Release date: Friday March 26, 2010 Genre: Action, Adventure Director: Louis Leterrier Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures Screenplay: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi Producer(s): Kevin De La Noy, Basil Iwanyk Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Jason Flemyng, Alexa Davalos Official Site:warnerbros.com Rating:Not yet rated Available film art:Clash of the Titans movie posters
Synopsis
Synopsis: In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a… In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.
Clash of the Titans is being directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk). Leading the international cast is Australian actor Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, the upcoming Avatar) as Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, king of the gods. Academy Award® nominee Liam Neeson (Taken, Schindler’s List) takes on the role of the mighty Zeus, and Academy Award® nominee Ralph Fiennes (the Harry Potter films, The English Patient) plays the role of Hades, god of the underworld, who feeds on human fear. Rounding out the cast is Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) as Io, Perseus’ mysterious spiritual guide throughout his journey; Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) as Draco, who takes up his sword to join Perseus’ quest; Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Acrisius, a one-time king turned hideous beast; and Alexa Davalos (Defiance) as Andromeda, a princess doomed to lose her life if Perseus does not succeed.
Based on the 1981 film of the same name, written by the late Beverley Cross, Clash of the Titans is directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi (Aeon Flux), story by Travis Beacham (Dog Days of Summer) and Hay & Manfredi. The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk (We Are Marshall) and Kevin De La Noy (The Dark Knight). The executive producers are Academy Award® winner Richard D. Zanuck and Legendary Pictures’ Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and William Fay.
The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Peter Menzies, Jr. (The Incredible Hulk); production designer Martin Laing (Terminator Salvation); editor Vincent Tabaillon (The Incredible Hulk); Academy Award®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (Topsy-Turvy, The Dark Knight); Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis (The Dark Knight); Oscar®-nominated prosthetics supervisor Conor O’Sullivan (The Dark Knight, Saving Private Ryan); Academy Award®-winning special effects and animatronics supervisor Neil Corbould (Gladiator); and Academy Award®-winning makeup and hair designer Jenny Shircore (Elizabeth).
Yesterday (December 15, 2009), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced its 2010 inductees. They include ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, the Hollies and the Stooges. (of this list ABBA and the Stooges have been previously nominated). Missing out on the class of 2010 were Donna Summer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Laura Nyro, KISS, the Chantels, Darlene Love and LL Cool J.
Here is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame press release with more information on the inductees:
December 15, 2010—New York— Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges as its 2010 artist inductees. Also being inducted this year as individual recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award will be David Geffen and songwriters Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Elle Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell. The ceremony will take place on March 15, 2010 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and will air live on Fuse, Madison Square Garden’s national music television network, as part of the three-year broadcast deal between the Foundation and Fuse.
“We are very happy to present this year’s inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they represent a great cross-section of artists that define the broad spectrum and history of rock and roll and people that have contributed immeasurably to our business” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President & CEO Joel Peresman.
The performer inductees are:
ABBA
GENESIS
JIMMY CLIFF
THE HOLLIES
THE STOOGES
Ahmet Ertegun Award (nonperformers):
DAVID GEFFEN
BARRY MANN & CYNTHIA WEIL
ELLIE GREENWICH & JEFF BARRY
JESSE STONE
MORT SHUMAN
OTIS BLACKWELL
The 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by over 500 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty-five years after their first recording is released.
All inductees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Through approaches as creative and diverse as the music itself, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum tells the story of rock music with its exhibits, education programs and Library and Archives, which will open to the public in downtown Cleveland in late 2010.
Presenters and performers at the induction will be announced at a later date. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be televised live on Fuse; more information can be found at fuse.tv.
More about the inductees:
ABBA
They are one of the biggest-selling acts in pop-history – and if Stockholm is now a hit making mecca, it’s because ABBA first put Sweden on rock’s global map. The four members came together in enchanting, late-1960s post-Euro-hippie fashion – initialed for the two couples, Agnetha ‘Anna’ Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus; and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid ‘Frida’ Lyngstad. ABBA was a dominant music force throughout the 70’s, and world¬wide licensing deals made Polar Music the second biggest corporation in Sweden. Bjorn and Benny’s studio finesse over the course of ABBA’s eight studio LPs drew wide praise from pure pop punks and New Wavers for whom ABBA became a guilty pleasure. They went their solo ways in 1982, but tribute albums and the boffo musical Mamma Mia are keeping ABBA on permanent display.
GENESIS
Almost no group in rock history has had such a long and varied career as Genesis, who began as a cult art-rock band in England in the late 1960’s and went on to pack stadiums across the globe in the 1980’s, 1990’s and on their 2007 reunion tour. In the early 1970’s frontman Peter Gabriel shocked audiences and grabbed headlines by taking the stages in outrageous costumes and occasionally even levitating above the audience. Their music was equally innovative, and early albums Selling England By The Pound and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway are two of the most acclaimed prog-rock albums in the history of the genre. In 1975 Gabriel left the band to pursue a solo career and drummer Phil Collins stepped out from behind the kit to take over. The band experienced many more hits and successful worldwide tours over the next 30 years.
JIMMY CLIFF
Very few single albums can be said to have changed music forever. Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come is one. The album – and the movie that spawned it – introduced reggae to a worldwide audience and changed the image of the genre from cruise ship soundtrack to music of rebellion and inspiration. “Sitting in Limbo,” “The Harder They Come,” “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” and “Many Rivers to Cross” made Jimmy Cliff the first international reggae superstar and created the model that Bob Marley would soon follow. A beautifully gifted singer and a uniquely influential songwriter, Jimmy Cliff has made a profound impact on rock and pop music all over the world for 40 years.
THE HOLLIES
Above all, it was the wide-open three-part vocal harmonies of original members Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, and Eric Haydock, inspired by the Everly Brothers, that gave the Hollies a sound apart from other British Invasion beat groups. Songwriter Graham Gouldman supplied them with “Look Through Any Window” and “Bus Stop.” And the original writing talent of Clarke, Nash, and lead guitarist Tony Hicks took over on “Stop! Stop! Stop!” and “On a Carousel,” as the Hollies went on to chart 21 consecutive Top 20 UK hits through 1970. After Nash’s departure in 1968, new hits carried them into the mid-70’s including “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress,” “Long Dark Road,” “Magic Woman Touch,” “The Air That I Breathe,” and others.
THE STOOGES
The “Big Bang” that became punk, alternative, heavy metal, new wave, grunge, hardcore and industrial music, could very well have been the advent of Iggy and the Stooges in Ann Arbor in the late 1960’s. Confrontational, out of the mainstream and the complete antitheses of the hippie movement, the Stooges were adopted by those on the margins of rock. Their debut Elektra LP was produced in four days by the Velvet Undergound’s John Cale and contained at least three landmarks: “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “No Fun” and “1969.” Immediately embraced in New York, London and Los Angeles for the nuclear-powered simplicity of their music, the ironic nihilism of their lyrics, and the persona of Iggy himself, the Stooges have become icons in the history of modern music.
More about the Ahmet Ertegun Award recipients:
DAVID GEFFEN began his legendary career in the William Morris Agency mailroom, quickly becoming an agent, before leaving to form his own management and then record label. He signed artists who have now become legends, including Laura Nyro, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills and Nash, Tom Waits and Linda Ronstadt. David founded Geffen Records in 1980, whose artist roster included John Lennon, Aerosmith, Peter Gabriel, Guns N Roses, Nirvana and many more iconic artists. More recently David formed the film and entertainment company SKG, along with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. David has been and continues to be involved in many philanthropic endeavors.
The Ahmet Ertegun Award will also be presented to an extraordinary group of songwriters who wrote some of the most classic, lasting songs of the 20th century and defined the “Brill Building sound”. Husband and wife songwriting team BARRY MANN and CYNTHIA WEIL, have had an extraordinary impact on the past five decades of popular music. Their numerous hits include: “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (with Phil Spector), “On Broadway” (with Leiber and Stoller), “We Gotta Get Out of this Place” and “Walking in the Rain.” Songwriting couple JEFF BARRY and ELLIE GREENWICH, wrote a countless number of classics including “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Then He Kissed Me,” “Be My Baby” and “River Deep, Mountain High.” Additionally, songwriter MORT SHUMAN, along with his songwriting partner Doc Pomus (who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992), wrote some of the most important songs of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s including: “This Magic Moment,” “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Viva Las Vegas.” Prolific songwriter OTIS BLACKWELL wrote many hits including “Great Balls of Fire,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “All Shook Up” and “Fever.” Lastly, songwriter JESSE STONE, who was an architect of the early rock and roll sound, wrote “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “Money Honey.”
# # #
About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and Museum: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was established 25 years ago by legendary record executive Ahmet Ertegun and a group of music business executives to honor the artists that have defined rock and roll and have inspired and continue to inspire a generation. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum designed by I.M. Pei in Cleveland, Ohio that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as educational programs. For further information, please visit rockhall.com.
Anonymous (David Park Barnitz.) THE BOOK OF JADE. Doxey’s, At the Sign of the Lark (William Doxey), New York (1901)
Current Selling Prices $350-$600 /£200-£400
DECADENT LITERATURE / POETRY
I was first alerted to this book by a young solicitor (Karl Potts)– a collector of the exotic, the erotic, the decadent, the distasteful and the kitsch. He was especially keen on 90s American ‘purple poetry’ Francis Saltus, George Sterling (’Wine of Wizardry’) and Park Barnitz. David Park Barnitz (1878 – 1901) was an American poet, known solely for his 1901 volume ‘The Book of Jade’, a classic of decadent poetry. It was published by San Francisco bookseller William Doxey, publisher of the humourist Gelett Burgess, as well as many obscure, macabre and forgotten writers. Book of Jade was actually published in New York after his California publishing enterprise, called “At the Sign of the Lark”, had gone bankrupt. By February 1901, Doxey’s new venture was bankrupt again, but not before he had published the Barnitz, probably his finest achievement. The young Barnitz insisted on anonymity, possibly because his father was a clergyman and certainly due to its druggy, death obsessed, oblivionist and decadent content.
He is America’s own Rimbaud and in the line of Dowson (not quite in the same league as either) a sort of Marc Almond to Dowson’s Bowie. He died at the age of 23 having graduated from Harvard and returned to Des Moines where he haunted the public library. At Harvard his class mates included Wallace Stevens who went on to great poetic (and financial) glory. One of his teachers was Henry James’s brother William James, author of the classic ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’ (1902.) James pronounced him brilliant and Park became the youngest person ever admitted to the American Oriental Society. The East was an important influence. He has been compared to Count Stenbock and Beddoes. James Thomson’s (B.V.) The City of Dreadful Night was a palpable influence. Barnitz was to some extent resurrected by the attention of H.P. Lovecraft (”…and who could have written that nasty, cynical Book of Jade?” he asked in a letter to Maurice Moe), Clark Aston Smith and Donald Wandrei and later by David Tibet and the scholar Mark Valentine who published a splendid new edition under the Durtro imprint in 1998.
The poems are shot through with opium and decadence, almost certainly theoretic:
“O poppy-buds, that in the golden air
Wave heavy hanging censers of delight,
Give me an anodyne for my despair; … ”
- in late 19th century Des Moines it was probably hard to score opium, it’s hard enough to get a beer there even now. Difficult to think of a less decadent place on the planet, even Tunbridge Wells holds more promise of dissipation and excess. I doubt whether absinthe was procurable there but it occurs, as a token, in these wonderful lines:
‘Kalliste your Persian ghazal cease to sing: the sun is low
And the sacred hour of absinthe is now very very nigh.’
That beats ‘the sun has gone down over the yardarm.’ Occasionally the poet displays a great lyric gift but there is much in the book that was written pour epater les bourgeoisie or at least to spite his religious father. His lines on the Madonna are worth quoting:
“Anguish and Mourning are as gold to her;
She weareth Pain upon her as a gem,
And on her head Grief like a diadem; … ”
The problem with full on decadence is you are working from a smallish palette and it is hard not to repeat lines, themes and phrases- the above lines, for example, are reworked again in another context. A slightly edited ‘tag cloud’ extracted from GoogleBooks for ‘Book of Jade- goes like this:
corpse absinthe anguish art Ashtoreth beauty behold beloved beneath the sky body bore Brahma buried censer changeless Cometh a day crown dark dead corpse DEAD DIALOGUE dead things Death delight doth dream earth endless eternal eyes fades fain fair flesh forever forevermore frankincense glory gold golden the worms heaven weary Holy Pestilence houris kisses life’s light lily garden lips loathed moon by night mournful myrrh naught neath NOCTURNE o’er opium ordure pale pall pallid Patchouli perfume perish Persia poppies roses rotten sadness scented sepulchre sleep slumber solemn sorrow soul spirit stars strange sunken tired tireth tomb unto vanity wanly wearieth weary wine worms lie…
VALUE? Several Doxey books are highly collectable. …to be continued with some harsh words for the Print on Demand version of the book and a picture of the young decadent…
I am continuing our new feature: Ask “Mr. Music.” Now in its 23rd year of syndication (1986-2009), Jerry Osborne’s weekly Q&A feature will be a regular post every Wednesday from now on. Be sure to stop by Jerry’s site (http://www.jerryosborne.com/) for more Mr. Music archives, record price guides, anything Elvis, buy & sell collectibles, record appraisals and much more. I thank Jerry for allowing the reprints.
FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 14, 2009
DEAR JERRY:The History Channel recently ran a well-produced special titled “The Beatles on Record.” However, I must challenge them on one point and need your guidance.
Which of the group’s official releases is really the first to use backward tape technology?
I always thought it is “Rain,” but “The Beatles on Record” plays “Tomorrow Never Knows,” along with a audio clip of John Lennon saying it is “the first recording using backwards technology.” So which is it?
Also, is there an earlier example of this technique on a hit record? —Michael T. Breitbach, Muskego, Wisc.
DEAR MICHAEL: You and John are both correct!
“Tomorrow Never Knows,” recorded April 6th and 7th 1966, is the first Beatles “recording” containing portions of tape playing in reverse — an effect created by flipping a full-track audio tape over, then playing it forward.
On “Tomorrow Never Knows,” the backward gimmick is used only during the instrumental riffs.
“Rain,” from a session one week later, is the first Beatles “release” with a backward tape segment. Making “Rain” more significant in this regard is the reverse portion includes John’s vocal, about six seconds worth, beginning roughly 20 seconds before the music ends.
Unlike “Tomorrow Never Knows,” this tune, backed with “Paperback Writer” (Capitol 5651), is a hit single.
Finally, “Rain” came out May 27, 1966, about nine weeks earlier than the “Revolver” LP (Capitol 2576) with “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
Memories and accounts of how all of this unfolded vary, but here is producer George Martin’s frequently published recollection:
“I was always playing around with tapes and I thought it might be fun to do something extra with John’s voice [on “Rain”]. So I lifted a bit of his main vocal off the four track, put it onto another spool, turned it around and then slid it back and forth until it fitted.
“John was out of the studio at the time but when he came back he was amazed. It was backwards forever after that.”
Still, the Beatles are not the first ones with a hit record utilizing backward shenanigans.
A Top 3 hit 10 years before “Rain,” Buchanan & Goodman’s “The Flying Saucer (Part 2)” (Luniverse 101), includes both a forward and backward playing of the words “Washington: the Secretary of Defense.”
DEAR JERRY:With so many Rock Era Christmas tunes considered classics, and played every year, I am wondering how many ranked among the Top 10 sellers overall (not a separate Christmas category) when first released.
I’d guess very few. —Josephine Lanier, Rolling Hills, Calif.
DEAR JOSEPHINE: Very few indeed, especially by limiting the list to those times when Christmas records competed with all the other popular hits for survey positions.
Here they are, all four of ‘em:
1955: “Nuttin’ for Christmas” (Barry Gordon with the Art Mooney Orchestra); 1958: “Jingle Bell Rock” (Bobby Helms); “The Chipmunk Song” (Chipmunks with David Seville); and 1964: “Amen” (Impressions). Though “Amen” is not really a Christmas song, we include it because they do make one mention of “Christmas morning.”
Your question also provides an interesting reminder of how remarkable it was for “The Chipmunk Song” to leap to No. 1 over Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, the Everly Brothers, and other late-’50s megastars.
Incredibly, “The Chipmunk Song” is the only Christmas record since 1952 to top the Pop & Rock charts.
IZ ZAT SO? In the pre-rock 1950s, Christmas tunes frequently ranked among the Top 10. Those deserving honorable mention are:
1950: “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Gene Autry); “I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas” and “Yingle Bells” (Yogi Yorgesson); “White Christmas” (Bing Crosby); 1951: “Christmas in Killarney” (Dennis Day); “Frosty the Snow Man” (Nat King Cole); 1952: “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (by Jimmy Boyd as well as Spike Jones); “The Night Before Christmas Song” (Rosemary Clooney & Gene Autry); and 1953: “Santa Baby” (Eartha Kitt).
Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368, e-mail: jpo@olympus.net, or visit his Web site: http://www.jerryosborne.com/. All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.
Copyright 2009 Osbourne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission
Paul Butterfield - Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1942)
Tony Hicks - Hollies (1945)
Benny Anderson - Abba (1946)
Billy Gibbons - ZZ Top (1950) He plays a classic ‘59 Gibson Les Paul guitar he calls Miss Pearly Gates and uses a quarter or a peso as a pick for a distinctive sound.
Blues-Rock singer Robben Ford (1951)
Christopher Thorn - Blind Melon (1968)
Michael McCary - Boyz II Men (1972)
They Are Missed:
The late, late Ludwig von Beethoven was born in 1770
Singer-songwriter Nicolette Larson died (age 45) of complications arising from cerebral edema in 1997. Worked with Neil Young, (Comes a Time and Harvest Moon albums), Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Michael McDonald, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, The Beach Boys and The Doobie Brothers. Best known for her 1978 cover of Neil Young’s “Lotta Love.”
“I Will Survive” songwriter Freddie Perren died in 2004 (age 61). With the Corporation, he also co-wrote and produced “I Want You Back” and “ABC” for the Jackson 5, as well as hits for Tavares, Peaches & Herb, and G.C. Cameron.
In 2007, singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg died at his home in Maine at the age of 56. The singer, songwriter discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004. Had the 1981 album ‘The Innocent Age’, which featured the hits “Leader of the Band,” “Hard to Say,” and “Run for the Roses.”
History:
In 1907, Eugene H. Farrar became the first singer to broadcast on radio. He sang from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.
In 1958, Ritchie Valens performed a concert at the junior high school he’d attended. The show is recorded and posthumously released in 1960 as Ritchie Valens Live at Pacoima Junior High.
The soundtrack to Blue Hawaii reached #1 on the album charts in 1961, where it remained for 20 weeks. With sales of 2 million, it was Elvis Presley’s best-selling album to date.
George Harrison was deported from Germany in 1960 for being too young to perform with the Beatles there.
The first Jimi Hendrix Experience single “Hey Joe,” was released in the UK on Polydor records in 1966, the track had been rejected by the Decca label. It went on to be a #6 hit in the UK, but failed to chart in America.
In 1967, the Rolling Stones announced that Marianne Faithfull was the first signing to their ‘Mother Earth’ record label.
The Lemon Pipers released the cut “Green Tambourine” in 1967.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono traveled to Toronto in 1969 to perform at the Peace Festival. During their stay they stayed on Ronnie Hawkins’ farm. Billboards reading “War Is Over! If You Want It” go up in 11 cities as part of the Lennons’ own peace campaign.
On this date in 1970, five singles and five albums by Creedance Clearwater Revival were certified gold: “Down on the Corner,” “Lookin out My Back Door,” “Travelin’ Band,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Up around the Bend” and the LPs Cosmo’s Factory, Willy and the Poor Boys, Green River, Bayou Country and Creedance Clearwater Revival.
Don McLean’s eight-minute-plus version of “American Pie” was released in 1971.
Billy Paul started a three week run at #1 in 1972 with “Me and Mrs Jones.”
In 1974, guitarist Mick Taylor announced he was leaving The Rolling Stones, saying he felt that now was the time to move on and do something new.
UK group Mott The Hoople announced they had split up in 1974.
The Bay City Rollers earned their first gold record in 1975 for their first US hit single, “Saturday Night.” It would make it to #1 on the pop chart early next year. On the 31st of this month, the album “Bay City Rollers” went gold. They will go on to have five more Top Forty hits in the US.
In 1977, the Bee Gees received a gold record for “How Deep is Your Love,” the fourth of their seven #1singles. The song will become the subject of a copyright infringement suit five years later, when an amateur songwriter claims the brothers Gibb lifted the melody from a composition he’d written.
The Who announced that they were splitting up in 1983.
Billy Joel went to #1 on the album chart in 1989 with Storm Front.
Chubby Checker filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s in Canada in 1991 seeking $14million for it’s alleged use of an imitation of his voice. The song “The Twist” had been used on a French fries commercial.
MTV aired Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged’ session for the first time in 1993.
In 1999, it was announced that Celine Dion has sold more than a 100 million albums around the world. Her albums Let’s Talk About Love and Falling Into You have also shipped more than 10 million copies each.
In 2003, a Web site offered up for auction an audio tape of five songs that the Beatles allegedly recorded in 1976 during a reunion at an L.A. studio. Paul McCartney’s spokesperson says, “I am not aware of any Beatles reunion during the ’70s.”
A Detroit studio where Eminem recorded ‘My Name Is’ went up for auction on the website eBay in 2004. Studio 8, in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale was to be listed in eBay’s commercial property section for 30 days, with a minimum bid is $215,000 (slow news day)
In 2005, the surviving Beatles and relatives of the band’s late members began legal action against EMI to get royalties allegedly worth 40m. Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and relations of George Harrison and John Lennon claimed EMI owed record royalties to their company Apple Corps.
Incubus started a two-week run at #1 on the album chart in 2006 with ‘Light Grenades’ the bands sixth album.
New releases this week include Chris Brown, with his album Graffiti, Alicia Keys - The Element Of Freedom, Jamie Foxx – Body and the soundtracks for Avatar and Invictus (among others). Lots of vinyl reissues starting with three from Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown, Bullet In A Bible (2 LPs) and a 7-inch Vinyl Box Set, Solomon Burke with You Can Run But You Can’t Hide, the Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons and Iggy Pop - Lust for Life and Idiot and Nirvana - In Utero and MTV Live Unplugged. Also we have vinyl releases from Nurse with Wound - Space Music, Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind [EP], CFCF – Continent, Vampire Weekend - Cousins, YACHT - Psychic City, Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Pin Points & Gin Joints, Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can’t See Land and Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others. Also, look for a limited, deluxe edition, picture vinyl from Lady Gaga, called The Fame Monster.
Alan Parsons Project - Flashback (2 CDs)
Alec Ounsworth - Mo Beauty (vinyl)
Alicia Keys - The Element Of Freedom
Anberlin - New Surrender (CD & DVD deluxe edition with bonus tracks)
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind [EP]
Basement Jaxx - Twerk (vinyl)
Beatles - Beatles With Love Pack (4-CD remastered box set)
Bert Jansch - L.A. Turnaround (vinyl reissue)
Bert Jansch - Rare Conundrum (vinyl reissue)
Bert Jansch - Santa Barbara Honeymoon (vinyl reissue)
Black River Brethren - Anatomy Of A Gun
Bueno - Can’t Knock The Hustle
CFCF - Continent (vinyl)
Chicane - The Best of Chicane
Chris Brown - Graffiti
Donny Osmond - Definitive Collection
Dukes of the Stratosphere - The Complete And Utter Dukes (2 CDs/2 LPs/1 Vinyl Single)
El Guincho - Kalise (vinyl)
Elis - Catharsis
Elizabeth Fraser - Moses (vinyl)
Ella Fitzgerald - Essential Collection
Elvis Presley - Rock ‘n’ Roll Years
Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can’t See Land (vinyl)
George Benson - Songs and Stories (CD/Audio-DVD)
George Jackson - In Memphis 1972-77
George Lopez - Tall, Dark & Chicano
George Michael - December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas) (EP)
George Thorogood - Ten Great Songs
Gerry Rafferty - Life Goes On
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (2-LP & CD vinyl reissue)
Green Day - 7-inch Vinyl Box Set (vinyl)
Green Day - Bullet In A Bible (2-LP vinyl reissue)
Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others (vinyl)
Ian Hunter - All the Young Dudes
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life (vinyl reissue)
Iggy Pop - The Idiot (vinyl reissue)
James Brown - Singles 8 1972-1973
James Horner - Avatar (soundtrack)
James Yuill - Earth/Fire EP (vinyl)
Jamie Foxx - Body
Janet Jackson – Best - International Edition (2 CDs)
Jesca Hoop - Hunting My Dress
Jimmy Barnes - Rhythm & the Blues the (Collector’s Edition)
Joe Simon - Soul for the Dancefloor
John Farnham - Romeo’s Heart
Johnny Cash - Essential Collection (3 CDs)
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (vinyl reissue)
Julian Lennon & James Scott Cook - Lucy (EP)
Kylie - Kylie Live In New York
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (limited deluxe edition) (picture vinyl)
Laura Marling - Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) (vinyl)
Lifehouse - Smoke & Mirrors
Lisa Gerrard - Mirror Pool (2-LP remastered vinyl)
Mance Lipscomb - The Best of
Midnight Masses - Rapture Ready, I Gazed At The Body EP (vinyl)
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Pin Points & Gin Joints (vinyl)
Nirvana - In Utero (vinyl reissue)
Nirvana - MTV Live Unplugged (vinyl reissue)
Nurse With Wound - Paranoia In Hi-Fi
Nurse with Wound - Space Music (vinyl)
Patti Smith - Flashback (2 CDs)
Paul Weller - Paul Weller (Deluxe Edition) (2 CDs)
Pet Shop Boys - Pet Shop Boys Christmas
Phil Vassar - Traveling Circus
Prince - Lotus Flow3r (2 LPs)
Rachel Noelle - Rachel Noelle
Rob White - Keep Riding
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Rockie Robbins - You And Me
Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons (vinyl reissue)
Shiny Toy Guns - Girls Le Disko
Shirley Bassey - That’s What Friends Are For
Solomon Burke - You Can Run But You Can’t Hide (vinyl reissue)
Soundtrack - Avatar
Soundtrack - Invictus
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (remastered)
Steeleye Span - Cogs, Wheels And Lovers
Tears for Fears - Live From Santa Barbara
Ted Nugent - Caveman (Remastered)
The Willowz - Everyone
Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation
Tift Merritt - Home Is Loud
Tim Cohen - Laugh Tracks
Tony Allen - Here Comes the Nite Owl!
Vampire Weekend - Cousins (vinyl)
YACHT - Psychic City (vinyl)
Young Money - We Are Young
We will be posting two weeks worth, as Norm & Jane at counterclockrecords.com have been working to acquire a new stash of vinyl and working on the radio show.
Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales - Week Ending 12/05/2009
1. 45 - J.D. Bryant “Walk On In” / “I Won’t Be Coming Back” Shrine - $10,223.00
2. 45 - Magnetics “Count The Days” / “When I’m With My Baby” Sable - $4,938.00
3. 45 - The Factory “Try A Little Sunshine” / “Red Chalk Hill” CBD Demo UK Pressing - $3,652.31
4. 45 - Young Brothers - “Baby” / “What’s Your Game” Soul Brothers - $3,416.00
5. LP - Dexter Gordon “Blows Hot and Cold” Dootone Red Vinyl - $3,371.00
Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales - Week Ending 12/12/2009
1. 45 - Sex Pistols “God Save The Queen” / “No Feeling” A&M AMS-7284 - $10,266.48
2. LP - Can “Monster Movie” Music Factory German Pressing - $6,295.00
3. 45 - Walter Wilson “Love Keeps Me Crying” / “Not Now But Later” Wand - $6,149.00
4. LP - Calvin Johnson “What Was Me” K Records Test Pressing - $3,999.99
5. LP - Derek and the Dominos “Layla” DJ Mono WLP - $3,050.00
As always, thanks you to Norm at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com for this great data. Stop in and listen to their unique radio show Accidental Nostalgia with Norm & Jane On Radio Dentata - 60 minutes of rare records and nugatory narration. Every Tuesday 4PM PT/7PM ET, Sunday 9AM PT/12PM ET & Monday 12AM PT/3AM ET
Joyce Vincent-Wilson - Tony Orlando and Dawn (1946)
Cliff Williams - AC/DC (1949)
Mike Scott - Waterboys (1958)
Peter “Spider” Stacy - Pogues (1958)
Tim Skold - Marilyn Manson (1966)
They Are Missed:
American blues and jazz singer Dinah Washington died from of an overdose of brandy and diet pills in 1963 (age 39). Known as the ‘Queen of the Blues’ she scored the 1959 #8 Grammy Award wining single “What A Diff’rence A Day Makes” and the 1961 hit “September In The Rain.” From the late ’40s and into the ’60s, she sang a wide variety of music, from blues to country to pop, in a rich elegant voice.
The late Spike Jones (”All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”) was born in 1911 (died May 1, 1965).
Born today in 1938, Gary Usher, producer, songwriter. Worked with The Byrds, co-wrote The Beach Boys “In My Room.” Died on 25th May 1990.
The late Charlie Rich (”Behind Closed Doors”) was born in 1932. He died July 25, 1995.
In 2006, Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records, died at age 83 after injuries sustained in a fall while attending the Rolling Stones show six weeks earlier at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Atlantic Records and subsidiary label, ATCO, were instrumental in ushering in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Their artists included Cream, Led Zeppelin and the Iron Butterfly.
History:
The Kingston Trio started an eight-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1959 with ‘Here We Go Again!’
Billboard reported in 1959, in the wake of the government’s payola investigations, the pay-for-play phenomenon has all but ceased in Philadelphia, to name a major U.S. city. “You can’t even buy the disc jockeys lunch,” complained one disgruntled Philadelphia record distributor.
Bob Dylan released his first single “Mixed Up Confusion/Corrina Corrina” in 1962. However, his record label quickly withdraws the single.
“Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen peaked on the charts at #6 in 1963.
In the United Kingdom in 1963, The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” goes to #1, where it stayed for five weeks. In so doing, it knocked off the Beatles’ previous single “She Loves You.” It’s the first time in Britain that a band has replaced itself at #1.
Chad & Jeremy (Catwoman steals their voices) and Don Ho guest on ABC-TV’s “Batman” in 1966.
The Elvis Presley film “Spinout” premiered in 1966.
In 1967, Dick Clark announced that he was making a film about hippies, “The Love Children,” which starred Jack Nicholson, Dean Stockwell and Susan Strasberg and featured the music of Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Seeds.
With the title track clocking in at 17:05, the Iron Butterfly’s epic “In-A-Gadda-Da Vida” went gold in 1968. The album sells three million copies as it stays on the album chart for nearly three years.
Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Crimson & Clover” was released in 1968.
Marvin Gaye scored his first #1 single in 1968 when “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” started a five-week run at the top. It was Marvin’s 15th solo hit.
In 1969, the Jackson Five made their first network television appearance in the US when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Also in 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono continued to protest the innocence of James Hanratty, one of the last people executed in Britain for murder, with their wacky antics. The couple turned up at London’s Hyde Park covered with a giant white bag to hear Hanratty’s father address a crowd. Hanratty and the Lennons later present a petition at No. 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lived.
The MC5’s manager John Sinclair was released from prison in 1971 after Michigan relaxes its drug penalties. Sinclair had been sentenced to ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints.
In 1972, Alexander’s department store in New York stays open especially late so shock rocker Alice Cooper, wearing silver pants and a “Paul Lives” button, can do his Christmas shopping.
The documentary film about T. Rex, “Born To Boogie” (directed by Ringo Starr and featuring Elton John) premiered in London in 1972.
Styx’ “Lady” was released in 1974.
“Saturday Night Fever” premiered in New York City in 1977. The flick was instrumental in spreading the disco craze throughout the country. The soundtrack was full of recent and soon-to-be dance hits by the Bee Gees, the Trammps, Kool & the Gang, MFSB, K.C. & the Sunshine Band and Yvonne Elliman. It would go on to be one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
In 1980, at Yoko Ono’s request, at 2 p.m. EST, John Lennon fans around the world mourn him with ten minutes of silent prayer. In New York over 100,000 people converge in Central Park in tribute and in Liverpool, a crowd of 30,000 gatherers outside of St. George’s Hall on Lime Street.
Elton John recorded a live version of “Candle in the Wind” in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1986. The song was released as a single and hits #6 on the chart.
“Walk Like An Egyptian” (The Bangles) was a hit in 1986.
Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” debuts at #1 on Billboard’s pop albums chart in 1991.
Classified documents from the White House were released in 1995 and revealed that the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities during the early ’70s in a possible attempt to have Lennon deported.
Little Richard, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are among those who performed at a tribute to Frank Sinatra on “Sinatra: 80 Years My Way” on ABC-TV in 1995.
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US album chart in 1997 with ‘Sevens’ his fourth US #1 album.
Paul McCartney played a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1999. It was the first time that McCartney had played at the club since 1963. The show was filmed for TV and also went out live on the Internet.
Alicia Keys was at #1 on the US album chart in 2003 with “The Diary Of Alicia Keys,” the singer’s second US #1.
The funeral took place in Arlington, Texas in 2004 for Damageplan and Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Eddie Van Halen placed Darrell’s original black and yellow stripes guitar into the Kiss Kasket he was buried in. Several thousand fans and friends gathered at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, to mourn the guitarist’s death. Darrell was shot five times in the back of the head during a gig at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus on 8th Dec 04 by a mentally ill former US Marine. Damageplan’s drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were both injured in the incident.
A lawsuit was filed in L.A. Superior Court in 2004 claiming that a soccer ball kicked from the stage during an August 31st Rod Stewart concert at the Hollywood Bowl caused a concertgoer “personal injuries, physical disability and physical and emotional distress, pain and suffering. Wow, here’s an idea - duck next time - or pay attention. Stewart, a one-time aspiring soccer player, ceased kicking soccer balls into the audience when similar suits mounted in the ‘80s.
In 2007, Billboard magazine says the Police’s reunion tour, which earned more than $210 million, is the highest-grossing tour of ‘07. Another reunion trek, this one by Genesis, netted approximately $129 million to land at #2 on the list. Billboard also names Daughtry’s self-titled debut the top-selling album of the year.
In ’04, The Clash issued a 25th Anniversary Edition of their classic album “London Calling. Now, in 2009, they release “London Calling: 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition.” This time around there’s a DVD featuring Don Letts’ documentary on the making of the album.
Jimi Hendrix live 1967/1968 albums to be released CD and vinyl package set for release next month
Previuosly unreleased recordings of Jimi Hendrix gigs from way back in 1967-1968 and performed in Paris and Ottowa are set to be released as part of a limited edition CD and vinyl package on January 25. Recordings of his show in the Paris L’Olympia Theatre from January 29, 1968 and his gig at the Ottawa show at the Capitol Theater from March 19 of that year will feature on the CD in the package.
A recording of his show at the L’Olympia on October 9, 1967 will also feature. It was recorded for French radio and has not been released previously. Also included in the set will be a poster and postcard set, badges, an iPod skin, guitar picks and a T-shirt.
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THE WHITE STRIPES ANNOUNCE DELUXE DVD BOX-SET
The White Stripes are to release a deluxe box set edition of their ‘The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights’ DVD.
The package, which is available to buy from Whitestripes.com, features two DVD’s, a live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl, a silk screen print and a 208-page photo book with foreword by Jim Jarmusch.
Initially, the package will cost $179 (£110), though the price will rise to $229 (£140) in 2010.
‘The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights’ box-set features the following:
A DVD of ‘Under Great White Northern Lights’
A DVD of The White Stripes 10th anniversary show
A 16-track live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl
A live 7-inch vinyl (featuring ‘Icky Thump’ and ‘The Wheels on the Bus’)
A 208-page photo book by Autumn de Wilde (foreword by Jim Jarmusch)
A silk screen print by Rob Jones
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KISS: Limited-Edition Art Prints Of ‘Sonic Boom’, ‘Rock And Roll Over’ Artwork Available
Michael Doret, designer of the KISS “Sonic Boom” and “Rock And Roll Over” album covers, is offering signed limited edition art prints of both pieces via the official KISS online store. He writes on his web site, “These two signed (signed by me and the members of the group), limited-edition, large scale fine art prints (not lithos) are now finally available! These prints made from my original artwork of ‘Sonic Boom’ and ‘Rock and Roll Over’ are the best incarnations you will ever see of my art for these two iconic KISS releases.
“I have digitally redone my orignal art for ‘Rock and Roll Over’ (after 30-plus years the original original art is long gone), and so now it’s cleaner and crisper than ever before. The art for ‘Sonic Boom’ was digitally created to begin with and so enlarges to the 20″ size perfectly.
“The print images are 20″ square printed on 25″ square ‘Museo Textured Rag’ digital Watercolor paper. These are archival prints and will show no visible signs of fading for 100-plus years under reasonable lighting situations.
“Printed by Art Works Fine Art Publishing in Los Angeles, these editions are limited to 250 prints each, and each print will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by me.
“As the creator of these two pieces I am very critical of print quality, but suffice it to say that when I saw the final proofs of these two pieces, I was blown away by the color intensity and the quality.
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VENOM: Early Albums To Be Re-Released On Deluxe Gatefold Colored Vinyl
Back On Black, which specializes in vinyl editions of classic metal albums and is dedicated to providing top-quality releases for record collectors and metal fans worldwide, will re-release the first three classic albums from the original black metal band VENOM — 1981’s “Welcome To Hell”, 1982’s “Black Metal” and 1984’s “At War With Satan”. Due in January 2010, all three LPs were remastered and will be repackaged on 180gsm deluxe gatefold colored vinyl.
The special-edition version of VENOM’s “Black Metal” album came out in September. According to the band, the new set contains bonus tracks and a DVD of the “7th Date of Hell” video of VENOM performing live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England in 1984.
On October 22, 2008, a two-album Japan-only cardboard sleeve reissue series from VENOM was made available via Universal Music featuring the following LPs:
* “Welcome To Hell” (1981)
* “Black Metal” (1982)
Each cardboard sleeve reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD players)
Here’s whats going on in New Zealand, vinyl fever is breaking out all over the world!
MUSIC LOVERS OPT FOR VINYL SOLUTION
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Vinyl records are back in favour among music lovers.
As music lovers approach a new decade in this still-young century, a recording technology once considered old and obsolete - vinyl - has been making a strong comeback.
Vinyl albums, which began to be replaced by CDs in the mid-1980s, have rebounded in recent years as enthusiasts young and old turned sentimental for the old pops, cracks and warm sounds emitting from grooves on a record.
And as sales have rebounded, music makers ranging from big acts like Jack White and the Flaming Lips to local bands in major cities have been cranking out vinyl and treating fans with added material like old-style liner notes or posters.
If bands can keep costs low, they may even be able to make extra money in the financially-strapped music business where cheap digital downloads are replacing once-lucrative CD sales.
“It’s hard to say how long it’ll last, but even if you’re 16-years-old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere,” said Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. ”So there’s probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music.”
While vinyl records never truly became extinct from record store shelves, the current resurgence seems to have picked up pace starting around 2007. Last year, 1.9 million vinyl records sold, roughly double 2007. Industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan projects that 2.8 million units will be purchased in 2009.
A wide range of bands, from Radiohead and the Beatles to Bob Dylan and Metallica, have been shipping albums on vinyl. Radiohead, for instance, sold 61,000 vinyl records in 2008.
Turntable sales are increasing, too, suggesting vinyl is reaching new customers and not just collectors and purists.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Vinyl’s renaissance springs from both musicians and fans longing for something more tangible than just listening to music on a digital file, said Paul Simcoe, co-owner of Toronto’s Criminal Records.
“I’ll support an artist to the end of time.” he said. ”But I still have a huge problem buying something I can’t see.”
The Flaming Lips’ Coyne said vinyl appeals to fans’ senses in ways digital downloads can’t by providing colorful notes, posters or other visual items that downloads just don’t have. In fact, his band has even packaged DVDs with vinyl albums.
Trevor Larocque, co-founder of Toronto’s Paper Bag Records, said vinyl gives artists the chance to offer fans distinct products. His label’s records are made in limited amounts of 200 or 300, and the record sleeves are silk-screened with exclusive artwork.
Another technique to lure online listeners is offering memberships in fan clubs that include shipments of unreleased, vinyl recordings, which is what Nashville-based Third Man Records, founded by the White Stripes’ Jack White, is doing.
“That, for us, is a really strong way of reaching out to a digital generation,” said label executive Ben Swank.
In the case of Toronto-based band the Diableros, they released a new EP, “Old Story, Fresh Road,” digitally and on vinyl, forgoing CDs which they felt were unnecessary.
Ad Feedback But releasing an album on vinyl presents musicians with challenges that don’t exist for CDs or digital files, said David Read of Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing outfit on Vancouver Island, Canada.
COSTS V BENEFITS
Listeners can download files and/or copy digital songs onto CDs and DVDs from their home computer but vinyl presses aren’t easy to find - there are only a handful in North America. And to produce a vinyl album, first the lacquer on which to press each vinyl album must be made. Then, a test pressing needs to be done and sound problems must be fixed before mass quantities are produced.
Also, many bands want to release just a few hundred copies on vinyl, yet custom vinyl jackets must be ordered in minimum quantities of 500. To get around that problem, Paper Bag Records ships its albums in, aptly so, paper - recycled cardboard jackets that are customized for each band.
Diableros drummer Mike Duffield said his band borrowed money to finance their vinyl EP, but it was worth it.
“When you’ve worked a year and a half on something and you want to see it done, you take risks,” he explained. “I think you have to invest in yourself and your product.”
Vinyl records also cost fans more than CDs, said Criminal Record’s Simcoe.
In the US CDs generally range from US$10 (NZ$13.60) to US$14 (NZ$19), but a vinyl record is usually at least US$15 (NZ$20.40) . A price of $20 is more normal and a double-disc, for instance, can cost upward of $35.
Some major and independent labels have increased vinyl prices to account for higher costs and increased demand, but Simcoe worries that tactic may end the positive sales trend. “These guys are in danger of killing this industry,” he said.
But for some artists, vinyl’s downsides are worth working around. Third Man Records, for instance, sidesteps higher costs and inconvenience by doing all their work in Nashville. The music is recorded in a studio behind their storefront and records are pressed at a facility just down the road.
“We can have it on the shelves in about a month, which is about as long as it takes to get it on iTunes these days,” Swank said. “What we’re trying to do is make vinyl as immediate as a digital track can be.”
Synopsis: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer brings his first 3-D film to the big screen with G-Force, a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws. Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of SAM ROCKWELL), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of TRACY MORGAN), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of PENELOPE CRUZ), a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of NICOLAS CAGE), the computer and information specialist.
Cast: The Wibberleys, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Tim Firth Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, Tracy Morgan, Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Kelli Garner, Gabriel Casseus, Jack Conley, Penelope Cruz, Tyler Patrick Jones; Directed By: Hoyt Yeatman
Inglourious Basterds
Synopsis: Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.
Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cloris Leachman, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, B.J. Novak, Eli Roth; Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Ponyo
Synopsis: From the Academy Award®-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by NOAH CYRUS) and her quest to become human features an outstanding roster of voice talent, including CATE BLANCHETT, MATT DAMON, TINA FEY, CLORIS LEACHMAN, LIAM NEESON, LILY TOMLIN, BETTY WHITE and FRANKIE JONAS as Sosuke, a young boy who befriends Ponyo.
Synopsis: A generation began in his backyard. From Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comes Taking Woodstock, a new comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening that it was.
It’s 1969, and Elliot Tiber, a down-on-his-luck interior designer in Greenwich Village, New York, has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The bank’s about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn’t paid the insurance; and Elliot is still figuring how to come out to his parents.
When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers, thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for the motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbor’s farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.
Cast: Demtri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Imelda Staunton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Henry Goodman, Eugene Levy, Paul Dano, Dan Fogler, Mamie Gummer; Directed By: Ang Lee
The Hangover
Synopsis: From “Old School” director Todd Phillips comes a comedy about a bachelor party gone very, very wrong.
Two days before his wedding, Doug (JUSTIN BARTHA) drives to Las Vegas with his best buddies Phil and Stu (BRADLEY COOPER and ED HELMS) and his future brother-in-law Alan (ZACH GALIFIANAKIS), for a blow-out bachelor party they vow they’ll never forget.
But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can’t remember a thing. Their luxury hotel suite is beyond trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found.
With no clue about what happened and little time to spare, the trio must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong in the hopes of finding Doug and getting him back to L.A. in time for his wedding.
But the more they begin to uncover, the more they realize just how much trouble they’re really in.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Green Hat Films Production of a Todd Phillips Movie: “The Hangover,” starring Bradley Cooper (”He’s Just Not That Into You”), Ed Helms (”The Office”), Zach Galifianakis (”What Happens in Vegas”), Heather Graham (”Baby on Board”), Justin Bartha (the “National Treasure” films) and Jeffrey Tambor (”Arrested Development”).
The film is directed by Todd Phillips (”Old School”) from a screenplay by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (”Four Christmases”). Todd Phillips and Dan Goldberg (”Old School”) produce, with Thomas Tull (”Watchmen”), Jon Jashni (”Observe and Report”), William Fay (”Observe and Report”), Scott Budnick (”School for Scoundrels”), Chris Bender (”American Pie,” TV’s “Kyle XY”) and J.C. Spink (”Kyle XY”) serving as executive producers.
The creative team includes director of photography Lawrence Sher (”Dan in Real Life”), production designer Bill Brzeski (”The Bucket List”), and editor Debra Neil-Fisher (”Baby Mama”). Music is by Christophe Beck (”What Happens in Vegas”). Soundtrack album is available on New Line Records.
Peter Gabriel to Release Indie-centric Covers Album
The latest news is that Peter Gabriel will be releasing an album of covers entitled ‘Scratch My Back’ on February 15th 2010.
Gabriel describes this as “a very personal record” with the twelve songs performed only with orchestral instruments and voice. To help craft the recording he enlisted John Metcalfe as composer/arranger, the expertise of producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’) and the engineer, mixer and producer Tchad Blake (Suzanne Vega, Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits).
It’s chock full of indie goodness!
Heroes (David Bowie)
The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon)
Mirrorball (Elbow)
Flume (Bon Iver)
Listening Wind (Talking Heads)
The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed)
My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire)
The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields)
I Think it’s Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman)
Après Moi (Regina Spektor)
Philadelphia (Neil Young)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) (Radiohead)
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Judas Priest To Reissue Classics On Vinyl
Back on Black, a company specializing in vinyl re-issues of classic metal albums, has announced that they will be re-releasing a number of classic Judas Priest albums beginning next year.
The reissues begin February 22 with Sin After Sin, followed by British Steel, which will be reissued April 19 to coincide with its 30th anniversary.
Other release dates include the seminal live disc Unleashed in the East on March 22, Screaming for Vengeance on May 24 and both Painkiller and Angel of Retribution on July 19.
All records will be 180 gram heavyweight vinyl and will come packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves. The first 1,000 pressed will be limited-edition colored collectible vinyl. All of the records will contain bonus tracks.
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Paul McCartney: ‘It Would Have Been Interesting To Work With John Lennon Again’
Sir Paul McCartney has admitted it would have been “pretty interesting” to work again with former Beatles bandmate John Lennon. In an interview with The Times, Sir Paul said the pair had resolved their tumultuous relationship before Lennon was murdered in 1980.
But the singer said they were still cautious about re-igniting their creative relationship.
“Yeah, we were mates. God, that was so cool. It was the saving grace. Because it got a bit sticky after the Beatles,” he said. “No, we were really good mates again — it was lovely, actually.”
When asked if they had considered working together again, Sir Paul replied: “I dunno. We were always a bit nervous of that.
“Had he lived it might have happened, there was a mellowing. It could have been pretty interesting.”
How freaking sad, with the anniversary of his death tomorrow, December 8.
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Nickelback Donates $500K to the Obakki Foundation
Founder and Obakki Designs Inc. owner Treana Peake launched the first awareness building and fundraising campaign for the newly created Obakki Foundation this week. The creative and moving campaign began with Peake, a philanthropist, entrepreneur and wife of Nickelback guitarist Ryan Peake, who gave 150 children at three orphanages in Cameroon, Africa a piece of paper and a pen and asked: What Makes You Happy? What Makes You Afraid? What Makes You Sad? Their answers can now be found on a series of fashion items that will be available for purchase at www.obakki.com in early 2010.
“I have always been involved in charitable causes, even when I could only afford to donate my time, ” said Treana. “I am so grateful to now have a platform for people to come together and, through small actions, create big results. We are excited about the impact that the Obakki Foundation will have on these children in Africa.”
The Obakki Foundation partners with organizations around the world that seek to empower individuals, groups and communities, at a grassroots level, to make a positive change. 100% of all donations made go directly back to the projects being supported by the Obakki Foundation. International superstars Nickelback recently became one of the first major contributors to the Obakki Foundation donating $1 of every ticket sale from their sold out summer tour, resulting in a total contribution of $500K.
“Through the ongoing support of our incredible fans, Nickelback has the opportunity to step up, contribute and make a difference,” said Ryan. “I will personally be making the trip to Africa this weekend and I’m really looking forward to visiting the villages and communities to see where we can make the largest impact.
With an active role, Treana personally visits all project locations supported by the Obakki Foundation. All travel and accommodation costs are paid out of pocket to ensure that 100% of the funds raised go to helping others. From December 5 - 15, the Peakes will visit the children from all three orphanages to share the impact of their stories and words and show what it brings to their world. They will assist in the construction of a new child-care center as well as conduct surveys for water sites and other potential projects related to education and health.
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Technics 1200 & 1210 turntables not facing axe
Panasonic has issued a clarification to its statement on the future of its Technics SL-1200 and SL-1210 turntables. There has been speculation about the industry standard decks since the announcement from antipodean retailers that they would be discontinued.
However, the company has now confirmed the invaldity of the rumour, telling Pocket-lint: “As a major global business, Panasonic keeps all of its operations under constant review. However, there are no current plans to discontinue the Technics brand and the production of Technics turntables”.
Previously, the company had issued a similar denial, however it only covered the Technics brand, which contains many products. The news that the SL-1200 and SL-1210 will be continued for now should keep vinyl DJs and other fans of the turntable happy.
American blues artist, Leadbelly died in 1949. Huddie William Ledbetter wrote many songs including “Goodnight Irene,” “Cotton Fields,” “The Rock Island Line” and “The Midnight Special.” Leadbelly was jailed several times for fights and knife related incidents, he was once jailed for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman.
The late Randy Rhodes was born in 1956 (played with Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne). He died in plane crash March 19, 1982.
Born today in 1916, Hugo Peretti, songwriter, producer. Wrote many classic hits including, “Twistin’ The Night Away,” “Shout,” “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” Died on 1st May 1986.
Singer songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack in 1988 (age 52). Scored the 1964 US & UK #1 single “Pretty Woman,” plus over 20 US & 30 UK Top 40 singles including “Only the Lonely” and “Crying.” Formed his first band The Wink Westerners in 1949, was a member of The Traveling Wilburys (known as Lefty Wilbury) with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty Orbison endured a great deal of tragedy in his life. His first wife, Claudette died in a motorcycle accident in 1966 and two of his three sons, died in a house fire.
The late Mike Smith (lead singer of the Dave Clark Five– “Bits And Pieces”) is born in 1943. (Died February 28, 2008)
History:
In 1957, Mercury Records released the Diamonds’ cover of the Chuck Willis dance tune “The Stroll.” It peaked at #8 on the pop chart and sparked a fad for the dance of the same name.
In 1961, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best met with Brian Epstein for further discussions about his proposal to manage them. Epstein wanted 25% of their gross fees each week. He promised that their bookings will be better organized, more prestigious, and will expand beyond the Liverpool area. He also promised that they will never again play for less than £15, except for Cavern lunchtime sessions, for which he will get their fee doubled to ten pounds. Lennon, as leader of The Beatles, accepts on their behalf.
The movie “Ferry Cross The Mersey,” with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Cilla Black, debuts in London in 1964.
The Beatles release their “Rubber Soul” album in 1965 and their “Day Tripper” single (which, strangely enough, isn’t from that album).
The Rolling Stones recorded “19th Nervous Breakdown” and “Mother’s Little Helper” at RCA’s Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles in 1965.
In 1966, the Beatles recorded Christmas and New Year’s greetings for pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. Both stations were broadcasting from ships anchored off the British coastline.
The Beatles recorded “When I’m Sixty-Four” in 1966 which became the first song included on “Sgt. Peppers.” They’d been working on “Strawberry Fields Forever” but that song landed on “Magical Mystery Tour.”
James Taylor’s self-titled album was released in Britain on Apple in 1968. Most attention focused on the contributions of Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Taylor was the first non-Beatle signed to Apple.
In 1969, The Rolling Stones play a free “thank you” concert for 300,000 fans at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California. Among the performing guests are Jefferson Airplane, Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The hastily organized event rapidly falls into a disaster when four people die, including one who was stabbed by a Hell’s Angel who was hired to act as a security guard. The murder is filmed and included in the film “Gimme Shelter” which premiers exactly one year later.
Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart in 1969 with “Whole Lotta Love.” It went on to make #4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US. During the bands career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the UK.
1969, One hit wonders Steam started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1969 with “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” one of the many ‘B-sides’ to make it big in the music industry.
“Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles was a hit in 1970.
Steve Miller got a gold record for “The Joker,” in 1973, his most sucessful LP to date. The title track becomes Miller’s first chart-topping hit and gives cameo roles to some of his previous in-song personas, like “Maurice” and “The Gangster of Love.”
Paul Simon went to #1 on the US album chart in 1975 with “Still Crazy After All These Years,” his first US #1 solo album.
In 1975, Rev Charles Boykin of Tallahassee, Florida organised the burning of Elton John and Rolling Stones records, claiming they were sinful. Boykin was reacting to the results from a survey that said, 984 of the 1,000 local unmarried mothers had sex when listening to rock music. For the record, he din’t stamp out rock and roll we are are all still sinning.
AC/DC’s big breakthrough comes with his fifth US album, “Highway to Hell,” which was released in 1979. It turns gold and happens to be the last album recorded with original vocalist Bon Scott, who dies two months later.
In the studio in 1980, John Lennon mixed “Walking on Thin Ice.” He’s also interviewed by British DJ Andy Peebles. Mark David Chapman arrived in New York after flying there from Honolulu. He checked into a YMCA nine blocks from John Lennon’s apartment.
The sound system breaks down during a John Mellencamp concert at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1985. Mellencamp waits until the problem is fixed, resumes the show and offers anyone in the audience their money back if they’re not satisfied. That’s how a professional acts!
Peter Cetera and Amy Grant went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1986 with “The Next Time I Fall.”
Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” was released in 1994.
Four months after the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead declare their long strange trip is over. They disbanded in 1995.
Green Day nails a total of six trophies, including Rock Artist of the Year and Pop Group of the Year, at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The group opens the show with “Holiday” from “American Idiot.”
KoRn unleash their 7th album, “See You On The Other Side” in 2005.
In 2008, Beyoncé went to #1 on the US album chart with “I Am… Sasha Fierce,” the singers third studio album. It debuted at #1, making Knowles the third female artist this decade after Britney Spears and Alicia Keys to have her first three albums debut in the top spot.
Here’s another great article from my friend from ‘down under’:
By Donald J.Kay
Planes, trains, and automobiles. All modes of transport. But, one in particular has robbed the music world of some of our biggest stars, the plane. Great names like Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, John Denver and more recently Aaliyah, have all sadly been taken from us in plane crashes, many have been caused by inclement weather.
The earliest reported case was that of American band leader, Glenn Miller, killed in December 15, 1944. Miller was on a plane going from England to Paris, when his aircraft was bombed in midair by the allies. Other theories exist, but haven’t been proven. Miller left us with great music memories such as” Tuxedo Junction” and “In the Mood, “ to name just two from his enormous catalogue.
Just three years later, January 26, 1947, American singer, Grace Moore would lose her life when the plane she was on, climbed to an altitude of 150 feet, and then stalled, crashing to the ground. On October 1, 1949, Buddy Clark died when his plane crashed on to the street in Los Angeles. Memorable hits were “I’ll Dance at Your Wedding “and “A Dreamer’s Holiday”
February 3, 1959 would go on to be a memorable day in music history. It was the day that three big icons in the music world would sadly leave us. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and finally Richie Valens. Legends in their own right, they left us with great tracks like “Peggy Sue,” “Everyday” “Chantilly Lace,” “La Bamba” and “Donna.” Their music is still played and loved today.
In March 5 1963, Country music star with the golden voice, Patsy Cline was tragically killed when her plane went down in Tennesee, due to weather conditions. Memorable hits were” Crazy” and” Walking after Midnight” to name just two. On the same day, Cowboy Copas, lost his life in a plane wreck. His posthumous country hit was” Goodbye Kisses.” Also on March 5,1963, Hawkshaw Hawkins (41), perished in the same plane wreck that claimed the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. His best known track is the Ernest Tubb song” Lonesome 7-7203.”
In 1964, July 31, 1964, to be precise, “Gentleman” Jim Reeves would perish while piloting his own craft in Tennessee during a thunderstorm. Memorable hits include “He’ll Have To Go” and “I Love You Because.” Tragedy struck again on October 23,1964 with the death of David Box, who replaced Buddy Holly and sang lead vocal on the Crickets’ track” Peggy Sue Got Married.”
The music world settled down for the next three years, until the untimely death of Soul man Otis Redding and four members of the Barkays, who were killed in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. Weather conditions were the main factor involved. His hits included a riveting version of the Stones, “Satisfaction” and his biggest is “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.”
September 20, 1973 would see the demise of one Jim Croce, famous for the songs “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,” “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” among others. He died when the plane he was on failed to gain enough altitude on takeoff from Louisiana Airport. He was only 30 years old.
In October 20, 1977, three members of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd were lost to the music world. Their plane encountered mechanical and fuel problems. Members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines, all lost their lives. At the time of their deaths, their new album “Street Survivors” got withdrawn because the cover depicted the band surrounded by flames. The group’s most memorable track “Sweet Home Alabama” is still played on radio today and is an all time favourite.
March 19, 1982 saw Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhodes plane crash into a house after a wing clipped Ozzy’s Tour bus. He was 25. The last album he played on was “Diary of a Madman” released in 1981. Canadian, Stan Rogers (33) lost his life in June 2, 1983, when fire broke out in the restroom onboard the Air Canada flight in Cincinnati. He along with 23 other people died of smoke inhalation.
Next in this list of music greats, is the late Rick Nelson who died December 31, 1985. Rick and his fiancée were both killed after fire broke out on board a DC-3, while enroute to a New Years Eve performance in Dallas. The son of Ozzie and Harriet, from the 50’s TV show had heaps of hits. Most notably were ”Travelin’Man” and “Garden Party.” He also made numerous TV and movie appearances.
October 22, 1986 saw singer, actress and radio personality, Jane Dornacker (39) die, riding in a helicopter, doing a live traffic report, while flying over the Hudson River. Jane was best known as the sultry voice on The Tubes hit “Don’t Touch Me There.” Another famous son was Dean Paul (Dino) Martin, son of Dean Martin, who died on March 21, 1987. He was a one time member of Dino, Desi, And Billy, who charted with “Not the Loving Kind.”
Bluesman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touted as being the ‘new’ Hendrix, was killed in a helicopter crash August 27, 1990 in Wisconsin. Heavy fog causing bad visibility, plus the fact that the pilot couldn’t gain proper altitude contributed to his untimely death. He was 35 and best remembered for albums such as “Texas Flood” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.”
On March 16, 1991, seven members of Reba McEntires’ band and her manager all lost their lives near San Diego when their plane crashed in mountainous terrain, killing all passengers. Top albums by Reba include, “My Kinda Country” and the album recorded, as a result of the accident,” For My Broken Heart.”
Walter Hyatt, of Uncle Watt’s Band, died when the ValuJet he was on crashed into the Everglades on May 11, 1996. He was 46. His last known album was “Music Town”, recorded for Sugar Hill Records. Country singer John Denver succumbed to an early death, in October 12, 1997, when his single engine plane crashed near Monterey, California. Modifications to the planes controls were the contributing factor, leading to his death. Some of his biggest selling albums are “Rocky Mountain High” and “Back Home Again,” among others.
September 25, 1999 saw the loss of Ozark Mountain Daredevils member Stephen Canaday, killed when the vintage plane he was on crashed into a house in Nashville. He was 55. One of the biggest hits for the Ozarks was “Jackie Blue,” a top 10 hit globally. January 8, 2000 saw the death of Grinderswitch guitarist, Joe Dan Petty (52), killed when the plane he was on reported fuel line problems in Macon, Georgia. Grinderswitch recorded several albums for Capricorn and Atlantic labels.
August 25, 2001 would mark the demise of R&B star, Aaliyah, killed, when her plane, while leaving the Bahamas, crashed during takeoff. Tests showed that the pilot had traces of drugs and alcohol in his body, plus the plane was overloaded, contributing to the accident. Best remembered for her debut album “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number” and her last self-titled album. She was 22 years old. Graham (Shirley) Strachan, from the Australian band, Skyhooks, was killed in a helicopter accident in August 29, 2001. The crash occurred at Mount Alexander at 4pm in the afternoon. He is best remembered for classic hits such as “All My Friends Are Getting Married” and “Blue Jeans. He was 49. Melanie Thornton (34), died in Zurich, aboard a plane carrying 33 passengers on November 24, 2001. She was lead singer with the group La Bouche, who had success with a track called “Sweet Dreams.”
On February 12, 2009, two members of Chuck Mangione’s band were killed in Buffalo, New York. Killed were Gerry Niewood, and Coleman Mellet. Mangione’s best remembered track is “Feels So Good.” In closing, it’s safe to say that whilst these great artists will be sadly missed by all music lovers, there’s one thing that can be positively stated - their music will live on and on and on.
Carlin Nicholson is itching to get his hands on the test pressing, or vinyl prototype, of his band’s debut album. It’s currently being mastered in Los Angeles and should arrive next week, he said.
In a few months, the 12-track LP by Zeus, Nicholson’s Toronto-based rock band, will be released in North America, Japan and Europe through indie music label Arts & Crafts.
In keeping with the band’s preferred medium, the vinyl LP will hit store shelves two weeks ahead of the compact disc. And the downloadable version of the album will be recorded from vinyl master, making the tracks sound more like a good old fashioned record.
“Really, we’ve been looking forward to vinyl the whole time,” Nicholson said by phone from a recording studio in the city’s east end. “If it’s about listening to music, then it’s got to be about music that sounds as good as it can.”
Thanks to devoted fans of vinyl LPs in the indie music scene, and to DJs who have been spinning electronic music or hip hop on their turntables, the record has survived on the fringes of the music industry for years.
But that may be changing as artists, listeners, technology companies and record labels come back around to the music format that dominated the 20th century.
Yearly vinyl sales are on course to surpass 2008’s total by 37 per cent, according to Nielsen Soundscan, which tracks music sales at 14,000 vendors across Canada and the U.S.
Last month, Soundscan announced that vinyl LP sales broke the two million mark for the first time since the company started keeping tabs in 1991.
The market may be significantly larger, however, because Soundscan excludes many independently owned retailers that stock vinyl, as well as second-hand sales.
‘Obsessive’ listeners
Brian Zirk has been listening to records for decades. About three years ago he decided to beef up his collection, now 3,000 strong, by searching his Vancouver Island community, and the Internet, for anyone selling used rock, jazz and blues records.
“It’s quite obsessive. Always looking for that perfect sound I guess,” Zirk said in a phone interview from Campbell River, B.C., where he runs an audio-video equipment store. The 50-year-old owns several turntables and eschews the MP3 format, describing it as “the scourge of the world” because it offers inferior sound.
“There’s more colourations to the vinyl,” he added. “It’s a better way of listening, it’s more personal.”
Catering to the small but growing base of consumers with Zirk’s tastes, manufacturers are bringing new turntables to market.
“Certainly in recent years there’s been an upswing in sales,” said
Simon Wilson, the manager at Audio Ark, an Edmonton store that sells audio and video systems. “Quite possibly we stock a greater variety of turntables than we did back in vinyl’s heyday.”
To stand out from the competition, some newer models come with USB ports, allowing vinyl fans to connect the turntable to their computer and digitize their collection.
“There seems to be a growing number of younger people who are getting interested in the format,” Wilson wrote in an email. “It’s almost as if they’re content with the iPod for digital but, at least presently, make a stronger connection with the whole ritual of playing a record.”
Turning the tables
When the compact disc was introduced in 1982, it seemed like the writing on the beginning of the end for vinyl LPs. And as recently as 2006, vinyl sales were dropping steadily.
Canada lost its only remaining commercial record press two years later, when the long-time operator of a plant in Pickering, Ont., retired.
“We were having trouble finding someone to take over physically running the operation,” said Lindsay Gillespie, president of Music Manufacturing Service, which owned the factory.
Then vinyl sales started to rebound, and a new vinyl press called Rip-V opened in the Montreal suburb of St. Lambert, Que. It’s currently pressing a new live album by Tom Waits.
Meanwhile, CD sales dropped more than 20 per cent in Canada last year, according to the Canadian Recording Industry Association.
Even though vinyl still makes up a tiny fraction of the overall market for music, devotees are asking whether their beloved analog medium will outlive, or even help bring down the CD.
Staff at Rotate This, a music store in downtown Toronto that arguably has the largest vinyl selection in the city, estimates they now move at least 10 records for every compact disc.
Vinyl sales at Vancouver’s Zulu records are up at least 30 per cent compared to a few years ago, and are now on par with CD sales, the store’s general manager, Nicholas Bragg, told CTV.
“A lot of record labels are thinking, ‘well, we’ve got to make up these losses that we’re incurring with CD sales,’ and I think that they’ve looked to the niche market of records,” Bragg said.
“In some ways (records) are going to become the most vital part of the market, because it’s analog and because it represents something different than the MP3 format,” he added. “I’ve got to be frank — it’s cool, too.”
George F. Sims had just returned from the Bay Area, at the time of this catalogue, with a haul of American books which are scattered throughout the catalogue. Sims was probably best with collection buying, as a scout he was obviously proficient good but lacked the guile of, say, Martin Stone or Adam Hunstanton. In 1977 he published a thriller set in a dangerous part of San Francisco “Hunter’s Point”. I
could never get on with it, possibly because it was not a bibliomystery.
He brought back a lot of Conrad Aiken - not a great investment but not a loss-maker - also some signed limited Updikes now quite prized, some rather expensive loss making Ambrose Bierce, some decent Hart Crane, Caresse Crosby, Frost (including a presentation copy to Elizabeth Bowen) late Hemingway, Henry Miller, Robert Lowell, Thomas Merton, Willa Cather etc. He was also fond of first foreign language editions of heavyweight British and American writers, possibly less collected these days due to persistent dumbing down. He was also keen on proofs, well ahead of the game (they became hot in the 1980s). Sadly proofs in general seem to be less desirable in 2009 and are banned altogether at Amazon. Here goes with a final selection starting with the kind of proof that has held its value:
George Orwell. COMING UP FOR AIR.1948. Author’s corrected proofs with many corrections in Orwell’s hand also another unknown and Roger Senhouse. £85 / £1020 / £4000
Henry Miller. TROPIQUE DU CANCER. Paris 1945. Fine condition, copy no 1. Sims states that only ‘a few copies were printed before the edition was aborted’ a statement which the net does not bear out, also HM seems to have gone distinctly ’soft’. £85 / £1020 / £650
John Updike. BATH AFTER SAILING. 1968. One of 125 signed. Fine. £15 / £180 / £300
Ezra Pound. PROVENCA…(Boston, 1910) Apparently a fine copy in a used vg first state d/w. £85 / £1020 / £600
John Galsworthy (John Sinjohn) A MAN OF DEVON. Even then Galsworthy was in decline but the 4 Sinjohn titles were still sexy. They are less so today, but is always good to find them completely overlooked. Short stories with one “The Salvation of Swithin Forsyte” having the first appearance of a Forsyte character. George’s was near fine but still represents a troubling loss to our portfolio. £75 / £900 / £400
BILDER LEXICON (SEXUALWISSENCHAFT) A weighty German sex encyclopaedia finely bound in original publisher’s pigskin. Like all decent booksellers GFS had a proportion of erotica. If nothing else it almost always sells fast. Unfortunately German books have mostly fared badly due to every bookshop in Germany putting all their stock on the web and generally driving prices down, sometimes disastrously. £85 / £1020 / £450
Sylvia Plath (left). A WINTER SHIP. Tragara Press, 1960. GFS had much Tragara in the catalogue but none as good as this, Plath’s first publication. For £30 he had a proof with corrections in her hand ‘indicating that her name should be removed from the title page.’ There were a few other proof pages but it was not clear whether this was complete, so to be sure one would have to buy (£20) the next item - a fine complete proof with her name on the title page. It was omitted from the published version. So £50 / £600 / £4000 (conceivably more…)
R.L. Stevenson. VERSES. Privately printed 1912. Presented by the publisher Luther Livingstone to RLS’s bibliographer. Posthumous limited edition (100 copies). The kind of book that is now very hard to sell for serious money. BAD BUY!£80 / £960 / £250
Now is the time to do the math. If we had got every book we had ordered we would have spent £1207.50 (call it £1200 and George might have given 10% on top of that.). If we sold the whole lot in a sale next week with some doing better than others and some doing worse we would very likely get £33, 460. With auctions there are expenses so take off 10% and say another 10% for storage and the depressant effect of the auctioneers 20% to sellers and we get £27000, so the books have increased in value by 22.5 times which keeps pace with stocks and shares and represents 9% annual compound interest which is just short of what Madoff was offering (but with him you would have lost the lot!)
If you take out the bad buys (almost half the outlay but with £24000 coming back) the return is a stellar 42 times. In retrospect manuscript material was a good buy and should stay so but there are not many other clear lessons to be drawn from this exercise and to quote Scott Fitzgerald (himself a good investment) ‘…so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’
These are the movies being released this Tuesday: Angels and Demons, Four Christmases, Funny People, and Shorts.
Angels and Demons
Angels and Demons re-teams director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks for the sequel to their international blockbuster adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. Although the book Angels and Demons was written before the novel The Da Vinci Code, the movie transpires after the events of the earlier movie. Hanks stars as professor Robert Langdon, the most respected symbologist in the United States, who uses his knowledge in order to decode a symbol on the skin of a murder victim. The clues put him on the trail of an international conspiracy involving the Catholic Church. Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer also star in the Sony Pictures production.
Cast: Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård, David Pasquesi; Directed by: Ron Howard
Four Christmases
Synopsis: A crafty couple run the Christmas Day gauntlet by racing to visit their divorced parents’ four separate households in this Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon comedy that proves the holidays are no time for relaxing. Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have made something of an art form out of avoiding their families during the holidays, but this year their foolproof plan is about go bust — big time. Stuck at the city airport after all departing flights are canceled, the couple is embarrassed to see their ruse exposed to the world by an overzealous television reporter. Now, Brad and Kate are left with precious little choice other than to swallow their pride and suffer the rounds. Along the way, they perform in a church nativity play at the behest of Kate’s mother’s (Mary Steenburgen) pushy pastor Phil (Dwight Yoakam), contend with Brad’s gruff father, Howard (Robert Duvall), and bullying brothers, Dallas (Jon Favreau) and Denver (Tim McGraw) — a pair of trained UFC fighters — and pay a visit to Brad’s spacy, New Age mother, Paula (Sissy Spacek), who recently made waves in the family circle by marrying her son’s childhood friend.
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau, Kristin Chenoweth, Dwight Yoakam, Sissy Spacek, Carol Kane; Directed by: Seth Gordon
Funny People
Synopsis Judd Apatow casts his former real-life roommate Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a comic superstar who learns in the movie’s opening scene that he suffers from a rare blood disorder that will likely kill him within a year. This news gives him the impulse to go back out and work on his standup, something he hasn’t done in years thanks to the massive success of his movie career. At a club, he meets struggling standup Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), takes a shine to him, and hires the young man both to write jokes and to be his personal assistant. Ira, who’s been sleeping on a friend’s pull-out couch and working a day job at a deli, enjoys the glimpse into the superstar lifestyle, but soon the protégé discovers how selfish and egocentric his mentor really is. Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill, and a host of famous standup comics make cameo appearances as themselves.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman; Directed By: Judd Apatow
Shorts
Synopsis: A young boy living in a cookie-cutter suburb gets hit on the head with a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it in this family-oriented fantasy comedy from Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez. All the houses in Black Falls look exactly the same, and everyone who lives in this suburban Shangri-la works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated. A highly profitable company thanks to their latest invention, Mr. Black’s Black Box — an all-in-one communication device that’s revolutionized the technological landscape — Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated also employs the parents of 11-year-old Toe Thompson. But Toe isn’t entirely sold on the concept of this corporate conglomerate; all he wants is to make some new friends, and that wish comes true after Toe is struck in the head by a mysterious rainbow-colored rock that falls right out of the clear blue sky. A magical stone that puts Mr. Black’s Black Box to shame, Toe’s rock possesses the power to grant wishes. Now, as the rock begins to change hands, Black Falls is overrun by miniature spaceships, crocodile armies, boogers the size of boulders, and whatever other oddities the imaginative local kids happen to dream up. Who would have thought that the real trouble would start once the grown-ups in town get their hands on the mysterious rock? With the situation quickly spiraling out of control, it’s up to Toe and his friends to save the townspeople from themselves by proving to them that the things you wish for may not actually be the best things for you. Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, and James Spader co-star.
Cast: Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Jon Cryer, Leslie Mann, William H. Macy, James Spader; Directed By: Robert Rodriguez
1 WHATEVER 42 copies
2 CHUCK RAGAN “Rotterdam” picture disc 7″ 33 copies
3 BLINK 182 “Enema Of The State” LP gold vinyl 24 copies
4 THE PLAYING FAVORITES I Remember When I Was Pretty LP 22 copies
5 BLINK 182 “Buddha” LP 20 copies
6 THRICE “Beggars” LP (signed by the band, limited to 2000 copies) 19 copies
7 CHUCK RAGAN “The Daytrotter Sessions” 10″ white vinyl VC exclusive color 18 copies
7 THE REVIVAL TOUR Fall 2009 Collection double CD 18 copies
9 MICAH SCHNABEL (of Two Cow Garage) “When the Stage Light Goes Dim” CD 15 copies
9 BLINK 182 “Enema Of The State” LP half white half blue vinyl 15 copies
11 CHUCK RAGAN “Gold Country” LP clear w/ gold splat vinyl 13 copies
11 BLINK 182 “Enema Of The State” LP white vinyl 13 copies
11 Vinyl Collective/Suburban Home Raffle Ticket 13 copies
11 BLINK 182 “Enema Of The State” LP half white half red vinyl 13 copies
The Rolling Stones Reissue ‘Wild Horses’ In Wake Of Susan Boyle Cover
You can buy it now…
The Rolling Stones have reissued their 1971 song ‘Wild Horses’ in the wake of Susan Boyle covering it on The X Factor last night.
The remastered song is be available as a bundle via iTunes from today which also features a live studio version of the track and a live rendition at Knebworth.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Wild Horses was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama over three days in December 1969 and was the last of 3 songs completed at those sessions, after Brown Sugar and You Gotta Move.
As well as Boyle’s version - which appears on her debut album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ - acts including Neil Young, Guns N’ Roses, Sheryl Crow and Mazzy Star have all covered the track.
Furnace MFG is proud to announce the pressing completion of Neil Young’s first four albums on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl in limited edition box sets. Each box set (and all corresponding jackets included within) are numbered with gold foil stamps and limited to 3,000 units. The records were pressed by the Pallas Group in Germany – arguably the finest vinyl pressing facility in the world.
Fairfax, VA (PRWEB) November 22, 2009 — Furnace MFG is proud to announce the pressing completion of Neil Young’s first four albums on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl in limited edition box sets. Each box set (and all corresponding jackets included within) are numbered with gold foil stamps and limited to 3,000 units. The records were pressed by the Pallas Group in Germany – arguably the finest vinyl pressing facility in the world.
Neil Young’s self-titled solo album was first released in 1969. That was followed by “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” also in 1969. The following year saw the release of “After the Gold Rush” and finally in 1972, “Harvest” was released and reached both critical and commercial success.
Warner Bros. Music selected Furnace MFG to press the vinyl records, hand-stamp each individual jacket and box set with a unique number in gold leaf, and assemble the final product for distribution and sale to customers. The entire project is limited to just 3,000 box sets. Once the box sets are gone, this limited edition configuration will no longer be available.
The records were pressed at Furnace’s German partner – the Pallas Group on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl. Pallas has a long history of extremely high-quality vinyl pressing and is considered the plant of choice for many audiophile record labels throughout the world.
Tom Biery, General Manager of Warner Bros. Records and vinyl enthusiast commented: “In all my years of working vinyl releases, I was shocked at just how incredible these Neil Young re-masters sound. There is no doubt in my mind that when listening to these recordings on the new, upgraded vinyl format, it will be as close as anyone will audibly come to actually being in the studio listening to the original master tapes. It now sounds as if you are in the room with Neil during the session.”
The limited edition Neil Young Official Release Series Disc 1-4 Box Set will be available on November 24th exclusively at www.becausesoundmatters.com or www.neilyoung.com
About Furnace MFG: In business since 1996, Furnace MFG (www.furnacemfg.com/vinyl) is a recognized leader in CD and DVD duplication, replication, and vinyl record manufacturing and packaging.
Only one movie matters this weekend. 2012, makes its way to a theater near you, this weekend.
Synopsis: Disaster movie maven Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) crafts this apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, divorced writer and father Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) joins the race to ensure that humankind is not completely wiped out. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, and Oliver Platt round out the cast of this end-of-the-world thriller co-scripted by the director and his 10,000 B.C. writer/composer, Harald Kloser.
Cast: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson; Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Release date: Friday February 12, 2010 Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller Director: Joe Johnston Studio: Universal Pictures Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self Producer(s): Scott Stuber, Sean Daniel, Rick Yorn, Benicio Del Toro Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik Official Site:thewolfmanmovie.com Rating:Not Yet Rated Available film art: The Wolf Man movie posters
Synopsis
myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins. Oscar® winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother…and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.
Lawrence Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.
As he pieces together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance at ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature in the woods surrounding Blackmoor. But as he hunts for the nightmarish beast, a simple man with a tortured past will uncover a primal side to himself…one he never imagined existed.
Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III) directs The Wolfman, and six-time Oscar®-winning special effects artist Rick Baker brings his design and makeup talents to transform Del Toro into the fearsome title character.
Release date: Friday December 11, 2009 Genre: Drama Director: Clint Eastwood Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures Screenplay: Anthony Peckham Producer(s): Robert Lorenz, Lori McCreary, Clint Eastwood, Mace Neufeld Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Robert Hobbs Inspiration: Nelson Mandela Official Site:invictusmovie.warnerbros.com Rating:PG for brief strong language Available film art: Invictus movie posters
Synopsis
The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.
Whistling Pig Tea Kettle
These cute whistling Animal Tea Kettles will add the perfect element of whimsy to your kitchen. Beatifully gift boxed and ready for gift giving. Enamel on steel.
The benefits of Enamel Tea Kettles vs Steel
* Enamel keeps water hot longer
* Excellent heat resistance and durability
* Resistant to odor absorption
* More resistant to bacteria accumulation
* Can be used with all heat sources, including gas, electric, radiant, halogen, or ceramic heating sources
Creature Comfort CCMA7845 Massaging Pig Slippers, Women’s Shoe Size 6 - 8.5
Give your feet some relief, with the Creature Comfort CCMA7845 Women’s Massaging Pig Slippers. There are a vibrating, massaging product, deisgned to make your feet - and your eyes - happy. They are made with an adorable PIG pattern. They are made with memory foam for extra comfort. They have an on/off switch and are battery operated. They fit shoe sizes 6-8.5 (Women). Each slipper contains its own motor with sturdy rubber soles. This massager takes 2 “AA” batteries for each slipper, which are not included.
Li’l Saver Favor Ceramic Mini-Piggy Bank in Gift Box with Polka-Dot Bow
This little piggy goes to baby showers and takes the first-place ribbon for best favor! Here’s a cutie of a critter you can “bank” on to dress up your decor and gladden your guests. The white, ceramic pig has an endearing countenance and a large slot on his back for spare change. Charmingly presented in a clear gift box, the white base of the box features checkerboard and polka-dot accents, along with a lively “Li’l Saver Favor” rhyme that circles the box and says, “The “Li’l Saver Favor with a big pot belly saved all its pennies for a jar of sweet jelly. The scent was so tasty, he shouted with glee, then ran along home Wee! Wee! Wee!” Final touches include a white, satin ribbon and bow with black polka dots and a matching “For You” tag with Li’l Saver’s image. The bank measures 3 ¼” long x 2 ¼” wide x 3″ high, and the gift box measures 3 ¼” x 3 1/2″ x 3″.
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