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Taco Bell Dog Dies

Hecklerspray reports: Gidget the Taco Bell dog was, in many ways, the Michael Jackson of the Mexican fast food-endorsing chihuahua world.

The similarities are remarkable. Both were megastars. Both brought joy to an otherwise miserable world. Both combined freakishly large facial features with scrawny little underdeveloped bodies in a way that was a little bit freakish to look at. Both were gender nonspecific. And both are dead.

Gidget the Taco Bell dog died on Tuesday following a massive stroke. We haven't been this upset since the Hamburgler turned up dead in a Bangkok cupboard with a string wrapped around his willy. - more on this story

Amy Winehouse Short On Defense In Assault Case

AP reports: Amy Winehouse told a London court Thursday that she was too short to have punched a fan in the face, saying her trademark beehive makes her look taller than she is.

The 25-year-old "Back to Black" singer is on trial accused of hitting dancer Sherene Flash in the eye after the fan asked to take her picture following a September charity ball in London's Berkeley Square.

Winehouse told District Judge Timothy Workman that, at "5 foot 2 1/2 or 5 foot 3" (about 160 centimeters), she was too short to have hit the woman in the face. Flash is 5 foot 7 inches (about 175 centimeters) tall. "My hair does make a difference," said the singer, who sported her signature hairdo in court. - more on this story

Nas Ordered To Pay Up

AP reports: A judge has ordered Nas to pay Kelis nearly $40,000 in monthly support for the near future, a day after the "Milkshake" singer gave birth to the divorcing couple's baby boy.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Louis Meisinger issued the order at a Thursday hearing. Neither Nas, whose full name is Nasir Jones, nor Kelis, whose full name is Kelis Rogers, attended Thursday's hearing.

Rogers will receive $30,471 in spousal support per month; the couple's son will receive $9,027, according to the court records.
- more on this story

All Points To Jay-Z As Beastie Replacement

Reuters reports: Rapper Jay-Z will replace headliners the Beastie Boys at the 2009 All Points West Music & Arts Festival in New Jersey next weekend in his first U.S. festival debut.

Organizers tapped Jay-Z to replace the Beastie Boys after founding member Adam "MCA" Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland. The band was forced to cancel other summer tour dates and delayed the release of its forthcoming album, "Hot Sauce Committee Part 1."

The July 31-Aug 2 festival will mark Jay-Z's first music festival performance in the United States although he a headliner at the 2008 Pemberton Festival in Pemberton, British Columbia.
- more on this story

Michael Jackson Moonwalk Judgment

AP reports: A judge on Thursday cleared the way for Michael Jackson's autobiography, "Moonwalk," to return to store shelves in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved a request by the temporary administrators of the pop icon's estate to enter into new publishing deals.

Details of the agreements were filed under seal. But the deals will allow the 1988 book to be reprinted in the United States, Canada, England, Germany and France. - more on this story

Star Wars The Concert Tour

Reuters reports: A concert version of "Star Wars", featuring a live symphony orchestra, huge screens, film clips and a traveling exhibit, will kick off a North American tour in October with plans to go global in 2010, organizers said on Thursday.

"Star Wars: In Concert" is described as a multi-media event that features music from all six of the movie scores written by John Williams and teams them with footage from the movies in a venture backed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas.

"We've taken the key themes from the music and cut together all the images that fit with each theme, so you can really get a sense of how the music played into the images," Lucas said in a statement. - more on this story

Black Eyed Peas Still On Top

Billboard reports: Taylor Swift reached a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, while the Black Eyed Peas held on to the top spot, becoming the third act in the chart's history to spend 16 straight weeks at No. 1.

Moving up three rungs, "You Belong With Me" scored the No. 3 spot for Swift, who made it to No. 4 with "Love Story" in January.

Katy Perry got back into the top 10 with "Waking Up in Vegas," which made its third trip into the top 10. Demi Lovato's "Here We Go Again" rocketed from No. 66 to No. 24 with 88,000 downloads the week before the release of her sophomore album, expected to debut at or near the top of the Billboard 200. - more on this story

The Love Grenades Cut Euro Plans Short To Support Elefant

PR reports: The Love Grenades are currently traveling through Europe, hitting up Germany, Italy and the UK; playing festivals and meeting with several record labels. Originally they planned on staying there until just before their August 15th show at Shamrocks in Chino Hills, however, they have just been asked to play at the Henry Fonda Theater on August 7th in support of Elefant.

"When they invited us, I was so excited! Of course I can come back to LA for such an honor," says Elizabeth Wight.

Sam Sparro's protégés the Love Grenades are attracting a lot of attention with their new EP "Tigers in the Fire" on Modus Vivendi Music which is also available on iTunes. And the band's Jean Luc Godard-inspired video "Young Lovers" has won over a dozen awards. They are in the studio with Sam Sparro, Jesse Rogg (aka DJ Golden) and other guest producers working on their first full length album due October/November of this year. They are leaving for their first European tour mid-July and playing at two major German festivals, Italy, and UK. - http://www.myspace.com/lovegrenades

Gazpacho Tick Tock

Musebox reports: Described by one critic as being "classical post ambient nocturnal atmospheric neo-progressive folk world rock," Norway's Gazpacho is virtually impossible to contain in any set genre of music, though bands like Sigur Rós, Muse, Talk Talk and Porcupine Tree have been named in reference to them.

Their newest work is no exception to this and has haunted speakers since it was recently released in their home country. Now set for release in the United States and Canada on October 13th on the Dismanic label, Gazpacho's latest, a concept album appropriately entitled Tick Tock has the pendulum-like power to entrance and hypnotize its listeners with its various entities intertwining to yield an eerie and captivating product.

On December 29th 1935 a plane crashes in the Egyptian desert. The French writer Antoine Saint-Exupéry is the pilot. his planned record flight from Paris to Saigon ends in the vast sand dunes of Sahara. - more on this story

The Octopus Project Offer Wet Download

PR reports: Austin four-piece The Octopus Project are getting ready to hit the road once again. The band has kept busy this past month, touring around the south (where they debuted the first of many "Visual Music" performances), playing at Austin's Fashion Awards last week, and rounding out an incredible 4th of July show at Stubb's with Explosions In the Sky and The Wooden Birds.

The OP will set out once again on an extended North American tour behind their forthcoming Golden Beds enhanced EP, which features five different tunes and seven brand new videos, and will be released on Peek-A-Boo Records on July 28th.

In celebration of the EP and tour, the band are giving away a free mp3 download for their song "Wet Gold"! - Download the mp3 for "Wet Gold" here

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