MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
GREAT WHITE'S JACK RUSSELL WANTS TO MAKE MOVIE TO TELL HIS SIDE OF 2003 FIRE
Great White singer Jack Russell is hoping he can apologize for the 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, with a documentary. Russell tells KFBW-FM in Portland, Oregon, he is still horrified by that night. One hundred people died, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley. The fire was sparked by Great White's pyrotechnics that ignited foam used for soundproofing. Russell says he feels guilty that people came to see him play and lost their lives. He says his lawyer at the time told him not to say he was sorry because that implied guilt. Gina Russo, who was severely burned in the fire, says she refused to participate in the documentary. She says she wishes Russell would understand he's hurt enough people and just leave it. Russell has not said when the movie would be released.
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BOARD APPROVES SETTLEMENT OVER NEAL SCHON'S WEDDING
A committee of San Francisco supervisors is recommending that the city pay a 290-thousand dollar settlement to Journey guitarist Neal Schon over his wedding. Schon married ``Real Housewives of D.C.'' star Michaele Salahi in December 2013. Schon says he agreed to pay the city 58-thousand dollars for the use of the Palace of Fine Arts and an adjacent building, but the price went up to 240-thousand a few days before the wedding when the city found out the couple was broadcasting it on pay-per-view. The couple sued. The measure must go before the full board of supervisors in December, and then Mayor Ed Lee must approve it.
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RELATIONSHIP ADVICE FROM ELLE KING
When Elle King's friends go through breakups, she's the one saying, ``Move on, already!'' King says her friends tend to drag breakups on way too long, and she'll say, ``Honey, there's a cuter boy literally like sitting two tables away while you're crying over someone from last year.'' King herself had her heart broken, which is why she's more interested in just having fun while she's young. King says maybe she'll get married -- when she's 70 -- to a few people. What? King says, ``Who knows? Maybe the laws will change.''
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PAUL McCARTNEY GIVES INSIGHT INTO ``HEY JUDE''
It's common knowledge around Beatles fans that Paul McCartney wrote ``Hey Jude'' about John Lennon's son, Julian.
What they may not know is that it's not entirely about Julian.
McCartney tells Billboard magazine, ``The only thing about Julian in the song is the first lines.'' John Lennon thought the song was about him and Yoko Ono. Is it? McCartney won't say what the rest of the song is about.
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MOTORHEAD'S FORMER DRUMMER DIES
Former Motorhead drummer Philthy Animal has died at the age of 61. Former Motorhead guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke says Philthy died Wednesday night and had been sick for some time, but he did not give details. Motorhead confirm the death on their Facebook page and say Philthy ``played the drums with fury and intent'' and ``fueled many a young boy's punk/metal hairstyles.''
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RAINN WILSON SAYS ``MR. BLUE SKY'' WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ``THE OFFICE'' THEME SONG
If things had gone differently, the Electric Light Orchestra song ``Mr. Blue Sky'' would have been the theme song for the TV show ``The Office.'' Actor Rainn Wilson tells Billboard magazine that producer Greg Daniels sent a list of potential songs to the cast and let them vote. Among the songs under consideration were ``Better Things'' by The Kinks and ``Float On'' by Modest Mouse. Wilson says the cast all wanted ``Mr. Blue Sky,'' but the show ``LAX'' was already using it. ``LAX'' was canceled after one season. ``The Office'' ended up using a song by Jay Ferguson, famous for the 1978 hit ``Thunder Island.''
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UNRELEASED JEFF BUCKLEY MUSIC COMING IN THE SPRING
The first recordings Jeff Buckley made for Columbia Records will see the light of day, more than two decades after the fact. The album ``You And I'' is full of covers, including ``Everyday People,'' ``Just Like A Woman'' and ``Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying.'' It also includes two originals: the first recording of the title track from Buckley's ``Grace'' album and the song ``Dream of You and I.'' Columbia Records says the recordings were discovered when staffers were combing the vault in preparation for a 20th anniversary edition of ``Grace.'' ``You and I'' will come out March 11.
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(The Associated Press)