New CD Releases, November 6: Garth Brooks, Jay-Z, Jimmy Buffett
Garth Brooks "The Ultimate Hits"
The country crooner is the fastest-selling solo artist in music history, having moved more than 100 million albums in 10 years, according to his website. He should greatly add to that tally with this greatest-hits package, which includes all the fan favorites as well as three new songs. The album's lead single, "More Than a Memory," debuted at the top of Billboard's Country Singles chart back in September.
Fans are hoping that this trio of new songs represents the tip of the iceberg in the way of new material. His last new studio album was 2001's "Scarecrow," which marked his seventh No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200.
There is speculation that the cowboy, who retired from touring in 2001 to spend more time with his family, might finally saddle up the tour bus and do some real road work in the near future. The demand for a Brooks tour is certainly there: his nine-show run scheduled for later this month at the new 18,500-seat Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO , sold some 160,000 ticket in just under two hours, tying Brooks' own record for selling the most tickets in any city in North America, according to a press release.
The final date of the Kansas City engagement (Nov. 14) will be shown at more than 300 movie theaters. For more information on the screening, visit the artist's website.
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Jay-Z "American Gangster"
One assumes that "retirement" didn't really suit the rapper/entrepreneur born Shawn Carter. He ended his short-lived, much-hyped early retirement last year with "Kingdom Come," which became his ninth No. 1 on The Billboard 200, and now quickly returns with another offering.
"American Gangster" is inspired by the film of the same name, which stars Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. That film was released to theaters Nov. 2.
Jay-Z will support "American Gangster" with a short club tour, which launches tomorrow (11/6) at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. In the following days, he'll perform at clubs in Chicago, Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia. Also, Jay-Z recently told MTV News that he is planning a larger-scale outing next year.
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Jimmy Buffett "Live in Anguilla"
Parrotheads will flock to buy this new concert set. The draw will be all those "songs you know by heart," including "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "Son of a Son of a Sailor," "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitudes" and, of course, "Margaritaville."
"Live in Anguilla," which includes two CDs and a DVD, was recorded during the multi-media star's shows in the Caribbean on March 23 and 24, 2007. The set includes 30 songs.
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Taylor Swift "Taylor Swift"
The young singer is one of the hottest names in country music. Her eponymous debut, which spent multiple weeks at the top of the country album charts, is now being re-released with added treats for fans. This edition of "Taylor Swift" includes three new studio tracks, two live cuts and a DVD.
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Chris Brown "Exclusive"
The R&B star returns with a follow-up to his popular self-titled debut of 2005, a work that featured the hit single "Run It!" The latest single from "Exclusive" is "Kiss Kiss," a collaboration with T-Pain that has already topped the Billboard Hot 100. Brown will support "Exclusive" during a co-headlining tour with Bow Wow that kicks off Dec. 6 in Cincinnati, OH.
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More new releases:
Angels & Airwaves, "I-Empire" (Geffen)
Barenaked Ladies, "Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan" (Shout Factory)
David Byrne, "The Knee Plays" (Nonesuch)
Demon Hunter, "Storm the Gates of Hell" (Solid State)
Little Big Town, "A Place to Land" (Equity)
Monster Magnet, "4-Way Diablo" (Steamhammer)
Van Morrison, "Still on Top: The Greatest Hits" (Hip-O)
Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers, "Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1" (Amoeba)
Saga, "10,000 Days" (Inside Out)
Sigur Ros, "Hvarf/Heim" (XL)
Sissel, "Northern Lights" (Denon)
Rick Springfield, "Christmas With You" (Gomer)
Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Solos, Sessions and Encores" (Sony)
Russell Watson, "The Voice: The Ultimate Collection" (Decca)
Writers strike sends shows into reruns
LOS ANGELES - Americans may be getting more sleep after Hollywood writers went on strike Monday and forced the nation's late-night talk shows to start airing reruns.
NBC said the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" will immediately air repeats.
Still, Leno made an appearance at the Burbank studio, arriving on a motorcycle to visit strikers walking a picket line.
CBS said "The Late Show with David Letterman" will also offer repeats all week. The list of casualties included every other major late-night show.
The first strike by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years got under way with noisy pickets on both coasts after last-minute negotiations on Sunday failed to produce a deal on payments to writers from shows offered on the Internet.
No new negotiations were scheduled, although the Writers Guild of America negotiating committee was set to meet Monday afternoon.
Nick Counter, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said he expected a long standoff.
"We're hunkered down for a long one," he said. "From our standpoint, we made every good faith effort to negotiate a deal and they went on strike. At some point, conversations will take place. But not now."
The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
Disruptions by strikers ended filming at a Studio City cafe being used as a location for the CBS show "Cane."
Tom Hogan, a location manager for the show, said he had hired two off-duty Los Angeles police officers in addition to five private security guards to maintain order during the shoot.
He said the filming began hours before the 20 pickets arrived and involved a script that was finished several weeks ago.
No other major problems were reported at studios or filming locations.
At the CBS lot in Studio City, about 40 people hoisted signs and applauded when picketing began.
Robert Port, a writer for the TV show "Numb3rs," said he was as ready as possible for what could be a long walkout.
"We live in Los Angeles, your bank account can never really be ready for this," he said.
Only about half of the pickets wore their official red strike T-shirts.
"Writers aren't the easiest cats to corral," said Don McGill, another writer for "Numb3rs."
The first noisy strikers appeared outside the "Today" show set at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered. The show is not directly affected by the strike because news writers are part of a different union.
A giant, inflated rat was displayed, as about 40 people shouted, "No contract, no shows!"
"They claim that the new media is still too new to structure a model for compensation," said Jose Arroyo, a writer for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."
"We say give us a percentage so if they make money, we make money," Arroyo said.
Starting TV writers earn about $70,000 per season for full-time work on a show. Veteran writers who move up to a story-editor position make at least a low six-figure salary, with a "written by" credit on an hourlong script paying an additional $30,000 plus residuals.
Diana Son, a writer for "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," said she has three children and getting residuals was the only way she could take time off after giving birth.
"It's an extremely volatile industry," Son said. "There's no job security. Residuals are an important part of our income. There's no cushion."
Millie Kapzen of Memphis, Tenn., who watched the New York pickets from across the street, said she was "disgusted. ... I really think they should try harder to negotiate."
Kapzen said she sells advertising for radio stations. "We've already had cancellations of sweeps weeks ads" by the networks, she said.
Writers have not gone on strike since 1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
The battle has broad implications for the way Hollywood does business, since whatever deal is struck by writers will likely be used as a template for talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.
Talks began in July and continued after the writers contract expired last Wednesday.
Producers said writers were not willing to compromise on major issues.
Writers said they withdrew a proposal to increase their share of revenue from the sale of DVDs that had been a stumbling block for producers.
They also said proposals by producers in the area of Internet reuse of TV episodes and films were unacceptable.
In Los Angeles, writers planned to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until a new deal is reached.
Networks said other late-night show bound for reruns included "The Daily Show," "Colbert Report," "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "Last Call with Carson Daly."
Ellen DeGeneres was a no-show Monday for filming of her daytime talk show on NBC.
"Ellen did not go to work today in support of her writers," said Kelly Bush, her publicist.
New episodes of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that were filmed before the strike were set to air Monday and Tuesday. But it was unclear what might happen with the show later in the week, Bush said.
"Dancing With the Stars," one of the country's highest-rated prime-time shows, would air as planned on Monday, ABC said.
One key factor that could determine the damage caused by the strike is whether members of a powerful Hollywood Teamsters local honor the picket lines.
Local 399, which represents truck drivers, casting directors and location managers, had told its members that as a union, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts with producers.
But the clause does not apply to individuals.
Steve Dayan, business agent of the local, said Monday he had heard of no problems on the picket lines involving his members.
He did not know if members were honoring the lines or crossing them.
"Our members have a choice whether they want to honor it or not," Dayan said. "I'm sure there are people honoring and some that are crossing. It's their individual right."
Radiohead Albums Boxed In Time For Christmas
A Radiohead boxed set, spanning the British band's first six studio albums plus a live record, will be available from Dec. 10 via the band's Web site.
The seven-CD limited edition sets will comprise the band's Parlophone albums "Pablo Honey" (1993), "The Bends" (1995), "OK Computer" (1997), "Kid A" (2000), "Amnesiac" (2001), "Hail to the Thief" (2003) and the live album "I Might Be Wrong" (2001). Purchasers will also have access to stream special footage.
On the same day, the alternative rock outfit will release for pre-order a limited edition USB stick, shaped in the band's iconic "bear" image. The 4GB memory stick will contain Radiohead's entire catalog in WAV files together with digital artwork. Both formats will be available only from Radioheadstore.com.
A digital bundle of all seven albums will also be available from Dec. 10 as DRM-free MP3 files, together with digital artwork.
"We are particularly excited about the USB stick," comments Parlophone's managing director Miles Leonard, "which gives fans an easy and portable way to carry the box set and provides another way of bridging the world between on-line and off-line content."
U.K. charts compiler the Official U.K. Charts Company recently made tweaks to its criteria, allowing the USB format to quality for the album chart.
Radiohead split with Parlophone in 2005 and recently struck a deal enabling indie label XL Recordings to handle the physical release of its new album, "In Rainbows."
That deal is expected to cover territories outside North America, leaving the band free to sign a separate deal there, but no further details have yet been made available.
New Sheryl Crow Album Due In February
Sheryl Crow will return Feb. 5 with her next A&M/Interscope album, "Detours." The first single, "Shine Over Bayblon," is at iTunes now. Crow told Billboard.com this summer that the song "is very environmentally conscious, in the tradition of Bob Dylan."
"I'm really encouraging artists to write about what's going on, because we seem to be very distracted by some lightweight topics," she added. I think it's time to start writing about the reality of what's around us."
In additional comments on her Web site, Crow describes the single as "an every way a desperate cry for understanding. Perhaps it is even a battle song in the face of fear."
"Detours" was recorded at Crow's Nashville farm and will feature "14 or 15" of the 24 songs put to tape. The artist's baby son, Wyatt, makes an appearance on the song "Lullaby for Wyatt," which will be featured in the upcoming movie "Grace Is Gone."
"The songs are very inspired by the last three years of events in my life," Crow said of a time that found her battling breast cancer and splitting with partner Lance Armstrong.
"Detours" is the follow-up to 2005's "Wildflower," which debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200.
'Scrubs' diagnosis unclear
Nothing has been easy or conventional about the NBC comedy "Scrubs," which has been bounced around the network's schedule for most of its seven-year run and was on the verge of cancellation the past two years before landing an 11th hour renewal.
Now, the show's chance to go out on its own terms is being jeopardized by the WGA strike, which could leave the final six installments of the underrated comedy's 18-episode last season in indefinite limbo.
"On a personal level, yeah, it would be nice to finish work on 'Scrubs' the way I wanted to," creator-executive producer Bill Lawrence said. "That it looks like it's not happening is certainly disappointing, I can't lie. But it's also not the end of the world. The last thing anybody wants to hear right now is some idiot saying, 'Hey, I worked really hard on my show, I want to end it the way I want to end it!' It's hard to care right now about any legacy."
Lawrence hasn't done much in the way of stockpiling "Scrubs" episodes in anticipation of a writers walkout. There are two scripts written and ready to shoot, "and with a single-camera show, once a script is locked, you have no real rewrites," he said. That will take "Scrubs" up through Episode 12, six episodes short of the ending Lawrence had envisioned for the show.
Still, giving "Scrubs" a proper sendoff is low on Lawrence's priority list at the moment.
"What I care about more than anything right now is getting this thing settled so it's either a short strike or no strike," he said on Friday. "Right now, I fear that a lot of the writers have no real clue just how tough this is going to be. I'd imagine things will get very grim sometime after Christmas."
Lawrence is quick to point out it's not himself he worries about but his crew and some of his writers.
"I've kind of won the lottery in having a few shows that went to syndication in both 'Scrubs' and 'Spin City,' so anything I say about my own sacrifice would drip with selfishness. This is such a bigger deal for the guys who work below the line and largely live hand-to-mouth and the younger writers who can't go without a paycheck for very long. I'm just a lucky SOB, no matter what happens to my show from here."
Hollywood writers begin strike
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Film and TV writers resolved to put down their pens and take up picket signs after last-ditch talks failed to avert a strike.
The first picket lines were set to appear Monday morning at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered.
In Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until a new deal is reached.
The contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer expired Oct. 31. Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress on the writers' key demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet.
Writers and producers gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator.
The two sides met for nearly 11 hours before East Coast members of the writers union announced on their Web site that the strike had begun for their 4,000 members.
Producers said writers refused a request to "stop the clock" on the planned strike while talks continued.
"It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action," producers said in a statement.
Producers said writers were not willing to compromise on their major demands.
Writers said they withdrew a proposal to increase their share of revenue from the sale of DVDs that had been a stumbling block for producers. They also said the proposals by producers in the area of Internet reuse of TV episodes and films were unacceptable.
"The AMPTP made no response to any of the other proposals that the WGA has made since July," writers said in a statement.
The strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
The first casualty of the strike would be late-night talk shows, which are dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.
Daytime TV, including live talk shows such as "The View" and soap operas, which typically tape about a week's worth of shows in advance, would be next to feel the impact.
The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
One key factor that could determine the damage caused by the strike is whether members of a powerful Hollywood Teamsters local honor the picket lines.
Local 399, which represents truck drivers, casting directors and location managers, had told its members that as a union, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts with producers.
But the clause does not apply to individuals, who are protected by federal law from employer retribution if they decide to honor picket lines, the local said.
The battle has broad implications for the way Hollywood does business, since whatever deal is struck by writers will likely be used as a template for talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.
"We'll get what they get," Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg told The Associated Press.
The guilds have been preparing for these negotiations for years, hiring staff with extensive labor union experience, and developing joint strategies and a harder line than producers have seen in decades.
"We haven't shown particular resolve in past negotiations," said John Bowman, the WGA's chief negotiator.