Even though Fatboy Slim said he was backing off from live dates for the next year, his label, Astralwerks, just announced that Norman Cook will return to the turntables to DJ two nights in the round at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom on Dec. 17-18. "He knows how boring it is for fans to watch a DJ spin, so he wanted to be right in the thick of things," said his label rep. This is the first time Cook has deejayed in New York in more than a year. Also on his schedule is a stint at Toronto's Warehouse on Oct. 27 and an appearance at San Francisco's Warfield Theater on Oct. 29. He'll be doing a show for KROQ contest winners at the American Legion Hall in Los Angeles on Oct. 30, but the only way you can get into that is to sneak in . . .
Diverting some attention away from their usual pet charity, Tibet, the BEASTIE BOYS have extended their generosity toward four different organizations that have been working to help Kosovar refugees -- CARE, MADRE, UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders. The Beasties were able to raise $200,000 for those charities via downloads of three of their songs posted at launch.com . . .
QUEEN frontman FREDDIE MERCURY, who died eight years ago at the age of forty-five from AIDS, is being celebrated with a traveling photo exhibit. Mercury's mother, Jer Bulsara, has organized a collection of ninety-four photographs of her famous son -- including a shot of Mercury as a five-month-old infant winning a Baby of the Year Competition -- and put them on the road. The photographs -- snapped by some of rock's leading lights -- initially were exhibited in London before traveling to France, Germany and Romania. This month they'll go to India, where the singer spent his childhood, to raise AIDS awareness in that country . . .
Former STONE ROSES guitarist JOHN SQUIRE has joined forces with former VERVE bassist SIMON JONES and are currently ensconced in a Manchester rehearsal studio writing new material. The remainder of the band is comprised of former-Seahorses drummer Mark Heaney and an unnamed singer from Manchester that the newly formed duo is keeping under wraps. No name has been announced, but NME bandied about John Squire's Skunk Works and Reluctance as two possible contenders . . .
JEWEL's Pieces of You and MATCHBOX 20's Yourself or Someone Like You have been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. sales in excess of ten million units. Other Diamond acts include SHANIA TWAIN, DEF LEPPARD, GUNS N' ROSES and HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH . . .
If you were throwing the "Concert of the Century" with stars like ERIC CLAPTON, GARTH BROOKS, SHERYL CROW, B.B. KING and LENNY KRAVITZ, where would you stage it? If you're VH1 and Tommy Hilfiger, you'd pull a few strings and mount the extravaganza this Saturday on the White House lawn, right where they hold the Easter Egg Hunt . . .
Contrary to reports that MADONNA is doing the soundtrack for The Next Big Thing, her press office indicates she will actually only be doing one or two songs for that project. In the meantime, she is working on the follow-up to her hugely successful foray into the electronica mainstream, Ray of Light. British DJ SASHA, who did remix work on the material girl's last effort, is said to be working on ideas for her to listen to ...
The CURE ended their hibernation -- for a night, anyway. The band taped eleven songs at New York's Sony Music Studios for an episode of VH1's Billboard Live, to air next spring. "We haven't played in front of people for quite a long time, so be kind to us," joked ROBERT SMITH through his trademark red lipstick. Dressed all in black, Smith and the boys ran through recent album tracks and a few ditties from their upcoming album Blood Flowers (due in Feb.). While the Cure paused for the tape to be changed, an audience member clamored for Smith to tell a joke. He didn't take the bait, however, and instead led his band through an impromptu "Boys Don't Cry" ...
LAURYN HILL, 'N SYNC, CELINE DION, ELTON JOHN, BILLY JOEL, CHER and others will lend their voices to A Rosie Christmas, ROSIE O'DONNELL's Christmas album to benefit her All Kids Foundation. The album is due Nov. 2 and will be followed by an ABC TV special on Dec. 5 ...
FRED DURST's attorney, Earl Gray, yesterday appeared in St. Paul, Minn.'s Ramsey County Court to enter a not guilty plea on behalf of the LIMP BIZKIT singer, who is charged with assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly having kicked a security guard in the head at a July 12 show in St. Paul. Durst is set to begin his jury trial on Dec. 20...
On Sunday night, three members of KURUPT's posse were shot outside the Atwater Village (near L.A.), Calif., studio where he and his producer DAZ were working on the rapper's new album. Dwayne Dupree, Kurupt's twenty-three-year-old bodyguard, was killed, and rappers Jevon Jones (a k a "The Realist) and Willard Givers (a k a "Act Da Fool") were treated at a local hospital and released. Antra Music, Kurupt's label, issued a statement today expressing sympathy for Dupree's family and "fervent hope that that there will be no more violence in the hip-hop community" ...
The video for MARILYN MANSON's new song, "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" -- which was written for the Nov. 11 season finale of Celebrity Death Match, where a claymation Manson will enter the ring -- will debut on MTV's Total Request Live on Thursday, Oct. 21. The song will appear on a Celebrity Death Match soundtrack and has been tacked onto Manson's upcoming live album, The Last Tour on Earth...
Itching to make your own ALANIS MORISSETTE video compilation? She thought you were, and now she's letting you. Fans can choose videos and even their own cover art on Morissette's site (www.alanismorissette.com), Maverick Records' site (www.maverickrc.com) and Tower Records' site (www.towerrecords.com). The "Video Custom Disc" costs $7.99 for four songs and $8.99 for five. In other Morissette news, Liquid Audio is offering a free full-length preview of her upcoming MTV Unplugged album, which will be released Nov. 23 . . .
PAUL McCARTNEY hits the airwaves Wednesday, Oct. 20, with the "Roots of Rock," the first of a five-part radio show for the BBC that Macca recorded at his home in southeastern England. The legendary musician will play some tracks from his critically acclaimed rock & roll covers collection, Run Devil Run, and also regale listeners with his own personal favorite records from the annals of rock history, in between reminiscences of his former compatriots -- including the night he first laid eyes on John Lennon. "When I first saw him, I thought, oh, he looks pretty handy, you know. And he's singing great and he's in command," McCartney reveals in transcripts of the program released by the BBC. Also on the McCartney front, there are plans to release a Paul McCartney tribute album early next year. According to CBS Radio, ELVIS COSTELLO, BRIAN WILSON, SQUEEZE, PAUL WELLER, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN and RON SEXSMITH have been asked to contribute songs . . .
Nearly two and a half years after RONNIE LANE's death from Multiple Sclerosis, Ooh La La: Ronnie Lane Live in Austin will be released early next year on Sideburn Records. Done in conjunction with Lane's widow, Susan Gallegos, the record is culled from a series of live shows with Lane's band the Tremors during 1986 and 1987. Besides the eighteen tracks, the compilers have spliced in some hilarious interviews with the Small Faces founder, as well as clpis with Lane and Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan describing the demise of the band . . .
Last year, it looked as if the Sony MiniDisc was going to go the way of the Sony Betamax. Well, the MiniDisc is proving pretty mighty, and now Warner Bros. is re-entering the market. Later this month the label will begin issuing albums by artists like R.E.M., MADONNA and ALANIS MORISSETTE on MiniDisc ...
Listen up, ladies: NINE INCH NAILS' TRENT REZNOR is accepting demo tapes from female singers. According to the band's official Web site, interested parties can send materials to P.O. Box 16948, Cleveland, OH, 44116. Meanwhile, anyone else wanting to get their tape into TRENT REZNOR's hands should send it to P.O. Box 161095, Cleveland, Oh, 44116...
MADONNA and her daughter, Lourdes, received a police escort Sunday night after they got off their British Airways Concorde flight. The airline reportedly had received a call threatening the singer, who had flown from New York to London to continue work on her next album. About six police officers and a police dog surrounded the singer as she walked into the Heathrow's Terminal 4, according to AirNews, a news agency based at the airport. She was still under police protection when she was helped into a limousine, which sped from the airport. London's Scotland Yard said in a statement that, "as a result of information received," police were present when a woman arrived on the Concorde flight. "There was no incident during her arrival." British Airways said that they are forbidden to give out information about individual passengers. Madonna's record label, Warner Bros. refused to comment, calling the incident "a non-story." This is not the first time the singer has been the center of a such controversy. In May 1995, Robert Dewey Hoskins was shot scaling a fence at the Madonna's Hollywood home, and jailed in March 1996 after the singer was forced to testify against him. He is currently serving ten years in prison. Soon afterward, Madonna sold the house in the Hollywood Hills. Last November, the singer's bodyguards threw out a group of fans who followed her to the BBC studios outside of London, where she was to perform on Top of the Pops. According a Top of the Pops spokesperson, the group was considered a "security risk" . . .
MICHAEL HUTCHENCE's father, Kelland, has created an online memorial for his son almost two years after his death by hanging in a Sydney, Australia, hotel room. The elder Hutchence has launched a memorial Web site for his son (http://www.michaelhutchence.org) -- with the help of two fans in Switzerland -- to coincide with the release of the INXS's singer's posthumous solo album which comes out tomorrow in the U.K. (due Feb. 20 in the U.S.) The elder Hutchence provided family pictures for the site, including one of the singer's daughter, Tiger. Kelland Hutchence tells fans that he is still struggling with his son's death, explaining, "Somehow I always feel he is not far away -- just out there fairly close with a smile on his face and missing us as much as we miss him." Also included are tributes from friends and musicians including BONO and BOY GEORGE . . .
Tickets went on sale Saturday for most of the stops on JIMMY BUFFETT's upcoming mini-tour, which kicks-off Nov. 30 in Tampa, Fla., hits Orlando (12/2), New Orleans (12/4), Houston (12/7), West Palm Beach (12/9, 12/11) and culminates with the all-night "Buffett at the Beach" millennial party at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on Dec. 31 . . .
IGGY POP is putting on his traveling shoes again, and will kick off a small, five-city tour of his North American strongholds before embarking on a tour of the European capitals. He'll set out on the road on October 25 for a two-night stand at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, and ten days later, he'll pick up his passport and head for the City of Lights. Along the way, the Iggster will be one of the presenters for the MTV's European VMA's in Dublin on November 11. Pop's tour dates are as follows:
10/25, Los Angeles, El Rey Theater
10/26, Los Angeles, El Rey Theater
10/28, Chicago, Metro/Smart Bar
10/30, Toronto, Canada; Warehouse
11/1, Boston, Avalon
11/4, New York, Irving Plaza
11/5, New York, Irving Plaza
11/8, Paris, Elysee Monmarte
11/9, Paris, Elysee Monmarte
11/11, MTV awards in Ireland
11/13, Athens, Rodon
11/14, Athens, Rodon
11/16, Milan, Alcatraz
11/18, Barcelona, Zeleste
11/21, Stockholm, Cirkus
11/22, Stockholm, Cirkus
11/24, Berlin, Columbia Halle
11/26, Cologne, TBA
11/29, Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit
12/1, Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
12/2, Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
12/4, Amsterdam, Paradiso
12/5, Amsterdam, Paradiso
12/7, London, Shepherds Bush Empire
12/8, London, Shepherds Bush Empire
Their cover of "Jump, Jive and Wail" may have catapulted the BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA to mainstream celebrity, but bandleader Setzer was rockabilly way before the Gap made it trendy to wear cuffed blue-jeans. For proof, look to the upcoming Brian Setzer Collection: 1981-1988, which documents his years with the STRAY CATS and his pre-Orchestra solo albums. The album is due out on Nov. 16...
WILL SMITH is looking to be the Donald Trump of Philadelphia. The rapper/actor is planning a new hotel, "Hotel W," in downtown Philadelphia. The structure is expected to open in 2002. Smith's new album, Willenium, hits stores Nov. 16 ...
FIONA APPLE is offering free downloads of "Love Ridden" and "Fast as You Can," at www.launch.com. The two songs are from her verbosely titled upcoming album -- which we'll call When the Pawn Hits. The album hits stones Nov. 9 ...
MICHAEL JACKSON was planning a Y2K thriller, by ringing in the New Year on two separate continents. The King of Pop was to play a concert in Sydney, Australia, and then jump on a jet to play in Honolulu, Hawaii. However, because he wants to concentrate attention on his new album, Jacko has cancelled both shows...
Mark Hosler, best known as one of the mad geniuses behind U2-baiting conceptualists NEGATIVLAND, has set his sights on an even bigger target than Bono's rock-star butt. Hosler, sans his mates, is taking a crack at the whole darn advertising world via a series of lectures on what he likes to call "culture jamming." He'll be kicking off his crusade at New York University on October 27, and if we're lucky, the whole shebang won't stop until each and every one of the folks who's sold a song for use in salad dressing commercials is tarred, feathered and made to wear silly spandex pants in public...
You know what ticks us off more than anything? Well, okay, the fact that the bozo from SUGAR RAY came up with some Rock 'n' Roll Jeopardy answers we couldn't get is pretty close...but what really gets our goat is feeling unnecessarily confused. As such, we must thank the fine folks over at the La-Z Boy furniture company for setting their lawyers loose on a New York instrumental-rock band that's been performing under the name LAZY BOY for the past several years. Since we know that countless folks have been duped by thinking that you could get hurricane relief at Redd Kross shows, and see famous aquatic mammals when Flipper came to town, it's about time that the reclining-chair kings went after the surf-loungesters on behalf of folks who saw those club ads and expected a group sit. In any event, the band, which has a handful of releases to its credit, will henceforth be known as Big Lazy (as opposed to their first choice, Lazy Girl, which the chair-men also nixed).
BILL CRANDALL, JENNY ELISCU, JOLIE LASH, DAVID SPRAGUE, JAAN UHELSZKI
(October 20, 1999)