Bret Michaels Makes People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors 2009″

Of course. Why wouldn’t he? This only plays right in to Bret Michaels’ never-ending (ad nauseam) Rock of Love search for the right girl to rock his world (whatever). But the real question is: Does Bret really have to dress up like Mel Gibson in The Patriot to prove his point? It’s like a bad Harlequin novel. It does, however, look as if his recent bruises from the Tonys (it seems like they are there on his face) fit right in to this Revolutionary War persona.

For the whole package watch the video here.

btw, Bret … Susan Boyle seems to be available. She’s “quality.”
You’re both vocalists. You both gained fame from reality t.v. … But you better get her before Corey Taylor does (see last post).

Yes. It’s True. Corey Taylor Loves Him Some Susan Boyle

Strange bedfellows and all that, right?….

In short, Slipknot frontman confesses that he is really smitten with the British sensation’s vocals.

“Susan Boyle is incredible. Somebody told me about the show and I said, ‘I have got to see this — ‘I Dreamed a Dream,’ are you kidding me?’ I put it on and she was fantastic. The people on that panel were in tears! When Susan leans into it, she’s great.”

First Abba, now this. I have to give Corey a lot of credit. He’s honest. A lot of musicians in heavy bands like Slipknot would never admit to something like this. He gets a thumbs up from me.

Taylor was able to empathize with Boyle’s recent nervous breakdown — which I also respect:

“She’s a little bit crazy, but aren’t we all? Anyone who’s worth their salt is a little bit bent out of shape.”

I love that quote. Love is a many splendored thing. But for all we know Susan could actually be in the masked Slipknot and no one would ever know the difference. With all the fake bogus photos of Slipknot unmasked on the internet, you might as well throw Susan Boyle in there as well.

Duffy’s Diet Coke TV Commercial Causes Controversy In The UK

A television advertisement for Diet Coke featuring the Welsh singer Duffy has been cleared for airing in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) despite complaints that the ad shows Duffy riding a bicycle at night without a helmet, reflective clothing, or a light. The complaints against the ad stated that it broke health and safety rules. There was also some concern that it could be copied by children. The ASA countered that the ad is scheduled to be shown during TV programs that children are not likely to be watching.

The song that Duffy sings in the ad is a cover of Sammy Davis Jr.’s “I Gotta Be Me.”

To watch the Diet Coke ad featuring Duffy, click below:

For more on this story, see the articles from The Guardian and NME.com.

I should add that I was quite offended by some of the comments made by the readers of the article about this story on NME.com. A few of them are really awful, sexist garbage. There sure are a lot of haters out there. They need to get a hobby and stop being so pissed off about trivial things.

Paul Weller Gives Thumbs Down To The Idea Of The Jam Ever Reforming

In an interview published last Friday in the London version of Metro, Paul Weller was asked if there was any chance that The Jam would reform. Weller answered quite directly, stating, “Absolutely not. None whatsoever. Not at all.”

Well, I guess that’s that then. Damn. I never got to see The Jam perform together.

Weller also discussed new music (he’s not a fan), his fashion sense, and his recent 51st birthday. When asked if he would do TV commercials as Iggy Pop and John Lydon have recently done in the UK, Weller replied:

Well, I don’t think I’d do a butter advert, although I was asked by someone in Holland whether I wanted to be in a beer commercial with a Dutch band. I’m in two minds.

To read the full interview, click here.

The Pixies Play Surprise Gig At East London Warehouse

Fresh off of their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival over the weekend, The Pixies played their first headline gig in the UK since 2005 with a show on Monday night at the Village Underground in East London’s Shoreditch section. It was a secret gig, and it wasn’t confirmed for sure that The Pixies would be playing until the curtain went up at the show. Despite that, members of Klaxons, The Horrors, Dirty Pretty Things, and My Bloody Valentine managed to be on hand.

The Pixies are promoting their upcoming boxed set, Minotaur, and played a 13-song set at the show. The set list was as follows:

Where Is My Mind?
Hey
Number 13 Baby
Monkey Gone To Heaven
U-Mass
Debaser
Tame
Gigantic
Into The Light
Planet of Sound
Dig For Fire
Bone Machine

Encore:
Wave of Mutilation

The Pixies don’t have any North American dates scheduled at the moment. Hopefully, they will be touring here later this year. They’re still one of the best live acts around.

For more on this story, see the articles from NME.com and BBC 6 Music.

VINTAGE VIDEO: “Brass In Pocket” By The Pretenders

Listening to New York’s WRXP-FM this afternoon, I was kind of taken aback when I heard the DJ say that the late Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died on this date in 1982. Has it really been 27 years? I remember being in high school when Honeyman-Scott passed, but actually hearing that it had been in 1982 was somewhat shocking. I suppose that is because of the timeless quality of the first two albums by The Pretenders, the only ones Honeyman-Scott played on before his death at age 25. That music still sounds as fresh and relevant today as it did when it was released.

Oddly, only two days before his death from heart failure due to cocaine intolerance, Honeyman-Scott’s presence was requested in London where his Pretenders bandmates Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers wanted to meet with Honeyman-Scott to discuss firing bassist Pete Farndon, whose substance abuse they felt was hurting the band. Farndon was fired by the band and died in April 1983 when he drowned in the shower following a heroin overdose.

While Farndon and Honeyman-Scott are no longer with us, the music that they helped create is. Here’s a clip of The Pretenders’ original lineup performing “Brass In Pocket” on July 17, 1981 on the German TV program Rockpalast:

For more on the life and career of James Honeyman-Scott, see his Wikipedia biography.

The current lineup of The Pretenders is on tour at the moment in Europe. Their North American tour starts on August 4th in Rama, Ontario, Canada and will hit New York City’s Central Park SummerStage on August 10th. I’ve never seen The Pretenders live before, so I’m looking forward to that show.

WRITER FROM HEAVEN REPORT

WRITER FROM HEAVEN REPORT

-By Carol AnneSzel

During their current North American summer tour, AEROSMITH –America’s who’ve sold over 150 million albums, won four Grammys and been inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame–is performing their classic TOYS IN THE ATTIC album live from front to back, along with an array of Aerosmith hits. This marks the first time ever that the band has played the 8-million-plus-selling 1975 disc in its entirety.

On another note, AEROSMITH guitarist Brad Whitford will be sitting out part of the band’s upcoming tour dates with special guests ZZ Top as he recuperates from recent surgery.  Bobby Schneck (who has played with Green Day, Weezer and Slash) will be filling in for the guitarist. 

How can we not talk about the rise and fall of Mr. Bret Michaels at the Tony Awards show a couple of weeks ago.  According to an official press release by Michaels Entertainment, the Poison frontman apparently got behind… his cue.  Or not.  There’s  a battle of words brewing between the Tony peeps and the Michaels reps on this one.  I’ll keep you posted.

80s blond rock band NELSON is gearing up to take the main stage at ROCKLAHOMA 2009 next month on the last day of the p rock festival July 12  Matthew and Gunnar think playing the big rock festival is a wonderful opportunity to reintroduce NELSON to the fans!  Plus, Matthew & Gunnar are working on a reality pilot / developing a TV project around their music. NELSON is also part of celebrity all-star band SCRAP METAL, and with a very big fall tour / show that will be announced soon.

 The Vans Warped Tour  announced a special after-party in downtown Ventura on Sunday, June 28 directly following the Vans Warped Tour show at Seaside Park in Ventura, CA.  The one-night-only event will transform downtown Ventura into a Vans Warped Tour playground featuring a live performance from punk icons FEAR, followed by the movie premiere of National Lampoon Presents Endless Bummer (shot on location in Ventura).

Speaking of the Warped Tour, Meg & Dia prove that girls can rock just as hard as the boys when they take over the Hurley.com Stage this summer on another nationwide trek across the U.S. on the Vans Warped Tour for their third year on the bill. In support of their new album, “Here, here and here,” which was released April 21st on Warner Bros. Records, the tour begins and ends in California, while hitting over 40 venues in two months from June 26th through August 23rd.

 In Springsteen news, with the demand of tickets to the next leg of their tour and the fans’ overwhelming demand to see The Boss play in their hometown, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and The Meadowlands have announced fourth and fifth shows at Giants Stadium. These shows will take place Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9. The latter date will be the final concert at Giants Stadium before it’s demolished.. The concerts on September 30, October 2, and October 3 sold out in a heartbeat!  In a cover story on stands now, Q Magazine called a Springsteen concert “the greatest show on earth.”

Bruce and the E-Streeter’s played at Bonnaroo June 14, and it will never be the same! The  band played a set of classic songs, and broke out “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “Growin’ Up” in the request slot midway through the show. Then on the final night at Bonnaroo, Bruce joined Phish for the festival’s closing set, and sang “Mustang Sally,” “Bobby Jean” and “Glory Days.”

 TED NUGENT is a frequent visitor to the heartland during summer touring months. And this summer was no exception.  The music legend and hunting advocate took Omaha by storm on Saturday, June 6. But it wasn’t for a concert performance.

The rocker was in town to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids.  Since 1989, Nugent has conducted Kamp sessions in Michigan, Ohio and Nebraska.  This year’s Kamp marked the 12^th annual session in the Corn Husker State. Over 800 kids ranging in age from 8-14 have benefited from the outdoor Kamp in Nebraska alone! The all-day event provided youngsters with a hands-on introduction to archery, fishing, BB gun instruction and other outdoor-related activities.

RATT & EXTREME have teamed up to bring you this summer’s most rockin’ tour lineup on their “East Meets West Tour ‘09.”  The tour, which will feature sets from both bands with Ratt closing, kicked off on July 12 in Amarillo, TX and runs through August 7^th in Hampton Beach, NH.  It will cross the U.S. and cover 16 markets, with more to be announced soon.  In celebration of the 25^th anniversary of their landmark debut Out Of The Cellar, RATT will be playing the album in its entirety.

Slated to play up on the East coast to their HUGE base fans in the NYC area, the Extreme/Ratt tour is hitting the Theatre at Westbury on Long Island July 30.  On a side note, that venue has become every rock and roller’s haven for music these last couple of years.  Westbury’s got PAT BENATAR playing there August 9^th, THE BLACK CROWES on September 4^th, and a ton more.  Check it out at http://www.livenation.com/venue/the-capital-one-bank-theatre-at-westbury-tickets 

LIMP BIZKIT is playing at Mandalay Bay Beach in Vegas on July 10 bringing the only performance in the US of their “Unicorns N’ Rainbows” tour. The multi-platinum-selling group has picked the perfect time to return to North American stages, and you can be sure that once their hits “Break Stuff”, “Rollin’” and “My Way” start blasting through the speakers.

ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL is having a pre-event kick-off party with METHOD MAN, REDMAN, GHOSTFACE KILLAH set for July 30 in Time Square’s Nokia Theatre. The second annual festival will take place July 31, August 1 and 2^nd at Liberty State Park in NYC with headliners  COLDPLAY, BEASTIE BOYS, TOOL and more than 65 artists.

The Pretenders announced a headlining tour through North American starting August 4 with Juliette Lewis will support on certain dates of the tour.

The Pretenders touring line up of Chrissie Hynde, Martin Chambers, James Walbourne, Eric Heywood, and Nick Wilkinson, will make their second run through North America in support of their ninth album, the critically lauded Break Up The Concrete (Shangri-La Music). The album, which Rolling Stone said was, “The best Pretenders album in years,” and Spin described as, “stripped bare and dangerous,” was recorded in 12 days in Los Angeles and offers an especially gritty and immediate sound that recalls the band’s earlier days.

 

Judas Priest Fan Listens to Nostradamus Album in its Entirety for 365 Straight Days

… and counting.

Usually this sort of extreme undertaking is done for charity or something. But not here… it’s all for the love of Priest, this fan’s favorite band.

blabbermouth. net did a nice write-up on this fan, Jim Bartek (above, with a real-life Nostradamus), and his devotion for Priest, particularly the Nostradamus album. As the website puts it, “624 hours (26 days)” of this guy’s life has been consumed by the Nostradamus album — which has been listened to in its entirety on all these consecutive days. And the streak continues. Bartek says he’s not even tired of the record yet!

Who can really tell if Jim didn’t fast forward to the next Nostradamus song one night, or fall asleep during the orchestrated bits, but he is pretty honest about his Guinness Book-like achievement and its challenge. A few times the streak nearly came to an end.

“I went fishing in a remote area back in September and we did not come in off the lake until after 9 p.m.”, he recalls. “By the time I got back to the cabin, it was already after 10 p.m. I started listening to the album and finished just before midnight, with only 15 minutes to spare. That was a close call. At midnight, I started it up again and listened all the way through for the next day! This experience made me run out and buy a MP3 player that I carry with me at all times in case an emergency like this arises again”.

Jim’s family is concerned about him but not his dog:

“He has a place on the couch he sits and listens with me,. He knows when it’s Priest time!”.

Wow. Before long, Jim and the dog might know this album better than the band itself.

Hey, Jim seems like a nice enough guy. But as a friend used to say to me every time he would hear a story like this: You know what the word “fan” is short for.

Lily Allen Is Interviewed And Performs “Not Fair” On BBC-TV’s The Graham Norton Show

This past Saturday night, BBC America aired the episode of The Graham Norton Show upon which Lily Allen was interviewed and performs her latest single, “Not Fair.” (The show aired on May 14th on BBC-TV in the UK.) Allen is always a fun interview because she seemingly has no social filter. There is no BS with her: what you see is what you get. And that’s quite refreshing in this age of political correctness and spin doctors.

To watch the interview (Allen appears with actor Willem Dafoe and Ashley Jensen of HBO’s Extras), click below:

To watch Allen and her band perform “Not Fair,” click below:

Thanks to You Tube, I came across a really interesting interview that Allen did this past March on The Hour, a program on Canada’s CBC-TV. To watch that interview, click below:

To read Powerline A.D.’s review of Lily Allen’s show at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom on April 20th, click here.

Pixie Lott Hits Number One In The UK Singles Chart With Debut Single “Mama Do”

Eighteen-year-old Pixie Lott, who was the subject of an exclusive Q&A with Powerline A.D. in April of this year, has reached number one in the UK singles chart with her debut single, “Mama Do,” which was released in the UK last Monday, June 8th.

On the topic of her single going to number one, Pixie told BANG Showbiz:

“Seeing it as the number one download on iTunes was absolutely crazy. I’m always looking at the iTunes homepage and just seeing it was in the top ten with my little picture, it was absolutely insane. I can’t believe people are buying my song!”

For more on that, see the blog piece on Pixie’s Web site.

To see the Top 40 UK chart singles as listed by BBC Radio1′s Chart Show, click here.

To watch the video for “Mama Do” by Pixie Lott, click here. (Embedding of the video was disabled by request.)

Pixie’s British tour with the UK girl group The Saturdays continues tomorrow night in Reading, England and runs through July 7th.

For additional information on Pixie Lott, go to:
http://www.pixielott.com
http://www.myspace.com/pixiesongs
http://www.youtube.com/pixieofficial