 |
|
|
INSIDE TRACK |
 |
 |
INSIDE TRACK
BY MICHAEL PAOLETTA
WAR IS GETTING OLD TO YOUNG
Neil Young is going to war-against the Iraq war. The Canadian-born singer/songwriter has completed an unscheduled album called "Living With War," which Reprise Records will release soon. The album was recorded in three days in early April. "It is a metal version of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan," Young says on neilyoung.com, where the lyrics are being streamed along with Young's message. The most direct song may be "Let's Impeach the President," but the album is full of thought-provoking tunes about what the artist sees as the increasingly futile sacrifice of young soldiers and their families. One track, "Shock and Awe," mocks Bush's now infamous "Mission Accomplished" photo op, contrasting that with the soldiers arriving home in coffins that no one sees.
UMG DIALS DIRECT
Universal Music Group's mobile division is getting increasingly aggressive in making master ringtones available to music fans directly-and not just through wireless carriers. Track has learned that the music giant has licensed its full catalog of master ringtones to Thumbplay.com, an online mobile content service that operates outside of wireless operators.
CUTTING HIS STILETTO TIES
Jerry J. Sharell has exited Stiletto Entertainment to hang out his own mangement shingle. Sharell started at Los Angeles-based Stiletto four years ago as Barry Manilow's in-house publicist until taking on "American Idol" contestant Kimberley Locke for management at the company. He takes Locke, who scored three top 10 AC hits with her last album, to Sharell Management, and has also signed R&B singer Amos Winbush, cousin to Angela Winbush. Locke's second Curb album, "Based on a True Story," comes out this summer. No doubt Sharell will be celebrating his startup during the Society of Singers' June 3 benefit concert, which will feature his similarly named dad, SOS president Jerry Sharell, crooning along with Steve Tyrell and Gary LeMel.
THE WRITE STUFF
Songwriter Diane Warren will need to make room on her mantel for another award-or get a bigger mantel. On June 6, she will receive the Crystal Award alongside Jennifer Lopez and producer Lauren Shuler Donner. The honor, presented by Women in Film, was established in 1977 to honor those who have helped further the role of women in the entertainment biz. Warren's songs have been featured in more than 100 films. She has been named ASCAP's songwriter of the year six times.
ASCAP HONORS ANNIE
Speaking of ASCAP, Annie Lennox will receive the ASCAP Founders Award May 22 at the society's 23rd annual Pop Music Awards. The Beverly Hills ceremony, which honors the ASCAP pop songwriters with the most-performed hits over the last year, will also salute Green Day with a Creative Voice Award. Past recipients of the Founders Award include Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Stevie Wonder, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller and Quincy Jones. The Creative Voice Award, which was introduced in 2004, is given to ASCAP members who, in addition to their career achievements, have made significant contributions to their community.
MORE DOORS OPENING
As part of the Doors' 40th-anniversary celebration (Billboard, April 15), the band will soon make 12 concerts from 1967 to 1970 available for download from its Web site, TheDoors.com. The initiative is powered by Basecamp Productions, which built Pearl Jam's successful concert download store last year. Fans will be able to choose favorites from the performances, many of which are previously unreleased, rather than having to buy a complete show. "These huge bands have all these fans that spend hours online," Basecamp principal Joshua James says. "Why send them off to iTunes to buy music when they want to hang out right there on the band's Web site?"
TRUE BLUES
B.B. King is growing old with grace. "I'm diabetic, bad knees, bad back," the 80-year-old blues legend told the packed house during an April 18 show at his namesake club in midtown Manhattan. These days, King sits in a chair when he performs, but age has not dulled his eye for the opposite sex. "Ladies, I'm old, but I ain't dead," he declared at the show-said to be the 10,000th performance of his 60-year career. King closed the show on a poignant note, shocking the crowd with the news that in the past week he had lost a son (Walter, who died of cancer) and a 14-year-old grandson (who died of a gunshot wound). King has said throughout his current run of dates that this might be his final tour.
MINDFREAK OVER MATTER
Godsmack's Sully Erna and illusionist Criss Angel are working on a new trick. The two have taken the theme song from Angel's popular A&E series, "Mindfreak," and are reworking it for Angel's forthcoming Koch Records album. "The theme song was more electronic, more Ministry, and Criss wanted to make it more power and rock," Erna says. Erna has brought in guitar wiz Nuno Bettencourt to play on the track. Erna will appear on "Mindfreak" during the new season, which debuts May 31.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
