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Continue reading "Lucinda Williams launches her career retrospective at the Fillmore New York" »

Madonna, Beastie Boys, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer, Chic, Afrika Bambaataa, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five and The Ventures are the nominees for the 2008 induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Five of the nominees will be inducted in a ceremony at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel March 8.

Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after releasing their first album or single, which for this year's class would be no later than 1982.

Oddsmakers may note that blockbuster acts like Madonna are often rushed into the hall as soon as possible. Hip-hop is no more a long-shot: The Rock Hall last year inducted Grandmaster Flash. And while singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen released his first album in 1968, he's been the subject of recent attention thanks to a documentary, a book of poems and a critically-acclaimed album of material performed by his partner Anjani Thomas.

PHOTO: Madonna arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton's in West Hollywood, Calif.,  Feb. 25, 2007.   (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appeared on NBC's “Today” show yesterday morning, delivering a half-hour mini-concert in which Springsteen debuted new material, played old favorites and briefly delved into politics.

The concert was one of several shows Springsteen and his newly regrouped band have played before the release of a new CD, “Magic” (Sony), and the simultaneous launch of a tour in Hartford, Conn. on Oct. 2. Later on Friday the band was scheduled to play a “rehearsal” concert at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, their third and final pre-tour show.

During Friday's set, which started around 8:30 a.m., Springsteen addressed the state of the nation in ways subtle and overt. He kicked off with “The Promised Land,” from the 1978 album “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” followed by the new single “Radio Nowhere.”

Introducing the new song “Livin' in the Future,” Springsteen contrasted a list of beloved American traditions -- including cheeseburgers, the Jersey Shore and the Bill of Rights -- with more contentious ones like the Iraq war and government-sanctioned wiretapping.

“Right now we plan to do something about it, we plan to sing about it,” Springsteen told a crowd that had been gathering at 49th Street and Rockefeller Center since the wee hours. “I know it's early,” he added, “but it's late.”

The set would have ended with “Your Hometown,” the closing track of the 1984 album “Born to Run,” but as “Today” co-host Matt Lauer tried to segue to a news segment the crowd began chanting for another song. Lauer, pressing a finger to his earbud, looked for direction: “Should we go inside and get the news real quick?” he asked aloud. But the cameras stayed on the band as they picked up their instruments and played the final song, “Night.”

PHOTO: Bruce Springsteen performs with the E Street Band at Asbury Park's Paramount Theater Monday, Sept. 24, 2007.(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

The verdict? It's looking pretty great so far.

"I must really want to sell some records bad to be up here this early singing these songs," Springsteen jokes. "It's a little desperate but it's all right."

‘Living in the Future’

See all the videos here. (Sorry about the embedded commercials.)

With concert dates scheduled in England and Los Angeles, The Sex Pistols seem to be teasing fans with the possibility of a tour.

The band has made no official announcement, but the signs add up. Consider:

• This year marks the 30th anniversary of their first and only album, "Never Mind The Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols." (The October issue of Spin magazine is dedicated to the punk movement, and features a young, zit-squeezing Johnny Rotten on the cover.)

• The Sex Pistols recently went back into the studio for the first time in nearly three decades. So far, the only officially-announced result of that is a re-recorded version of "Anarchy in the U.K.," to be included on the new videogame "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," due out Oct. 28.

• The band keeps adding concert dates in England. There's now a total of five.

• And yesterday The Sex Pistols announced they would play their first-ever concert in Los Angeles, a private, fans-only affair at the famous nightclub The Roxy, on Oct. 25.

Throw in the current reunion-tour mania (Van Halen, The Police, Genesis) and you've got a climate perfect for yet another Pistols comeback.

A spokeswoman for the band said today there are no plans beyond the current dates "as far as we know."

The Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche isn't exactly a new face -- his 2002 Astralwerks album, "Faces Down," established him as a shy folkie type, but this year he broke out of his shell with "Phantom Punch," an uptempo, electrified pop disc that stands as one of 2007's underrated gems.

Now Lerche is spearheading the soundtrack to "Dan In Real Life," the Steve Carell comedy-drama from Touchstone Pictures opening Oct. 26. The soundtrack, available Oct. 2, features four new songs, seven cue tracks written for the movie, several cuts from earlier albums and collaborations with the quirky pop singer Regina Spektor and the one-woman band A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sudol). Lerche also co-produced the album.

These days, soundtracks are notoriously scattershot affairs, as movie studios partner with record companies to boost sales by lumping together as many bands as possible. Often, the "hit" song rolls only during the end credits, and some buzzworthy bands get squeezed into the film for mere seconds, seemingly just so they can be touted on the album cover.

Lerche's new song "To Be Surprised" is a good example of his distinctive happy/sad style, with a wistfully trilling guitar over a catchy beat. Check it out here.

Photo: Sondrelerche.com

The latest Internet sex scandal features not Britney, Paris or Lindsay, but one of the most unlikely female celebrities of all: Meg White, drummer for the eccentric blues-rock duo The White Stripes.

The band recently canceled the remainer of this year's tour due to Meg's "acute anxiety," and now gossip-mongers are speculating that the real reason was this alleged video, which began circulating on the Internet and making headlines within the last several hours.

But almost as quickly as the rumors began, skeptics concluded that the woman in the video is not Meg at all. "Ok, yes she is a woman (like the drummer) and yes, she has the same colour hair, but this is hardly watertight proof," the British magazine NME stated on its Website two hours ago. "Frankly, we don't think it is Meg."

The origin of the tape is unclear; most Websites that try to link to the video refer to MyFreePaySite, a well-known porn Website. Most of the videos, however, display the error message, "Sorry, this video file was not found on our server."

In honor of tomorrow's Genesis concert, we present this nonsensical but hilarious clip.

And, judging from "Blue Magic," it may actually be worth it.

The thrill of it doesn’t come from his return to raps about the drug trade. It comes from the swagger of a master returning to familiar material. Imagine the hunger of “Reasonable Doubt”-era Jay combined with the older, wiser Island Def Jam President Carter and the picture of how great his “secret” album “American Gangster” may actually be.

“Blue Magic,” with Pharrell building a spare, icy beat and singing a reworked hook from En Vogue’s “Hold On,” is bold and beautiful. Jay boasts, “I don’t spin on my head; I spin my work in the pot so I can spend my bread” and he drops some knowledge. (“Blame Reagan for making me ‘to a monster, blame Oliver North for Iran-Contra,” he rhymes. “I ran contraband that they sponsored.”)

We’ve heard all about Jay-Z showing what he’s got and we know he’s still on top of the world. But “Blue Magic” shows he can still conjure up enough memories to fight at the top of his game too.

It wasn't music that got sparks flying between Billy Joel and Katie Lee.

"Food brought us together," Katie Lee Joel said on the red carpet at last week's Save the Music Foundation Gala.

And now she's getting ready to let people in on some of her culinary secrets. Joel said she just finished the photo shoot for her first cookbook, tentatively titled "Katie's Comfort Table," due out in May for Simon and Schuster.  

Among the recipes are Billy's favorites: peach cobbler and meatloaf. (She adds that The Piano Man makes an excellent spaghetti bolognese and strip steak.)

Joel said they have just started renovations on their new house in Sagaponack and that they won't be able to move in for about a year. They'll continue to stay at the house in Sag Harbor in the meantime when they're out east.

Joel said she and Billy work well together. "I think we complement each other," she said.

"Obviously, there's a big age difference," she said, laughing. "But he's very immature and I'm very mature, so  we meet in the middle."

PHOTO: Billy and Katie Lee Joel at the "Entourage" premiere in June. (Peter Kramer/Getty Images) 

Though Taking Back Sunday is holed up working on the follow-up to "Louder Now," there is a new single out this week featuring Adam Lazzara.

Lazzara adds his vocals to New Found Glory's version of the Cardigans' '90s classic "Lovefool" for their entertaining new covers album "From the Screen to Your Stereo Part 2," which hit stores Tuesday.

It's a follow-up of sorts to his equally unexpected contribution to Cyndi Lauper's "Money Changes Everything" a few years back.

In other Taking Back Sunday news, the band will release the "Parttwo" DVD (a follow-up to "Partone") in mid-November, featuring video footage from the band's "Louder Now" tour. It will also include a CD of B-sides and previously unreleased live tracks.

Hear "Lovefool" here 

Jay-Z was so inspired by the new movie "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, that he wrote an entire album based on it.

He announced yesterday that his "American Gangster" will come out on Roc-A-Fella Records on Nov. 6. In a statement, his record company said that the album draws on Jay's past experiences and will "articulate the lure of a gangster's life," as well as discuss the lasting effects of drugs on a community.

 "American Gangster" will be Jay-Z's second album in less than a year, after leaving behind retirement to release last year's "Kingdom Come."

In case you hadn't heard about Trent Reznor's latest advice to music fans, check out the video below.

It's from a Sept. 16 concert in Sydney, in which Reznor delivers a speech blasting the high price of CDs, cursing the record industry and encouraging fans to retaliate by stealing music. "Steal it, " he urges. "Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more, and give it to all your friends, and keep on stealing. Because one way or another these ---- will get it through their head that they're ripping people off, and that's not right."

Reznor then launches into the groaning track "The Day The World Went Away."

Five years ago, this would have been a pretty shocking stance to take. (Remember when even Lars Ulrich of Metallica wanted to crack down on illegal downloading?) These days, however, with the music industry apparently going up in flames, Reznor's rant seems like one more piece of kindling thrown onto the blaze.

Maybe the song Reznor should have played was "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. have confirmed their attendance at the Second Annual Long Island Music Hall of Fame Induction Gala, scheduled for October 21.

The troika of rap pioneers marks another feather in the cap of the Music Hall, which over the past few years has grown from a pipe dream into a key player in the Long Island music community. Last year's inaugural ceremony surprised skeptics by securing appearances from Billy Joel, Joan Jett, Peter Criss of Kiss and Leslie West of Mountain, among others.

The strong showing by rappers may also help bring Long Island's music scene out of the classic-rock and grunge eras and into the current age of hip-hop-dominated music.

LL Cool J, a Queens native, will be inducted into the Music Hall by Grandmaster Flash, who hails from the Bronx but now lives on Long Island. Another Queens rapper, McDaniels, better known as D.M.C., will induct the Roosevelt rap group Public Enemy.

Other inductees include Simon and Garfunkel, Blue Oyster Cult, Carole King, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, Pat Benatar and Barbra Streisand.

The ceremony will be held Oct. 21 at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College in Flushing. 

“I’m just so happy I didn’t forget the words,” he said, laughing, as he returned to the stage.

Brooks is, officially, still retired, though he has a hot new single, “More than a Memory,” which made history as the first song ever to debut at No. 1 on the country charts, and a big greatest hits album due in November with three new songs. The 45-year-old singer retired in 2001 to focus on his family and says he will not tour until his youngest daughter graduates from high school in 2015.

While he was part of a celebrity pile-up on the red carpet outside of Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday night, arriving behind Gayle King and Babyface and Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, he quietly stood off to the side as others made their way past photographers and reporters.

“I’m just so honored to be here tonight,” he told me, before stepping on the carpet. “I’m honored that they would even ask me.”

Onstage, he was in good voice as he did the classic “Abraham, Martin and John” and his own anthem “We Shall Be Free,” thanking the audience for their applaise, adding, “I don’t get to do his much anymore.”

MORE: Full review of "The Dream"

The band will sell and sign copies of its CD for $10 on Friday at Chose One Collectible Toys, 21 Brookvale Ave., next to the Looney Tunes site. Proceeds will go toward the store's rebuilding fund.

And, by the way, Motion City Soundtrack is celebrating its album release with a free show at The Knitting Factory tonight at 7, but that's first-come, first-serve and kind of a secret.

We've fondly dubbed him The Piano Man, The Angry Young Man and even The Stranger, but now we can give Billy Joel yet another nickname: Master Builder.

Joel will soon become the tenth annual recipient of the Master Builder award, given by the New York State Office of Parks to individuals who "demonstrate an uncommon ability to get things done," according to a Parks press release. He's not the first Long Islander to get the award -- Sarah Hughes is also a past recipient.

Joel is being recognized for his efforts to protect "Long Island's historic maritime industries," which means he's an avid boater and has donated money to help local fishermen. (He even wrote the song "The Downeaster Alexa" about the baymen on the East End.)

A gala in Joel's honor (black-tie optional) will be held Oct. 11 at Bethpage State Park's Carlyle on the Green restaurant. Tickets are $500 per person or $6,000 for a table of twelve. For tickets call the Long Island State Parks office at 631-321-3403.

And who's the evening's entertainment? Not Joel but a tribute band called Glass Houses, led by Henry Haid, who played piano in the Broadway run of Joel's musical "Movin' Out."

Continue reading "Billy Joel: Master Builder" »

Barry Manilow canceled his scheduled appearance on "The View" today after producers refused his request to not appear on the show with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

"I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck," Manilow said in a statement on his website. "Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs."

Manilow’s decision to skip the ABC talkshow means he is also willing to take a financial hit for his beliefs, since his appearance was meant to coincide with the release of his new album "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" today and "The View" audience would surely translated into thousands of sales.

"He said he’ll appear with everybody but Elizabeth – well, we don’t do that," "View" producer Bill Geddie said on Barbara Walters new Sirius radio show "Barbara Live" last night. "It’s just not the way it works here, we support everybody. He said ‘I’ll do Barbara and Whoopi, or I’ll do Whoopi and Sherri, or some combination, but I won’t sit with Elisabeth.’ And I said ‘Well, then you won’t be on the show, it’s that simple.’"

"And if you disagree with somebody’s political point of view you don’t come on?" asked Walters. "We’re called The View because we have different points of view."

She then broke into a version of "I Write the Songs," changing the words to "I write the songs that make the whole world sing provided they happen to be liberals."

Obviously, producers need to be in control of their shows. However, they do switch their hosts around and it’s not unusual for only two of the co-hosts to interview a guest, especially a musician. (When Kenny Chesney was on last week, Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd were the only ones to talk to him.)

Whether or not Manilow’s public protest starts a movement among musicians to press for Hasselbeck’s ouster remains to be seen.

Continue reading "Barry Manilow, political protestor?" »

It's like MegaMillions only with "Stairway to Heaven."

Demand for the one-night-only Led Zeppelin reunion to honor Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun is so huge that on Thursday 89.5 million people tried to register for the ticket lottery. The concert is scheduled for Nov. 26 at the O2 Arena in London, with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Pete Townshend and Paolo Nutini opening. Tickets are about $250 apiece, with proceeds benefiting the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund.

Registration for the lottery ends at 7 a.m. EST on Wednesday. Go to ahmettribute.com to register and for more info. Ticket winners will be notified by Oct. 1 and have 72 hours to pay for the tickets.

MORE: R.I.P. Ahmet Ertegun 

There must be some sort of epidemic of confusion among pop divas. How else can we explain the latest trend of singers announcing themselves? The Britney Spears single "Gimme More" (Jive) is more of a marketing distraction than actual music, requiring not just an intro naming her, but an outro as well. But what's Nicole Scherzinger's excuse for using her first name as the chorus of her debut solo single "Whatever U Like" (RCA)? It's a pretty decent song, with a spacey beat and distinctive, punchy vocals, to muck it up with the line: "She's hot as a stove/Her name is Nicole." Name recognition must be pretty tough for Scherzinger. She even named her debut album "Her Name Is Nicole."

Hear "Gimme More" here

So it's looking like Kanye West's "Graduation" will win the sales week showdown with 50 Cent's "Curtis," with a lead of an estimated 120,000 copies from the first day of sales (435k to 310k). (For those rooting for country singer Kenny Chesney, he sold 107,000 on the first day, according to Billboard's new Building Sales Chart.)

However, at last night's 50 Cent show at Hammerstein Ballroom -- the opening night of his 5 Borough Tour -- a bit of 50 strategy suddenly became clear. Best Buy had a booth set up selling the CD for $10 ("Including tax!" one salesman cheerfully exclaimed.) All those CDs definitely count toward 50's SoundScan tally since Best Buy is selling them. And most expect West's lead to narrow over the weekend, as 50's teenage fans and Chesney's young parent fanbase make their weekly trip to Wal-Mart. (Of course, West's appearance on the Emmys on Sunday could help him as well.)

And is 50 above a little gamesmanship like making Interscope buy a huge chunk of CDs at retail and then reselling them through mom-and-pop shops to inflate sales, as so many artists have over the years? Yeah, I didn't think so either. 

As far as The Bet, Fitty has a pretty big loophole -- aside from blaming Interscope, which he has already started trotting out there. When all the international sales are totaled, he will end up with far more than West, though 'Ye is ahead in the United Kingdom and Canada on iTunes. 

PHOTO: Wayne Herrschaft for Newsday

MORE: Full 50 review at Hammerstein

It's official: According to first-day sales figures, Kanye West's new disc "Graduation" handily outpaced 50 Cent's new "Curtis," according to Billboard.

Wednesday's SoundScan Building Chart showed first-day sales of 437,000 for West and 310,000 for 50 Cent. Both albums were released Sept. 11.

Remember 50's exact words: "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums."

We await 50's concession speech.

The good news: The Cure has announced its 2008 tour dates.

The bad news: The band won't reach New York until June.

That's an almost nine-month wait for fans who were revved up to see The Cure on Sept. 23 at Madison Square Garden. The Cure postponed this year's 19-date tour to allow more time to finish its upcoming double album, which still doesn't have an official title.

Eighteen of the 19 shows have been rescheduled, with the lone exception of the Seattle show. Instead, The Cure will play the Sasquatch! music festival in George, Wash.

"We apologize again for the inconvenience and upset the original postponement caused," the band said in a statement, "and will make sure that the new shows are more than worth the wait..."

The band's North American tour ends June 20 at Madison Square Garden.

In the wake of rumors that the local music magazine Inside Connection was folding, it turns out two of the mag's key players, founder Joann Gullo and promotions manager Scott Kuchler, have started a new venture called A&R Unlimited, Inc.

The official launch date is Nov. 1. The company's Website, www.a&r-unlimited.com, is not yet working.

According to a press release issued this morning, the company will  "will incorporate elements of A&R consultation, concert promotion, internet marketing along with all other aspects of marketing and promotion."

Both principals have music-business credentials outside the magazine: Gullo served as an A&R rep and consultant for various labels before starting Inside Connection in 1997, while Kuchler once managed the Koch Progressive label.

Kuchler will serve as President of A&R Unlimited; Gullo's title is CEO.

Missy Elliott, A Tribe Called Quest, Whodini, the movie "Wild Style" and the New Jack Swing sound of Teddy Riley and Andre Harrell will be this year's class receiving VH1's Hip-Hop Honors.

Ciara, Eve, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, T.I., The Game, Common, Busta Rhyems, T-Pain and others will be on hand at Hammerstein Ballroom on Oct. 4 to pay tribute to the honorees. The show will air on Oct. 8, with Tracy Morgan as the host.

PHOTO: Missy Elliott (Courtesy of VH1.)

There's a bout of cancellation fever going around lately, with loads of bands scrapping large parts, if not all, of their scheduled tours.

The White Stripes announced today that they are cancelling their fall tour because Meg White is suffering from "acute anxiety." The Kaiser Chiefs have scrapped their entire tour -- with the notable exceptions of its Austin City Limits festival appearance this weekend and a show at the Beacon Theatre on Sept. 29 -- so that they could go home and record new material. The Noisettes have dumped their fall tour to "get some rest and regroup."

Also, the GZA/Jamie Lidell benefit concert for the Open Space Alliance at McCarren Park Pool on Saturday has been cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances." See Britney? Cancelling isn't so hard.

PHOTO: A less anxious Meg and Jack White. (Diane Bondareff / Associated Press)

If this morning's Billboard prediction comes true, 50 Cent may have to bid his recording career goodbye.

Last month, 50 told the hip-hop Website SOHH.com he would stop releasing solo albums if Kanye West's new disc, "Graduation," outsold his newest, "Curtis." Both were released yesterday.

But early sales reports show that Kanye West actually is outselling 50, according to Billboard. Though official Nielsen SoundScan figures won't be available until Wednesday, Sept. 19, executives at three major labels say they expect West to sell around 700,000 copies in the first week, while 50 will come in at around 600,000.

According to The Los Angeles Times, which quotes a handful of record stores from the small Amoeba franchise to the behemoth Virgin Entertainment Group, West is outselling 50 by about two to one.

On Amazon.com, West's "Graduation" is the No. 1 seller, with 50's "Curtis" trailing at No. 3. Holding the No. 2 spot is Bruce Springsteen's "Magic," which won't be available until Oct. 2 but is available by pre-order. Amazon's rankings change hourly. 

Another potential embarrassment for 50 Cent: Country star Kenny Chesney, who 50 has casually dismissed as a contender in this week's record-sales battle, may actually sell about the same amount as the rapper, Billboard reported. Chensey's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates," was also released yesterday. It's at No. 4 on Amazon.

Continue reading "Will "Curtis" be 50's last album?" »

The British rapper Jamie T falls somewhere between Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and The Streets, and while his accent is thicker than all theirs combined, you can clearly hear the anger, sadness and sputtered obscenities on his debut disc, "Panic Prevention" (Caroline).

A critical hit in England -- he was nominated for the UK's Nationwide Music Prize and recently played the famous Glastonbury festival -- Jamie T raps/sings mostly about the rough-and-tumble life of Britain's young drinking class. He's still relatively unknown here in the States, but he's making one of his first appearances in this country with a much-anticipated show at The Bowery Ballroom on Thursday.

For a sample of Jamie T's intriguing blend of dyspeptic hip-hop and wistful pop, get a free download of his song "Salvador" here, or check out the new video for "Sheila," below, featuring the British actor Bob Hoskins doing his best rap-lip-synch.

Kanye West and 50 Cent at the MTV VMAs. PHOTO: MTV.

So Super Tuesday has finally arrived. For the final push, both Kanye West will be in New York, making various appearances, including a joint stop at "TRL" this afternoon.

50 Cent will also do a signing at the Best Buy in Midtown (529 5th Ave. @ 44th St.) at 6:30 p.m. today.

So who's going to win this battle? Well, sales-wise, 50 Cent's "Curtis" and West's "Graduation" are both expected to sell between 500k and 600k this week, with Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am" doing about 400k-500k.

Artistically, I'd give the edge (quite unexpectedly) to "Curtis," which uses high-powered guests and top-of-the-line production to build a lot of fun, while "Graduation" is serious, but also much more substantial. [Read my full reviews of both albums here.]

In the end, this whole duel has helped both sides. And though West may be exaggerating a bit when he dubs today "the biggest release date in music history," it will certainly be a much bigger sales day than either of their individual days would have been. And notice how no one is talking about The Bet any more? That's because no one really expects it to be an issue, especially with international sales factored in.

“It’s purely a marketing scheme on my part,” West told MTV. “I decided that we should come out on the same day. It’s one of the most talked about release dates... I don’t have beef with 50 Cent. I don’t have beef with anyone. I don’t do that. I make music. We wanted to do something to create the hype and that’s what we did.”

My prediction: 50 Cent sells 600k (not enough to beat Linkin Park for biggest opening week of the year), Kanye sells 575k and Chesney a solid 525k.

Hear "Curtis" here
Hear "Graduation" here

Kanye West performs "Stronger." Wouldn't it have been nice to see the whole thing? Photo: MTV.

Last night’s MTV Video Music Awards were so poorly run (even after the Britney Spears debacle) that it couldn’t have been an accident, could it? Cutting off performances by superstars in mid-song, trying to pass off taped performances as live, and otherwise making music seem like nothing more than a commodity (available for purchase at Rhapsody.com, natch) to the one-time “Music Television” – it had to be a concerted effort.

With her appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards last night, Britney Spears has accomplished what I thought was impossible. She made me feel sorry for her. [Watch video here.]

Ill-prepared and out-of-step, she stumbled her way through a lip-synched performance of her already-average single “Gimme More” looking so dazed and confused that it was almost too painful to watch.

You know the stock dream where you’re naked and everyone’s laughing and pointing at you? Well, Brit lived it out for everyone to see, except she was wearing a spangled bikini that was too small for her.

It starts out bad, with Spears moving so slowly that you can almost hear her counting out choreographer instructions in her head: “One, two, breast jiggle, walk, walk, grab the guy’s crotch. Oh wait! I messed up, y’all!”

And it only gets worse. By the end, she had even stopped lip-synching and turned her back to the camera, like an “American Idol” wannabe who forgot their words. When you’re this unprepared, it’s time to call in sick or as Sarah Silverman suggested in her own awkward performance to claim, “I have diarrhea.”

Not only did Spears torpedo her “comeback” chances, she turned herself into an international laughingstock – something all her previous no-underwear-wearing, umbrella-wielding, car-crashing actions had not yet fully done. Her fans were rooting for her to succeed last night, but that will become increasingly harder to do when she looks like she didn’t even try. Or care.

PHOTO: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press.

It was only a matter of time before 50 Cent's full "Curtis" CD made it online.

Fitty, fresh off appearing with Teri Hatcher and introducing Jennifer Lopez last night at Fashion Rocks, put it up on mySpace this afternoon. He'll also add a 10-minute video interview to this site every night at 9 p.m. until "Curtis" is released on Tuesday.

Hear "Curtis" here 

Because "Fashion Rocks" is more a TV show than an actual concert experience, there's a lot of downtime between performances, meaning there are lots of entertainment that won't make it on the air in the two-hour special tonight at 9 on CBS.

BEST JOKE YOU WILL PROBABLY SEE: Host Jeremy Piven's bit on how he has always been an inspiration for fashion designers. With childhood pics, he showed how his feathered hair and puka-shell necklace inspired looks from Kristy McNichol and Benjamin McKenzie from the "O.C." and how he one rocked the "jullet," a Jewish mullet.

BEST JOKE YOU MAY OR MAY NOT SEE: Denis Leary setting the scene -- "Backstage is full of rock stars and models, so there's plenty of food, but we're running out of alcohol and cigarettes."

BEST JOKE YOU WON'T SEE: Greg Giraldo discussing Rolling Stone's naming of President George W. Bush as "Worst President Ever." "Is that even possible? Remember the president of the Selena Fan Club? She was pretty bad. She actually shot Selena. That's bad for a president. That's more of a vice president thing to do."

PHOTO: Fergie and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith perform do "Walk This Way" at Fashion Rocks by Jeff Christensen of Associated Press.

MORE: Full concert review / Setlist on the jump

Continue reading "Behind the scenes at "Fashion Rocks"" »

Britney Spears will open MTV's Video Music Awards on Sunday night, performing her new single "Gimme More," MTV confirmed today.

And because people, er, someone, wanted it, her new catch phrase from the song "It's Britney, (expletive)" will be available as a ringtone through MTV immediately after her performance.  Never too early to shop for Grandma's Christmas present, right?

It's not clear if her new maybe-boyfriend, maybe-fiance Criss Angel is performing with her or if ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake will her out as he reportedly offered. Maybe they'll cut to him again as she uncomfortably kisses someone this year. We can only hope.

It's a welcome throwback to the days when music videos had budgets and it even has a happy ending, with Lopez heading out with the boy like Madonna in "Open Your Heart."

Jennifer Lopez, "Do It Well"

50 Cent is holding a "5 Borough Tour" next week that will include five concerts, one in each borough of New York City, over four days.

It's a smart chess-move in the battle between 50 Cent and Kanye West, who will duke it out for Billboard's No. 1 spot when they each release new albums on Sept. 11. By saturating one of his most important markets -- not to mention his hometown -- 50 Cent is likely hoping to fuel interest in his album, "Curtis" (Interscope) during the crucial first days of its release.

Here's the "5 Borough Tour" schedule:

Thursday, 9/13 at 8 p.m. at Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. 

Friday, 9/14 at 9 p.m. at Illusions in Staten Island.

Saturday, 9/15 at 10 p.m. at The Elite Ark in Brooklyn.

Sunday, 9/16 at 7 p.m. at X Bar in The Bronx.

Sunday, 9/16 at 10 p.m. at Rum Jungle in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Tickets are, of course, $50, available through Ticketmaster.

To drum up more interest in his "Graduation" album, Kanye West is set to hand out diplomas and sign CD booklets at FYE, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, in Manhattan, at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, Mr. West finds out if his single "Stronger" goes to the top of the Billboard singles chart.

Van Halen fans were stunned when the group (most of it, anyway) finally decided to reunite and tour this year, and now here comes another surprise: The opening act will be not Styx or Def Leppard or Journey, but reggae artist Ky-Mani Marley, son of Bob.

Whose idea was it to book a hip-hop-influenced reggae singer with a classic rock band? The official explanation is that Marley's distribution company, AAO Music Inc., proposed it, but that doesn't shed much light on the subject. We'd like to think the idea came from David Lee Roth, whose musical tastes are nothing if not eclectic. During his short-lived morning show on Free-FM in New York he played old funk and blues in the background (which upset the station's top brass) and he also recently released a bluegrass album.

At any rate, it's a high-profile slot for Marley, whose debut album "Radio" is due Sept. 25. Let's hope the aging Van Halen fans are kind to him.

Listen to Marley's single "One Time" here.

Kanye West's "Graduation" is now fully streaming at Clear Channel Music, making it the first of next week's Big Three albums to make it (on purpose) online in its entirety.  Will 50 Cent put "Curtis" out there too? And how has Kenny Chesney avoided having his album leak at all?

Hear "Graduation" here 

MORE 50 vs. KANYE: The leaks / 50 Cent will not lose The Bet

In recent years, Mercury Prize winners (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Dizzee Rascal) have used the award to generate interest in America. But The Klaxons' distinctively British sound may find a tough sell on this side of the Atlantic, where rave culture never really made it into the mainstream the first time around.

The Klaxons, "Atlantis to Interzone"

In preparation for tonight's big Roger Federer/Andy Roddick match at the U.S. Open, the timing seemed right to discuss Roddick's musical tastes, which he revealed on Sirius Satellite Radio's Celebrity Shuffle show this morning.

Guilty Pleasure: Lionel Richie, "You Are"

Favorite Drinking Song: Neil Diamond, "Sweet Caroline" and Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Come on Eileen"

Song He Must See Performed Live Before He Dies: Bon Jovi, "Living on a Prayer"

Roddick must know he's going to need a lot of prayers in order to get past Federer, who has beaten him 13 of the 14 times they've played, but the New York crowd got him fired up enough last year to make the match interesting for a little while. Maybe some Bon Jovi or a mix of his other faves -- U2, The Killers and Dave Matthews Band -- played on the changeovers could pump him up.

Roddick's show on Sirius airs again at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. today.

PHOTO: J. Conrad Williams Jr. / Newsday

[For a real story on the match, check out John Jeansonne's coverage here.]

She's the daughter of Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, and she's angling for a slice of pop stardom somewhere between Avril Lavigne and the Bratz. Her album "Lost in the Lights," due Oct . 23 on Island Records, has a candy-coated rock sound with sprinkles of dance music and hip-hop.

The 24-year-old Walsh has a whole team of music-industry veterans behind her -- not just her famous father but producers and songwriters like JR Rotem (Rihanna's "S.O.S."), Lester Mendez (Shakira, Beyoncé) and Matthew Wilder (if you don't know his 1983 hit "Break My Stride," you may know him as a producer for No Doubt). Walsh is said to have co-written "most of" her album tracks, according to Island.

The first single is "So Uncool," a simple dance track painted in bright, primary colors, but more interesting is the potential second single, "Crash." It's a classic example of the music-industry axiom that the surest way to create a hit is to remake one.

If the opening wedding bells of "Crash" sounds familiar, that's because they're lifted from "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me," a pop hit four decades old that never lies dormant for too long before some newbie rediscovers it. Depending on your age, you'll think it's by the British group Tin Tin Out (in 1998), new-wavers Naked Eyes (1983), Dionne Warwick (1968), the UK siren Sandie Shaw (1964) or soul-singer Lou Johnson (also in 1964), for whom Burt Bacharach and Hal David first wrote it.

To her credit, Walsh uses those wedding bells as a springboard to a whole new song, eschewing the original sense of heartbreak for teen sassiness: "Let's crash the main attraction / Crash the night, whatever you wanna do."

Listen to "Crash" here.

As much as people are hailing Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s new single "Radio Nowhere" as "a return to form," (which I see as code for "not super-political," but whatever) did the song’s video have to be a return to the ‘80s as well?

The clip for "Radio Nowhere" combines performance footage with what looks like stock footage of people on the streets of New York – a window washer, people walking, taxi cabs. They shouldn’t have bothered with that stuff, especially when it doesn’t add anything to the theme of the song.

Fans want to see Springsteen & The E Street Band – an extraordinarily compelling band to watch – performing together again. Why cut away from Springsteen and Little Steven singing harmonies together to show people walking? And why on earth can’t we see the end of Clarence Clemons’ sax solo (arguably, the emotional climax of the song)?

What makes it even more maddening is that the performance footage is shot well, in moody lighting, but with enough movement and cuts to match the energy of the song. Maybe a new "director’s cut" version is in order?

The video premieres on Amazon.com today before wide release tomorrow. [Click on pic to watch]