Music stories.

Ringo Starr loses early Beatles photos

Filed under: Music, Rock, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 1:09 pm on May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012

Ringo Starr has lost the pictures he took during the early days of The Beatles.

The drummer snapped a lot of photographs of the Fab Four back in the 1960s, capturing behind- -the-scenes moments, such as rehearsals for the group’s famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and some messing about on the set of their 1965 movie, Help! But the bulk of the pics have never been published, and Rolling Stone reports that now Starr says he’s got no idea what he did with them.

“I don’t know where they are,” Starr tells the magazine. “I wish I did. There’s been several moves and things happen.”

They could turn up, though. Something similar happened when Starr discovered a collection of postcards from his bandmates, which he later published in the 2004 book, Postcards from the Boys. “I found a box on my shelf and was like, ‘What the hell is that?’” Starr recalls. “And it was full of the postcards. At the time we were moving house yet again, and the secretary I had at the time decided to put them all in envelopes and put them in a shoebox. That’s how I found out I still had them. So you never know – one day I may find another box with all my photos.”

It was recently reported that the former Beatle had teamed with former Eurythmic Dave Stewart to write a movie musical. Titled Hole in the Fence, the coming-of-age story has been optioned by Paramount.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Beyonce posts Mother’s Day thanks

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:51 am on

May 14, 2012

Beyonce honoured her mother on Mother’s Day with a public thank-you to the woman who brought her into the world.

The pop superstar posted an open letter to her mom, Tina Knowles, on her website. In the letter, the singer praises her mother and acknowledges that, now that she’s a mom herself, she has a whole new respect for the job she did.

“Dear Mama,” Beyonce writes, “Everything I am is because of you! You are the first voice that ever sang to me. At every turn you push me to be better. You teach me to be true to myself and the ones I love. When I look into your eyes, I am sooo proud.

“Now that I’m a mother, I truly realize all the sacrifices you made for us. My love for you goes beyond what I can say. Happy Happy Mama’s Day. Love Beyonce”

Beyonce of course gave birth to Blue Ivy, her daughter with hip-hop superstar Jay-Z, back in January of this year.

WENN reports that Beyonce has been named one of 2012’s Most Powerful Moms in a poll by Working Mother magazine. Beyonce was named alongside such stars as Angelina Jolie and Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Katy Perry REALLY wants a vacation

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:32 am on

May 14, 2012

Katy Perry doesn’t just want some time off, she says she needs “a f—ing vacation.”

Billboard reports the pop superstar told a crowd of music industry insiders she plans on pulling a temporary disappearing act following the release of her upcoming single “Wide Awake.”

The singer was accepting her Artist of the Year trophy at the NARM Awards (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) on Thursday when she acknowledged that she’s worked hard for her success.

“I swear, after this song, I’m taking a f—ing vacation,” Perry promised the audience.

“I have to say that I do a lot to sell my records,” she continued. “I do the right things… I work very hard! I like to sell out in all the best ways.”

Perry scored five number ones off her 2010 album Teenage Dream and added to the tally with her latest smash, “Part of Me,” which arrived on the Complete Confection re-release of the disc.

“Wide Awake” will be the second single from Complete Confection and will be used to promote Perry’s upcoming big screen concert doc Part of Me 3D.

The movie, which will tell the story of Perry’s life, inter-cut with concert footage recorded last November at L.A.’s Staples Center, lands on screens July 5.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Beyonce sued for $100,000,000

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 9:47 am on

May 14, 2012

Beyonce is getting sued for $100 million.

The New York Post reports that a Manhattan judge has given the go ahead for a video game developer to sue the pop star and new mom.

The suit says that Beyonce’s lawyers were actively working on a $20 million deal with the company, Gate Five, before abruptly backing out.

Justice Charles Ramos told the star’s lawyers, “You continue to negotiate right up until the time you pull the plug. That is not going to work with me.”

Beyonce’s team reportedly argues that they were within their rights to walk away from the deal for a game called Starpower: Beyonce because Gate Five didn’t have its financing together.

Gate Five said a deal with a financier was set to be signed on December 6, 2010 and Beyonce was aware of it but opted to walk away on December 3, just three days before the signing. As a result of the game being shelved, the company claims it had to lay off 70 employees. Ramos said Beyonce should have given warning that she was going to back out.

Luckily for Beyonce, she’s one half of last year’s highest earning couple in music according to Forbes. If the judge rules in favour of Gate Five, even 100 million probably won’t ruin her.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Freddie Mercury to appear as optical illusion in stage production

Filed under: Music, Rock, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 9:12 pm on May 12, 2012

May 12, 2012

Late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will make an appearance on stage during a London performance of the musical We Will Rock You.

The BBC reports that Queen guitarist Brian May says Freddie will appear to mark the West End show’s 10th anniversary. May explained that the effect that will be used is not a hologram, but “an optical illusion of sorts”.

“People will come out saying, ‘did we actually see Freddie?’” he added.

The guitarist suggested that the musical might employ a similar technique to the one used to make late rapper Tupac Shakur appear on stage during last month’s Coachella music festival. Despite numerous misleading stories and headlines, that was not a hologram either, but a 2D image.

“It’s a little unfortunate they did that thing with Tupac as we’ve been trying to make Freddie appear on the stage for quite a while,” he said.

“[That technique] is something we’ve looked at ourselves but I think probably for a show that runs eight shows a week it’s not really quite practical.”

The special performance, on May 14, will mark 10 years of the hit musical at London’s Dominion Theatre.

Almost all the original London cast will be in attendance and Robert De Niro, one of the show’s producers, will also be make an appearance.

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Madonna set to take in $500 million in 2012

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 12:59 pm on May 11, 2012

May 11, 2012

Madonna is poised to rake in half a billion dollars in 2012 thanks to the incredible response to her upcoming MDNA World Tour.

The Huffington Post reports that the Material Girl is having a fantastic year financially and may gross more than $500 million this year alone.

The website reveals the veteran pop star could end up making $300 million from the tour alone after Live Nation reported $240 million in ticket sales even before a jog down to South America was added to the itinerary. South America plus an expected trip to Australia could easily add tens of millions more to the count.

Industry insiders expect the tour could easily generate up to $75 million in merchandise sales, while TV and DVD worldwide rights to broadcast the tour could bring in an additional $10 million.

On top of that, Women’s Wear Daily reports the singer can expect $60 million in sales of her new perfume Truth or Dare, while her Material Girl clothing line could bring in another $5 million.

A recent endorsement deal with Smirnoff Voldka could add another $10 million to the coffers.

Madonna will hit the road to launch her MDNA World Tour later this month with her first show, May 31 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon developing animated project

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:50 am on

May 11, 2012

Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon are developing a family-friendly animated project inspired by the birth of their twin children Moroccan and Monroe.

MTV reports that the stars are keeping the lid on details surrounding the projects, though Cannon revealed that both he and his chart-topping wife will be involved in their development.

“Yeah we actually got some stuff in development that we’re working on, some animated stuff that her and I are putting together,” Cannon says. “So you’ll definitely see her in that space too. Oh yeah, it’s just something that we both enjoy, and even more so than that, we’re both kids at heart. So we love those types of stories and fantasy/fairytale type of stuff.”

Cannon, who is chairman of TeenNick, a spin-off network of American kid’s network Nickelodeon says that being a new dad is a huge influence on the projects he’s developing.

“I mean it’s one of those things where a lot of the stuff I’m going to be doing in the near future is going to be really family-driven just because of the fact being a father and wanting to be able to provide content for my kids,” he says. “So it works out really good. It makes you proud when you can have some work that your kids can go see.”

Cannon recently executive produced the upcoming Nickelodeon TV movie Rags and has just signed on to make his directorial debut on the teen movie School Dance.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Lady Gaga’s stage show makes her puke

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:33 am on

May 11, 2012

Lady Gaga has revealed that the dance routines on her new tour are so intense they make her vomit.

The singer says her Born This Way Ball – which kicked off two weeks ago in Seoul, South Korea – features musical numbers that push her to her physical limit.

The international pop star took to Twitter earlier this week, following one of the three shows she performed at the Saitama Super Arena just outside of Tokyo to thank her fans and to boast that she finally made it through a concert without being sick.

“Yes Tokyo! Tonight was the first BtwBall that I didn’t puke during show,” Gaga tweeted, adding “(yes its that hard)”

Later she expressed her thanks to her Japanese fans for making the shows feel special.

“Tonight was happiness, joy, gratitude. I’m the lucky one Japan. You are so special.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, Gaga fans can look forward to seeing their hero guest-star on the upcoming season finale of The Simpsons. Gaga will appear on the show wearing her infamous ‘meat dress’ – which Homer will, of course, nibble on.

The star says recording her lines for the show was a bigger challenge than she had anticipated.

“I make music, but I don’t do voice-overs every day of the week, and their characters are so awesomely convincing and sincere and wild and funny, I had to remind myself constantly of the sincerity of the humour.”

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Jimi Hendrix estate is NOT on board with movie

Filed under: Music, Rock, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 4:09 pm on May 10, 2012

May 10, 2012

The Jimi Hendrix estate is not on board with a much talked about biopic about the late guitar legend.

In recent days, the internet has been abuzz with the news that Outkast rapper Andre 3000 (a.k.a. Andre Benjamin) will play Jimi in a movie titled All Is By My Side.

But today the Wall Street Journal reports that Experience Hendrix LLC, the family-owned company that manages the late musician’s music and publishing, has released a statement saying that it does not authorize the project.

The statement said that Experience Hendrix “has made it known many times in the past that no such film, were it to include original music or copyrights created by Jimi Hendrix, can be undertaken without its full participation.”

The statement went on to say a biopic isn’t out of the question.

“Experience Hendrix CEO Janie Hendrix, sister of Jimi Hendrix, and the EH board have not ruled out a ‘biopic’ in the future though producing partners would, out of necessity, have to involve the company from the inception of any such film project if it is to include original Jimi Hendrix music or compositions.”

Should the movie go ahead without permission, there are some interesting options.

A Showtime TV movie titled Hendrix, was released in 2000, but the project didn’t get permission to use original Hendrix songs, so the movie featured covers instead.

And the 1994 movie Backbeat, about early Beatles bassist Stu Sutcliffe, couldn’t get the rights to any Beatles music so it included no songs written by Beatles members and instead used various songs the group performed in Hamburg, written and recorded by other artists.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Beastie Boys see huge sales boost

Filed under: Music, Sympatico, Urban — D.I.S.H. @ 12:30 pm on

May 10, 2012

The death of Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch has catapulted the iconic group’s first album back onto the pop charts.

Billboard reports that License to Ill, the Beasties’ first album – and the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 way back in the 1980s – has re-entered the chart at number 18. The album first landed on the top of the charts in 1987, where it held the number one spot for 7 weeks.

Other Beastie Boys albums have similarly experienced a resurgence in sales following Yauch’s death.

Solid Gold Hits, Paul’s Boutique, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, Ill Communication, Check Your Head and Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science have all bounced back into the Billboard 200 in the past week.

On the singles front, the group’s hits “Brass Monkey,” “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!),” “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” “Sabotage,” “Intergalactic,” “Paul Revere,” “So What’cha Want” have all experienced a surge in sales.

According to Billboard, overall sales of Beasties albums have skyrocketed by 1,235% since Yauch tragically died of cancer at 47 years old just last week.

In other Beastie Boys news, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Yauch and the band were sued for using unauthorized samples on their earliest albums just one day before the rapper’s death.

The suit alleges the Boys used samples lifted from the songs “Say What” and “Drop the Bomb,” by the group Trouble Funk on both License to Ill and Paul’s Boutique.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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