MUSIC NEWS: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
CORY WELLS OF THREE DOG NIGHT DIES
Cory Wells of Three Dog Night once said when he first heard ``Joy To The World,'' he hated it. Wells said in a July 2013 AP interview he thought it was a children's song, and it was only when they started working on it that he saw the potential.
Wells died unexpectedly at the age of 73 Tuesday in Dunkirk, New York, according to the band's Facebook page. A cause of death was not given. Wells sang lead on ``Never Been To Spain'' and ``Shambala,'' as well as on the number-one hit ``Mama Told Me (Not To Come).'' He had said he used to try to sing that one like Randy Newman, since it's Newman's song, but he later decided it was better if he just sang it like himself. Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton says Wells was ``an incredible singer'' and ``a great performer'' who could sing anything. Former Three Dog Night singer Chuck Negron tweeted an old photo of Wells and the caption, ``I will miss you,'' with a heart.
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JAY Z'S ``BIG PIMPIN''' CASE THROWN OUT
The lawyer for an Egyptian composer's nephew who sued Jay Z and Timbaland over the song ``Big Pimpin''' is promising to appeal a judge's abrupt dismissal of the case yesterday. The nephew of composer Baligh Hamdi (bah-LEEG' HAHM'-dee) claimed Jay Z and Timbaland did not have proper permission to use flute notes from his uncle's 1957 song ``Khosara (koh-SAH'-rah) Khosara'' for ``Big Pimpin'.'' Timbaland had paid 100-thousand dollars in 2001 to settle a claim about using that song. Both Timbaland and Jay Z testified they had a valid license for the samples. U-S District Judge Christina A. Snyder did not explain her decision to throw out the case but told jurors she did so after hearing testimony about Egyptian law. Jay Z's lawyer says he's pleased with the decision.
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ADELE CONFIRMS NEW ALBUM
Enough teasing -- Adele really is going to release another album. Adele tweets if her last album was a break-up record, the next one will be a make-up record. She says she's making up for lost time, for everything she did and for everything she never did. She expresses regret that when she was younger, she kept wanting to be older instead of living in the moment. The album will be called ``25,'' but she doesn't give a release date. She apologizes for it taking so long but she adds, ``You know, life happened.''
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CARRIE UNDERWOOD EXPLAINS WHY SHE CAVED ON WRITING A BABY SONG
The thought of doing an album of baby songs made Carrie Underwood gag. Underwood says after she announced her pregnancy, she'd meet with songwriters who kept pushing her in that direction. Then she came up with the idea for the song ``What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.'' Underwood says it had to be her own doing or she would have resisted forever. Underwood still struggles to balance her career with caring for her son, Isaiah. She says ``mom guilt'' is rampant in her life. Her new album, ``Storyteller,'' is out tomorrow.
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ED SHEERAN DRINKS FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT BENEFIT
It might look like Ed Sheeran had a rough night in his new concert film, ``Jumpers for Goalposts.'' It's because he did --on purpose -- three nights in a row. Sheeran says he does his best gigs if he's hungover, and since the movie was filmed over three nights in London in July, he went out drinking a lot. Sheeran says he does it so he doesn't feel complacent about his performance. He says if he's hungover, he feels 90 per cent of the human he should be so he gives 115 per cent. ``Jumpers for Goalposts'' will run in select theatres this weekend.
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TINASHE POSES FOR PLAYBOY
Tinashe is in Playboy -- and that's not the scandal it once was, now that Playboy won't be publishing nude photos. Tinashe is fully clothed in Playboy's November issue. She has an upcoming album called ``Joyride.''
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49ERS/SEAHAWKS GAME FEATURES SAMMY HAGAR AT HALFTIME
Sammy Hagar will perform the halftime show during tonight's N-F-L game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. The game will be shown on C-B-S.
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WYCLEF JEAN TRIES TO INFLUENCE HAITI ELECTION WITH SONG
The Haitian presidential election has become a battle of the pop songs, with Wyclef Jean of The Fugees weighing in. Jean was a big supporter of outgoing president Michel Martelly but has chosen to support Jude Celestin rather than Martelly's chosen successor, Jovenel Moise. Martelly's son, Olivier, is also a Haitian singer, and he's rushed out his own song in favour of Moise. Several candidates are running in Sunday's election, and the two highest vote-getters will have a runoff on December 27th. Jean himself ran for president in Haiti five years ago but was disqualified for failing to meet residency requirements.
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PAUL McCARTNEY SINGS FOR TRUCKING INDUSTRY
Paul McCartney can read an audience well enough to know when changing one word in a song can win them forever. McCartney gave a private performance in Philadelphia last weekend at the American Trucking Association's Management Conference and Exhibition. The industry newspaper Transport Topics reports he did ``Drive My Car'' by singing, ``Baby you can drive my truck.''
McCartney's wife, Nancy Shevell, is an executive at New England Motor Freight, a trucking company owned by her family.
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AMAS SIGNS UP GOMEZ, UNDERWOOD, 5SOS
Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood and 5 Seconds Of Summer have been added to the list of entertainers for the American Music Awards. Jennifer Lopez has already been announced as a performer and as host. Taylor Swift is the top nominee with six.
The A-M-As are November 22nd.
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GARY CLARK JR. DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO DURING NAME CHANTS
When people chant Gary Clark Junior's name, he doesn't know how to react. Clark says he can't just say thank you, so he just smiles and takes it in. Maybe they should be chanting ``Sonny Boy Slim.'' That's the nickname Clark's mother gave him and the title of his latest album. Clark says he was listening to some older music in the studio one day and it took him back to places in his life. He says his nickname felt right for an album title.
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The following is HMV Canada's top 10 CDs based on national sales for the week ending Oct. 24.
CDs
1. Confident _ Demi Lovato
2. Documentary 2.5 _ The Game
3. If I Should Go Before You _ City and Colour
4. General Admission _ Machine Gun Kelly
5. Documentary 2 _ The Game
6. Revival _ Selena Gomez
7. Beauty Behind the Madness _ The Weeknd
8. Get Up _ Bryan Adams
9. Roses _ Coeur de pirate
10. Stories _ Avicii
COUNTRY
1. 1989 _ Taylor Swift
2. Montevallo _ Sam Hunt
3. Tangled Up _ Thomas Rhett
4. Kill the Lights _ Luke Bryan
5. Things That Can't Be Undone _ Corb Lund
6. Red _ Taylor Swift
7. Gypsy Road _ Dean Brody
8. Till the Wheels Come Off _ Cold Creek County
9. Jekyll + Hyde _ Zac Brown Band
10. Cold Beer Conversation _ George Strait
(The Canadian Press)
'Storyteller' by Carrie Underwood among new CD releases.
Here's a list of some new CD releases for the week ending Oct. 24:
5 Seconds of Summer _ ``Sounds Good Feels Good''
10 String Symphony _ ``Weight of the World''
Amberian Dawn _ ``Innuendo''
Laurie Anderson _ ``Heart of a Dog'' Soundtrack
Julien Baker _ ``Sprained Ankle''
Emilie-Claire Barlow _ ``Clear Day''
Beat Connection _ ``Product 3''
Bizzle _ ``Surrender''
Jason Blaine _ ``Country Side''
Blue Sky Miners _ ``Blue Sky Miners''
Andrea Bocelli _ ``Cinema''
Born of Osiris _ ``Soul Sphere''
Brad & Rebekah _ ``Gift of Grace''
Jonathan Bree _ ``A Little Night Music''
The Brothers Nazaroff _ ``The Happy Prince''
Vanessa Carlton _ ``Liberman''
Harry Connick Jr. _ ``That Would Be Me''
Corrections House _ ``Know How to Carry a Whip''
The Cox Family _ ``Gone Like the Cotton''
Kirt Debique _ ``Things Left Unsaid''
DJ Khaled _ ``I Changed a Lot''
The Dying Arts _ ``You Had It Coming''
Ektomorf _ ``Aggressor''
Ex-Breathers _ ``Past Tense''
Dave Gahan & The Soulsavers _ ``Angels & Ghosts''
Morgan Geist _ ``Megaprojects One''
Generation Unleashed _ ``Come Alive''
Giorgio Gigli _ ``The Right Place Where Not to Be''
Grave Digger _ ``Exhumation: The Early Years''
Andrew Greer & Friends _ ``An Angel Band Christmas''
Jimmy Fortune _ ``Hits & Hymns''
Fuzz _ ``II''
Half Moon Run _ ``Sun Leads Me On''
Haybaby _ ``Sleepy Kids''
Judith Hill _ ``Back in Time''
Housewives _ ``Work''
Tom Jones _ ``Long Lost Suitcase''
Killing Joke _ ``Pylon''
Merry Ellen Kirk _ ``We Are the Dreamers''
Kirk the Flirt & Peter Pressure _ ``Physical Therapy Presents...
Kirk the Flirt & Peter Pressure''
Lynyrd Skynyrd _ ``Pronouced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd & Second Helping Live''
Seth MacFarlane _ ``Celebrating Frank Sinatra''
Marianas Trench _ ``Astoria''
Mastodon _ ``Asleep in the Deep''
John Mark McMillan _ ``Live at The Knight''
Mogwai _ ``Central Belters''
Shawn Mullins _ ``My Stupid Heart''
Nathaniel _ ``Yours''
Joanna Newsom _ ``Divers''
Normil Hawaiians _ ``Return of the Ranters''
Daniel O'Donnell _ ``The Hank Williams Songbook''
Onirik _ ``Casket Dream Veneration''
Outasight _ ``Big Trouble''
Pentimento _ ``I, No Longer''
Petal _ ``Shame''
Postcards From Jeff _ ``Modern Language''
Pure Bathing Culture _ ``Pray for Rain''
Raintown _ ``Writing on the Wall''
Ransom _ ``Soul Killa''
Charlie Rich _ ``25 All-Time Greatest Hits''
Kari Rueslatten _ ``To the North''
The Saddest Landscape _ ``Darkness Forgives''
SayWeCanFly _ ``Darling''
Sea Ghost _ ``SG''
Seaway _ ``Color Blind''
See Through Dresses _ ``End of Days''
Seinabo Sey _ ``Pretend''
Blake Shelton _ ``Reloaded: 20 No. 1 Hits''
Shepherds _ ``Exit Youth''
Andy Snitzer _ ``American Beauty''
Spray Paint _ ``Dopers''
Rod Stewart _ ``Another Country''
Tempers _ ``Services''
Tracey Thorn _ ``SOLO: Songs and Collaborations 1982-2015''
Chris Tomlin _ ``Adore: Christmas Songs of Worship''
Walter Trout _ ``Battle Scars''
Carrie Underwood _ ``Storyteller''
Various Artists _ ``Rock the Kasbah'' Soundtrack
Various Artists _ ``Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins''
VHOL _ ``Deeper Than Sky''
Kim Walker-Smith _ ``When Christmas Comes''
Karyn Williams _ ``Letting Go of Perfect''
Peter Willie Youngtree _ ``Country Hymns''
(The Canadian Press)
The following is HMV Canada's top 10 CDs based on national sales for the week ending Oct. 24.
CDs
1. Confident _ Demi Lovato
2. Documentary 2.5 _ The Game
3. If I Should Go Before You _ City and Colour
4. General Admission _ Machine Gun Kelly
5. Documentary 2 _ The Game
6. Revival _ Selena Gomez
7. Beauty Behind the Madness _ The Weeknd
8. Get Up _ Bryan Adams
9. Roses _ Coeur de pirate
10. Stories _ Avicii
COUNTRY
1. 1989 _ Taylor Swift
2. Montevallo _ Sam Hunt
3. Tangled Up _ Thomas Rhett
4. Kill the Lights _ Luke Bryan
5. Things That Can't Be Undone _ Corb Lund
6. Red _ Taylor Swift
7. Gypsy Road _ Dean Brody
8. Till the Wheels Come Off _ Cold Creek County
9. Jekyll + Hyde _ Zac Brown Band
10. Cold Beer Conversation _ George Strait
(The Canadian Press)