Lou Reed and Moby perform at an anti-war benefit in New York Tuesday
Photo: MTV News

BROOKLYN, New York — This week marks the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. And in Moby's opinion, the "fireworks show" that rained down on Baghdad five years ago should have never happened in the first place.

"I remember watching it on television and thinking, 'Oh f---, it's begun — and we're gonna be here forever,' " he said at a press conference on Tuesday night prior to "Speak Up: A Benefit Concert for Peace in Iraq and Justice at Home," an anti-war concert that featured short sets from an eclectic lineup including Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty, the Scissor Sisters, Blonde Redhead and Damien Rice. "Iraq is the equivalent of a Venus flytrap or shark's mouth — very easy to get in, but not so easy to get out."

His voice was one of many at this sold-out concert at St. Ann's Warehouse, a benefit for Iraq Veterans Against the War and United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition that is organizing nationwide demonstrations this week. The show alternated between musical performances and speakers, and even featured a piece from noted choreographer Bill T. Jones, who used ballet and poetry to tell a story about the hardships of warfare to the somber accompaniment of a solo violinist.

The mood of the concert, which began with a feedback-drenched guitar rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" from Reed, Anderson, Hegarty and Moby, alternated between anger and melancholy.

Recently back from Texas, where he performed at the South by Southwest Conference, Moby told a story about meeting a couple of soldiers there who were spending the weekend on leave.

"They asked me to play this song in memory of their [soldier] friends who just killed themselves," he said somewhat cryptically before launching into "Slipping Away," from his 2005 LP, Hotel.

Earlier in the evening, Norah Jones, seated at a piano on the corner of the stage, played "My Dear Country." "I wrote this song in November of 2004," she told the audience. "Hopefully this year in November I'll feel a little differently."

Laurie Anderson offered up her techno-flavored protest song "Only an Expert," the lyrics of which address the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. She later accompanied Hegarty on violin.

David Byrne, accompanied by Jones, Rice and two Scissor Sisters, played a set of uptempo new material, and also announced that he is once again collaborating with Brian Eno, who co-produced some of Byrne's seminal work with his former band, Talking Heads.

The Scissor Sisters announced they were adopting a new name for the evening — "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Dressed in a dayglow yellow suit jacket, lead singer Jake Shears sang the disco-inspired "I Don't Feel Like Dancing."

The speakers, many of them journalists (including author/Air America personality Laura Flanders and Nation writer Naomi Klein), talked about a variety of agendas, from anti-globalization to denouncing the Patriot Act to the evils of war profiteering. Many of those who appeared onstage placed as much blame on the media as they did on the Bush administration, although there was little acknowledgement of the role that the blogosphere has played in war coverage.

Antony Hegarty, leader of Antony and the Johnsons, also called out the media, but in a less abrasive tone. He pointed out that while many Americans know that more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the war, no one knows for sure just how many Iraqi civilians have lost their lives.

"You could Google 'Iraqi casualties' for hours and never come up with a number," Hegarty said. "It's become the job of artists and people on the outside to collect information on what exactly is going on."

The two-hour-plus concert ended with a show of unity, as Reed led the assembled performers in a rendition of "Voices of Freedom." And while no performer had explicitly endorsed a candidate, many alluded to the importance of voting.

"When I went to vote for the [New York] primary, I have to admit, I started to cry," Johnson said earlier that evening. "I felt the weight of the future on my shoulder — and I think a lot of Americans are feeling that way too."

• Lou Reed
• Moby
• Norah Jones
• Talking Heads
• Scissor Sisters

Hilly Kristal
Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

Hilly Kristal, the founder of legendary New York punk-rock venue CBGB, died Tuesday from complications from lung cancer at age 75.

Kristal, who opened the now-defunct venue in 1973 in the then-gritty Bowery neighborhood in Manhattan, is credited with helping to launch the mid-'70s punk revolution with his championing of bands such as the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith. Following a final show in October 2006, Kristal had discussed plans to take the venue to Las Vegas (see "CBGB Owner Relocating Club — Urinals Included — To Vegas This Spring").

"I am very sorry that Hilly is gone," Blondie singer Deborah Harry said in a statement released to MTV News. "He was a big help to Blondie and to the New York music scene for many years. His club CBGB has become a part of New York lore and rock and roll history."

"Hilly was an integral part of the punk scene from 1974 until his death," said former Ramones drummer Mark Bell, a.k.a Marky Ramone. "He was always supportive of the genre and of bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and will hold a prominent place in music history. We are all grateful to him and will miss him."

CBGB, which opened in December 1973, was officially called CBGB & OMFUG, which stood for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers." But it was the decision by the gruff, bespectacled and bearded Kristal to offer a residency to a then-obscure rock band called Television in March 1974 that helped kick open the door for a raft of bands that would spark the punk-rock movement across the globe.

Intent on showcasing bands playing original music, Kristal offered his stage to thousands upon thousands of young acts over its three-decade-long run. A fixture at the ramshackle club's front door, Kristal ran the club for all 33 years, overseeing its growth from punk's incubator to a tourist attraction — albeit one with legendarily putrid bathrooms and poster-caked walls — whose iconic logo can be seen on T-shirts all over the world.

According to his son, Mark Dana Kristal, Hilly "was suffering" a great deal during the final weeks of his life. "I think he thought he was going to get better, but he didn't. I just wanted him to be in less pain," he said.

As for his father's legacy, "He already has recognition for helping people with music," Mark said.

At a time when many experimental New York musicians didn't have a club to call their own, Kristal provided a kind of incubator that helped the bands find their sound, according to Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, a longtime friend of Kristal's who used to live across the street from the club.

"He provided this place to play for a lot of disaffected musicians, and he did that by having an open-door policy," Kaye told MTV News. "The only real thing that was important for CBGB was that you played original music. If you did, he was willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and the time to figure out what the music was."

Kaye experienced that policy firsthand as a member of Smith's group, which played a seven-week, two-show-a-night residency at the club in spring 1975. Kaye said the residency was key in helping the band to "settle into" its musical style. "It's the kind of environment that musicians need, like [New York's] Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, or 52nd Street in the 1940s when bebop was taking shape. Those times had venues where people could see who they are."

Even after the golden era of punk had faded, Kaye praised Kristal for keeping that open-door policy over the next 30-plus years, inviting a variety of acts to play and asking them back if they could draw a crowd. "I saw such varieties of music in that club," Kaye recalled of the long, dimly lit room where curious masses shuffled past Kristal's desk beside the front door toward the low, cramped stage in the back. There fans would find acts that hoped the club would become part of their legend — or at least add them to its storied history.

"Hilly always gave Sonic Youth a break, from the moment I walked in there looking for a gig," Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore told MTV News. "He knew I had been going there every night since 1977. I think we made $8 on a Tuesday night in front of hardly anyone [on that first gig], but Hilly was there, listening, and he told me that we could next play a Thursday night. He was fatherly in the truest sense, always having the time to talk with you without any condescension. Amid the chaos of Bleecker & Bowery, he was a figure of decency."

After the heyday of New York punk passed, the club continued its streak of booking bands that would go on to bigger and better things, as well as those who just wanted to get a taste of its storied past. That includes Living Colour, Guns N' Roses, Pavement, Elvis Costello, PJ Harvey, AC/DC, the Beastie Boys, the Cars, the Pixies, Soundgarden, the Police, Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth — who launched their summer 2006 tour at the club and filmed the video for "Do You Believe in Rapture?" there as an homage to the venue.

The club began to lose out on bookings by the mid-1990s to the raft of other venues in the city, and turned its attention to lesser-known punk and hardcore acts. But it still had an allure for newer groups that were aware of its history (or that wanted to celebrate its status), attracting acts such as Green Day, Good Charlotte, 30 Seconds to Mars, Blink-182, Hawthorne Heights, Devendra Banhart, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, NOFX, Pearl Jam, Rancid, Linkin Park, Coheed and Cambria, the Dave Matthews Band and the Strokes. During the 1980s, it also expanded into a space next door, opening a gallery/shop that featured acoustic music and an underground "CB's Lounge" that also hosted shows.

"Sometimes you forget, in terms of the mythology, how great a place it was to see music," Kaye continued. "It had a great stage, a great sound system ... and [Kristal] was always there, at the front desk, seven days a week, rain or shine, watching the [crowds] come in. He was a great New York character. He was family."

Though the venue was shuttered last year after a bitter, protracted battle with the owner of the building that housed the club (see "CBGB Owner, Landlord Reach Accord: Club To Close On Halloween '06"), it closed with a flurry of farewell gigs (see "Flea Jams With Patti Smith, Punks Weep At CBGB's Last-Ever Show"). Kristal's daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, told MTV News she will continue her dad's work, as he directed, by working to revive the CBGB name. "There will be clubs, more than one," she said, adding that they may or may not be in New York.

Kristal Burgman, who was 18 when CBGB opened, said people might not realize that her dad was also a musician and songwriter. "He sang at Radio City Music Hall when he was very young in the men's chorus," she said. "He could hit a bass C and he had perfect pitch. He loved music and his whole life was about music. My favorite memories of him was when he'd play guitar and sing at my birthday parties. But what made CBGB unique was that it was not about a man starting a business to make money, it was about a man starting a business to give artists a chance to be heard and play their music."

CBGB attendees would often see Kristal sitting at his desk, strumming an acoustic guitar and humming or singing in his deep voice, no matter how loud the noise emanting from the stage.

Kristal exhaustively documented the club's layout before its closing, with an eye toward reopening it — the club's bar, stage and other fixtures were put into storage (see "CBGB's Last Hours"). "I have to fight [to keep the club open]," he told MTV News in 2006. "We should be right here. New York is a wonderful city in a lot of ways, and we're part of it. Not because of me. It's only because of what these musicians who played here say.

"I didn't make this reputation, they did," he continued. "I cannot let this thing down. I can't give up if I think we're right in being here."

A private memorial service is planned, with a public memorial to be held at a later date.

On Wednesday, outside the now-vacant 315 Bowery, where CBGB once stood, fans had erected a makeshift memorial. The wicks of a dozen or so candles flickered in the breeze caused by delivery trucks speeding past the intersection of Bleecker Street. Few signs of CBGB remain, except for some band stickers plastered across nearby lampposts, messages fans from around the world have etched into the building's metal shutters — and, of course, the street sign that says "Joey Ramone Place" (the official second name of that block of East 2nd Street). One of the notes scrawled on the shutters reads, "R.I.P. Hilly, we'll miss you." A handful of bouquets were strewn along the sidewalk, one atop an orange-and-purple baseball bat — perhaps a nod to the Ramones' "Beat on the Brat"?

One passerby, who stopped to snap photos of the shrine with his cellphone camera, said, "This is now a punk rock chapel."

[This story was originally published at 10:50 a.m. ET on 08.29.2007]

• Remembering CBGB

• The Ramones
• Blondie
• Talking Heads
• Patti Smith

213 (file)
Photo: Anthony Mandler

Hitting stores this week are albums by two rap trios, a pop star's ex-boy-toy, angry hard rockers and one of the preeminent original pop-punk bands.

Hip-hop heavyweights Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G have put their solo careers on hold in order to drop a supergroup superproject. 213, the group named after the former Long Beach, California, area code, release The Hard Way this week.

Ryan Cabrera, ex-boyfriend of Ashlee Simpson and up-and-coming singer/songwriter with a pop penchant, releases his major-label debut, Take It All Away. The album, co-produced by Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, was penned almost two years ago, before Cabrera and Simpson were an item, so don't look for any love songs or angry breakup tunes about the starlet.

Saliva represent for hard rock with their most recent effort, Survival of the Sickest, the Memphis band's follow-up to 2002's Back Into Your System.

Northern State, the rap trio some have labeled the female Beastie Boys, will release their major-label debut, All City. The Long Island-bred ladies — Hesta Prynn, Guinea Love and DJ Sprout — released their first full-length album, Dying in Stereo, in 2003.

Original A-list alternative band the Talking Heads have two releases this week. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, the group's 1982 double live album, becomes available on CD for the first time, while The Best of the Talking Heads, the band's first single-disc greatest-hits album, includes hits "Psycho Killer," "Once in a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House" and 15 others.

Also out this week are albums by Rilo Kiley (More Adventurous), Presidents of the United States of America (Love Everybody) and Bruce Hornsby (Halcyon Days).

Out Tuesday, August 17:

• 213 - The Hard Way (TVT)
  Buy Now: The Hard Way (TVT)
  Read: "Snoop's 213 Get Wrong Number While Doing Things The Hard Way"
• John Brannen - The Good Thief (Sly Dog)
• Ryan Cabrera - Take It All Away (E.V.L.A./Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Take It All Away (E.V.L.A./Atlantic)
  Read: "Ryan Cabrera, Ashlee's Ex, Sets Sights On Album, Sorority Tour"
• The Court and Spark - Witch Season (Absolutely Kosher)
• Good for Cows - Bebop Fantasy (Asian Man)
• Bruce Hornsby - Halcyon Days (Sony)
• Kissing Tigers - Pleasure of Resistance (Slowdance)
• Little Wings - Magic Wand (K Records)
• Moments in Grace - Moonlight Survived (Salad Days/Atlantic)
• Nagisa Ni Te - The Same As a Flower (Jagjaguwar)
• Northern State - All City (Columbia)
• Presidents of the United States of America - Love Everybody (Pusa Inc.)
• Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous (Brute/Beaute)
• Saliva - Survival of the Sickest (Island)
  Buy Now: Survival of the Sickest (Island)
  Read: "Saliva: Foaming At the Mouth"
• Sasquatch - Sasquatch (Small Stone)
• Tracy Shedd - Louder Than You Can Hear (Devil in the Woods)
• Slang - More Talk About Tonight (Terminus)
• Steve Smith and Vital Information - Come on In (Tone Center)
• Spiderbait - Tonight Alright (Interscope)
• Mavis Staples - Have a Little Faith (Alligator)
• The Sunshine Fix - Green Imagination (spinART)
• Steve Swallow With Ohad Talmor - The Bum’s Tale (Palmetto)
• Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (Rhino)
• The Jacob Fred Odyssey - Walking With Giants (Hyena)
• Travis Tritt - My Honky Tonk History (Sony)
• Twelve Girls Band - Eastern Energy (Platia Entertainment)
• The Uncle Devil Show - A Terrible Beauty (Compass)
• Various artists - Bump This (Pyramid)
• Various artists - Future Soundtrack for America (Barsuk)
• DVD: Various artists - "Hip Hop Story 3: Coast to Coast" (Ventura)
• DVD: Various artists - "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" (First Look)
• DVD: Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson - "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour" (Image)

August 24:

• R. Kelly - Happy People/ U Saved Me (Jive)
• Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)
• Jason Mraz - Tonight, Not Again - At the Eagles Ballroom (Elektra)

August 31:

• Björk - Medulla (Elektra/ Asylum)
  Read: "Bjork Album Preview: Beautiful, Baffling and Bothersome Medúlla"
• Jill Scott - Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds 2 (Sony)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 1 (Psychopathic)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 2 (Psychopathic)
• Various artists - Passion of the Christ: Songs (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Scott Stapp, Lauryn Hill, P.O.D., MxPx Head Up 'Passion Of The Christ' LP"

September 7:

• Christine McVie - In The Meantime (Koch)
• Alan Jackson - What I Do (Arista)
• Anita Baker - My Everything (Blue Note)

• 213
• Ryan Cabrera
• Saliva
• Talking Heads
• Northern State

Ashlee Simpson might not sit on the toilet like Jenny McCarthy did in her ad, but the reality show star is the next Candie's girl. "Candie's always does tongue-in-cheek, very funny advertising and they have a great sense of humor," Simpson said in a statement. "The ads are always sexy and this is actually the first sexy photo shoot I've done." Simpson is slated to appear in the company's fall advertising campaign, which starts in the September issues of fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazines. She will also perform a live concert for Candie's customers and make two in-store personal appearances at select retailers in major markets, to be announced. Meanwhile, Simpson was just nominated for the Fresh New Face award at the Teen Choice Awards, to be broadcast August 11 on FOX. ...

Outkast's Andre 3000 was just voted the "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" in PETA's annual online poll — the first hip-hop star to make the list. Past winners have included Tobey Maguire, Shania Twain and Josh Hartnett. ... The hard-court dreams of Master P have once again clanked off the rim. The rapper and CEO of No Limit Records was cut from the summer league team of the NBA's Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, before the season even started. Master P has tried the b-ball thing before, having almost made it through training camps for the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors in 1999. He's played minor-league ball, too, most recently for the Las Vegas Rattlers of the ABA. ...

Hall of Fame-point-guard-turned-business-renaissance-man Magic Johnson has lined up the celebrities to join him at his annual charity event, A Midsummer Night's Magic. The two-day gala will feature New Edition and Carl Thomas performing on July 31 at the L.A. Center Studios and a celebrity b-ball game on August 1 at the Forum. Nick Cannon and Xzibit are among the stars who will hoop it up. ... There's nothing like seeing 10 35-year-old women chasing a limousine. That scenario came to pass Tuesday night in Brooklyn, New York, as New Edition finished their set at Wingate Park and tried to make an exit. For a solid hour, Ronnie, Ricky, Ralph, Mike and Johnny performed nothing but hits from their catalog, including "Popcorn Love," "Cool It Now," "Mr. Telephone Man," "Poison," "Sensitivity" and "My, My, My" as part of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series. One oddity at the show — the guys did not sing their current single, "Hot 2 Nite." The group was also given a New York City Proclamation from Brooklyn city council member Yvette Clarke for their years of performing. ...

ODB is readying the first single from his upcoming LP, Dirty. The track is called "Lift Your Skirt" and finds Dirt McGirt telling the ladies to do just that. ... Juvenile is moving in anything but "Slow Motion." He just signed a new deal with Atlantic Records and plans to release his next LP in early 2005. ... Two collections by the pioneering alternative rock band the Talking Heads will be issued on August 17. The first, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, will feature live material performed between 1977 and 1981. The recording was originally released in 1982 as a double album, but was previously unavailable on CD. The second, Best of the Talking Heads, features 18 of the band's biggest hits, including "Psycho Killer," "Once in a Lifetime" and "Burning Down the House." ...

A new album by the Used, In Love and Death, is set for release August 31. The John Feldmann-produced effort is the follow-up to the band's 2002 self-titled debut. ... A Duran Duran box set featuring the group's first three albums, Duran Duran, Rio and Seven and the Ragged Tiger, will be released on August 10. The package will include bonus music videos. ...

07.13.04

Paris Hilton no longer has "Screwed" — she's lost the song, which was to be her first single, to Haylie Duff, who says she blocked the hotel heiress from attempting to release the song. "Paris has talked to the people who wrote the song, and I think it's all under control now," Duff told USA Today. ...

Print and broadcast PSAs featuring Christina Aguilera and Outkast's Andre 3000 encouraging young people to vote will hit magazines and airwaves later this month. Declare Yourself, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, is behind the ads, which were shot by fashion photographer/video director David LaChapelle. ... R. Kelly made an unexpected appearance in a Chicago court Tuesday (July 13) to ask permission yet again to travel. Kelly put in a request to perform in Detroit at the Detroit Music Festival on July 24, which would require him to leave Chicago on July 23 and return by July 26. The court granted his request. ... Rosa Parks will not be compelled to give a deposition in her lawsuit against Outkast and Arista Records. According to Parks' lawyer, a judge ruled in her favor at a hearing Tuesday (July 13) after the group's attorneys argued that they should be allowed to question her. Last month, a January 10, 2005, trial date was set for the lawsuit. In addition to this suit — in which Parks claims Outkast violated her trademark rights and defamed her when they named a song after her — Parks' lawyer said a second suit will be filed against Arista. That lawsuit concerns the song's placement on several compilations and the alleged willful defamation of Parks' name that occurred by having the video for the song directed by former pornographer Gregory Dark. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers hold the honor of having staged the highest-grossing concert event at a single venue so far this year, their three-day sold-out stint at Hyde Park in London. The June 19, 20 and 25 shows took in more than $17 million, according to Reuters. Highlights from the shows have been captured on the upcoming double CD Live in Hyde Park, which comes out overseas on July 26, but which is not scheduled for release in North America. ... Britney Spears' fiancé, Kevin Federline, has been having a few troubles lately. He's being sued in small-claims court by a car dealership that claims he was delinquent with payments for his truck. Classic Chevrolet in Anaheim Hills, California, claims Britney's beau owes them $1,600. The truck has since been repossessed. Meanwhile, anti-Kevin shirts and hats — bearing logos such as "Kevin Federline Must Be Stopped" and "Just Say No to Kevin Federline" — are now available at http://www.cafeshops.com/sexandthecity/333057. ...

Prince has released an exclusive track called "Silver Tongue" at his online music store, www.npgmusicclub.com. The song is available for download for 99 cents for non-members of his fan club. ... Mandy Moore posted on her Web site on Monday that she's collaborating with Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz — whom she calls "one of my favorite people" — for her next record. "I guess he heard Coverage and really liked it and somehow we ended up writing some kick-ass music together," she wrote. "It's all very exciting. Hopefully some of it will end up on the finished album." ...

Alanis Morissette is now offering a ticket auction for her Au Naturale Tour with the Barenaked Ladies. Ticket packages include two seats in the front row and a meet-and-greet with the singer. The auction is taking place through www.stubhub.com and www.alanis.com. Proceeds benefit Equality Now, an international organization working for the rights of women and girls. The trek kicks off Tuesday in Cleveland. ... Rockabilly singer Ersel Hickey has died at the age of 70. Hickey, best known for his 1958 song "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," had been hospitalized at NYU Medical Center in New York after surgery to have his bladder removed because of a tumor, his friend Johnny Vallis told The Associated Press. The singer died after coming down with an infection. Hickey's "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" was re-recorded by the Beach Boys. He also wrote songs for such artists as Jackie Wilson and LaVern Baker. ...

After six years, the legal wrangling between Dead Kennedys members East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro and singer Jello Biafra and his label Alternative Tentacles Records is finally over. The San Francisco Superior Court's May 2000 decision to award the bandmembers more than $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages after finding Biafra guilty of fraudulently shortchanging them will now stand, as the singer has dropped all countersuits. ... First season "American Idol" runner-up Justin Guarini has signed on to star in "Good Vibrations," a musical based on the music of the Beach Boys about a group of teens on the beaches of Southern California. The production opens July 29 at the new Martel Theater at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. ...

Social Distortion, Pennywise, A Static Lullaby and Kottonmouth Kings will perform at Moto Music Mayhem, a festival blending music with motocross set for August 21 at the National Orange Show Events Center and Speedway in San Bernardino, California. ... The next set of Elvis Costello reissues has been slated for August 3. His albums Almost Blue (1981), Goodbye Cruel World (1984) and Kojak Variety (1995) will each feature an extra bonus disc with 27, 26 and 20 songs, respectively, of demos, outtakes and unreleased tracks. This marks the fifth batch of LPs from Costello's catalog that has been re-released over the last two years. ...

Sebadoh are expanding their tour and will be hitting the West Coast this summer. The tour kicks off July 31 in Austin, Texas, and will hit Sacramento, California; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Tucson, Arizona; Phoenix and San Diego before wrapping in Los Angeles on September 2. ... Previously unreleased tracks by Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold are available on the 14-track compilation of punk, hardcore and metalcore songs Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 5. The collection is available for $3 from www.hopelessrecords.com. ...

• Ashlee Simpson
• OutKast
• Master P
• New Edition
• The Used

No Doubt
Photo: Interscope

Around this time every year, as sure as death and taxes, major labels raid the catalogs of their biggest artists and emerge with a generous helping of best-of albums and box sets.

On the release schedule for, in industry speak, the fourth quarter of 2003 are compilations from Sheryl Crow, No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, R.E.M., the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Talking Heads, to name a few.

Considered the ultimate stocking stuffer for casual fans without the desire or dinero to buy an artist's entire back catalog, the best-of album reduces an artist's artistry to the bare essentials: the hits.

Usually the artist will go the extra yard and pad a retrospective with one or more new songs — as STP, R.E.M., RHCP (see "Red Hot Chili Peppers To Release 'Live At Slane' DVD, Best-Of LP") and No Doubt all have done this time around — so fans who already own all of that artist's material will have a reason to buy the collection too.

In rare instances, an obvious hit will be conveniently left off a best-of album — for example, "In Your Eyes" was omitted from Peter Gabriel's 1990 compilation Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats — so the consumer will have to buy the best-of plus the original album the hit appeared on. One could argue the Chili Peppers have employed this tactic on their forthcoming Greatest Hits album, which leaves off "Warped," the group's biggest hit from 1995's One Hot Minute.

"That's not typically our approach," said Kevin Gore, executive vice president for Warner Strategic Marketing. "We try to be as all-encompassing as possible. Sometimes, however, you find that the artist is no longer enamored by a song and it's by their choice that it's left off."

Labels decide upwards of a year in advance which artists they'll approach — or circumvent — with regards to making a best-of album. After Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame last year, Warner approached the band about putting out its first box set. "There was a period of negotiation because it also involves the re-release of old albums as well after the box set and what our compensation should be," former Talking Head Chris Frantz said. The group's four-disc Once in a Lifetime set is out this month.

Once retrospectives were considered a rite of passage or just reward for a lengthy career, but that's clearly not the case anymore. Consider one-album wonders the Fugees or the Sex Pistols, who have Greatest Hits and Best Of albums, respectively. In these cases, retrospectives are released because the group no longer exists but there's still demand.

Last year, Nirvana released an eponymous best-of drawing from their three studio albums. Courtney Love and the surviving bandmembers filled out the package with material from the odds-and-sods release Incesticide and MTV Unplugged, plus their Holy Grail final recording, "You Know You're Right."

"I think a good best-of is a good thing," Ataris frontman Kris Roe said. "Granted, I don't think there have been may best-ofs that do a band justice, but I agree that there are a few that turned me on to a band."

What, however, turns off the music fan is an artist who repeatedly releases best-of albums. Seven months after Aerosmith released Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology in November 2001, the classic rockers came out with O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which repeated many of the same songs but was more extensive than the previous compilation. Jimi Hendrix — dead since 1970 — has a new retrospective in stores almost every year.

"The only discernable difference between a bunch of them is the sequence," laughed Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson. Sometimes it's worse than that. Three years after Mariah Carey's #1's, Sony released the diva's Greatest Hits, which included all but one song on #1's plus eleven others.

"A lot of it really depends upon what's happening in the marketplace," Warner's Gore said. "Is there a definitive greatest-hits that's current enough that would make it hard for you to go out and tell everybody that this is the greatest-hits or best-of you have to have? If that hasn't been done in a long time it makes a more compelling argument for retailers to carry it and for consumers to buy it."

In other words, buyer beware.

• No Doubt
• Sheryl Crow
• Stone Temple Pilots
• R.E.M.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers

Eddie Vedder inducts the Ramones into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Photo: VH1

NEW YORK — A mohawked Eddie Vedder put the regal Waldorf-Astoria hotel in a punk rock state of mind Monday night when he inducted the Ramones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (check out Kurt Loder's take on the Hall's history here).

Nearing the end of his 17-minute speech, Vedder said, "After this, I'm sure the evening will move quickly, but it's the Ramones and it's punk rock and I'm just about finished and I hope you're OK with that." The crowd's response included some jeers and boos.

"Apparently you're not. F--- you," he replied.

But overall, the night was filled with special moments — including a Talking Heads induction and reunion as well as posthumous inductions of Joey Ramone and Chet Atkins — even though the ceremony was also plagued by technical difficulties and long delays (the delays will be edited out when VH1 broadcasts the event on Wednesday).

There was no question about the content of Vedder's speech, which was called "brilliant" by those who followed him. But as well spoken as the Pearl Jam singer was in his call to remember how the Ramones revitalized rock and how desperately that needs to happen again, he was also slow, pausing and mumbling through passages.

"They were armed with two-minute songs that they rattled off like machinegun fire," Vedder said, "and it was enough to change the Earth's revolution. Now it's Disney kids singing songs written by old men and being marketed to 6- and 7-year-olds, so some kind of change might have to happen again soon."

Vedder's speech set the tone for the evening, but for capturing the spirit of the Ramones, masters of the short and sweet, Green Day did the trick. The pop-punk trio saluted their forefathers with efficiency, blasting through "Rockaway Beach," "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" without speaking to the crowd or to reporters backstage.

For the most part, the Ramones kept it light, with bassist Dee Dee Ramone joking, "I'd like to congratulate myself and thank myself and give myself a big pat on the back. Thank you, Dee Dee, you're wonderful."

Drummer Tommy Ramone, however, reiterated that the honor did mean a lot to the band, especially since it was something their late singer had wanted. "The honor of our induction ... means a lot to us. But it's really meant everything to Joey." He continued that thought backstage, saying it was one of the last things he talked about with Joey before the singer's death last April.

Talking Heads put aside their legendary acrimony and performed for the first time in 18 years. Joined onstage by CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, the band thanked just about everyone who had nurtured, fed or paid them over the years, including the rock hall itself, "for giving this band a happy ending," drummer Chris Frantz said.

Latter-day touring members of the band, including Bernie Worrell of Parliament/Funkadelic and Steve Scales, joined on two-thirds of the set, which consisted of "Psycho Killer," "Burning Down the House" and "Life During Wartime." "This is a song completely inappropriate at this time," singer David Byrne said before launching into "Life During Wartime," "but then again, maybe it is appropriate."

Witnesses to the band's performance started wondering if talk of a full-fledged reunion would also be appropriate. After all, Byrne actually seemed relaxed playing with his former bandmates, with little to no trace of the self-conscious and idiosyncratic moves that comprised his so-uncool-he's-cool Talking Heads persona. Content to move in sync with Tina Weymouth's able bass playing, Byrne instead painted a picture of ease.

Backstage, Byrne said the choice of songs helped "smooth things out." "We just played what we imagined people wanted to hear," he said. "This wasn't the time to pull out obscure numbers." Would there ever be such a time again? Guitarist Jerry Harrison said that they would think about that later. "We haven't played together for a really long time," Frantz added, "and I think we're all grateful to have a happy night like this and to have a good vibe."

Good vibes weren't hard to find in the evening's other performances, which started off with an orchestrated version of "Shaft," conducted and then sung by inductee Isaac Hayes. Dressed in a silky pajamalike outfit, Hayes led Paul Schaffer's band in a long prelude to his famous theme song. Waving his arms around, Hayes acted out instrument parts as if he were playing them himself, adding a sense of spunk to his funk.

Inducted later in the evening, Hayes warned young rap and hip-hop artists to avoid being blinded by the money. "It's not all about bling bling and all the gold and Cristal," he said. "Don't slip into the traps, and don't forget about your 'hood."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took it a little easy on their renditions of "Last Dance With Mary Jane" and "American Girl." Petty didn't reach for the slightly higher register he usually sings those songs in, and instead dropped it down a notch, bearing a resemblance to his presenter's father. "Before Tom came along, a lot of singer/songwriters were stuck with the label the 'new Dylan,' " presenter Jakob Dylan said. "Tom's vision was so strong that when I came along, I was called the 'new Petty,' when actually I may have been the only one who deserved the burden of being called the 'new Dylan.' "

The closing all-star jam turned out to be neither all-star nor a jam. Many of the evening's performers, inductees and presenters — from the Ramones and Green Day to Anthony Kiedis (who inducted Talking Heads) and Alicia Keys (who inducted Hayes) — didn't participate.

The first song of the finale, Al Green's soul classic "Take Me to the River," had to be done twice, since audio problems made it difficult to hear the full mix the first time around. Some of the pairings for the rest of the jam made sense — presenter Darlene Love joining inductee Gene Pitney on "He's a Rebel," which he wrote for her group, the Crystals — but having Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas (pulled from the audience) duet with Jewel (who inducted Brenda Lee) was less to do with the event than with positioning. Still, it didn't dilute their tribute to George Harrison on "Here Comes the Sun."

Other inductees included Chet Atkins (as a sideman) and Jim Stewart (as a non-performer).

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. on VH1.

• Pearl Jam
• Eddie Vedder
• The Ramones
• Green Day
• Talking Heads

Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante and Anthony Kiedis.
Photo: Sonya Koskoff

Eddie Vedder, Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante may have grown up believing the punk axiom "kill your idols," but on March 18 they'll be among the presenters honoring their forefathers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

New York's posh Waldorf-Astoria hotel will host the hall's 17th annual induction dinner, which will air March 20 on VH1 at 9 p.m.

Vedder will induct punk progenitors the Ramones — sans singer Joey Ramone, who died of cancer in April — and Kiedis and Frusciante will usher in alternative rock pioneers Talking Heads. Grammy darling Alicia Keys will do the honors for R&B veteran Isaac Hayes, and Wallflowers singer Jakob Dylan will induct classic rock radio staples Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Earthy songwriter Jewel will honor '60s pop-country singer Brenda Lee, '50s singer Darlene Love will induct '60s teen-pop idol Gene Pitney, and rockabilly/swing performer Brian Setzer and bluegrass/country player Marty Stuart will honor Nashville pioneer Chet Atkins, who died in June from cancer and is being inducted as a sideman.

Ramones descendants Green Day will perform during the show, as will many of the inductees and presenters.

• Alicia Keys
• Pearl Jam
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Ramones
• Talking Heads

B-52's Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneider & Kate Pierson
Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage.com

NEW YORK — "This is our 25th anniversary — that makes us 30," the B-52's' Fred Schneider joked from the Irving Plaza stage Monday night. Thirty they're not, but their minimalist lunatic art-dance music remains joyously unstoppable a quarter of a century after they exploded on the downtown New York club scene in 1979.

The B's are playing a smattering of dates in support of their anthology Nude on the Moon, and performed to a packed house filled with both Cosmic Thing-era fans and folks who were old enough to have seen the original band in its heyday. (Click for photos from the event.)

Old-school aficionados were treated to guest appearances by members of B-52's contemporaries and art rock scene-masters Talking Heads, as well as by Yoko Ono, widow of the late Beatle John Lennon, but more significantly here as an artist whose vocal experimentation in the '70s was an influence on the B's sound.

The band was the "Love Shack" configuration, with original members Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion, walkie talkies), Kate Pierson (vocals and keyboards), Cindy Wilson (vocals and percussion) and Keith Strickland (guitar) supported by Sterling Campbell on drums, Pat Irwin on keyboards and Sara Lee on bass, formerly of Gang of Four (founding member Ricky Wilson died in 1985). The group put down a 90-minute, balcony-shaking, 16-song set of its classics, with enough updated arrangements to keep it fresh for the audience and apparently fun for the band. Yet the Immortal Truths of the B-52's live ritual remained. Every soul drawing breath in the room sang the "Why don't you dance with me?" portion of "Dance This Mess Around." Anyone who thought that the subject of "Planet Claire" may be from Mars or one of the stars had that misconception cleared up. And the band still gets the audience to crouch down onto the ground when commanded during "Rock Lobster."

It was at that precise moment in "Rock Lobster" that 68-year-old Yoko Ono hit the stage, to warble and screech with the rest of the band for the show's finale. Coming immediately after "Planet Claire," when Talking Heads (and Tom Tom Club-ers) Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz joined the band to punctuate the Peter Gunn bass and drum line, it was an appropriately bizarre ending for the band that made bizarre fun so many years ago.

B-52's set list:

• "Dance This Mess Around"
• "Good Stuff"
• "Lava"
• "Roam"
• "Hero Worship"
• "Quiche Lorraine"
• "Private Idaho"
• "Revolution Earth"
• "Deadbeat Club"
• "Hallucinating Pluto"
• "Strobe Light"
• "Love Shack"
• "Whammy Kiss"
• "Planet Claire" (with Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth)
• "Rock Lobster" (with Yoko Ono)

Read about all of the shows we've recently covered in Tour Reports.

• The B-52's
• Yoko Ono
• Talking Heads
• Tom Tom Club

Tom Petty
Photo: MCA

A few punks, a scruffy "Refugee" and the most sex-crazed chef on television are crashing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Punk rock pioneers the Ramones and Talking Heads, Southern rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and soul singer Isaac Hayes will lead the class of 2002 when they are inducted into the rock hall on March 18, organizers announced Thursday (December 13).

Other artists recognized include '60s icons Brenda Lee and Gene Pitney, guitar great Chet Atkins, and Stax Records co-founder Jim Stewart. Atkins, who crafted the sound of country music before moving on to record with Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers, is a "side-man" inductee, while Stewart is a "non-performer" inductee. Stewart's Stax Records released countless R&B and soul hits throughout the '60s and '70s.

Two members of the class of 2002 succumbed to cancer this year — Ramones singer Joey Ramone in April (see "Punk Pioneer Joey Ramone Dead At 49") and Atkins in June (see "Chet Atkins To Be Memorialized In Nashville").

Artists whose names were on the ballot but were not voted into the hall include first-time contenders the Sex Pistols, Jackson Browne, alt-country maverick Gram Parsons, R&B girl group the Chantels, and doo-wop acts the Dells and the "5" Royales. Past nominees who again did not garner enough votes include AC/DC, Patti Smith and Lynyrd Skynyrd (see "Spirit Of '77: Ramones, Pistols Nominated For Hall Of Fame").

Those set to enter next year will be invited to perform at the 17th annual induction ceremony in New York (although the actual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland). VH1 will broadcast the event, which traditionally culminates with an all-star jam session, on March 20.

The Ramones, arguably the first punk band, formed in the mid-'70s with all five members adopting the same surname and look. Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and Marky Ramone played loud, fast rock music that inspired everyone from U2 to Green Day. Among the gems on their nearly two dozen albums are "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Sedated."

More experimental than the Ramones but from the same New York scene, Talking Heads mixed punk rock with new wave and helped establish the genre now known as alternative rock. David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth made eccentric music but also scored several hit singles, including "Once in a Lifetime," "And She Was" and "Burning Down the House."

Petty and his Heartbreakers band — Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair, Stan Lynch and Howie Epstein — combined psychedelic and new wave influences with Southern rock and recorded numerous hit singles, such as "Breakdown," "Refugee," "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance."

Hayes was a songwriter for the likes of Sam & Dave and Carla Thomas before he launched a solo career in the late '60s. Perhaps his biggest contribution to music was recording the blueprint for future blaxploitation film scores with "Shaft." Hayes has since become well known as the voice of Chef on "South Park."

Artists become eligible for the rock hall 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include "the influence and significance of the artist's contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll," according to the hall.

The selection process for the class of 2002 began in the spring when around 60 industry professionals including record executives, lawyers, managers, journalists and musicians convened to brainstorm potential nominees. Their list of names was pared down to 16 nominees.

Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Queen, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Solomon Burke, Ritchie Valens, the Flamingos, James Burton and Johnnie Johnson were inducted into the hall earlier this year (see "Aerosmith Thrilled, Steely Dan Unimpressed At Rock Hall Ceremony").

• The Ramones
• Tom Petty
• Isaac Hayes
• Chet Atkins
• Brenda Lee

R.E.M.'s <I>Reckoning</I>

Folk artist Rev. Howard Finster, known to rock audiences for paintings that appear on the covers of R.E.M.'s Reckoning and Talking Heads' Little Creatures, died Monday near his home in Georgia. He was 84.

Finster died at the Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, Georgia of congestive heart failure, according to a spokesperson for the Erwin-Pettit Funeral Home in Finster's hometown of Summerville.

During Monday's Groundwork Concert in Seattle, R.E.M. dedicated "Find the River" from 1992's Automatic for the People to Finster (see "Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Morissette Turn Music Into Ploughshares At Groundwork Concert").

A Baptist minister, the self-taught Finster began creating his rough-hewn, often evangelical works in the 1950s. By the 1980s, his art had drawn the attention of New York art galleries, while his backyard collection of sculptures, mosaics and paintings called Paradise Gardens drew visitors from around the world. Many of the Paradise Gardens works are on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Finster's cover for Georgia-based R.E.M.'s Reckoning (1984) depicted a twisting snake upon which the album's song titles were written. The group also filmed the video for "Radio Free Europe" in Paradise Gardens in 1983. The art for the Heads' Little Creatures (1985) included caricatures of the bandmembers — including David Byrne in his underwear, carrying the world on his shoulders.

• R.E.M.
• Talking Heads

B-52's 25th Anniversary Show 02.04.02

• The B-52's
• Talking Heads
• Yoko Ono