Platinum Blonde bassist found dead
Sources say that former Platinum Blonde bassist Kenny MacLean died following a CD release party in Toronto Friday, Nov. 21.
He was found this morning by his sister and it is thought he passed away sometime during the night after the event.
"Kenny had his party at the Mod Club on Friday and he was really excited," local musician Angel Marr said in a brief phone interview.
"We don't know if he died right after the party or later," he continued. "I'm in shock. I've known Kenny for 15 years."
While police have yet to confirm the news, Facebook tributes have already started pouring in.
Former Much VJ Steve Anthony wrote that he is in "shock about my pal Kenny MacLean."
At their peak in the mid-'80s, Platinum Blonde was playing arenas and became known as 'Canada's Duran Duran.'
New CD Releases, November 25th: Guns N' Roses, Kanye West, The Killers, Barry Manilow, Ludacris and more!
Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" (Geffen)
At long last, Guns N' Roses fulfills its promise of a sixth studio album. Some fans, quite understandably, had come to believe this moment might never arrive. Ten years in the making, "Chinese Democracy" stands with The Beach Boys' "Smile" among the most famously delayed albums in rock history.
This GN'R is hardly the group that first set out, back in 1998, to make this record. Notably, vocalist Axl Rose is the only original member left in the band.
The 14-track set is the group's first studio album since 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?," and its first to feature original material since 1991's "Use Your Illusion I and II." The first two singles from the record are the title track and the tune "Better."
* * *
Kanye West "808s & Heartbreak" (Island Def Jam)
The 10-time Grammy winner returns with his fourth studio album. The eagerly anticipated "808s & Heartbreak," set for release on Nov. 24, follows last year's chart-topping "Graduation."
The first single from "808s & Heartbreak" is the tune "Love Lockdown," which West premiered onstage at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The second single is "Heartless," a song performed for the first time at the ONE Campaign concert during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO.
The album's title is a reference to the Roland TR-808, a programmable drum machine that West reportedly used in constructing the majority of the record's tracks.
* * *
The Killers "Day & Age" (Island Def Jam)
The popular modern-rock troupe is ready to unveil its third studio album of new material. "Day & Age" follows 2004's "Hot Fuss" and 2006's "Sam's Town," as well as last year's collection of studio outtakes and b-sides "Sawdust."
The Killers collaborated with Scottish electronic-music whiz Stuart Price (Madonna, Missy Elliot) on "Day & Age." The first single from the album is the tune "Human."
The group has a few performances lined up for December, but it plans to wait until the new year to really start supporting "Day & Age" on the road. The band's 14-city headlining trek is set to kick off Jan. 17 in Denver, CO.
* * *
Barry Manilow "The Greatest Songs of the Eighties" (Arista)
The popular crooner releases the fourth installment in his decade-specific series. "The Greatest Songs of the Eighties" features Manilow covering 12 smash hits from the '80s, including Journey's "Open Arms," the Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton number "Island in the Stream" (performed as a duet with Reba McEntire), Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
* * *
Ludacris "Theater of the Mind" (Island Def Jam)
"Theater of the Mind," which follows 2006's "Release Therapy," features a bevy of guest stars, including Lil Wayne, Jamie Foxx, The Game, T.I., Chris Brown, Nas, Jay-Z, Chris Rock, Common, T-Pain and Spike Lee. Besides recording the album, Ludacris remains busy with other projects--notably, he stars in the recent films "Max Payne" and "RocknRolla."
* * *
More new releases:
Jon Anderson, "3 Ships: 22nd Anniversary Edition" (Opio)
Jeff Beck, "Performing this Week...Live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club" (Eagle)
Rivers Cuomo, "Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo" (Geffen)
Doris Day, "Christmas" (Collector's Choice)
Fireman, "Electric Arguments" (ATO)
Hall & Oates, "Live at the Troubadour" (Shout)
Linkin Park, "Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes" (Warner Bros.)
Liza Minnelli, "The Complete A&M Recordings" (Collector's Choice)
Paramore, "The Final Riot!" (Fueled by Ramen)
R.E.M., "Murmur: Deluxe Edition" (A&M)
Return to Forever, "Returns" (Eagle)
White Zombie, "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" (Geffen)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Gears of War 2" (Sumthing Else)
"13" (Ghostlight)
McCartney laments snags in Beatles' iTunes talks
LONDON (Billboard) – The Beatles' back catalog won't be appearing on iTunes anytime soon, according to Paul McCartney.
Speaking at a media launch Monday in London for the new album by his side project the Fireman, "Electric Arguments," McCartney said that Apple Corp. and the band's label EMI could not agree on terms to release the Beatles' catalog to iTunes and other download services.
"That is constantly being talked of -- we'd like to do it," McCartney said. "What happens is, when something's as big as the Beatles, it's heavy negotiations."
He added: "We are very for it; we've been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand. So the last word I got back was that it had stalled, the whole process.
"(EMI executives) want something we're not prepared to give them. Hey, sounds like the music business.
"It's between EMI and the Beatles -- what else is new."
"Arguments" is the third album released by McCartney under the Fireman alias with collaborator Youth, and it is the first with vocals. It was released on the indie label One Little Indian in the U.K. on Monday, and it is set to be released Tuesday in the U.S. on ATO/Red.
McCartney, who broke with EMI to release his solo album "Memory Almost Full" on Starbucks' Hear Music label in June 2007, said he was glad he left the major.
"I think the majors at the moment, I'm not dissing them, but I don't think they really know what's going on," he said, speaking at the Fire Station pub in London's Waterloo district. "With the download culture, they are floundering a little bit."
He added: "I think I was right at that time because right after that EMI got sold, so I would have been in the middle of a sale situation.
"The other thing is, they've got so many people on their books -- like it or not, you're just one of them. It's not a great situation; you like to feel like you're among friends, so that was why I ended up going independent. And this time it's kind of even more indie."
Asked by Billboard about going up against Guns N' Roses' first release in more than 17 years, "Chinese Democracy," McCartney said: "I never look at who we're in competition with. I don't really feel in competition with anyone, particularly with the Fireman. It's one of those projects -- it's not like you're releasing as Coldplay, or Guns N' Roses, for that matter. I wish them good luck with it because it's been a long time coming."
McCartney also criticized reality TV shows like the U.K.'s "The X Factor," describing them as a "phase we're going through."
"I'm not keen on it, but I watch it like everybody else," he said, adding that such shows are "compulsive viewing -- but so is a traffic accident."
China state media blast new Guns N' Roses album
BEIJING – A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation.
Delayed since recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications.
In an article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."
The album "turns its spear point on China," the article said.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to faxed questions about the article, although a spokesman speaking on routine condition of anonymity said: "We don't need to comment on that."
Spokesmen for the Culture Ministry and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, government bodies that regulate album releases and performances, could not be reached for comment.
The Global Times article referred only to the title of the album and not to specific song lyrics. The record's title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong meditation movement that was banned by China as an "evil cult" and warns "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself," in an apparent message to the country's authoritarian government.
Songs from the album could be heard on Internet sites such as YouTube and the band's MySpace page on Monday and it was not immediately possible to tell whether China's Internet monitors were seeking to block access to it.
Monitors use content filters that highlight and sometimes block messages containing words such as democracy. That prompted some Internet users to combine English and Chinese characters in their postings about the album to skirt such monitoring.
China approves only limited numbers of foreign films and recordings for distribution each year, partly due to political concerns but also to protect domestic producers.
Live performances are also closely regulated, with bands forced to submit set lists beforehand. The Rolling Stones were asked not to play several songs with suggestive lyrics during their 2006 China debut, including "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Beast of Burden" and "Let's Spend the Night Together."
Earlier this year, bandleader Harry Connick Jr. was forced to make last-minute changes to his show in Shanghai because an old song list was mistakenly submitted to Chinese authorities to secure the performance permit for the concert. Authorities insisted he play the songs on the original list, even though his band did not have the music for them.
That came just a week after Icelandic singer Bjork embarrassed authorities by shouting "Tibet!" at the end of a Shanghai concert, prompting stricter vetting of foreign performers.
Despite such restrictions, computer file sharing and pirating of DVDs, computer games and music CDs is rampant in China, meaning that much banned material is available through alternative channels.