MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015
R.E.M. BY MTV TO BE RELEASED ON DVD AND BLU-RAY
R.E.M. and MTV came of age together. From the start, their fates were intertwined with the band releasing its first single in July 1981, just weeks before the network premiered its first music video. From that point on, MTV documented everything about the Grammy® Award winning band – their music, their stories, and ultimately their decision to disband in 2011. R.E.M. By MTV, the acclaimed feature-length documentary by filmmaker Alexander Young, draws exclusively from archival events and traces the history of R.E.M. and MTV in real time, which makes it feel as exciting and immediate as it did when it took place.
R.E.M. BY MTV will be available for the first time ever on Blu-Ray and as a stand-alone DVD on June 2. Both the Blu-Ray and DVD of R.E.M. BY MTV include the feature-length documentary as well as five deleted scenes and five seminal R.E.M. live performances, all of which were previously available only in last fall’s REMTV 6-DVD boxed set.
“Alexander Young's documentary is a fine way to tell the story of R.E.M. through its various twists and turns, as captured in real time by MTV's cameras-- it has some great funny bits too!” said longtime R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs.
On April 5, 1980 four college pals – Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe – took the stage together for the first time to play at a friend's birthday party. The band they started that night stayed together for thirty years and changed the shape of rock music. R.E.M. BY MTV tells R.E.M.'s story in their own words, through three decades of performances, never–before-seen footage, and interviews from MTV and their sister channels in the USA and around the world.
R.E.M. BY MTV Bonus Live Performances:
“Find The River” – Live In Cologne, May 12, 2001
“Imitation Of Life” – Rock AM Ring, June 3, 2005
“Bad Day” – Live At Rolling Stone, Milan, March 18, 2008
“Man-Sized Wreath” – Live At Oxygen Festival, July 12, 2008
“(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” – R. E.M. Live In Athens, Greece, October 5, 2008
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AC/DC DRUMMER
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has avoided a trial by pleading guilty to
charges of drug possession and threatening to kill a man who used to
work for him.
Rudd acknowledged in a summary of facts presented in a New
Zealand court yesterday he had offered large amounts of cash, cars
and a house to an associate to have an intended victim ``taken
out.''
He also acknowledged he had called the victim and said he was
going to kill him.
Rudd is out on bail until he is sentenced in June.
He faces up to seven years in prison.
His lawyer says he's working on a solution that would involve no
legal consequences for Rudd, as permitted under New Zealand law.
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PERCY SLEDGE
The minister presiding over Percy Sledge's funeral says,
``Heaven's choir just got a whole lot more soul.''
Sledge's funeral in Baker, Louisiana, yesterday featured gospel
singers and tributes from friends and family.
Sledge's body was in an open casket that was decorated with
musical notes and a treble clef.
Alabama record producer David Johnson says there was not a kinder
or more giving person in the world than Sledge.
Sledge died of liver cancer last week at the age of 74.
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RANDY TRAVIS
Randy Travis is a married man and has been for about a month.
People magazine reports Travis married Mary Davis at the Cooke
County clerk's office in Texas on March 21st.
They had been engaged since before Travis had a stroke two years
ago that left him unable to speak.
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GWYNETH PALTROW
Gwyneth Paltrow has filed the paperwork to dissolve her marriage
to Coldplay singer Chris Martin.
Paltrow cites irreconcilable differences for their breakup.
They married in 2003, and according to Paltrow's filing, they
separated in 2013, nearly a year before Paltrow announced their
``conscious uncoupling.''
Paltrow is seeking joint custody of their two children.
Her filing does not detail how she and Martin will divide their
assets, but it asks that both sides pay their own lawyers' fees.
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WAKA FLOCKA FLAME
Most U-S presidential candidates don't announce their candidacies
by lighting up a joint, but this is Waka Flocka Flame we're talking
about.
He says in a video posted on RollingStone.com his first act as
president will be to legalize marijuana, but then he says his first
act will be to ban dogs in restaurants.
He also says anyone who wears a size-13 shoe or larger will not
be able to walk in public anymore because he doesn't want to see
their big feet taking up all the space on the concrete.
Waka also will require all students to know his lyrics upon
graduation from high school or they have to start over from third
grade.
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BILLY JOEL
Billy Joel will get an honorary degree from Stony Brook
University. Joel will be made a doctor of music during the school's
commencement on May 22nd.
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ACM AWARDS
More people watched Taylor Swift accept an award from her mother
and Luke Bryan being named entertainer of the year than any other
T-V show in the past week.
The Academy of Country Music Awards was the top-rated show of the
week, with just under 16 million viewers.
It beat out ``NCIS,'' at number two.
``The Big Bang Theory'' was third and ``NCIS; New Orleans'' was
fourth.
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BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS
Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran, Meghan Trainor and John Legend have
been added to the lineup for the Billboard Music Awards.
Other performers include Fall Out Boy featuring Wiz Khalifa,
Hozier, Nick Jonas and Sam Smith.
The Billboard Music Awards will be broadcast live on A-B-C from
Las Vegas on May 17th.
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JUSTIN BEIBER
A lawyer for Justin Bieber says he never claimed his client wasn't present during an alleged assault on a Toronto limousine driver who is now suing the Canadian pop star.
Brian Greenspan says his defence has always been that Bieber didn't commit the alleged assault on Dec. 30, 2013, not that he wasn't there.
The lawyer representing the limousine driver told The Canadian Press last month that he looked forward to ``cross-examining Mr.Bieber on his non-presence or indeed his non-existence.''
Clayton Ruby was quoted in a March 29 story as saying Bieber's lawyer had said his client ``wasn't present, it wasn't him.''
Ruby retracted part of his statement Wednesday after Greenspan argued it would raise ``the suggestion of an inconsistency'' in Bieber's version of events, which could hinder him in the suit.
The lawyer says his comment claiming Greenspan said Bieber wasn't present ``is not accurate at all,'' but the part about Greenspan saying it wasn't him ``is accurate as far as I knew then, and seems to be accurate today.''
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PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL
A music festival that will debut outside Nashville is going back
to the sound of stripped-down music.
The Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival will feature acts
performing acoustically on wood stages.
Performers include Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Weezer, Neko Case,
Dr. John and Jimmy Cliff.
The festival will be September 26-27th.
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MONTREAL JAZZ FESTIVAL
Wayne Shorter, Al Di Meola, Jamie Cullum and Dee Dee Bridgewater
will be among the headliners for the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Non-jazz performers include the Steve Miller Band, Lucinda
Williams and Erykah Badu.
Organizers say the festivals will present more than 1,000
performances from June 26th to July 5th.
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