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Bringing you the Web's best '70s music & culture news twice-weekly since 1997!
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Updated 11/3 @ 6:46 PM EST '70s SOUNDBYTES - 11/3: Such iconic rockers as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and others celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 29 with a concert in Madison Square Garden that included all-star collaborations, spellbinding guitars, and even tears. The night's emotional highlight came when Wonder, who sang Michael Jackson's upbeat "The Way You Make Me Feel" in tribute to the fallen King of Pop, bent his head at one point and began to sob. But Wonder quickly gathered his composure and ended it joyously by leading the crowd with chants of "We Love Michael Jackson" and "Long Live Michael Jackson." The show was the first of two concerts celebrating the Cleveland-based hall and museum and was a reunion of such past honorees as Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jeff Beck, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and the Police. During one part in the chorus, Wonder stopped singing, bent his head and started to sob, but he quickly gathered his composure to finish the song, ending it joyously by leading the crowd with chants of "We Love Michael Jackson" and "Long Live Michael Jackson." The Oct. 29 show closed with Bruce Springstee and his guest stars performing a spirited rendition of Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" -- ending on a musical high note. - Billboard...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/29: Former Police frontman Sting says he thinks US Pres. Barack Obama is the best choice possible to handle the world's problems. "In many ways, he's sent from God, because the world's a mess," Sting mused on Oct. 28. The 58-year-old British pop star, who just released a Christmas-themed CD titled If On A Winter's Night..., added that in addition to Obama, he's fascinated by American politics and the president's opponents on the right: "It's aggressive and violent and full of fear. They don't want change, they want things to feel the same because they feel safe there." Sting says that he's spent some time with Obama and "found him to be very genuine, very present, clearly super-smart, and exactly what we need in the world." - AP...... The new Michael Jackson documentary This Is It premiered on Oct. 28 and racked up a $7.4 million box office gross on its first day, with distributor Sony Pictures having its best opening ever for a movie on a Wednesday in October. Overseas, the simultaneous release of the film in 99 countries brought in another $12.7 million. The single day receipts were good enough to propel This Is It into the ranks of the all time top-grossing music documentaries, and currently it's just behind U2's Rattle and Hum, which had an 8.6 million domestic haul. Currently, the box office champ for music documentaries is Miley Cyrus's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which took in a total of $65.3 million. The film documents Jackson's rehearsals for his planned concert tour and features all his biggest hits, including "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Thriller," "Human Nature" and "Smooth Criminal." The film, which has earned rousing praise from fans and critic, could even qualify for an Academy Award for Best Picture of 2009, as well as Best Sound and Best Film Editing. However, its release comes too late in the year to qualify for a Best Documentary Oscar at next year's ceremonies. - AP...... |

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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/24: A small group of Michael Jackson's most dedicated fans have started an "awareness" campaign surrounding the upcoming movie This is It, claiming it covers up the grim reality of the dead pop star's final days. The group, which represents Jacko fans from at least 10 countries, claim the movie conceals the "dire state" of Jackson's health while enriching its promoters that they hold partly responsible for his death on June 25. "It is our wish to help people understand where the responsibilities lie, pertaining to Michael Jackson's passing, in the hope that if they choose to watch the film, they will do so with critical eyes," the group said in a written statement on its website, This-Is-Not-It.com. "In fact, we believe that those around Jackson chose to look the other way when it was evident he was having problems," they added. This Is It is based on Jackson's rehearsals for a series of London concerts and hits theaters around the world on Oct. 28. Meanwhile, Jackson's mother Katherine has just hired a new lawyer to battle of the deceased superstar's estate after becoming displeased with her current legal representation. The Jackson family has brought in Hollywood heavyweight Adam Streisand to replace Burt Levich and Londell McMillan. Trust and estate litigation are said to be Streisand's specialties, and he has notched victories in cases involving the estates of Ray Charles, Marlon Brando and Barry White. Though Jackson owed money to many creditors, his estate is expected to rake in about $100 million in 2009 thanks in part to one of the first deals the executors nailed down, the upcoming This Is It concert film and soundtrack album. In still more Jackson-related news, the Christie's auction house will offer up a portrait of Jackson by the famous late pop artist Andy Warhol in New York on Nov. 10. The 30-by-26-inch portrait is expected to fetch between $500,000-$700,000 and is one of a small group of Warhol silk-screened images of Jackson created in 1984. A similar Warhol portrait of Jackson was bought by an anonymous buyer for over a million dollars in August. - Reuters/Rolling Stone/AP...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/19: A clump of hair purportedly belonging to Elvis Presley sold for $15,000 at an auction conducted by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers of Chicago on Oct. 18. The hair, belonging to late Elvis fan club official Gary Pepper, was said to have been shorn from the King's head when he joined the Army in 1958. Other items selling from Pepper's lot included a Elvis shirt with a large embroidered "EP" ($52,000), scarves, and photos from the reception of Presley's 1967 wedding to Priscilla Presley. Meanwhile, a robe worn by Barbra Streisand in the hit 1974 film The Way We Were sold for nearly $6,000 in a charity auction in Los Angeles the same weekend. More than 400 of the diva's dresses and suits, books, designer furniture, paintings and vintage collectibles were on the block in the sale conducted by Julien's Auctions. All proceeds go to Streisand's favorite charities. - AP...... John Fogerty has announced he'll release a live DVD from his 2008 Royal Albert Hall performance in London on Nov. 3. Comin' Down The Road: The Concert at Royal Albert Hall features songs from the rocker's days fronting Creedence Clearwater Revival as well as selections from his solo career. Fogerty, with Creedence, also played the esteemed British venue in 1971. Fogerty, who recently received a Lifetime Acheivement Award for songwriting from the Americana Music Association, embarks on a U.S. touron Nov. 12 in Los Angeles and will appear on the season kickoff of PBS' Live By Request on Nov. 7, performing songs requested by viewers. His most recent studio project is a revival of his 1973 solo debut album concept, The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again. - LiveDaily/USA Today...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/14: Sony/BMG's Legacy imprint is marking what would have been the 75th birthday of Elvis Presley this January with a 4-disc, 100-song box set called Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight. Ranging from the Rock & Roll king's "My Happiness" acetate recording that he paid $4 to record in July 1953 to the electronica-fueled 2002 track "A Little Less Conversation (JXL Radio Remix Edit)," the collection also includes movie songs, gospel performances and "Blue Christmas. Included in the set will be an 80-page booklet featuring rare photos and a new essay by journalist Billy Altman. The set drops Dec. 8, and on Jan. 5 -- three days before the birthday -- a single-disc edition will hit stores. - The Hollywood Reporter...... In related news, a collection of Beatles books that are the companion to the newly remastered Beatles CDs will be made available in the UK. The Beatles: Box of Vision, officially licensed by the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd., is an LP-sized album artwork book includes 200 pages of the Beatles' LP artwork -- the first time all the Beatles' UK and US album artwork has been collected together in one LP sized book. A second book, The Catalography, is an extensive, all-new, full-colour guide jam-packed with photos, text and track-listings, and a third book, The Box of Vision Storage Book, is a highly collectible, unique and stylish way for Beatles fans to organize and display all 32 discs of The Beatles' core catalog. The item, previously only available in North America, will be available in the UK and Europe this Christmas from BoxOfVision.com and HardDaysNightShop.com, plus select retailers. - Noble PR...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/9: Bruce Springsteen debuted a new song, "Wrecking Ball," on Oct. 2 during the opening night of this 5-night farewell run at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, which is scheduled to be torn down in 2010. "Wrecking Ball" pays homage to the last days of the venerable stadium, features references to beer, mosquitoes the size of airplanes, the NFL's New York Giants, and the line "bring on your wrecking ball." - LiveDaily...... The makers of Rock Band have announced that Queen will be the next music act featured on their popular video game. Ten classics from the iconic British rockers will be available for Rock Band from Harmonix on Oct. 22 and coincide with the release of the company's new Rock Band 2 game. New modes in Rock Band 2 include online mode to connect with the Rock Band community, the ability to compete in Rock Band contests online plus new venues, cites and gigs to virtually play online. - Undercover...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 10/4: Bruce Springsteen recently made a surprise, unnannounced appearance on Elvis Costello's TV show Spectacle. In the interview, we learn that the two rockers' wives Patti Scalfia (Bruce) and Diana Krall (Elvis) often call each other to talk about children and other things. Also, The Boss tells a story about how Elvis once came to visit him and Patti at their farm, and we learn that Springsteen's eldest son is not much of a fan of his famous dad's music: "He prefers Rage Against The Machine, Dropkick Murphys and Bad Religion." Costello, who just finished up this season's taping of Spectacle, kicks off a tour of Australia on Oct. 8. - Undercover...... |
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'70s SOUNDBYTES - 9/29: International ticket sales for the upcoming Michael Jackson documentary This Is It are astonishing box-office experts, breaking records for advance ticket sales. As soon as sales for advance screenings began on Sept. 28, hundreds of shows sold out in North America alone. According to the film's distributor, Sony Pictures Entertainment, cities with particularly strong sales include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York. Outside the U.S., more than $1 million in tickets were sold in Japan on the first day they were available, and British Jackson fans bought more than 30,000 tix on the first day, beating out such previous popular films as Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings films. Record ticket sales were also reported in Holland, Sweden, Belgium and New Zealand. The flim, based on rehearsal footage of the late pop superstar taken in the weeks before his June 25 death, officially opens Oct. 28. Meanwhile, newly surfaced taped confessions by Jackson in interviews with a confidant, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, reveal the "Thriller" singer saw himself as a grotesque "lizard" who made himself sick. "I don't want to be seen now...I am like a lizard. It is horrible," Jackson told Boteach. Boteach recorded more than 30 hours of talks with Jackson in 2000 and 2001 as part of a failed book project. - Variety/Reuters/N.Y. Daily News......
News items appearing in Super Seventies RockSite!'s "Favorite Seventies Artists In The News" are compiled from numerous online and printed sources, including Yahoo News/AP, Yahoo News/Reuters, USA Today - Entertainment News, E! Online, Entertainment Weekly, VH1 News, Billboard.com - News, Rolling Stone.com - Rock Daily, New Musical Express - News, Undercover.com - News, Jam! Music - News, LiveDaily.com - News, and Noble PR. |
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