EMI has shelved plans to sell London's Abbey Road studios.

The record company has released a statement saying the iconic studios, where The Beatles recorded much of their output (immortalising it on their 1969 album 'Abbey Road'), should stay under its ownership.

The firm added it had rejected an offer for the historic building last year and was working with "third parties" about funding a "revitalisation project".

The move comes after fears that the studio would be sold to raise money for EMI in a bid to help clear the company's debts.

The reports led to a Facebook campaign to try to save it, the National Trust looking into buying the property and even composer Andrew Lloyd Webber expressing an interest in owning the studio.

EMI said in a statement: "In response to recent press speculation, EMI confirms that it is holding preliminary discussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties.

"Abbey Road studios had, for a number of years, been losing money and we have developed plans to revitalise the studios. These plans would involve a substantial injection of new capital."

The company said it also welcomed reports that English Heritage was accelerating plans to list the site, and said it had been holding discussions over the regeneration plans since November, reports BBC News.

Source NME

Lady Gaga, Kasabian and Oasis were among the big winners at this year's Brit Awards 2010, which were held at London's Earls Court last night (February 16).

New Yorker Lady Gaga was the night's big winner, scooping three awards for International Female Solo Artist, International Album for 'The Fame' and International Breakthrough Act.

Kasabian were named best British Group, though the band missed out on the best British Album, which went to Florence And The Machine for their debut 'Lungs'.

The night's most controversial moment came from Liam Gallagher, who picked up the award for the best British Album Of 30 Years for Oasis' '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' (1995). Gallagher noticeably left out his brother Noel from his thank-you speech, and then threw both the microphone and award statuette into the audience. After he walked offstage, host Peter Kay called the frontman a "knobhead".

Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams also picked up awards.

The full list of winners from the Brit Awards 2010 is as follows:

British Female Solo Artist – Lily Allen
International Female Solo Artist – Lady Gaga
British Breakthrough Act – JLS
International Male Solo Artist – Jay-Z
British Male Solo Artist – Dizzee Rascal
International Album – Lady Gaga - 'The Fame'
Brits Performance Of 30 Years – The Spice Girls - 'Wannabe'/'Who Do You Think You Are' (1997)
British Group – Kasabian
Critics' Choice – Ellie Goulding
International Breakthrough Act – Lady Gaga
British Single – JLS - 'Beat Again'
British Album Of 30 Years – Oasis - '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'
British Album – Florence And The Machine - 'Lungs'
Outstanding Contribution To Music – Robbie Williams

Source UNCUT

A year in the making, the second effort from Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins and his Coattail Riders, Red Light Fever, is now scheduled for an April 19 release on Shanabelle/Columbia Records.

Hawkins began demoing tracks on his own when an early 2009 break from the Foo Fighters' grueling touring schedule finally freed up the time. According to Hawkins, who of course provides drums and vocals on all tracks among other additional instrumentation, "About halfway through, I just said f**k it, I don't care if the record ends up sounding like me having sex with my record collection. I'm just going to have fun with it."

The record soon went from a home recording project like the Coattail Riders' 2006 debut (which was recorded in Foo Fighters touring percussionist Drew Hester's living room) to full on sessions at the Foo Fighters' state of the art 606 studio complex. Hawkins was joined by returning Coattail Riders Chris Chaney (bass) and Gannin Arnold (guitar) and, for the first time in the studio, touring Coattails guitarist Nate Wood. As the record's dozen songs were fleshed out, so too was its stellar supporting cast, which would eventually come to include Elliot Easton of the Cars, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, and last but by no means least, Hawkins' bandmate Dave Grohl.

Red Light Fever could be considered a labor of love - if the sheer joy exuded in every note, influence and nuance of every song didn't make the entire affair seem so effortless. Hawkins' increasingly accomplished vocals and world renowned drumming skills recall and pay tribute to Hawkins' vast spectrum of classic rock heroes - from the vintage 70s glam stomp of "Way Down," the hard rock rave up "Not Bad Luck," a nod to Beatlesque balladry in the form of "Hell To Pay," and many more. Virtually every track evokes memories of the respective heydays of the Chinn-Chapman hit factory, The Move, Sweet, and even a little 10cc for good measure - all imbued with Hawkins' unmistakable musical personality.

Source music-news

Iggy Pop has said that he is planning to record new material with The Stooges following their forthcoming 'Raw Power' live dates and album reissue.

The singer also said that he's toying with the idea of recording older songs that were never officially released by the band, but have popped up on bootlegs over the years.

Pop told Billboard that guitarist James Williamson, who recently re-joined The Stooges and played on 'Raw Power' (released in 1973 and being reissued this year) "is already on me like a greased cat. He's sending me riffs, so I did some vocals to a couple of them and it's starting to sound like something".

He also explained that some new material the band would work on was started while Ron Asheton, the guitarist who passed away last year, was still part of the set-up.

Speaking of resurrecting songs originally written in the 1970s but never officially released, he added: "Ultimately I'd like to get into the studio with the group and maybe have a couple old songs, a couple new songs and then a little time to just jam and see what happens."

The band are set to play 'Raw Power' over what Pop called a "three-year cycle" starting this year, including a show at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, which takes place in Minehead on May 7-9.

Source NME

Doug Fieger, lead singer for the power pop band The Knack, who co-wrote and sang the massive No. 1 hit My Sharona, died yesterday at the age of 57.

Fieger passed away at his home in Woodland Hills, California, after a lengthy battle with cancer. His sister, Beth Falkenstein, said, "He was an extraordinary lover of all things popular culture. He was an eternal pop teenager but highly intellectual and intense."

A Detroit-area native, Fieger formed The Knack in Los Angeles in 1978, and the group (which then also included drummer Bruce Gary, guitarist Berton Averre and bassist Prescott Niles) quickly became a sensation at various Sunset Strip rock clubs.

My Sharona, the lead single from the band's debut album, Get The Knack (recorded for just $18,000), was inspired by a former girlfriend of Fieger's. "I had never met a girl like her - ever," he told The Associated Press in a 1994 interview.

"She induced madness," he continued. "She was a very powerful presence. She had an insouciance that wouldn't quit. She was very self-assured. She also had an overpowering scent, and it drove me crazy."

My Sharona: the antidote to disco

My Sharona, with its mammoth drum beat and infectious guitar riff (it even had an extended solo section, rare for radio singles at the time), was released during the waning days of disco, and it held the No. 1 spot in the US for six weeks.

The Knack were signed to Capitol Records, home to The Beatles, and they were heavily promoted as the "new Fab Four." The group even played Carnegie Hall during their first national tour - just as The Beatles had done on their maiden voyage to America (see video below).

But The Knack could never repeat the success of My Sharona, and subsequent releases stalled on the charts. The group disbanded in 1982. A 1991 reunion yielded the album Serious Fun, which also failed to sell.

Drummer Bruce Gary died in 2006 of lymphoma. Averre and Niles continue to tour as The Knack, and on their website, Knack.com, they paid tribute to Fieger: "Our hearts are broken, we will miss you Doug."

Source musicradar

Dale Hawkins, singer, producer, swamp-rock legend and the man responsible for rockabilly smash Suzie Q, has died at the age of 73 after battling colon cancer.

Born on August 22, 1936 in Goldmine, Louisiana, Hawkins became hooked on the gospel sounds of the local black church and the bare bones country-blues that could be heard in the cottonfields surrounding the family home. After a brief stint in the Navy, he quit college to begin a career in music.

Hawkins took a job at a Shreveport record store, immersing himself in the R&B hits of Howlin' Wolf, Lonnie Johnson and Guitar Slim. "Most of the clientele was black," Hawkins told MOJO's Andrew Male in 2006. "If they didn't know the title of a song, I'd say, sing a little bit of it, and usually I could send them to it, what rack and what bin. God blessed me with a good ear."

He began playing the late night bars and juke joints with a variety of bands that included the likes of Ronnie Hawkins (his cousin), Conway Twitty and a very young James Burton - the virtuoso guitarist who would play on Hawkins' breakthrough hit before going on to become an integral part of Elvis's TCB band in the 1970s. Suzie-Q was released in April 1957, peaking at Number 27 on the pop and R&B charts. It would mark the start of songwriting and recording credits for a panoply of labels including Atlantic, Roulette and Bell. During the 1960s, Hawkins continued to work on hit records, producing the likes of the Unique's Not Too Long Ago and the Five Americans' Western Union as well as presenting his own TV show and introducing guitar whiz Roy Buchanan to the Chess stable.

In 1969, the year after Creedence Clearwater Revival had taken their version of Suzie Q into the Top 20, he cut the super-charged swamp-rock classic L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas (you can read MOJO's Disc Of The Day appraisal of that record HERE).

Hawkins death comes just one month after the passing of his friend and fellow Louisiana singer-songwriter Bobby Charles. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Source MOJO