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October 15, 2009
Lifeson Soars, Bertinelli Dishes, Buble Tops KISS and Whitford Races
Rush axe man Lifeson soars on ‘man date’
Not looking much like the menacing owl portrayed on the cover of Fly By Night, Alex Lifeson recently joined Canadian comic Rick Mercer as they filmed a “man date” segment for Mercer’s CBC TV show The Rick Mercer Report.
The pair stopped by Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving to float around a bit, which, judging from the photograph, Mercer enjoyed thoroughly. More at The Niagara Falls Review.
Valerie Bertinelli pens new book
The woman who was the object of many a teenage fantasy during her days as a TV actress on One Day At A Time (guilty as charged!) is back with a new book.
This time, instead of Losing It, Bertinelli is Finding It, and sharing her inspirational story about how she “discovered how to live the best life possible at the age of 49.”
Coming as a shock to some of us who watched her every move on One Day At A Time, Bertinelli describes her struggles with her self-image and how she felt inferior to co-star MacKenzie Phillips. Perhaps by now she has come to the realization that it was her that most of us admiring young men had our eyes glued to during each episode. I know I sure did! Check out the full scoop at ABC News.
Buble and Oprah a KISS killer?
In a recent interview with Macleans magazine, KISS frontman and business mogul, Gene Simmons jokingly (at least I hope he was joking) referred to himself as “king of the world.” Unfortunately for KISS, Simmons was not able to proclaim his group as king of the charts at the same time.
Having never had an album make it all the way to #1 on the Billboard chart, the group seemed poised to finally reach the promised land with the release of their new album Sonic Boom.
Those hopes were dashed by none other than Michael Buble, the Canadian crooner who was recently featured on Oprah after the release of his new album Crazy Love. Oprah’s star power was cited as a contributing factor that helped send Buble to the top of the chart with Sonic Boom coming in second. Read more from Gawker.
Aerosmith guitarist takes to the track
If you happen to be an Aerosmith fan who also enjoys things like racing, you will definitely want to check out the footage of Brad Whitford as he zips around a racetrack in a Volkswagen speed machine.
Check it out at Aerosmith’s official website.
July 15, 2009
Strong Start For ‘Supergroup’ Chickenfoot
Things appear to be going well for Chickenfoot. Despite some early boasting on the part of frontman Sammy Hagar, the group seems to be shying away from referring to themselves as a “supergroup.” Surely, some fans disagree, and just as certain, there are those that consider the new group anything but “super.”
Like so many other things, whether or not Chickenfoot is a good band is a matter of opinion. Just about every rock fan has his or her own ideas regarding topics such as “best rock band in the world” and the like. There’s no question that the guys in Chickenfoot can play. Whether the stuff they play is good and whether or not they have good chemistry will be decided by those that decide to take a listen.
Speaking of which, I wonder if Eddie Van Halen has had a chance to hear the group yet. Last we heard from EVH was they he doesn’t listen to anything, which seems a little strange, but I suppose you never know.
Opinions aside, the statistics indicate that there may be a bright future for Chickenfoot. Their debut album sits at number 21 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, which isn’t too bad. They are even stronger on the Billboard Indie Albums chart, occupying the number 2 position.
The group is a little over two weeks away from launching their North American tour which they will start with a show at Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there they will do one more show in Canada at The Sound Academy in Toronto before heading south for a bunch of dates in the U.S. The tour will wrap on September 27th at The Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
The group’s first tour of smaller venues was reported to have sold out quickly, so it will be interesting to see if this group can fill the seats at some larger venues.
May 6, 2009
Bob Dylan’s New Album Clinches Top Spots on U.S. and U.K. Album Charts
Together Through Life, Bob Dylan’s new album has debuted at #1 on both the U.S. and U.K. album charts. This achievement marks the second time in a row that Dylan has landed a new album atop the U.S. charts and the first time he has landed a new release atop the U.K. album charts since New Morning was released in 1970.
In addition to his current chart-topping status in the U.S. and U.K., Dylan’s Together Through Life has also secured #1 spots on the charts in Austria and Denmark. The new album is nestled among the top 5 in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Holland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and New Zealand, and Top 10 rankings in Italy, France and Belgium.
In addition to the place that Dylan’s new album will occupy amongst fan collections around the world, TV movie giant HBO has decided to use the album’s first track, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin,” as the soundtrack for a run of promotional spots promoting the network’s hit series True Blood.
True Blood creator Alan Ball decided the new Dylan song would be a perfect fit for HBO’s promotional efforts. “When I heard the song, I knew it would be a perfect fit for our characters and storylines,” he said. The second season of True Blood starts on on June 14.
In addition to its use on HBO, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin” is also the inspiration for a short film by award winning director Nash Edgerton. The film will be shown on the IFC Channel as well as on IFC.com, starting on May 12.
The HBO promo spots featuring the new Dylan track can be viewed here.
October 29, 2008
AC/DC Is Back And In The Black
This time, the reference to being in black has nothing to do with their album Back In Black and more to do with black ink, as opposed to red ink, which, in the world of business, separates the difference between financial success and financial failure.
The fact that AC/DC’s brand-new album, Black Ice, has topped the charts in 29 countries is a pretty good indicator that the group’s latest effort is adding significant quantities of black ink to their balance sheet.
Having already sold in excess of 780,000 copies in the U.S. alone, the release of Black Ice marks the second time that 
the Australian rock group has topped the charts here in the U.S.
With the group just getting their tour underway, we now have word on the list of songs that will comprise their 2-hour show:
01. Rock ‘N Roll Train (from Black Ice, 2008)
02. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
03. Back In Black (from Back In Black, 1980)
04. Stiff Upper Lip (from Stiff Upper Lip, 2000)
05. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (from Dirty Deeds, 1976)
06. Thunderstruck (from The Razors Edge, 1990)
07. Hard As A Rock (from Ballbreaker, 1995)
08. The Jack (from TNT, 1975)
09. Hells Bells (from Back In Black, 1980)
10. Shoot To Thrill (from Back In Black, 1980)
11. You Shook Me All Night Long (from Back In Black, 1980)
12. TNT (from TNT, 1975)
13. Whole Lotta Rosie (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
14. Let There Be Rock (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
15. Highway To Hell (from Highway To Hell, 1979)
16. For Those About To Rock (from For Those About To Rock, 1981)
17. Anything Goes (from Black Ice, 2008)
18. Big Jack (from Black Ice, 2008)
19. War Machine (from Black Ice, 2008)
20. Black Ice (from Black Ice, 2008)
21. Bad Boy Boogie (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
Check out Undercover for more on AC/DC.
