Foo Fighters mark 15 years with hits set, VH1 show
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Almost 15 years ago, former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl quietly circulated among his friends copies of a demo tape on which he did all the singing and played all the instruments.
He considered the project "a goof," and he dubbed it "Foo Fighters" because he wanted people to think it was a real band, "like the Ramones or the Pixies," he recalled at a taping of VH1's "Storytellers" series on Wednesday.
That would have been the end of the story. But the tape inevitably ignited a bidding war among record labels, all desperate to release the first music from the Nirvana camp since the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994.
Grohl assembled a real band with three musicians, signed with Capitol Records, and officially released the demo tape -- still dubbed "Foo Fighters" -- in July 1995.
Fast-forward past seven hit albums to next week, when the band will release its first compilation, simply titled "Greatest Hits." The 16-track RCA Records set also boasts two new tracks, "Wheels" and "Word Forward," both of which were unveiled at the "Storytellers" taping.
A deluxe version includes a 21-track DVD. Music videos have been good for the Foo Fighters, a showcase for their self-effacing sense of humor. Grohl recounted that the Mentos-themed clip for 1995's "Big Me" led to the band being pelted by the sweets every time it played the song.
He also mimicked a fey flight attendant's snooty reaction to the band's Grammy-winning video for 1999's "Learn To Fly," in which Grohl plays said character, among many others.
GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES
The "Storytellers" episode featuring Foo Fighters will air on the music cable network in November 27. The voluble Grohl, the band's singer/guitarist, warned his audience at the outset that "the microphone is my friend," and shared lengthy anecdotes between renditions of 13 songs.
The intimate setting on a Sony Pictures studio soundstage allowed for some back-and-forth with the audience, including 24-year-old fan John Clanton who helpfully pointed from his second-row berth that some stray mucus was hanging from Grohl's nose. A roadie scurried over with a box of tissues, but Grohl had gratefully wiped it away already.
Amid the hilarity, there were some serious moments. Grohl recalled that the 2002 song "Times Like These" was written after the band almost broke up.
"Things got kinda weird and it got kinda difficult and we actually had to step back from the band," he said.
But the hiatus proved even more uncomfortable, and the bandmates found that absence made their hearts grow fonder.
Things got a little uncomfortable for the audience when Grohl said fatherhood enabled him to open up more emotionally when writing songs.
"When I write a love song or something I know what love means now that I'm a dad," he said. Some female fans gasped some heartfelt "aws!," Grohl realized he was slipping into Hallmark-card territory and uttered a humorous expletive.
He saved the best for last, a version of the band's most-loved song, "Everlong," which appears on the hits album in both electric and acoustic forms.
"I honestly think that if it weren't for this song we probably wouldn't still be here because it opened up so many doors for us, melodically, dynamically," Grohl said.
He dedicated the electrified "Storytellers" version to Bob Dylan, after recounting perhaps the greatest highlight of his time in the Foo Fighters.
The band opened for Dylan in 2006, and Grohl recalled being nervously ushered into the rock legend's presence backstage at a hockey arena in Canada.
After some light banter, Dylan said to him, "Man, what's that song that you guys got?" and recited some lyrics. Grohl replied that it was "Everlong," and Dylan said, "Well, you gotta show that to me. I wanna start doing that song."
Dylan does not yet appear to have covered "Everlong," but Grohl was clearly chuffed by the exchange. He summarized his reaction to the "Storytellers" audience: "You know what? I'm done."
For Clanton, the nasally observant fan, the taping marked his 14th Foo Fighters show. "No artist out there engages the audience the way Dave Grohl does," he said.
Could 'This Is It' win an Oscar?
LOS ANGELES – Sony thinks its new Michael Jackson documentary could be a contender for best picture.
Spokesman Steve Elzer said Thursday that the studio will submit "Michael Jackson's This Is It" for Academy Awards consideration this year.
It missed the deadline to be considered for a 2009 documentary Oscar, but the film about the late King of Pop's preparations for a series of comeback concerts will be eligible in several other categories at the Academy Awards, including sound, film editing, director and best picture.
"This Is It" opened worldwide Wednesday and has already earned $20.1 million at the box office, along with praise from critics and fans who say it restores Jackson's reputation as a world-class entertainer.
Director Kenny Ortega, a longtime Jackson collaborator who was overseeing his concert comeback, crafted the nearly two-hour film from more than 100 hours of footage recorded during rehearsals for the London shows, which were to have begun in July. Jackson died June 25 at age 50.
"What we did here was focus on telling a good story and creating a film for the fans really enabling them to understand what Michael Jackson had dreamed for them," Ortega said Wednesday.
He added it was his hope "the audience for this film will grow and that as many people come to see it as possible because I think that it's a wonderful story about a brilliant man. ... Awards, Oscars, that's all great wishful thinking."
It may be more than wishful, said Steven Gaydos, executive editor of the Hollywood trade paper Variety and a self-described cynic. With the Academy Awards best-picture slate expanded to 10 films this year rather than the traditional five, "This Is It" could find itself among the contenders, he said.
To qualify, the film must complete a seven-day run in Los Angeles County and filmmakers would need to "submit the proper paperwork," said Leslie Unger, spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Oscars.
Sony, which paid $60 million for the global film rights, plans to keep "This Is It" in theaters for just over two weeks. Elzer said the studio will submit it for consideration for best picture "and other appropriate categories." He wouldn't specify which ones.
Entering it in the Oscar race this year means "This Is It" cannot be considered in the documentary category next year.
The movie includes plenty of music, but none of it is eligible for Oscar consideration because it wasn't created specifically for the film.
Ortega, a veteran director, producer and choreographer who counts TV's "High School Musical" among his credits, could also find himself in contention for a best-director nod, Gaydos said.
"He did a masterful job putting this whole thing together," he said. "It was so powerful and interesting, so creative and well-done, I think he should be considered... Kenny just won over all these critics like me with Michael Jackson that anything interesting could go on with this guy."
The film can't be considered for a Golden Globe. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the annual ceremony, doesn't permit feature documentaries to enter, said spokesman Michael Russell.
Ortega said an Oscar nod would be a fitting recognition of Jackson's last work.
"He deserves one," he said. "Come on people."
Spade defends Chris Farley TV ad
Fans of late funnyman Chris Farley are outraged by a new satellite TV ad, which features scenes from the larger-than-life comedian's Tommy Boy movie.
The comic's co-star and friend David Spade revamps the scenes by speaking direct to the camera and plugging DirecTV's service.
Spade says, "I'm here with tons of fun when I could be watching DirecTV," as Farley dances in front of him.
Fans of the heavyweight star, who died from a drug overdose in 1997, are refusing to see the funny side, calling the commercial "distasteful" and "stupid".
Spade has responded in a statement, which reads, "When DirecTV came to me and the Farley family with this idea... we talked and thought it would be a cool way to remind people just how funny Chris was.
"It is a clever homage to a friend and a movie that we loved doing."
A spokesman for DirecTV adds, "We should look to Chris' family and friends for the ultimate opinion on this subject."