Fogerty Readies Fall Headlining Tour
Following his run on the ongoing Vote for Change tour, John Fogerty will launch his own headlining tour Nov. 8 at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. At deadline, 11 stops were confirmed in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Boston; more dates are expected.
The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman is heading out in support of his latest studio album, "Déjà Vu All Over Again." Released last month by Geffen Records/Interscope, the set debuted at No. 23 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 37,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
While the album's title track is a politically charged song that draws comparisons between the war in Iraq and the Vietnam War, the rest of the set is far more lighthearted. "I'm a rock'n'roll musician, and at the time I was growing up, the first order of business for rock'n'roll was to have fun," Fogerty recently told Billboard.
On Friday, Fogerty kicked off a stint on the Vote for Change tour with Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. in Philadelphia. So far, he has been performing "Centerfield," the new album's title track and CCR's "Fortunate Son," as well as joining in on Springsteen's "The Promised Land."
That leg of the tour plays tonight (Oct. 5) in St. Paul, Minn. (with Bright Eyes rounding out the bill) and Friday in Orlando, Fla. (with Tracy Chapman). Fogerty will also take part in Monday's all-star finale in Washington, D.C., and will join Springsteen and Jackson Browne at a just announced Oct. 13 show in New Jersey.
Here are Fogerty's tour dates:
Oct. 5: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center; Vote for Change)
Oct. 8: Orlando, Fla. (TD Waterhouse Centre; Vote for Change)
Oct. 11: Washington, D.C. (MCI Center; Vote for Change)
Oct. 13: East Rutherford, N.J. (Continental Airlines Arena; Vote for Change)
Nov. 8: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
Nov. 9: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)
Nov. 10: Atlanta (Tabernacle)
Nov. 12: Washington, D.C. (930 Club)
Nov. 13: Upper Darby, Pa. (Tower Theatre)
Nov. 14: Boston (Orpheum Theatre)
Nov. 16: New York (Beacon Theatre)
Nov. 18: Toronto (Massey Hall)
Nov. 20: Detroit (State Theatre)
Nov. 21: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
Nov. 26: Los Angeles (Pantages Theatre)
Rarities Highlight Bon Jovi Box
NEW YORK (Billboard) - "I Get a Rush," "Miss Fourth of July" and "Garageland" are a few of the previously unreleased cuts that will highlight the forthcoming five-disc box set "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong."
Due Nov. 16 via Island, the set will feature 38 recordings that have never seen the light of day, 12 rare non-album tracks and a DVD of previously unseen interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
The songs on the box cover 1985 to 2003 and include dozens of leftover tracks from recording sessions for Bon Jovi albums. Other songs set for inclusion are "Why Aren't You Dead?," "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight," "Outlaws of Love," "We Rule the Night" and "Rich Man Living in a Poor Man's House," which Jon Bon Jovi wrote with former Eurythmics principal Dave Stewart.
The set will come with a 64-page book featuring fan testimonials and "personal content" compiled by the band.
With the release of "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong," the band is launching American XS Platinum, a premium level of membership in its fan program that allows participants to gain access to exclusive footage online as well as passwords for pre-sales on concert tickets.
Here is the track listing for "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong":
Disc one:
"Why Aren't You Dead?" (outtake, 1994)
"The Radio Saved My Life Tonight" (outtake, 1992)
"Taking It Back" (outtake, 1992)
"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Demo)" (demo, 1994)
"Miss Fourth of July" (outtake, 1992)
"Open All Night" (outtake, 1994)
"These Arms Are Open All Night" (outtake, 1998)
"I Get a Rush" (outtake, 1996)
"Someday Just Might Be Tonight" (outtake, 1999)
"Thief of Hearts" (outtake, 2003)
"Last Man Standing" (outtake, 2003)
"I Just Want to Be Your Man" (outtake, 1994)
Disc two:
"Garageland" (outtake, 1999)
"Starting All Over Again" (bonus track for Japan release, 1992)
"Maybe Someday" (outtake, 1999)
"Last Chance Train" (outtake, 1998)
"The Fire Inside" (outtake, 1994)
"Every Beat of My Heart" (outtake, 1992)
"Rich Man Living in a Poor Man's House" (outtake, 1998)
"The One That Got Away" (outtake, 1999)
"You Can Sleep While I Dream" (outtake, 1999)
"Outlaws of Love" (outtake, 1992)
"Good Guys Don't Always Wear White" ("The Cowboy Way" soundtrack, 1994)
"We Rule the Night" (outtake, 1985)
Disc three:
"Edge of a Broken Heart" (from "Disorderlies" soundtrack, 1986)
"Sympathy" (outtake, 1992)
"Only in My Dreams" (outtake, 1994)
"Shut Up and Kiss Me" (outtake)
"Crazy Love" (outtake, 1998)
"Lonely at the Top" (B-side, 1995)
"Ordinary People" (B-side, 1999)
"Flesh and Bone" (outtake, 1994)
"Satellite" (outtake, 1999)
"If I Can't Have Your Love" (unreleased Richie Sambora (news) solo track)
"Real Life" ("EDTV" soundtrack, 1999)
"Memphis Lives in Me" (from musical "Memphis," 2003)
"Too Much of a Good Thing" (outtake, 1999)
Disc four:
"Love Ain't Nothing But a Four Letter Word" (outtake, 1992)
"Love Ain't Nothing But a Four Letter Word" (demo, 1992)
"River Runs Dry" (outtake, 1996)
"Always" (demo, 1994)
"Kidnap an Angel" (outtake, 1999)
"Breathe" (B-side, 2002)
"Out of Bounds" (outtake, 1986)
"Letter to a Friend" (outtake, 1994)
"Temptation" (B-side, 2000)
"Gotta Have a Reason" (outtake, 1993)
"All I Wanna Do Is You" (outtake)
"Billy" (outtake, 1992)
"Nobody's Hero" (outtake, 1994)
"Livin' on a Prayer" (demo, 1986)
Comic Rodney Dangerfield Dies in L.A. at Age 82
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rodney Dangerfield, the goggle-eyed comic famed for his self-deprecating one-liners and signature phrase "I can't get no respect," died on Tuesday at age 82, his spokesman said.
A veteran Las Vegas headliner and TV variety-show fixture who became a pop culture sensation in middle age with a string of broad film comedies starting with "Caddyshack" in 1980, Dangerfield died at the UCLA Medical Center, where he had undergone heart valve replacement surgery on Aug. 25, spokesman Kevin Sasaki said.
Although his initial forays into show business fizzled, Dangerfield successfully restarted his career as a comedian in his 40s. Opening one of America's first comedy clubs -- the now-famous Dangerfield's in Manhattan -- he went on to become a national sensation in his own right and helped launch the careers of such comics as Jim Carrey and Jerry Seinfeld.
His famous trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Dangerfield suffered a stroke following his surgery in August and "developed infectious and abdominal complications from which he did not recover," Sasaki said.
During the past week, the entertainer emerged from a coma he had slipped into sometime after the operation, according to his wife, Joan. "When Rodney emerged, he kissed me, squeezed my hand, and smiled for the doctors," she said in a statement.
A native of New York's Long Island, Dangerfield had endured a series of health problems and surgeries in recent years, including double-bypass heart surgery in March 2000 and an operation three months later to correct an aneurysm. He also suffered a mild heart attack in November 2001. Last spring, he underwent brain surgery.
A month later, Dangerfield greeted reporters at the hospital dressed in a sports shirt and Bermuda shorts and declared, "My brain is OK. I feel like a new man." Later, responding to a medical question, he answered, "Ask me about things I'm familiar with, like drugs or prostitution."
TWO STARTS AT SHOWBIZ
Born Jacob Cohen in Babylon, New York, in 1921, Dangerfield began writing jokes as a teenager, struggling as a comic and singing waiter in the "Borscht Belt" resorts of the Catskill Mountains under the name of Jack Roy in the 1940s.
Leaving show business to earn a living as a house painter and aluminum siding salesman, he returned to the comedy circuit about a decade later, this time as Rodney Dangerfield.
He eventually opened a New York nightclub and became a nationally recognized act with comedy albums and numerous TV appearances. Along the way he is credited with helping give a start to an impressive array of once-obscure talents who went on to become stars, among them Carrey, Seinfeld, Roseanne and the late Sam Kinison.
Moving easily from nightclubs to TV to commercials to film, Dangerfield remained popular well past the peak of his career in the 1980s, forever tugging at his tie and drawing laughs with his catch phrase "I can't get no respect."
Dangerfield made his film debut in the 1971 low-budget comedy "The Projectionist," playing the dual supporting roles of a tyrannical cinema manager and a serial villain, The Bat.
But his big-screen breakout came in a string of rowdy comedies in the 1980s -- "Caddyshack," "Easy Money" and "Back to School." His movie appearances generally have mirrored his stand-up comedy persona, with Dangerfield playing boisterous, casually ribald characters with a rapid-fire patter of one-liners.
Later film roles included the coach of a girl's soccer team in "Ladybugs" (1992), an abusive father in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" (1994), a tabloid TV show reporter in "Meet Wally Sparks" (1997) and a wannabe opera star in "The 4th Tenor" (2002).
In June, Dangerfield released his autobiography, "It's Not Easy Bein' Me."
He will be missed.
Actress Minnie Driver Launches Her Debut Album
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Minnie Driver launched her debut album on Tuesday, reigniting the musical aspirations she abandoned when she was cast in her first big movie.
The actress, now singer, performed songs from her CD, "Everything I've Got in My Pocket," at a New York record store on the day it was released by Rounder Records.
"I hope I don't give you indigestion," Driver, 34, told the assembled lunchtime crowd of about 120 people.
Driver first gained fame in 1995's "Circle of Friends" and followed that up with roles, in 1997, in "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "Good Will Hunting." She earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress in the latter.
Since then, Driver -- currently promoting a new movie, "The Phantom of the Opera" -- has appeared in more than a dozen films, though she also has garnered buzz for a recent recurring spot on the TV comedy "Will & Grace" and for her break-ups with actors Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
Driver wrote 10 of the 11 songs on the album, which also includes a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart."
"Everything I've Got in My Pocket" is a return of sorts to Driver's roots. Through her teenage years and in her early twenties, she sang in jazz clubs and had a recording contract with Island Records. But she put her musical aspirations on hold after being cast in the movie "Circle of Friends."
Rounder Records, an independent U.S. label, is billing the album as "sultry, bittersweet vocals with sparse, atmospheric pop and a hint of contemporary folk."
Among fans waiting in line for Driver's autograph, Eugene Friedman of Boca Raton, Florida, said: "She tries really hard and is always trying to expand her versatility. She seems like a good sport."
The album has yet to be extensively reviewed, though the Toronto Star wrote, "She can actually sing." It added, however, "She can only write one kind of song, and it's very slooooow, sad and boring."
Nirvana box set due in November
The long-rumoured Nirvana box set will hit Canadian retail stores on November 23, according to Universal Music.
The four-disc compilation is comprised of three CDs and one DVD and, according to NME.com, is going by the working title of "With The Lights Out."
The set will contain over 40 audio tracks and a wealth of archive footage.
Fans can expect to hear previously unheard demos on the CDs, while the DVD is expected to feature an early live show.
D'OH OR DIE
The upcoming "Simpsons" movie will either "kill the show or completely reinvigorate it," the long-running animated series creator says.
While still in the earliest stages of production, a "Simpsons" movie is definitely on the way, creator Matt Groening said in an interview with London's Guardian newspaper.
"Everyone on the show this year seems really re-energized, and we're starting to throw out ideas for the movie and I think that will either kill the show or completely re-invigorate it," Groening says.
"We're trying to tell a story that we wouldn't do on television and take advantage of a longer process and a more ambitious process for animation," he says.
Meanwhile, the paper says that "The Simpsons" may finally come to an end in 2009 — after it reaches its 20th season, according to buzz at the offices where it is produced.
"It's not a machine," says Groening of how difficult the show is to produce, even after all these years. "It's a bunch of humans working really hard. It doesn't get any easier because we're still faced with the problem of having a history. We're trying not to repeat ourselves and we're also competing with people's memories of their favorite episode."
If "The Simpsons" does wrap up in 2009, it will top "Gunsmoke" as the longest running entertainment show on television — a record that's also being challenged by the "Law & Order."
With "The Simpsons" entering its 16th season, many fans have worried about the creative direction of the show. Some feel that over the years, Homer and company have lost their zing.
Groening says he was also concerned, but thinks the show is back on track.
"A few years ago I though, well, we've got to run out of steam soon and that we'd be done by now," he says. "We're not, in fact we're going full steam ahead."
Yeardly Smith, who plays the voice of Lisa Simpson, says that if the show is going to end soon, she hopes it happens while "The Simpsons" is still a ratings topper.
"I would hope that the writers would pull the plug while we're still on top of our game so we can go out with a bang instead of a piffle in terms of quality and stuff," she says.
The Couch Potato Report - October 5th, 2004
In The Couch Potato Report this week there is the film that wants to topple a President and Aladdin.
Michael Moore is a regular American from Flint, Michigan. He is also a documentary filmmaker. In his early films he attempted to find out why companies like General Motors and Nike deserted and destroyed American cities just to make greater profits.
If nothing else, his films ROGER & ME and THE BIG ONE and his television show TV NATION made you think about how companies do business. Specifically, how much money do they need to make if it comes at the expense of an entire city, and thousands of people?
In 2002 Moore released the documentary BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.
It was an examination of the American gun culture of fear, and included Moore's trip to a bank where he received a free gun just for opening an account
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. During his acceptance speech Moore was booed off of the stage for saying:
"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you."
It then came as no surprise when it was announced that Moore's next film was going to be about George W. Bush
That film is FAHRENHEIT 9/11. It won the Palme d'Or earlier this year as the best film at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and it is now available on video and DVD.
In FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Moore blames the Bush government for corporate corruption, senseless death, an unnecessary war, and political favoritism toward Osama Bin Laden's family and Saudi oil partners following the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
Now, before I go on, let me remind you that I live in Canada and I am a very proud Canadian. I passionately follow Canadian politics and can converse with you at any time about our country and what I feel is politically right and wrong.
I can also give you my opinions on American politics, trust me, don't ever get me started on John F. Kennedy, but since I am not an American, and have never lived in America, they are just opinions.
I have many opinions about George W. Bush that I won't get into in this forum, but let me suffice to say that he is the worst thing to happen to American politics since Lee Harvey Oswald.
That said, I was really looking forward to seeing FAHRENHEIT 9/11. I wasn't disappointed one bit.
Since I knew going in that the film's singular intention is to topple the administration of President George W. Bush I admit that even though I might have agreed with it, I still watched it with some skepticism.
In the end your own personal politics will determine whether you think FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is a good or bad movie. If you can, I suggest that you try and put all of that aside and just watch what is a very riveting and interesting film.
For the record, Michael Moore's next documentary is called SICKO and it will focus on the American healthcare system. Moore got the idea for the movie while he was shooting in Canada for BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and heard that we Canadians don't have to pay for healthcare.
Not yet anyway.
Oops, there is that political opinion cropping up again. Let me put it away and focus on this week's other new DVD release instead.
That release is the classic animated Disney film ALADDIN. It is finally debuting on DVD.
Disney's 1992 animated feature is a triumph of wit and skill that holds up surprisingly well twelve years after the fact.
The high-tech artwork and graphics look great, the characters are strong, the familiar story is still enjoyable to watch.
Truth be told, it is Robin Williams' frantically hilarious vocal performance as ALADDIN's genie that continues to keep the movie fresh.
Even if you don't get caught up in the love story between the title character and his girlfriend Jasmine, there is still Williams's improvisational energy.
Plus, since this is the first movie that my nephew Brendan ever quoted to me, it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Now I can't wait for him to get older so I can show him FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and talk politics with him.
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and ALADDIN are both available at your favourite local video store.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is this past summer's ecological disaster film. Up to a certain point it is actually very good.
And
The always charming Kate Hudson stars in RAISING HELEN as a young woman who suddenly finds herself the mother of three.
I'm Dan Reynish and I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!