Paul's Boutique Burns Down- Def Alice- Decemberists on Top- Spill Canvas Hiatus- Decrepit Reunion- Corrosion Of Conformity Writing New Songs- Anthrax Slam- more

Find out what else happened on this date in music history here

Van Halen Begin New Album

(hennemusic) Van Halen are in the recording studio this week, beginning work on their new album with producer John Shanks.

Shanks confirmed the news via Twitter late Thursday night: "here we go kids…..vh," which included a photo of Eddie Van Halen's amp.

Last week, Shanks tweeted the hint: "going back to cali..good bye london.hello la.time to rock.i still believe!! in the power and thunder.big bass drum and big guitars.just me?" more on this story

Bret Michaels Having Heart Surgery Today

(hennemusic) It's been a crazy, crazy year for Bret Michaels, as his health issues piled up on top of each other. It's not over yet, either, as the Poison singer will have his pre-planned heart surgery today.

Michaels says he, his fiancée, Kristi Gibson, and their two daughters checked into St. Joseph's on Sunday evening to prepare for the operation to fix an opening between the two sides of the heart, known as patent foramen ovale. The singer says doctors plan to use a scope inserted in his groin area to access and repair his heart.

"Barring any complications, I should be out within three to four days," says Michaels. "Then, I will be down (resting) for three weeks. I don't know if I can sit around for that long, but I'll try my best." more on this story

Led Zeppelin Legend Vs Sting

(Gibson) An encounter between Led Zeppelin's John Bonham and Sting once nearly resulted in a fistfight, says Jason Bonham. Speaking to Spinner.com, the son of the late Zeppelin drummer said the incident occurred when his father took him to a Police show, not long after the trio had completed their second album.

"[Dad] managed to get me backstage and he threatened to punch Sting," Bonham said. "It was hilarious. Dad stepped on his foot and he [Sting] was very cocky back then. He was the new young frontman and had that punk kind of attitude. Dad was probably a dinosaur to him, even at 32.

"I remember [Sting] saying, 'Hey man, don't step on my blue suede shoes.' My dad said, 'I'll step on your [expletive] head in a minute.'" more on this story

Aerosmith Begin New Album as Member Plans New TV Show

(hennemusic) Steven Tyler may be a TV guy these days, but Aerosmith has work to do. Tyler plans to juggle both gigs in the months ahead, starting right now.

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton updated the band's fan club, AeroForceOne, on the plans.

"We find ourselves with ten days of time where we can go out and work on some new Aerosmith material," says Hamilton, "and that's what we will be doing, commencing immediately, and pushing along the cause for coming up with a new album at some point in the near future."

Tom also has his own idea for a new, music television show more about that here

AC/DC's 2011 Plans

(hennemusic) After two years on the road for the band's "Black Ice" tour, AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams has some real solid plans for 2011.

"Fishing…and fishing," Williams told the Artisan News Service. "I love fishing. Just basically farting around."

After a lengthy world tour like the one the Aussie rock legends played, a band needs some downtime to recharge the batteries. more on this story

Singled Out: The Get Up Kids Week - Shatter Your Lung

The Get Up Kids release their new album, There Are Rules, this week and to celebrate we asked Matthew Pryor to pick some of his favorite tracks from the album and tell us a little bit about each one. Today he tells us about "Shatter Your Lung:"

When I was senior in high school my folks went out of town for a week and left us in charge. My buddy and I were most likely wearing suits, drinking coffee and watching "Reservoir Dogs" again (don't ask) when we heard a loud crash from outside the back window of the house. My brother and his best friend were up on our roof smoking and it seemed that his friend had fallen off the roof. We ran outside and he was sprawled out on the ground. He had bounced off the banister and crashed into the air conditioner before hitting the grass. He was in pain but seemed in pretty good shape for having fallen on the roof so we got him gathered up and into the house.

At this point we figured that we needed to call this 14 year old kid's parents. It was then that we were informed that he had run away from home a few days ago and was hiding out at our house while our parents were out of town. He refused to go home or to the hospital. After another day he was in so much pain that we finally got him to call an Aunt and take him to the hospital. Turns out the crash into the banister had punctured his left lung. Technically it didn't shatter but "shout it out, puncture your lung" didn't have the same ring to it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

Yoko Sells John Lennon's Letters To Publisher

(hennemusic) A collection of John Lennon's letters are to be published next year. Lennon was a prolific letter writer and the collection includes hundreds of letters he wrote throughout his life.

The NME reports the letters were sold by the late Beatles' widow, Yoko Ono, for a reported fee of over £500,000 and have been bought by London-based publishing house Orion Books.

The physical copies of the letters were in the possession of The Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, but the intellectual property rights were owned by Ono - it is these that Orion have bought, reports The Guardian. more on this story

Bruce Springsteen Duets With Dropkick Murphys

(Gibson) The Boss will make a guest appearance on Irish American punk band the Dropkick Murphys' new album Going Out in Style.

Bruce Springsteen duets with the band's frontman Ken Casey on a cover of "Peg O' My Heart," best known perhaps as the theme tune to BBC TV series The Singing Detective.

Casey told NME.com: "It links two generations. We're spanning a lot of years of music here, yet our songs share similar themes, stories, and values." more on this story

Slash, Courtney Love, Billy Corgan On New Cherie Currie Solo Album

(Gibson) Former Runaways singer Cherie Currie is working on a new solo album, her first since 1980. Her partner in crime for the untitled disc is Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum, who is producing the record.

Sorum recently spoke to VH1 Radio about the project and revealed some of the famous musicians (including a couple of the drummer's Velvet Revolver/Guns N' Roses bandmates) who are contributing to Currie's album, due out in the spring.

"It's sounding great... I'm really excited about that," he said. "Slash played on it, Duff [McKagan] played on it. I got Billy Corgan on a track, The Veronicas are coming in, Juliette Lewis, Courtney Love…" more on this story

See Zakk Wylde On Californication

(hennemusic) Zakk Wylde made a cameo appearance on last weekend's episode of Showtime's hit comedy series "Californication."

"Californication" stars David Duchovny in his Golden Globe-winning role as hedonistic novelist Hank Moody who struggles to raise his teenage daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin), while still carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone).

The Black Label Society leader, and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, looked at home in his role as an employee at a music store. Check it out here

Robert Plant Releases New Video

(hennemusic) Robert Plant and the Band Of Joy are currently on the second North American leg of their tour, having played a series of US dates last summer prior to the album's fall release.

This week, Plant announced that more shows had been added across the States in April.

Robert also released a new video for "You Can't Buy My Love," his latest single from the album. Check it out here

Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die Again

Universal will release a deluxe edition of Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die on March 8th, 2011 featuring alternate takes, live tracks and previously unreleased material. Here is the background they sent over:

John Barleycorn Must Die is the Traffic album that almost never was, but which is now commonly regarded as their definitive work. By 1970, still only 22, Steve Winwood had already served time at the heart of The Spencer Davis Group, as a founder member of Traffic, and with the supergroup Blind Faith. What started out as Steve Winwood's solo debut, originally to be called Mad Shadows (a title later filched by Mott The Hoople), John Barleycorn Must Die became Traffic's third and most fully realized studio album.

Originally a project where Steve Winwood planned to play every instrument himself, he began recording in the Autumn of 1969. Then, after taking time out in January 1970 to participate in Ginger Baker's Airforce, Winwood returned to his solo album in February. The next piece to be committed to tape was 'Glad', a jazz influenced instrumental based upon a piano part that Winwood had been toying with for some time. With the input of Jim Capaldi's drumming and Chris Wood's saxophone, the piece took upon a new lease of life. "It was obvious to all of us that we should really give Traffic another go," said Winwood soon after. more on this story

Forget Hip-Pop, Rock Still Rules

Rock not only dominates album sales in the U.S., it tops digital sales as well according to Nielsen SoundScan who just announced that they have added new Digital Song Genre Reports to its service.

Popularity: Rock is the most popular digital song genre with a 27.0% share, followed by Pop 25.4%, and R&B/Hip-Hop with 21.9%.

Catalog Share: Rock experiences a much higher percentage of catalog sales within the genre, with 72.4% of sales coming from catalog songs. In contrast, the hit-driven genre Rap experienced a much lower 33.9% of catalog sales within the genre, with the majority of sales coming from newer releases. more on this story

Watch Ozzy and Slash

(hennemusic) Slash joined Ozzy Osbourne's "Scream" tour this past week, as the show's opener, for a 6-week run of US dates.

The two have shared a mutual admiration society for years, having crossed paths and worked together: Ozzy sang on Slash's 2010 solo record.

Promoting the current trek, the guys spoke with FOX News recently. "I started out listening to Black Sabbath when I was in my teens and then Ozzy came out with his solo thing," said Slash. "So, he's been a mainstay in rock 'n' roll ever since." more including video here

Dire Straits Gay Ban May Be Reviewed

(hennemusic) Feathers have been ruffled, fans of both music and free speech are upset, politicians are pointing fingers, and Dire Straits must be wondering why a 25+ year-old song is causing a ruckus in Canada.

A listener of OZ-FM in Newfoundland wrote a complaint to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), the self-regulatory body set up by Canada's private broadcasters; the Council ruled the song - a radio staple since 1985 - violated the code of ethics on several fronts due to the use of the word "faggot."

Now, the fallout and reaction, from all sides, has been enough to cause such confusion at the government level that Canada's broadcast regulators, The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today wrote to the CBSC asking it to review its determination that the unedited version of the song was inappropriate for Canadian radio. more on this story

Paul Simon Sets New Album Release

(Gibson) Paul Simon has given his new album a name and release date and says he's making music the way he once did in the '70s – by simply sitting down with a guitar and seeing what happens.

Due in stores this April; So Beautiful or So What will include 10 tracks and is Simon's first album since 2006's Surprise.

"Since Graceland, I've always made the record based on either making the tracks or the percussion first," Simon said. "This time the stimuli was a guitar in my lap. That takes me back to 'Still Crazy After All These Years' or 'Something So Right.'" more on this story

Flaming Lips Cellular

(Gibson) Last month, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne announced that the band would release a new free song every month throughout 2011.

Now comes news that the veteran alternative band will soon release a cell-phone-based version of Zaireeka, their pioneering interactive 1997 work.

In an interview with Spin, Coyne said the phone version will be available in the next 10 days. An ambitious conceptual effort, Zaireeka consisted, in its original form, of four separate discs designed to be played either separately or simultaneously in groups of two, three or four – utilizing multiple stereo systems. For the reissue, the album is designed to be played in a similar fashion on four different cell phones. Coyne and bandmate Steven Drozd recently demonstrated how to cue up the album on mobile phones. Watch their video guide

The Jayhawks Play Classic Album in Full

(Gibson) From the sound of things, The Jayhawks pretty much played the perfect show at New York's Webster Hall on Thursday night – wowing audience members by performing not only their 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall in its entirety but also delving into fan favorites from 1995's Tomorrow the Green Grass, as well as knocking out covers of Rod Stewart's "Reason to Believe" and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Up Above My Head."

The concert was advertised as a two-set affair, but the band breezed right into the second set with barely a pause.

SG-toting guitarist Gary Louris simply explained, "Pretend like we got off [stage] then got back on, because that's what we're going to do. [Hollywood Town Hall] is only 40 minutes long." more on this story

Why Disturbed Is Successful?

(Rock AAA) Disturbed sell so many records because they put more into them than many other bands, says drummer Mike Wengren.

He tells RockAAA: "The loyalty of our fans is the secret. They know when we deliver a record it is going to be a full complete record of great songs all the way through from start to finish.

"I think a lot of artists these days don't put a lot into their records, usually just a couple of good songs with the rest being all filler songs. That's not the way we go. We feel like every single song on the record could be a single and our fans know that. " more on this story

Agent Orange Team Up With Slaves on Dope for Tour

Agent Orange will tour Canada with Slaves on Dope next month for a five date trek.

Formed in Orange County, California in 1979, Agent Orange immediately gained attention thanks to the band's revolutionary, unique mix of punk rock and surf music.

Often considered underrated to this very day, Agent Orange is back at it, having recently released Halloween Single and now hitting the road and coming back North after several years of absence. more on this story

Interview With Fifth Member of KISS Unearthed

Michael Brandvold has once again opened his interview archives and this time it should be a treat for KISS fans. Here is what he had to say about the clip:

Exact date of this interview is not know, but it would be around mid 1998. I am not even sure this interview was every posted as it occurred just before I stopped work on KISS Otaku and started working on Kissonline.

Sean Delaney, the fifth KISS member, discusses the book he had just started on. He talks about pre-KISS, the solo albums, how he got involved with Peter Criss' solo album and more. Check it out here

Liam Gallagher Talks Down Sibling Rivalry

(Gibson) Former Oasis frontman and singer with new band Beady Eye, Liam Gallagher has been talking abut sibling rivalry with Britain's Q magazine. The Daily Express reports that after last month accusing his brother Noel of stealing songs, he now wished Noel well with is own solo career.

Liam said, "Listen, me and him will be sweet, man. Our little venture's come to an end but I'll never have a bad word about Oasis, it was [expletive] amazing. It's why I'm adored by millions. But it's over and we're buzzin'. And I hope our kid's buzzin'. I [expletive] do actually. I hope he's gonna make great records. And he probably will."

He also told Q magazine about an unusual encounter with a fan. "I've got bad skin. I've got psoriasis all over my [expletive] body. Everywhere except for me face," Liam said. "And every now and again on me head. Everyone's backstage and this geezer comes up to me off his [expletive], going 'I ain't seen Oasis for [expletive] years, [expletive] great' and I'm going 'yeah, alright.' And he goes to his mate. 'Look Steve, he's even got cocaine in his hair.' And he pulls a bit of [expletive] out me hair."

The Day Elvis Made Music History With His Jailhouse Rock

(Gibson) On this day in 1958, Elvis Presley was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Jailhouse Rock." It became the first ever single to enter the chart at #1 and was Presley's second U.K. #1. It went on to sell over 4 million copies in the U.S. Gibson takes a look back: Written by the hall of fame songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" was released in the U.S. on September 24, 1957 to coincide with The King's third film (and first with MGM), Jailhouse Rock. Elvis actually contributed a bit to the song, including phrasing the term "crack, boom, bang" drummer, which referred to William Thomas Fairbanks, who played drums with Elvis. Some of the other characters in the song are actually real people, too. "Shifty Henry," who is portrayed in the song as a criminal, was actually a renowned Los Angeles-based musician, while the "Purple Gang" was a real mob of n'er-do-wells.

It's hard to pinpoint the actual inspiration for the song "Jailhouse Rock" (and the movie), though it's not a stretch to look at a movie that came out the previous year, The Girl Can't Help It, which also featured a similarly themed and performed song called "Rock Around the Rockpile." In that performance, the actor Edmond O'Brien plays a villain who alludes an attempt on his life by jumping onstage and launching into song (doesn't everyone do that?), while backed musically by prison-stripe-clad The Ray Anthony Band. O'Brien's performance of "Rock Around the Rockpile" even included similar Elvis-esque lower-body gyrations and hip-swiveling.

The producers for the movie The Girl Can't Help It reportedly wanted Elvis for the role, but Col. Tom Parker, Elvis' manager, wanted way more money than they were willing to pay, so O'Brien landed the gig. Two of that film's uncredited musical composers, Hugo Friedhofer and Lionel Newman, also composed music for Elvis' 1956 film Love Me Tender. more on this story

10 More Things You Might Not Know About John Lennon

(Gibson) Were he still alive today, John Lennon would be 70 years old, but instead, 30 years ago, he left this earth. On the December day that he was shot dead outside his New York City apartment, curiosity about the Beatle reached a fever pitch that hasn't waned since. Last October, Gibson ran a popular story called "10 Things You Might Not Know About John Lennon" which they're reprising here with more little-known facts. Here are a couple entries:

1. Despite popular opinion, Lennon wasn't born during a WWII bombing raid: "Something that's in all the Beatles books, except for Fab Four FAQ and one or two others, is that [Lennon] was born in the midst of a Liverpool bombing raid in WWII, and that's not true," says Rodriguez. "He was actually born during a period when there wasn't any heavy bombing going on. People like to make the point that he came into the world in a violent way and that was how he ended as well, but that's not strictly true."

10. The last great Lennon mystery is what he was recorded saying the night before he died: Jack Douglas – who produced the final Lennon-Ono album, Double Fantasy – installed a hidden recording device in the studio to capture the natural dialogue that occurred during recording sessions for the album. The night before Lennon died, that device caught Lennon saying something that the public will likely never be privy to. "At first [the recorder] was hidden in secret but when John found about it, he said, 'Oh, I think it's a great idea. [These recording sessions are] historic so why not?'," says Rodriguez. "And the last night of his life they were at the studio working on 'Walking on Thin Ice,' Yoko's track, and Jack Douglas later described it. He said, 'Some very, very strange things were said that night. Some things that I don't want to publicly divulge.' And he wiped the tape clean of that night's chatter. I've questioned him on it myself, and to this day he's taken this total attitude of stonewalling. Nobody has been able to pry out of Jack Douglas' mouth what it was that John Lennon said that shook him that he felt he could not share it with the public." Read the full list here

The Flaming Lips and Taj Mahal To Play Tibet House Benefit

The Flaming Lips and Taj Mahal have joined the bill of Tibet House US's 21st Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on March 3rd, 2011.

The Flaming Lips and Taj Mahal will join an esteemed line-up of artists curated by artistic director Philip Glass. The bill to date includes Michael Stipe, The Roots, Patti Smith with Jesse Smith and Michael Campbell, Angelique Kidjo and James McCartney.

For twenty one years, this consistently sold-out concert has assembled some of the biggest names in music and offers audiences a mix of unprecedented musical collaborations and solo offerings. Past benefit concerts have included talent such as Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Moby, Sigur Ros, Bright Eyes, R.E.M., The National, Natalie Merchant, Regina Spektor, Rufus Wainwright, Vampire Weekend, Emmylou Harris, Ray Davies and Damien Rice, among many others. more

Bonded By Blood, Lazarus A.D Tour

Bonded By Blood are teaming up with Lazarus A.D. for a co-headlining European tour, which kicks off on March 9th in London, UK.

2011 sees Bonded By Blood kicking off the new year with another North American trek, this time supporting Death Angel. The band will then be heading to Europe for its co-headlining tour, before returning to the USA and Canada with the likes of Sepultura and Nevermore.

Bonded By Blood bassist Jerry Garcia comments: "We're excited by the announcement of our much anticipated and requested co-headlining European tour with Lazarus A.D. in March. We love touring Europe and we hope to see many old and new faces this time around." more on this story

Cook for Paul McCartney

(Gibson) Paul McCartney is looking for a new Cook of the House. In keeping with his longstanding vegetarian stance, the former Beatle has launched a new contest to find the U.K.'s tastiest meat-free dish.

Macca is teaming up with the British TV show, This Morning, to find a dish that will serve as the latest meal in the food line started by his late wife, Linda McCartney.

Aspiring chefs can learn more about the "Kitchen Table" contest by visiting PaulMcCartney.com.
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