Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Metallica and Were Afraid To Ask

antiMusic reports: Ever wonder why Lars switched to pots n' pans instead of drums for "St Anger"? How about why they felt suing their fans was a good marketing move? And just how much influence did Bob "Pop" Rock have on their mellowing sound? These questions probably are not answered in the new Encyclopaedia Metallica from Total Rock Radio's Jerry Ewing and Malcolm Dome. But some other questions probably are. Here is the PR spin on the book:

"On November 1st, publisher Chrome Dreams will release The Encyclopaedia Metallica. This 300 page paperback, co-written by Jerry Ewing and Malcolm Dome, is compiled from exclusive interviews with the band. Hailed as the definitive rock reference, The Encyclopaedia Metallica chronicles all the facts surrounding one of the biggest metal bands to ever take the stage. Containing numerous confessions that have never before been published, this A-to-Z listing of all the major subjects close to headbangers' hearts includes songs, albums, gigs, personnel, significant places, and many more. "

And here is a little about the authors: "Malcolm Dome was instrumental in founding the Total Rock Radio station in London, where he still works. He is the coauthor of Eddie Van Halen: Know the Man, Play the Music and Metallica: The Complete Guide to Their Music. Jerry Ewing is a former editor for Metal Hammer magazine and a current member of the Total Rock Radio team." But we are left with one huge question. Why would you use such a goofy picture for the cover? See it - here

Doherty Avoids Jail Again

antiMusic reports: The Teflon Junkie strikes again! Serial drug offender and occasional quasi rockstar Pete Doherty has once again walked out of a court room instead being placed behind bars. The BBC has the report: Pete Doherty has been handed a suspended prison term for drugs and motoring offences.

Doherty had previously admitted driving while uninsured and with no MoT while in possession of crack cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis. [note: MoT is the Ministry of Transport test which certifies that the car is roadworthy.]

He was sentenced to four-months in jail - suspended for two years - at West London Magistrates' Court on Friday. The 28-year-old was also given an 18-month supervision order and a 12-month drug rehabilitation order. - more on this story

Elton Child Porn Not Officially Child Porn

antiMusic reports: If you had a nude photo of two pre-pubescent girls hanging on your wall and authorities discovered it then you might find yourself facing child porn charges. But rock stars live under different rules. If you're the bassist of Phish you can take "art" photos of a 9-year-old girl in a secluded boathouse and get off with a beating from her biker dad but no criminal charges. If you're Sir Elton John you just ask the "royal" beaurocrats to say it's all ok. That's a bit of an oversimplification but essentially what has happened. Hecklerspray has the report:

We've all got embarrassing photos in our collections, maybe old school pictures or snaps of family members happily torturing hooded Iraqi detainees with dogs, but the trick is to keep those photos locked up at home. Not Elton John, though - he didn't get where he is today by locking up vaguely contentious photos in his collection, like Klara and Edda belly-dancing by Nan Goldin, an image of a pre-pubescent girl lying down with her legs splayed towards the camera and playing with her friend.

No, Elton John got where he is today by putting those sorts of photos up in galleries across the world, daring the authorities to seize them. And by 'where he is today' we mean 'breathing a sigh of relief that the Northumbria Crown Prosecution Service has decided that Klara and Edda belly-dancing isn't child porn'. So yay for Elton John and yay for non-pornographic, yet still fairly unsettling, images of naked children! - more on this story

Yakuza Add Canada Dates

antiMusic reports: The press release announced: Chicago's forward-thinking metal act Yakuza sets off this weekend for a handful of dates alongside Jesu and is happy to announce a brief run through Canada in November, including shows with Arise and Ruin and See You Next Tuesday.

The band recently completed a run to the East Coast, which included an appearance at the CMJ Music Marathon in Brooklyn. Continuing to support the band's latest effort, 'Transmutations,' Yakuza will confirm more shows shortly.

Not included in the press release but of note to fans is the fact that frontman Bruce Lamont has also announced some solo dates around Chicagoland. Two in early November and one in Mid December. All of the upcoming dates, including Bruce's solo ones are - here

Hanson Plan AIDS Walk and Concert

PR reports: The City of West Hollywood, recording artists HANSON and TOMS Shoes will join together to help fight poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa. The partnership is a component of the City's "Global AIDS Initiative" which was created with the goal of advocating for and supporting education, outreach and funding efforts to combat the AIDS pandemic in Africa. The goal is to raise awareness about the correlation between poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa and to inspire people to look for simple ways to make a difference in their community and the world.

A news conference to discuss the unique partnership will be held on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 10 a.m. at West Hollywood City Hall located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood After the news conference, a one-mile walk to the iconic Sunset Boulevard and a performance by HANSON will take place. - more on this story

Lucky Dube Laid to Rest

Gigwise reports: A memorial service for the murdered reggae star Lucky Dube has been held in Johannesburg. Thousands of fans packed out the music venue where the memorial was held, while a protest march was organised by the Creative Worker's Union to coincide with the service.

The South African singer was gunned down in an attempted carjacking last week in front of his two children. Five men have so far been arrested in connection with the killing.

During the service, Dube's own hit 'Rastas Never Die' was played to mourners, while the lyrics to his song 'Crime and Corruption' were quoted by Zwelinzima Vavi, the president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
- more on this story

Ca Fires Kill Velvet Revolver Show

PR reports: Velvet Revolver has postponed its headlining concert Friday, October 26th at the outdoor Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA due to the devastating Southern California wildfires. This includes the fire in the city of Irvine where evacuations have taken place and the Irvine School District has closed all schools on Friday due to poor air quality.

The rescheduled show - with Alice In Chains, who were also set to play the Irvine gig - will take place Wednesday, December 12th at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles after Velvet Revolver return from their tour of Japan and Australia.

Velvet Revolver send their sincerest thoughts and prayers to those who have been affected by the tragic fires in Southern California, where the Governor has issued a State of Emergency for seven counties including Orange County. The Irvine fire has left the air quality extremely poor and there is concern that the county's resources - police, fire and medical - will be spread much too thin and thus compromise a safe environment for the fans.
- more on this story

The Goo Goo Dolls Hits CD

PR reports: At last, The Goo Goo Dolls have gathered up their most-beloved songs and will release Volume One of a Greatest Hits package, the first-ever of their 21-year career, on November 13th, on Warner Bros. Records in a single-disc package.

The Goo Goo Dolls Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 – The Singles will include the band's three Number One smashes — "Name," "Iris," and "Slide," — as well as the Top 10s "Black Balloon," "Dizzy," "Broadway," "Here is Gone," "Big Machine," "Sympathy," "Better Days," "Stay With You," and "Let Love In," the title track from the Goos most recent album, which has been certified gold. Each single has scored across the panel at multiple radio formats. Also featured on the album is a remix of "Feel the Silence" by acclaimed mixer Michael Brauer (The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney).

Also expected in early 2008 will be Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which will include new recordings, remixes, a plethora of rarities to include B-sides, some unexpected cover versions of some of the band's favorite songs and more. A DVD/MVI disc of live footage and extras will also be included in the deluxe package with a complete concert from their show at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in June of 2007. - more on this story

The Geneses of Rock N' Roll Explored in Honeydripper

PR reports: "Honeydripper," the new film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi, takes us back to the genesis of rock 'n' roll - namely '50s rural blues from the Deep South. The story depicts a second chance for an aging bluesman, a kickoff to a young guitar turk's career and the rise of rock 'n' roll itself.

Opening in theaters on December 28, 2007 in New York and Los Angeles, the movie features an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen, Yaya DeCosta and Sean Patrick Thomas. Featured musicians include Keb' Mo', Dr. Mable John, Eddie Shaw and Jerry Portnoy among many others. Music supervisor was Tim Bernett, with original music composed by Mason Daring.

The film's setting is a 1950 rural town of Harmony, Alabama, during cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Army base recruits into his juke joint and away from Touissant's, the rival joint across the way. After laying off his regular talent, blues singer Bertha Mae, Tyrone announces to his sidekick Maceo that he has hired the famous electric guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a special one-night-only gig: pack 'em in and save the club. - more on this story

Tripping on Ozzy

Metal Underground reports: According to the Birmingham Mail, a Hollywood-style Walk of Stars in Birmingham, England - which features a tribute to BLACK SABBATH frontman Ozzy Osbourne - has been fenced off because people have been slipping over on the highly polished stones.

The tributes to Osbourne and comedian Jasper Carrott were unveiled in glittering ceremonies attended by the entertainers and hundreds of their fans. They were intended to put Birmingham on the celebrity map.

But just a month after the last star was embedded in the pavement in Broad Street, it and the one laid earlier in July have been surrounded by railings to prevent pedestrians injuring themselves. - more on this story

Lonn Friend: The Fri-End Times

antiMusic reports: Lonn Friend checks in again this week. Here is part of his latest article: October 24, 2007 'Ashes to ashes /funk to funky, we know Major Tom's a junkie / Strung out on Heaven's High, hitting an all time low' - "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie. Bowie was acutely aware of the intricacies that made up the lot of man. He wrote psalms that pierced the intellect, ego, heart and soul, sometimes at the molecular level. "I'm sinking in the quicksand of my thoughts/And I ain't got the power anymore." Barely a post-teen, the future duke scripted kindred comfort for a generation to come. Hunky Dory ranks in the 70s pantheon of visionary long plays. How did he know? The authentic ones always know.

I had to turn off the television this evening. The montage Keith Olberman ran at the end of the most important program (news or otherwise) on the tube these days was too much to bear. I am miles from the flames in this odd, flawed, fucked up, magnificent hometown they named after the winged creatures that do Heaven's bidding here on Earth. But I can smell the loss, the pain, the despair and the destruction. 'My city's in ruins' sang the immortal Boss after 9/11. There was no geographical or biological ownership implied his heartbreaking lament. Asbury Park is as far from Manhattan as Hollywood is from what used to be Lake Arrowhead. But you see, there are two cities in America – and only two – that belong to everyone. New York and Los Angeles. - more on this story

The Biz: An Idiot's Guide to Running a Fan Club

antiMusic reports: Here is an excert from Anthony Kuzminski latest Biz article: In recent weeks, antiMusic has reported on fan club fiascos and we have been reporting on how these fans/customers have been treated. In the dozens upon dozens of emails we've received there has been a sense of immense dissatisfaction with a few of these fan clubs. What is most surprising to us is that the artists and organizations running these fan clubs appear to have forgotten that these fans are their most valued customers; not suits, not radio, not promoters, not people who watch Oprah but the person who buys everything you put out should always be number-one in their book. These are the people who would follow you into the depths of hell and if you charged them a ticket for the ride to hell, they'd pay. Call it devotion, blind love or even insanity, but the point is that fans like this are few and far between. The artist MUST take care of them before anyone else. In recent works, we've received word and reports of certain artists adding a "convenience fee" of $45 to each of their fan club tickets. What is the difference between this and a scalper? Even worse, these fans are picking up their tickets at WILL CALL! I saw Prince five-times in 2004 and each time I went through his fan club and did not pay one cent above face value for any of the tickets and the worse seat I had was in the seventh row. Oh yeah, that seventh row seat I scored on Ticketmaster.

Many of these emails from fans declared that they would rather go to a scalper because at least then they would be treated with respect and receive good service. So the question comes into play; are these organizations out to serve the fan/customer or are they there to turn a mighty profit? From the sound of it, these organizations are nothing more than money making ventures. What is most surprising to me is how little these artists appear to have with their respective fan clubs. When fans make excuses for the artists by commenting that the poor organization and scalped charges for tickets are not the artists fault…it saddens me, because the artist, no matter how big or small should be completely aware of what is being done in their name. - Read the full article, even if you normally don't care about fan clubs.

.... Review: REM Live

REM's first live DVD demonstrates an REM that is loose, emotive and quite powerful. If this live snapshot is any indication, there still might be some gas left in the tank for this veteran trio. Not record-sales gas. Creative gas. Which is the best gas of all. (4 stars) - Read the full REM Live review

.... Review: The Pietasters - All Day

The large outfit works primarily in two genres, ska and soulful pop, but within those two categories the band demonstrates lots of differences in style. The diversity of this album seems at first to work against the group but repeated listens reveal a cohesiveness. (3 stars) - Read the full The Pietasters - All Day review

.... Review: Marduk - Warschau

Playing black metal for such a long time might take its toll, but Marduk hands out the nifty Warschau to celebrate a milestone in an enjoyable manner of live destruction regardless of something like age. - Read the full Marduk - Warschau review

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