June 2004

The guitarist with pioneering punk rock band the Ramones is fighting a losing a battle with cancer in a Los Angeles hospital, Rolling Stone magazine reported on its Web site on Tuesday.

Johnny Ramone, 55, whose real name is John Cummings, was diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago, and it has now spread throughout his body, Rollingstone.com quoted the band’s drummer, Marky Ramone, as saying.

“Johnny’s been a champ in confronting this, but at this point I think the chances are slim,” Marky Ramone said in the report. “John never smoked cigarettes, he wasn’t a heavy drinker and he was always into his health. It just proves when cancer seeks a body to penetrate, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are or how unhealthy you are. It just seeps in and there’s nothing you can do.”

The Ramones, famed for playing their high-energy, unpolished songs at breakneck speed, rose to fame in New York City in 1974, paving the way for such British punk rock icons as the Sex Pistols and the Clash.

The band made its mark with such tunes as “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” and “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” but it never achieved the same commercial success as acts that followed in its path. The Ramones officially retired in 1996.

The band’s singer, Joey Ramone (ne Jeff Hyman), died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer, while bassist Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin) died from a drug overdose the following year.

Source yahoo.com.

Hollywood Records / Good Records recording artists The Polyphonic Spree have been added to the main stage lineup on this summer’s star-studded Lollapalooza tour. The blockbuster traveling festival, which begins July 15th at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA, will see the choral symphonic pop group playing the second night in each market and sharing the stage with the The Flaming Lips, Wilco, the String Cheese Incident and Gomez, among others. In between Lollapalooza dates, The Polyphonic Spree will co-headline a tour with Gomez and opening act The Thrills beginning July 16 in Vancouver, Canada. The tours will see a new Polyphonic Spree, as the band plan to turn in their trademark white garb for vibrant Technicolor robes. Says DeLaughter of the change, “We’ve earned our colors.” See below for tour dates and venues.

The Polyphonic Spree, who recently wrapped up an arena tour with headliner David Bowie, are gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated second album Together We’re Heavy, which hits retail on July 13. Hollywood / Good Records have announced plans to issue a specially low-priced double double-disc set that includes a DVD loaded with special features. Simultaneously with the CD release, Hollywood Records / Good Records will issue a limited-edition gatefold/double-vinyl LP set.

The highlighted content includes live versions of fan favorites “It’s The Sun,” “Light & Day,” “Hanging Around,” “Soldier Girl” and “When The Fool Becomes A King” (all pulled from Japan’s 2003 Summersonic Festival); concert recordings from the band’s 2003 gig at Metro in Chicago; an exclusive interview with DeLaughter; animated and concert version videos of hit single “Light & Day”; and the “Quest for the Rest” game, in which animated Spree members search for the rest of the band in exotic environments.

For most musicians who make a living on tour, summers are pretty predictable. Get on the road, play every amphitheatre that will have you, do some festivals, maybe perform at some fairs, enjoy the air conditioner during the club and theatre dates. Play the hits and the fan favorites, night after night, watching the days get longer and then shorter again.

Then there’s Robert Earl Keen. It seems like he’s always on tour but he manages to keep his schedule and his show anything but stereotypical. He just performed at the second day of Bonnaroo and the massive, eclectic festival is a perfect metaphor for his 2004 tour – huge and all over the place.
Keen’s booking agent, Brian Hill at Monterey Artists, told Pollstar the singer/songwriter has “found his inner hippie,” a discovery that will take Keen from free-spirited Bonnaroo to a handful of dates opening for the Dave Matthews Band. He’s also playing some smaller, super-cool festivals (Great Texas Mosquito Festival, Rhythm & Roots, Strictly Bluegrass) that audiences will be talking about for months to come. There are plenty of club dates on the calendar as well.

“My set list changes every day.” Keen said. “If we’re in a theatre, I’ll do more acoustic numbers, maybe do four or five solo numbers and then bring the band back in. If it’s a big festival, we turn it up and hit the gas pedal.”
During soundcheck, Keen said he tries to get the vibe of the place, tailor the set to the situation, and figure out how to have as much fun as possible in the process.

And it is an ongoing process. Keen’s current concert itinerary runs through the very end of the year. He’s made an art of writing songs about anti-heroes, eccentrics and regular folks in weird circumstances; his audience includes those people. But no matter who you are or where you see him, Keen’s doing
what he can to make sure you enjoy the show.

You know the guy that yells out “Free Bird” at every concert he attends? “Oh, yeah,” said Keen, “He comes to our shows, too. And we have a version of ‘Free Bird’ if it’s needed. We just want everyone to go home happy.”

Source pollstar.com.

Warner Music Group has agreed to buy Madonna out of Maverick Records, the label she co-founded 12 years ago, to end the legal battle that pitted the music conglomerate against their biggest star.

Madonna’s Maverick Records debuted with a flourish and included the multiplatinum debut of Alanis Morissette ‘s Jagged Little Pill in 1995. More recently, the company has scored hits with Michelle Branch .

Madonna and partners Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashev together have owned 60 percent of the company; Warner Music owned 40 percent.

In March, Maverick filed suit against Warner Music and its former parent, Time Warner Inc., claiming breach of contract and alleging that they had misstated Maverick’s profits and mismanaged the company, costing Madonna and her partners millions of dollars. (An investment group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. purchased Warner Music Group last year.)

Warner Music filed a lawsuit of its own against Maverick, claiming the company had lost tens of millions of dollars.

Source launch.com.

Bjork is eyeing a late August release date for her next Elektra album, Medulla. The set is tipped to feature contributions from experimental electronic duo Matmos and Japanese beatboxer Dokaka. A handful of cryptic audio samples from the album can be heard on Bjork’s official Web site.

Medulla will be the follow-up to 2001’s “Vespertine,” which debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 368,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Source Billboard.com.

A pair of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble appearances at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival previously released on CD will have their visual component issued this summer on DVD. Fans will be able to see footage of Vaughan playing the annual event for the first time in 1982, a legendary performance that led to the late blues guitar legend’s mainstream breakthrough, and his triumphant return to headline at the festival three years later.

The two-disc DVD Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985, due Aug. 10 from Epic/Legacy, boasts additional songs not included on the 2001 single-disc audio release of the same title. The DVD will also boast a new documentary about the festival performances, with on-camera interviews with Jackson Browne, John Mayer and Double Trouble’ Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton.

Disc one-July 17, 1982:

“Hide Away”
“Rude Mood”
“Pride and Joy”
“Texas Flood”
“Love Struck Baby”
“Dirty Pool”
“Give Me Back My Wig”
“Collins’ Shuffle”

Disc two-July 15, 1985:

“Scuttle Buttin'”
“Say What!”
“Ain’t Gone N’ Give Up On Love”
“Pride and Joy”
“Mary Had a Little Lamb”
“Cold Shot” (w/ Johnny Copeland)
“Tin Pan Alley” (aka “Roughest Place In Town”; w/Johnny Copeland)
“Little Sister” (w/Johnny Copeland)
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
“Texas Flood”
“Life Without You”
“Gone Home”
“Couldn’t Stand the Weather”

Source Billboard.com.

Drummer Jeremiah Green has rejoined indie superstars Modest Mouse and will tour with the band in Europe and the U.S. this summer.

The drummer had played with the band since its inception before abruptly leaving last spring in the midst of troubled recording sessions. Benjamin Weikel of Helio Sequence filled in for Green during his absence, performing live and on the band’s newest album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News.

Modest Mouse will appear at the KROQ Weenie Roast June 12 before heading to Europe for several weeks of shows. They’ll spend much of July and August on the Lollapalooza main stage, squeezing in a July 30 Milwaukee show on one of their off-days. Two September shows are on the books, both in Texas, during the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

In addition to its new studio album, the band recently “unofficially” issued Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again, a live bootleg recording available only through modestmouse.com.

Source pollstar.com.