2004

Former Squeeze mainstays Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook will reunite for a live acoustic performance Nov. 18 in London. The free show at Borders Books and Music store in Charing Cross Road, London, dovetails with the Nov. 15 U.K. publication of Jim Drury’s “Squeeze: Song by Song,” the first fully authorized story of the long-running English group, of which Difford and Tilbrook were founding members and principal songwriters.

The Borders event will be followed by a Q&A session with both performers. Drury is also the author of “Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Song by Song” and co-author of “The Stranglers: Song by Song” with that band’s Hugh Cornwell.

Tilbrook’s recent second solo album, “Transatlantic Ping Pong,” released on his own Quixotic label in the United Kingdom and on Quixotic via Compass in North America, featured a track co-written with Difford, “Where I Can Be Your Friend.” The song was the first collaboration by the duo, who first met in 1973, since Difford left Squeeze, prompting the band’s demise in the late 1990s.

“We avoided each other for a few years,” Tilbrook told this writer in August about his recent rapprochement with Difford, “and I think we probably needed to do that. Now we’re at a stage where we can work together. What we want from our lives is quite different now, and that’s hard to reconcile, but there’s no need to reconcile it — we can work on the good bits.”

“‘Where I Can Be Your Friend’ is a really sweet lyric addressed, I think, to me — a sort of apology from Chris about the way the band ended up,” he continued. “I didn’t fully appreciate some of the things he was going through at the time. So it was a really sweet thing for him to write. I do love him. Even though sometimes I’d like to punch him.”

Source billboard.com.

Jam Cruise 3 is sold out. The cruise will set sail on January 6th, 2005 with 1800 music lovers on board.

Madison House Travel is still taking names for the wait list, in case any cabins open up or any holds are released. To sign up on the wait list email jamcruise@madisonhousetravel.com with your name, phone number, e-mail, and number of people are in your party. You can also sign up on the mailing list at www.jamcruise.com to get updates on availability and information on Jam Cruise 4 in 2006, which is already in the works.

Jam Cruise 3 will set sail from Jacksonville, Florida on January 6, 2005. 1800 Jam Cruisers will hit the high seas for 4 days aboard Carnival Cruiselines’ Celebration. The ship will stop in Freeport, Bahamas and, fulfilling a popular request on a questionnaire filled out by last year’s cruisers, will offer passengers two full days at sea to enjoy over 40 musical performances. The festival line up includes Galactic, Les Claypool, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Keller Williams, Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Jazz Mandolin Project featuring Jamie Masefield and Jon Fishman, Zilla featuring Michael Travis, The Remarkable Elba Kramer featuring Kyle Hollingsworth, North Mississippi Allstars, Ozomatli, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Umphrey’s McGee, Garaj Mahal, MOFRO, Benevento/Russo Duo, Tishamingo, DJ Logic, and DJ Harry. In addition to incredible performances by many of the genre’s most celebrated musical pioneers, the Jam Cruise experience promises once-in-a-lifetime artist collaborations and opportunities for hang time with the musicians who are so often inaccessible backstage.

Jam Cruise is presented by Cloud 9 Adventures: a partnership between Mark Brown of Florida’s Brown Coffee Productions, Athens promoter Josh Moore of Jomo Entertainment, Roger Naber of Legendary Blues Cruises, and Attorney Joe Hanan.

U2 and Apple Computer Inc. are expected to announce next week that they have signed a deal to sell custom iPods.

According to a source, the Irish rock band’s upcoming album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” due Nov. 23 via Interscope Records, will come preloaded on iPods that will be available the week of street date.

Interscope, a unit of Universal Music Group, declined to comment; an Apple spokesperson could not be reached.

E-mails from Apple chairman and CEO Steve Jobs and U2 members Bono and the Edge have invited members of the press to a “special event” scheduled for October 26 in San Jose, California.

U2’s new single “Vertigo” is featured in current television ads for the iPod. The track is currently No. 2 on Billboard’s airplay-based Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 44 on the Hot 100, which is based on both retail sales and radio airplay.

Source CNN.com.

Depeche Mode- Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher- are unique. For nearly 25 years they have been making groundbreaking music, which has influenced generations of artists.

Depeche Mode have always been at the vanguard of remix culture since its inception, and the history of Depeche Mode is inextricably linked with the history of the remix. Very early on in their career the band worked closely and extensively with up and coming remixers who would go on to become pivotal figures in the field including Francois Kevorkian, Adrian Sherwood, William Orbit, Portishead and Air.

HeadCount, a non-profit group that registered more voters than any all-volunteer organization in the country, will stage an Election Eve Rally in New York City on Monday, Nov. 1 at the Mercury Lounge.

The event, which will celebrate HeadCount registering 50,000 voters nationwide, will feature New Jersey-based rock band Rana as well as Big Fuzz, a new project led by former Deep Banana Blackout frontman Fuzz, and the Katy Pfaffl Band.

Also on the bill is Moshi vs. Omen, an electronica duo featuring Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aaron Magner. Jon Gutwillig, guitarist for the Disco Biscuits, will also perform. HeadCount was founded by Disco Biscuits bass player Marc Brownstein, who will serve as the emcee for this event.

The Election Eve Rally will raise money for HeadCount’s future while celebrating its success in 2004. Launched only in February, the organization aligned itself with Dave Matthews Band, Phish and the Dead as well as about 25 other major concert acts.

HeadCount sent voter registration volunteers on the road with bands and also produced public service announcements – starring Dave Matthrews, The Dead and Trey Anastasio of Phish – that have been airing on TNT and TBS. The PSA’s have been seen more than 100 million times.

An organization that is truly grassroots in structure, HeadCount has no paid employees, no major corporate funding and no central headquarters. But through a network of 2,000 volunteers and the backing of a board of directors that includes The Dead’s Bob Weir, HeadCount became one of the most successful voter registration groups

“The event will be our last of about 1,000 acts to encouraging and facilitate voting,” said Andy Bernstein, HeadCount’s co-chair. “Our volunteers are absolutely exhausted, but we figured they have one night of celebration left in them.”

Upcoming Show Details

Monday Nov. 1, 2004
The Mercury Lounge (www.mercuryloungenyc.com)
217 E Houston St – New York, NY
7:30 pm
$12
Tickets at www.headcount.org