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'The Hills' Musical Legacy: Natasha Bedingfield, Lady Gaga And More

13 Jul 2010 13:54:12 EDT

Artists from Hilary Duff to Journey owe a debt to 'Laguna Beach' and its spin-off.
By Kyle Anderson

Lady Gaga in "The Hills"
Photo: MTV

Tuesday night (July 13) represents a huge moment in the history of MTV programming and reality television in general. After six seasons, "The Hills" is coming to a close with a two-hour grand-finale event, beginning at 8 p.m. on MTV. It has been a watershed program, as it first established the sort of hyper-real aesthetic that many reality shows (and a handful of fictional dramas) copied. But "The Hills" and its predecessor, "Laguna Beach," also left their mark in the music world. Each of the shows had theme songs that helped spark massive career moves for the artists behind them. The theme song to "Laguna Beach" was Hilary Duff's "Come Clean," co-written by Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks. Though it originally appeared on Duff's 2003 album, Metamorphosis, and was released as a single in early 2004, it really picked up steam once it accompanied the premiere of "Laguna Beach" in September of that year. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart and earned Duff a shortlist recommendation (though no actual nomination) for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards. "The Hills" theme song did even better by its artist. When Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" debuted as the tune that introduced the world to "The Hills" in May 2006, it stormed up the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #5. In fact, because of its crossover appeal, "Unwritten" became the most-played song on the radio in the United States in 2006. Not bad for a track that was originally released in 2004 on Bedingfield's debut album of the same name. "The Hills" also gave the world some early exposure to Lady Gaga. Before Gaga's debut album, The Fame, took over the airwaves, she performed at a fashion show where Conrad and friend Whitney Port styled her. Gaga was even the subject of a minor plot in that episode, as the zipper of her catsuit broke, forcing Conrad to repair it and save the day. But perhaps the most lasting musical legacy of "The Hills" is actually a moment from "Laguna Beach." The second-season premiere of "Laguna Beach" (which aired in July 2005) featured a scene wherein castmember Stephen Colletti picks Conrad up for a date. The song playing in Stephen's car during the scene? Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," which had yet to receive its second renaissance thanks to the series finale of "The Sopranos" (which didn't air until two years later). Exposure on "Laguna Beach" (along with its appearance on a "Family Guy" episode the same week) sent the track skyrocketing into the iTunes Top 10, an amazing feat for a song that was nearly 25 years old. What was your favorite musical moment from "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills"? Let us know in the comments! Join MTVNews.com on Tuesday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET for a live stream from the red carpet of Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel, where the stars will gather for "The Hills Live: A Hollywood Ending." Then tune in for the series finale at 10 p.m. ET on MTV and "The Hills Live: A Hollywood Ending After Show" at 11.

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Super Bowl Music Lineup: Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, Diddy Get In The Game

29 Jan 2009 17:18:00 EST

Fall Out Boy, Jay-Z will also appear at related parties; Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen provide in-game entertainment.
By Gil Kaufman

Rihanna
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Between the commercials, the halftime extravaganza and lingerie-clad counter-programming, it's hard to remember that the reason the Super Bowl is the most-watched TV event of the year is because of, you know, the football game. Music has increasingly become the biggest distraction from the gridiron action, and this year, that's truer than ever, with a Grammy-night-worthy roster of acts lining up to get a bit of shine on football's biggest day. There is, of course, the prime-time halftime slot, which has become a haven for classic-rock acts, with one of the biggest one taking the stage this year: the Boss. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will run onto the field between halves — two days before their latest album, Working on a Dream, drops — but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Faith Hill will sing "America the Beautiful" before the game on Sunday, and Jennifer Hudson will give her first public performance since the murders of her mother, brother and nephew when she sings that national anthem at the game. On Thursday, the Pepsi Smash concert will air live from the Ford Amphitheatre on VH1, with sets from Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and Lifehouse, with actor Jerry O'Connell hosting. The next night, Enrique Iglesias will headline Pepsi Musica Super Bowl Fiesta at the Ford on Telemundo, which will air Saturday. Friday night will also bring the Miller Lite Super Party in St. Petersburg at Williams Park starring Hoobastank, and the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration at the USF Sun Dome. Saturday night boasts the Hard Rock Hotel's Rock & Soul Super Saturday Night show featuring the ubiquitous Will.I.Am and DJ Ruckus, with possible appearances by invited guests including Paris Hilton, Brody Jenner and the Kardashians. That's not to be confused with the Seminole Hard Rock Revolution party on Friday night, hosted by "Entourage" star Kevin "Johnny Drama" Dillon and Khloe Kardashian, with music from DJs Colleen Shannon and Selfborn. If you're in Florida, you gotta see Flo Rida, right? You're in luck, because the "Low" rapper is playing at the Green Iguana in Tampa as part of a Low Dough Pregame Show. Celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson will take to the decks at another Green Iguana outlet in Tampa, in the Westshore Hotel, following the game for a Celebrity Postgame Show, and Tampa's Club Underground is promoting the I Am Legend Super Bowl party, hosted by Jay-Z, on Saturday night. Not to be outdone, Diddy, NFL legend Deion Sanders and boxer Winky Wright are hosting what's being called a three-day, star-studded party leading up the game called the Good Life Experience at the Venue in St. Petersburg from January 29-31. Among the guests promised to drop by are comedian Dane Cook and football legend Warren Sapp, and Diddy is set to host the final night's events, called the Icons of the Good Life Diamonds and Pearls Gala. And just like you can't have a party without Will.I.Am, you can't host an event without the equally everywhere-at-once Dave Navarro, who will be MCing the Rock-N-Babes gig at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Saturday with J-Mello. Another party staple, DJ AM, will be spinning with DJ Jazzy Jeff at a Super Bowl kickoff party at AJA on Thursday night in Tampa. Journey and John Legend will also be part of the pregame festivities, performing adjacent to Raymond James Stadium at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. Some other random acts making the scene: DJ Kid Capri at the 2009 Players After Party; Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander at the Band Together charity show on Saturday at the Sirata Beach Resort in St. Petersburg; actor Kevin Costner with his band, Modern West, at the Super Sunday HQ party on Saturday night at TPepin Hospitality Centre with New York Giants legend Michael Strahan; Nelly and Jermaine Dupri co-hosting the Under the Veil 2 party on Saturday night at the Museum of Science and Industry; and Nick Lachey teaming up with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for the Super Skins Party at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Friday, followed by the Super Skins Celebrity Golf Classic the next day. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Snoop Dogg is performing at the Anheuser-Busch-sponsored pregame Bud Bowl concert at Channelside in Tampa on Friday night, with 3 Doors Down playing the next night.

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Patrick Stump Named One Of 2007's Un-Sexiest Men; Plus Prodigy, R.E.M., Lindsay Lohan, Eddie Murphy & More, In For The Record

02 Jan 2008 17:39:00 EST

Mobb Deep rapper to issue solo LP while in jail; R.E.M. settle on album title; Lohan tops worst-movie-performance poll.
By MTV News staff

Patrick Stump
Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump has been named one of the un-sexiest men of 2007 by Boston alt-weekly The Phoenix. He lands at #95 on the list, right next to Larry King and Jon Heder. ... Prodigy, who will start serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence on a charge of gun possession for which he was indicted in October, plans to issue his second solo album while behind bars. H.N.I.C. Part 2 will drop in March, feature production from Mobb Deep group mate Havoc and Alchemist, and be integrated with Voxonic technology, which converts a voice into hundreds of languages with near-perfect accuracy. Prodigy also released a statement regarding his upcoming sentence, saying, "Throughout my life, I have always lived through adversity. I'm a survivor. You don't understand the mental power that I have. While I'm locked up, I'm going to be writing lyrics, working on the script for my second feature film, 'Dope,' and finish writing an autobiography of my life, which will be finished by the time I'm released. My mind is going to be focused, and I'll have time to think and map out my entire plan. The experience will make me a tougher, stronger person. I'm gonna work on getting out faster, so I can get back to doing what I do best. When I get home, it's gonna be on!" ... R.E.M. have christened their forthcoming album Accelerate and set an April 1 release date for the effort. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, Snow Patrol) and will feature "Until the Day Is Done," "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "Staring Down the Barrel of Middle Distance." Expect the band to tour in the spring. ... It's not like she was expecting an Oscar nomination, but a nod for the worst? In a poll conducted by AOL's Moviefone Web site, 58 percent of respondents gave Lindsay Lohan the dubious distinction of turning in the worst performance by an actress in 2007 for her role in "I Know Who Killed Me." Another one of Lohan's box-office bombs, "Georgia Rule," finished second among the more than 3.8 million voters, just behind the Eddie Murphy comedy "Norbit," as the biggest waste of $10. "Norbit" also earned the comedian the title of worst performance by an actor. ... Eddie Murphy and "Good Luck Chuck" producer Tracey Edmonds got hitched during an intimate New Year's Day ceremony on a private island in French Polynesia, according to People.com. Johnny Gill was reportedly Murphy's best man. ... Radiohead singer Thom Yorke has hit back at the boss of his former label, EMI Music, after claims that the band had rejected a nearly $6 million advance for their new album while demanding the copyrights to older titles. In a December 29 post on the group's official Web site under the heading "FYI — if you care — for your information," Yorke wrote, "We did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re-sign. That is a L I E. The Times in the U.K. should check its facts before it prints such dirt. What we wanted was some control over our work and how it was used in the future by them — that seemed reasonable to us, as we cared about it a great deal. [EMI boss Guy] Hands was not interested. So neither were we. We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly." Yorke said the group was upset about the airing of "dirty laundry" in public. Separately, Yorke told BBC Radio 4 that releasing In Rainbows solely as a digital download — the physical album hit stores this week — would have been "stark raving mad" because 80 percent of fans still buy physical releases. "We didn't want it to be a big announcement about 'everything's over except the Internet, the Internet's the future,' 'cause that's utter rubbish," Yorke said. "And it's really important to have an artifact as well, as they call it, an object." Yorke, in one of his first public comments about the decision to release In Rainbows under a pay-what-you-wish scheme, explained that Radiohead had a "moral justification in what we did in the sense that the majors and the big infrastructure of the music business has not addressed the way artists communicate directly with their fans. ... In fact, they seem to basically get in the way. Not only do they get in the way, but they take all the cash." He also denied reports that In Rainbows was downloaded more than 1.2 million times in its first week, but, in keeping with the band's silence on sales, would not confirm how many times it was actually downloaded. "It's total nonsense. ... We're the only people who know, and it feels wrong to say exactly what happened," he said. "But it's been a really nice surprise and we've done really well out of it." ... The presidential race will bleed over into late-night TV on Wednesday night (January 2) when David Letterman chats up Democratic contender Senator Hillary Clinton and Jay Leno welcomes Republican candidate Mike Huckabee on the respective comeback episodes of their shows. Chingy will perform on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," while Lupe Fiasco will play on the "Late Show With David Letterman," with Robin Williams also appearing. Letterman struck a deal with the Writers Guild of America that will allow him to return to air with writers, but Huckabee and Chingy will be crossing the picket line with their appearances on Leno's show, as the writers' strike continues. ... "L.A." Reid, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Brett Ratner, Billy Joel and others partied Sunday on a private yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Jon Bon Jovi and Robbie Robertson performed at the shindig, according to Fox News. ... Staind's Aaron Lewis, along with members of Boston, Tesla, Stryper and other bands, will join host Dee Snider of Twisted Sister at the fifth anniversary Relief Fund Charity Concert, to be staged February 25 at Providence, Rhode Island's Dunkin' Donut Center. The event is being put on by the Station Family Fund, a group founded by survivors, family members and community members affected by the Station fire, the February 2003 nightclub tragedy that claimed 100 lives. Proceeds from the show will go to the survivors of the fire, many of whom did not qualify for Social Security benefits. ... The lineup for Dave Mustaine's Gigantour 2008 has been revealed. The trek, to launch in mid-April and run through late May, will feature his band Megadeth, as well as In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire. ... P.O.D. have set an April 8 release date for When Angels & Serpents Dance, the band's forthcoming LP. The record will feature a guest appearance by Suicidal Tendencies mainman Mike Muir. ... Former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland's band, Black Light Burns, have begun work on material for their second album, which is set for release in early 2009. Borland said in a statement that the new stuff is "a lot more guitar-heavy than it is synth-heavy. The feeling/tone is a little more fun and weird compared to the darkness of the first album." The effort follows the band's debut disc, last year's Cruel Melody. ... Hatebreed were forced to postpone the final concert in their Stillborn Fest series after guitarist Frank Novinec broke his ankle. No word yet on when they'll make up the gig, which was supposed to happen Sunday in Rochester, New York. ... A lawyer who previously represented Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight in a $130 million lawsuit over ownership of the onetime gangsta-rap powerhouse is asking a judge to set that judgment aside. According to the Los Angeles Times, in a hearing set for Wednesday attorney Dermot Givens is asking that the judgment be voided because of what he claims is new evidence that the plaintiff, singer Lydia Harris, and her imprisoned drug-dealing husband, Michael, allegedly duped a Los Angeles judge into ruling against Knight. The motion contends that Harris hid from the court that she had filed for bankruptcy five years before suing Knight and that she never claimed an ownership stake in Death Row during that legal proceeding. The motion also alleges that recent sworn testimony by the couple shows that Michael Harris, an alleged crack kingpin, was the real party of interest in her lawsuit against Knight; Michael Harris sued Knight in 1996 claiming he helped finance Death Row, and was awarded a $300,000 out-of-court settlement. Lydia Harris filed a separate suit in 2002 claiming that she and Knight started the label together and that he cheated her out of millions in profits. ... James Brown's final recordings have been caught up in the legal feud over the late rock legend's estate, according to The Associated Press. Brown recorded an album in Los Angeles in summer 2006, but courtroom disputes over who should get his music royalties are preventing the release of the tracks. More than 50-60 additional unreleased songs recorded by Brown are also reportedly in the archives. ... The Jersey Boys have a bit of a problem on their hands. Tommy DeVito, ex-bassist of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons — on which the "Jersey Boys" story is based — is being sued by the widow of a man who also wrote a story about the group, according to TMZ. Donna Corbello says her late husband Rex Conrad Woodard's yet-unpublished book was the basis of the Broadway smash, and she is reportedly seeking a declaration that he is the volume's "joint owner" so she can get some of the future profits from the production. The suit was recentl

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Madonna Reportedly Snags Kanye West, Pharrell For LP; Plus Jessica Sierra, Gym Class Heroes, Radiohead, Ne-Yo & More, In For The Record

06 Dec 2007 18:01:00 EST

Sierra pleads not guilty to charges; Heroes tapped for Warped Tour; Radiohead to end downloads soon.
By MTV News staff

Madonna
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

Time to pucker up for Madonna's next album — Billboard.com reports that the singer has settled on the title for it: Licorice. The effort, which will reportedly feature "Candy Shop" and "The Beat Goes On" (featuring Pharrell), is due in late April and will be Madge's last effort for longtime label Warner Bros. Kanye West is said to be a guest on "The Beat Goes On," according to the site, which also reports that Madonna's vintage track "The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" will get an update on the new disc. ... Jessica Sierra pleaded not guilty on Thursday (December 6) to charges of disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest and violating conditions of her parole on earlier felony battery and possession charges, according to The Associated Press. The former "American Idol" finalist was arrested early Sunday morning outside a bar in Ybor City, near Tampa, Florida, after causing an unspecified disturbance while working inside the establishment. Sierra's lawyer reportedly said he is consulting with doctors to map out a comprehensive drug and alcohol plan for the ex-"Idol" contestant, who is currently being held without bail. Sierra is to remain in jail at least until her next hearing on December 20. ... Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is ... and Relient K will help anchor next year's Warped Tour, according to Alternative Press. Every Time I Die, From First to Last and the Bronx are also among the first 18 bands named for the summer trek, with the dates yet to be announced. ... Speaking of summer fests, Bonnaroo will take place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tennessee, Billboard.com reports. The lineup will be revealed in late January or early February. ... Your chance to download Radiohead's In Rainbows is about to end. The band has announced that the InRainbows.com Web site will close Saturday. But you can still plunk down $80 for the box set at Radiohead's online w.a.s.t.e. store, while supplies last. ... Ne-Yo and Macy Gray are joining Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and others as they pitch in for presidential aspirant Senator Barack Obama. Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls will play at an Obama fundraiser in Universal City, California, on Monday, while Gray, Tweedy and others will perform at the senator's Friday event in Obama's hometown of Chicago. On a related note, Wilco will set out for a two-week U.S. tour in February. ... Paris, you've got nothing on Britney — Spears outdid Hilton on eBay in terms of related items sold this year. AP reports that 34,345 Brit-related items were sold, compared with 27,377 for Paris. A mere 8,099 items related to Lindsay Lohan were auctioned, while on the movies front, "Transformers" beat out Harry Potter with 442,342 and 344,825 related items sold, respectively. ... Indie-rockers, state attorneys general and anti-smoking activists are finding themselves on the same side, oddly enough — some of them are reportedly peeved about an ad for Camel cigarettes that appeared alongside a cartoon-heavy indie-rock feature in the magazine's November 15 issue, Pitchfork reports. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has stopped promotions for its "The Farm" marketing campaign after nine attorneys general sued the company over the ads, according to North Carolina's Winston-Salem Journal. More states are reportedly expected to also sue R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which could face a fine of more than $100 million for violating a 1998 agreement between 46 states and tobacco manufacturers. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement banned the use of cartoons to sell market cigarettes in 1997, effectively killing off Joe Camel. Also being debated, according to Pitchfork, are Camel-sponsored concerts that have featured the Flaming Lips, Band of Horses and the Faint. ... Alicia Keys will ring in the new year with a performance on the roof of New York's Rockefeller Center as part of Carson Daly's shindig on NBC, People.com reports. The show, which will air December 31 at 11:35 p.m. ET, will also feature Lenny Kravitz performing in Times Square. Keys will sing two songs from her latest album, As I Am. ... LL Cool J, Rev Run, Petra Nemcova, Brett Ratner and other celebs have ponied up items for an ongoing online charity auction staged by Russell Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund. "Diamonds Give" features 15 lots of donated diamond pieces and runs through December 16 on eBay. ... It sounds like U2 might be going back to the future on their upcoming album. The band, which flirted with dance beats and techno on such albums as 1991's Achtung Baby, is incorporating trance, metal and Moroccan influences on its new disc, according to an interview with Bono in The Independent. The singer said fans will "feel the difference. ... Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dance floor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences." He also said the yet-untitled and unscheduled album has some "very hardcore guitar" and "real molten metal" from guitarist the Edge that doesn't sound "like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either." Though he wouldn't categorize the album as "world" music, Bono said its sound was inspired in part by a religious music festival the guys attended in Fez, Morocco, where they were exposed to Sufi music. "It was a real humbling thing for a punk-rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies." So far, U2 have recorded enough material for two records, he added. ... Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson recently hung with locals, bathed in an irrigation ditch in their boxers and visited an orphanage in Peru this week, according to AP. An image that surfaced shows the two, who reportedly stayed at a cheap hotel room that cost less than $50 per night, smiling and waving in Cuzco. Cameron Diaz, Bill Gates and others visited the area earlier this year. ... Courtney Love has a new video on her hands ... kind of. A clip featuring manga character Princess Ai — whose universe of properties was co-created by Love — will premiere at the New York Anime Festival on Saturday. "Princess Ai: Broken Leash," which includes live action, animation and music, will appear as part of a CD/DVD anthology due in fall 2008. ... It's hard to keep old punks down. After their recent reunion tour of England this year, punk grandfathers the Sex Pistols will hit the road again next summer, according to Reuters. Guitarist Steve Jones did not give any specifics about the 2008 tour on his Los Angeles radio show on Wednesday, other than to say that the group might play an upcoming charity show at London's Royal Albert Hall organized by Who singer Roger Daltrey. ... And the battle over James Brown's estate goes on. According to AP, two former trustees for the late singer's estate say the judge who is handling the disputes made them resign in late November. In recently filed court documents, Buddy Dallas and Alford Bradley reportedly said they want to retract their resignations and that South Carolina Circuit Judge Jack Early used "improper judicial influence." They are also seeking for the appointment of their successors to be overturned. 12.5.07 Unlike Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, Kiefer Sutherland is not getting off easy with his DUI — the "24" actor has been sentenced to 48 days in a Los Angeles County jail for his September 24 arrest and violating his probation. The actor must start serving his sentence at the Glendale City Jail prior to March 30, UsMagazine.com reports. He has also been sentenced to five years of probation, must finish a year-and-a-half-long alcohol-education program and go to weekly therapy sessions for a half-year. Sutherland, who had a previous DUI before his fall arrest, had been pulled over by police after making an illegal U-turn and reportedly blew twice the legal blood-alcohol level during a breathalyzer test. He issued a statement after entering a no-contest plea in early October, saying, "I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on '24' and at 20th Century Fox." ... Contrasting with Sutherland's devastating news, Richie caught a break on Wednesday when her court-mandated anti-drinking program granted the socialite a leave of absence, according to People. Coordinators at the program were reportedly worried for Richie's safety, with her rep saying such leaves of absence are granted to people with medical conditions and that she did not get special treatment. Richie is eight months pregnant and has to complete the 18-month program as part of her DUI plea deal ... Bad news for Vanessa Hudgens: A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday (December 5) that a breach-of-contract suit by her former lawyer can go forward, according to CBS News. Brian L. Schall is suing the "The High School Musical" star for breach of contract, although Hudgens has argued that she was a minor at the time she signed the agreement and therefore isn't bound to it. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow said the matter of Hudgens disaffirming her contractual obligations within a reasonable time period is a "factual i

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Kiefer Sutherland Sentenced To 48 Days In Jail; Plus Nicole Richie, Vanessa Hudgens, Lindsay Lohan, Jay-Z & More, In For The Record

05 Dec 2007 20:45:00 EST

Richie granted leave of absence from alcohol program; suit against Hudgens can go forward; man files new papers against Lohan.
By MTV News staff

Kiefer Sutherland watches a game at AT&T Park on September 29, 2006, in San Francisco
Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/ Getty Images

Unlike Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, Kiefer Sutherland is not getting off easy with his DUI — the "24" actor has been sentenced to 48 days in a Los Angeles County jail for his September 24 arrest and violating his probation. The actor must start serving his sentence at the Glendale City Jail prior to March 30, UsMagazine.com reports. He has also been sentenced to five years of probation, must finish a year-and-a-half-long alcohol-education program and go to weekly therapy sessions for a half-year. Sutherland, who had a previous DUI before his fall arrest, had been pulled over by police after making an illegal U-turn and reportedly blew twice the legal blood-alcohol level during a breathalyzer test. He issued a statement after entering a no-contest plea in early October, saying, "I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on '24' and at 20th Century Fox." ... Contrasting with Sutherland's devastating news, Richie caught a break on Wednesday when her court-mandated anti-drinking program granted the socialite a leave of absence, according to People. Coordinators at the program were reportedly worried for Richie's safety, with her rep saying such leaves of absence are granted to people with medical conditions and that she did not get special treatment. Richie is eight months pregnant and has to complete the 18-month program as part of her DUI plea deal ... Bad news for Vanessa Hudgens: A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday (December 5) that a breach-of-contract suit by her former lawyer can go forward, according to CBS News. Brian L. Schall is suing the "The High School Musical" star for breach of contract, although Hudgens has argued that she was a minor at the time she signed the agreement and therefore isn't bound to it. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow said the matter of Hudgens disaffirming her contractual obligations within a reasonable time period is a "factual issue," and that Hudgens' decision to wait until she was 18 years and 9 months old to reject the contract is an issue for either a jury decision or a motion for summary judgment. The next hearing in the case is slated for January 15. ... Lindsay Lohan might be facing another setback too: Raymundo Ortega, the busboy who is seeking $200,000 in damages stemming from Lohan's collision with his van in October 2005, says he has proof the starlet was drinking before the crash, according to The Associated Press. He reportedly filed papers Tuesday. ... An interview with T.I. that was conducted prior to his October arrest on gun charges appears in the December/January issue of Rap-Up magazine, which features him and Nicole Scherzinger on alternate covers. The rapper said he has a new urban-clothing line on the way — called "A King of Oneself" — and also revealed his interest in a different type of endeavor: commercial construction. "I want to build a Home Depot or a Wal-Mart, shopping centers," he told the mag. Tip cited Tupac as the rapper who had the most influence on him growing up — and called out some other big names for keeping him out of trouble. "Sometimes I be wildin' out, then [Suge Knight says,] 'Man, you got too much going on, you can't do that. It ain't like the old days,' " said the rapper, who is currently under house arrest. "[Jay-Z] will tell me the same thing, [Diddy] tell me the same thing, Kevin Liles — everybody trying. Wyclef is another one. People, I guess, just care." ... For her part, Nicole Scherzinger named Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as the singers she admires the most. She also talked about someone else you may have heard of — Kanye West — and why the tracks he produced for her solo debut didn't make the cut. "I wasn't able to really finish them in time," said the singer, whose Her Name Is Nicole LP is due January 29. "When I have the right time and the right album, I wanna finish those songs. There was talks of putting Common on one of them." Scherzinger also talked about shooting her "Whatever U Like" video with the other Rap-Up cover artist, T.I. "When we did the video it was crazy 'cause we were all up in each other's grills, like [director] Paul Hunter really made us go there, but it was great. He's a professional. Paul was making us tug on each other; we were hard-core for a hot second." ... Jay-Z celebrated his 38th birthday with Beyoncé in Paris on Tuesday, according to People.com. The couple reportedly holed up in a hotel suite, took a drive around the city, ate at L'Avenue restaurant and caught a cabaret show. ... Pete Wentz, Chris Brown, the Jonas Brothers and Corbin Bleu all made Teen magazine's list of the 50 Hottest Guys in Hollywood — but Zac Efron takes the cake by topping the bunch. ... Keira Knightley stripped down for the revealing cover of the latest issue of Interview magazine. "How does that always happen?" the "Atonement" actress asked herself, in the interview, of taking off her clothes. "Because I say yes, I suppose." ... Styles P, Hurricane Chris and Fabolous will bring some yuletide cheer to Russell Simmons and Rev Run's eighth annual Youth Holiday Party in New York on Tuesday, with MTV News' own Sway acting as one of the emcees. For the festivities, the Simmons brothers and their Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation will turn the Fillmore at Irving Plaza into a winter wonderland, raffling off prizes like an Xbox 360 and tickets to a taping of "106 & Park." Kids will also get Target gift cards. ... Journey are counting a new singer among their ranks: Arnel Pineda. The Filipino crooner, who previously covered the band's songs with his group the Zoo, is the third Journey singer in two years — he follows Jeff Scott Soto, who left the fold earlier this year after filling in for Steve Augeri, who split with the band in 2006 due to medical reasons. "I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice,' " Pineda said in a statement, referring to yet another former Journey singer: Steve Perry. "But that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world." "Arnel doesn't sound synthetic and he's not emulating anyone," added guitarist Neal Schon, who discovered the singer's Zoo clips online. "I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him ... but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter." ... Deerhunter, Black Dice, Fischerspooner and others have chipped in unreleased new songs for Living Bridge, a two-CD collection of songs by bands who have previously recorded at Brooklyn, New York's Rare Book Room Studio. The 25-song package will hit stores February 26 and christen Rare Book Room Records, a new label. ... The Breeders will be back in '08 with a new disc hitting stores April 8. Mountain Battles will arrive six years after the band's previous effort, Title TK, which the band took nine years to put out following its most successful album, 1993's Last Splash. The Pixies-affiliated group is also due to tour throughout the year, hitting up South by Southwest and Coachella along the way. ... Peaches will sweeten up New Year's Eve this year by counting down the clock in downtown Los Angeles as part of Hard NYE's bash. She will also perform, as will Justice. ... Paula Abdul was a "disaster" on "Saturday Night Live" when she hosted the show two years ago — so says Tina Fey in the January issue of Playboy. "I was pregnant at the time and probably a little moody, but I remember thinking, 'She's a disaster!' " Fey said. ... Vivica A. Fox booked herself on Wednesday on charges of driving under the influence, TMZ.com reports. A judge ordered on Monday that the actress be booked or face a bench warrant. ... Charges were dropped against Jonathan Rhys-Meyers after he apologized for creating a drunken fracas at an airport in Ireland earlier this year. The actor, who faced two charges of public drunkenness and breach of peace, said through his lawyer that he intends to make a donation to an unspecified charity. ... The one guy who seemed kind of charmed by Borat's antics in last year's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" has joined the parade of people suing the fake Kazakh reporter. According to Reuters, driving instructor Michael Psenicska's suit against the film's makers and star Sacha Baron Cohen claims that he was tricked into participating in a film that he was led to believe was a "documentary about the integration of foreign people into the American way of life." Psenicska said he was paid $500 in cash to give Borat a driving lesson and described the experience as "surreal," saying Cohen drove erratically down residential streets, drank alcohol and yelled to a female pedestrian that he would pay her $10 for "sexy time." Psenicska is seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages and additional punitive damages for being misled, and for the emotional harm he allegedly continues to suffer. Psenicska said if he had known the true nature of the film, he never would have participated. The studio behind the flick said the suit had no merit and that Psenicska was a willing parti

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Wu-Tang's 'Shaolin Style' To Kiss' 'Psycho Circus': Five Awesomely Bad Music-Inspired Video Games

15 Nov 2007 16:34:00 EST

Aerosmith's 'Revolution X,' 'Michael Jackson's Moonwalker' also among dreaded 'inspired by (insert name of popular musical act here)' games.
By James Montgomery

Photo: Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.

Since the dawn of "Pong," one of the greatest kisses of death for a video game has been the dreaded "inspired by (insert name of popular musical act here)" tag line. This is mainly because popular musical acts don't know much about making video games, despite what they might think, and despite what everyone close to them might tell them. So they go all-in and dream up a usually convoluted plot in which they a) save the world through the power of their music; b) battle an omnipotent, unilateral government hellbent on destroying their music; or c) take on mystical, supercharged and/or anthropomorphic personae inspired by their music.

And as a result, these video games are almost always terrible. But some stand out from the pack because they are particularly awful. So in celebration of MTV's Gamer's Week and MTV-backed "Rock Band,""Rock Band we've decided to shine the spotlight on five of the most awesomely bad music-inspired video games ever made. Enjoy. Or don't. It's basically the same thing. "Journey Escape"
» Data Age, 1982 The prototypical "inspired by" game in almost every way, particularly because it sets the bar so low, "Escape" is a vertical scroller in which you guide the barely rendered visages of Journey through a maze of — as the instruction book puts it — "love-crazed groupies, sneaky photographers and shifty-eyed promoters," to the safety of their Scarab Escape Vehicle in order to make it to the next sold-out show. Based (we guess) on the band's mega-successful Escape album from 1981, the game is boring — and we're using 1982 standards here — mostly because you spend the entire time dodging blobs that look like hot dogs with feet. Along the way, you get assistance from roadies and the "mighty manager," who inexplicably looks like the Kool-Aid Man. About the only breakthroughs contained within are the decisions to replace the standard health meter with a rapidly depleting stash of "concert cash" and the fact that the members of Journey maintained that the game was based on their real lives — which is interesting, considering it makes them look money-hungry and self-obsessed. "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker"
» Sega, 1990 The King of Pop throws on a zoot suit; battles an insidious, moon-based drug dealer; and rescues captive children with his "dance magic," all while shooting sparks from his hands, tossing his fedora like a boomerang and repeatedly hollering "Wooo!" He has the ability to transform into a giant, indestructible robot and can pilot a high-tech spacecraft. Though we're talking about the plot of a game released more than 15 years ago, there is roughly a 75 percent chance that this exact scenario is running through Michael's head right now. In theory, "Moonwalker" is based on the video for MJ's "Smooth Criminal," only, you know, it's so much more. You guide Jackson through five generic levels ("Club," "Street," "Woods"), twirling and kicking at suited baddies and saving small children, while awesomely MIDI-ed versions of his greatest hits play in the background. After doing this for an indeterminate amount of time, Jackson then takes control of a spaceship and engages in a dogfight with the nefarious Mr. Big, the drug dealer who has captured all the kids and is now trying to destroy the earth with a giant laser cannon. If it sounds mind-melting, well, it is, not to mention that practically everything in "Moonwalker" is made 10,000 times creepier given the, uh, last 15 years of Jackson's life. And all of that makes playing it an experience unlike anything ever before. Which, when you think about it, is actually about as close to a recommendation as you're gonna get on this list. "Revolution X"
» Midway, 1994 (arcade version); Acclaim, 1995 (console versions) Aerosmith inexplicably lent their songs and likeness to this pixilated, meandering rail shooter set in — you guessed it — a post-apocalyptic future in which a shadowy government organization (the menacingly named New Order Nation) has outlawed rock and roll. During a very cyberpunk gig at Los Angeles' fictional Club X, Aerosmith are captured by NON troops (who could, you know, actually be rock critics) and it's up to you to free them, mostly by firing compact discs at faceless soldiers in riot gear, and the occasional tank. Conceived during the height of the band's obsession with cyberspace — a period perhaps best summed up by the video for "Amazing,"the video for "Amazing," which featured that dude from "Dazed and Confused" and his excellent headband — "Revolution X" is terrible in almost every conceivable way. That's from the soundtrack — which consisted of eternally looped versions of Aerosmith hits like "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way" — to the grainy graphics and the gameplay, (seriously, you could call it "Repetition X"). It's so bad that "Revolution X" is almost always included whenever the topic of "The Worst Video Games Ever" is discussed, and it makes you actually root for the nondescript — though incredibly evil — one-world government that you're supposed to be overthrowing. Because if it's opposed to Aerosmith, how bad can it really be? "Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style"
» Activision, 1999 Hmmm, let's see: An over-baked concept featuring martial arts, the illuminati and/or monks? A project that's better in theory than in actuality? An impact that would've been much greater a decade earlier? Yep, sounds like something involving the Wu-Tang Clan. In this case, it's the group's first and only foray into the world of 3-D fighting games. "Shaolin Style" distinguished itself from other murky games of the era by coming packaged with a limited-edition, wholly unusable "W"-shaped controller. The loco peripherals were bad, and the game itself was blurry and choppy. You piloted each of the nine Wu-Tang members through a seemingly endless series of battles, with the prescribed purpose of unlocking secret goals — or, in Wu-speak, "chambers" — and rescuing an ancient monk or something. "Shaolin" did earn bonus points for the fact that each member of the Clan had their own unique fighting style, but ultimately, it's exactly like every semi-lame 3-D kick/punch fighter ever made, except with a limp RZA-produced score and Ol' Dirty Bastard flopping around on his back, "drunken monkey style." "Kiss: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child"
» Take 2, 2000 Rifle-carrying members of the Kiss Army likely purchased this game (and probably the Dreamcast it was ported to), played it all the way through, and thought it was awesome. But not everyone is a Kiss fan. Based — in theory — on the Todd McFarlane-helmed comic book series, which reimagined the band as supernatural beings who battled evil (while wearing platform boots), "Nightmare Child" put you in control of a faceless protagonist sent on a mythic quest to retrieve pieces of Kiss armor, all while blasting your way though drones of same-y creatures in a variety of generic settings. Which means that it was a "good video game" in the same way Music from 'The Elder' was a "good album." Boring and repetitive, the game was — not surprisingly — skewered by critics, but remains (also, not surprisingly) a favorite of Kiss loyalists. In the long and storied history of rock, there is perhaps no act as unabashedly commercial as Kiss, so it's surprising that it took them until 2000 to get into the video game racket. But after playing "Nightmare Child," you kind of wish they never had.

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Journey Singer Insisted On Knowing 'Sopranos' Finale Before Allowing Song Use

12 Jun 2007 15:08:00 EDT

Steve Perry didn't want to see 'the Soprano family being whacked to 'Don't Stop Believin'.'
By Gil Kaufman

Journey's Steve Perry in "Don't Stop Believin' "
Photo: Columbia

If you were surprised by the "Sopranos" series-ending cliffhanger, just imagine how show creator David Chase was feeling just days before the finale aired: He still had not received permission to use Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " in the show's controversial final scene. "The request came in a few weeks ago and it wasn't until Thursday that it got approval, because I was concerned," revealed former Journey singer Steve Perry on Tuesday (June 12). Perry and former bandmates guitarist Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain had to agree on the use of the song in the show, and though Perry said the trio don't agree on much, the "Sopranos" denouement was one of the few times since Perry left the band in 1998 that the guys have shaken hands on something unanimously. But first, Perry made Chase an offer he couldn't refuse: He insisted on knowing what happens to the Soprano clan before signing off (see " 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Talks About Finale, Denies 'Trying To Blow People's Minds' " and "How Will 'Sopranos' Meet Its End? Silvio And Bobby Aren't Talkin' "). "I was not excited about [the possibility of] the Soprano family being whacked to 'Don't Stop Believin'," said Perry, who watched the show with glee Sunday night and again on Monday. "I told them, 'Unless I know what happens — and I will swear to secrecy — I can't in good conscience feel good about its use.'" The show's producers made Perry promise to keep it under his lid, which he did, and then they spilled the beans on how the song was used and how the show ends, after which Perry signed off. Interestingly, Cain — who wrote the song with Perry and Schon — told The Associated Press that he didn't know how it would be used when they agreed to the licensing. He kept the fact that the song would be used in the show a secret even from his family. "I didn't want to blow it," he told AP. "Even my wife didn't know. She looked at me and said, 'You knew that and you didn't tell me?' " "I can hardly put in words how good it makes me feel, to be honest with you," said Perry about the pivotal role the song played, jokingly adding that he's not nearly as "reclusive" as MTV News made him sound in a story that ran on Monday (see " 'Sopranos' Is Latest To Keep The Faith In Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin' ' "). "There's nothing more in my lifetime that I wanted than to be part of a band that wrote the kind of music we did when we were together. ... When I saw ['The Sopranos'] last night, what I saw was the director pull back into the foundation that was there all along during the most important moment when all this chaos [is going on]. The song was, literally, cutting from lyric to lyric, from mother to son to James [Gandolfini] at the key moment and on [the lyric] 'streetlight people,' it pulls back with the cameras to reveal a streetlight and I said, 'My God, this director [Chase] got it. He got the song!' " When told that Chase revealed to the New Jersey Star-Ledger that "Don't Stop" was the only song he wanted all along for the show capper, Perry said he wasn't surprised. "I felt he must have heard the song enough that he wrote something that fit the lyrics," Perry said. "The whole thing blew my mind." What did you think of the "Sopranos" finale? Watch right here.
See Steven Van Zandt reveal how he got hooked up with the show.
Tune in here for his thoughts on the big finale.

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'Sopranos' Is Latest To Keep The Faith In Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin' '

11 Jun 2007 15:40:00 EDT

'Laguna Beach,' 'Family Guy,' 'American Idol' all prominently featured quarter-century-old anthem.
By Gil Kaufman

Photo: Columbia

Who knows why "Sopranos" creator David Chase chose the Journey nugget "Don't Stop Believin' " to end his show's legendary run? Maybe it was to create an underlying sense that while our window into Tony's world is closing, we should know that life goes on (and on and on and on) for the sanitation executive, his obliterated crew and troubled family. Or maybe Chase was not so subtly telling us that despite the bloodbath of the last few episodes, AJ's suicide attempt and Meadow's career hopping and hookup with a potentially whack-worthy lawyer, there is justice for the righteous (OK, maybe not righteous, but the more righteous than some other guys). Or maybe Chase was simply telling us that despite what you might think, Journey rocks. After all, the lasting image of the show's finale (see "How Will 'Sopranos' Meet Its End? Silvio And Bobby Aren't Talkin' "), not to mention the buzz that was likely in everyone's brain when they woke Monday morning (June 11), was the refrain of the 1981 hit by the arena rockers as the screen abruptly clicked to black. But the fade to oblivion on the wings of Journey was just the latest in what has been a multimedia renaissance for the tune over the past few years. "It's heavy, very heavy," said Journey's founding guitarist, Neal Schon, who is a fan of the show but had not yet seen the finale. "It's one of those feel-good songs that's not going to go away." As to why he thinks Chase picked it, Schon chalks it up to the song's moral core. "I think it's just the basic message," he said. "Don't stop believin' in yourself, don't stop believin' in the world, don't stop believin' in anything. It's a positive message and a feel-good song with a great melody and I kind of like the guitar solo, which is one of the easiest solos ever to emulate because there's not much to it." The "Sopranos" wasn't the first to harness the power of "Believin'." The nearly three-decade-old soft-rock-radio staple was the unofficial theme song of the 2005 Chicago White Sox during their World Series run. Reclusive ex-Journey singer Steve Perry even appeared at the team's hometown celebration to belt it out for exuberant fans. St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa also adopted the song as a call to arms during the team's 2006 World Series run, according to Schon. But it really got a huge bump in 2005, when it was featured in the "Laguna Beach" finale and the prime-time cartoon "Family Guy" during the same week, which propelled the power balled to #4 on the iTunes top 10 the next week. The song was also in the trailer for Will Ferrell's 2006 NASCAR comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and prominently played in the 2003 Oscar-winning flick "Monster." Around that time, it was also the subject of a bizarre, yet affecting 2003 tribute video, which, who knows, could have triggered the song's rebirth. And though none of the contestants have belted it yet, "Believin' " was also unspoiled during a musical montage charting the paths of finalists Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee during the season-five finale week of "American Idol." And the hits keep coming: On the soon-to-be-released indie-rock tribute to guilty pleasures Guilt by Association, former That Dog member Petra Haden sings it a cappella. As old-school classic rock as "Believin' " is, with its arena-ready wheedly-wheedly guitar solo, lyrics about big-hearted small-town boys and girls trying to make it and places that don't exist (find South Detroit on the map, I dare ya), the choice of Journey fits perfectly with Tony's love of meat-and-potatoes rock and the show's eclectic musical tastes, which this season swung from the land of punk (X, Johnny Thunders) to moody rock (Daniel Lanois, Tindersticks) and classic tunes (Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry). Chase even had a bit of fun in the end, having Tony skip past a few other tunes whose titles would have made for much easier tidying up (Heart's "Who Will You Run To" and Tony Bennett's "I've Gotta Be Me"/"A Lonely Place"). That's further proof that hitting just the right tone with just the right song in your season finale is a lot harder than it looks, according to music supervisor Tricia Halloran ("Men in Trees"). "You need a song that wraps up your season and helps define the idea of the show," said Halloran, who 'fessed up to being turned down once when she asked Journey for permission to use "Believin' " in a burger commercial. "And even after the music supervisor has seen the script, which might have some suggestions from the writers, the first question is, 'Does it fit the writer's palette of music that has been used on the show?' and then, 'Can you get clearance?' I'm sure Journey don't approve all TV requests, but it's a heritage song and they'd be crazy to turn down 'The Sopranos.' " One thing is for sure: Because rights requests routinely do get turned down, anyone working in TV or film has to have one, or more, backups just in case their ideal track doesn't get cleared. "For 'The Sopranos,' it was perfect," she said. "They tried to do something Tony would love, and it says, 'We're family, we're here, and nothing will get us down.' But I'm sure they had a few other songs just in case it didn't work out." So just be glad Tony didn't stop on one of the other choices, because you might be walking around singing Sawyer Brown's "My Baby Drives a Truck" or T. Graham Brown's "Rock It, Billy" for the next week.

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New Releases: DMX, Kidz Bop 10, Stone Sour, Pink Spiders, Powerman 5000, Body Count & More

01 Aug 2006 06:00:00 EDT

Also due Tuesday: new Vaux, Five for Fighting LPs; Clash DVD; Poison, Journey reissues.
By Kurt Orzeck

DMX's Year of the Dog Again
Photo: Sony Music

Should Kidz Beware of Dog?: All five DMX albums have debuted atop the Billboard albums chart, making the gravelly voiced rapper the Grand Champ of rap (as he titled his last LP). But while he edged past A Perfect Circle and Erykah Badu the last time around, he's locking horns with a wave of pint-sized pests for his latest effort, Year of the Dog, Again. With four cuts spruced up by Swizz Beatz — plus one produced by Scott Storch ("Give 'Em What They Want") and an intro cut with Dame Grease — X also beckoned Busta Rhymes for "Come Thru (Move)," Jadakiss and Styles P. for "It's Personal," and Amerie for "Dog Love." Janyce also appears on the latter track, but she's not the only fresh Bloodline artist on the album, with Bzr Royale and Jinx also representing X's label. DMX has some worthy teammates in his corner, but could he be toppled by a krew of karaoke-krazed kiddies? That's what indie label Razor & Tie is hoping for the 10th installment of its most successful venture ever, Kidz Bop. Being released barely five months after the latest entry, this one has the buggers brushing up Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You," Pussycat Dolls' "Stickwitu" and Nickelback's "Savin' Me" over the course of its 18 tracks. But if the kids want to pick on competitors their own size, they've chosen the right week to bop heads. The Doodlebops — who have a TV show on Playhouse Disney and made their live debut at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus — have sketched out two DVDs and a CD for release this week, immortalizing such gems as "Wobbly Whoopsy," "Gibble Gobble," "Cauliflower" and "I Want to Be Bigger." And there's yet another juvenile in the mix: Rachel Piña Trachtenburg, the 12-year-old brainchild (of sorts) who tours with her parents as the nomadic Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. The "Off & On Broadway" DVD captures day-in-the-life and performance footage from the group, which crafts songs out of old slides they find at random yard sales. Spider Men: On a related note, garage pop-punkers the Pink Spiders are a little older than the aforementioned competitors, but they're fighting wrinkles with their major-label debut, Teenage Graffiti. The "You Hear It First" artists — who recently played a show at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium after a ballgame — worked with ex-Cars frontman/ Weezer production guru Ric Ocasek and pre-eminent mixer Tom Lord-Alge for the effort, which features "Saturday Nite Riot," "Little Razorblade" and "Pretend That This Is Fiction." And Now for Something Completely Brutal: This week's remaining heavyweights will have kids, dawgs and insects alike ducking for cover. First up is Stone Sour, the Slipknot ancillary affair that puckers up with its first studio release in four years. The band's hoping for more Grammy nominations with Come What(ever) May, which features the first single "Through Glass," plus "30/30-150," "Reborn" and "Zzyzx Road." Powerman 5000 have also been away for a while — about three years and two months — but with a new lineup and label, a rebirth could re-energize their fanbase. With guitarists Adam 12 and M.33 being replaced by former Alien Ant Farm-er Terry Corso and Johnny Heatley (Half Cocked), Spider One and the gang will surely deafen the Pink Spiders with Destroy What You Enjoy, which features "Return to the City of the Dead," "Murder" and "All My Friends Are Ghosts." Also on the metal front, Ice-T is strapping on his armor again for Murder 4 Hire, the first album by his revived Body Count in almost a decade. T also revives his feud with the fuzz on "Invincible Gangsta," the leadoff track that features the phrase "F--- the Cops," but he also has a few things to say about "The Passion of Christ," "Dirty Bombs" and "Relationships." Chicago's Kill Hannah keep up the violence with their Atlantic record Until There's Nothing Left of Us and the tracks "Black Poison Blood" and "Love You to Death," and if you're up for even more gore, don't miss Ollabelle's Riverside Battle Songs — which was crafted by Amy Helm, daughter of drum legend Levon Helm — the American Black Lung's ... And They Rode Their Weapons Into War and Towers of London's Blood Sweat & Towers. Seeming violent but much more tame are Five for Fighting, which is actually just one dude: John Ondrasik. His Two Lights has already drawn some VH1 attention with "The Riddle," and while FFF are best remembered for the post-9/11 staple "Superman (It's Not Easy)" (which was actually written before those events), Ondrasik has a few things to say about the state of the nation on "Freedom Never Cries" and "Johnny America." Song Title of the Week: "George Romero Will Be at Our Wedding" from Showbread's Art of Reptiles Other Notables: Various artists' Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited: Serge Gainsbourg is name-dropped left and right these days, but to many Americans, that's all he is: just a name. Michael Stipe, Franz Ferdinand, Cat Power and others are trying to change all that with this collection of reworked songs by the French neoclassical musician. Placebo, Tricky, the Rakes, the Kills and Marianne Faithfull also chime in on the disc, which has already been released overseas. Poison vs. Journey reissues: The '80s titans go head-to-head this week with three and five revitalized albums, respectively. Poison's first three multiplatinum records — Flesh & Blood, Look What the Cat Dragged In and Open Up and Say ... Ahh! — arrive in 20th anniversary packages, with unreleased and rare bonus tracks. In the other corner, Journey's Departure, Escape and Greatest Hits also come with bonuses, while Infinity and Evolution are straight reissues. TRS-80's Mystery Crash: The Chicago electro-rockers have been cranking out music for nearly 10 years — and hopping from label to label ever since — but they're hoping their music will get recognized beyond fleeting appearances in Coca-Cola and Nike commercials. The bandmembers — some of whom have been friends since high school — have also created tunes for NPR's "This American Life" and seen their songs used in "CSI." New Releases:

Peter Bradley Adams - Gather Up (High Wire/ Fontana)
The American Black Lung - ... And They Rode Their Weapons Into War (Burning House)
Body Count - Murder 4 Hire (Escapi)
Caribbean Jazz Project featuring Dave Samuels - Mosaic (Concord)
DMX - Year of the Dog, Again (Columbia)
Read: "DMX Signs With Columbia, Will Release Long-Delayed LP This Spring"
Buy Now: Year of the Dog Again (Sony)
Doodlebops - Rock & Bop With the Doodlebops (Disney)
Thomas Dybdahl - One Day You'll Dance for Me, New York City (Recall)
Kahil El'Zabar - Deeper Soul Remix Project (two CDs; Deeper Soul)
Five for Fighting - Two Lights (Columbia)
Buy Now: Two Lights (Columbia)
FM Static - Critically Ashamed (Tooth & Nail)
G. Love - Lemonade (enhanced; Brushfire)
Buy Now: Lemonade (Brushfire)
Gasoline Heart - You Know Who You Are (Mono Vs. Stereo)
Gisli - How About That? (Titan/ Pyramid)
Grand Mal - Love Is the Best Con in Town (New York Night Train)
Glenn Hughes - Music for the Divide (Frontiers)
Kacey Jones - Kacey Jones Sings Mickey Newbury (Image)
Kill Hannah - Until There's Nothing Left of Us (Atlantic)
Buy Now: Until There's Nothing Left of Us (Atlantic)
Mars Lasar - Yosemite, Valley of the Giants (Gemini Sun)
John McLaughlin - Industrial Zen (Verve)
Monty Are I - Wall of People (Stolen Transmission)
Messer Für Frau Müller - Triangle, Dot & Devil (AeroCCCP)
Ollabelle - Riverside Battle Songs (Verve Forecast)
Jeannie Ortega - No Place Like Bklyn (Hollywood)
Buy Now: No Place Like Bklyn (Hollywood)
Kelly Joe Phelps - Tunesmith Retrofit (Rounder)
Pink Spiders - Teenage Graffiti (Geffen)
Read: "Upstaging Everyone: That's What Pink Spiders Are All About"
Buy Now: Teenage Graffiti (Geffen)
Powerman 5000 - Destroy What You Enjoy (DRT)
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Sammy Hagar Makes Tracks With Van Halen Bassist, Journey-Men

22 Feb 2002 18:41:00 EST

Red Rocker, Michael Anthony, Neil Schon ante up.
By Jon Wiederhorn

A group of rock dinosaurs might be perfect for the soundtrack of a future "Jurassic Park" film, but "Spider-Man"? Sammy Hagar and his former bassplaying bandmate in Van Halen, Michael Anthony, have joined forces with Journey guitarist Neil Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo and recorded a track titled "Vertigo" which may be included in the "Spider-Man" soundtrack and movie, an executive close to the project said. The yet-to-be-named band submitted the song for cinematic consideration at the request of John Kalodner, the senior vice president of A&R at Columbia Records, the source said. The soundtrack is scheduled for release on May 3. "Vertigo" is one of two songs the band has recorded so far, with the second being "Peeping Through a Hole." The quartet was initially going to be a quintet with ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, but when the bandmembers entered the studio last week to record, he was unable to join them. Demos of the two completed tunes will be delivered to Slash's manager on Monday, and if the ex-Gunner is inspired, he'll join the old-timers to record a guitar part for "Vertigo" and maybe work on additional material with the band, the source said. On his official Web site, Hagar described the group as sounding like a cross between Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Tool. Hagar previously worked with Schon in the band HSAS, who released the album Through the Fire in 1984. The executive stressed that Hagar's involvement with Anthony shouldn't be interpreted as either the end of Van Halen or the beginning of reconciliation between Hagar and his former band. Last month, Van Halen parted ways with Warner Bros. Records, ending a 23-year-long relationship with the label (see "First No Singer, Now No Label For Van Halen").

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