Director John Landis sued Michael Jackson and a Broadway producer on Wednesday, claiming the pair lack the proper rights to adapt a stage production based on "Thriller."

Landis, who co-wrote and directed the groundbreaking music video, sued the pop star and producer James L. Nederlander's company over the possible show. Nederlander announced earlier this week that it had acquired the rights to "Thriller" and songs from Jackson's blockbuster album of the same name.

Landis' lawsuit seeks a judge's order that Jackson lacks the adequate rights to transfer to Nederlander, and that the producer doesn't have the authority to create a stage show based on the video or documentary that Landis directed.

Landis' attorney, Miles J. Feldman, said the director would seek to stop the show "if it becomes necessary."

Phone messages seeking comment from Nederlander and a New York attorney who has represented Jackson were not returned Wednesday.

Landis claims Jackson, who recently moved back to Los Angeles, was paid more than $400,000 for the rights Landis owns.

Wednesday's lawsuit came days after the "An American Werewolf in London" director sued Jackson, claiming he hadn't been paid royalties on "Thriller" for at least four years.

Landis is personally suing Jackson over the Broadway production; the suit over royalties is on behalf of his company, Levitsky Productions Inc.

The earlier suit states Landis is owed 50 percent of profits from "Thriller" projects and alleges Jackson continues to license rights to video games, toys and comic books based on the 14-minute music video and a documentary. The lawsuit also seeks an accounting of the video's profits.

"It makes no sense to me at all why they haven't provided the payments and accounting to John," Feldman said.

Source The Washington DC Examiner

Billy Powell was the only keyboardist Lynyrd Skynyrd ever had. And last night he died at the age of 56 at his home near Jacksonville, Florida.

At this time there is no known cause of death, but a post on the official Lynyrd Skynyrd website reads, "A Great Loss - Beloved Pianist for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band, Billy Powell, passed away last night. We will post more info shortly. The family and band request your respect and understanding during this difficult time. Thank you."
Roadie made good

"The family and band request your respect and understanding during this difficult time. Thank you" from the Lynyrd Skynyrd website

A one-time roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Powell joined the band after singer Ronnie Van Zandt became impressed hearing him play a piano section that would eventually serve as the intro to the band's iconic (and much requested) Free Bird.

Powell remained a member of the band until the tragic night of 20 October 1977, when a chartered Convair 240 ran out of fuel and went down in a heavily wooded area Gillsburh, Mississippi. The crash killed singer Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines and other crew members. Powell suffered facial lacerations and nearly lost his nose, but he was the first band member to be released from the hospital and the one one to attend his bandmates' funerals.
Back in the band

After the crash, Powell spent time playing in Christian-based bands, most notably a group called Vision. But in 1987, a Lynyrd Skynyrd reunion tour was put together and Powell signed on. He remained with the band ever since.

Last year Powell and Skynyrd played New York's Madison Square Garden, fulfilling Ronnie Van Zandt's lifelong dream of performing at the famed arena. In 1977, the band was booked to headline the venue a month before the plane crash.

Source musicradar

CD sales are in the toilet. The economy is on life support. But being the shrewd businessman that he is, KISS's Gene Simmons has decided it's the perfect time to start a new record label. In Canada.

The self-proclaimed "God Of Thunder" has partnered with Universal Music Canada to form - or reform - Simmons Records, with the expressed purpose of signing and developing groups from The Great White North.
Simmons lays out the rules

"We are signing 3 new acts the first year. This is serious" Gene Simmons

On his official website, Simmons writes, "If you're reading this and you're in a Canadian band (only!!!)...and you believe you're the next Elvis or Beatles (don't we all…)…go to SIMMONSRECORDS.COM and we will tell you how YOU can submit your electronic demo. This is serious."

"We are signing 3 new acts the first year," Simmmons continues. "We intend on launching them from Canada and then worldwide. Hopeful artists must also include a video with their demo, as this is the 21st century and that stuff is important."
Track record is spotty, at best

All of this begs MusicRadar to beg the musical question, "WTF?"

It was only last year that Simmons said, "The record industry is dead, it's six feet underground, and unfortunately, the fans have done this. They've decided to download and file share."

So why wouldthe KISS mandecide to involve himself in a business he deemed "dead"? Does he plan on selling CDs and old-school casettes to prisons? (Not a bad idea, actually. KISS's Creatures Of The Night could move some units on 8-track.)

Beyond his recent rants, Simmons hasn't had steller success with Simmons Records. In the late '80s he launched the label with RCA/BMG and signed acts such as House Of Lords, who failed to go Gold. (And this was back in the day, when practically everything went Platinum with three or four spins on MTV.)

On the other hand, who are we to question Simmons's business ventures? After all, this is the man who, in 2002, trotted out Gene Simmons' Tongue, a men's magazine that lasted five issues.

Source musicradar

As we expected, Bruce Springsteen's appearance this weekend Super Bowl XLIII is just the beginning: Today it was announced that Bruce and The E Street Band will launch a 47-date US and European tour, beginning 1 April in San Jose, California and wrapping 2 August in Santiago, Spain.

And for anybody who might think demand for The Boss might have waned, think again: demand for tickets has already crashed computer systems in Stockholm, Sweden and Bergen, Norway.

It's all part of what is shaping up to be a stunning year for Bruce, having just released his finest album in years, Working On A Dream, hot on the heels of winning a Golden Globe Award for the title song to the film The Wrestler, which appears as a bonus cut on the CD. (By the way, if you haven't caught The Wrestler yet, do so - brutal, artful filmmaking.)

For dates and ticket information, visit Bruce Springsteen's official website.

Source musicradar

When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, he gained access to five chefs, a private bowling alley — and a killer collection of classic LPs. Stored in the basement of the executive mansion is the official White House Record Library: several hundred LPs that include landmark albums in rock (Led Zeppelin IV, the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed), punk (the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols), cult classics (Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, the Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin) and disco. Not to mention records by Santana, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Isaac Hayes, Elton John, the Cars and Barry Manilow.

During the waning days of the Nixon administration, the RIAA, the record companies' trade group, decided the library should include sound recordings as well as books. In 1973, the organization donated close to 2,000 LPs. The bad news: The selection was dominated by the likes of Pat Boone, the Carpenters and John Denver. In 1979, legendary producer John Hammond convened a new commission to update the list for the hipper Carter administration. "They felt they needed to redress some of the oversights that might have taken place the first time around," says Boston music critic and author Bob Blumenthal, who was put in charge of adding 200 rock records to the library.

At the commission's first meeting, Blumenthal brought up Randy Newman's thorny dissection of Southern culture, Good Old Boys, to determine what restrictions the panel might face. "That was exhibit A," Blumenthal says. "And I was told, 'Oh, the president loves that album! Go ahead!' " So Blumenthal and his advisers — including Paul Nelson, then Rolling Stone's reviews editor — compiled a list to reflect "diversity in what was going on in popular music." They picked the Kinks' Arthur for its "theme of empire," and Blumenthal snuck in favorites like David Bowie's Hunky Dory.

On January 13th, 1981, the LPs — each in a sleeve with a presidential seal — were presented to Jimmy Carter at a White House ceremony. But the collection — placed in a hallway near the third-floor listening room, complete with a sound system — didn't remain upstairs long. When Ronald Reagan took office that year, the LPs were moved to the basement. Depending on the source, the reason was Nancy Reagan's distaste for shelves of vinyl, or the edgy choices themselves. A spokesman for Obama said it was too early to comment on whether the president would revive the library. But Obama may be pleased to learn that at least a few of his favorite albums — Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run — are there if he wants them on pristine slabs of vinyl.

[From Issue 1071 — February 5, 2009]

Source RollingStone

Scottish singer-songwriter John Martyn has died at the age of 60. Martyn's music incorporated folk, blues and funk, and he was widely regarded by fellow musicians as one of the most innovative singer-songwriters and guitarists of his generation.

Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy in Surrey in 1948, but grew up in Glasgow. He was appointed an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours.

A statement on his website on Thursday 29 January simply said: "With heavy heart and an unbearable sense of loss we must announce that John died this morning." He died in hospital in Ireland.

Martyn battled with drugs and alcohol throughout his life. In 2003, he had his right leg amputated below the knee after a cyst burst, and in recent years he performed in a wheelchair.
Folk beginnings

Martyn moved to London in his late teens and became a fixture at Les Cousins, the Soho club that also gave early exposure to Ralph McTell, Davy Graham and Bert Jansch. "Davy was my hero," later recalled Martyn. "I basically wanted to be him."

Martyn was the first white act to be signed to Island Records, and released his debut album, London Conversation, in 1968.

He arguably hit his peak in the '70s, with the 1973 album Solid Air (the title song was a tribute to his friend Nick Drake) widely regarded as a classic.

Martyn's songwriting has been cited as an influence by artists diverse as Portishead, The Cocteau Twins, Eric Clapton and Phil Collins (who also acted as Martyn's producer), while his innovative guitar playing - often using Echoplex delay units, flangers and reverb - has been lauded by The Verve's Nick McCabe among many others.

In 2007, Martyn told MusicRadar's sister magazine Guitarist: "I don't see myself as being anything other than a working musician. If I wasn't, I'd die. I'd die of sheer fucking boredom.

"I intend to die in harness, and I will do this until I die. My whole ethos has been of a lonely blues guitar player with this guitar."

Source musicradar