Rock News

* Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee is being sued by his former assistant for unpaid overtime and character disparagement. Michael Anthony Sullivan worked as Lee's "procurer, Man Friday, chauffeur, butler, valet, attendant, cook, runner, shopper, nanny, bodyguard, maid and nursemaid" from 2005 until March of this year. According to Sullivan, Lee often forced him to work 16 hours a day, failed to reimburse him for thousands of dollars in expenses, and started to deduct $1000 a month from Sullivan's pay to cover rent after Sullivan was forced to move into Lee's home. Sullivan also claims that he was offered a job as tour manager for the band Bush, but the offer was later retracted following damaging comments made by Lee. Sullivan is seeking

--A guitar amp used by George Harrison during the recording of the albums Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is going on the auction block later this month at Bonham’s auction house in London. The amp, which was only recently discovered to have belonged to Harrison, is expected to fetch between $80,000 - $120,000. The amp was in the process of being repaired when Harrison's name was discovered scratched into the chassis. After some quick research, the amp was confirmed as having belong to the Beatles' guitarist.

--Power-pop trio Hanson are set to release their first-ever brand of beer. The line of beer, named Mmmhop, after their 1997 number one single Mmmbop, will start production in early 2012. Drummer Zac Hanson told a crowd at a recent concert "It's vital that our fans trust in everything Hanson do. We are soon going to be selling our own beer. I'm not joking -- Mmmhop IPA anyone?"

--Lisa Johansen, a Swedish woman who has claimed to be the "real" daughter of Elvis Presley, is suing the late singer's estate for over $130 million. Johansen's suit accuses Elvis' estate, and Lisa Marie Presley specifically, of defamation of character and infliction of emotional distress. Johansen authored the book I, Lisa Marie: The True Story of Elvis Presley's Real Daughter in 1998, but was subsequently sued by the book publisher for $50 million after refusing to take a blood test to back up her claims. Johnsen claims that she was sent to Sweden after Elvis' death for her protection, instructed to "assume a new identity until she comes of an age to take her rightful place as the sole heir of a huge estate."

Employee Picks

Ryan:

* Willie Nelson--Remember Me, Volume #1

* Harry Nilsson--Son of Schmilsson 
* Donnie Evil--Holiday That!
*OST--Muppets 
*Jonathan Coulton--Artificial Heart
*Puppini Sisters--Hollywood



Chelsea:

*Ma/Duncan/Meyer/Thile --Goat Rodeo
*Foster The People--Torches 
* Arlo Guthrie's butt on the back cover of that one album that Chelsea and Klaralyn are really into

Doc:

* Imelda May--Mayhem
* Original Soundtrack—Treme 
* St. Vincent--Strange Mercy

* My Brightest Diamond--All Things Will Unwind

Donnie:

* Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
* Gary Neuman--Best of...
* OST--Hedwig & the Angry Inch

Red:
*Touchers--Blood Bath

*J-Model Ford--Don't Get  out Talkin' It
*Hanni El Khatib--Will The Guns Come Out  

Tol:


* B.U.T.—I Love You But...
* Cedric Kreklow--Sol

* Mojo Nixon/Skid Roper--Get Out of My Way


Klarlyn--

*Rage Against the Machine--Evil Empire
*Beastie Boys--Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
*LCD Soundsystem--This is Happening


Bueno:

Nick Lowe--"The Old Magic"
Dessa "Castor the Twin" ("New live arrangments of Dessa's Best Work!")
Wild Flag "Wild Flag" (featuring members of Sleater-Kinney!)
Mister Heavenly--Mister Heavenly (featuring members of Modest Mouse, Man Man, Island, & The Shins!)
Chemical Brothers --"Hannah Soundtrack"

Rock News

--A hand-written and illustrated sign made by John Lennon for his and Yoko Ono's bed-in for peace has fetched more than $150,000 at auction. The sign, which read "BED PEACE" in black marker on cardboard, and featuring pen drawings of Lennon and Ono, was posted in the window directly behind the couple during their seven day "bed-in" at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in May of 1969.

--Before Sunrise actress Julie Deply has signed on to direct a biopic about late Clash guitarist/vocalist Joe Strummer. The film, tentatively entitled "The Right Profile" (after the Clash song from the album London Calling) will focus on Strummer's self-imposed exile after disbanding The Clash in 1986, up to his sudden death from congenital heart failure in 2002.

--A group of musicians, including Lou Reed, Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine, Nightwatchman,) Amanda Palmer,  nd Jello Biafra have collaborate to help launch a new website, occupymusicians.com, in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  The site is designed to help musicians, producers, and songwriters to organize performances, and is a companion to the websites Occupy Writers, Occupy Filmmakers and Occupy Comics.

--Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit may have to become a barbershop quartet. At least, that is what Isbell recently posted on his Facebook.  The band's van, containing all their equipments, was recently stolen, in broad daylight, from outside their hotel in Dallas, Texas. The van was recovered a few miles away with the locks knocked off, but the equipment was gone. A list is being circulated with detail of the nearly $20,000 of stolen equipment, in the hopes that it will be identified when-and-if the equipment is sold; but Isbell "[doubts] it will happen." In the meantime the band has been forced to delay its current tour and work on replacing it's equipment. 

This Week In Rock History

1955—Elvis Presley signs Col. Tom Parker as his manager. Not a real colonel, Parker's previous "management" experience involved promoting his act Tom Parker and His Dancing Turkeys.

1965—Harrods department store closes its door for a full day to allow the Beatles do their Holiday shopping.

1966—Several thousand teenagers battle with Kansas City police after a James Brown concert is halted because of what officials call "obscene dances being performed on the stage."

1967—The band Strawberry Alarm Clock tops the chart with Incense and Peppermint.  The song was originally intended to be a B-side and was not even sung by a member of the band. The vocals on the recording were sung by Greg Mumford, a friend of the band who was hanging around the studio during recording.

1969—John Lennon returns the MBE Award (Members of the British Empire) awarded to the Beatles in 1965. The note attached to the returned medal reads "Your Majesty, I am returning this MBE in protest against Brittan's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts." Though the Queen never publicly reacted to the medals return, we can only assume that "One was not amused."

1974--John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, in New York. It would turn out to be Lennon's last concert performance. He would be gunned down outside his apartment six years later.

1976--The Band tape their farewell concert, The Last Waltz, at the Winterland's Ballroom in San Fransisco. The five hour set included performances from Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Dr. John and others. A film of the concert was directed by Martin Scorsese and released the following year.

1976—Perhaps attempting to live up to his nickname "The Killer", Jerry Lee Lewis, is arrested after drunkenly brandishing a pistol at the gates of Graceland and demanding to see Elvis.

1983—The 14-plus minute video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller is premiered in LA. 

1991—Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury publicly announces that he has been diagnosed with the AIDS virus.  He passes away from AIDS-related pneumonia the following day.

Employee Picks

Ryan:

* Jerry Reed--Super Hits
* Southern Culture on the Skids--Zombified
* Tom Waits--Bad As Me
* Devo--Are We Not Men?


Chelsea:

*Ma/Duncan/Meyer/Thile --Goat Rodeo
*Kooks--Junk of the Heart
* Devil Makes Three--Stomp & Smash: Live

Doc:

* Imelda May--Mayhem
* Original Soundtrack—Treme 
* Jeff Bridges—Jeff Bridges
* My Brightest Diamond--All Things Will Unwind

Donnie:

* Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
* Wreckless Erik--Hits, Miss, Rags & Tatters
* Leon Redbone--Champagne Charlie 

Red:
*Tom Waits--Bad as Me
*Joan Jett & the Blackhearts--Greatest Hits
*Hanni El Khatib--Will The Guns Come Out  

Tol:


* B.U.T.—I Love You But...
* Cedric Kreklow--Sol

* Cramps--Stay Sick

Klarlyn--

*U2--Joshua Tree
*Beastie Boys--Paul's Boutique
*Guns n' Roses--Appetite for Destruction


Bueno:

Nick Lowe--"The Old Magic"
Dessa "Castor the Twin" ("New live arrangments of Dessa's Best Work!")
Wild Flag "Wild Flag" (featuring members of Sleater-Kinney!)
Mister Heavenly--Mister Heavenly (featuring members of Modest Mouse, Man Man, Island, & The Shins!)
Chemical Brothers --"Hannah Soundtrack"

Rock History

1967—19-year old Arlo Guthrie, son of American folk music pioneer Woody Guthrie, releases the song Alice’s Restaurant. The single, which clocked in at over 18 minutes, told the mostly true story of his run-in with the New York draft board.

1968—The Los Angles based Americana band Pogo are forced to change their name following a lawsuit from comic strip creator Walt Kelly, whose comic strip Pogo debuted in 1941. The band settle on the similar sounding name Poco, and go on to have a number of hits on both the pop and country charts.  Worth noting is the release of their 2005 live album entitled “Bareback at Big Sky,” recorded in Bozeman at the home of Cactus’ friend Dave Goodwin, in front of a live audience of 100 Bozeman fans.

1970—The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, is granted a divorce from his wife/first cousin Myra Brown, after 13 years of marriage. Brown was only 13 years old when she and Lewis married; the marriage, and scandal that followed in its wake, essentially ended Lewis’ skyrocketing rock-&-roll career.

1973—A 19 year-old fan of The Who, Scot Halpin, got the thrill of a lifetime when he was recruited from the audience to replace an exhausted Keith Moon, who was suffering from jet lag. The young man lasted only three songs, when he also was too tired to continue.

1977—Joey Ramone, lead singer of The Ramones, receives 2^nd degree burns when a fog machine explodes on stage. Though he somehow managed to finish the concert, Ramone would spend the next three days hospitalized.

1983—Tom Evens, bassist of power-pop band Badfinger, commits suicide by hanging. Evens and the remaining members of Badfinger were embroiled in a financial dispute with the band’s management. Badfinger’s singer/guitarist Peter Hamm had hanged himself eight years earlier due to similar circumstances.

1990—Milli Vanilli producer Frank Farian admits to reporters that Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus never sang a note on the "Milli Vanilli" album. The duo eventually returned their Best New Artist Grammy.

1990—The Righteous Brother place both their original 1965 recording of the song “Unchained Melody” and a newly re-recorded version in the top 20, after the song is featured in the movie Ghost. The song was originally recorded in 1955 by Les Baker as the theme to the prison film Unchained.

2010—Officials in Dade County Florida have announced that the sheriff’s department is looking into officially pardoning former Doors lead singer Jim Morrison for his 1969 indecent exposure arrest. Morrison was convicted of exposing himself on a Miami stage in 1969 and ordered to serve 6 month in jail and pay a $500 fine. The verdict was in the process of being appealed when Morrison died of a heart attack in 1971.  Not surprisingly, Morrison has not commented on the pardon.

Rock News

--Rapper mega-star Jay-Z has recently come under fire for selling t-shirts with the phrase “Occupy All Streets” on them, in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but then keeping all the money raised. Supporters and organizers of the Occupy Wall Street movement claim that the sale were misleading, tacitly implying funds would go to the movement, while instead the money raised from the sales will remain with Jay-Z. Angry protesters have labeled Jay-Z a “bloodsucker” for, what it feels, is money-making on the backs of the protesters. However, Jay-Z's close friend Russell Simmons came to Jay-Z's defense saying “What's wrong with selling goodness? There's nothing wrong with it. Jay-Z didn't make a T-shirt with 'F**k the Bums on the Street.' He wrote a T-shirt 'Occupy All Streets' - I'm happy, it furthers the movement, it inspires the movement."

--Courtney Love, of the band Hole, went on a tirade during a performance in Brazil after an audience member held up a poster depicting her late husband Kurt Cobain. Love stormed off stage after telling the audience “"I don't need to see a picture of Kurt, asshole, and I'm going to have you fucking removed if you keep throwing that up, I'm not Kurt – I have to live with his shit, his ghost, his kid every day. Throwing that up is stupid and rude and I'll beat the f*&k out of you if you do it again." Love refused to return to the stage until her guitarist, Micko Larson, convinced the audience to chant “the Foo Fighers are gay,” a slam aimed at Foo Fighter front man, and former Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl.

--Pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath are reuniting for their first album with original vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne, since 1978's “Never Say Die!” The new album is set to be produced by former Def Jam producer Rick Rubins, and supported with a large scale, world tour.