The NewsLog presented by Musiqtone

The Who returns in October with first original album in 25 years; inks with Universal Records

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:46:03 -0600

Classic rock fans or juts rock fans in general, rejoice. The Who are back, and they are ready to rumble in the 21st century. After a couple years of teasing us music pundits, the band Roger and Pete built are back in the limelight. Move over Mick...Roger and Pete are in TOWN.

Here is the press release in its entirety from Universal/Republic Records:

(New York, NY, August 24, 2006) -- Universal Republic Records will release new music from the legendary rock band The Who, it was announced today by Mel Lewinter, Chairman and CEO of the Universal Motown Records Group, and Monte Lipman, President of Universal Republic Records. The historic signing with Universal Republic will include the first studio album by the band in 25 years, Endless Wire, scheduled to hit stores October 31, 2006.

“We are thrilled beyond words to welcome The Who to Universal Republic,” stated Mr. Lewinter. “They are truly one of the quintessential rock bands of all time. Larger than life, never compromising – The Who’s profound insight and willingness to push the musical envelope embodies everything vital about the indispensable music culture they helped spawn.”

Stated Mr. Lipman: “The Who not only defined their generation, but every generation of artists that followed with their genre-defying mixture of rock, R&B, and conceptual breakthroughs. We’re honored they’ve chosen Universal Republic and are certain their new album is poised to reinvigorate the music world all over again.”

Commented Doug Morris, Chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group: “I join Mel and Monte in welcoming The Who to the Universal Republic family, and look forward to the next great chapter in one of the most indomitable and innovative legacies in the history of rock n’ roll.”

Universal Republic will inaugurate the new pact with the release of the first new Who studio album since 1982. The disc will include all new songs, as well as music culled from a 29 minute operatic work, described by The Who’s co-founder Pete Townshend as “A Mini-Opera inspired by his Novella The Boy Who Heard Music.” Townshend has made the book available online at www.petetownshend.co.uk/projects/tbwhim/.

A recent EP, Wire & Glass, (available only on import in the U.S.), which includes music from the mini-opera, and one full length song, “Mirror Door”, all of which will be available on the new studio album, has garnered rave reviews, proving the venerable band has not lost their magic touch.

The multi-talented Townshend, who along with vocalist Roger Daltrey has been the long-standing dynamic force behind The Who (drummer Keith Moon died in 1978 and bassist John Entwistle died in 2002) indicates that the new material is definitely on par with what Who fans have come to expect from the legendary band.

The formidable duo also recently described themselves as “fit and ready to rock”, as they announced their first world tour in almost 20 years. The Who will embark on a whirlwind trek that will find them hitting the U.S. in September, kicking off in Philadelphia on September 12th, with more shows to follow in U.S. and Canada in October and November, as well as South America, East Asia, Europe and Australia in 2007. The band’s touring lineup is also to include Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr’s son on drums, and Simon Townshend, Pete Townshend’s brother on guitar, Pino Palladino on bass guitar, John Bundrick on keyboards.

Few bands have had a more lasting impact on the rock era than The Who. Inducted into the Rock n’ roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their incendiary style garnered them one of rock’s most loyal fan bases, with the brash foursome bursting onto the scene in the mid-1960’s armed with a searing new template for rock, punk and everything after. Their 1965 coming of age anthem “My Generation,” also heralded the arrival of Pete Townshend as one of rock’s most prescient songwriters, with the prolific icon going on to pen one of the most influential and recognizable canon’s in rock, an evocative musical repertoire that has endured for more than 4 decades. The Who have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, including ferocious and diverse classics such as the 1969 groundbreaking rock opera Tommy (which won 5 Tony awards for its Broadway adaptation in 1993), 1971’s pummeling Live At Leeds which has recently voted best live album of all time in the UK, 1973’s Quadrophenia, 1978’s Who Are You, and their final studio album 1982’s It’s Hard. Known for their combustible live shows as much as their conceptual and innovative album and song structures, their electrifying presence onstage and off has garnered comparisons with the Rolling Stones for the title of ‘world’s greatest rock n’ roll band.’

Most recently, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey reunited for the 2005 Live 8 Concert in London’s Hyde Park, as well as the 9/11 Benefit concert at Madison Square Garden, receiving glowing reviews for both shows. This summer, The Who offered a glimpse of their upcoming U.S. live show with a string of well received, sold-out concerts in Europe.

Stay tuned to the Newslog Presented by Musiqtone for more details on breaking news from The Who and their tour plans....

DOUBLE PLATINUM-SELLING GROUP SUGARLAND TO RELEASE SOPHOMORE ALBUM ENJOY THE RIDE NOVEMBER 7

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:27:14 -0600

From Mercury and IE Marketing

NASHVILLE, TN (August 15, 2006) – Double platinum-selling group Sugarland will release Enjoy The Ride, the follow up album to their debut Twice The Speed Of Life, November 7. Lead members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush wrote or co-wrote all 11 tracks. Enjoy The Ride is produced by Byron Gallimore, Bush and Nettles.

“I am so excited about this album and can't wait to get it to the fans,” said Nettles. “It has the fun, sass and positivity that everyone expects from Sugarland with a few pleasant emotional surprises. It is the next level for us and a true musical evolution.”

Explaining the inspiration for the album title, Nettles continued, “We named the record Enjoy the Ride as an invitation, a reminder and a challenge: an invitation to our fans to sit back and enjoy the ride of this record, a reminder to ourselves and our fans to enjoy the ride of life and as a challenge to ourselves to enjoy this wonderful ride of a career that we've been blessed with.”

Bush commented, “I love our new album. It picks up where our last one left off musically, spiritually and emotionally. There’s a great deal of hope in the notes and words - hope for a first kiss, a new love, a blue sky or a happy ending.”

“Want To,” the album’s first single, is poised to repeat the group’s previous success as it’s been most added two weeks in a row at radio and has garnered a Hot Shot Debut, Greatest Gainer and Most Airplay Adds a week prior to its August 7 release. This marks Sugarland’s highest charting debut to date. It also ties them with Billboard’s Country Singles Chart’s 5th highest debut this year. After only a week since its release, “Want To” sits in the Top 25.

Sugarland exploded onto the country music scene in 2004 with Twice The Speed Of Life, which gave birth to mega hits “Baby Girl” and “Something More,” both of which reached #2 on the charts and received digital platinum honors. Success translated to an overwhelming response for TV and award show performances, nominations, wins and big-time tours.

Sugarland has received a Grammy nomination, an American Music Award for “Breakthrough Favorite New Artist,” an ACM award for “New Duo/Group of the Year” and four additional nominations, as well as three CMA nominations. They have performed on The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, the Radio Music Awards, Grammy’s, CMA’s, ACM’s, CMT Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special, the season finale of Las Vegas and garnered the highest-rated CMT Crossroads with Bon Jovi. They have toured with Kenny Chesney and are currently touring with Brooks & Dunn.

October Fall...done?

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 12:16:18 -0600

Tuesday night while i was out enjoying the CD release show of the Jonas Brothers in NYC, I heard some extremelyyyyyyyyyyy distrubing news! October Fall BROKE UP! ahhhhhhhhhh! i couldnt even believe it! I just saw them 2 weeks ago! At that show Owen(keys) had already left the band, but I was sure that they were gonna pull through and continue on without him. I went home that night completely devastated! I ran in and screamed at my mom for a good hour about all their shows she didnt let me go to and all the missed opperunties i had! Then i calmed down and went to read their myspace where i thought there was going to be a message to the fans...but nothing? So for the next couple days i decided that everyone must have been just starting rumors cause Owen left and they really werent breaking up, but then last night I had a chance to ask Nick(drums) briefly on AIM and he confirmed that it was true and they were going their seperate ways after their last few tour dates! So now it really hit me, my favorite band is no longer in existance! :( but i will continue to support the boys in their other ventures! So for now the closest to October Fall you can get is Pats(lead singer) side project "Archie Star" that i guess isnt on the side anymore!

on that note...I love Archie Star, but that pisses me off if they broke up because of that. Archie wouldnt have any fans if it werent for October Falls success....ok end of that rant. :)

Happy 25th, MTV!!!...yeah...right.

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 10:16:24 -0600

That's exactly my feeling of the now mindless corporate entity of Viacom. The vision of Les Garland and company has been replaced by spring break shows, trashy reality TV, and more Laguna Beach than I could care for. But yeah, I do have to still give it to them for plugging into what's hot and what's not in the minds of 10-18 year olds, a demographic MTV is becoming more and more known for. But for you 10-18 year olds, I'm old enough to remember what MTV used to be about.

Bands like Hoobastank, All-American Rejects, and yes your favorite pop-punk gods in Good Charlotte and Simple Plan wouldn't be around if MTV had not put Nirvana on top of the music world with their Unplugged set. Music videos would still be...nothing if Les and a group of guys created MTV. Michael Jackson would not have been...well Michael Jackson if they hadn't aired the 14-minute opus known as 'Thriller' several times a day. Your favorite teen pop sensation would not be the teen pop sensation if not for MTV, and more aptly, TRL. Carson Daly would not be gracing the late-night wars if MTV wasn't around to hire him as the new face of TRL in the mid to late 90s.

There was a time when MTV was considered counterculture and lived up to its billing as a wild child. But as soon as Real World trumped the anti-pop culture of Mike Judge's 'Beavis and Butthead,' MTV has become the exact opposite of what it once was, a rebel in pop culture. No one ever had created a 24-hour music television channel on cable, much less. When it first launched, cable was still beginning, people weren't used to paying for television. But MTV helped cable explode to what it is now. Imagine if MTV didn't exist, never was created; we'd still be watching TV on rabbit ears right now. It helped a bunch of disillusioned high schoolers and college students in the 80s belong with the videos and music. And yes, at one point MTV supported the very group of people that now we at Musiqtone strive to cover: the indie and the underground. Bands like the Dead Kennedys and The Replacements would not be who they are or where they are without MTV.

Now, it's just another network, music videos are all but gone and only digital cable subscribers can see what MTV once was...only if you paid more lip service to a Comcast or WOW to get the MTV video channels. It's been replaced with more Laguna Beach, more Real World, and celebrity-driven shows like 'Pimp My Ride.' Whatever music they show on the mother network is confined to the now contrived nature of TRL, where its spawned an unhealthy obsession over who's hot and who's not. There was a time when the industry wasn't obsessed with top-10 lists, believing that Billboard's once-grand top 10, top 50, top 100, top 200 charts were gospel and the only source to gauge music.

It's become a mindless advertising vehicle for cheap thrills, clothing, accessories, cookie-cutter music acts, one-hit wonders, and their own definition for what's cool. It's now become a controlling entity that tells young people what to listen, what to do, how to dress, and now what to think with their apparent liberal bias when it comes to politics. I still remember when I was a junior in high school and hearing people say they'll vote for Al Gore in 2000 because MTV said it was the cool thing to do and that they told them to do so. I heard it again in 2004 when a group of high school girls would vote for John Edwards because they thought he was cute...and this was after he showed up at an MTV function on TV. They've also turned a generation into an insular bunch, and sure MTV does report news, but its short and it doesn't even inform people of what's going on around them and that usually gets followed by another 'Pimp My Ride' or some other mindless spring break reality show.

You want REAL MUSIC TELEVISION? I suggest you thumb through digital cable listings and find if your WB/CW affiliate broadcasts the Tube Music Network. Now that's music television. Like our motto: "It's about the music, and nothing but the music."

Apparently MTV forgot about that a decade ago.

NSync's Lance Bass come out of the closet

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 09:25:38 -0600

In the upcoming issue of People Magazine (On stands Friday) Lance Bass, of boy band NSync, admits to being gay.

"I didn’t know: Could that be the end of ’N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did," he says speaking about his sexual orientation for the first time with PEOPLE.
While he tells PEOPLE that it was a decision years in the making, he says he is finlly relieved to have the truth out in the open.

Bass' admission ends years of rumors and speculation about the stars sexual orientation. Many of the groups fans have responded with comments like "We all knew already." or "It's about time."

The moral? Just be yourself, don't be afraid to be who you are... you'll always have support.

Read the full article HERE

The 25 biggest wusses ever by Blender Magazine

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:26:48 -0600

Judging from the title of this entry, you know what this is all about...Blender Magazine charted the 25 biggest wusses ever in music and here are the top 10 out of the 25...

10. Hilary Duff
9. Chris Martin of Coldplay
8. Babyface
7. Rascal Flatts
6. Kenny G.
5. Peter Cetera
4. Boyz II Men
3. Dan Fogelberg
2. Nick Lachey

Annnnnnnd...the number one musical wuss ever by the fine folks at Blender Magazine issssss....drumroll please...

James Taylor.

That's right...the father of the sensitive singer-songwriter.

Because I do somewhat disagree with about 50% of the full list, I'm gonna challenge you to this...

I'd like to know who you think the ten biggest wusses are in music and with all ten, you better be able to back it up with substance. E-mail it to musiqtone@musiqtone.com.

Rolling Stones lead mid-year tour figures

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:18:24 -0600

For what probably is the fifth or sixth straight year in a row, old people rule and when I mean old people, they are in the form of the Rolling Stones, who despite their age is still quite relevant in the 21st century.

Mick Jagger and company have grossed over $140 million in ticket receipts starting from Nov. 1, 2005 to mid-May with their Bigger Bang tour. Big bang indeed. They doubled their younger compadres U2, who came in second with $73 million, but would have grossed more if some of their tour dates were not cancelled. The cancelled tour dates have been rescheduled for later this year.

Bon Jovi is the third-highest-grossing act for the period, reporting more than $65 million and 866,873 in attendance, selling out 54 of 57 shows. Rounding out the top 10 are Billy Joel ($47.4 million), Cirque du Soleil's Delirium ($38.7 million), Aerosmith ($35 million), Coldplay ($29 million), Luis Miguel ($25 million), Trans Siberian Orchestra ($24 million), and Paul McCartney ($17.6 million).

And what did Rolling Stone say about this being a bad year for tours? Then again notice that vaunted tours like Mariah Carey and Ashlee Simpson are not even in the top ten. Once again, it's the old dogs up to new tricks.

Los Lonely BUSTED!

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:11:04 -0600

So how do you celebrate releasing your band's sophomore effort? You have your bassist busted for having drugs and then roughing someone up. And I'll leave the professionals at the Associated Press to tell the story of how one of the Garza boys got a one-way ticket to the slammer...

Read story

Justin busts rep with confession

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:04:03 -0600

Honestly, I am not at the least bit surprised about this, I'm just surprised it's taken this long to 'fess up about it. Justin Timberlake has kept his image polished so that daughters can take him home to their mothers but with this confession, you can throw his PG image out the window.

"I've done way too many drugs," he told Britain's Observer Music Monthly magazine. "I'm just like everyone else, I get completely plastered. I've done my fair share of drugs and I've been caught with my pants down. I just try and make sure there are no cameras around."

If you're scoring at home that's Media-2 and the former 'NSYNC- 0...that is if you count the tabloids and paparazzi going berserk over the appearance of astronaut wanna-be Lance Bass popping up and enjoying a gay club/bar.

-The A-Train