October 26, 2004

The estranged songwriters of Husker Du reunited onstage Thursday in Minneapolis as part of a benefit for Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller, who was diagnosed with throat cancer last spring. Bob Mould and Grant Hart played a pair of Husker Du songs, “Hardly Getting Over It” and — ironically enough — “Never Talking to You Again” in their first performance together in sixteen years.

Hart joked about the improbable nature of the reunion, with an eye towards next week’s presidential election. “If me and Bob can get together, that means we can all get together and put [President] Bush out of office, right?” he said from the stage.

Other performers at the Quest club included Soul Asylum, Paul Westerberg, a reunited Gear Daddies and an ad-hoc lineup of self-described “stupor group” Golden Smog.

In 1988 Husker Du had an acrimonious breakup over songwriting credits and the band’s musical direction, shortly after they made the jump from an indie label to Warner Bros., with drummer Hart and guitarist Mould rarely speaking and taking shots at each other in the press over the years. Bassist Greg Norton now runs a restaurant outside of Minneapolis, but did not participate in the reunion.

“Thursday night’s show was a total success, at least $50K was raised for Karl Mueller,” posted Mould on his Web site. “It was a bit of an old home night, lots of familiar faces, and some serious blasts from the past . . . It was all about Karl, the good cause, and thanks to everyone who plunked down the cash for tickets — I hope you all got your money’s worth.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Jazz guitar virtuoso Pat Metheny and the other five members of the Pat Metheny Group are gearing up for a 30-city North American tour before heading for the Far East in April.

The band is dropping its latest disc, The Way Up, in January 2005, and plans to kick of its support trek February 18 in Toronto. Other stops along the way include Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Houston, Atlanta , Boston and Washington, D.C.

Kansas City native Metheny has been a fixture of the contemporary jazz scene since 1974, either as a solo act, part of a trio, or with the full-blown sound of the Pat Metheny Group.

He’s won 15 Grammy Awards in just about every jazz category there is, and many more than once – including a stretch of seven in a row for seven consecutive albums.

After the Pat Metheny Group closes down its North American outing March 30 in New Brunswick, N.J., it heads for Japan April 28-22 and then on for four nights in Seoul, South Korean April 26-30.

Source pollstar.com.

Veteran British broadcaster John Peel has died while on holiday in Peru, the BBC and the British Embassy said Tuesday

Peel, who discovered dozens of major bands during 40 years as a radio disc jockey, suffered a heart attack Monday night in the ancient Inca city of Cuzco, the BBC said.

Peel, 65, was on holiday with his wife, Sheila.

“John Peel was a broadcasting legend. I am deeply saddened by his death as are all who work at Radio 1,” said BBC spokesman Andy Parfitt.

“John’s influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades. He will be hugely missed.”

Born John Ravenscroft near Liverpool in 1939, Peel said his life was changed when he was a teenager by hearing Elvis Presley singing “Heartbreak Hotel.”

He moved to Dallas, Texas, where he landed a job as a DJ on WRR radio.

Returning to the UK, Peel became one of the country’s first pirate DJs, who broadcast from ships outside British waters in the 1960s. He joined the BBC in 1967, becoming the longest-serving DJ on BBC Radio 1.

Peel was among the first DJs to play demo tapes by little-known bands –championing acts ranging from Jimi Hendrix to The Smiths, The Fall, Pulp and Northern Irish punks The Undertones.

He was a strong supporter of punk rock in the late 1970s, as well as reggae music. He also promoted hip-hop.

Since 1998, he hosted Radio 4’s “Home Truths” program, a whimsical show about the travails of family life.

Peel is survived by his wife and four children.

Source CNN.com.

Apple has teamed with U2 to create a customized iPod pre-loaded with every one of the Irish rock act’s studio albums. In all, the portable music player will contain more than 400 U2 tracks, including 25 rarities previously only available to subscribers to U2’s official magazine, Propaganda. The device comes in black with a red click wheel and is engraved with band members’ signatures.

In addition, Apple’s iTunes Music Store will in late November make available “The Complete U2,” allowing fans to download the tracks pre-loaded onto the customized iPod in one click. The bundle will sell for $149; the 20GB U2 iPod, which can hold 5,000 songs, will be available in mid-November for $349.

“We want our audience to have a more intimate online relationship with the band, and Apple can help us do that,” says U2 frontman Bono. “With iPod and iTunes, Apple has created a crossroads of art, commerce and technology which feels good for both musicians and fans.”

U2 and Apple had already partnered on an iPod television ad campaign featuring “Vertigo,” the first single from the band’s upcoming Interscope album, “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

Apple today (Oct. 26) also unveiled the new 40 and 60GB iPod Photo models, which feature a color screen and can store up to 25,000 digital photos and 15,000 songs.

Souce billboard.com.