New CD Releases, January 15: Barry Manilow, Ringo Starr, Spice Girls
Barry Manilow "Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs"
The comeback just keeps on coming. Having resurrected his career by recording a trio of popular themed albums--focusing on well-known songs of, in order of release, the '50s, '60s and '70s--the man who writes the songs continues to look to cover material with "Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs."
The set includes new versions of past hits like "Unchained Melody," "Stardust," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "Could It Be Magic."
Manilow is currently enjoying a residency in Vegas, a la Celine Dion and Elton John, but he will take time off for some road work this year. His North American tour, dubbed "Manilow: An Evening of Music and Passion," is currently set to stretch through a Feb. 24 date in Miami.
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Ringo Starr "Liverpool 8"
Beatlemania lives! More than 40 years after the Fab Four invaded America, and changed the very face of pop music, there are still tons of reasons to get excited about Liverpool's finest. The latest--which follows in the success of Cirque Du Soleil's Beatles show, "Love," in Las Vegas--is a new studio album from Ringo Starr.
Having just released a greatest hits album in August, "Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr," the drummer/vocalist now returns with his 14th solo studio effort, which is his first batch of new songs since 2005's "Choose Love." "Liverpool 8" was co-produced by Starr, working alongside such talents as Dave Stewart.
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Spice Girls "Greatest Hits"
Following a 7-year hiatus, the Spices--Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Emma "Baby Spice" Burton, Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chishollm and Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell--finally regrouped last year and embarked on what's turning out to be a phenomenally successful reunion tour.
To capitalize on all the excitement, the gals are releasing "Spice Girls: Greatest Hits," which features all the fan favorites as well as two new songs, "Voodoo" and the single "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)." The package is just being officially released, although it's been available for purchase at Victoria's Secret now for a couple of months.
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Magnetic Fields "Distortion"
The indie synth-pop band returns with its first album in nearly four years. The Magnetic Fields will support "Distortion," the band's eighth record, with a tour that kicks off Feb. 11 in Northampton, MA. The trek features a series of multi-night stands, including Feb. 28-29 at the Noise Pop festival in San Francisco.
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Anne Murray "Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends"
The acclaimed vocalist is in impressive company on this album of duets. Lending a hand are such celebs as Celine Dion, Nelly Furtado, Oliva Newton-John and Carole King.
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More new releases:
Raheem DeVaughn, "Love Behind the Melody" (Jive)
Eels, "Meet the Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1" (Geffen)
Eels, "Useless Trinkets: B Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2007" (Geffen)
Eliane Elias, "Something for You" (Blue Note)
Leon Fleisher, "The Essential Leon Fleisher" (Sony)
Jon Foreman, "Fall and Winter" (Credential)
Gamma Ray, "Land of the Free, Pt. 2" (Steamhammer)
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, "Setting Standards" (ECM)
Eric Lindell, "Low on Cash, Rich in Love" (Alligator)
Olivia Newton-John, "Olivia's Live Hits" (Capitol)
Pagan's Mind, "God's Equation" (Limb)
Roomful of Blues, "Raisin' A Ruckus" (Alligator)
Matthew West, "Something to Say" (Sparrow)
Soundtracks and scores:
"I Am Legend" (Varese)
Producers Guild Nominees Announced
Hot on the heels of the Golden Globe awards, the Producers Guild of America has announed its five contenders for its Best Picture award: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.
Four of the five films also previously received Directors Guild nominations (Juno was passed over for Into the Wild by the DGA), and all films received multiple Golden Globe nods.
The last of the major guild awards, the PGA honors effectively put the kibosh on such hopeful Oscar contenders as Atonement, Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd, which received no love from the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild or the Writers Guild.
While the nominations from the guild aren't exact precursors for the Academy Awards, a majority of guild members are also Academy voters.
Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie were nominated for the PGA's animated film award, while Body of War, Hear and Now, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, Sicko, and White Light/Black Rain are in competition for the documentary award.
Clooney's Bid To End Writers Strike
George Clooney has offered to act as a mediator between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) union members and Hollywood bosses in a bid to end the strikes.
The writers have been on picket lines since November, bringing production on Hollywood movies to a standstill and causing a number of TV networks to release staff and air repeat shows.
The strike also forced the organizers of Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony to cancel the event after actors threatened to boycott. But the Michael Clayton star has offered to set up a "mediation panel" to settle the WGA members' grievances - and plans to ask Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and ER producer John Wells to help him end the dispute, according to L.A. Weekly.
Speaking of the strikes earlier this week, he said, "When the strike happens, it's not just writers (affected)... Our hope is that all the players will lock themselves in a room and not come out until they finish. We want this to be done. That's the most important thing."
London, Ont., to vote on closing Guy Lombardo museum
It could be the swan song for a London, Ont., museum dedicated to native son and musical legend Guy Lombardo.
London's city councillors will vote Monday on a staff recommendation to close the 1,000-square-foot museum.
Called the Guy Lombardo Music Centre, it has been dogged by poor attendance, with only 400 visitors in 2007.
Lombardo, a violinist and bandleader of The Royal Canadians famous throughout the world, was born in the city. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional Auld Lang Syne as part of New Year's celebrations in New York.
Local heritage advocates said they're ready to fight the recommendation to close the museum.
The closure would be a "slap in the face to Lombardo's legacy," said Barry Wells, an advocate for heritage preservation.
The recommendation to close has not received public input or scrutiny, he told CBC News.
The current facility needs to be expanded, run professionally and better marketed, rather than shut down, he said.
The museum opened in 1983 and displays photographs, posters, video recordings, song sheets and the Tempo VII, an award-winning racing boat owned by Lombardo, who was a racing enthusiast.
The museum was run by a volunteer board until 2001, when the city took over after infighting and resignations at the board.
However, it costs taxpayers $27,500 annually to run the museum, according to Ross Fair, general manager of community services in London.
A city report recommends closing the museum permanently and turning artifacts over to Museum London.
It says Lombardo's birthplace should be marked by naming a pavilion and walking trail in a London park after him.
Details surface for new R.E.M. album
Alt-rock icons R.E.M. have unveiled the title and release date for their forthcoming studio album, which is the group's first new set since 2004.
Dubbed "Accelerate, the album is due in stores April 1, according to Warner Bros. Records, and the band is counting down the days to its release at NinetyNights.com. Launched Jan. 1, the site is updated daily with a high-definition video snippet of the band that can be "downloaded then edited, embedded or manipulated however the user wishes," according to a press release.
The video footage was shot by noted French filmmaker Vincent Moon, who has worked with Arcade Fire, The Shins and The National, among others.
"Accelerate" is R.E.M.'s 14th studio album, and first since 2004's "Around the Sun," which peaked at No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart. Before the new album hits stores, the Athens, GA-based music vets will prime the pump with a March 8 headlining set at the Langerado Music Festival in South Florida, and will also give a March 12 performance in Austin, TX, as part of the annual SXSW Music Festival.
Last year, in addition to working on "Accelerate," the group stayed busy with its March induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the October release of "R.E.M. Live," the first concert CD/DVD of the group's 27-year career.
Smurfs mark 50th birthday in Belgium
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Smurfs — led by Papa Smurf and Smurfette — kicked off a year of 50th birthday celebrations Monday with Smurfberry cake and sasparilla juice.
The late cartoonist Pierre Culliford — best known by his pen name, "Peyo" — first introduced the tiny blue figures in a comic strip in October 1958. He called them Schtroumpf; they became known worldwide as the Smurfs.
The Smurfs, forest dwellers who live in little white-capped mushroom homes, developed their own "Smurf" language in which nouns and verbs were interchanged.
Their debut on U.S. television in 1981 launched their global rise to stardom and made the Smurfs a household name. A Smurf is a Pitufo in Spanish, a Schlumpf in German, Nam Ching Ling to the Chinese, a Sumafa in Japan and Dardassim in Hebrew.
"I think that if he could see all that has been done with his characters since his death and the success and interest that the Smurfs still attract, he would be very, very, very, very happy and very proud," said Peyo's son, Thierry Culliford.
To mark 50 years of Smurfdom, organizers are planning everything from a 3-D animation feature film expected to be released next year to new comic book collections and a remastered release of the popular 1980s television animated series, Peyo's family said.
Peyo's widow and two children will help kick off a European birthday tour in Brussels. The Smurfs celebration will continue in Paris and Berlin.
The Smurfs also will team up with the UNICEF to promote children's rights and education worldwide, said Yves Willemont of UNICEF Belgium.
"The Smurfs and UNICEF have a lot of values in common — values about joy, happiness and respect," Willemont said. "We also have in common the fact that we are dedicated to the cause of children and to the promotion of every child and the right of every child to survive."
UNICEF and the Smurfs joined forces two years ago to raise the plight of ex-child soldiers in Africa.
Born in Brussels, Peyo worked as a movie projectionist before entering the world of comic strip drawing.
The Smurfs appeared as a supporting cast of characters in Peyo's 1958 "Johan and Pirlouit" cartoon, which was set in the Middle Ages.
The Smurfs quickly grew in popularity and by 1960, the Smurfs had their own comic strip series and. With the help of the Hanna-Barbera Productions, the Smurfs became an animated cartoon in 1981.
Thierry Culliford said the Smurfs promote love and friendship. He said many who grew up watching the Smurfs on TV during the 1980s and 1990s now are parents and want to introduce the Smurfs to their children.
Demand for Smurf stories continues, said Hendrik Coysman, managing director of IMPS, which controls the rights of the Smurf brand worldwide.
"Thousands of fans are asking for more stories and these will be based of course on the fantastic asset that Peyo has left us," Coysman said.
Peyo, who died 15 years ago, "would be very happy if he were here today" to see Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Handy, Jokey and the troop of 96 others celebrate 50 years of Smurfmania, daughter Veronique Culliford said.
Buddy Holly widow threatens lawsuit against Peggy Sue
The widow of singer Buddy Holly has threatened to sue a woman, whose name was made famous by Holly's hit song Peggy Sue, who is planning to release a book about her friendship with Holly.
Peggy Sue Gerron, who married Holly's drummer Jerry Allison back in 1958, wrote a 283-page book — Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue? — to mark the 50th anniversary of the song's release.
Gerron says the book, to be released at the end of January, comes from 150 diary entries she wrote during the time she knew the singer.
"I wanted to give him his voice. It's my book, my memoirs," says Gerron. "We were very, very good friends."
The book has angered Maria Elena Holly, who married the rocker just months before he died Feb. 3, 1959 in a plane crash that also killed singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson.
"He never, never considered Peggy Sue a friend," says Holly, who owns the rights to her husband's name, image, trademarks and other intellectual properties.
As a result, Holly has sent a cease-and-desist letter to TogiEntertainment, the book's Oklahoma City publisher, demanding it stop promoting the book. The letter also asks the publisher to cancel all book orders and to refund any deposits paid on the book.
According to Holly's widow, the book will harm her husband's name, her own reputation and that of her company, Holly Properties.
TogiEntertainment says it will not give in to the letter's demands.
"My feeling is that Maria Elena fears the truth will come out about Buddy Holly," said Mark Faulk, CEO of TogiEntertainment.
The song's original title was actually Cindy Lou, named after Buddy Holly's niece, but his drummer, Jerry Allison of the Crickets, requested that Holly change it because Allison was trying to woo Gerron at the time.