The Who 'Hearing' New Music
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Years of discussion about a new studio album from the surviving members of the Who appears to be finally giving way to action.
A post on guitarist Pete Townshend's official Web site reveals that he and frontmanRoger Daltrey will begin demoing new material "before the end of the year" and plan to hit the studio in March.
Songs intended for the group's first studio album in 21 years "will be based on story, now complete, 'The Boy Who Heard Music."' The set is being targeted for a summer 2004 release date on an as-yet-undetermined label and will be supported with a U.S. and U.K. tour. "Other regions" will be visited in 2005, according to the site.
The Who's last studio album was 1982's "It's Hard," which featured the singles "Eminence Front" and "Athena." Ever since, Townshend has wrestled with the notion of writing new material for the group, as he told Billboard.com this summer.
"What made me stop making Who albums is very much the same thing that happened to Led Zeppelin. Somebody in the band died," he said, noting the 1978 passing of drummer Keith Moon. "And unlike them, I was very slow to get the message."
Townshend, Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle had made some tentative steps in the direction of new music in the summer of 2002, having run through one song each from Townshend and Daltrey during rehearsals for a tour. "That was as far as we got because two, three weeks later we were in L.A. waiting to tour and then found that John had died," Townshend said.
With Moon and Entwistle dead, Townshend admitted he has wrestled with potentially releasing new music under the Who name. " and I on a stage -- whatever we call ourselves -- can't avoid the fact that in some illusionary way we bring down the mysterious mantle of the Who around us," he said. "It will always happen. So we might as well call it the Who."
Townshend is currently assembling a team to remix the Who's 1973 classic album "Quadrophenia" in 5.1 surround sound. Plans are in the works to release the set in expanded form, much in the vein of this summer's "Who's Next" upgrade and the impending double-disc edition of "Tommy," due Oct. 28 from Universal.
Dixie Chicks Turn Their Backs On Country Genre
The Dixie Chicks want out of the country music scene, according to comments group member Martie Maguire made to German magazine, Spiegel. She said, "We don't feel part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home any more."
The musician's attitude is reportedly based on the lack of support shown to the Chicks during the backlash of Natalie Maines' anti-Bush comment to a London audience earlier this year. Maguire adds, "A few weeks ago, Merle Haggard said a couple of nice words about us, but that was it. The support we got came from others, like Bruce Springsteen."
Maguire points to the fact that country radio is still not playing the trio's music, and that country award shows have seemingly shut the door on the Chicks. She says, "Instead, we won three Grammys against much stronger competition. So we now consider ourselves part of the big rock 'n' roll family."
A call to the Dixie Chicks' publicist was not returned at press time.
The group continues to perform overseas on their Top Of The World tour. The tour wraps up on October 4 in Sydney, Australia.
Fall DVD lineup
Here are the video and DVD release dates of 2003's biggest films:
• Bend It Like Beckham on Sept. 30
• 2 Fast, 2 Furious on Sept. 30
• Hollywood Homicide on Oct. 7
• The Matrix Reloaded on Oct. 14
• 28 Days Later on Oct. 21
• Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle on Oct. 21
• The Italian Job on Oct. 21
• The Hulk on Oct. 28
• Finding Nemo on Nov. 4
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde on Nov. 4
•Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on Nov. 11
• Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life on Nov. 18
• The Lord of the Rings, Special Extended Edition on Nov. 18
• Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas on Nov. 18
• Bruce Almighty on Nov. 25
• X2: X-Men United on Nov. 25
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on Dec. 2
• Rugrats Go Wild on Dec. 16
• Seabiscuit on Dec. 18
• American Wedding on Dec. 30
COMING SOON
The two minute and 30 seconds theatrical trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will make its worldwide debut September 26.
Come and knock on our door
Doubtless in response to the unexpected passing of John Ritter, Anchor Bay Home Entertainment has stepped up their release schedule to rush Three’s Company: The Complete First Season to DVD this fall.
When the series appeared on the air in 1977, Three’s Company was among the most controversial series on the air, with sexuality and issues of the day riding high, but soon the physical comedy and tight writing won over most of the critics leading to an eight year ride.
No features whatsoever are on the discs. Each episode will be presented in their original fullscreen aspect ratio with mono sound.
Arriving on November 11th, the three disc set will carry a $19.95 suggested retail price.
Grammy Awards to Return to L.A. Next Year
LOS ANGELES - After shifting to the Big Apple, the Grammy Awards are coming back to the City of Angels.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that its 46th annual ceremony honoring the best of music will take place at the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 8.
Mayor James Hahn said the announcement was "great news for our City of Angels and reaffirms our place as the entertainment capital of the world."
The Grammys, which once frequently bounced back and forth between the two cities, settled in Los Angeles for four consecutive years, from 1998-2002. That was due in part to Michael Greene, the former head of the Grammy organization. He had a much-publicized feud with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had accused Greene of unleashing a stream of obscenities at a mayoral staffer in 1998.
Within days of current Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2001 election, Greene began talks to return the show to New York, and the ceremony took place in Madison Square Garden last February.
Greene himself has since stepped down amid investigations of alleged sexual harassment, even though the Grammy organization said he was cleared of wrongdoing.
Current Grammy chief Neil Portnow said in a statement he was "delighted" that the show is back in Los Angeles.
Along with an economic boost, the Grammys also bring a monthlong series of festivities before the telecast that includes performances, exhibits, workshops and educational events.
CBS will telecast the Grammy Awards live. Nominees will be announced Dec. 4 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Zagat: Springsteen Tops Beatles for Popular Album
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bruce Springsteen is indeed the boss, beating the Beatles and all others for making the most popular album of all time, according to Zagat Survey's "Music Guide," which hit stores on Tuesday.
Zagat's new 332-page guide lists the top 1,000 albums of all time, according to ratings from more than 10,500 music aficionados. Topping the guide's most popular list is Springsteen's "Born to Run," with the Beatles' "Abbey Road" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" taking second and third places, respectively.
An original list of 2,500 albums, compiled for guidebook publisher Zagat by music industry specialists, was whittled down to the final 1,000 by respondents, who listed their five favorite albums and then rated other albums they were familiar with on a 30-point scale.
Survey participants applauded Springsteen's 1975 breakthrough album for its "cinematic vision of American teen-age romanticism" and its "promise of the endless Saturday night."
"Abbey Road," on the other hand, was praised by one participant as "the Sistine Chapel of rock 'n' roll."
Rounding out the "most popular" top 10 list are U2's "The Joshua Tree," the Beatles' "The White Album," Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue," Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," The Beatles' "Revolver," Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and U2's "Achtung Baby."
The survey's publisher, Tim Zagat, said he hopes the rankings will spark a lively debate among readers.
"I hope there is some controversy," Zagat said in an interview. "People can argue until the cows come home over whether Mozart was a better songwriter than Bob Dylan, but just that you are juxtaposing Dylan and Mozart catches you by surprise and makes you think."
Zagat, best known for restaurant guides based on customer surveys, also publishes books on travel, shopping and most recently, wireless Internet hotspots.
The music guide, which sells for $14.95, also ranks the top 12 albums in 22 genres ranging from blues to classical to hip-hop. It also lists music recommended for specific occasions.
The "make-out" list includes Marvin Gaye's "Anthology" and Prince's "Purple Rain," while the soundtrack to "Flashdance" and ABBA's "Gold/Greatest Hits" top the "work-out" list.