, months after an incident on campus in which three nooses were hung on a tree at the local high school set off a series of tense, racially charged confrontations. "There is clearly a separate and unequal judicial process going on in the town of Jena," Bowie said in a statement. "A donation to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund is my small gesture indicating my belief that a wrongful charge and sentence should be prevented." Thousands of people, including rapper Mos Def, are expected to descend on the town on Thursday to protest the prosecution of the five teenagers and a minor. ...

Perry Farrell — whose Satellite Party has stumbled out of the starting gate with poor sales of their Ultra Payloaded debut — is kissing the major labels goodbye and launching his own indie label, Bells Are Ringing. Although it was originally released by Columbia in late May, Ultra Payloaded will now act as the first Bells Are Ringing release. "I'm very excited to become part of this new independent trend where artists will have more creative freedom, make higher profits on the sales of their music, and most of all, it allows me, the artist, to own my art, my masters," Farrell said in a statement. ... Don't tell Neil Young: Alabama Governor Bob Riley has announced that the state's tourism agency will be using Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" to market the state next year, AP reports. The classic-rock song was released in 1974 as a response to Young, who was critical of the South. ...

The Dead Kennedys will release a greatest-hits collection on October 9 called Milking the Sacred Cow. The set will feature a dozen tracks, including "Holiday in Cambodia," "Too Drunk to F---" and "Halloween." ... The dates for Sevendust's upcoming Ladies Get Out of Jail Free Tour '07, along with 10 Years, Black Light Burns and Neverset, have been revealed. The trek launches October 19 in Maplewood, Minnesota, and gigs are booked through November 10 in Atlanta. ... 3rd Strike have re-formed with a brand-new lineup. The band is currently working on new songs and posted one of them, "Battlecry," on its MySpace page. The band has booked an October 19 gig at West Hollywood, California's Whisky A Go Go, and the gig will also feature Drowning Pool and the Exies. ...

Expect to see even more kids accompanying Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the future. "We're not done," Pitt recently told AP. "[People] say, 'Any plans for a fifth?' And I say, 'And a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth and a ninth.' That's my answer," he said. The actor, who stars in Friday's "Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," also let it be known that he and Jolie have crafted a 9-foot-wide bed that fits them and their four children. "One more [child] and we'll have to go to 11 feet," he said. ...

Wesley Snipes must pay United Talent Agency $1.7 million in a default judgment issued Tuesday, according to CBS News. The company, which helped the "Blade" actor get roles in multiple films, sued him in July 2006 for an alleged breach of oral contract. UTA claims Snipes agreed to pay 10 percent of any money he earned for movie roles the talent agency got for him, but he did not pay commissions for "The Shooter," "Chaos" and other films.

09.17.07

Dave Grohl has opened up to U.K. newspaper The Guardian about the death of his former Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain. "Kurt dying shocked me into running away from music for a while," he divulged. "I started Foo Fighters because I didn't want to retreat. I coul

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Rihanna Says She Couldn't Look Jay-Z In The Eye; Plus Lindsay Lohan, Maroon 5, Public Enemy, Ronald Isley, John Mayer & More, In For The Record

26 Jul 2007 15:40:00 EDT

911 call in Lohan arrest is released; Adam Levine's band tapped for Fashion Rocks; Chuck D hands out advance copies of PE's new CD.
By MTV News staff

Seems like Rihanna may be listening to too much T.I. (or is that T.I.P.?) lately. In the August/September issue of Vibe Vixen, the cover starlet told the magazine about resolving her own split-personality issues, one being her crafted stage persona, Rihanna (her actual middle name), and the other being her given namesake and usual self, Robyn. "It wasn't that [my management or the label] told me what to do," she explained. "It was more of what I couldn't do. I couldn't wear red lipstick. I couldn't wear my hair in a ponytail; all kinds of stupid things. Being 'Rihanna' wasn't natural. So I rebelled. I'm doing me. Now, Robyn and Rihanna are much more similar." In the issue, hitting newsstands August 7, the Bajan singer also addressed the Jay-Z rumors once more, revealing at one point she couldn't even look him in the eye she was so embarrassed by all the gossip. But, according to Rihanna, Jay approached her and told her to just ignore the lies. " 'It is what it is,' " she quoted him as saying. ...

On Thursday (July 26) the Santa Monica Police Department in California released the 911 call made by the mother of Lindsay Lohan's former personal assistant — in the three-minute call, which was made at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, the woman begged for help after a GMC began trailing her and appeared not to know that Lohan was driving it. When the dispatcher asked where she was, the woman said she was heading to the police station, and she wound up parking at the nearby Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Muffled yells can be heard near the end of the call, after which the woman can be heard apparently identifying people to the police. According to The Associated Press, police said Lohan and the woman were having a heated debate when they showed up, and that two men had accompanied Lohan in the car. ...

The Lohan debacle is getting even messier: In an e-mail sent Wednesday to 24/Sizzler's David Caplan, Ali Lohan defended her mother against father Michael Lohan, who has been making the media rounds to comment on Lindsay's arrest. "My father is telling all lies to people and saying he was such a great dad and was always there for us, my father was never there for us. I think that the whole reason why my sister is upset with herself and not as confident is because of my dad not being around and always staying out late and not coming home for days." ...

And Dina Lohan isn't too happy about Rob Schneider spoofing her daughter Lindsay on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Tuesday night. A statement issued to "Access Hollywood" and attributed to "Dina and family" reads: "We have a great respect for Jay Leno, but we are disappointed in the path he chose to allow a guest to make light of a very serious situation concerning Lindsay. Thank you to Craig Ferguson for not making a mockery of such a serious situation to which teens and young adults are facing across the country." ...

Maroon 5 have been tapped to join previously announced performers Alicia Keys, Usher, Avril Lavigne and Fall Out Boy at this year's Fashion Rocks event, taking place September 6 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event will be hosted by "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven and air the following day on CBS at 9 p.m. ET. ...

Chuck D handed out vouchers for free copies of Public Enemy's new album, How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?, at Union Square in Manhattan, New York, on Thursday (July 26). The project, due August 7, is being released by the PE frontman's label, SlamJamz Records, and TuneCore, a digital distribution company that offered fans at the event a chance to make their own music available on online stores like iTunes. ...

Island Def Jam Records launched a campaign on Thursday for Ronald "Mr. Biggs" Isley in hopes of securing an executive pardon for the singer, who was indicted on tax-evasion charges in September. A federal judge originally ordered Isley to three years in prison, but his sentencing hearing had been postponed until next month. The label is citing Isley's declining health and his efforts to pay down the IRS debt as reasons for the pardon. ...

Don't expect to see a sexy starlet in the new Marc Jacobs ad campaign — Michael Stipe is doing the honors, RollingStone.com reports. The bare-and-hairy-chest R.E.M. frontman wears baggy blue pants in the ad. He's not the only rocker cropping up in clothing ads these days: John Mayer is part of the new Gap ad campaign. ... Jamie Reynolds of the Klaxons broke his leg stage-diving at a show in France over the weekend, and the band has had to table four concerts in Australia as a result, according to its MySpace page. ... Take a bite out of this: Apple shipped 9.82 million iPods last quarter, helping boost profits 73 percent. The company expects to ship 1 million iPhones this quarter. ...

A man who demanded $1 million not to publish stolen photos of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding has been arrested, The Associated Press reports. David Hans Schmidt was caught Tuesday, a bail bond was set at $100,000 and he is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. The FBI had been contacted after Schmidt approached Cruise's representatives six weeks ago with the photos. ... Naomi Watts gave birth to a baby boy on Wednesday. The dad is longtime boyfriend and actor Liev Schreiber. ...

Izzy Stradlin fan site ChopAway.com says the guitarist sent along an e-mail letting it know that he might turn up for the 20th anniversary celebration of Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, set to take place Saturday at West Hollywood, California's Key Club. In the note, Stradlin added that Appetite drummer Steven Adler will be performing, and, according to RollingStone.com, L.A. Gun Tracii Guns will also be there. The site reports that Slash and Duff McKagan are "maybes." ...

To mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks ... Here's the Sex Pistols, the band is planning to release a special edition of the LP on October 29 — but not on plastic. The album will be reissued in heavyweight vinyl with a 7-inch insert of "Submission" and a poster — just as the record was originally released October 28, 1977. The Pistols will also reissue their four classic singles "Anarchy in the U.K.," "God Save the Queen," "Pretty Vacant" and "Holidays in rhe Sun" on vinyl as well throughout the month of October. ...

Veteran rock/industrial drummer Martin Atkins, who has played with Ministry, Public Image Ltd. and Killing Joke, has compiled his 30-plus years of knowledge about how to survive on the road into a 530-page bible called "Tour: Smart ... and Break the Band." Due in September, the book has tips on everything from how to write contracts, pick tour vans and market yourself to making a guest list, decorating the stage, getting paid and what to do when your gear gets stolen. Among the contributors to the book are Steve Albini, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, Henry Rollins and former Marilyn Manson guitarist Zim Zum.

07.25.07

Don't believe Kanye West has a sense of humor? He's posted a hilarious new "Can't Tell Me Nothing" clip, starring underground comedian Zach Galifianakis and indie-folkie Will Oldham, on his site. According to Billboard.com, the hilarious low-budget clip — which features Galifianakis and Oldham mouthing the words to the song while they hang with cows and gyrate against tractors — was filmed at Galifianakis' farm in North Carolina. Galifianakis also made a memorable appearance in Fiona Apple's "Not About Love" video, but he recently told Impose Magazine that it was his clip for Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy" that won over West. ...

Beyoncé took a big spill at her concert in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night, tumbling headfirst down 12 steps at Amway Arena. Video capturing the gaffe is making the rounds on the Web — even though the singer told the crowd not to post the clip on YouTube. "Beyoncé's fall onstage last night ... was a case of her coat's hem getting caught in her shoes," her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said in a statement issued Wednesday (July 25), "but Miss Knowles picked herself right up, without missing a beat, showing to all that she is the best." ... The Backstreet Boys have pegged October 30 as the release date for their new, yet-untitled album, which will be led by first single "Inconsolable," Billboard.com reports. Don't expect to hear Kevin Richardson on there, though — he left in June 2006 (and wasn't replaced). ...

Wyclef Jean has snatched up Akon, Lil Wayne and newcomer Niia for "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)," the first single from his forthcoming album Carnival II (Memoirs of an Immigrant). The Columbia release will hit stores in November. ...

Has "Deathly Hallows" left you with a question or two? You might be able to get an answer from the author herself — on Monday, "Harry Potter" publisher Bloomsbury will hold a live chat with J.K. Rowling on Bloomsbury.com. In other Potter news, publisher Scholastic says a few hundred of the 12 million copies of "Deathly Hallows" are missing pages, The Associated Press reports. The company said defective books can be replaced by bringing them back to point of purchase, but some fans are stowing them away as keepsakes. ...

Lindsay Lohan might have even more problems on her

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New Releases: Christina Aguilera, Obie Trice, Snakes On A Plane: The Album, Panic Channel, Cham & More

15 Aug 2006 06:00:00 EDT

Also due Tuesday: Sublime, Sex Pistols, Leigh Nash, Lyfe Jennings, Hot Snakes, 'Cheetah Girls 2' soundtrack.
By Kurt Orzeck

Agile Era: Everyone's aware of Christina Aguilera's fixation with the first half of the 20th century by now, but are they obsessed enough with her obsession to throw down twice as much loot for her new album? We'll find out this week with the two-CD Back to Basics. The set features a guest spot by adult-contemporary mainstay Steve Winwood on "Makes Me Wanna Pray," while Christina gets more current with DJ Premier and Linda Perry elsewhere. The video for the title track is tacked on for good measure, but fans who preordered the "premium package" also earned an exclusive tee and red 7-inch single. Someone's feeling generous these days.

Twice as Trice: Obie Trice's been promising Second Round's on Me for a little while now, but he's finally ready to whip out his wallet and pay up. Eminem, whose Shady Records has been tailoring the disc as more of a street record, executive produces and appears on "There They Go" alongside Big Herk and Trick Trick. 50 Cent crops up on "Everywhere I Go," while Nate Dogg ("All of My Life"), Akon ("Snitch") and Trey Songz ("Ghetto" and "Mama") also spot the sophomore Trice.

Hissteria: You've seen the "Snakes on a Plane" trailer, recited Samuel L. Jackson's catchphrase to your friends and heard Cobra Starship's virulent theme song enough times to throw you into a tailspin, but finally the fangs have been bared. In anticipation of the film's Friday release, Snakes on a Plane: The Album spits up a new Cee-Lo tune, "Ophidiophobia" (the fear of snakes); a new acoustic song by Coheed and Cambria; plus exclusive remixes of Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy and All-American Rejects tunes. Sounds like a lethal combination.

Thunder Down Under by underground-punk vipers Hot Snakes will be no match for the soundtrack, but devout fans will no doubt swallow up the posthumous live LP. Recorded on May 10 last year for the Australian Broadcast Company for air on radio, the set features "Think About Carbs," "U.S. Mint" and "Let It Come."

A Soon-to-Be Millionaire?: Not to be confused with Mr. "Ridin Dirty," Jamaican singer Cham follows up 2000's Wow ... The Story with a different tale, Ghetto Story. The title track features Alicia Keys, as does its video, while Rihanna and Akon also give the dancehall performer a boost. Songs include "Rudeboy Pledge," "Wah Den a She Now?" and "Tic Toc."

Widespread Panic: Dave Navarro is no longer with Carmen Electra, but he has at least one new love on his hands: Panic Channel, which reteams him with Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney. The dudes debut this week with (ONe), which alludes to the fact that it's a debut record and they want you to turn "on" the Channel (get it?). "It was necessary to take our time in order to create an internal history," Navarro said in a post on the band's Web site, regarding the debut's long delay.

Ladies' Week: Christina's leading the charge this week, but she's got a huge crew of femme followers behind her. Hilary and Haylie Duff, Aly & AJ, Kelly Clarkson, JoJo and other youthful pop tarts align on (Lip Smackers Presents) Girl Next. That comp will be up against Raven-Symoné's "Cheetah Girls 2" soundtrack, but Girl Next has some fresh faces on its side: Hannah Montana, Hayden Panettiere and Jordan Pruitt, who are all being introduced on that collection.

Another newbie, Joanna — who appeared in MTV's "True Life" and will open for Nick Lachey on his fall tour — has a bit more in common with Christina: She, too, enlisted Linda Perry's guidance for This Crazy Life. But while the pop genius wrote the title track, Joanna is going with "Let It Slide" as the first single to her long-awaited maiden release.

Also stepping out for the first time on her own is Leigh Nash, who logged a handful of hits with Sixpence None the Richer but is now doing her own thing. Her Blue on Blue debut features two songs co-written with her producer, Pierre Marchand — Sarah McLachlan's longtime collaborator — plus "Ocean Size Love" and "My Idea of Heaven." The LP's dropping on Nash's own One Son Records.

Speaking of Canadians (McLachlan), Juno Award nominee Kinnie Starr called on another Canuck, Tegan and Sara's Tegan Quinn, to sing along on "La Le La La." As it turns out, the track was mixed by Howard Redekopp, an affiliate of another set of Canadians, the New Pornographers. Starr — who was part of Cirque de Soleil's risqué "Zumanity" show and whose stuff has appeared on "The L Word" — also coats her Anything LP with "Rock the Boat," "Sex in the Prairies" and "Wind in Your Sail."

Jazz singer Patricia Barber also pipes up this week, with a more conceptual release: Mythologies. The disc's based on a book your Greek-history teacher should have assigned to you, "The Metamorphoses of Ovid," and hosts hip-hop kids singing, a gospel choir chanting and a guest saxophonist tooting. It's also got a tribute to Nina Simone in "Icarus."

On the subject of salutes, a couple of women are paying homage to the humans on the other end of the gender spectrum, i.e. men. Americana goddess Maria Muldaur — who redid Peggy Lee tunes on her 2003 album, A Woman Alone With the Blues — turns her appreciative gaze to another icon with Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan. She reinterprets "Lay Lady Lay" as "Lay Baby Lay" and also touches on "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" and the title tune.

Blues stalwart Rory Block reaches back even further with her tip-of-the-cap to the genre's trailblazer Robert Johnson. The Lady and Mr. Johnson finds her doing the devilish Delta thing on "Hellhound on My Trail," "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)."

But the blues' undeniable queen — when it comes to popularity at least — must be Bonnie Raitt, and she, too, crops up this week. VH1 Classic Presents: Decades Rock Live! is the first release from the series to boast a CD and a DVD, and it was also the first episode to air. The guest list seals the deal, with Norah Jones, Ben Harper, Alison Krauss and Keb' Mo' ganging up with Raitt for "Love Sneakin' Up on You."

Song Title of the Week:

Cee-Lo's "Ophidiophobia" from Snakes on a Plane: The Album

Other Notables:

Sublime's Sublime - Deluxe Edition and the Sex Pistols' Spunk: The landmark disc by the reggae-lovin' dub-rockers is supplanted by a two-CD 10th-anniversary edition, bristling with unreleased tuneage, a Wyclef Jean remix of "Doin' Time," acoustic takes and more. On the opposite end of the punk spectrum, the Pistols' hard-to-find live bootleg from 1977 gets a proper release in time for another anniversary: It's been 30 years since the group recorded its first demos. The warts-and-all disc has 15 tracks and includes all the between-song banter.

Various artists' Musicfest NW Vol. 1: Like the Pistols' bootleg, this disc will also be tough to find — but worth the search, as the proceeds are going toward the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls and Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Featuring tracks by Spoon, Kristin Hersh, Crooked Fingers' Eric Bachmann and Centro-Matic, the comp revolves around Portland's three-day September festival, which this year will host Spoon's Britt Daniel, Hersh and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, who also appear here.

Fernando's Enter to Exit: Also representing Portland this week are Fernando Viciconte and his band o' brothers — which includes the Eels' Jeff Lyster and Derek Brown. Fernando, who say on their MySpace page that they sound like "the mating call of the North American dairy cow," do some colorful uddering on "Howard Hughes," "One Trick Pony" and "Pasajeros." Moo.

New Releases:

A Change of Pace - Prepare the Masses (Immortal)
Trace Adkins - Dangerous Man (limited edition with bonus DVD also available; Capitol)
Buy Now: Dangerous Man (Capitol)
Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain (The End)
Christina Aguilera - Back to Basics (two CDs; RCA)
Read: "Christina Makes Her Comeback Twice As Nice By Expanding Basics Into Double LP"
Buy now: Back to Basics (RCA)
Carmen Appice - Ultimate Guitar Zeus (Escapi)
Patricia Barber - Mythologies (Blue Note)
Rory Block - The Lady and Mr. Johnson (Rykodisc)
Paul Burch - East to West (Bloodshot)
Cham - Ghetto Story (Atlantic)
Buy Now: Ghetto Story (Atlantic)
Cherish - Unappreciated (enhanced; Capitol)
Buy Now: Unappreciated (Capitol)
Damnwells - Air Stereo (Rounder/

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For The Record: Quick News On Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, Kevin Federline, Rob Zombie & More

04 Aug 2006 17:05:00 EDT

Underwood fights pop switch; Lopez leaves 'Dallas'; Furtado goes with 'Maneater.'
By MTV News staff report

She'd spent a year as the winner of "American Idol" and was about to receive a college degree from Northeastern State University, but May was a month of dread for Carrie Underwood, who was certain her big graduation day would be a disaster. "I was like, 'People are going to boo me,' " the singer told Teen People in the magazine's September — and final — issue. Underwood, who said a story in a student newspaper claimed she was getting too much attention, got through the ceremony to receive her degree without a boo — "I was just another graduate." And while the triple-platinum country singer says she'd enjoy working in small-town broadcast journalism, a shorter career jump to a more pop sound is not in her future. "What could I bring to that market? I don't dance. I'm not a tummy show-er. ... I felt I fit in the country world, where I don't have to change." Teen People's final issue, which also features the new cast of "Laguna Beach," is on newsstands Friday (August 4). ...

Jennifer Lopez will not be appearing in the forthcoming Hollywood remake of the TV soap "Dallas," her spokesperson confirmed. J. Lo had signed on for the role of booze-swigging Sue Ellen Ewing opposite John Travolta, who will play conniving oil tycoon J.R. Ewing. ... Nelly Furtado has picked her next U.S. single. "Maneater" will be the second track from Loose to hit the airwaves. ... Only four dancers are left standing in Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" competition — two were eliminated this week following a performance by Omarion — and next week, a winner will be crowned. Ciara and Fergie will appear on Thursday's finale, performing "Step Up" and "London Bridge," respectively. Tickets for the "So You Think You Can Dance Tour," which kicks off September 12 in Seattle, go on sale August 12. ...

The video for "Lose Control" is set in a nightclub, so rather than deck out a soundstage, Kevin Federline went straight to the real thing when it came time to shoot the clip. Federline took over the Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on July 29 for a 15-hour shoot, reports In Touch magazine, which has a behind-the-scenes look at the production in its August 14 issue. After the work was done, Pure's late-night crowd was treated to a preview of "Lose Control" — which the DJ played three times as Federline sang along. "The single is really high energy," he told the magazine. "It's a great song to perform." ...

A release date has been set for Rob Zombie's remake of the horror classic "Halloween," but fans of the rocker's flicks will need to wait awhile before the film hits the screen. Zombie's "Halloween" is scheduled to open October 19, 2007. ... Ohio punk foursome Dead Poetic's forthcoming album, Vices, will feature a very special guest on the track "Paralytic" — Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, who also co-produced two songs for the effort. Vices will be in stores October 31. ... Actress Monica Keena has been missing from "Entourage" this season, but she has a new hot chick to play. Keena will voice a character in "The Sopranos" video game, due in November. ...

It's been known for some time that Modest Mouse were working on their new album with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, but what's news to us is the fact that Marr is now apparently a full-fledged member of the band. A spokesperson for the band's label, Epic Records, confirmed that Marr had joined Modest Mouse and will tour with them in support of their upcoming album, tentatively titled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. The band (including Marr) recorded the new album at Sweet Tea studios in Mississippi, the same place the group recorded its breakout 2004 album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News. The new Modest Mouse LP is tentatively due this fall. ... Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" was featured on the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy" in May — with the line "Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" pointedly playing as a surgeon lies in a hospital bed alongside the dead body of a beloved patient — and the song quickly became a hit on iTunes. Now there's a mash-up of sorts posted on ABC's Web site, pairing the track with scenes from the series. The free video will be posted at ABC.com through August 14. ...

The Clash bassist Paul Simonon has confirmed that he'll be collaborating with Blur/ Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen in a new band that has yet to be named. According to BBC News, the group will be releasing an album, called The Good, the Bad and the Queen, January 2007; Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse — who is also Albarn's partner in Gorillaz — is producing the disc, which has been in the works for the last two years. ... On August 15, the Sex Pistols will reissue Spunk, which originally came out as a bootleg in 1977. The disc features the original demos recorded with bassist Glen Matlock, who was fired and replaced by Sid Vicious before the band recorded Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. ...

Sorta-industrial Canadian grinders Death From Above 1979 have called it a day. Bassist/keyboardist Jesse Keeler broke the news via a post on the band's official Web site, writing, "I'm sure most of you assume the band isn't happening anymore, since there are no shows, no work on a new album, etc. I wanted to let you know that your assumptions are correct. We decided to stop doing the band." Keeler goes on to say that he and drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger actually decided to split about a year ago, but they opted to finish their busy tour schedule — which included a slot opening for Nine Inch Nails and the Queens of the Stone Age — and then break up. "We started as a punk band with pop aspirations and we met every goal we set for ourselves," Keeler wrote. "A few weeks ago, the album [their 2004 debut, the thundering You're a Woman, I'm a Machine] finally went gold in Canada and that was the final mark I really wanted to reach." ...

Unlike most best-of collections, Unwritten Law's forthcoming retrospective will feature fresh new takes on some old songs. The band re-recorded 17 tracks for the disc, The Hit List, which is set for release September 26. The collection will also feature some unheard, unreleased studio cuts. ... Melissa Etheridge and her band will be auctioning off autographed instruments used during their summer 2006 tour to benefit the Breast Cancer Care and Research Fund. The auction, hosted by GivingWorks.eBay.com, kicks off Friday with a new instrument added each week this month. ... Doug Fieger, lead singer of the Knack, underwent successful surgery to remove two brain tumors Thursday, The Associated Press reports. He is expected to have a full recovery. The Knack's upcoming tour — which included an August 11 stop at the Corbin Music Festival in Corbin, Kentucky — has been postponed.

08.03.2006

The Rolling Stones will have Kanye West pumping up the crowd for the first three dates of their A Bigger Bang tour's fall North American leg. The rapper will perform before the rock vets during concerts at Boston's Gillette Stadium (September 20); Halifax, Nova Scotia's Halifax Commons (September 23); and East Rutherford, New Jersey's Giants Stadium (September 27). ...

According to Attleboro, Massachusetts' The Sun Chronicle, a 42-year-old man from Cranston, Rhode Island, was charged with indecent assault following Ozzfest's August 1 stop in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for allegedly reaching under a woman's skirt. Joseph Rinaldi was released on $860 bail following his arraignment on Wednesday. The victim told police he'd grabbed underneath her skirt as she was walking back to her tour bus with a friend. The victim's identity has not been revealed. Rinaldi was also charged with possession of a class-B substance when police found he was carrying Vicodin. ...

Religious leaders are lashing out at Madonna in advance of her Sunday concert in Rome, The Associated Press reports. The singer plans to stage a mock crucifixion at the show, as she has been doing throughout her Confessions tour. "To crucify yourself in the city of the pope and the martyrs is an act of open hostility" toward the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Ersilio Tonini told Italian daily newspaper La Stampa on Wednesday. Mario Scialoja, president of the Muslim World League in Italy, called the demonstration "an act of bad taste," while Riccardo Pacifici, a spokesperson for Rome's Jewish community, said, "It's a disrespectful act, and to do it in Rome is even worse." ...

Rihanna will perform at Teen Choice 2006, which will air August 20 at 8 p.m. on Fox. Nick Lachey, Snoop Dogg, Jessica Alba, Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, Brandon Routh, Kristin Cavallari, Wilmer Valderrama, Paula Abdul and the cast of "High School Musical" will also be appearing at the awards show. ... Making a TV performance of a different variety is David Hasselhoff, who will sing "Jump in My Car" on "America's Got Talent" Thursday night (August 3), with his former "Knight Rider" co-star KITT in tow. ...

Alabama's Bureau of Tourism & Travel is erecting six billboards with the pictures of Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice under the words, "Where America finds its voice. Alabama." The billboards will go up just before "American Idol" auditions begin in Birmingham on August 21. ... In other ex-"I

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John Lydon Says Sex Pistols Won't Tour — But Would Love To Play Japan

25 Apr 2006 13:40:00 EDT

Singer also contributed to British fashion retrospective at New York museum.
By James Montgomery

You've got to hand it to Sex Pistols frontman/agitator John Lydon: The guy's persistent.

It's been more than a month since he and the rest of Pistols failed to show up for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — as they had promised (see "Sex Pistols Respond To Rock Hall Invite With Filth And Fury") — yet in a lengthy interview posted on his official site, JohnLydon.com, he continued to hammer away at the hall.

But this time, he wasn't railing against the institution's corporate ties nor its stuffy selection process — but rather, it was the evening's official "Guide Book," which is filled with such hyperbole as "The Sex Pistols played the industry, and the industry played them right back" and stated that the band's agit-anthem "God Save the Queen" "reached #1 in the U.K." (It only sort of did: The tune claimed the top spot on the New Musical Express' chart, yet only reached #2 on the official chart.)

"We tried to work with these people [at the hall of fame], we did make a concerted effort to get things right, but they consistently couldn't be bothered. But they can be bothered — and do go out of their way — to employ people who have no real grasp of reality," Lydon said. "We have re-educated the Halls of Shame many a time, and they've ignored the lot, and they're still employing naff journalists. It's exactly what I expected, which is why in all honesty I couldn't recommend anyone going to that hall, or having anything to do with them."

But Lydon wasn't all filth and fury in the interview — which identifies no interviewer and is billed "The JohnLydon.com interview." He took time out to profess his admiration for England's Arsenal football club and spoke of the possibilities of yet another Sex Pistols reunion. But this time around, he's not thinking about a tour (the Pistols toured in 1996 and 2003 and have played various scattered dates), but rather a one-off special on Japanese TV.

"Well, we got an offer [to re-form], but it was no good," Lydon said. "It was for a whole bunch of gigs. But what I wanted to do ... was to just do one big gig in Japan. My original idea was I wanted to do it on the day of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [induction ceremony], but that was a bit childish on my part.

"I'd like to do one gig in Japan, live TV, and not bother with a whole tour because there's no need for it. And I've got too many other things to do. All of us have other work obligations now," he continued. "We would do a gig for fun ... it would be a possibility if it's for TV broadcast. Then it's special. It would be like a thank you present. Any other way, no. Not particularly interested, certainly not going to go out touring."

Lydon also spoke about his involvement in an upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, called "AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion" (which runs from May 3 until September 4). The show focuses on the groundbreaking British fashions of the past 30 years, beginning with the tattered jumpers and bondage pants sold by punk profiteers Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood at Sex, the London boutique they ran in the late '70s.

A spokesperson for the Met confirmed that Lydon will be recording a podcast for the exhibit, which will be put up for free download on the Met's Web site (MetMuseum.org) as well as on iTunes. The podcast — in which Lydon talks about the historical context of "God Save the Queen" and punk fashion in general — will also be available on the museum's headphone systems, so visitors to the exhibit will be able to hear his take on the whole thing ... which, in a manner seemingly unbecoming of the punk provocateur, seems to be unusually positive.

"They want me to explain exactly what the lyrics of 'God Save the Queen' were about. Which is a good opportunity to actually get something right. They came to us, so I have a sense of responsibility towards that. It sounds very good, sounds like a huge laugh," Lydon said. "I'm gonna loan them my original design — which was made by Vivienne — of the tartan jacket which I wore on the first American tour. The bondage pants fell apart years ago, they rotted actually. Quite literally rotted, but the jacket — moth holes and all — is still in existence. I love that tartan. I've never been able to get the tartan to do it again."

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The Sex Pistols

Metallica Thud, Blondie Feud At Rock Hall Of Fame Ceremony

14 Mar 2006 13:48:00 EST

Blondie refuse to let estranged former members perform with them.
By James Montgomery

"It's all over now. ... Rock n' roll is sh--. It's dismal," Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon railed in the June 1980 issue of the late, great rock mag Trouser Press. And although he said those words more than 25 years ago, Lydon's tune has scarcely changed.

So when it was announced back in November that Lydon and his fellow Pistols would finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (see "Black Sabbath Finally Make Rock Hall Of Fame — Whether Ozzy Likes It Or Not"), it was just a matter of time before he came out swinging against it all. And when Lydon finally did — via a hand-scrawled note posted on the Pistols' Web site (see "Sex Pistols Respond To Rock Hall Invite With Filth And Fury") stating that the group would not attend the ceremony — the music industry responded with little more than a chuckle and a collective roll of the eyes.

And of course, when the Rock Hall held its 21st annual induction ceremony at New York's glitzy Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Monday — an event that also saw the induction of Blondie and Miles Davis, as well as Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd (both of whom, like the Pistols, had been passed over several times; see "So How Do You Get Into The Rock Hall Of Fame?") — Lydon and the Pistols were nowhere to be seen.

It was supposed to be a silent middle finger to the rock and roll establishment, though it actually seemed to disappoint rather than enrage the assembled musicians, suits and journos. (Rumors, which sadly turned out to be false, had been swirling all day that Green Day were going to induct the Pistols). Still, one cannot help but wonder what Lydon would've thought of the whole ceremony if he'd bothered to attend it.

He probably would have enjoyed the nasty onstage spat that occurred between members of Blondie, which was certainly the most "punk" moment of the night. After frontwoman Deborah Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, keyboardist Jimmy Destri and drummer Clem Burke accepted their awards, former members Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison — who unsuccessfully sued to rejoin the band on its 1998 reunion tour (see "Blondie Reunion Blocked By Former Members") — raided the podium and begged to perform with Blondie.

"Debbie, aren't we allowed?" Infante whined. "I thought the group was being inducted tonight."

"Can't you see my real band is up there?" Harry shot back, before launching into spirited set of Blondie's hits, "Heart of Glass," "Rapture" and "Call Me."

The ugly onstage incident spilled over into the press area, as Stein told the assembled media that he was keeping an eye on his Rock Hall trophy "In case I see one of those f---ers back here."

That sorry scene was, for better or worse, probably the evening's highlight. Sting inducted A&M Records cofounders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. The late Miles Davis was inducted by a polite Herbie Hancock. And Black Sabbath, who had made their displeasure with the Rock Hall known on many occasions, were strangely subdued when giving their acceptance speech. Even the rambunctious Ozzy Osbourne seemed touched by the honor, thanking the Hall of Fame "for getting it right" and dedicated the honor to the memory of former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton and former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

"I was getting a bit tired of getting my hopes up year after year, but I'm happy we're finally in," Ozzy said before the ceremony. "It's a great honor and hopefully it will lead the way to more heavy-metal acts being inducted. I'd like to see Judas Priest in soon."

And though Sabbath did not play after accepting their award (because, as Ozzy delicately put it, "my b---s hurt"), the spirit of their brutal proto-metal was brought to thudding life by Metallica, who chugged through "Hole in the Sky" and "Iron Man" with wanton disregard for the eardrums of the largely graying assembled dignitaries. (It should be noted that even though frontman James Hetfield adopted a sorta-Ozzy falsetto for the tunes, as a Sabbath cover band, Metallica are a pretty decent Metallica.)

And as the night ended with inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd jamming away on — what else? — "Free Bird," Lydon's criticisms felt only partially valid. Sure, there are still many artists who deserve to be inducted (Grandmaster Flash, the Stooges) and the ceremony still has the feel of a corporate gospel brunch at the House of Blues. But the Hall seems to be working to fix its problems. Inducting the Pistols, Sabbath and Skynyrd was one step; festooning the Waldorf's stately stage with all manner of punky graffiti was another.

Maybe next year, they'll get it all right. And it'd be a shame if Lydon weren't there to see it.

See it all for yourself, including performances by Metallica and Kid Rock with Lynyrd Skynyrd, during VH1's broadcast of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony March 21 at 9 p.m.

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Black Sabbath, Metallica And Blondie At The 2006 Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony

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20 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

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