MUSIC NEWS: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
RUSH'S NEAL PEART PLANS SEQUEL TO NOVEL
Rush drummer Neal Peart will put out a follow-up to his book ``Clockwork Angels.'' Peart and author Kevin J. Anderson will explore the lives of secondary characters from ``Clockwork Angels.'' The book will come out in September.
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DIGITAL ARCHIVING
Canada, once a global leader in digital archiving, has let that reputation fall by the wayside, according to a panel report by the Council of Canadian Academies. And in doing so, it says Canada's libraries, museums, art galleries and other memory institutions are lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to preserving digital archives. The panel says countries such as the Netherlands and the United States, have allowed these memory institutions to join forces to pool their vast resources. The report does admit that creating digital equivalents of all the content in towers of boxes is a complicated undertaking.
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RECORDING ACADEMY PAYS TRIBUTE TO NILE RODGERS
Nile Rodgers says he's not good at getting awards. He was honoured Tuesday by the producers and engineers wing of the Recording Academy for his body of work. Rodgers says he doesn't make music for awards, so he gets teary-eyed when things like this happen. The tribute to Rodgers included appearances by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge, ``Weird Al'' Yankovic, former Cars singer Ric Ocasek (oh-CAS'-ihk), Aloe Blacc, Sheila E and songwriter Diane Warren.
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KATY PERRY HAD NO LIFE LEADING UP TO SUPER BOWL
Katy Perry is used to calling the shots, until she signed up for the Super Bowl halftime show. Perry tells Elle magazine she is ``boss mommy'' when it comes to her shows and everything goes past her eyes. With the NFL, she had to be accountable to several levels of red tape. She says she had to run her costumes, budgets and every interview through an NFL committee.
She says it's a great opportunity, but once an artist decides to do the Super Bowl halftime, that person has no life for six months. She also says, ``You stay off the Internet for the five days afterward.''
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KATY PERRY WILL BE SUBJECT OF DIGITAL GAME
Katy Perry will lend her voice and likeness to a cellphone game. Glu Mobile will develop the game, which will come out late this year for Apple and Android devices. Glu Mobile makes the ``Kim Kardashian: Hollywood'' game.
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GATLIN BROTHERS PLAN ANNIVERSARY TOUR
The Gatlin Brothers will do one more big tour before easing up. They will launch their 60th anniversary tour tomorrow in Harrington, Delaware. Larry Gatlin says it's not a farewell tour, but after it's done, they're going to slow down a bit. He says it's not a matter of their not being able to draw a crowd or sing or that they're out of money. He says they just want to spend more time with their families. The Gatlins also will release a gospel album called ``Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers 60th Anniversary Collection.'' A release date was not given.
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VANILLA FUDGE PLAN ALBUM OF '60S COVERS
Vanilla Fudge is putting out a new studio album that looks back to the 1960s. ``Spirit of '67'' will contain their versions of songs that came out that year, which is when Vanilla Fudge hit it big with ``You Keep Me Hangin' On.'' The songs they remake include ``Gimme Some Lovin''' by Spencer Davis Group, ``The Letter'' by The Box Tops, ``Whiter Shade of Pale'' by Procol Harum and ``I'm A Believer'' by The Monkees. It has one original song called ``Let's Pray For Peace.'' ''Spirit of '67`` comes out March 3.