'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...... Elton John was discharged from a London hospital on Nov. 3 after contracting "a serious case of e-coli bacterial infection and influenza." John, 62, is reportedly recovering from the illness and hopes to resume his touring commitments in two weeks after cancelling a number of upcoming shows and being admitted to the hospital on Oct. 30. "(Elton) is recovering from a case of serious influenza with minor complications. We are confident he will be back on stage in the near future," according to his spokesperson. "He doesn't like letting his fans down. But he had to this time." One source close to the legendary pop star said: "The feeling is Elton will be out of action for four weeks. His voice has temporarily gone and he has been having severe coughing bouts, so there is no way he can play concerts for a while." His partner, David Furnish, spent much of the weekend by John's bedside and said Elton was "OK, he's doing fine." John was forced to postpone three US gigs on his Face 2 Face tour with Billy Joel due to the illness, and promoters are advising fans to keep hold of tickets and await news of possible rescheduling. In 1999, John was fitted with a pacemaker after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. He also has a history of substance abuse, however he has been clean and sober for almost 20 years. - Music-News.com/Undercover/NME...... It's official: the new Michael Jackson movie This Is It is the biggest concert film of all time, raking in a total to $32.5 million in the USA and $68.5 million internationally as of Nov. 1. The $101 million total eclipses the record set by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, which earned $70.6 million worldwide in 2008. Sony Pictures, which released the film and initially said the movie would play for two weeks, announced on Nov. 1 that it would play through the Thanksgiving weekend. Sony's "$60 million to acquire rights was money well spent," according to one industry insider. This Is It, a backstage documentary filmed before the star's death in June, earned strong reviews from critics, who praised its personal glimpse into the reclusive singer's world. The picture earned recommendations from 80% of reviewers, according to the movie rating site RottenTomatoes.com. - USA Today...... In other Jackson news, the late pop star is among the Top 10 of top-earning dead celebrities according to a new list just published by the business magazine Forbes. Although he's been dead only four months, Jackson earned $90 in 2009 and was the third hightest earning dead celebrity in the past year, followed by Elvis Presley ($54 million) at third; John Lennon ($14 million); and Jimi Hendrix ($8 million) at number twelve. - New Musical Express...... A new song by Paul McCartney titled "(I Want To) Come Home" will appear in the soundtrack for the upcoming Robert De Niro-starred film Everybody's Fine. Macca composed the song after being given an early screening of the film, which is about a widower named Frank (De Niro) who works out his connection to his family was only through his late wife and sets up a road trip to reunite with his grown up children. "I could definitely identify with Robert De Niro's character because I have grown-up kids who have their own families," Sir Paul said. Everybody's Fine will hit U.S. theaters in December. - Undercover...... In other Beatles-related news, the U.S.-based music download site BlueBeat.com is now selling the Fab Four's entire back catalog online, with individual tracks from the Fab Four's recently released remastered album being sold for 25 cents each. However, it is unclear whether EMI and Apple Corps -- who must give permission for The Beatles' music to be sold online -- have agreed to let the website distribute the tracks. A spokesperson for Apple Corps reportedly told Wired.com that she didn't think BlueBeat.com had permission to sell the Beatles' music, and the site is also selling songs by AC/DC, another band known to have not issued their material digitally before. - NME...... Speaking of AC/DC, the rockers' home country of Australia is presenting a collection of memorabilia from the band and their record company at the Melbourne Art Centre from Nov. 7, 2009, to Feb. 29, 2010. "AC/DC Family Jewels" includes costumes, instruments, stage props, photographs and rare hand-written material such as letters, notebooks and lyrics. "There is little doubt that after 35 years on the world stage AC/DC are by far Australia's most successful and influential performing artists," curator Tim Fisher says. "(The display) seeks to link the material history of the band to the experience of their music (and) also try to convey -- both through exhibited material and an interactive online initiative -- the place that AC/DC holds for their devoted fans." - Undercover...... Iggy Pop says he and his band the Stooges will embark on a full world tour in 2010. "We're going to be doing a one-off show in Brazil [on Nov. 7 at Planeta Terra] but the real touring starts next year," Pop recently told BBC News. Pop previously announced that Stooges guitarist James Williamson would replace the late Ron Asheton in the band to play their classic 1973 album Raw Power in May of 2010 to play the "All Tomorrow's Parties" festival in the UK. - NME...... The Clash will release a "30th Anniversary Legacy Edition" of their acclaimed 1979 set London Calling on Dec. 14. Since a 25th anniversary music-only London Calling was released in 2004, it is expected the new release will be a CD/DVD package. - NME...... Comedian/actor and accomplished banjoist Steve Martin has announced he'll play his first ever UK music gig at London's Royal Festival Hall on Nov. 9 in support of his new music CD, The Crow: New Songs For The Five-String Banjo. Billed as "An Evening of Bluegrass And Banjo," the concert will see Martin play clawhammer banjo, accompanied by his bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers. - NME...... Former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry has collaborated with dance music producer DJ Hell for a new single called "U Can Dance." Hell first met Ferry in 2006, when Hell visited Ferry's studio in west London. "It's always a pleasure to work with people from that genre, who follow a singular groove," says Ferry. The track will be released in January. - NME...... Carlos Santana has teamed-up with WHY (World Hunger Year) to help raise money, food and awareness for America's hungry children. During Santana's eight November performances at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, concertgoers who bring five non-perishable food items or make a $5 donation to the Three Square Food Bank will receive a $5 gift certificate to participating restaurants inside the Hard Rock Hotel. "This year above all others in recent memory is an important one to help our brothers and sisters of this family we call the human race," Santana said in a statement. "I encourage you to help and to participate in this more than worthwhile drive." - LiveDaily...... ABBA releases their third concert film, In Japan, on Nov. 3. Featuring the band performing its biggest hits during a 54-minute show for Japanese television in 1978, the disc also contains two exclusive, behind-the-scenes documentaries that include television performances and press interviews filmed during ABBA's visits to Japan in 1978 and 1980. ABBA's previous concert films include ABBA - The Movie, which was filmed during a 1977 tour of Australia and was released in theaters later that year, and ABBA In Concert, which was filmed during its 1979 tour of Europe and North America. - LiveDaily...... Bruce Springsteen's sax player Clarence Clemons opens up about his tales of life on the road in his new book Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales. Clemons, who has been playing with Springsteen since 1971, also talks about the birth of the E Street Band, recent health problems, and his special relationship with Bruce...... Though it's packed with great photos and artifacts, a new Led Zeppelin biography dubbed Shadows Taller Than Our Souls also makes room for some scholarly analysis -- named the idea that Zep were as sophisticated as any high-toned artiste..... A posthumously released book of essays by late music critic Robert Palmer titled Blues and Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer collects revealing interviews with Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis and William S. Burroughs....... An unreleased Bob Dylan song called "California" will debut on an episode of the CBC crime drama NCIS on Nov. 3, as well as appear on a NCIS soundtrack album released the same day. The acoustic track was recorded in 1965 during the sessions for Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home album, and has remained in the vaults ever since....... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will honor Janis Joplin with a three-week conference at the State Theater in Cleveland, Oh., culminating in a concert on Nov. 6. Headliners included Country Joe McDonald, Lucinda Williams and Nona Hendryx. - Rolling Stone....... The Who's Roger Daltrey has launched a rare solo tour of small venues after Pete Townshend decided to take the year off. "We and the Stones invented the bloody arena tour," he says. "But it's lovely to be able to talk to an audience. We're playing lots of songs the Who haven't played in years -- and some the Who never played." Those songs include such live rarities as "Pictures of Lily," "Cache Cache" and "Blue, Red and Grey." Datrey adds there's talk of a Who tour in 2010, and that "I'd like to do Quadrophenia, but that's for selfish reasons, because I don't think there will be many more years left that I'll physically be able to sing it." - Rolling Stone...... Speaking at the Classic Rock Awards in London on Nov. 2, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi said his recovery after stem-cell treatment on his hand is going well. "I've already had the stem-cell treatment, so I've just got to wait now. It's been six weeks but it's feeling great," he told BBC News. Iommi, who underwent the treatment earlier in 2009 after admitting he was suffering from joint problems, had his arm in a sling for the awards, but admitted it was only as a precautionary measure: "I'm just wearing this now because if people shake your hand I don't want to push it, I want to take it easy for a bit." Iommi also said he is still able to play guitar, even during the recovery process. - NME...... PBS premieres another edition of its Live By Request series on Nov. 7 at 9:00 p.m. EST featuring John Fogerty. The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman takes requests from fans via phone and online. As with all PBS programming, check local listings. - Entertainment Weekly...... On Oct. 21, a Bahamian judge declared a mistrial in the extortion case involving John Travolta, 55, due to possible juror misconduct. Picewell Forbes, a local politician, publicly announced that one of the defendants accused of blackmailing Travolta for $25 million had been acquitted. Forbes has since been ordered to reveal the purpose and source of his declaration. A retrial has yet to be scheduled. - Entertainment Weekly...... Actor Dennis Hopper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is canceling all travel plans to focus on treatment. His manager says the 73-year-old Easy Rider actor/director and counterculture icon is being treated through a "special program" at the University of Southern California. Hopper, who recently finished shooting the second season of TV's Crash and has several film projects in the works, was forced to cancel his appearance at an exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne called "Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood," a collection of artwork and photography by the actor. "We're hoping for the best," said his manager Sam Maydew. - AP

'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...... Meanwhile, This Is It's companion soundtrack album of the same name is also doing brisk business, with forecasts that the Oct. 26-released album could move 300,000 copies by Nov. 1. The numbers almost assure Jackson will score his sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. The late pop superstar already owns the No. 1 selling album of 2009 with his Number Ones best of collection, which has sold 2 million units this year and counting. The This Is It album contains 14 studio recordings of Jackson's hits and three demo recordings and a spoken word poem titled "Planet Earth." - Billboard...... In other Jackson news, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office is denying that it leaked photos of Michael's autopsy after claims that someone is trying to sell snaps of the late singer's body for $1 million. According to rumours published on The Daily Beast website, an L.A. restaurant owner is in possesion of a high resolution shot of the singer's body and is trying to sell it to the highest bidder. It is suggested that the image was taken with a BlackBerry and was obtained from a police source. Los Angeles chief coroner Ed Winter responded that the official autopsy photos are under "lock and key" and could not be "floating around." The photo in question purportedly shows Jackson's head, featuring his shaved scalp minus make-up. A scar is supposedly visible plus his tattooed eyebrows. - New Musical Express...... A new John Lennon biopic dubbed Nowhere Boy is scheduled to close out the London Film Festival on Oct. 29. Nowhere Boy, which profiles the rock icon's rebellious teenage years and his torrid relationship with family members before the Beatles were formed, stars Aaron Johnson as an angry, confused teen Lennon who struggles to understand why his mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) left him with his aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) when he was a small boy. The London Film Festival is attempting to compete with major international festivals like Venice and Cannes, and this year introduced a best film award which brings it closer into line with its rivals. - Reuters...... In other Beatles-related news, arrest papers detailing drug busts involving Lennon and George Harrison in the 1960s are set to be auctioned online on Oct. 29. The Lennon papers are from the time in 1968 when his London flat was raided and police a quantity of cannabis resin, which resulted in his arrest and a £150 fine. The Harrison papers detail the 1969 raid at his home while he was attending Paul McCartney's wedding to first wife Linda. Harrison was also later arrested and fined. The arresting officer in both cases, the notorious Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher, was later convicted of perjury and jailed. - New Musical Express...... Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert in Kansas City on Oct. 26 after the unexpected death of his cousin and his E Street Band assistant road manager Lenny Sullivan. Sullivan, 36, had been with the band for 10 years and was found in his room at a local hotel on the previous afternoon. It said police were investigating the death although it was not being treated as suspicious. Springsteen and his band kicked off a 47-date world tour in April behind their Working On a Dream album. - Reuters...... In related news, Eric Clapton has announced he'll bow out of the Oct. 29 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert in order to have gallstone surgery. In a statement, the 64-year-old guitar god said he'll "spend time recuperating at home in the UK and (I'm) very sorry to disappoint the fans and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." The concert is not related to the annual Hall of Fame induction, which takes place in New York next March. The concert is the second of a two-night celebration of the Rock Hall's 25th anniversary, and also features U2, Aretha Franklin, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and Annie Lennox. - Reuters...... The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey hinted that his band may be the next group to receive their own branded Rock Band video game. "The game, yeah, yeah, theyıre going to be doing a Who one next year. There is one planned," Daltrey said in a recent interview. A spokesperson for Rock Band told a video game blog that "we're working closely with the Who on what's next, but don't have anything new to announce at this time." The Who have already offered up a number of their songs for preexisting Rock Band games: the first Rock Band featured "Won't Get Fooled Again," and Rock Band 2 had "Pinball Wizard." - Rolling Stone...... Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel says his next album will be a "song swap" called Scratch My Back where he and other big-name collaborators reinterpret each others' songs. "The songs are not simply covers," Gabriel collaborator John Metcalfe told BBC 6 Music. "They are major interpretations of some famous stuff. It's quite radical." ther artists covered include the likes of the Kinks, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Neil Young and Talking Heads. The album is expected to have a spring 2010 release. - The BBC/NME...... Veteran entertainer Wayne Newton is hinting that after 50 of performing in Las Vegas, his latest run at the Tropicana Las Vegas may be his last in the desert entertainment mecca. The 67-year-old Newton, who opened his latest Vegas show on Oct. 28, says his decision won't hinge on the success of his new show, but rather whether it conflicts with his desire to spend more time with his 7-year-old daughter. "I'm enjoying my second daughter in a way that I didn't get a chance to do the first time around," Newton says. "The decision that I make, whether or not to perform or retire, will pretty much be based on that." The production, which is scheduled to wrap in April 2010, is presented as a live memoir of Newton's life and his career, with never-before-shared insights from Newton about personal episodes along the way. Newton relates stories about such iconic Vegas performers as Elvis Presley, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin as well as songs from his catalog of 165 records, including his US Top 5 hit "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" in June 1972. - AP...... Speaking of Las Vegas, what happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happened in the hit late '70s private eye series Vega$ is now out on DVD. The Robert Urich-starred Vega$: The First Season, Vol. 1 has just been released from Paramount Home Video. Reminisce as Dan Tanna tools around Sin City in his vintage Thunderbird solving private cases, as well as being on retainer to a wealthy casino owner to keep crime out of his hotels. - Entertainment Weekly...... Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant recently told the BBC that he's been in talks with Glastonbury Festival chief Michael Eavis about performing at the 2010 show. "I've just been talking to Michael," Plant said. "There's place for me there, but I have no idea who with. There is a chance yeah, but I don't know with who." Led Zeppelin reunited in Dec. 2007 to play the London O2 Arena, although they haven't been active since. - NME...... In a recent interview with CNN, Rod Stewart gave his strongest indication yet that he'll reunite with his old the Faces bandmates. "(They had) a reunion a without me because I'm promoting this album (Soulbook). Hopefully, I'll get me old job back. It's on the cards. I'll do it eventually." The Faces performed in London on Oct. 27 with original members Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones to benefit the Music Benevolent Fund. Also chipping in were former Stones bassist Bill Wyman and guest singers Mel C, Mick Hucknall and Kiki Dee. - NME/Undercover...... Speaking of Ronnie Wood, artwork from the musician's paintings are featured on a new line of clothing and accessories for a high end London department store named Liberty. Three of Wood's paintings are being used for the clothing's prints, including "I Feel Like A Painting," which, says Wood, is inspired by "the day when I decided to turn my life around." - NME/London Telegraph...... Jeff Beck will be among the headliners at the upcoming Bluesfest 2010 in the UK. The festival will also feature such acts as Robert Gordon, Glen Matlock (the Sex Pistols), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and Chris Spedding (Roxy Music). Bluesfest will take place Apr. 1-5, 2010. - NME...... Carlos Santana will begin his second residency in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Nov. 11. The shows feature a broad selection of tracks from throughout legendary axman's career and run through Nov. 22. Santana will perform a second Vegas run for three weeks in February 2010. - LiveDaily...... Elton John has announced that former US president Bill Clinton will be among the honorees at his annual Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit event on Nov. 16. Entitled "An Enduring Vision, the gala dinner will also honor such AIDS-aware celebrities as disco singer Donna Summer, actress Sharon Stone, and be hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper. - LiveDaily...... The Moody Blues have mapped out their traditional spring tour of the US, this time focusing on the eastern half of the nation. The Moodies kick off the 21-city trek on Mar. 4 in Clearwater, Fla., also visiting such markets as Miami (3/5); Orlando (3/8); Knoxville, Tenn. (3/16); Nashville, Tenn. (3/18); Atlanta (3/19); N. Charleston, SC (3/20); Charlotte, N.C. (3/22); Norfolk, Va. (3/25); Washington, D.C. (3/26) and Red Bank, N.J. (3/29) before wrapping with a two-night stand in Montclair, N.J. on Mar. 30 and 31. The Moodies haven't released a new, non-holiday studio album since 1999's Strange Times, however in early 2007 band member John Lodge told a radio interviewer that a new studio set was "not far away." - LiveDaily...... Working Men, the first "best of" live performance compilation from the Canadian rock trio Rush, will be released in the UK on Nov. 16 on CD and digital download via Atlantic Records. Culled from Anthem Entertainment and Zoö Vision's three other Rush releases -- Rush in Rio, R30 and Snakes & Arrows Live -- Working Men features live recordings of the band's greatest hits as well as one previously unreleased track, "One Little Victory." - Noble PR...... The Steve Hillage Band is confirmed as a special guest on Gong's forthcoming nationwide November tour of the UK, which kicks off in Bristol on Nov. 19. It will mark the first time since 1979 when former Gong member Hillage will perform material from his Steve Hillage Band albums, 1975's Fish Rising, 1976's L, 1976's Motivation Radio and 1978's Green. - Noble PR...... Billy Joel has spent the past year working on his memoirs with longtime Rolling Stone magazine contributor Fred Schruers. The book is scheduled to come out in 2010. - Rolling Stone...... Carly Simon recorded her most famous songs for Never Been Gone, her new unplugged compendium, which was instigated and abetted by her musician son, Ben Taylor. Underproducing these performances mostly works wonderfully. "You're So Vain" takes on new life, and other songs previously easily dismissed as adult-contemporary mush, like "You Belong to Me," sound palatable and emotional for the first time. Only in a couple of instances to sparse arrangements just futher expose thin material ("It Happens Every Day"). Way to look out for Mom's cred, sonny. - Entertainment Weekly...... For more than four decades, Dolly Parton has made toe-tapping music that's now smartly catalogued in her new 4-disc boxed set Dolly. From her early singles ("Dumb Blonde") to her dozens of hits ("9 to 5"), she never hits a false note. - Entertainment Weekly...... '70s TV producer Norman Lear has been awarded the AARP's annual ndrus Award for service during a ceremony in Las Vegas. The 87-year-old Lear, the creator of such groundbreaking shows as All In the Family, Maude and Good Times was honored for his achievements in socially transformative television, filmmaking, philanthropy and social activism. - AP

SOUPY SALES, 1926-2009: Entertainer Soupy Sales, known to the Baby Boomer generation for his raucous hit daily kids show of the 1950s and 1960s, died of numerous health problems on Oct. 22 at a hospice in the Bronx, N.Y. He was 83. Born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., Mr. Sales took his first pie to the face when he started his TV career in Cleveland in 1951. After moving to Detroit, Mr. Sales garnered a national reputation as he honed his act, a barrage of sketches, gags and bad puns that played in the Motor City for seven years. In 1961 he moved to Los Angeles, where he eventually became a fill-in host on NBC's The Tonight Show. In a notorious New Year's Day 1965 stunt that nearly got him fired, Mr. Sales told kids watching his show to sneak into their parents' bedroom (who were presumably "sleeping off" their hangovers) and look in their parents' pockets for "little green pieces of paper with pictures of guys with beards," and stuff them in an envelope addressed to him at the TV station, "and I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico." It's unclear how much money he netted, but it did earn him numerous complaints to the FCC and a network suspension. In his signature gag, Mr. Sales was hit by pies in his face, by his own estimate, more than 20,000 times in his career. Major celebrities of day including Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine lined up to take a pie hit on his show. Moving to New York in 1964, he premiered The Soupy Sales Show and the following year had a pair of hit novelty records including Soupy Sales Sez do The Mouse and other teen hits. After his own show ended its run, Sales became a member of New York's renowned Friars Club and remained a familiar face on TV, first as a regular from 1968-75 on the game show What's My Line? and then appearing on everything from The Mike Douglas Show to The Love Boat. He joined WNBC-AM as a disc jockey in 1985, a stint best remembered because Mr. Sales filled the hours between shock jocks Don Imus and Howard Stern. Mr. Sales is survived by his wife, Trudy, and two sons, Hunt and Tony Sales -- a pair of musicians who backed David Bowie in the band Tin Machine. - AP/USA Today, 10/23/09.

'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...... Still Bill, a documentary about '70s hitmaker Bill Withers, premiered on Oct. 23 at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto, Canada. "We wanted Bill's voice to be the viewer's way into his music, his childhood and family," says co-director Damani Baker. "He gave us an incredible, once-in-a lifetime experience, and there was no need to add anything to someone who already knows how to say it just right," Baker added. Withers enjoyed immense popularity in the '70s, but divorced himself from the industry after cutting what would be his last record, Watching You, Watching Me, in 1985. He later blamed what he described as a "blaxpert" at CBS Records for souring his relationship with the music biz. "His idea was I should cover the Elvis Presley song 'In The Ghetto' and my attitude was, 'Black people don't need to imitate Elvis Presley; Elvis imitates black people.'" "[Bill's] ability to take very personal ideas and create phrases that speak to your heart is why the world has responded to his music for almost 40 years," Baker says. - Sun Media...... On Oct. 22, Led Zeppelin's seminal second album Led Zeppelin II turned 40 years old. Released just nine months after its historic 1968 debut album, Led Zeppelin II laid the groundwork for heavy metal with its classic "Whole Lotta Love" and firmly established the British group as one of the loudest and greatest bands in rock at the time. Although "Whole Lotta Love" and the rest of the album was given a lukewarm reception in Rolling Stone when it was first released, the magazine eventually gave the song a glowing review in its New Rolling Stone Album Guide, describing it as "a starting point for Aerosmith, Guns n' Roses and Van Halen, among others...It's an amazing song not just for its seismic riff and bingeing-on-lust vocal performance, but for its mind-bending midsection, in which [Jimmy] Page orchestrates the aural equivalent of an orgasm." - Rolling Stone...... In other heavy metal news, Ozzy Osbourne will be performing with Metallica at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 30 as part of a series of shows dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The show will also feature performances from U2, Aretha Franklin and Eric Clapton. On Oct. 29, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Friends perform. - Wenn.com...... The Beatles computer game Rock Band was the biggest selling game in the US during September, and more than 100,000 downloads of the Fab Four song "All You Need Is Love" were sold for the game. - Undercover...... In other Beatles-related news, Paul McCartney has announced he will launch his first European tour since 2004 beginning Dec. 2 in Hamburg, Germany. Sir Paul will also visit Berlin (12/3); Arnhem, Netherlands (12/9); Paris (12/10); Cologne, Germany (12/16); and Dublin (12/20) before wrapping on Dec. 22 in London. The latter show will mark McCartney's first-ever performance at London's O2 Arena. Macca previously announced that he will unveil a multi-disc Good Evening New York City live set, Nov. 17. McCartney completed an extensive summer run of North America earlier this year. - LiveDaily...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, sitar legend Ravi Shankar has been awarded the inaugural humanitarian award named in honor of late Beatles guitarist George Harrison. "George Harrison and Ravi Shankar have been stalwart advocates on behalf of the world's children their entire careers," UNICEF president Caryl Stern said in a press release on Oct. 20. "We are pleased to honor Ravi Shankar with the George Harrison Humanitarian Award for his commitment to reducing that number and believing in zero," she added. Shankar was presented with the award after his concert on Nov. 10 at Carnegie Hall in New York. - Undercover...... In still more Beatles news, "honorary Beatle" and bassist Klaus Voormann has released a limited edition CD/DVD and book for his first ever album A Sideman's Journey. The album features remakes of some of the tracks Voormann recorded with Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr. Guests on the album include Starr, Paul McCartney, Dr. John, Joe Walsh and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens). Voorman, now 70, was associated with the Beatles in the early Hamburg days around 1962 before the group was signed to Parlophone. - Undercover...... The late '70s/early '80s New Wave band Madness will release a 30th anniversary edition of their 1979 UK debut album, One Step Beyond, on Oct. 26. The 2-disc package will include the original songs as well as music videos on disc one, with disc two featuring B-sides, live tracks and a John Peel Session. - New Musical Express...... Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley has rescheduled his upcoming 2010 Australian tour to now begin on Feb. 1 in Perth. He'll also visit Adelaide (2/4); Melbourne (2/5); and Sydney (2/7). - Undercover...... Motown legend Smokey Robinson will be the keynote speaker for the 2010 South By Southwest music conference in Austin, Tex., on Mar. 18. The world's biggest music conference and festival, SXSW is held each March in the Texas city. Next year's conference will run from Mar. 17 through Mar. 20. - Undercover...... Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies will play a handful of dates in the US this fall in support of the American release of his forthcoming album, The Kinks Choral Collection. Davies will kick off his 8-date trek on Nov. 12 in San Francisco, also hitting Los Angeles (11/14); Boston (11/17); New York (11/19, 20); Philadelphis (11/21); Albany, N.Y. (11/23); and Montclair, N.J. (11/24). The album, a reworked collection of Kinks songs, hit shelves this summer in the UK, peaking at No. 28 on the UK Albums chart. It drops in the US on Nov. 10. - LiveDaily...... The Eveready battery bunny isn't the only pop culture icon who "takes a licking and keeps on ticking." Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was the recipient of "The Rock Immortal Award" at Spike TV's Scream 2009 Awards at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Oct. 17. "I liked the living legend, that was all right, but immortal is even better," Richards said before receiving the award from actor Johnny Depp. The Scream Awards honor the best performances in fantasy, sci-fi, comics and horror. - Undercover...... Elton John and Billy Joel have lined up another run of concerts as part of their ongoing series of "Face 2 Face" co-headlining shows. The piano men will return on Nov. 4 and 7 in Seattle, then play Portland, Ore. (11/10); Oakland, Calif. (11/14); San Jose, Calif. (11/17); Salt Lake City, Ut. (11/20); Denver (11/22); Oklahoma City, Okla. (11/25); Little Rock, Ark. (11/28); Kansas City, Mo. (12/1); and Buffalo, N.Y. (12/4) before wrapping in Albany, N.Y. on Dec. 7. - LiveDaily...... Gregg Allman has announced he'll return to the road this fall and winter for a solo run of the US. Allman launches his 14-date tour on Nov. 11 in Salamanca, N.Y., and follow it with several East Coast stops, including a performance Nov. 21 at a New York City benefit for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He'll wrap the tour early next year with two shows in Fairfield, Conn., on Jan. 12 and 13. - LiveDaily...... Loggins & Messina have tacked a handful of new shows onto the end of their current trek, which now extends into late November. The '70s folk-rock duo are now scheduled to play Coquitlam, B.C. on Oct. 30; Airway Heights, Wash. on Halloween; Seattle on Nov. 2; Maui, Hi. on Nov. 14; Honolulu on Nov. 15; Lancaster, Calif. on Nov. 19; and Primm, Nev. on Nov. 21. In 2005, L&M completed their first joint tour since 1976. - LiveDaily...... Singer/bassist Dickie Peterson of the late '60s/early '70s San Francisco hard rock band Blue Cheer died on Oct. 12 after a battle with liver cancer. Rush drummer and Blue Cheer fan Neil Peart credits Blue Cheer for "definitely play(ing) their part in shaping Rush's beginnings" and remembered Peterson as a musician "who left deafening echoes in a thousand other bands in the following decades, thrilling some, angering others, and disturbing everything -- like art is supposed to do." Blue Cheer's remake of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" was a #14 hit for the band in Mar. 1968. - Rolling Stone...... Songwriter Vic Mizzy, best known as the composer of catchy theme songs for such hit 1960s sitcoms as The Addams Family and Green Acres, died on Oct. 17 at his home in Bel Air, Calif., of undisclosed causes. He was 93. Mr. Mizzy's songs were recorded by such popular music recording stars as Dean Martin, Doris Day, Perry Como and Billie Holiday in the '40s and '50s, but his most famous work was the Addams Family Theme, which he sang himself and overdubbed three times to give the impression of multiple vocalists. The enduring tune, for which Mr. Mizzy demanded to retain ownership of the rights, is often heard to this day during sports games to rally the home team. His recent songwriting credits include a song for Spiderman 2 which ended up on the DVD version of the movie. - AP...... Screen and stage actor Joseph Wiseman, who played the sinister scientist and title character of Dr. No in the first James Bond feature film, died on Oct. 21 at his home in Manhattan. He was 91. His film credits include Detective Story (1951) and The Unforgiven (1960), and he also had guest roles on such TV shows as The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, The F.B.I, Night Gallery, The Streets of San Francisco and Law & Order. - The New York Times

STRAIGHT SHOT OF SANTA: On his new yuletide-themed set Christmas in the Heart, Bob Dylan celebrates the Christmas hit parade the old-fashion way: He plays it straight, as much as his pitted baritone allows, with a band that mixes David Hildago with R&B guitarist Phil Upchurch. There are hymns ("Hark the Herald Angels Sing"), chestnuts ("Little Drummer Boy") and tinsel: Backup chorus singers add wholesome glitz. Dylan's singing is often nimble and clear -- he goes high in "The First Noel" without a hint of gravel. The effect is like a Woodstock snowfall with the defiance of 1970's Self Portrait: another way of saying his roots are everywhere. - Rolling Stone, 10/29/09.

'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...... Rod Stewart says he hopes his upcoming Motown remakes album Soulbook may launch a series similar to his multi-platinum The Great American Songbook series earlier this decade. "That would be just amazing, but I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch, as they say," Stewart recently told Billboard. "There's a hell of a lot of material left over, so if (Soulbook) is a success, I will definitely do a follow-up," he added. Co-produced by Songbook series collaborator Steve Tyrell and Steve Jordan and featuring several ace L.A. sessionmen, Soulbook finds Hot Rod covering 13 R&B favorites and collaborating with such soul/R&B heavyweights as Stevie Wonder ("My Cherie Amour"), Smokey Robinson ("The Tracks of My Tears"), Mary J. Blige (the Stylistics' "You Make Me Feel Brand New") and Jennifer Hudson ("Let It Be Me"). Soulbook is due Oct. 26, and Stewart says he's currently "in the middle of planning touring" behind the new album. Rod says that commitment will unfortunately prevent him from rejoining his former band the Faces for a reunion charity fundraiser at London's Royal Albert Hall on Oct. 25, however he applauded the band's choice of Paul Rodgers to sing in his place. - Billboard...... Also planning a new Motown covers album is former Genesis drummer/vocalist and '80s solo superstar Phil Collins. "I want the songs to sound exactly like the originals," Collins told the German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt on Oct. 19 about his upcoming 30-song album, which he hopes to release in 2010. Swiss resident Collins, 58, added that since he had surgery in April to repair a dislocated vertebra in his neck he doesn't have feeling in his fingers and isn't able to pick up his drumsticks. "The only way (I) could drum is if (I) were to glue drumsticks to my hands," he says. - AP...... A new Michael Jackson video clip featuring the late pop superstar performing his 1985 hit "Human Nature" has been unveiled in the lead-up to the highly anticipated Jackson theatrical movie This Is It. The video shows Jacko at the rehearsal at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in preparation for what should have been his London residency. This Is It is scheduled to screen in cinemas around the world for two weeks only beginning Oct. 28, and its soundtrack album will be released two days earlier. Meanwhile, Paul Anka has spoken out about the recent "This Is It" songwriting dispute in which he claimed he was initially not given proper credit for his contribution. Speaking to the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, Anka said he has now been officially credited for his role in the tune, and added that he felt there was no malice originally intended: "[It was] an honest mistake. I want to clear the record. I have spoken to the estate, they have understood that this has been a mistake -- an honest mistake. They have clarified the issue." He added that he is now set to receive royalties from the single and that he now wants to put the issue behind him. - Undercover/New Musical Express...... In other Michael Jackson news, on Oct. 14 Jackson's mother Katherine denied a report in the magazine US Weekly that the three Jackson children will appear in a TV reality series. Katherine Jackson said her late son shielded his children --- Prince, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7 -- and would not have wanted them to be in the public eye. Us Weekly suggested television viewers would soon see Jackson's children on a new reality series titled The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty that is tentatively set to air in December on cable network A&E. Us Weekly issued a statement saying it was standing by its story. - Reuters/Billboard...... Harmonix/MTV Games has announced that the Beatles' Abbey Road album will be made available in its entirety for its The Beatles: Rock Band video game starting Oct. 19. The companies also announced that the entire Sgt. Pepperıs Lonely Hearts Club Band album game will be available or download in November, with a Rubber Soul game dropping in December. - Rolling Stone...... In other Beatles-related news, Paul McCartney will be among the headliners at a charity gig at London's Royal Albert Hall that benefits the Children In Need organization on Nov. 12. Also on the bill will be Nuse, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Snow Patrol, Leona Lewis and Shirley Bassey. Meanwhile, on Oct. 14 Sir Paul was among the honorees at an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awards ceremony in London. Macca was named Songwriter Of The Year and was recognized with song awards for the Lennon/McCartney classics "All You Need Is Love," "Come Together" and "Hello Goodbye." The awards recognized the most performed works in 2008 by writer and publisher members of U.K. collecting society PRS for Music, who are licensed by ASCAP for the U.S.- NME/Billboard...... In related news, the 2010 Songwriter Hall of Fame nominations have been announced and '70s artists Lou Reed and Elvis Costello are among the nominees. "The indefatigable (Elvis) Costello has also written country and classical music while collaborating with Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney and earning his way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," the SHOF said in a press release, adding that Lou Reed "(has) established himself as a major solo singer-songwriter thanks to such titles as "Walk On The Wild Side" and "Dirty Boulevard." - Undercover...... The UK's Royal Mail has announced a new set of 10 stamps commemorating iconic album covers by such classic rock acts as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Clash will be issued on Jan. 7, 2010. One consideration is the darkness of the image, which is probably bad news for fans Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. In other Pink Floyd-related news, former Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is to receive an honorary Doctor Of Arts degree from Anglia Ruskin University at a ceremony set to take place in November. - NorvicPhilatics.com/NME...... New York Dolls guitarist Steve Conte will release a solo album to coincide with the Dolls' highly anticipated forthcoming UK tour which kicks off on Dec. 2 at the Cambridge Junction. "There is very little genuine rock and roll out there at the moment, but Steve Conte has hit the nail on the head with this one," says the album's producer, Steve Lillywhite. Conte joined Dolls when Morrissey reunited the band at Meltdown Festival in 2004, and has since gone on to play guitar on the band's 2006 and 2009 studio albums. - Noble PR...... Def Leppard posted a statement on its official website on Oct. 19 saying it was canceling the final leg of its North American Tour "due to unforeseen personal matters." The British rockers added they "agonized over (the) decision" before calling off the 23 shows of the leg, which was set to kick off Oct. 22 in Reno, Nev., and wrap on Nov. 28 in Beaumont, Tex. The trek was one of the most popular tours currently underway in the US and Canada. - AP...... Hollywood producer Daniel Melnick, the force behind such gutsy, smart '70s films as Straw Dogs, Network and Midnight Express, died of multiple ailments at his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 13. He was 77. Melnick, who had recently undergone surgery for lung cancer, was also head of production at MGM and Columbia, where he helped develop the divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer and the nuclear suspense thriller The China Syndrome. - AP

'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...... In other Beatles-related news, John Lennon was memorialized with his own lunar crater on Oct. 9 -- what would have been his 69th birthday -- by the Lunar Geographic Society. The "John Lennon Peace Crater," located on the earthside of the moon, is six kilometres wide and 990 metres deep. Formerly known as Daniell D and is part of the Daniell crater group, the crater rests appropriately in the heart of the moon's "Lake of Dreams." Lennon joins an exclusive group of historical figures with lunar craters named in their honor, including Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Jules Verne, Sir Isaac Newton and Julius Caesar. Meanwhile, John's eldest son Julian Lennon has put together a charity single to honor his friend Lucy Vodden, the inspiration for his dad's famous song "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds." Julian was in the studio working on backing vocals for a song titled "Lucy" by James Scott Cook, an artist on his new company theRevolution. When they heard of Lucy Vodden's death a few weeks ago, his producer Todd Meagher suggested they turn the song into a tribute. Julian formed theRevolution to assist artists to form their own businesses and then invests in the businesses. - Undercover...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, Paul McCartney has just revealed the tracklisting for his forthcoming live album and DVD, Good Evening New York City. The two live CDs' 33 tracks, recorded at New York's Citi Field in July, include such McCartney/Wings hits as "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die," along with a generous helping of Beatles chestnuts, including "Drive My Car," "Got To Get You Into My Life," "Back in the USSR," "Paperback Writer," "Day Tripper" and "Lady Madonna." Due Nov. 23, the release will also be available on vinyl and as a deluxe edition. - New Musical Express...... Michael Jackson's new single, "This Is It," was released on Oct. 11 and almost immediately spawned discussions about its similarities to a 1991 track written by Jackson and Paul Anka and recorded by R&B singer Safire. On Oct. 12, Anka told the New York Times that he not been contacted about the use of the song and was not given proper writing credit for the single, which lists Jackson as the sole songwriter. The melody of "This Is It" is reportedly almost identical to a song called "I Never Heard," an unreleased song which Jackson wrote and recorded with Anka in 1983. Anka reportedly claims Jackson took the master tapes and Anka had to threaten the pop superstar with a lawsuit to get them back. Anka has now struck a deal with Jackson's estate over the "This Is It" rights and will receive 50 percent of the publishing rights to the song, which was reportedly found in a box of tapes as a demo featuring only Jacksonıs voice and piano. "They did the right thing," Anka told the AP. "I don't think that anybody tried to do the wrong thing -- it was an honest mistake." Jackson's This Is It soundtrack album, which features songs from his upcoming rehearsal-footage documentary film, hits stores Oct. 27. Meanwhile, on Oct. 13 Jackson was nominated for five American Music Awards. The late pop superstar has sold 5.7 million albums in the United States so far this year, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. AMA nominees are determined by radio airplay and retail sales, while members of the public determine the winners through online voting. The American Music Awards will be held Nov. 22 in Los Angeles. - LiveDaily/Rolling Stone/Reuters...... In other Jackson news, burnt strands of hair salvaged from his head after he was notoriously involved in a disastrous episode while filming a Pepsi commercial are scheduled to be auctioned in London on Oct. 17. The 12 strands of hair, which were collected by the commercial's executive producer Ralph Cohen, are expected to sell for up to £1,000 ($1,600). The sale is not the only hair-related auction: a clump of Elvis Presley's hair is expected to raise up to $12,000 at an auction held in Chicago on Oct. 18. The clump of Presley's hair was salvaged by a friend of his after Elvis enlisted in the U.S. Army and, like all new recruits, was forced to undergo a close haircut. The hair is being sold as part of a collection of Elvis memorabilia, which also includes signed records and clothing. - New Musical Express...... Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit will perform the first of four planned intimate gigs across the U.S. on Oct. 14 behind the release of his first solo album in eight years, Expando. Schmit will play Los Angeles' Largo club on Oct. 14; Nashville's The Basement on Oct. 16; Chicago's Schubas on Oct. 18; and New York's Bitter End on Oct. 21. Expando, which features an all-star cast including Graham Nash, Blind Boys of Alabama, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Dwight Yoakham, hits stores Oct. 20. Schmit recorded Expando at his home studio in Los Angeles during breaks from the Eagles, who have been on the road on and off since May last year. - Undercover...... In other country-rock news, Stephen Stills will release Live at Shepherd's Bush, a CD/DVD set from his 2009 solo tour, on Oct. 27. Stills, who released an album of outtakes from his former band Mannassas in September called Pieces, is also planning number of other archival projects, including a Manassas box set. Stills recently told Billboard that he's also "gonna write another album," the follow-up to his 2005 set Man Alive! He says he hopes to road-test some of the solo material as well before hitting the studio. - Billboard...... Kiss's new studio album, Sonic Boom, debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's pop chart on Oct. 14. It was the schock-rockers' highest ranking ever, with some 108,000 copies selling in the first week. A Walmart-only release, the 3-disc Sonic Boom retails for a reasonable $12 and consists of one disc with 11 new songs, another with re-recorded Kiss hits, and a DVD. Kiss has also just added several new late-year dates to its ongoing "Alive 35" tour. The new stretch begins with a Dec. 8 show in Tulsa, Okla., also hitting Kansas City, Mo. (12/10); Council Bluffs, Ia. (12/11); and Pittsburgh (12/13); then wraps on Dec. 15 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Kiss kicked off the 39-city tour on Oct. 9 in Uniondale, N.Y. Meanwhile in other Kiss-related news, former band drummer Peter Criss posted a statement on his official website that he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 but has now been given the all clear. "With (early detection) my great doctor Alex Swistel & staff and the Lord above, who always looks over me, I am cancer free today," Criss wrote. Criss announced he was leaving Kiss permanently in 2006. - Reuters/LiveDaily/Undercover...... Attorneys representing Carly Simon filed a lawsuit on Oct. 9 in California's Los Angeles County Superior Court against Starbucks Corp., alleging the coffee retailing giant's now-defunct music venture Hear Music didn't adequately promote her 2008 album This Kind of Love, dooming the record before it was even released. The suit claims the album wasn't available in "a substantial number" of Starbucks stores during the key early months following its Apr. 2008 release and later, when the disc was finally stocked in Starbucks locations, the Seattle-based company slashed the price. Starbucks issued a press release on Oct. 12 stating it met all its contractual obligations and even extended the amount of time it promoted the album in New York and Boston. Simon's lawsuit blames the poor performance of This Kind of Love, which has sold only 124,000 copies, on a decision by Starbucks days before the album's release to end its involvement in Hear Music, a joint venture with Concord Music. Simon's latest album, Never Been Gone, is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on Oct. 27 via her son Ben Taylor's Iris Records label. - AP...... Barbra Streisand's new CD Love Is the Answer has become her first chart-topping studio album in the UK since 1980's Guilty. With the aid of an appearance by the diva on a special edition of the BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross program on Oct. 2, the album sold 27,000 units in Britain during the second week of October. - Billboard...... The Sex Pistols' lawyers have threatened a UK ice cream company with legal action because of similarities in their advertising campaign and the band's artwork and lyrics. In their new ad campaign the Icecreamists, a London-based company, feature a picture of the Queen backed by a Union flag, with an ice cream spoon in her mouth and the words "God save the cream" written across her face. Lawyers for the Pistols say the design is too similar to their Jamie Reid-designed artwork, which was used on singles including "God Save The Queen." But the founder of the company said he was surprised that the band appear to be concerned: "We are a bit dumbfounded that a group that made its reputation for being banned is trying to ban one of our ice creams." Moreover, the company also offers an absinthe-based ice-cream cocktail called the "Sex Pistol." - NME...... A memorial to Freddie Mercury will be unveiled in the late Queen frontman's old west London neighborhood on Nov. 24. Mercury will be remembered with a Hollywood Walk of Fame-style star outside the library in the Feltham town centre. "I am delighted that at last we are honouring Freddie Mercury's memory and his achievements with a permanent memorial," councillor and memorial organiser Paul Jabbal told a local paper. "As well as celebrating his life and success, it can serve as a reminder to local people that it doesn't matter where you come from, if you work hard you can succeed in whatever you do," he added. - NME...... Tom Waits has announced he'll release a 2-disc live album documenting his 2008 "Glitter and Doom" tour on Nov. 24. Released on both CD and vinyl, the first disc of Glitter and Doom compiles 16 tracks from ten different nights of the tour, while disc two is a single track of Waits' "between-song banter" in a continuous monologue. Glitter and Doom Live is currently available to pre-order from TomWaits.com, and fans can also download the first eight tracks for free from his website. - NME...... Todd Rundgren has unveiled an all-star lineup that will participate in the British premiere of his A Wizard, A True Star concert set for Feb. 6, 2010 at the HMV London Hammersmith Apollo. Rundgren will be accompanied by Jesse Gress (guitar, vocals), Greg Hawkes (keyboards, vocals), Ralph Schuckett (keyboards, vocals), Prairie Prince (drums), Bobby Strickland (saxophone, vocals) and Kasim Sulton (bass, vocals). Rundgren will perform his classic 1973 album A Wizard, A True Star in its entirety at the show. - Noble PR...... Popular music singer Al Martino, who played the Frank Sinatra-type role of singer Johnny Fontane in the hit 1972 film The Godfather, died on Oct. 13 at his childhood home in Springfield, Penn. He was 82. Mr. Martino was known for such hit 1950's songs as "Here in My Heart," "Spanish Eyes," "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Volare." He also sang "I Have But One Heart (O Marenariello)" in The Godfather. Philadelphia radio and TV personality Jerry Blavat described Mr. Martino as "the last of the show business legends...The last of the performers. A magnificent voice." - AP

'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...... Carly Simon has announced she'll embark on a tour of small venues in European cities in early 2010 for the first time in her 38-year career behind her forthcoming album Never Been Gone. "I'm going to do what Elvis should have done," the 64-year-old singer/songwriter said, referring to the late king of rock & roll's noted failure to tour the continent. Simon, who rarely performs live anywhere due to a combination of stage fright and fear of flying, added she "likes to play small places, because I'm much better in an intimate setting than I am in a large hall where I can't see everybody. I really like to see the people that I'm singing to." Simon will promote Never Been Gone, which drops Oct. 27 in the U.S., with appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's Today, and ("when he gets himself together") CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. The CD, which is being released via Carly's son Ben Taylor's Iris Records label, features freshly arranged home recordings of some of her biggest hits, including "You're So Vain," "Anticipation" and "The Right Thing To Do." It also includes two new tunes, "No Freedom" and "Songbird." Simon's last CD was last year's This Kind of Love, her first album of new material in nine years. - Reuters...... In other Adult Contemporary news, Sony Music has announced Barry Manilow has re-signed his recording deal with its subsidiary Arista Records and will be releasing two new albums -- a Christmas album and a collaboration with Arista founder Clive Davis -- in the coming months. In the Swing of Christmas, which hits stores Oct. 13, will feature contemporary and traditional yuletide songs, while the Davis collaboration The Greatest Love Songs of All Time will drop in Jan. 2010 in time for Valentine's Day. After Davis was ousted from Arista in 2000, Manilow's contract was not renewed, but when Davis returned to Arista five years later, he re-signed Manilow. The two have worked together on several recordings since they first collaborated on "Mandy," Manilow's debut #1 single. In a statement, Davis said he and Manilow "are on a mission to bring to a new generation the great songs that are the soundtrack of our lives" and that "Barry is sounding better than ever." - Reuters...... Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician who is currently at the center of an investigation into the death of Michael Jackson, may face arrest and could lose his medical license after missing a hearing in Las Vegas on Oct. 8 to explain late child support payments to a California woman. The district attorney says a district judge could approve an arrest warrant for Murray that's recommended by a family court hearing master within 10 days. But Murray, who owes $13,000 in unpaid child support to the woman, can object to the warrant before a judge approves it. Meanwhile, prosecutors in Los Angeles are still weighing charges against Murray in Jackson's death. Murray told police he administered a powerful anesthetic to the singer shortly before Jackson died June 25. In other Jackson news, an Australian talent show skit on Oct. 7 based around Michael's boyhood band the Jackson 5 prompted guest judge Harry Connick Jr. to protest its "blackface" routine and call for an apology. In the skit, five members of the "Jackson Jive" group painted their faces black and donned black afro wigs in the skit, while another dressed as Jackson himself, with white face paint. After Connick walked off the set during a commercial break, he returned at the show's end to receive an apology from the show's host. The program was watched by an estimated 2.3 million Australians. Meanwhile, details of Michael Jackson's forthcoming This Is It soundtrack album have been released. The 2-disc set will feature the original masters of some of the late pop star's biggest hits in an order that corresponds with how the songs would have appeared in the This Is It concerts. Two versions of "This Is It" will close out the first disc, the original and an orchestral take. Disc Two will feature three demos -- "She's Out of My Life," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Beat It." The album hits stores Oct. 27. Another Jackson-related release, I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters, celebrates the Jackson 5's the 40th anniversary of the Jackson 5's first single of the same name. A single from the set, "That's How Love Is," was released on Oct. 6 on iTunes. - AP/Reuters/Rolling Stone/Billboard...... Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says he's pressing ahead with his own ambitious solo projects and doesn't know if Aerosmith will overcome its latest troubles, which include members being beset by various medical ailments and a recent start-stop U.S. tour after singer Steven Tyler fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. Perry, who released his fifth solo album Have Guitar Will Travel on Oct. 6, says he and Tyler have not composed a song together in 10 years but added that he's an "eternal optimist." "I can definitely say that I'm not saying 'No' to an Aerosmith record or something, or tour or whatever," Perry says. "I think we need more time to get everybody healthy and the whole thing, and see if Steven wants to be part of the band again." Perry added he plans to tour beginning with a Nov. 10 show in New York, also visiting Sayreville, N.J.; Boston; Clifton Park, N.Y.; Windsor, Ont. and Indio, Calif., and then launch a three-month world trek at the beginning of 2010. - Reuters...... Do What You Want, Be What You Are, Hall & Oates' first ever box set that covers material from all their record labels, hits stores Oct. 13. The 4-disc, 74 track release features 16 previously unreleased songs as well as a pair of new H&O recordings -- a fresh version of "Dreamer," which was written but not used for 1972's Whole Oats album, and a version of the Mad Lads' "I Want Someone" from Oates' 2008 appearance on Hall's Live From Daryl's House Internet series. While Hall and Oates continue to perform together, both men say there are no plans for an album of new material in the near future. Both are also planning solo albums, most likely for 2010. - Billboard...... With her latest album Love Is the Answer debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the first week of October, Barbra Streisand has extended her lead as the female act with the most #1's in the history of the chart. Love Is the Answer moved 180,000 copies according to Neilsen SoundScan and was the diva's highest charting album since 1997's Higher Ground, which also bowed at #1 with 207,000. Streisand will likely be overtaken in the second week of October by Sonic Boom from iconic rockers Kiss, which industry sources say could shift somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 copies in its first week of release. Although Kiss has never had a #1 album during its long career, the act has notched seven Top 10 albums, the highest being 1998's #3 Psycho Circus. Other high charting Kiss albums include 1975's Alive (#9); 1977's Love Gun (#4); and 1992's Revenge (#6). - Billboard...... Speaking of Kiss, the shock-rockers capped an explosive guest performance on the late-night talkfest The Late Show with David Letterman on Oct. 6 by licking host David Letterman -- already in his own personal and professional turmoil -- in the ear. Gene Simmons massive tongue seemed to surprise Letterman after the band finished a rendition of the new Sonic Boom single "Modern Day Delilah." - Rolling Stone...... German electronic-rock pioneers Kraftwerk will release a box set of its primary album catalog on Nov. 17, according to co-founder Ralf Hutter. Hutter says he and co-founder Florian Schneider are also working on what would be Kraftwerks' first new album since 2003's Tour De France Soundtracks. The 8-disc box set, dubbed The Catalogue, commemorates the 35th anniversary of Kraftwerk's breakthrough hit "Autobahn" and contains remastered versions of all the albums the group released between 1974-2003. "It's a piece of work that just had to be done," Hutter says of the catalog overhaul. "The quality (of previous CDs) wasn't always as it should have been...especially the artwork was just cut down from the LP format or scanned down, especially in America...You have everything from Kraftwerk in high (quality) formats." - Billboard...... The new Ricky Gervais-starred film The Invention of Lying, currently in U.S. theaters, features Elvis Costello covering Cat Stevens' '70s hit "Sitting." Stevens recorded "Sitting" for his 1972 album Catch Bull at Four. Right now there is no word of a soundtrack album to officially release the Costello version of the song. - Undercover...... The Soul Train Awards will return to the air on Nov. 29, two years after the ceremony went on a two-year hiatus. Record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid, singers Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson will be honored on this year's 2-hour music special to be taped in Atlanta. The Soul Train Awards recognize those who helped shape R&B music and were started by Don Cornelius, the creator of the syndicated music show Soul Train. The 2009 awards will air on the Centric channel -- a channel jointly operated by the BET and MTV Networks divisions of Viacom. - AP...... Bob Dylan has added three nights in both Boston and New York City to his current U.S. tour behind his latest studio album, Together Through Life. The new Boston (11/13-15) and New York (11/17-19) engagements come at the tail end of Dylan's fall tour, which wraps in NYC. Dylan's next dates include Berkeley, Calif. (10/10, 11); Los Angeles (10/13-15); Phoenix (10/17); and Las Vegas (10/18). - LiveDaily...... Don't read David Byrne's new book Bicycle Diaries for inside dirt on Talking Heads, but pick it up if you're looking for a compelling travelogue and journal from one of rock's broadest minds. Byrne -- who says that bikes have been his primary mode of transportation since the 1980s -- recalls his two-wheeled jaunts all over the world, from the chaos of Instanbul's streets to navigating his hometown, New York, during the 2003 blackout. And though this book isn't for them, music fans will enjoy his story of busking with a ukulele on the streets of Berkeley in the Seventies. - Rolling Stone...... Kris Kristofferson's new CD Closer to the Bone doesn't come with a campfire, but it might as well. "Here's one I wrote for my kids," says Kristofferson, introducing "From Here to Forever," one of a dozen fine songs on his 15th studio release. As the album title suggests, the scale is intimate, and songs like "Starlight and Stone" approach old age (he's 73) with a wry smile and resignation that borders on religiosity. "The road never ends," he sings, "and the soul never dies." Also available is a deluxe edition with a 2008 live show in Dublin. - Rolling Stone...... Brian Wilson recently told the Los Angeles Times that he will complete at least two unfinished works by American composer George Gershwin for an upcoming album. The Beach Boys mastermind says he received authorization from the Gershwin estate to work on the unfinished songs, which are more than seven decades old. "I'm proud to be able to do it. Hopefully I'll be able to do them justice," WIlson told the paper. Wilson plans to release an album's worth of Gershwin music in 2010. Gershwin died at the age of 38 in 1937, leaving behind dozens of unfinished works ranging from mere bars to nearly completed songs. In 2004, Wilson salvaged another decades-old, unfinished masterpiece when he finally completed his supposed Pet Sounds follow-up Smile to generally positive reviews. - L.A. Times/Rolling Stone...... Longtime Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hillburn earned the friendship of artists such as Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon and Johnny Cash, and few writers have snagged more candid interviews from cagey subjects like Bob Dylan. His new page-turner Cornflakes With John Lennon and Other Tales From a Rock 'n' Roll Life is less a memoir than a chronological collection of close-up encounters with rock royalty, peaking during his recollection of a tear-streaked Yoko Ono siting in bed the day after Lennon's assassination. "The future is still ours to make," a distraught Ono told Hillburn. That's true, but what a history. - Rolling Stone...... Robert Kirby, the string arranger who worked on Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter albums, died on Oct. 3 in a west London hospital after a short illness. He was 61. Kirby first hooked up with Drak at Cambridge University in early 1968 and put together a string section to accompany the singer-songwriter at live appearances. Kirby also spent three years playing keyboards in the English prog-rock band the Strawbs in the mid-1970s, but at the end of the decade opted for a career in marketing. He made occasional returns to the studio in the 1980s, most notably on Elvis Costello's Almost Blue. - Undercover...... A clump of Elvis Presley's hair is set to be auctioned on Oct. 10 in Chicago. The hair, which was salvaged by a friend of Elvis' in 1958 after Presley enlisted in the army, is expected to raise ukp to $12,000. It's being sold as part of a collection of Elvis memorabilia, which includes signed records and clothing. - New Musical Express...... Speaking of Elvis, the veteran Nashville label exec and producer who purchased Presley's original record label Sun Records from founder Sam Phillips in 1969 has died. Shelby Singleton, 77, passed away on Oct. 7 from brain cancer. He produced hits like Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 #1 country-to-pop crossover "Harper Valley P.T.A." and nurtured the careers of comedic singer Ray Stevens and guitarist-vocalist Jerry Reed. While Presley's Sun masters had been bought by RCA in the 1956 deal that took him to the label, Singleton still capitalized on Presley's Sun tenure by marketing the masked vocalist Orion (real name Jimmy Ellis) as a kind of alternate-universe Elvis. - AP

'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...... A biopic based on the life of late Ramones frontman Joey Ramone is in the works. Based on the upcoming memoir I Slept with Joey Ramone by Joey's brother Mickey Leigh and longtime Ramones biographer Legs McNeil, the biopic will be released through 20th Century Fox's Searchlight division. Although the Ramones starred in the 1979 teen-rebel comedy Rock 'n Roll High School and appeared in a well-received 2004 documentary End of the Century, there has never been a feature tale centering on the band's musical influence and backstage drama. Meanwhile, Leigh and McNeil's book is scheduled to be published by the Simon & Schuster imprint Fireside in December. In other Ramones-related news, a tribute event to commemorate the death of the Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone took place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles on Oct. 3. It was a world premiere screening of the horror film Night of the Living Dead 3-D, as well as the 1977 Ramones concert film It's Alive. Johnny Ramone, described as a "huge horror movie fan" by the event's organizer, died of prostrate cancer in 2004. - Billboard/NME...... Good Evening New York City, a multi-disc set featuring nearly three hours of Paul McCartney's most memorable performances from his CitiField Stadium shows in New York in July, will be released on CD and DVD on Nov. 17. Among the set highlights are such Beatles classics "Drive My Car," Eleanor Rigby" and "Hey Jude"; a tribute medley to John Lennon; and the Wings staple "Live and Let Die." The release will also be made available on vinyl and will include a live DVD of Macca's concert footage compiled from Hi-Def cameras and digital Flipcam video shot by fans in the crowd. It will be Sir Paul's second release on the Hear Music label, following 2007's Memory Almost Full. - Billboard...... On Oct. 2 L.A. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff extended control of Michael Jackson's financial affairs to the administrators of his multimillion-dollar estate for three months, but urged them to settle differences with the late singer's mother, Katherine Jackson. Katherine's lawyers say she wants a greater say in decisions made by its administrators, L.A. attorney John Branca and businessman John McClain. Katherine and Michael's three children are the beneficiaries of the estate, which is valued at some $400 million. Jackson's assets are estimated to outweigh his debts by some $200 million, and the administrators say they album sales, licensing deals, business partnerships and the movie could boost the estate value by another $200 million. Meanwhile, Jackson's estate has filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court against the Heal The World Foundation charity, alleging unfair competition, trademark infringements and other offenses. The estate claims that HTW suggested that Jackson was a supporter, pointing out that his own charity, called "Heal The World," is not active. In other Jackson news, an autopsy report obtained by the Associate Press shows Jackson was in relative good health at the time of his death. It says the "Thriller" singer's arms were covered with punctures, his face and neck were scarred and he had tattooed eyebrows and lips. On the negative side, he had some arthritis and his lungs were damaged, which may have left him short of breath, but the report said none of those health issues were "life-threatening" and concluded his death likely resulted from the potent anesthetic that was administered by his personal physician. - Reuters/New Musical Express/Billboard...... Sony Music's Legacy label has announced it will reissue Phil Spector's Philles Records in newly remastered versions. First up under the licensing deal with EMI Music Publishing will be Spector's classic Christmas album, A Christmas Gift For You, on Oct. 27. The plan will include both digital and physical (including CDs and vinyl records) releases of titles drawn from Spector's original albums and singles in the Philles catalog. In a press release, Sony/Legacy said "The Philles 'Wall of Sound' is embedded in our musical DNA, the craft of these recordings, the quality of the songwriting and the power of the productions have established a standard that continues to inspire artists and musicians." - Billboard...... On their new Walmart-only 3-disc set Sonic Boom, Kiss haven't gotten any subtler in the 11 years since their last studio album ("Baby, feel my tower of power!" declares Gene Simmons on "Hot and Cold"). And why should they? There's no denying the pleasingly hook-ladennature of such anthemic rockers as Boom's "Stand" and "Modern Day Delilah," while onetime Kiss opening-act guitarist Tommy Thayer makes for an adequate Ace Frehley replacement. The release -- which includes a CD of rerecorded hits and a live DVD -- should remind Rock & Roll Hall of Fame voters that the recent nominees deserve consideration for far more than just Simmons' fire-breathing abilities. - Entertainment Weekly...... In an ironic twist from his '60s establishment-protesting days, Bob Dylan's upcoming Christmas album Christmas in the Heart will be available for free Internet download to the 13 million customers currently enrolled in CitiBank's rewards program on Oct. 13. Citibank exec Nancy Gordon says she expects the rock bard's yuletide set to have "high appeal" to their customers, who mainly get points by using their credit or debit cards. Dylan previously announced that proceeds from the album, which hits stores Oct. 13, will go to charities that feed the needy. In other Dylan news, the rock icon has extended his fall tour plans once again, expanding the trek into November behind the new Christmas release. Dylan has added a batch of new dates -- mainly in the Midwest -- to the outing, which kicks off Oct. 4 and 5 in Seattle. The recently added dates include Detroit (11/6); Kitchener, Ontario (11/7); and Fairfax, VA (11/11). - Billboard/LiveDaily...... Speaking of Christmas albums, Neil Diamond will release another yuletide set of his own in October. Cherry Cherry Christmas, which recalls the title of one of his big '60s hits, will feature a new song in the title track and "Christmas Dream," as well as such Christmas standards as Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" "White Christmas," "The Christmas Song," "Deck The Halls/We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock." - Undercover...... The concert music downloading site Wolfgang's Vault has announced that beginning Nov. 3 it will open up its entire catalog for downloading. The site also announced it will add more than 1,000 titles from 919 artists to the approximately 500 that are currently available for purchase from the site's Concert Vault section. The download prices will run $7.98 and $8.98 for MP3s and $11.98 and $12.98 for Flac recordings. In addition to the Concert Vault, Wolfgang's Vault also sells memorabilia, operates a Vault Radio network, displays music photography and publishes an online version of Crawdaddy magazine. - Billboard...... Ben Presley, the teenage grandson of Elvis Presley, has signed a $5 million recording deal with Universal. Ben, the 17-year-old son of Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie Presley, will make up to five albums for the label. Ben's music is described as "nothing like Elvis, nothing like him at all" and the teen hopes to release his first album under the deal in 2010. "He's a typical 17 year-old," says his spokesman. "He doesn't get up before midday and then grunts at you." - New Musical Express...... Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck have announced they'll play a second show at the London O2 Arena next February. The two veteran axmen will play a show on Feb. 14, in addition to the previously announced concert on the previous night. - NME...... AC/DC's Brian Johnson has elaborated on why his band was forced to cancel six shows on its current tour: "My insides were giving me lots of trouble, ulcers and such. They were really uncomfortable and painful, which required me to seek immediate medical attention....The doctor's looked me over, poked, scanned and prodded all possible areas. In the end they gave me a clean bill of health, but insisted that I take a bit of time to recuperate and rest up." AC/DC's Black Ice Tour is scheduled to resume on Oct. 16 in Washington, D.C. After wrapping stateside, they'll head to Latin America and then Australia and New Zealand in Feb. 2010. - Undercover...... In related news, former the Band member Levon Helm, who recently faced a cancer scare after doctors discovered a lesion on his vocal cords, must undergo a period of vocal rest but is expected to sing again following intensive therapy with his vocal coach. Helm's doctors discovered the lesion after the drummer lost his voice this summer while on tour in support of his second solo album, Electric Dirt. A biopsy of the lesion, which was removed by laser, revealed no cancer. However, his doctors said he needs strict vocal rest in order to heal. - LiveDaily...... The new Jonathan Demme-directed Neil Young movie The Neil Young Trunk Show premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival at the Bearsville Theater in Bearsville, N.Y. on Oct. 3. Described as a "moment in time from Young's Chrome Dreams Tour," the film features a stunning epic live version of "No Hidden Paths" and the unreleased song "Kansas." - Undercover...... With the Eagles currently on hiatus, band cofounder Don Henley will hit the road in North America in November in support of his recent solo career compilation, The Very Best of Don Henley. Henley kicks off the outing on Nov. 4 in Mashantucket, Conn., also visiting Windsor, Ont. (11/6); Chicago (11/9); Boston (11/11); Atlantic City, N.J. (11/14); Hamilton, Ont. (11/17); London, Ont. (11/18); and Norfolk, Va. (11/20). - LiveDaily...... The New York Dolls now have a total of seven dates lined up on their forthcoming U.K. tour. The shows include Cambridge (12/2); Bristol (12/3); London (12/4); Southampton (12/6); Leamington (12/8); Liverpool (12/9) and Edinburgh (12/10). The Dolls are touring behind their latest Todd Rundgren-produced album, 'Cause I Sez So. - Noble PR...... Police drummer Stewart Copeland says he hopes his new book Strange Things Happen: A Life With the Police, Polo, and Pygmies will portray what he feels is a more insightful and accurate view of the famous volatility that is part of the famous British trio's legend. "I think I did succeed in clarifying the conflict in the band," Copeland says. "That's what life in the Police was all about. It was always a clash of musical ideals...We were fighting over the right things." Copeland also writes about his CIA agent father, his youth in the Middle East and England, and his other musical experiences. Meanwhile, he's currently finishing a concerto for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra that will premiere in 2010 and is finalizing a commission from a British opera company. - Billboard...... Funnyman Steve Martin has just begun his first concert tour to promote his critically acclaimed album The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo. The Crow marked Martin's first appearance on the U.S. pop chart since a comedy/banjo hybrid in 1981. On Oct. 1, it won two awards -- for graphic design and Martin's own humorous liner notes -- the International Bluegrass Awards in Nashville. Although Martin quit the standup circuit 30 years ago to focus on films and writing, his tour still has plenty of one-liners thrown in, to wit: "I wrote this song when I was on vacation in St. Bart's, so I have about $35,000 invested in it." Martin says he's already written five songs for his next album, and it could feature cameos from his Rounder Records labelmates Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent. "I need them more than they need me," he says. - Reuters...... Actor Dennis Hopper was released from a New York City hospital on Oct. 1 after taking ill the day before. The Easy Rider star checked himself into the hospital after showing "severe flulike symptoms" and was treated for dehydration. Hopper was in NYC on a publicity trip for his current project, a TV version of the Oscar-winning 2004 film Crash, and had been forced to cancel a number of interviews and TV appearances when he became ill. - AP...... The patience of The Mary Tyler Moore Show fans is a lesson in Zen, with three years passing since the last DVD issue. On the new Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Fifth Season journalist Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) & Co. are at the height of their powers in 1974-75. How many shows, for example, go from hilarious to poignant on a dime? (Don't be shocked if you mist up as Mary's carted off to jail in the premiere.) True, there are no extras, and it's the first season without Valerie Harper, but if that bums you out, you can look forward to the season 6 release. Three words: Chuckles the Clown. - Entertainment Weekly

'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...... Genesis releases a new 10-disc box set featuring four of the prog-rock group's five concert sets, Genesis Live 1973-2007, on Sept. 29. Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, who has been compiling series of box sets for the band since 2007, says he "wasn't so sure about doing the live stuff" in this fashion but is happy with the result. "As a first introduction to Genesis I think the studio albums are definitely better, but it's quite interesting to hear how we did these very complex pieces live," Banks says. "They take on a bit more fluency, I think." Banks, who's also releasing a remastered version of his 1979 solo album A Curious Feeling, adds that Genesis is still planning to start making individual concerts from the archives available on its web site, though no firm plan is in place yet. Genesis recently received their first nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2010 inductees. - Billboard...... A British researcher has uncovered an essay written by Paul McCartney about Queen Elizabeth II when the former Beatles was just 10 years old. Kevin Roach says he found the essay written by Macca in a very tidy, curling script in records at Liverpool's Central Library. Roach said the writing is "advanced -- you would say it was written by someone who was older than 10 years old, more like 14 or 15." The future Sir Paul contrasted violence which occurred on the coronation day of William the Conqueror with the day celebrating "our lovely young queen," according to Roach. "No rioting nor killing will take place because present day royalty rules with affection rather than force," the essay says. McCartney won the under-11 age category of the essay competition, and was given a prize -- a gift certificate for books -- by Liverpool's Lord Mayor. - AP...... In other Beatles-related news, George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison has won a legal battle to get a security fence originally erected after her late husband was attacked replaced. After being stabbed by an intruder on his Henley-On-Thames estate in 1999, Harrison erected an eight-foot high razor wire fence, but some neighbors labelled in "inappropriate" and one neighbor claimed the fence had injured his cat. Olivia has now received permission from South Oxfordshire District Council to replace it. Harrison died in 2001. - New Musical Express...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, the woman who inspired the Beatles' iconic song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has died at the age of 46. As the story goes, Lucy O'Donnell was a childhood friend of John Lennon's son Julian, and the song title for John's psychedelic masterpiece from the Sgt. Pepper's album was inspired by a picture that he had drawn of her at school. Vodden, who had been battling lupus for several years, died at St. Thomas' Hospital in London at age 46. Julian Lennon reached out to Vodden in recent years as she suffered from lupus, a chronic illness during which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue. - Reuters...... Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd will celebrate the release of their new CD God & Guns with an Oct. 1 show at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Skynyrd will then kick off a five-week tour of the U.S. on Oct. 15 in Toledo, Oh. God & Guns was recorded in Nashville with Bob Marlette (Ozzy Osbourne, Shinedown) and collaborated on several tracks with Rob Zombie guitarist John5. The album's two closing songs pay tribute to recently fallen band members, with "Storm" nodding to Ean Evans and "Gifted Hands" saluting Billy Powell. Skynyrd spent the summer on the road with Kid Rock, and co-founding guitarist Gary Rossington says the band may also play more dates with Rock in 2010. - Billboard...... Kiss kicked off the U.S. leg of its "Kiss Alive 35" anniversary tour in Detroit on Sept. 25, recreating its breakthrough 1975 live set Alive! in the same place it was originally recorded -- Detroit's Cobo Arena. Kiss played all but two of Alive!'s tracks ("Firehouse" and "Rock Bottom" were omitted) and altering the album's running order slightly to close with "Rock and Roll All Nite." The band also unveiled its new stage, which Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley says is "the widest, biggest stage we've had." The concert was documented by a full camera crew for what Kiss bassist Gene Simmons said would be an eventual concert DVD. Kiss will be on tour in North America through Dec. 6, including a Halloween night set at the Voodoo Experience festival in New Orleans. Cable TV's A&E network will begin airing Kissteria, a documentary from the group's Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour, later this fall. - Billboard...... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform complete versions of three of their classic albums -- Born to Run, Born in the USA, and Darkness on the Edge of Town -- during a five-night run of shows starting on Sept. 30 that will mark the last-ever concerts at New Jersey's Giant Stadium. The shows kick off the final 2009 leg of Springsteen's tour in support of his most recent studio album, Working on a Dream. The band is scheduled to wrap the 22-date, 14-city leg on Nov. 22 in Buffalo, N.Y. - LiveDaily...... AC/DC have postponed six dates on their current U.S. tour, as frontman Brian Johnson has been advised to stay at home following a medical procedure. Shows in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Louisville, Kansas City, Des Moines and Milwaukee have been postponed, and the band's Black Ice World Tour is scheduled to resume on Oct. 16, in Washington DC. Meanwhile, the band has announced details of its forthcoming rarities complation, Backtracks. Standard and deluxe edition of the album will go on sale on Nov. 10. The standard edition features two CDs of studio and live rarities and a Family Jewels 3 DVD, along with bonus video, while the deluxe edition (available only through Acdcbacktracks.com) features three CDs of live and studio rarities, two DVDs and a vinyl album of studio collectibles. - New Musical Express...... EMI Records will release what is being touted as the ultimate Queen collection on Nov. 13. Absolute Queen will be available in four physical and two digital versions: a standard 20-track best of; a 2-disc special edition; a limited edition book version; and an LP box set. - Undercover...... The new Led Zeppelin photo book Good Times, Bad Times features 191 rare and previously unpublished photos that tell the group's story from their earliest shows in 1968 through their one-off reunion gig in 2007. "These photos bring Zeppelin back to life," author Jerry Prochnicky writes, "illuminating the meaning of their rise and demise, as well as the possibility of what could have been." One notable highlight is a never-before-seen shot of Jimmy Page meeting with The Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs at the writer's downtown New York loft in 1975. The book hits stores Oct. 1. - Rolling Stone...... The '70s blues-rock band the Faces are set to reunite for a London charity gig on Oct. 25, but without frontman Rod Stewart. Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagen and Kenny Jones will get back together for the show at the Royal Albert Hall that will benefit the Performing Right Society's Music Members' Benevolent Fund. "This will be so special for us, staging a reunion for such a wonderful and prestigious event," Ronnie Wood told the BBC. "Sadly [deceased Faces bassist] Ronnie Lane can't be with us, but I'm sure he will be there in spirit, God bless him." Wood did not give the reason for Stewart's absence. The Faces split in 1975 after forming as the Small Faces in 1969. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart has finalized the tracklisting for his upcoming Great American Soulbook album. Featuring such Motown classics as "My Cherie Amour," "You've Really Got A Hold On Me," and "Tracks Of My Tears," the album features cameos by Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Mary J. Blige. - NME/Undercover...... As their summer 2009 U.S. tour winds down, Journey are preparing for the release of a new concert DVD on Oct. 2. Live In Manila captures the classic rockers' Mar. 14, 2009 concert in Filipino lead-singer Arnel Pineda's homeland. Pineda, whom guitarist Neal Schon discovered while surfing YouTube, replaced former singer Jeff Scott Soto in late 2007. Soto himself had replaced the band's previous lead singer, Steve Augeri, a year earlier. Journey's final 2009 dates include stops in Austin, Tex. (9/29); Oklahoma City, Ok. (9/30); Santa Barbara, Cal. (10/2) and Henderson, Nev. (10/3). - LiveDaily...... John Fogerty will launch a quick fall theater tour of the U.S. on Nov. 12 in Los Angeles behind his long-awaited solo set The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. During the 2-week, 12-city run, he'll also visit such markets as Denver (11/16); Minneapolis (11/18); Milwaukee (11/19); Chicago (11/21); Nashville (11/22); New York (11/25) and Boston (11/29). Fogerty is also slated to perform a fan-dictated set on PBS's Live By Request, which will air live Nov. 7 on PBS television stations nationwide. - LiveDaily...... Yoko Ono's latest album, Between My Head and the Sky, remakes the Plastic Ono Band she and late husband John Lennon led in the Seventies, this time with experimental jazz musicians, synth scientists and her son, Sean Lennon, for a survey of the outlying territories Ono has bushwacked for decades. Noise grooves and electro sit alongside Ono's fragile peace prayers and poignant poetic lyrics ("I'm Alive"). At 76, her music remains truly vital: unsettling, touching, funny, undeniable. - Rolling Stone...... A grand dame at 67, Barbra Streisand has no use for future-disco and NC-17 rappers. Her new CD Love Is the Answer, a languid, impeccably arranged album of standards, seems swathed in champagne bubbles and black velvet, be it a string-laden bossa nova ("Gentle Rain") or a Frank Sinatra standby ("In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning"). Not exactly galvanizing stuff, but the woman still sings like buttah. Love Is the Answer, along with a deluxe edition featuring an additional disc of "quartet versions" of all the songs, drops Sept. 29. - Entertainment Weekly...... Rhino's new lavishly annotated 4-disc set, Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968, makes a strong case for Los Angeles as the psychedelic-sunshine capital of mid-Sixties rock. It runs the fuzz-box-and-acid gamut from the Standells' "Riot on Sunset Strip" to the Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains," with Love, Captain Beefheart, the Monkees and Randy Newman along the way. The 101 shagadelic jams also include songs by the Byrds, the Electric Prunes and Buffalo Springfield. - Rolling Stone...... According to Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux, 1977 is one of the band's greatest years -- and every note of their three-night stand at the Winterland Arena is included in the new Winterland, June 1977: The Complete Recordings. The 9-disc box features killer versions of Terrapin Station's "Estimated Prophet" and "Passenger." - Rolling Stone...... Nine months after son Jett's death in the Bahamas, '70s TV/movie icon John Travolta revisited the scene of the tragedy on Sept. 22 to attend an extortion trial stemming from his 16-year-old's fatal seizure. In the trial, paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian senator Pleasant Bridgewater stand accused of conspiring to extort $25 million from the Travoltas in exchange for not revealing a "refusal to transport" document Travolta signed after Jett's seizure. (Travota reportedly wanted to fly Jett to a Florida hospital for treatment, but then decided to have his son sent to a Bahamian hospital instead.) Lightbourne's paramedic partner, Derrex Rolle, was one of the first to testify, stating that Jett was unresponsive upon their arrival. Travolta has kept a low public profile since Jett's passing and only made his first public appearance on Sept. 11, along with wife Kelly Preston and daughter Ella Blue, to promote his film Old Dogs. - People.com/Entertainment Weekly...... Filmmaker Roman Polanski, the director of such classic films as 1974's Chinatown and 1968's Rosemary's Baby, was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland on Sept. 27 an arrest warrant stemming from a decades-old sex charge. The Oscar-winning director had pleaded guilty in 1977 to a single count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, acknowledging he had sex with a 13-year-old girl, but fled the United States before he could be sentenced. U.S. authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in 1978. Polanski, 76, was taken into custody trying to enter Switzerland while en route to the Zurich Film Festival, which had planned a tribute to him. Polanski's arrest came just two days after one of the killers of his former wife Sharon Tate, Susan Atkins of the Charles Manson "family," died of terminal brain cancer. - CNN...... Rev. John "Bootsie" Wilson, a former lead singer and last surviving member of the soul group The Silhouettes, died at his home on Sept. 21 in Spartanburg, S.C., after batting cancer and a kidney ailment. The Philadelphia native joined The Silhouettes in 1961, after the original lead singer left the group, perhaps best known for the 1958 smash hit "Get a Job," which stayed at #1 for 13 consecutive weeks. It was among the first rhythm and blues songs to cross over and become No. 1 on the pop charts. - AP

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.