AlternativeMusic Forum - NEWS

Simple Minds to get back in the studio



The original lineup of Simple Minds will hit the studio next month for the first time in 27 years. Brian McGee, Derek Forbes, Mick McNeil, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill are aiming to record "at least two new tracks" for release before the end of the year, according to the group's Web site.

The site adds that Kerr and Burchill, the only current original members of Simple Minds, are looking at the reunion as a "nice experiment. The week-long reformation is being viewed as one of many 'let's see what happens' ideas that they look forward to working on over the course of the next year."

Drummer McGee left the band in 1981, while bassist Forbes split in 1985, only to return briefly in 1997-1998. Keyboardist McNeil has been absent since 1989. The last time this group of musicians recorded as Simple Minds was for "Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call" in 1981.

"I had always believed that the day would come when we would get the opportunity" to work with the original lineup," Kerr says. "We have a lot to live up to, but we intend to have some fun attempting to do just that."

Meanwhile, the active lineup of Simple Minds, apparently excluding the original members, has a handful of U.K. shows lined up in the fall, while Kerr and Burchill are performing together during the Night of the Proms series in Europe beginning Oct. 24 in Antwerp.

Visit www.simpleminds.com for more news regarding the June recording sessions.



The Pogues release box set



A remarkable 5CD Box Set by The Pogues, at least three quarters of which comprises previously unreleased material while the remainder is made up of decidedly hard-to-find Pogues’ rarities.

Compiled by The Pogues with track by track annotations from Phil Chevron, there are a bountiful 109 tracks from 1983 demos (pre-dating their first recordings for Stiff Records) through to live recordings from 2001 when The Pogues re-convened for a series of memorable live shows for the first time since they disbanded in 1996.

Just Look Them Straight In The Eye is an absolute treasure trove of unreleased recordings for all Pogues’ fans, spanning their entire career and featuring rehearsal recordings, b-sides, out-takes, rare mixes, BBC sessions plus recordings with Steve Earle, Joe Strummer and, of course, Kirsty MacColl.

Alongside these are unreleased soundtrack recordings from Sid and Nancy, and rarities from the films Garbo and Straight To Hell, alternate versions of Pogues’ classics like 'Fairytale Of New York' and 'Rainy Night In Soho' and a generous selection of live recordings.

Including original songs never before released and covers such as the Lovin’ Spoonful's 'Do You Believe In Magic', Barry McGuire's 'Eve of Destruction', The Faces' 'Maggie May' plus more traditional fare like Ewan MacColl's 'Hot Ashphalt and 'North Sea Holes', this collection presents a true alternative picture of The Pogues irrepressible career, an extraordinarily rich addendum to their already available recorded works.

Currently on tour in America, The Pogues are already scheduled to play a number of major festivals this summer including Ireland's Oxegen Festival and T In the Park in July and the V Festivals in August.



Amy wearing diapers?



Amy Winehouse is reportedly using diapers.


The troubled singer was wearing what appeared to be a diaper under her flowery dress when she went to visit her jailed husband Blake Fielder-Civil at London's Pentonville Prison on Monday (26.05.08).

The report, which appeared on German website www.bild.de, appeared under the headline "Does Amy Winehouse carry diapers now?"

The 24-year-old singer also lashed out at paparazzi photographers waiting outside her home after being denied the opportunity to visit 26-year-old Blake because she missed her appointment.

It would have been one of her first meetings with her husband since their wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

The 'Back to Black' singer spent the day (18.05.08) at a charity football event with rocker friend Pete Doherty. The couple have been apart for seven months of their 12 month marriage, due to Blake's incarceration.

He is awaiting trial on charges of grievous bodily harm (GBH) and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Ivor Novello award-winning Amy was also reportedly getting her career back on track by recording the theme for new James Bond film 'Quantum of Solace' at the weekend.

Chris Martin upset about hair loss shocker



The Coldplay frontman - who is married to 'Shakespeare in Love' star Gwyneth Paltrow - revealed the U2 singer and Radiohead frequently feature in his dreams.

He said: "I always dream about other musicians. And with U2 or Radiohead it's always, 'Hey, how are you doing?' And they are never interested in hanging out with us. It's a permanent feeling of being at school and the bigger boys don't want to play with you."

Chris also revealed he "tries all kinds of things in the bedroom".

The 31-year-old star said he experiments with dance moves while in the privacy of his own home.

He told Britain's Q magazine: "I'd love to be a crotch grabber but I can never find it. But I've tried all kinds of things in the bedroom!"

Chris insists he is happy with everything in his life, apart from the fact he is losing his hair.

He added: "Who wants to complain? I'm a rock star! I've got nothing to complain about. I can cope - with anything apart from hair loss!"



Coldplay axe Kylie duet



Coldplay axed a duet with Kylie Minogue from their new album – saying it was 'too sexy'.

The band teamed up with the Australian singer for 'Luna’ but frontman Chris Martin admits it just didn’t fit in with the serious tone of their new LP 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’.

Chris said: 'At this point we cannot be that sexy. It’s a song called 'Luna’ and Kylie was particularly brilliant on it.

'She writes most of our stuff – and we design most of her outfits!' However, the musician has promised fans they will get to hear the song, saying: 'It will be on a record we will put out in 2009, sometime at the end of next year. It will be track nine, I imagine.'

Meanwhile, Chris claims to be the only person in the world who believes in Zeus. The 31-year-old star, who was raised as a Christian, is exploring his faith but is interested in the Greek god of sky and thunder.

He said: 'I’m always trying to work out what he or she or it is. I’m not sure who’s right. I don’t know if it’s Allah or Jesus or Mohammed or Zeus. But I’d maybe go for Zeus.

'I lay claim to being the only person in the world who still believes in Zeus.' 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’ is released on Monday (12.06.08).



Daft Punk new album



Former Daft Punk manager Pedro Winter says the dance duo are back in the studio working on their fourth album.

He told music website ITM: "The boys are in a studio in Paris at the moment and I can't wait to listen to their new stuff.

"The good thing is that they are making music at the moment," he added.

The album will be the follow-up to 2005's Human After All.



Muse begin new album



Muse have begun to make their fifth album.

The boys are currently working on a follow-up to 2006's Black Holes & Revelations.

Frontman Matt Bellamy told NME: "We've just started writing songs for the new album, whatever it's going to be, you know? It's going great, we just started."

Having reassembled after a hefty tour, the trio are just getting into the swing of things.

Matt added: "It's really about getting back together and getting the ball rolling again and seeing whether it'll roll."



Kaiser Chiefs proud to be produced by Mark Ronson



The Kaiser Chiefs are buzzing at the progress of their latest album. The Leeds lads have almost finished recording the third album and are extremely proud to boast Mark Ronson as producer, along with Eliot James. Apparently, Ronson turned down a lot of big names to work with Ricky Wilson and the boys. Wilson told the Sun newspaper "Our new album is shaping up. I reckon it’s our best stuff yet," he explained. "I played it to our manager the other day, who has known us for over ten years, and a smile just spread across his face as soon as he heard it. He reckons that it’s the best material we have come up with".

Wilson also issued a warning to Oasis that they were ',disappearing up their own arses' and that the Chiefs were the band most UK fans wanted to become their successors. And they’re confident their upcoming third album will aid their mission.



Goldfrapp new single



Caravan Girl, a euphoric rush of sun-kissed English summer daydreams, is the latest single to be taken from Goldfrapp's critically acclaimed new album 'Seventh Tree', which went Gold in its first week of release for sales of over 100,000 and is their fastest selling album so far.

Ahead of their sold out UK tour in June Goldfrapp have played two very special acclaimed shows, one at London's Union Chapel was, according to The Observer, "A privilege to witness". The band has also just headlined the Ether Festival at the Royal Festival Hall which ended with the entire audience playing along on kazoo to their last hit single Happiness!

Goldfrapp are undertaking selected festival performances this year, including Radio 1 Big Weekend on Sunday 11th May, and Glastonbury 2008 which promises a very special sunset set. Glastonbury is followed by a headline show at the Lovebox Weekender in London's Victoria Park on Sunday 20th July and the Connect Festival in Scotland at the end of August.

Meanwhile international festivals (including Sonar and Roskilde) are preceded with a performance at Coachella on 25th April along with sold out shows in LA and NYC. Goldfrapp also play live on The Tonight with Jay Leno Show whilst in the US.

Goldfrapp have announced the following UK Tour for June - the tour is now SOLD OUT:

Sat 21 06 08 Bexhill-on-Sea De Le Warr Pavilion SOLD OUT
Sun 22 06 08 Birmingham Symphony Hall SOLD OUT
Mon 23 06 08 Manchester Bridgewater Hall SOLD OUT
Wed 25 06 08 London Royal Albert Hall SOLD OUT
Mon 30 06 08 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall SOLD OUT
Tue 01 07 08 Gateshead Sage SOLD OUT

Preview Coldplay' new album



Tonight from 6pm Coldplay will be streaming 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'in full from their Myspace page. (UK Time )


From 6pm on Coldplay's Myspace page their fourth album 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' will be streamed in full.

On Monday June 9 frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman will exclusively talk through each of the album's tracks with John Kennedy on X-posure from 10pm.

The album, released on June 12, was produced by both Brian Eno and Markus Dravs, and was recorded in Barcelona, New York and London, where the band are playing three special free gigs this month, at London's Brixton Academy on June 16, Barcelona's Espacio Movistar on June 17 and New York's Madison Square Gardens on June 23.

The tracklisting:

'Life In Technicolor'
'Cemeteries Of London'
'Lost!'
'42'
'Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love'
'Yes'
'Viva La Vida'
'Violet Hill'
'Strawberry Swing'
'Death And All His Friends'

The title, 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends', was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, 'Viva la Vida' meaning 'long live life'.

Coldplay begin their 'Viva la Vida' world tour on June 29 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where they finished the 'Twisted Logic' tour of the US in 2006, before they return to the UK in December. Preview Coldplay' new album



Tonight from 6pm Coldplay will be streaming 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'in full from their Myspace page.


From 6pm on Coldplay's Myspace page their fourth album 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' will be streamed in full.

On Monday June 9 frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman will exclusively talk through each of the album's tracks with John Kennedy on X-posure from 10pm.

The album, released on June 12, was produced by both Brian Eno and Markus Dravs, and was recorded in Barcelona, New York and London, where the band are playing three special free gigs this month, at London's Brixton Academy on June 16, Barcelona's Espacio Movistar on June 17 and New York's Madison Square Gardens on June 23.

The tracklisting:

'Life In Technicolor'
'Cemeteries Of London'
'Lost!'
'42'
'Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love'
'Yes'
'Viva La Vida'
'Violet Hill'
'Strawberry Swing'
'Death And All His Friends'

The title, 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends', was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, 'Viva la Vida' meaning 'long live life'.

Coldplay begin their 'Viva la Vida' world tour on June 29 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where they finished the 'Twisted Logic' tour of the US in 2006, before they return to the UK in December.

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

Loads for you again this week, and judging by the response to last week's newsletter you're going to like this one too because I have more COMPETITIONS and GIVEAWAYS for you this week...

If you're reading this newsletter then it will be no surprise to you to learn that DURAN DURAN's current 'Red Carpet Massacre' tour is only a few weeks from hitting the UK where the band will play just FOUR SHOWS - in London, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham (see GIGS for all the dates) - and to mark the occasion I have a very special DURAN DURAN TICKET GIVEAWAY for you; over the next four weeks I will be giving away FOUR PAIRS OF TICKETS via this newsletter; one pair for each of the UK shows. This week I am giving away a pair of tickets for the band's show at London's O2 ARENA on JULY 3rd so if you fancy going along to see that show then you need to email me before 5pm (UK) on Tuesday. All entries will go into my virtual hat and the winner will be chosen randomly and informed by email. Good luck!

It's the last few days of my current YAZOO COMPETITION which will see THREE LUCKY WINNERS receive all sorts of Yazoo goodies including an AUTOGRAPHED 'In Your Room' four-disc BOXSET (both the Yazoo albums remastered, plus a disc of b-sides and remixes, and a DVD of all the band's videos and a selection of BBC performances and both albums in 5.1 format!), limited edition 12" VINYL 'Nobody's Diary' singles and REMASTERED copies of 'Upstairs At Erics' and 'You & Me Both'... you still have a chance, the competition is online now!

There is also a brand new COMPETITION online this week where one winner will receive a pair of VIP WEEKEND TICKETS for the forthcoming RETROFEST festival in Scotland and FOUR RUNNERS UP will receive a pair of standard weekend tickets. Retrofest takes place on AUGUST 30TH & 31ST and the line-up includes peformances from THE BANGLES, BOY GEORGE, PAUL YOUNG, KIM WILDE, HOWARD JONES, NIK KERSHAW, CHINA CRISIS, MODERN ROMANCE, MIDGE URE, KAJAGOOGOO, BUCKS FIZZ, THE BLOW MONKEYS and MARI WILSON... phew! The competition is online at the website for you right now!

Finally, JOHNNY HATES JAZZ's former frontman CLARK DATCHLER will be playing an intimate show at London's Pigalle Club on June 26th in the run up to the release of his new solo album 'Tomorrow' and has very kindly offered a pair of FREE TICKETS for the show to the lucky winner of a special GIVEAWAY this week, so if you fancy attending this very special show then please email me before 5pm (UK) on Tuesday. All entries will go into my famous virtual hat and the winner will be chosen randomly and informed by email. Good luck!

In the meantime here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

PET SHOP BOYS, PROPAGANDA, FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, DOLLAR, GRACE JONES and ABC are among the artists featured on a DVD release of 2004's PRODUCED BY TREVOR HORN show which took place at London's Wembley Arena to mark the producer's 25th anniversary in the music business. The DVD, entitled 'Slaves To The Rhythm', will be released on June 16th. See NEWS for the full line-up and tracklisting.

GLORIA ESTEFAN will play a one-off UK show - her first for over twelve years - at London's Wembley Arena on September 10th.

BOY GEORGE has added more dates to his forthcoming US tour which will see the former CULTURE CLUB frontman play twenty-five shows across the country in July and August. See GIGS for all the dates.

STEVIE WONDER has announced a European tour, his first for ten years, which will include three UK dates in September as well as shows in France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. See GIGS for all the dates.

SOFT CELL's long-awaited album of contemporary remixes of their classic material, 'Heat: The Remixes', will be released on August 4th. The double album includes 26 brand new interpretations of many classic Soft Cell singles, plus key album tracks, b-sides and rarities. A 40 track expanded digital edition, featuring additional bonus remixes and tracks not on the CD will also be available. Soft Cell will also release an expanded version of their classic 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret' album on the same day with similar editions of 'The Art Of Falling Apart' and 'This Last Night In Sodom' to follow. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

ALICE COOPER's new album 'Along Came A Spider' - featuring contributions from SLASH and OZZY OSBOURNE - will be released on July 28th, the same week as his UK shows at London's O2 Arena and Southampton's Guildhall.

YAZOO have announced another US show at California's Costa Mesca Orange County Fair on July 24th where they will be supported by the PSYCHEDELIC FURS. Yazoo are also planning a live album to mark their current 'Reconnected' tour and will be recording their forthcoming London shows for the project, in the meantime the duo will release a limited edtion 12" single of contemporary mixes of some of their classic tracks on June 9th. The 'Reconnected EP' will also be available as a download bundle. See NEWS for the full EP tracklisting.

EDWYN COLLINS new single 'Home Again' will be limited to just 1,500 copies including 25 singles in custom designed sleeves from 25 celebrities including Irvine Welsh, Franz Ferdinand, Nicky Wire, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Shelley, John Squire and Richard Hawley have all got involved. The single will be released on June 23rd and the singles in special sleeves will be randomly distributed in shops across the country.

PAUL McCARTNEY's hometown show at the Liverpool Sound Concert on Sunday has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

MORRISSEY's new album, currently scheduled for a September release, will be called 'Years of Refusal' and will be preceded by a reissue of his 1995 album 'Southpaw Grammar' in a remastered edition with three previously unreleased tracks and new artwork.

U2 will reissue remastered and expanded editions of their albums 'October', 'Boy' and 'War' on July 22nd. Each album will be available as a remastered single CD, a deluxe set with a second disc of extras and on vinyl. See NEWS on the website for the full list of bonus tracks for each album.

THE ALARM, THE ENGLISH BEAT and THE FIXX are planning a joint US tour for the summer under the banner of the 'Rockin' The Colonies' tour. Dates are to be announced shortly.

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS' recently reissued 'The Story of a Young Heart' album has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

BILLY IDOL will release on of the new tracks, 'John Wayne', from his forthcoming 'Idolize Yourself' collection as a download single on July 7th. The CD/DVD 'Idolize Yourself' will now follow on July 21st.

SIMPLE MINDS' original line-up have announced that they will be going into the studio this summer with the aim of recording at least two new songs for possible release later this year. The line-up of Brian McGee, Derek Forbes, Mick McNeil, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, back in touch because of the band's 30th anniversary tour later this year, will go into the studio sometime in June.

BUCKS FIZZ's 'Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut' has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

WIRE will headline the Offset Festival in Hainault Forest Country Park, Redbridge at the end of August. Young Knives and Ipso Facto are also on the bill with more bands to be announced shortly.

HERE AND NOW's recent show at Manchester's MEN Arena has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

JOHN FOXX will play a one-off UK show with LOUIS GORDON at London's Cargo on October 16th. The duo will also play a show at Venice's Fucina Controvento on October 18th, while Foxx will take his 'Cathedral Oceans' show to Durham Castle on June 18th.

PAUL CARRACK is to release a new single 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City' on July 7th with an album and an extensive UK tour to follow in the autumn.

THE SCORPIONS will play a short UK tour this summer with dates across the country in October, see GIGS for details.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

I hope you've had a good week and that the sun is shining wherever you are!

It's DURAN DURAN TICKET GIVEAWAY time again! As you know I have already given away tickets to their forthcoming shows in London and Liverpool and this week I am giving away a pair of tickets for NOTTINGHAM's TRENT FM ARENA on JULY 6th so if you fancy going along to see that show then you need to email me before 5pm (UK) on Tuesday. All entries will go into my virtual hat and the winner will be chosen randomly and informed by email. Next week there will be the chance to win tickets to DURAN DURAN's final UK show in BIRMINGHAM... good luck!

Lots of people have been emailing me to ask when the A-HA INTERVIEW I mentioned a couple of weeks ago will go online, I'm afraid it's all been a bit delayed by circumstances beyond my control, but it is still happening and I hope to have news very soon! Watch this space...

In the meantime here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

TEARS FOR FEARS have been confirmed to appear on the German leg of the popular 'Night Of The Proms' tour which starts in Cologne on November 28th and finishes in Hamburg on December 21st. 10CC and ROBIN GIBB will also appear on the bill. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEAD OR ALIVE have pulled out of the forthcoming Regeneration Tour due to illness within the band. They will be replaced by A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS.

FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM will play special London shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire in July. The shows will be themed; the first billed as 'Ad mortem' the second as 'Ad Vitam', and each will present a different take on the band's musical journey from the point of view of mood and setting. The shows will both be filmed for a forthcoming live DVD release. See NEWS for more details.

HOWARD JONES has been forced to postpone his Dublin concert at the Helix, originally scheduled for June 28th, until November 2nd as a a result of 'contractual difficulties' outside the control of Jones, his management or the venue.

SIMPLE MINDS have added a Belfast date to their forthcoming UK tour. The band will play the Odyssey Arena on December 6th, see GIGS for all the dates.

RICK ASTLEY will headline a special HERE AND NOW show at Norfolk's Blickling Hall on July 19th, on a bill that also includes KIM WILDE, HOWARD JONES, PAUL YOUNG, NIK KERSHAW, CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT, DR AND THE MEDICS, THE REAL THING, HEAVEN 17, ALTERED IMAGES and CHINA CRISIS.

THEN JERICO fromtman MARK SHAW is to play a special charity show for the RSPCA at London's Bar Too Far in Tooting on June 28th.

GARY NUMAN, REM and THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS have all been covered by Weezer as b-sides for the various versions of their forthcoming single 'Pork And Beans'. See NEWS for more details.

GRANDMASTER FLASH is to publish his autobiography, 'The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats' next week via Broadway Books.

THE GODFATHERS have announced a new London show and a handful of European dates following the success of their recent reunion show in London. The London show will take place at the Islington Academy in October and will be preceded by shows in Europe, see GIGS for all the dates.

MARC ALMOND will play a show at Leeds' Grand Theatre on July 2nd, while TOYAH, NICK HEYWARD and CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT will play the same venue on July 4th.

METALLICA have announced that their new album, expected to have a September release, will be called 'Death Magnetic'.

THE WATERBOYS will release a 2CD collector's edition of their 'Room To Room' album on August 11th, featuring a disc of previously unreleased tracks, live and alternate versions. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

LIONEL RICHIE has said that he will reunite with THE COMMODORES at some point in the next couple of years.

MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS are to reissue their classic album 'Danseparc' on August 4th. The remastered release will be the first time the album has been available on CD and will feature three bonus tracks. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

BONNIE TYLER will make a special guest appearance at Lorraine Crosby's forthcoming concert at Newcastle City Hall on November 27th.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

Red Hot Chili Peppers work with Justice



French dance duo Justice at to produce the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album.

Justice – Xavier De Rosnay and Gaspard Auge - have produced their own material before, but never stepped out to produce another band.

The collaboration was announced by Busy P, main-man at Justice’s record label Ed Banger records, during an interview with datatransmission.co.uk.

Red Hot Chili Peppers have yet to confirm whether Busy P’s claims are true.

It is thought that Chilli’s frontman Anthony Kiedis has been a fan of Justice for some time and uses their music as a warm-up before he leaps onto the stage.

Justice will play London’s Somerset House on July 11.



The Verve - free track & new album



Richard Ashcroft and co follow up Glastonbury set with freebie download.

The mud has barely settled on Glastonbury, but Sunday night headliners The Verve are following it up by offering a free track online.

The song 'Mover' will be available from http://www.vervedownload.com from midday on Monday June 30 for seven days and won't be included on their forthcoming reunion album, 'Forth'. which arrives in August.

The band brought Glastonbury to a climax last night with a selection of old and new material that culminated in the classic 'Bittersweet Symphony' and the new single, 'Love Is Noise'.

The Verve have not only leaked the first single from their forthcoming album this week, "Love Is Noise", but they've also now given the record the title of 'Forth' and revealed the tracklisting.

It will be released on August 18th in the UK, while North America gets the record a day later (Aug 19th) via their own imprint On Our Own distributed via Megaforce/MRI, and label duties by For The Win!.

'Forth' Tracklisting:

1. Sit and Wonder
2. Love Is Noise
3. Rather Be
4. Judas
5. Numbness
6. I See Houses
7. Noise Epic
8. Valium Skies
9. Columbo
10. Appalachian Springs

The single "Love Is Noise" can be heard on their Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thevervetv



Bon Jovi Playing Free Central Park Show



Iconic New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi will play a free concert in Central Park on July 12, mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today (June 30).

Alongside frontman Jon Bon Jovi, as well as officials from Major League Baseball and Bank of America, Bloomberg outlined the details of the event at a City Hall press conference.

The show, billed as an "All-Star Concert in Central Park," will take place in conjunction with the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which is set for July 15 at Yankee Stadium.

"We've gotten the chance to bookend what is the most successful tour in the world this year with a free concert for anyone in New York," Bon Jovi said. "I just traveled the world again, and New York is still the greatest city in the world."

The concert will take place at 8 p.m. on the park's Great Lawn and will not be televised. Fans will be allowed to enter the area beginning at 2 p.m. Tickets will be available beginning July 2 at baseball parks as well as at events throughout New York.

The majority of the tickets will be available at Yankee Stadium, but will also be available at Shea Stadium and at the parks of the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees. Additionally, tickets will be available through radio sweepstakes, promotional giveaways and in-store programs. Fan can also get tickets at MLB.com.

No more than 60,000 tickets will be distributed in an attempt to maintain the safety and integrity of the lawn's grass, Bloomberg said. "Our interest is in keeping the park open and making sure at the same time that we protect the investment the public has made," he said.

Bon Jovi said fans should expect a full-blown rock show despite the restrictions in place to protect the grass. "This will be our major stadium production," he said.

The band's "Lost Highway" tour wraps July 14-15 in New York.



UNKLE Gives 'X-Files' Theme A Fresh Spin



When "X-Files" heroes Fox Mulder and Dana Scully wrap up their second big-screen search for the truth this summer, audiences will exit to two tracks by U.K.-based electronic/rock artist UNKLE: One an original, hand-picked by series creator Chris Carter, and one a reinterpretation of the classic "X-Files" TV series theme song, commissioned after the fact.

"There was something I was looking for at the end credit of the movie, and it needed to be a really specific beat," Carter says. "I had gone to see the Police over the summer. They opened the show with 'Reggatta De Blanc,' which is one of my favorite Police songs. I love that song, and it was in my head as I was writing the movie. Then [20th Century Fox music supervisor] Danielle Diego gave me this UNKLE piece, and I realized that was really what I was looking for. Immediately I called her and I said, 'I think I've got my end-credit piece.'"

The song, "Broken," from UNKLE's 2007 album "War Stories" (Surrender All), has the spry new wave guitar and insistent pulse of "Reggatta," plus wayward lyrics sung by vocalist Gavin Clark, which seem to fit the profile of Carter's eternally tense fictitious duo ("We're miles adrift/We're inches apart").
"It's funny, because the lyrics ended up working unexpectedly," Carter says.

"It's really the beat that's the perfect fit for the end of the film."
Carter phoned UNKLE mastermind James Lavelle personally to explain his intentions for "Broken," and the two discovered a mutual admiration: Lavelle was a fan of the long-running TV series. A big one. "I've seen every episode," he says.

After that conversation, "it was decided by all of us that James would be the person to ask to -- 'remix' is the wrong word, I'll call it 'reinterpret' -- the 'X-Files' theme for the end of the film as well," Carter says. The two tracks will also be featured on the "X-Files: I Want to Believe" soundtrack as the only additions to the Mark Snow-composed score. The album is due July 22 via Decca.

Lavelle took the distinction between "remix" and "reinterpret" to heart. "Most of the time when you hear remixes of themes, they're never as good as the original and they sound cheesy, like the James Bond theme," he says. "With this piece it was difficult to take the original parts and move them around; it didn't sound right. And we wanted something that would work in context with 'Broken' as well. That was the directive: to have the same kind of emotion. So we went that route sonically, with a snare and a rockier bassline."

Carter -- a self-proclaimed "student drummer" who took DJ'ing lessons during his "X-Files" downtime -- says there are more collaborations in the future for he and Lavelle, who is also an internationally renowned DJ. "His sense of tempo and beat and the blending of it will be a beautiful match for some ideas that I have," Carter says. "We've already talked about it."



Coldplay Cruises To No. 1 On The Billboard 200



As expected, Coldplay tops The Billboard 200 with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," which shifted a whopping 721,000 first-week U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The Capitol effort sold nearly as many copies as the band's other chart-topper, 2005's "X&Y," which moved 737,000. Only one other rock band has had a 700,000-plus week since the release of that effort. Last November, the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" began at No. 1 with 711,000.

With the million-plus debut of Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" last week, this marks only the second time the chart has seen back-to-back debuts of more than 700,000 since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. The first time it happened was way back in the summer of 2000, when Britney Spears' "Oops! I Did It Again" (1,319,000) was followed by Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" (1,760,000).

Forty percent of "Viva La Vida" sales, 288,000 copies, were digital downloads, making it the biggest sales frame ever registered for a digital album. It surpasses the previous record, set earlier this year when Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" (139,000).

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

No newsletter last week because I was on holiday, but now it's back to business as usual and I hope that this newsletter finds you all well!

Are you someone who has entered any of my recent COMPETITIONS? If so then please can you check your spam filters because there are a lot of COMPETITION WINNERS out there who have failed to respond to my emails telling them they have won, including prizewinners for my recent ABC and YAZOO competitions... at the end of the week if any prizes are still unclaimed I will draw new winners and try again... you have been warned!

On the subject of competitions, it's DURAN DURAN TICKET GIVEAWAY time again! As you know I have already given away tickets to their forthcoming shows in London, Liverpool and Nottingham and this week I am giving away a pair of tickets for BIRMINGHAM's NIA on JULY 7th so if you fancy going along to see that hometown show then you need to email me before 5pm (UK) on Wednesday. All entries will go into my virtual hat and the winner will be chosen randomly and informed by email... good luck!

I also have a couple of INTERVIEWS in the pipeline that you might want to help with; at some point in the not too distant future I will be talking to SOFT CELL's DAVE BALL about the forthcoming Soft Cell remix project 'Heat: The Remixes' and HEAVEN 17's GLENN GREGORY about the forthcoming STEEL CITY TOUR with ABC and THE HUMAN LEAGUE so if you have questions for either of them that you would like me to consider then please email them over, here for Dave Ball and here for Glenn Gregory!

In the meantime here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

THE HUMAN LEAGUE, CULTURE CLUB and RIP RIG & PANIC have rare remixes featured on a new 'Methods Of Dance' CD that compiles the best of the innovative early eighties 'Methods Of Dance' compilations. The 16 track album also features tracks from CHINA CRISIS, SIMPLE MINDS, JAPAN and the rarity 'I Don’t Depend On You', a 1979 single released by The Human League under the name THE MEN. The 'Methods Of Dance' CD will be released on July 21st. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

HEAVEN 17, GO WEST, SHAKATAK, IMAGINATION and CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT will all appear on the Sunday of Wiltshire's Moonfest festival which is to take place during the last weekend of August.

SIMPLE MINDS have added another show to their 30th Anniversary tour with the announcement that they will be playing Newcastle's Metro Arena on December 3rd. See GIGS for all the dates.

GRACE JONES has signed a new record deal with the innovative Wall Of Sound label for the release of her new album 'Hurricane', her first for almost twenty years, which is set for release on October 27th.

THE ALARM are to play a series of three different concerts in four UK cities in November under the banner 'Guerilla Tactics In The UK'. The shows will see the band perform material from all the stages of their career, including songs from their forthcoming 'Guerilla Tactics' album which will be release next week. See GIGS for all the dates and NEWS for the album tracklisting.

BOY GEORGE's forthcoming US tour is under threat following problems with US immigration authorities granting the singer a visa for the tour. However the dates have not been cancelled and legal teams in the UK and the USA are still hoping to reverse the decision.

PAUL YOUNG will mark the 25th anniversary of his 'No Parlez' album with a special 2CD edition of the classic release on July 14th. The release will feature the original album alongside a CD of remixes, demos, b-sides and live tracks. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

PAUL WELLER will play two US shows at LA's Wiltern Theatre on September 2nd and 3rd in support of the US release of his new '22 Dreams' album.

MADONNA has extended her forthcoming 'Sticky & Sweet Tour' with the announcement of shows in Vienna, Athens and Mexico City. See GIGS for all the dates.

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are to release a 4CD boxset of b-sides, rarities and alternate versions entitled 'The Power of Negative Thinking' on September 30th.

GO WEST will release a new album 'Futurenow' this week, preceded by a single 'Let Love Come' which was released last week.

SCARLET FANTASTIC singer MAGGIE DE MONDE is auctioning a very special performance in support of playwright Richard Fry who is raising funds to take his show 'Bully' to Edinburgh. Maggie is offering a 'singing surprise' that will see her perform Edith Piaf's 'Je Ne Regrette Rien' at the house, party or event of the winner's choice. See NEWS for more details!

GEISHA have returned to the studio to start recording a new album, their first for almost twenty years. The Australian New Wave band will also be touring the release.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

Ian Curtis' headstone stolen



The headstone of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis was stolen from a cemetry in Macclesfield last night.

The memorial, which contains the epitaph "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was taken sometime between Tuesday (July 2) lunchtime and Wednesday (July 3) morning.

Thousands of people visit the memorial every year to pay their respects to Curtis. It has the inscription "Ian Curtis 18.5.80" and the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart" on it.

Cheshire police say there's no CCTV in Macclesfield crematorium where it was taken from but they beleive someone must have seen something.

Police and cemetry staff alike are appealing for its safe return.



Amy under 'house arrest'



Amy Winehouse fled her home yesterday (02.07.08) after being placed under "house arrest" to keep her away from drugs.

The troubled singer - who left hospital earlier this week following treatment for scarring on the lungs - is being monitored round-the-clock and even has a security guard stationed outside her home.

Yet despite the measures, Amy managed to sprint out of the house and into a waiting car of her female friends, only to later be taken home by dad Mitch. According to onlookers, the car sped off for a 20-minute drive only for the singer to jump out of the moving vehicle in Camden, North London, hurl abuse at her pals and run into the nearest pub.

Mitch soon arrived to take her home. Before the incident happened, Amy was reportedly heard screaming to be let out.

An onlooker told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "Amy could be heard pleading to be allowed out for some fresh air, only to be told to stick her head out of the back window. Anyone who rang her doorbell had to be given approval by the man on the door. He left after a few hours, only for another big guy to take his place."

Record Company bosses have made the decision to keep Amy in her home to keep her away from "undesirables".

A source told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Effectively, Amy's been put under house arrest. She is being monitored by 24/7 surveillance to make sure she is behaving herself and keeping out of harm's way. "There is also a security guard stationed outside her house around the clock to vet any undesirables.

"Crucially, they don't want known drug dealers coming anywhere near her. Amy has given them names of people expected. Anyone who turns up uninvited will be sent packing. It's for her own good."



Madonna pushes for divorce



Madonna has reportedly refused to let husband Guy Ritchie move to New York. The 'Give It 2 Me' singer is said to have turned down the British director's plea to leave their London home and be with her in the US, saying she still wants to end the marriage.

According to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, Madonna allegedly said: "You're not coming. I still want a divorce. Stay in London."

However, the 49-year-old singer's publicist Liz Rosenberg has strongly denied the rumour. She said: "This conversation never took place between Madonna and Guy.
There's no break-up or divorce plan and they live together when work allows them to."

A source claims Guy's proposal was a last chance attempt to save his marriage. It is believed he will now remain at the couple's London home or 1,200-acre Wiltshire estate.

The pop superstar has allegedly bought another apartment in New York in her maiden name and is renovating it to accommodate children Lourdes, 11, Rocco, seven, and adopted son David, two.

The source said: "Guy did a lot of soul-searching after Madonna asked him for a divorce and thought he may be able to salvage the situation by agreeing to leave London full-time for the Big Apple.

"He knew it was a long shot but he will do anything to keep the family together. Yet no sooner had he told her than she said it wasn't an option any more. "It's all very sad but Guy is now resigned to them living apart."



Coldplay Scores Second Week Atop Album Chart



The top three slots on The Billboard 200 remain static this week, as Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" starts a second week at No. 1. The Capitol effort moved 249,000 U.S. copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan, a 66% drop from its 721,000 start.

Lil Wayne's Cash Money/Universal set "Tha Carter III" sticks to No. 2 with 209,000 (-32%) as the Jonas Brothers-led soundtrack to Disney's "Camp Rock" stays at No. 3 with 169,000 (-10%).

Motley Crue's "Saints of Los Angeles" (Masters 2008/Motley) debuts at No. 4 with 99,000 copies. The band's best album chart feat came with 1989's "Dr. Feelgood," which reached No. 1.

After experiencing a number of release date shifts, Three 6 Mafia's Hypnotize Minds/Columbia album "Last 2 Walk" finally strides onto the chart at No. 5 with 77,000. The Academy Award-winning rap duo's last album, "Most Known Unknown," peaked at No. 3.

The multi-label "Now 28" compilation slides 4-6 with 66,000 (-19%), while Usher's LaFace/Zomba set "Here I Stand" descends 6-7 with a 21% sales decrease to 52,000.

Rock act Shinedown's third effort for Atlantic, "The Sound of Madness," starts at No. 8 with 50,000, the band's best charting album yet. The group's 2004 debut "Leave a Whisper" topped the Heatseekers tally that year and peaked at No. 53 on the big chart, while 2005's "Us and Them" had a No. 23 start.

Disturbed's Warner Bros. album "Indestructible" declines 8-9 with 50,000 (-16%) while Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" (SRP/Def Jam) slips 7-10 with 47,000, a 26% sales hit.

Album sales are down 7.66% from last week's sum at 7.6 million units, and are down 13.2% compared to the same week last year.

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

I need to start with a HUGE APOLOGY for the late or non-arrival of last week's newsletter... unfortunately there was some sort of MASSIVE TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN with the servers that the mailing agent use, and although last week's newsletter was sent to everyone on Monday it wasn't until Thursday that most of you received it, and it's entirely possible that it didn't make it to some of you at all. All beyond my control I'm afraid, but all last week's NEWS is still on the website if you want to make sure you didn't miss anything!

Can you believe that it's 25 YEARS since the release of PAUL YOUNG's 'No Parlez' album? Well it is, and to celebrate I have FIVE COPIES of the special 2-CD ANNIVERSARY EDITION of 'No Parlez' which is released next week to give away. It's a great package containing the ORIGINAL ALBUM plus a BONUS CD featuring TEN EXTRA TRACKS which includes 12" mixes, b-sides, demo versions and live tracks... you can see the full TRACKLISTING in the NEWS section. Anyway, if you fancy trying to win a copy then email me before 5pm (UK) on Friday. All your emails will go into my legendary virtual hat and I will pick the winners at random and let them know by email. Good luck!

For the benefit of anyone who didn't see last week's newsletter I still have all manner of UNCLAIMED COMPETITION PRIZES cluttering up my desk - including YAZOO, ABC and RETROFEST prizes - so please check your spam folders and I will draw new winners for any prizes not claimed by Friday night.

Thank you to everyone who sent in suggested INTERVIEW QUESTIONS for my upcoming interviews with SOFT CELL and HEAVEN 17, I now want to add THE BANGLES to that list as I will be talking to them about life the universe and RETROFEST very shortly so if there's anything you'd like to ask them then please email me... there's also still time to submit more questions for Soft Cell and Heaven 17 too (here for Dave Ball and here for Glenn Gregory). Thanks!

In the meantime here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

THE THOMPSON TWINS' classic album 'Here's To Future Days' follows 'Quick Step & Side Kick' and 'Into The Gap' to become the third of the band's albums to be given a dramatic reissue by the Edsel label. The expanded 2-CD edition will be released on August 4th and will feature the original album, all the remixes from the bonus EP / cassette edition as well as the 12" single remixes and the non-album b-sides. Meanwhile, on July 28th Cherry Red will release a DVD edition of the Thompson Twins' 60 minute concert video 'Side Kicks The Movie', filmed in Liverpool during the band's 1983 tour. See NEWS for the full CD and DVD tracklistings.

THE CURE's ROBERT SMITH, CHAKA KHAN, THE PIXIES' BLACK FRANCIS, NEIL FINN and WEIRD AL YANKOVIC are among the voting panel for the 2008 International Songwriting Competition...

KAJAGOOGOO will play two shows at Milton Keynes' The Stables on December 10th and 11th.

THE BANGLES' recent show at Dublin's Vicar Street has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

SWING OUT SISTER have finally confirmed a UK release date for their new album 'Beautiful Mess'. The release, the band's ninth studio album, will come out on September 8th and will be preceded by a download single 'Something Every Day' a week earlier.

BON JOVI are to play their much anticipated free New York show in Manhattan's Central Park on July 12th.

DEACON BLUE have announced two headline shows in Glasgow in December, following their support slot on the forthcoming SIMPLE MINDS tour. See GIGS for details

GANG OF FOUR will release their influential albums 'Songs Of The Free' and 'Hard' on CD for the time on August 18th. Meanwhile the band will headline alongside WIRE at the forthcoming Offset Festival in Essex on August 30th and 31st.

DURAN DURAN have announced that they would like to work with producer Mark Ronson on a theme for the new James Bond film. Duran Duran appeared with Ronson in Paris last week for a special live collaboration.

IT BITES have reformed for an album and tour. The forthcoming album 'The Tall Ships' will be released later this year but is available for pre-order via the band's website and a UK tour has been announced for September and October. See GIGS for dates.

T'PAU singer CAROL DECKER releases her new download single 'Don't Stop Believing' - a cover of the FOREIGNER classic - this week.

BROS are rumoured to be considering a reunion for a tour and possibly an album. Singer MATT GOSS is said to have told the BBC that he and brother LUKE GOSS are already looking into 'the logistics of a full tour'...

RICK ASTLEY has released a new US compilation 'Playlist: The Very Best Of Rick Astley', part of the RCA/Legacy label's Playlist series which sets out to compile ultimate compilations from a range of artists with material hand-picked and sequenced by producers, fans and often the artists themselves. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

RICK SPRINGFIELD has released a new single 'What's Victoria's Secret' as a download. The track is the first to be taken from his forthcoming 'Venus In Overdrive' album which will be released at the end of July.

PAUL WELLER has announced more US shows in the wake of his two night stand at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre at the start of September. See GIGS for all the dates.

MODERN ROMANCE have announced an gig in Bournemouth for Wave Radio on August 30th, following their mainstage appearance at Scotland's Retrofest on the same day.

ZZ TOP have signed a new recording deal with Rick Rubin's American Recordings. The band are now set to head into the studio to start recording the follow up to 2003's 'Mescalero' which Rubin will co-produce with the band.

WAS NOT WAS' recent 'Boo' album has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

SANDRA will play a one-off show at Technopolis in Athens, Greece, on July 23rd.

MADNESS have announced another Christmas date with the announcement of a show at Manchester's Central on December 18th. Meanwhile Madness' LEE THOMPSON will be playing a free gig at London's Bermondsey Beat Festival on July 12th with his new project The Dance Brigade which also features THE BELLE STARS' singer JENNIE MATTHIAS.

ELVIS COSTELLO is making a TV show for Channel 4 entitled 'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...' which will see the legendary singer in conversation and collaboration with a range of guests including ELTON JOHN and LOU REED.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

Axl to launch Guns album on game



Guns n Roses have licensed the new song 'Shackler’s Revenge’ to the forthcoming game Rock Band 2.

The track is the second official release for 'Chinese Democracy’, if we count 'Oh My God’ from the 1999 movie 'End of Days’.

Rock Band 2 will feature 75 tracks including music from Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and AC/DC.

The tracklisting is:

1. AC/DC - 'Let There Be Rock''
2. AFI - 'Girl’s Gone Grey''
3. Alanis Morissette - 'You Oughta Know''
4. Alice in Chains - 'Man in the Box'
5. Allman Brothers - 'Ramblin’ Man''
6. Avenged Sevenfold - 'Almost Easy''
7. Bad Company - 'Shooting Star''
8. Beastie Boys - 'So Whatcha Want''
9. Beck - 'E-Pro''
10. Bikini Kill - 'Rebel Girl''
11. Billy Idol - 'White Wedding Pt. I''
12. Blondie - 'One Way or Another''
13. Bob Dylan - 'Tangled Up in Blue''
14. Bon Jovi - 'Livin’ on a Prayer''
15. Cheap Trick - 'Hello There''
16. Devo - 'Uncontrollable Urge''
17. Dinosaur Jr. - 'Feel the Pain''
18. Disturbed - 'Down with the Sickness''
19. Dream Theater - 'Panic Attack''
20. Duran Duran - 'Hungry Like the Wolf''
21. Elvis Costello - 'Pump It Up''
22. Fleetwood Mac - 'Go Your Own Way''
23. Foo Fighters - 'Everlong''
24. Guns N’ Roses - 'Shackler’s Revenge''
25. Interpol - 'PDA''
26. Jane’s Addiction - 'Mountain Song''
27. Jethro Tull - 'Aqualung''
28. Jimmy Eat World - 'The Middle''
29. Joan Jett - 'Bad Reputation''
30. Journey - 'Anyway You Want It''
31. Judas Priest - 'Painkiller''
32. Kansas - 'Carry On Wayward Son''
33. L7 - 'Pretend We’re Dead''
34. Lacuna Coil - 'Our Truth''
35. Linkin Park - 'One Step Closer''
36. Lit - 'My Own Worst Enemy''
37. Lush - 'De-Luxe''
38. Mastodon - 'Colony of Birchmen''
39. Megadeth - 'Peace Sells''
40. Metallica - 'Battery''
41. Mighty Mighty Bosstones - 'Where’d You Go''
42. Modest Mouse - 'Float On''
43. Motorhead - 'Ace of Spades''
44. Nirvana - 'Drain You''
45. Norman Greenbaum - 'Spirit in the Sky''
46. Panic at the Disco - 'Nine in the Afternoon''
47. Paramore - 'That’s What You Get''
48. Pearl Jam - 'Alive''
49. Presidents of the USA - 'Lump''
50. Rage Against the Machine - 'Testify''
51. Ratt - 'Round & Round''
52. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Give it Away''
53. Rise Against - 'Give it All''
54. Rush - 'The Trees''
55. Silversun Pickups - 'Lazy Eye''
56. Smashing Pumpkins - 'Today''
57. Social Distortion - 'I Was Wrong''
58. Sonic Youth - 'Teenage Riot''
59. Soundgarden - 'Spoonman''
60. Squeeze - 'Cool for Cats''
61. Steely Dan - 'Bodhitsattya''
62. Steve Miller Band - 'Rock’n Me''
63. Survivor - 'Eye of the Tiger''
64. System of a Down - 'Chop Suey''
65. Talking Heads - 'Psycho Killer''
66. Tenacious D - 'Master Exploder''
67. Testament - 'Souls of Black''
68. The Donnas - 'New Kid in School''
69. The Go-Go’s - 'We Got the Beat''
70. The Grateful Dead - 'Alabama Getaway''
71. The Guess Who - 'American Woman''
72. The Muffs - 'Kids in America''
73. The Offspring - 'Come Out & Play (Keep 'em Separated)''
74. The Replacements - 'Alex Chilton''
75. The Who - 'Pinball Wizard'



Brett Anderson releases new solo album



Former Suede singer, Brett Anderson, is to early-release his new solo album, 'Wilderness', online exclusively via Bowers & Wilkins’ (B&W) Music Club.


B&W Music Club (www.bowers-wilkins.com/sos) is an online music community for audiophiles and music fans that will offer exclusive monthly albums to its members, specially recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and downloadable in a 'lossless’ file format to provide CD-quality sound.

The album will appear on Music Club from July 10th, and will be released on conventional formats later in the year. You can trial three of the songs from 'Wilderness’ by downloading for free at www.bowers-wilkins.com/sos. Tracks on the album include: A Different Place, Chinese Whispers and Funeral Mantra.

The LP features a minimal set-up, with Anderson playing piano and guitar joined by cellist Amy Langley, it also features guest vocals from Emmanuelle Seigner on the song 'A Different Place'.

Brett says: 'I made this album with the purest of intentions: to create a beautiful suite of songs untethered by second-guessing markets and playlists and music biz bullshit. I have no record company, no publisher and a smaller audience but I have never been more confident and focused about what I am doing as an artist.'



Ronnie Wood's wife says 'its over'



Ronnie Wood's wife has reportedly told him their marriage is over.


The Rolling Stones guitarist received a furious voicemail message from Jo Wood, his wife of 23 years, saying she no longer wants to be with the rocker following his alleged affair with 19-year-old Russian Ekaterina Ivanova.

A source said: "It has sunk in he has had an affair and she feels betrayed. They had such a strong marriage. He's thrown it all away with his stupid behaviour."

Ronnie and Ekaterina - who fled to the 61-year-old musician's retreat in County Kildare, Ireland 10 days ago - are believed to have become close after partying in London. During drinking sessions, the young waitress is said to have posed naked for keen artist Ronnie.

The source added to Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Jo has been through the mill. She thought he was only drinking buddies with the girl and she was hanging around him for free drinks. Now everything has surfaced about how they met and Jo has hit rock bottom."

Jo, 53, had previously branded Ekaterina "mad" and claimed the pair were not having an affair. Ekaterina's mother Irina has denied the pair are romantically involved,
saying: "There is nothing between them."

Ronnie is due to return to London from Ireland today (14.07.08). The alcoholic musician, who has reportedly been drinking two bottles of vodka a day, is said to have vowed to check into rehab on his return.



Bon Jovi rock Central Park



Around 70,000 Bon Jovi fans have been estimated to have flocked into Central Park on Saturday for a free concert by the band.


67,500 tickets were given away to the show with an estimated 48,500 getting on the lawn to see the concert.

The City of New York now limits attendance on the lawn at Central Park concerts to 50,000. In 1983, Diana Ross performed in front of 350,000 and in 1991 Paul Simon did a free show for an estimated 600,000.

The last Concert in Central Park was Dave Matthews in 2003. He had a crowd of 80,000 but the event caused $120,000 worth of damage.

The New Jersey band crossed the Hudson to perform the show as a bookend to the Major League Baseball All-Star game at Yankee Stadium on July 15.

Bon Jovi’s set-list was:

Living On A Prayer
You Give Love A Bad Name
Lost Highway
Born To Be My Baby
Runaway
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead/Twist and Shout
Blaze of Glory
In These Arms
We Got It Going On
It’s My Life
I’ll Be There For You (Ritchie Sambora lead vocals)
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith
Who Says
Bad Medicine/Shout

Always
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Love This Town



Coldplay’s album No.1 in 36 countries



Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida has to date been the No.1 selling album in 36 countries around the world, including in the U.S., where it held the top spot for two weeks, and in the U.K. where the album has been No.1 for the last four weeks.


Coldplay’s previous album, the 10 million-selling X&Y, reached No.1 in 32 countries in 2005.

In a number of countries, including the U.K., France, Germany and Japan, first week sales of Viva La Vida exceeded those of X&Y, and Viva La Vida has already been certified gold or platinum in 31 countries including platinum in the USA, Germany and Australia and double platinum in the U.K. and Canada.

In many countries Viva La Vida held the top spot on the album chart in its second week, including in the USA, U.K., Australia, Canada, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand.

Viva La Vida set the record for the highest first week album sales ever on the iTunes Store worldwide, in addition to being the biggest album pre-order in iTunes’ history. In the U.S., 288,000 week one sales were digital downloads, the biggest ever first week sales tally for a digital album, and with 394,000 digital albums sold in the first three weeks, Viva La Vida is the all time best selling digital album in the States. U.S. over the counter sales for Viva La Vida across all formats have now exceeded 1.1 million according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In the U.K. Viva La Vida is the fastest-selling album of the year with over the counter sales of more than 600,000 since its release on 12 June, while in Germany the album is already the biggest selling release of the year as well as the fastest.

RememberTheEighties.com - it's the 80s... up to date!

HELLO...

Last year, after an appeal in this newsletter, hundreds of visitors to my website sent me their 80s memories for a book I was writing back then (the book, 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia', will be published by Portico Books on September 15th this year and will be available from all good bookshops and, of course, from my website!) and one of the questions I asked was what people considered to be the ULTIMATE 80s SINGLE...

I was absolutely amazed by the sheer number of different suggestions people made and now, JUST FOR FUN, I'm going to countdown to the publication of my book with a quest to identify the definitive answer to that question... if you want a say in deciding what RememberTheEighties.com's ULTIMATE 80s SINGLE is then please check out the website for more details. This week's list contains 128 songs, next week's will feature 64, the following week 32 until in 8 weeks time, to coincide with the publication of the book, we will be left with just one song... the results are in your hands!

While you're over at the website deciding whether 'Blue Monday' beats 'Two Tribes', 'Don't You Forget About Me' beats 'Take On Me' or 'Through The Barricades' beats 'Just Can't Get Enough' (no-one said it would be easy!) you can also enter my brand new and very special BILLY IDOL COMPETITION which will see FIVE WINNERS each receive an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the forthcoming 'Idolize Yourself' compilation, a CD/DVD collection of Billy's greatest hits, some very steamy videos, and two brand new tracks! It's on the website now if you want to enter!

Next week I will have a brand new and EXCLUSIVE 'Steel City Tour' INTERVIEW with HEAVEN 17 online for you as well as a fab 'Methods Of Dance' compilation CD GIVEAWAY...

In the meantime here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

SOFT CELL have revealed the tracklisting for their upcoming 2-CD album 'Heat: The Remixes', a 25 track release featuring brand new interpretations of many classic Soft Cell tracks - including new mixes from both MARC ALMOND and DAVID BALL - which will now be released on September 1st. There will also be a 40 track digital version of the album available which will feature additional Remixes not included on the CD edition. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

MICHAEL JACKSON is said to be in talks with the recently reunited NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK about a possible musical collaboration...

DEPECHE MODE mainman MARTIN GORE will DJ at New York's Hiro Ballroom on July 24th...

SHAKATAK are to be the focus of an upcoming TV makeover show 'Bands Go Pop!' which will follow the act over an eight week journey 'to tackle their image, fitness and weight'. The results of the process will be revealed at a special performance of the band's hit 'Down On The Street' in West London on August 1st. If you would like to attend the filming of the performance you can email the show to request tickets before midday tomorrow (Wednesday July 16th).

ULTRAVOX will release remastered and expanded 2-CD editions of their classic 'Rage In Eden' and 'Vienna' albums on September 15th.

HEAVEN 17 have announced that they will play at the forthcoming Sound Sanctuary festival which is taking place near Tunbridge Wells on September 20th. Also on the bill are FROM THE JAM M-People and Gregory Isaacs.

TOYAH's new studio album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' will be available in time for her guest appearances on the forthcoming 'Vampires Rock' tour in September. Initially the album will be available only on the tour but a wider release is in the pipeline. See NEWS on the website for the full tracklisting.

MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS forthcoming reissue of their 'Danceparc' album will be accompanied by a limited edition bonus CD 'Parctalk', a one-sided interview disc produced to promote the original 1983 release of the album, to anyone ordering the album via the band's own website . A single CD edition of the album will be released in the UK on August 4th.

FLEETWOOD MAC's LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM has announced a string of US dates to take place in September and October. The tour will support his new solo album 'Gift of Screws' which will be released on September 16th. See GIGS for all the dates.

MADONNA has added another date to her forthcoming 'Sticky & Sweet Tour', this time at Jaz Beach in Budva, Montenegro on September 25th.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

www.remembertheeighties.com - "The eighties... up to date!"

Franz Ferdinand talk up new album



Franz Ferdinand have revealed their new album is being produced using unconventional recording methods.

The Scottish band are hard at work in Glasgow finishing off their third album with producer Dan Carey and have been working in an experimental fashion.

Frontman Alex Kapranos told the BBC: "We have been doing a lot of experimenting in the studio with Dan. He's made us record the album in a much wilder way than we're used to."

He added: "We did this thing in the studio called the Doppler Effect, which is like when you are on the high street and you hear an ambulance go past and the sound of the siren pitch changes when it passes you."

Fans will have to wait a while longer to hear just how wild the LP is, as the currently untitled record is set for release in early 2009.



Hendrix immortalised in game



Jimi Hendrix is set to be immortalised in a computer game.

The legendary guitar player will be revived in the latest edition of 'Guitar Hero’ which is due to be released in the autumn.

The 'Foxy Lady’ singer – who died after drowning in his own vomit, after taking prescription drugs and drinking red wine in 1970 aged just 27 - will feature as a playable character in the game.

His song 'The Wind Cries Mary’ and a live version of 'Purple Haze’ recorded in 1969 at the San Diego Sports Arena will feature on 'Guitar Hero: World Tour’, with more of the rocker’s back catalogue available as downloadable content.

The fourth version of the game will include an eight-player Battle of the Bands feature which allows two groups – each boasting drums, guitars and microphones – to compete against each other.

Many bands have enjoyed a new lease of life after allowing their songs to be used on the game. Legendary heavy metal group Iron Maiden reported a surge in downloads after several of their tracks, including the classic 'Run To The Hills’, were featured.



Sting recording 'Songs for Tibet' CD



Sting is recording a 'Songs for Tibet' album with a host of other music stars.

The Police frontman joins artists including John Mayer, Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette to lend his talent to the collection of songs.

The LP will highlight Tibet's struggle to be recognised as an autonomous state separate from China and will be released just days before the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games begins in August.

Michael Wohl - a spokesperson for the Art of Peace Foundation, which is compiling the album - said: "We wanted to express our support for the Tibetan people and their message of peace through music, a fundamental means of expression, at a time when the eyes of the world are on China."

The non-profit organisation, which supports Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is behind the project.

Other artists to contribute include Moby, Garbage Rush, Suzanne Vega, Imogen Heap, Damien Rice, Underworld and Duncan Sheik.

Album producer Rupert Hine said: "The commitment and enthusiasm from such a wide group of artists has been astonishing and truly heartfelt. It's been exciting orchestrating such a historic project."

The album will have a global release on music website iTunes on August 5.

A full CD release will follow on August 12.

China has controversially ruled Tibet since 1951. As many as 250 people were reportedly killed during a crackdown on Tibetan protesters in March this year that resulted in widespread rioting against the Chinese government.



Oasis kick U2 off Abbey Road



Oasis paid up front for the use of Abbey Road studios in London forcing the studio to cancel U2’s block booking.

Oasis front man Liam Gallagher told Mojo magazine, 'U2 were booked in there with (producer) Rick Rubin. I was like, 'U2' U2 have to have a fucking six-hour meeting [as to] whether to get tea or coffee in the rehearsal room! They are not coming in here any time in the next five years’,' he told Mojo Magazine.

'The guy from Abbey Road was like, 'I’ve got it block-booked for the exact time you want it.’ [So] we actually went down to Abbey Road with a bag of money, and said, 'We can pay for the studio now’.'

The band was in Abbey Road recording their sixth album, 'Dig Out Your Soul’, which is due to be released in early October. The first single will be 'The Shock Of Lightning’, which will be out in the last week of September.

Elvis Presley haunts Cybill Shepherd



Cybill Shepherd says she is being haunted by ex-love Elvis Presley.

The actress wishes she had done more to help the late music legend as his life descended into binge eating and depression before his untimely death at the age of 42.

She said: 'I don’t feel him in a way that I feel I have to call ghostbusters, but I’ve been haunted by Elvis in the sense that when I knew him, he was very sweet but also seriously into drugs.'

Cybill dated Elvis in the early 70s but was unable to cope with his self-destructive tendencies and eventually left him for film director Peter Bogdanovich.

She added to TV Guide magazine: 'I’ve been haunted by wishing he could have lived longer because I’m from Memphis and I’ve had the fame thing, too. Maybe I could have helped him.'

Elvis died in 1977 from a suspected heart attack as he sat on the toilet.



Phil Collins number one in New Zealand



Phil Collins has the number one song in New Zealand this week with his 1981 hit `In The Air Tonight`. You can thank the viral campaign by Cadbury featuring the Cadbury Gorilla for getting him there.

Cadbury launched the $12 million campaign out of the UK a year ago and the ad has become a viral sensation on the internet.

Collins is rumoured to have been paid $1 million for the rights for the use of the song in the campaign.

It features a gorilla playing his signature drum sound while `In The Air Tonight` is playing.

The campaign is unique in that it does not mention the name Cadbury once, nor does it mention chocolate. It is working for Cadbury because the Gorilla has become known as the Cadbury Gorilla and raised awareness of the Cadbury brand.

Well, it is also working for Phil. Not only has he banked his million bucks, he`ll also have a cheque coming out of New Zealand for royalties from his latest hit song.



Duffy releases new single



Duffy’s new single Stepping Stone will be released on September 1st on A&M Records.

Stepping Stone is the latest single to be taken from her debut album Rockferry. It was written by Duffy and Steve Booker, who also produced the track.

It will be released on CD and 7' vinyl as well as a two-track digital single available exclusively on iTunes.

Duffy is soon to embark on a string of US dates, before returning to the UK next month for three festival dates at V Festival (August 16th, 17th) and Hydro Connect (August 31st).



Metallica announce more dates



Berlin . . . London . . . September

Metallica have just announced that they will be hosting a couple of bashes in September, via their websites www.metallica.com and www.missionmetallica.com

To celebrate the release of their new album 'Death Magnetic' in September (actual date still tbc) the band thought it would be cool to hang with a few of their closest friends in some of their favourite cities.

On September 12th in Berlin, Germany and on September 15th in London, England they will be hosting a little bash to celebrate the blessed event of the upcoming addition to the Metallica catalogue.

There will be a live band (that would be them!) and tickets will only be available to MetClub members and Mission: Metallica members.

Metallica will headline the Leeds (August 22nd) and Reading (August 24th) festivals.



Brett Anderson tour dates



Brett Anderson will play a short UK tour in September, following the release of his new album 'Wilderness' on Sep 1.

The tour will be similar in format to the one-off date Brett played at London’s Mermaid Theatre in July, where he was joined onstage by cellist Amy Langley to perform the new album and highlights from his back-catalogue.

The Mermaid Theatre show received rave reviews in the broadsheets and an ecstatic response from fans. For the September tour Brett has tried to choose unorthodox venues for his shows outside London.

The September tour dates are:

SEP 25 LEEDS CITY VARIETIES
SEP 26 MANCHESTER ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC
SEP 27 GLASGOW ORAN MOR
SEP 29 BRIGHTON ST GEORGES CHURCH
SEP 30 LONDON SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

The album 'Wilderness' is released on BA Songs on Sep 1 but will be available from independent record stores from August 14.



Snow Patrol Steps Into The 'Sun'



Snow Patrol's fifth studio album has been christened "A Hundred Million Suns" and will be released in October, according to an online post from frontman Gary Lightbody.

The band recently spent two months recording at Grouse Lodge in Ireland and has also logged time at Berlin's Hansa Ton Studios, where such famed albums as U2's "Achtung Baby" and David Bowie's "Low," "Lodger" and "Heroes" were tracked.

"A Hundred Million Suns" is the follow-up to 2006's "Eyes Open," which has sold 1.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The group is planning a handful of small shows in Ireland in support of the album, but details have yet to announced.



The Verve Storms Back On Fourth Album



The Verve roars back to life after an 11-year hiatus between new albums with "Forth," a bracing blend of the experimentalism of the group's early work and the more structured songwriting of its last two efforts.

The set is due Aug. 25 in the U.K. via Parlophone and the following day in North America on the band's On Our Own label, with distribution by RED/Megaforce.

Only one song is less than five minutes long on "Forth," which begins with the seven-minute jam "Sit and Wonder." Atop a big bass groove and foreboding atmospherics, frontman Richard Ashcroft pleads, "Lord, give me the light," setting the table for the single "Love Is Noise," the most electronic track of the Verve's career.

The cut's sampled "woo-hoo" vocal and synths stake out new territory, but rarely have Ashcroft's vocals sounded as raw and angrily passionate. "Love Is Noise" will be released in the U.K. Aug. 4 digitally and Aug. 11 in physical form.

"Forth" is further highlighted by the dreamy "Judas," arguably one of the most beautiful songs the band has yet penned, and the anthemic ballad "Valium Skies," a sure-fire future concert staple which is reminiscent of the hit "Lucky Man" from 1997's "Urban Hymns." "I See Houses" muses on Ashcroft's everyday surroundings while pivoting between the eerie vibes of 1995's "A Northern Soul" and the elegant emoting of "Urban Hymns."

Elsewhere, the Verve stretches out in ways it hasn't since the early 1990s. The eight-minute "Noise Jam" is a propulsive rocker with references to Mother Mary, Steve McQueen and the Rapture, finishing in an explosion of pounding downstrokes, while "Columbo" barrels through several different motifs (slinky, Can-inspired bass lines; early Verve ambience) over the course of seven-and-a-half minutes.

The Verve plays Japan's Summer Sonic festival Aug. 9-10 and the U.K.'s V Festival the following weekend. Fall tour plans have yet to be announced.

Here is the track list for "Forth":
"Sit and Wonder"
"Love Is Noise"
"Rather Be"
"Judas"
"Numbness"
"I See Houses"
"Noise Epic"
"Valium Skies"
"Columbo"
"Appalachian Springs"

Madonna claims her spiritual age is 36



Madonna claims her spiritual age is 36.

The 'Give It 2 Me' singer - who turns 50 tomorrow (16.08.08) - has been told by Kabbalah priests she is 14 years younger than her true birth age. The star has since banned guests attending her celebrations from referring to her being 50, according to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper.

She has also issued instructions informing her guests not to bring any cards, cakes or presents which state her true age.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Justin Timberlake - who teamed up with Madonna on the smash hit track '4 Minutes' earlier this year - was unsure what to buy the queen of pop for her special day, and so has settled for golfing vouchers.

Earlier this week, it was reported Madonna was considering delaying her birthday celebrations after twisting her ankle. The singer was set to throw a lavish party at her country estate in Wiltshire, England, but suffered the injury while rehearsing for her upcoming world tour.

A source said: "Plans are very hush-hush but Madonna is definitely going to celebrate in style.

"Unfortunately, not everything has gone as expected as she's had many other things on her mind. On top of all the stress, she twisted her ankle over the weekend. "She views this as a sign she should postpone the birthday bash and play it by ear instead."



Duffy and Tom Jones to hook up



Tom Jones would love to sing with Duffy.

The 68-year-old star says fellow Welsh singer Duffy is top of his list for his new duets album.

When asked who he'd like to work with he immediately named Duffy, saying:

"Because she's Welsh and she can sing. Not just because she is Welsh. I'd like to do something with her, she's something special."

Duffy - who had a UK number one hit with her song 'Mercy' - is currently touring promoting her debut album 'Rockferry' in the US.

The 24-year-old blonde has laughed off rumours the 'Delilah' singing legend is her real father.

She said: "I'm dealing with this every day. It's kind of bizarre. You've got to laugh."

Tom made a very successful comeback in 1999 with his covers and duets album 'Reload'. He teamed up with a string of Welsh stars including former Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews, Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics and James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers.



Bono snorting salt



Bono snorts salt to aid his singing voice.

The 'With or Without You' singer regularly sniffs salty water as it acts as an antiseptic for his throat and helps ensure he can hit high notes, according to The Script frontman Danny O'Donoghue.

Danny told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Snorting salts - it's actually a singing technique.

"Myself and Bono share a vocal coach. Whenever the high notes aren't feeling that high or in the morning you're groggy, you snort salt water up your nose.

"It cleans out cavities, it's a natural antiseptic for your throat."

Bono recently praised his U2 bandmate The Edge, claiming he is the most influential guitarist since Jimmy Page.

Writing in response to a near-perfect review of the reissue of the band's 1980 debut album, 'Boy', Bono said: "Edge's genuine genius developing on the blank and bleached photographic paper avoiding all the obvious blues scales that blind every other guitar player that ever heard Led Zeppelin.

"The Edge finds some new colours for the spectrum of rock."



Lenny Kravitz to front Velvet Revolver



Lenny Kravitz is reportedly set to become the new frontman for US rockers Velvet Revolver.

Lenny, 44, has been spotted in the studio with the band – which features former Guns ’n’ Roses guitarist Slash – who have been looking for a high profile replacement to appear on their new record since parting company with original singer Scott Weiland in April.

A source close to the band told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: 'Velvet Revolver’s new album will draw heavily on their messy split with Scott. The band wanted a big name who could easily hold his own and reckon Lenny is just the man for the job.'

Other singers linked to the frontman position include former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar and Liv Tyler’s husband, former Spacehog star Royston Langdon.

Speaking at the time of the band’s split from Scott, Slash said: 'This band is all about its fans and its music and Scott Weiland isn't 100 per cent committed to either. Among other things, his increasingly erratic onstage behaviour and personal problems have forced us to move on.'



'Mamma Mia!' Leaps To No. 1 On The Billboard 200



It took five weeks, but the ABBA-driven soundtrack to "Mamma Mia!" has ascended to the summit of The Billboard 200 for the first time. Moving 130,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Decca effort climbs 3-1 and becomes the second soundtrack this year to take No. 1, behind Rhino's "Juno" soundtrack in January.

The film soundtrack to "Mamma Mia!," which features actors like Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan belting out ABBA favorites, also crowns Top Internet Albums and Top Soundtracks, while the original cast recording of the stage musical continues its reign on Top Cast Albums for a third week.

The last year two or more soundtracks earned the top spot on The Billboard 200 was in 1998, when "Titanic," "City of Angels" and "Armageddon" all had their turn at No. 1.

ABBA has never had a top 10 album on the Billboard 200; the Swedish pop act's highest charting set is 1978's "The Album," which peaked at No. 14. However, the group is No. 1 on Top Pop Catalog albums with its greatest hits package "Gold," which jumps 37% to 33,000 copies.



Free Keane Track Hits 500,000 Downloads



U.K. rock act Keane logged 500,000 downloads of its free track "Spiralling" in a week-long promotion, according to its label, Universal/Island. The song was made available through Keanemusic.com beginning Aug. 4.

Universal/Island says the track has become its most popular free download ever, although there are limited comparisons available, as U.K. labels do not routinely issue data from such digital promotions. Coldplay's giveaway track "Violet Hill" was downloaded two million times in the week after April 29, according to EMI.

"Spiralling" has now been withdrawn as a free download from Keanemusic.com and is available to purchase from digital stores. The song has entered the Nielsen Music Control U.K. Radio Airplay Chart at No. 34.

The track features on the band's new album, "Perfect Symmetry", which is released on Oct. 13. The trio's third set is preceded by the proper first single, "The Lovers Are Losing."

RememberTheEighties.com - it's the 80s, up to date!

HELLO...

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent such fab emails about my current HUMAN LEAGUE INTERVIEW which went online last week, I have to say I was bowled over by such a positive reaction! Early next week I will be talking to OMD's ANDY McCLUSKEY about everything that's happening for OMD at the moment (including the forthcoming OMD tour and 'Sight & Sound' CD and DVD package) and I hope that will get a similarly enthusiastic reaction! If you have any QUESTIONS for Andy that you'd like to me to consider for inclusion then please feel to email them over!

This week is ROUND SIX of my current ULTIMATE 80S SINGLE POLL and from the original 128 SONGS a few weeks ago we're now down to just FOUR SONGS and with more and more people voting for their favourites every week it's going to be a tough, tough contest. This week A-HA are battling it out with the PET SHOP BOYS and ADAM AND THE ANTS are taking on THE HUMAN LEAGUE... the ULTIMATE 80S SINGLE POLL is on the website now and we're just two weeks away from the results, so get over there now and make your votes count!

TOYAH will release her brand new studio album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' on September 12th and I am utterly thrilled to be able to tell you that it is now available to pre-order EXCLUSIVELY via the RememberTheEighties.com webshop right now. I'm a huge fan so I know that I might be slightly biased but it's a brilliant album. Toyah is also going to AUTOGRAPH a number of the albums for me and the signed copies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so I urge you to get over to the SHOP on my website and order your copy now!

As a spin-off to that I have decided to REDUCE THE PRICE of the RememberTheEighties.com compilation album 'This Is Not Retro' (new and recent material from nineteen of the artists who helped define the 80s!) by 50% to clear some space for the incoming Toyah stock... yep, 'This is Not Retro' is now available for just Ł6... it's all going on over at the SHOP!

I also have a couple of great GIVEAWAYS for you this week...

BLANCMANGE's three studio albums; 'Happy Families', 'Mange Tout' and 'Believe You Me' will all be reissued in remastered and expanded editions next week (see NEWS on the website for the full tracklistings of all three albums!) and I have FIVE SETS of all three albums to GIVEAWAY this week... that's FIFTY-FIVE quality album tracks, singles, remixes, b-sides, live tracks, instrumentals and alternate versions! If you fancy entering the draw then please email me before 5pm (UK) on Thursday. I will then put all the entries in my amazing virtual hat, choose the winners randomly and contact each of them all by email.

T'PAU's CAROL DECKER and KATRINA AND THE WAVES' KATRINA LESKANICH will headline a one-off event in Eastbourne on September 13th to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. The '80s Live' event will take place at the Winter Gardens and will also feature CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT, MUSICAL YOUTH, SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK, SONIA, SCARLET FANTASTIC and JOHN PARR among many, many others! If you fancy going along then you have come to the right place because I have A PAIR OF TICKETS to GIVEAWAY... if you fancy entering then please email me before 5pm (UK) on Thursday. I will then put all the entries in the aforementioned virtual hat, choose the winner randomly and contact them by email.

Finally... here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

GEORGE MICHAEL will release a version of 'Feeling Good', taken from the musical 'The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Smell Of The Crowd' and famously recorded by Nina Simone, as a free download single on Christmas day in addition to releasing an official, commercial Christmas single...

NIK KERSHAW has been added to the bill of the forthcoming 'Days For Heroes' charity gig which will take place at Kent Showground on September 21st. The event, which features a diverse selection of music, will be headlined by McFly and is to also include performances from Jocelyn Brown, Diamond Girlz and The Queen's Division Big Band.

THE CURE have finally announced the title for their forthcoming thirteenth studio album. The album is to be called '4:13 Dream' and is currently scheduled for release on October 13th...

MORTEN HARKET is to appear at Norway's forthcoming Peace Summit event which will take place in Stavanger between September 10th and 12th. The A-HA singer will be performing a selection of Western interpretations of music from Morocco, Mexico and Palestine.

IAN MCNABB will publish 'Merseybeast', a memoir of his years in music, from fronting THE ICICLE WORKS to his current solo work, on October 3rd. The book will be promoted by a series of acoustic sets and signing sessions around publication.

SHAKIN' STEVENS has lined up five Irish shows in December in the run-up to his one-off gig at London's O2 on December 13th. See GIGS for all the dates.

JANET JACKSON is to launch her own line of lingerie under the 'Pleasure Principle' label in the US in November.

ANNIE LENNOX's forthcoming hits compilation has been delayed until next year following surgery on her back which will prevent her from promoting the record until she has fully recovered.

JOHNNY MARR, formerly guitarist for THE SMITHS and ELECTRONIC, has joined Wakefield act The Cribs as a full-time member.

BRONSKI BEAT's STEVE BRONSKI has collaborated with German artist Marlonski on a pop-poem entitled 'Dragon Fly'...

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

www.remembertheeighties.com - "The eighties... up to date!"

The Cure 'Dreams' On With New Album



The Cure's long-in-the-works new album, "4:13 Dream," is slated for an Oct. 14 U.S. release via Suretone/Geffen. The set, which was first expected out in the summer of 2007, has been preceded by the release of singles on the 13th day of each of the past four months.

Those tracks - "The Only One," "Freakshow," "Sleep When I'm Dead" and "The Perfect Boy" - will also be the subject of a remix EP dubbed "Hypnagogic States" and due Sept. 13.

30 Seconds To Mars, AFI's Jade Puget, My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump and 65 Days Of Static handled the remixes, royalties from which will be donated to the Red Cross.

"Freakshow" and "The Only One" bounce with the effervescent energy of the band's pop hits, while more menacing tracks like "Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Baby Rag Dog Book" wield a rawer, guitar-driven gusto.

Now, frontman Robert Smith just has to finish piecing it all together. "I've gone through so many revisions, probably more than all of the other records put together," he says.



Kylie disappointed with her last album 'X'



Kylie Minogue has admitted she is disappointed with her last album 'X'.

The Australian-born pop singer says although her 'X2008' tour has been well received, her post-breast cancer LP wasn't as good as it could have been.

Kylie told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "In retrospect we could definitely have bettered it, I'll say that straight up. 'Wow', '2 Hearts' and 'In My Arms' are crackers - they go off like a frog in a sock - but given the time we had, it is what it is."

Despite a huge push from her record label, the album flopped in the US - not even making the top 100 of the American album charts.

However, Kylie isn't upset that Stateside success has eluded her. She said: "I always go over there with the same attitude I've always had, which is, 'If it's to happen, it'll happen.' I'm kept pretty much busy enough. We'll see. I'm not racing over there. I'm heading home."

Kylie also revealed an unlikely inspiration for her tour - rock band Queen, in particular late flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury.

Kylie added: "I'm releasing my inner Freddie Mercury. It's hard to explain but parts of the show are so over the top. When I sing 'Your Disco Needs You' it's a real Freddie moment."



U2 latest track now online



The new U2 song is now online. (Well, at least the drum part is). Larry Mullen Jr can be viewed laying down the drum beat for the new U2 single `Sexy Boots` now at their website.

`Sexy Boots` will be the first single from album, which expected to be called `No Line On The Horizon`.

The band has already been behind a well-hyped publicity stunt to raise awareness of the album. Bono 'accidentally' played the new album very loud through an open window, a fan heard it, recorded it and before you knew it, fans all over the world were doing their own versions of the `Sexy Boots` riff and putting it on YouTube.

You have to say one thing; Bono does deserve a marketing award for that.

`No Line On The Horizon` will be released in November, which means that before the year is out we will hear new albums from U2, Metallica, AC/DC and possibly Guns `N Roses.

Listen to Larry laying down the drums for Sexy Boots at u2.com



Snow Patrol confirm new album



The mighty Snow Patrol have today confirmed their return on their official website www.snowpatrol.com.

New album A Hundred Million Suns is released through Fiction/Polydor on October 27th 2008.

It was recorded through Summer 2008 in Hansa Studios in Berlin (where Bowie recorded Low, Heroes and Lodger) and at Grouse Lodge deep in the Irish countryside. Written by Snow Patrol, the album has been produced by long time producer Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, REM, U2).

"I'm so proud of this record,' says Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody (vocals/guitars). 'Everybody played out of their skin. Garret (Jacknife Lee) continued his progression from maverick genius to one of the best producers in the world. Musically, lyrically and sonically the best record we've made."

The album is preceded by the single Take Back The City, on October 13th.

The Take Back The City video was recently shot in East London with acclaimed video director Alex Courtes (White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army).



Jackson to appear at the MTV Awards



Michael Jackson is rumoured to be appearing at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The 'Thriller' singer - who turns 50 tomorrow (29.08.08) - is reportedly in talks to present an award with his sister Janet at the ceremony which is taking place on September 7 in Los Angeles.

The reclusive star is in the process of recording his new album in Las Vegas at the moment, and MTV bosses are keen for him to re-launch his faltering career by appearing at the show.

Michael - whose career has faltered since he was acquitted of child sex charges in 2005 - has been in the studio with Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am.

It was recently rumoured troubled pop star Britney Spears would be making her comeback at the ceremony, but her manager Larry Rudolph has since denied the claims.

He said: "Contrary to media reports, Britney was never slated to perform at this year's VMAs. She's in the middle of recording her next album, which is going amazingly well, and her focus remains on the studio."

MTV has yet to announce who will be presenting awards at the event - which is being hosted by British comedian Russell Brand - although they have released a list of performers, with Pink, Rihanna and the Jonas Brothers all set to take to the stage.



METALLICA stream second single and announce 'celebration' details



After a triumphant return headlining this weekend’s Reading and Leeds festivals, Metallica are now streaming another single from 'Death Magnetic'. 'My Apocalypse’ is available to stream on Metallica.com and Mission Metallica now - http://www.metallica.com, http://www.missionmetallica.com . It is also available for download on iTunes.

Metallica have previously announced that they will be playing the 02 World in Berlin and 02 Arena in London on September 12th and 15th 2008 respectively. The shows are only available to the band’s fan club members, and those people who subscribe to www.missionmetallica.com. Because this is a celebration, tickets prices are only ten Euros for Berlin, five pounds in London.

The album 'Death Magnetic’ is released worldwide on Friday September 12th 2008.



Axl to f**k Kelly Osbourne



Axl Rose wants to 'f**k' Kelly Osbourne.

The 46-year-old Guns'n’Roses rocker reportedly made the comment when he bumped into Kelly, 23, at a recent Hollywood party.

New York designer Richie Rich, who was with Kelly at the bash, told America’s OK! magazine: 'Axl was really weird with her. He kept leering at her and saying, 'I want to f**k you’.'

Kelly was recently seen sporting a huge black eye after a cupboard fell on her.

The incident happened when Kelly returned to London from the UK's Reading music festival, after contracting a stomach bug.

A friend of the star said: "Kelly had already called in sick to work for Radio One on Sunday (24.08.08) because she was doubled over with bad stomach pains.

"When she got home she reached up to get a glass of water from the cupboard to have a drink when the entire thing fell off the wall and smashed into her face.

"Kelly had blood pouring out of a lump in her head, while black and blue swelling started almost straight away around her eyes."



George Michael plays final UK show



George Michael has played his last ever live UK shows.

The singer treated fans at the concerts – which were part of his two-year '25 Live’ tour and were billed as the 'Final Two’ - at London’s Earls Court on Sunday (24.08.08) and Monday (25.08.08) to a greatest hits set and confessed it was an emotional experience.

He said: 'It’s great to be home, I have to tell you. 'When we were last here I think we were probably on show 20 of this tour and I honestly thought it was going to be a three-month tour and here we are two years later. You are going to be the recipients of 103 shows' experience.'

During the concerts, George played a mixture of old and new songs, including 'Fast Love’, 'Too Funky’, 'Faith’ and 'Freedom '90’. The singer also covered Nina Simone’s 'Feeling Good’, which he revealed will be available as a free download on Christmas Day (25.12.08).

He added the cover version will be released 'along with a new Christmas song that I wrote', dispelling rumours he is set to retire completely from the music business. George is due to play his last show, advertised as the 'Final One’, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday (30.08.08).

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

There's a brand new EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW online this week with OMD frontman ANDY McCLUSKEY who talks about the upcoming OMD tour, the new 'Sight & Sound' CD and DVD package, a lost album of OMD mash-ups, the band's legacy, the new OMD album and music inspired by power stations, among many other things, so please visit the website if you fancy a read!

We are now in the FINAL ROUND of my current ULTIMATE 80S SINGLE POLL and from the original 128 SONGS a few weeks ago we're down to the last TWO and it is so incredibly close at the moment that each time I look a different band is winning! The final sees A-HA's 'Take On Me' up against ADAM AND THE ANTS' 'Stand & Deliver' and will run until the end of next week, by which time we will have the ULTIMATE 80S SINGLE POLL , as voted by the readers of RememberTheEighties.com! The final round is on the website now so please get over there now and make your votes count!

If everything goes according to plan next week I will be doing an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with former DURAN DURAN guitarist ANDY TAYLOR about his autobiography 'Wild Boy' which will be published on September 11th and promises to tell the story of Duran Duran from his unique perspective right inside the band! If you have any questions you'd like me to consider for the interview then please email them over, thank you!

My book 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia' will be published on September 22nd (and I will be putting lots of information about it on the website next week!) and to celebrate the fact RememberTheEighties.com has teamed up with the lovely people from QUIZMONOLOGY to hold a very special 80s QUIZ NIGHT! The quiz will take place in Shepherds Bush in West London on the evening of September 25th and there will be a limited number of places available for players to come along and test their knowledge of our favourite decade! If you fancy coming along for a few drinks and a night celebrating the best (and the worst!) of the 80s then please email me and I will get back to you with all the details next week!

That's all for now so here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

ALISON MOYET has announced a solo tour of the US and Canada in the wake of the recent YAZOO reunion. The sixteen date tour will start in Toronto on October 5th and end in Seattle on October 29th. See GIGS for all the dates.

DURAN DURAN have announced the South American lef of their ongoing 'Red Carpet Massacre' tour with the first five shows, in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Panama, to take place in November. See GIGS for all the dates.

SALT-N-PEPA's Pepa is to publish her autobiography at the end of September. The book, entitled 'Let's Talk About Pep' promises the real story of the rapper's turbulent childhood, the formation, breakup and reunion of Salt-N-Pepa and her comeback via reality TV. The book will also feature an introduction by Queen Latifah and an epilogue by Missy Elliott.

RETROFEST's weekend celebration of the seventies, eighties and nineties which took place last weekend has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

U2 have delayed the release of their new studio album to early 2009 while they work on the new material which frontman Bono has described as 'our most innovative, our most challenging'...

MIDGE URE's long-awaited ten-track album of cover versions, 'Ten', will finally be released on September 29th. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

DAVID BOWIE is to release a 12 track compilation 'iSelect: Bowie' on October 14th. The album which was originally put together for a free giveaway in The Mail On Sunday newspaper features 12 tracks chosen by Bowie himself that he describes as the songs he 'never seems to tire of'. Bowie will also write the sleevenotes for the release. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK will play a month of UK and European shows next year in support of their new album. Dates are expected to be announced soon. In the meantime the band will do a UK instore performance, live interview and signing session, at London's HMV Oxford Street on September 8th, the UK release date of the band's forthcoming album 'The Block'.

TINA TURNER has added eight more concerts to the upcoming US and Canadian leg of her comeback tour with the announcement of shows in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta. Detroit, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York and Toronto. See GIGS for all the dates.

MARI WILSON will release a brand new album, 'Emotional Glamour', on September 29th and will support the release with an extensive UK tour. See GIGS for all the dates.

JASON DONOVAN will release an album of covers of classic songs, 'Let It Be Me', in November. The collection will be Donovan's first solo album for fifteen years and will feature covers of 'Blue Velvet', 'Love Hurts' and 'Smoke Gets In My Eyes' as well as a new version of his own hit 'Sealed With a Kiss' and a new track entitled 'Dreamboats and Petticoats'.

MAGAZINE are to reform for two special concerts to take place in February next year. Howard Devoto, Dave Formula, Barry Adamson and John Doyle will recruit a new guitarist to replace the late John McGeoch. The shows will also be recorded for a possible live CD and DVD. Magazine will also release 'The Peel Sessions' on October 27th. See GIGS for the dates and NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

SIOUXSIE SIOUX will play the final show of her 'Mantaray & More' tour at London's Koko on September 29th.

A-HA's MAGNE F has teamed up with Coldplay's Guy Berryman under the name Apparatjik to record a track to be played during the closing credits forthcoming Bruce Parry TV series 'Amazon', the sequel to the excellent 'Tribe' series. An album of music from the series, including the Apparatjik track and songs from KT Tunstall, Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am, Mike Oldfield and Johnny Borrell from Razorlight, will be released on October 6th.

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN have announced a one-off London show at The Forum on October 27th.

BANANARAMA have recorded vocals on a new track from RUN DMC's REV. RUN. The track was originally going to use a sample of 'Na Na Hey Hey' but then the girls were asked to sing a special version. Bananarama are currently working on an album of their favourite cover songs for release sometime in 2009.

HUE AND CRY's new album 'Open Soul' has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

KRAFTWERK, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, PET SHOP BOYS, ERASURE, ULTRAVOX and JAPAN are among fifty-seven artists featured on 'The Mix Tapes', a forthcoming 3-CD compilation of alternative music from the late seventies and early eighties, which is scheduled for release on September 22nd.

EDWYN COLLINS is mounting an exhibition of his artwork in London next month, with a selection of pictures of birds that he drew while recovering from his recent brain haemorrhage. The exhibition will take place at The Smithfield Gallery from October 21st to November 1st.

THE POGUES have announced the dates for their traditional Christmas tour of the UK. The band will play nine shows across the country in December finishing with two nights at London's Brixton Academy. See GIGS for all the dates.

MICHAEL JACKSON - who celebrated his fiftieth birthday last week - has allegedly recorded a number of musical versions of poems by Robert Burns. The recordings were made for a musical about the Scottish poet that never made it to the stage. It is unclear whether any of the recordings will ever see the light of day.

SWING OUT SISTER's new album 'Beautiful Mess' has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

Well it had to happen, but after EIGHT WEEKS of furious voting my poll to decide the ULTIMATE 80s SINGLE has come to an end and the results are all on the website right now... you may remember that the final round saw A-HA's 'Take On Me' up against ADAM AND THE ANTS' 'Stand & Deliver' and the support for both acts was phenomenal, in fact five times as many votes were polled for this round than for round one and the winner won by a margin of just 0.2%!

In honour of the poll Ant-fan CARTY produced a special mash-up mix which combined both the final songs and you can hear his fine work on the POLL RESULTS page of the website, an excellent way to bring the poll to a close. Many thanks to everyone who voted!

There's also a brand new EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW online this week with SOFT CELL's DAVE BALL who talks about the new 2-CD album of contemporary Soft Cell remixes 'Heat: The Remixes' and the deluxe 2-CD edition of the duo's classic 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret' album, both of which are released this week, as well as the possibilities of a Soft Cell reunion, eating pizza with Kraftwerk and gold lamé tousers! Please visit the website if you fancy a read!

SOFT CELL are also the subject of a brand new EXCLUSIVE COMPETITION that starts on the website this week and will see THREE WINNERS each receive a set of extremely rare ARTWORK PROOFS plus CD copies of 'Heat: The Remixes' and 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret', all AUTOGRAPHED by DAVE BALL himself... it's on the website right now!

I also have a new NEWSLETTER GIVEAWAY for you this week that will see THREE WINNERS each receive an AUTOGRAPHED copy of 'Open Soul', the excellent new album from HUE & CRY, which is released this week (see NEWS for details and the full tracklisting). If you fancy entering then just email me before 5pm (UK) on Friday and I will put all the entries into my fabulous virtual hat, select the winners randomly and let them know by email. Good luck!

Now I NEED A BIG FAVOUR from you... I have entered RememberTheEighties.com in the BT DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS in the best unofficial music website category and as I desperately don't want to look stupid and lose out against all manner of nonsense Britney Spears and Paris Hilton fansites I need loads and loads of people to vote for me, so if you APPRECIATE all the work I put into the RememberTheEighties.com and this newsletter then please take a moment to click the logo below and VOTE FOR ME. I will be very grateful indeed and doubly so if you vote a few more times before the end of this month (you can vote once a day!)... thank you so much!

Last week I did a very enjoyable interview with former DURAN DURAN guitarist ANDY TAYLOR about his autobiography 'Wild Boy' (out now!) and the interview will be online in a week or two along with a very special Andy Taylor COMPETITION. Now I have been given the chance to interview a very different icon from the 80s, MARI WILSON, about her upcoming new album and tour so if you have any questions for her then please email them to me!

That's all for now, here (at last!) is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK have announced UK dates for February next year. The recently reformed band will play eight arena shows around the country starting in Manchester on February 16th. See GIGS for all the dates.

JASON DONOVAN, whose new album 'Let It Be Me' will be released on November 10th, is to star in a stage adaptation of the film 'Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert' which is expected to open in London's West End next year.

A-HA are getting ready to go back into the studio to continue work on their currently untitled new studio album which they hope to release in Spring next year.

BRYAN FERRY is to reissue his 1989 concert video 'New Town' on DVD under the title 'The Bęte Noire Tour'. The DVD, which will be released on October 27th, will additionally include the previously unreleased 'Konixxtreffen 2002' concert which was filmed in Germany in 2002 and showcased a selection of solo and ROXY MUSIC hits. See NEWS for the full DVD tracklisting.

BOY GEORGE's recent concert in Buenos Aires has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

THE CURE currently have four singles - 'Perfect Boy', 'Sleep When I’m Dead', 'Freakshow' and 'The Only One' - in the US Billboard Hot Singles chart in advance of the release of an EP of remixes of all the singles and their forthcoming new album '4:13 Dream'.

MARILLION will distribute their new album 'Happiness Is The Road' as a free download in October via a number of peer-to-peer file-sharing sites.

CLIFF RICHARD celebrated his fiftieth year in music in fine style last week when his new single 'Thank You For A Lifetime' sold more copies than the combined sales of the of the seenty-three records below him to enter the UK chart at number three. The star will release an eight CD boxset 'And They Said It Wouldn’t Last – My 50 Years In Music' next week featuring his key album and single tracks and a staggering thirty-five previously unreleased songs. Cliff Richard's 'Time Machine' tour takes place in November and December, see GIGS for details.

OMD will appear alongside Sharleen Spiteri and Robyn at a forthcoming 'Stars Of Europe' concert in aid of UNICEF. The show will take place at the Atomium in Brussels on September 19th and will also be broadcast on various TV channels around Europe.

SOFT CELL's album of new remixes 'Heat', which is released this week, has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

AC/DC have announced US dates to support their forthcoming new album 'Black Ice'. The tour will start in late October shortly after the October 20th release of the album. More dates around the world are in the pipeline and will be announced soon. See GIGS for all the dates.

MARILYN's 1985 album 'Despite Straight Lines' will be reissued by Cherry Red on CD in November.

PRINCE will publish a special souvenir package to commemorate his record-breaking run of shows at London's O2 Arena last year. The package, entitled '21 Nights', will contain live pictures from the shows alongside candid shots of the star and will also feature poems and lyrics. The CD 'Indigo Nights' will feature a fifteen track 'representation of what a Prince after concert performance is like'.

RODDY FRAME, the former AZTEC CAMERA frontman, has announced UK dates for November. See GIGS for all the dates.

JOHNNY MARR has recorded a new version of 'Jeanne', a b-side orginally written and recorded by THE SMITHS, with Babyshambles' singer Pete Doherty which he has posted on YouTube.

CLOUDFISH, featuring former SPANDAU BALLET mainman Steve Norman and former BUCKS FIZZ singer Shelley Preston, will play a one-off show at Maidstone's Pizza Express jazz club on October 10th.

DAVID BOWIE is to release a 12 track compilation 'iSelect: Bowie' on October 14th. The album which was originally put together for a free giveaway in The Mail On Sunday newspaper features 12 tracks chosen by Bowie himself that he describes as the songs he 'never seems to tire of'. Bowie will also write the sleevenotes for the release. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

U2 have delayed the release of their new studio album to early 2009 while they work on the new material which frontman Bono has described as 'our most innovative, our most challenging'...

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) which is currently HALF PRICE, or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue, TOYAH's brand new album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

It's been in the works for over two years now but NEXT WEEK, finally, my book, 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia' will be PUBLISHED and should be available in all good bookshops. I will be sending out a special email about the BOOK next week but if you can't wait until then it is actually AVAILABLE TO BUY right now in the SHOP section of the website! It's all very exciting I have to say!

Thank you for the very positive response to my EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with SOFT CELL's DAVE BALL which I put online last week and is still on the website if you fancy a look. We're also into the last week of my EXCLUSIVE SOFT CELL COMPETITION which will see THREE WINNERS each receive a set of extremely RARE ARTWORK PROOFS of 'Heat: The Remixes' and 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret' plus CD copies of both albums, all AUTOGRAPHED by DAVE BALL himself... it's all waiting for you on the website right now!

I also have a new NEWSLETTER GIVEAWAY for you this week that will see FIVE WINNERS each receive a copy of the new 3-CD compilation of classic late seventies/early eighties cutting-edge and alternative tracks 'The Mix Tapes', featuring DAVID BOWIE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DAVID SYLVIAN, YAZOO, CULTURE CLUB, PET SHOP BOYS, DURAN DURAN and SIMPLE MINDS among the FIFTY-SEVEN ARTISTS featured (See NEWS for the full tracklisting!) and which is released this week. If you fancy entering then just email me before 5pm (UK) on Friday and I will put all the entries into my fabulous virtual hat, select the winners randomly and let them know by email. Good luck!

I mentioned last week that I have entered RememberTheEighties.com in the BT DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS and I know that loads of you voted for me then, but voting ends on Saturday and I would love for you to VOTE FOR ME AGAIN before then... just click the logo below, and THANK YOU!

Next week if all goes well I will be putting my recent EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with former DURAN DURAN guitarist ANDY TAYLOR online along with a very special competition, I will have a very special treat for OMD fans, and I will giving away JOHN FOXX concert tickets and albums... see you then!

Here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

THE THOMPSON TWINS are to reissue their first two albums, 'A Product Of...' and 'Set', via the Edsel label in a 2-CD set on October 2nd. As with Edsel's previous Thompson Twins reissues both albums have been significantly expanded with the addition of nineteen bonus tracks between them featuring b-sides and remixes. See NEWS for the full album tracklistings.

MARILLION are to release a limited edition 6-CD boxset featuring entirely unreleased live material under the title 'Early Stages: The Official Bootleg Box Set 1982 – 1987'. The set will feature fifty-five previously unreleased live recordings from all stages of the career of the band's original lineup, from London's Marquee Club in 1982 to Wembley Arena in 1987.

DURAN DURAN drummer ROGER TAYLOR has donated an entire drum kit to the Celeb2nds charity website for auction. The kit will be online for bids until October 26th. See NEWS for the auction link.

ROY ORBISON will be the subject of a 4-CD boxset 'The Soul Of Rock & Roll' which will be released on October 13th. The 107-track collection will bring together a selection of hits, key album tracks, live recording, rarities and demos from all stages of Orbison's career, from the 50s to the 80s and beyond.

THE CURE's new album '4:13 Dream' is currently scheduled for release on October 28th. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

TINA TURNER has added four more shows to the UK leg of her forthcoming comeback tour. See GIGS for details.

ELTON JOHN is to team up with The Killers to release a Christmas single, said to be entitled 'Joseph, Better You Than Me', with proceeds going to charity.

THE ALARM's new album 'Guerilla Tactics' has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

JOY DIVISION's 'Transmission' has been covered by Hot Chip for inclusion on the new War Child album 'Heroes' which is set for release on November 24th. The album will feature a number of tracks chosen from their own catalogues by some of music's biggest names, including DAVID BOWIE, PAUL McCARTNEY and THE CLASH, and covered by a new artist of their choosing. Most of the tracks are still to be announced but others include Duffy covering McCartney's 'Live And Let Die', Beck covering Bob Dylan's 'Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat' and The Kooks playing The Kinks' 'Victoria'.

MARILYN's 'Despite Straight Lines' album will be reissued by Cherry Red on November 17th and will feature the original album with an extra seven bonus tracks including remixes and b-sides. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

BON JOVI are rumoured to be headlining a Live Earth India concert which is to take place in Mumbai in December. Other acts and more details are expected to be announced soon.

CHAKA KHAN will play a one-off London show, to celebrate her thirty-fifth anniversary in music, at Shepherds Bush Empire on October 27th. The soul legend will also play Manchester's Bridgewater Hall as well as a special show at London's Dingwalls in October as part of the BBC's 'Electric Proms' series of shows. See NEWS for more details.

MOTOWN RECORDS are polling music fans to decide the fifty favourite Motown tracks that will be compiled on a special release coming out on December 1st to mark the label's 50th Anniversary. See NEWS for the voting link.

RUN DMC and METALLICA are among the nominees to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year. Other nominees include Jeff Beck, Chic and Bobby Womack. The winner will be announced in January and inducted in Cleveland on April 4th.

THE BEASTIE BOYS' AD-ROCK and DEBBIE HARRY are among artists confirmed for the third 'Gimme Shelter Rock & Rescue' event in New York on October 6th. Other artists on the bill include Moby and Le Tigre.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) which is currently HALF PRICE, or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue, TOYAH's brand new album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

Limp Bizkit reform



According to various interweb rumours rockers Limp Bizkit have reformed. Fred Durst and the boys have not released any new material since 2005's Greatest Hitz, which included a medley of Mötley Crüe's Home Sweet Home and The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony.

Since the nu metal bands guitarist Wes Borland officially joined Marilyn Manson earlier in the year, Durst and co have re-recruited another guitarist namely Terry Balsamo, who was part of the early Limp Bizkit line-up in 1995, before joining Cold and Evanescence.

We cannot confirm if Limp Bizkit have recorded any new material as yet. The only recent addition to the band's MySpace page is the previously unreleased track Summer Of Bipolar Love.



Dido new album and free download



With over 22 million album sales, number 1 albums in an amazing 26 countries, 4 Brit Awards, an Ivor Novello, and the biggest selling debut album ever by a British female, if you haven't heard of Dido you've probably been living in a forest for the past 10 years!

Well Dido’s back and ready to do it all again with her fantastic new single Don’t Believe in Love set to be released as a download on 26th October and on CD on 27th October by the RCA Label Group.

Produced by Jon Brion, Ark and Dido the album Safe Trip Home is due for release on 3rd November 2008.

To mark Dido's return, an album track Look No Further is currently available for download at didomusic.com.

The full tracklisting for the album is:

1. Don’t believe in love
2. Quiet times
3. Never want to say it's love
4. Grafton Street
5. It comes and it goes
6. Look no further
7. Us 2 little gods
8. The day before the day
9. Let’s do the things we normally do
10. Burnin love
11. Northern skies

Check out a studio clip at www.youtube.com/dido

White Flag from Dido's last album Life for Rent had a listening audience of over 1.5 billion during its time on UK radio, was in the Top 3 of the Airplay chart for 4 months and was one of the most played radio songs worldwide.



Amy Winehouse's designer vomit dress



Amy Winehouse returned borrowed designer dresses covered in vomit.

The troubled star had been loaned several posh frocks from Harvey Nichols department store but landed herself with a Ł25,000 bill after throwing up on them and allowing green mould to grow before sending them back.

The silk and satin garments were beyond salvation. A source said: 'While wearing one of the frocks, she went on an all-night bender. She ended up in the loos, where she was violently sick. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

'She eventually couriered them back on Monday (22.09.08), but didn’t wrap them separately. So sick had gone on all the clothes.

'Even worse, green, furry mould had developed on some gowns, making them unwearable.'

Harvey Nichols is said to be furious after receiving the soiled package and demanded the full value of the outfits.

The outlet sent the clothes for Amy to wear over London Fashion Week, but the 'Back to Black’ singer kept a low-profile at the event.

The source added to Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: 'They send stuff out to celebs all the time, but it never gets into such a state. I doubt Amy will be sent any more designer gear for a while.'



Franz Ferdinand complete new album



Franz Ferdinand have completed work on their as-yet-untitled third album.

Frontman Alex Kapranos confirmed the Scottish four-piece has recorded the follow-up to 2004’s You Could Have It So Much Better.

Alex said the new album would be "a bit more assured and friendlier on the dancefloor" than its predecessor.

He told the BBC: "Yes it does sound different, and there are different instruments on the record, different tempos, a different attitude to making it.

"But it's always going to sound like a Franz Ferdinand record when it's the four of us making it. It's very much a dance record again this time."

A release date has not yet been confirmed.



Robbie Williams gets out in gorilla suit



Robbie Williams has made his first public appearance in three months – wearing a gorilla suit.

The reclusive star has spent the entire summer holed up in his Los Angeles mansion, but emerged yesterday (23.09.08) wearing the outfit, and a pair of sunglasses, which he had purchased from a local fancy dress store.

The shop manager said: 'He spent a long time trying various costumes before he chose the gorilla suit and bought it for $60.'

Robbie – who recently split from long-term girlfriend Ayda Field – insisted on changing into the bizarre outfit before leaving the shop, and then strolled around Hollywood holding hands with a mystery woman.

The 'Angels’ singer has become increasingly obsessed with aliens in recent months, and friends are said to fear for his mental state. Ex-girlfriend Tara Palmer-Tomkinson said: 'Of course I’m worried for Robbie. He’s a genius and when you’re that smart and have been in the public eye for so long you want to escape.'

It is believed the 34-year-old star’s fascination with UFOs was a major factor in his split with Ayda. The pair's relationship allegedly hit the rocks because the 29-year-old actress wanted a partying lifestyle, whereas Robbie is only interested in spotting UFOs and playing golf.

Only last week, Robbie was identified as a prime alien abduction target by extraterrestrial expert Michael C. Luckman. He said: "Robbie is now becoming a point man for contact with extraterrestrials. Robbie could easily disappear and then come back as an ambassador for their race.'



Noel lines up on the throne



Noel Gallagher took cocaine in Queen Elizabeth’s private toilet at the British Prime Minister’s residence.

The Oasis guitarist has confessed to snorting the Class A drug at 10 Downing Street when he was invited to a reception by then Prime Minister Tony Blair shortly after he came into power in 1997.

The lavatory is reserved exclusively for the ruling monarch, and no one else has permission to enter.

Noel told Russell Brand on his British radio show: 'As I remember, it was quite nice. It had a velvet seat and everything.

'She's got her own toilet which no-one else is allowed in. These were the days of the revolution.

'Someone said, 'Do you want to have a look in the queen's bog?’ I said, 'Of course.’ '

The musician – who was accompanied by his then wife Meg Matthews to the reception - claims he gave up taking drugs the following year.

Noel, 41, recently admitted he considered using substances again before writing Oasis’ upcoming album 'Dig Out Your Soul’.

He said: 'I was on drugs before I was even in a band. The whole of the first three albums were written on drugs. I thought, 'Maybe I should get back into taking drugs, and then it would be brilliant again.’ But that thought lasts less than a second.'



Bono, The Edge Guest On Tom Jones Album



After 15 years without a new album in the U.S., Tom Jones will release a disc of almost entirely original material this fall.

The 68-year-old singer will release "24 Hours" on Nov. 25 via S-Curve Records. It's a retro-tinged album much in the style of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" that finds the Welshman's voice as strong as ever.

There are two covers on the album -- Bruce Springsteen's "The Hitter" and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells -- but the rest Jones either co-wrote or collaborated with the songwriters. Bono and the Edge of U2 guest on the song "Sugar Daddy."

"The fire is still in me," Jones told the Associated Press in a recent interview, speaking by phone from his home in Los Angeles. "Not to be an oldie, but a goodie. I want to be a contender."

"I wanted my voice to sound as natural as possible," Jones said of the album. "The arrangements and the production needs to be modern, but the vocal needs to sound like me."

The disc was produced by British production duo Future Cat, who have cut tracks for Lily Allen, Kate Nash and others. With backing horns and an almost Stax Records kind of soul, the sound is distinctly retro.

"We've been thinking about this for a while, doing a retro sound but new," said Jones. "And Amy Winehouse, she cracked it. When that album came out, my son called me right away and said, 'You know what we've been talking about? Listen to this.'"

While his 2000 album "Reload" was a hit in Europe and elsewhere (buoyed by the club hit "Sex Bomb"), it was never released in the U.S. -- which Jones calls "a shame."

"The hits that I've had recently have all been European," he said. "I've had a lot of success worldwide, which is a pain because I live here and I do most of my shows in America ... Hopefully this will straighten that out."

Jones, who regularly performs in Las Vegas, believes his voice hasn't aged -- thanks partly to his careful treatment of it; he takes a humidifier with him traveling to keep his throat from drying. Jones even believes his lower registers have gotten richer.

"I love doing the songs that I've had success with and the audience keeps those alive," Jones said. "But I love moving on."



Smashing Pumpkins Ready 20th Anniversary Tour



As expected, the Smashing Pumpkins will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a fall tour featuring unique set lists. The trek begins Nov. 1 in Cleveland and wraps Dec. 2-3 in Los Angeles.

During multiple-night engagements, for which special ticket bundles will be available, the band promises to not repeat any song on the set lists. The first night of such runs is being dubbed "Black Sunshine," while the second is called "White Crosses."

In the band's Chicago hometown, the Pumpkins will play two nights each at the Chicago Theatre and Auditorium Theatre. Right before the tour, the band will play Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit outside San Francisco for the first time since 1999.

As previously reported, the Pumpkins have a new song, "G.L.O.W.," in the upcoming video game "Guitar Hero: World Tour," and are the subject of the documentary "It All Goes Wrong," due Nov. 11.

Here are the Smashing Pumpkins' tour dates:

Nov. 1: Cleveland (Palace Theatre)
Nov. 3-4: Toronto (Massey Hall)
Nov. 6-7: New York (United Palace Theatre)
Nov. 8: Atlantic City, N.J. (Borgata)
Nov. 11-12: Washington, D.C. (DAR Constitution Hall)
Nov. 14-15: Boston (Wang Center)
Nov. 18-19: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
Nov. 21-22: Chicago (Auditorium Theatre)
Nov. 26: St. Louis (Fox Theatre)
Nov. 30: San Diego (RIMAC Arena)
Dec. 2-3: Los Angeles (Gibson Amphitheatre)

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

Thank you so much to everyone who has already bought a copy of my book 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia' which was published last week. It is absolutely brilliant to have had so much amazingly positive feedback about it and I would like to thank everyone for their support. The book is, of course, available to buy in good bookshops everywhere as well as via the SHOP section of my website! Thank you all!

I have added my recent and EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with former DURAN DURAN guitarist ANDY TAYLOR to the website this week and it's online now if you fancy having a read. In the interview we talk about Andy's new book 'Wild Boy - My Life In Duran Duran' in a conversation which takes us from Andy's first meeting with the band all the way through to his departure and his current relationship with his former bandmates, plus his own very honest view of 'Reportage' the 'lost' Duran Duran album and a look at what we can expect from Andy in the future. I also have THREE AUTOGRAPHED COPIES of 'Wild Boy' to give away in a very special ANDY TAYLOR COMPETITION... it's all waiting for you on the website!

I also have a VERY SPECIAL TREAT online this week for OMD fans. Not only do I have FIVE AUTOGRAPHED COPIES of their brilliant new 'Messages' CD/DVD compilation to give away, but courtesy of ANDY McCLUSKEY RememberTheEighties.com is EXCLUSIVELY STREAMING one of the OMD MASH-UP mixes the band made for the compilation but couldn't release due to legal difficulties. The mix I have streaming for you on the website is OMD vs GRACE JONES and is called 'Talking Loud & Grace' and it's great! If that sounds like your cup of tea then I recommend you get over to the website for a listen as soon as possible!

This week JOHN FOXX is releasing expanded and remastered 2-CD editions of his classic albums 'The Garden', 'The Golden Section' and 'In Mysterious Ways' in addition to last week's release of a new 2-CD compilation entitled 'Glimmer' and in a very special NEWSLETTER GIVEAWAY this week I will be giving THREE WINNERS a copy of ALL FOUR double CDs containing all the original releases alongside loads of additional tracks including mixes, alternate versions, b-sides and loads of previously unrleased tracks (see NEWS on the website for the full tracklisting of each album)... and not only that, I also have a SECOND GIVEAWAY that will see THREE WINNERS win a pair of tickets to JOHN FOXX's show at London's Cargo on October 16th! If you fancy being in with a chance to win a set of CDs then please email me here, and if you want to try and win tickets then please email me here. Make sure you get your entries to me by 5pm (UK) on Thursday and I will put all the entries into my legendary virtual hat, select the winners randomly and let them know by email. Good luck!

Here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

DEPECHE MODE will tour in 2009 and announced the first dates of the jaunt at a special press conference this week. The first twenty-eight confirmed shows in the band's 'Tour of the Universe' outing will take place in and around Europe with a further US and South American leg to be announced. The band, who have recently renewed their contract with Mute Records, will release a new album in early spring next year. See GIGS for all the dates announced so far.

DURAN DURAN have announced that they are to bring their 'Red Carpet Massacre' tour to an end with a final leg of shows in the USA and Canada in December which will see the band play eleven intimate theatre shows. See GIGS for all the dates.

ERASURE singer ANDY BELL will appear live at London's The Arches club on November 7th to perform some of his best known material in support of international art platform 'Act Art'. The night will also see a DJ set from S'EXPRESS mainman MARK MOORE.

DAVID BYRNE has announced two UK shows at London's Royal Festival Hall in April next year. The shows will be part of Byrne's current tour which see's him playing songs from all stages of his career, including versions of classic material originally recorded by TALKING HEADS and material from his new album 'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today'. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEBBIE HARRY has recorded vocals for a track on Fall Out Boy's forthcoming album 'Folie A Deux' which is set for release on November 3rd

SIMPLE MINDS will play a charity concert at Glasgow's ABC1 on December 7th in aid of Radio Clyde's Cash for Kids charity. Tickets for the 1250 capacity show will go onsale on October 10th.

THE SISTERS OF MERCY have lined up a massive US tour which is to start at the end of October and will run until December. The US shows will be followed in the new year by shows in Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. No UK shows have been announced yet but are thought to be in the pipeline. See GIGS for all the dates.

PAUL WELLER will release a 4-CD boxset 'Weller At The BBC' on November 3rd. The set will feature rare live and session tracks from all stages of Weller's solo career and will contain seventy-four tracks recorded by the BBC at concerts and for various radio shows since 1990.

BANANARAMA are set to headline a forthcoming Irish HERE AND NOW concert to be staged at Killarney's INEC on January 3rd. The bill will also feature BELINDA CARLISLE, PAUL YOUNG, BUCKS FIZZ, T'PAU and CUTTING CREW.

STEPHEN DUFFY will see his 1985 solo album 'The Ups And DOwns' reissued as an expanded edition on November 17th. The album, which featured the hits ''Kiss Me' and 'Icing On The Cake', will feature a brand new introduction from Stephen, a vintage interview from 1985, plus 9 additional tracks, consisting of rare b-sides and 4 previously unreleased tracks and alternative mixes including rare original version of 'Kiss Me'. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

JUDAS PRIEST have announced seven UK arena shows to take pace in February. See GIGS for all the dates.

VINCE CLARKE has arranged and produced the title track for Robert Marlow's forthcoming album 'Inside/Outside' and has also remixed one of the tracks, 'Home'. The album will feature ten tracks and two remixes. MARLOW has also announced a gig at Nottingham's Junktion 7 on November 14th where he will be supported by up and coming synth acts Electraset and One Moment. The show will also be the launch of the much anticipated 'Trans Continental Electronica' compilation of contemporary electro acts. See NEWS for the full Marlow album tracklisting.

THE CURE are to play a one-off concert in Rome on October 11th to launch their new album '4:13 Dream' which will follow on October 28th. The free outdoor show in the city's Piazza San Giovanni will be filmed by MTV and transmitted live in Southern Europe and then broadcast elsewhere on MTV's global network at a later date.

RICK ASTLEY has been nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the forthcoming MTV Europe Music Awards which will take place in Liverpool on November 6th. The singer will be up against Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, Tokio Hotel and U2 for the award.

SWING OUT SISTER have announced a short UK run of intimate acoustic concerts to support their current album 'Beautiful Mess'. The shows start in Manchester on November 20th. See GIGS for all the dates.

GRACE JONES' new album 'Hurricane' will feature contributions from both Sly and Robbie and Brian Eno and will be released on November 3rd and will be supported live, including a series of UK shows next year which will be announced shortly. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN has been confirmed as the guest to play during the halftime break of the next Super Bowl, the most-watched musical event of the year.

MORRISSEY and guitarist JOHNNY MARR have apparently collaborated on a new compilation of material from THE SMITHS' which will combine the band's biggest hits with rare tracks, live tracks and b-sides. The release, 'The Sound Of The Smiths' will be available in November. See NEWS for the full compilation tracklisting.

ALISON MOYET will join legendary songwriter Michel LeGrand on his UK tour next year performing LeGrand's classic material alongside a big band. See GIGS for all the dates.

ZANG TUUM TUMB, the label responsible for FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD and PROPAGANDA amongst others, are to be the subject of a three- week exhibition,'The Art of ZTT', which will put some of some of the label's classic and iconic record sleeves on display to mark ZTT's 25th anniversary. The exhibition will take place at London's ArtVinyl and starts this week.

JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER manager Rob Gretton's notebooks are to be reproduced in a book '1 Top Class Manager' which has been put together by the legendary manager's widow Lesley Gilbert. The book condenses over 20 notebooks written by Gretton between 1978 and 1980 into one volume and includes posters, diary entries, letters, to-do lists and studio notes. The book also lists a number of alternative band names for Joy Division to use after the death of Ian Curtis, including Man Ray, Radical Jesuits, Arab Legion and Sons Of God as well as the eventual choice New Order.

SIMPLY RED have announced UK arena dates in March and April next year to support their forthcoming hits collection 'Simply Red: Greatest Hits 25' which will be released on November 17th, preceded by a single, a cover of The Moody Blues''Go Now'. See GIGS for all the dates.

KYLIE MINOGUE is said to be writing a stage musical based on her greatest hits. The singer is thought to be collaborating with Australian author Kathy Lette on the production and her sister Dannii is also expected to be involved.

PUBLIC ENEMY's single 'Fight the Power' has topped VH-1's list of the 100 greatest hip-hop songs, with THE SUGAR HILL GANG's 'Rapper's Delight' at two, RUN-DMC's 'Walk This Way' at four, GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE's 'The Message' at five and SALT 'N PEPA's 'Push It' at fourteen.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying my book, 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia', a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) which is currently HALF PRICE, or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue, TOYAH's brand new album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

I have been absolutely overwhelmed by fantastic emails from people who have got hold of my book 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia' which was published a couple of weeks ago. Thank you everyone who took the time to get in touch and please do keep the feedback coming. As you should know by now, the book is available to buy in good bookshops everywhere as well as via the SHOP section of my website! Thank you!

Great to have had so much positive feedback to the EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with former DURAN DURAN guitarist ANDY TAYLOR that I added to the website last week, thank you to everyone who took the time to let me know their thoughts. We're also into the last few days of my current ANDY TAYLOR COMPETITION where you are in with a chance to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Andy's new book 'Wild Boy'... it's all waiting for you right now!

It's also the last few days to try and WIN an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the new OMD CD/DVD compilation 'Messages' and while you're there you can listen to the highly praised OMD VS GRACE JONES MASH-UP, from OMD themselves, that is STREAMING EXCLUSIVELY on RememberTheEighties.com at the moment! If you've not yet had a listen then I recommend you get over to the website as soon as possible!

I have TWO NEWSLETTER GIVEAWAYS for you this week and they are both for books...

A-HA's PAUL WAAKTAAR-SAVOY is the unlikely hero of the first which is a novel entitled 'The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow' which has been published in English for the first time. The book, by Norwegian writer Pĺl H. Christiansen, is about an obsessive fan named Hobo Highbrow who believes he understands A-Ha - and Paul in particular - better than anyone else and consequently pursues Waaktaar-Savoy in an attempt to impress him with his genius... I've just started reading it and it's fab so far! Anyway I have FIVE COPIES of the HARDBACK BOOK to giveaway, each copy AUTOGRAPHED by Pĺl H. Christiansen. If you fancy trying to win a copy all you need to do to is to email me here. Make sure you get your entries to me by 5pm (UK) on Monday and I will put all the entries into my legendary virtual hat, select the winners randomly and let them know by email. Good luck!

The second giveaway is a new book called HANG THE DJ which contains nothing but MUSIC LISTS put together by all sorts of writers, journalists and musicians... but these aren't your ordinary run-of-the-mill lists; these are odd, eccentric and often downright surreal lists and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. So much so in fact that I persuaded the publisher to let me have FIVE HARDBACK COPIES to giveaway, and not only that, there's also a FREE SAMPLE - featuring a couple of lists from the book ('Stutter Songs' and 'Ten Songs From Eighties Teen Movies') - for every one of you simply by clicking here! If you fancy being in with a chance to win a copy of HANG THE DJ then please email me here before Monday evening. As always all entries will go into the virtual hat and the winners will be informed by email!

Here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

BOY GEORGE will headline the 2009 HERE AND NOW tour, on a bill that will also include KIM WILDE, HOWARD JONES, KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS, ALTERED IMAGES, BROTHER BEYOND and HAZEL O'CONNOR. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEPECHE MODE are currently scheduled to release their currently untitled new album on April 20th next year, in advance of the first leg of their recently announced 'Tour Of The Universe'. The band are also celebrated in a new documentary, entitled 'The Posters Came From The Walls', a film about Depeche Mode fans around the world made by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and collaborator Nicholas Abrahams. The premiere of the film will take place at the The Times BFI London Film Festival at London's NFT on October 21st.

GRACE JONES has announced a run of UK shows to promote her upcoming album 'Hurricane'. The singer will play the seven UK shows - including two nights at London's Roundhouse - in January. See GIGS for all the dates.

BANANARAMA will play a one-off charity show in support of the Caron Keating Foundation charity at London's Hard Rock Cafe on October 30th.

BARRY MANILOW has recorded a fourth album of songs paying tribute to a specific decade and will release 'The Greatest Songs of the Eighties' on November 25th. The tracklisting is still partly undecided but is expected to include Manilow's take on RICK ASTLEY's 'Never Gonna Give You Up', STEVIE WONDER's 'I Just Called to Say I Love You', PHIL COLLINS' 'Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)', GEORGE MICHAEL's 'Careless Whisper' and CYNDI LAUPER's 'Time After Time'.

TREVOR HORN's 'Slaves To The Rhythm' DVD - recorded at the concert to celebrate the first 25 years in music for the influential producer - had been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

DIANA ROSS is to headline a special Nobel Peace Prize concert on December 11th at Oslo's Spektrum Arena.

MEN AT WORK are at the centre of an Australian copyright battle over claims that their international hit 'Down Under' uses a section of Marion Sinclair's 1930's song 'Kookaburra'. All parties involved are due to meet in November.

ADAM ANT won the prestigious 'Q Icon' award at Q Magazine's annual award ceremony last week while GRACE JONES was awarded the 'Q Idol' award and THE COCTEAU TWINS were honoured as recipients of the 'Q Inspiration' award.

HUE AND CRY - who will release a new single 'Headin' For A Fall' in January - have been invited to appear as special guests of soul legend Al Green when he plays Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium on October 30th. The band are also playing a series of free gigs around the country at House of Fraser stores and will be playing a charity show for the Caron Keating Foundation at Edinburgh's Hard Rock Cafe.

GUNS N' ROSES new album 'Chinese Democracy' will be released on November 23rd preceded by new songs 'Shackler's Revenge' and 'If the World' being used in the video game Rock Band 2 and the soundtrack to the film 'Body Of Lies' respectively.

IMAGINATION singer LEEE JOHN has narrated a new documentary, 'The Flashback Project', designed to tell the true story of the UK black music revolution from the point of view of the black reggae, soul and pop artists of the 70's and 80's. See NEWS on the website for more information.

DIRE STRAITS are unlikely to reform any time soon according to the band's bassist John Illsley who feels the band still have another album and tour in them before officially calling it a day but also revealed that frontman MARK KNOPFLER is currently too busy on his solo projects to reunite with the rest of the band...

ZTT RECORDS are to release a CD/DVD boxset featuring fifty tracks and eighteen videos as part of the celebrations for the influential label's 25th anniversary. The set will feature key ZTT hits as well as rarities and previously unreleased material

MAGAZINE have added more shows to their February dates that will see the band play extra shows in London and Manchester as well as a show in Glasgow. See GIGS for all the dates.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK will next week release a new edition of their 1989 Christmas album 'Merry, Merry Christmas'. See NEWS on the website for the full album tracklisting.

MORRISSEY has announced concerts in New Zealand and Australia for the early part of next year. Shows have been announced in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin in New Zealand and Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia.

OMD's first 30th Anniversary concert in Dublin has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.

BANANARAMA will headline a second Irish HERE AND NOW concert on January 2nd with a show at the Royal Castlebar in County Mayo alongside BELINDA CARLISLE, PAUL YOUNG, BUCKS FIZZ, T'PAU and CUTTING CREW.

AC/DC have announced the European leg of their upcoming world tour to celebrate the release of their new album 'Black Ice'. Twelve European shows - taking place in February and March - have been announced so far. See GIGS for all the dates.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying my book, 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia', a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) which is currently HALF PRICE, or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue, TOYAH's brand new album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard

Depeche Mode Tour of the Universe 2009



Depeche Mode (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher) have today announced the European leg of their 'Tour of the Universe 2009’. The band are currently in New York working on a new album, due April next year.

Depeche Mode’s eagerly-anticipated follow up to 'Playing The Angel’ will be the 12th album of a glorious 28 year career in which they have sold over 75 million records. One of the world’s biggest and best live acts, 'Tour of the Universe 2009’ will undoubtedly be the musical highlight of next year.

Kicking off in Israel on May 10th, this will be Depeche Mode’s first ever stadium tour, taking in 28 cities across 22 countries before finishing at Porto’s Superbock Super Rock Festival on July 11th.

Depeche Mode play their only UK date at London’s O2 Arena, Saturday May 30th 2009.

Depeche Mode will play to over 1.3 million fans on this European leg of 'Tour of the Universe 2009’. It’s their first since 2006’s 'Playing the Angel’ tour, which smashed European sales records with 1.8 million tickets sold across 87 shows.

The last date of the 'Playing The Angel’ tour – August 3rd 2006 – was to take place at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park, but the band were forced to cancel due to the impending war. Tel Aviv’s Ramat Gan Stadium thus provides a fitting stage for Depeche Mode’s spectacular live return.

TOUR OF THE UNIVERSE 2009:
- May
Sun 10th TEL AVIV, Ramat Gan Stadium Israel
Tue 12th ATHENS, Terra Vibe Park Greece
Thu 14th ISTANBUL, Santral Istanbul Turkey
Sat 16th BUCHAREST, Parc Izvor Romania
Mon 18th SOFIA, Vasil Levski Stadium, Tuborg Greenfest Bulgaria
Wed 20th BELGRADE, USCE Park, Tuborg Greenfest Serbia
Thu 21st ZAGREB, Arena, Tuborg Greenfest Croatia
Sat 23rd WARSAW, Gwardia Stadium Poland
Mon 25th RIGA, Skonto Stadium Latvia
Wed 27th VILNIUS, Zalgirio Stadionas Lithuania
Sat 30th LONDON, O2 Arena UK
- June
Tue 2nd HAMBURG, HSH Nordbank Arena Germany
Thu 4th DUSSELDORF, LTU Arena Germany
Sun 7th LEIPZIG, Zentralstadion Germany
Wed 10th BERLIN, Olympiastadion Germany
Fri 12th FRANKFURT, Commerzbank Arena Germany
Sat 13th MUNICH, Olympiastadion Germany
Tue 16th ROME, Stadio Olimpico Italy
Thu 18th MILAN, Stadio San Siro Italy
Sat 20th WERCHTER, TW Classic Festival Belgium
Mon 22nd BRATISLAVA, Inter Stadium Slovakia
Tue 23rd BUDAPEST, Puskas Ferenc Stadium Hungary
Thu 25th PRAGUE, Slavia Stadium Czech Republic
Sat 27th PARIS, Venue TBC France
Tue 30th COPENHAGEN, Parken Stadium Denmark
- July
Thu 2nd BERGEN, Koengen Norway
Fri 3rd ARVIKA, Arvika Festival Sweden
Sat 11th PORTO, Superbock Super Rock Festival Portugal



Oasis announce massive stadium tour



OASIS will undertake their biggest ever tour of open air venues in the UK and Ireland next summer.


It includes two dates at the iconic new Wembley Stadium as well as the promised homecoming shows over two nights in Manchester's Heaton Park.

The tour will also see the band's first ever visit to Sunderland's Stadium of Light, a welcome return to both Murrayfield and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and their first headline performance at Ireland’s Slane Castle.

Oasis Tour 2008:

Saturday 06 June 2009 MANCHESTER, Heaton Park
Sunday 07 June 2009 MANCHESTER, Heaton Park
Wednesday 10 June 2009 SUNDERLAND, Stadium of Light
Friday 12 June 2009 CARDIFF, Millennium Stadium
Wednesday 17 June 2009 EDINBURGH, Murrayfield
Saturday 20 June 2009 DUBLIN, Slane Castle
Saturday 11 July 2009 LONDON, Wembley Stadium
Sunday 12 July 2009 LONDON, Wembley Stadium

Oasis will be joined on all the UK dates by special guests Kasabian and The Enemy.

These will be the band’s first shows at the new Wembley Stadium, having filmed their acclaimed live DVD 'Familiar to Millions’ at the old venue in 2000. The Manchester dates at Heaton Park coincide with the centenary of the first music event in the park, when a gramophone recording of the Italian opera singer Enrico Caruso attracted 40,000 to the beautiful Manchester City Council owned family park. More recently in 1991, Electronic, The Buzzcocks and Happy Mondays (amongst others) played a two day concert to honour the legendary Factory Records produce Martin Hannett who had died earlier that year. Although this is the first headline appearance at the legendary Slane Castle, Oasis did perform there in 1995 as guests of REM.

The band are presently on a sold out tour of the UK, (which includes two nights at Wembley Arena) which saw all 180,000 tickets sell out as quickly as phone lines and
internet sites could process applications.

New album 'Dig Out Your Soul’, the first album to be released on Oasis' own Big Brother Recordings label internationally has chalked up the band's best first week international chart results in over a decade. Having already notched up over 200,000 sales over the counter to debut at number 1 in the UK (their seventh consecutive studio album to do so), 'Dig Out Your Soul’ has also topped the charts in Japan and Italy and has entered the US charts at number 5, the first time the band have cracked the top five of the US charts since 'Be Here Now’ went in at number 2 in 1997. The album has also charted in the top ten in countries across the globe, including; Ireland (2), Switzerland (2), France (4), Belgium (9) Australia (5), New Zealand (6) Canada (5), Argentina (3) and Germany (8).



Robbie Williams is preparing to start a family



The 'Angels’ singer, who recently reunited with girlfriend Ayda Field following a brief split, is hoping to cement their relationship by having a baby.

The 29-year-old actress has even giving up drinking in preparation. A source close to Robbie, 34, told Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: 'Robbie and Ayda are really back on track now and one of the things that helped them bond was playing with his friend Jonathan Wilkes’ son.

'It’s no secret that he helped get the pair back together and he’s been spending a lot of time with them at Robbie’s Hollywood home.

'But the balm that really eased tensions was Mickey, Jonathan’s son and Robbie’s godchild. Spending time with him made Robbie realise what he really wants.'

The couple, who live in Los Angeles, are now considering a trip to England to visit northern town Stoke-on-Trent, the place where Robbie grew up.

The source added: 'There’s talk of him making an appearance at next month’s MTV Europe Music Awards, which are in Liverpool, but as a presenter, rather than a performer.

'Ayda asked what would be good to wear in the North West and said Robbie was going to show her Stoke.' However, despite their family plans, Robbie has ruled out marrying Ayda.

The insider said: 'Robbie and Ayda are keen on starting a family but he will never have a showbiz wedding. He would hate it.

'Family is foremost to him – he’ll be a great dad.'



George Michael to play in Middle East



George Michael is to perform in the Middle East – after recently announcing he had played his final live show.


The 'Careless Whisper’ singer was said to be retiring from performances following the end of his world tour at the end of August, but now he is reportedly set to land Ł1 million for playing an exclusive concert at Abu Dhabi’s lavish Emirates Palace venue, where tickets are expected to go on sale for around Ł200.

As well as the massive pay cheque, George, 45, will stay in a luxury suite, which boasts gold leaf and marble decoration, a 61-inch plasma screen television, Swarovski crystal chandeliers and 24-hour butler service.

George performed two concerts in London at the end of August, which were part of his ’25 Live’ tour and billed as 'the Final Two'.

However, he then went on to perform in Copenhagen, Denmark, a few days later, in a show advertised as the 'Final One’. The date for the Abu Dhabi concert has not yet been revealed.



Franz Ferdinand Keeps Grooving On Third Album



Franz Ferdinand makes good on its stated desire to produce a "dirty pop" album with "rhythm- and dance-based" songs on "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand," due Jan. 29 via Epic.

Throughout, the Scottish band lets its funky bass lines handle much of the heavy lifting, decorating them with vintage synth melodies straight out of the Genesis (opener "Ulysses") or Sparks ("Live Alone") playbooks.

Elsewhere, the band's cold grooves nod to Wire ("Turn It On"), Can ("Send Him Away") and "Miss You"-era Rolling Stones ("Kiss Me," "What She Came For"), while "Dream Again" is a more subdued number with drum machine backing and closer "Katherine Kiss Me" trots out acoustic guitars.

Franz Ferdinand recorded the 12-track album at its own headquarters in Govan, Glasgow, and the London studio of producer Dan Carey. "Tonight" follows 2005's "You Could Have It So Much Better," which has sold 378,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Following a handful of one-off performances last week in New York, the band returns to the road for a short European tour beginning Nov. 13 in Paris.
Click to learn more...

Here is the track list for "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand:
"Ulysses"
"Turn It On"
"Kiss Me"
"Twilight Omens"
"Send Him Away"
"Live Alone"
"Bite Hard"
"What She Came For"
"Can't Stop Feeling"
"Lucid Dreams"
"Dream Again"
"Katherine Kiss Me"



Four Tops Vocalist Levi Stubbs Dies At 72



Arguably the most powerful voice in Motown's storied history has been silenced. Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs, Jr., died today (Oct. 17) at his home in Detroit after a long series io illnesses -- including cancer and a stroke -- that forced him to stop performing in 2000. He was 72.

Funeral arrangements are pending for Stubbs, who is survived by Clineice, his wife of 48 years, and five children.

"He had one of the most prolific and identifiably voices in American history," the Motown Alumni Association's Billy J. Wilson tells Billboard.com. "It's a deep loss, to the entire Motown family and to the world."

Stubbs' death leaves Abdul "Duke" Fakir as the Tops' only living member from the original quartet, which formed in 1954 as the Four Aims and signed with Motown nine years later. Laurence Payton passed away in 1997, and Renaldo "Obie" Benson died in 2005.

Fakir continues to lead a version of the Tops that includes Payton's son Roquel, former Temptations member Theo Peoples and Motown veteran Ronnie McNeir.

Stubbs -- born Levi Stubbles in Detroit -- gave voice to enduring hits such as "Baby I Need Your Loving," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Brenadette" and others. The Tops have sold more than 50 million records and racked up 45 chart hits for the Motown, ABC Dunhill, Arista and Casablanca labels, and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Stubbs also provided the voice of Audrey II, the man-eating plant in the film version of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" in 1986, and of Mother Brain in the 1989 animated TV series "Captain N: The Game Master."

Stubbs' last public appearance with the group came at the group's 50th Anniversary Concert on July 28, 2004 at Detroit's Music Hall Center.

RememberTheEighties.com - (y)our weekly newsletter!

HELLO...

I have added a brand new and EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with the lovely MARI WILSON to the website this week... we talk about her current tour; her excellent new album 'Emotional Glamour'; her work with BOY GEORGE in 'Taboo'; how EURYTHMICS mainman DAVE STEWART turned her heartbreak into a musical; and the ongoing legacy of 'Just What I Always Wanted' and that trademark beehive hairdo! It's on the website now if you fancy a look, and there's also a review of one of Mari's recent shows in the REVIEWS section!

Given the fantastic response to my recent THOMPSON TWINS giveaways I expect this week's NEWSLETTER GIVEAWAY to be equally well received... FIVE WINNERS will each receive the brand new 2-CD release that compiles the first two Thompson twins albums 'A Product Of...' and 'Set' plus NINETEEN bonus tracks between them including remixes, b-sides and live tracks. The full TRACKLISTING is in the NEWS section and if you fancy being in with a chance to win a copy then you need to email me by 5pm (UK) on Monday. All the entries will go into my rather dapper virtual hat, I will select the winners randomly and let them know by email. Good luck!

I had a brilliant response to last week's unusually literary giveaways (the winners have all been informed and the prizes will be winging their way out to them very soon), but lots of you have been asking questions about both books so I thought I'd include links to them for anyone who is interested in getting some more information. If you're interested in the A-HA inspired novel 'The Scoundrel Days Of Hobo Highbrow' you can find more information at author Pĺl H. Christiansen's own website and if you're interested in 'Hang The DJ', the book of alternative music lists, you can go here and DOWNLOAD the FREE sample pages here... the website also includes a list contributed by yours truly! Happy reading...

Thank you to anyone who voted for RememberTheEighties.com for 'Best Unofficial Music Site' in the BT DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS last month... I just found out that RememberTheEighties.com came THIRTEENTH in the public vote and am happy to report we were only beaten by one Britney Spears site which was a huge relief... thank you all and here's to doing even better next year!

With all that excitement I almost forgot to remind you that my book 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia' - which prompted one kind newsletter reader to say "My books arrived today and I thought I would drop you a line to say thanks. They are awesome, absolutely awesome, and an absolute must for fans of the 80s." - is waiting for you in the SHOP section!

Here is all the news that has been added to the website since the last newsletter...

ULTRAVOX are the subject of reunion rumours following the appearance of a series of teaser videos on YouTube including the most recent which shows former member Chris Cross playing 'Passing Strangers' at home while refusing to answer questions about a possible reunion... see NEWS for the link and more information.

RICK ASTLEY is to headline a HERE AND NOW Christmas Party concert at Dublin's RDS on December 13th. Astley will be joined on the bill by BANANARAMA, NIK KERSHAW, BELINDA CARLISLE, KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS, CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT and T'PAU.

PREFAB SPROUT will release a new album in the early part of next year. The album, the band's first since 2001. See NEWS for the working title of the album plus a selection of the titles of new tracks...

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN will appear at a charity show in Glasgow on November 28th. The show, at the SECC, will raise money for the Versus Cancer organisation and will also feature PETER HOOK, The Fratellis, Travis and Alphabeat.

TOYAH has announced that she will be starring in the forthcoming seven-night London run of the 'Vampires Rock' musical next year. The show will take place at The Shaw Theatre in late February and early March, see NEWS for more details.

DEAD OR ALIVE singer PETE BURNS has won his legal battle for compensation following a series of botched lip injections at the hands of a Harley Street surgeon. Courts will decide next year on the level of compensation Burns will receive.

THE SMITHS will not be reuniting for next year's Coachella Festival despite rumours that MORRISSEY and JOHNNY MARR have been considering a financial offer thought to be well in excess of Ł3 million to perform together.

BANANARAMA will headline Pontin's 80s-themed '48-hour Party' in Camber Sands next year. The duo will be joined by GO WEST, HAZELL DEAN, TOYAH, CUTTING CREW and ODYSSEY as well as DJs and Madonna and Culture Club tribute acts. See NEWS for more details.

MORRISSEY has said that he is to write an autobiography to set his story straight for once and for all, saying "So much crap is written about me, it's hard to live with sometimes. It all gets burned down in history and becomes a part of your legacy". There is currently no information on a publisher or possible publishing date.

METALLICA have announced a UK arena tour that will see the band play seven shows in February and March in support of their recent 'Death Magnetic' album. See GIGS for all the dates.

PAUL WELLER has announced a one-off show at London's O2 Arena on March 21st where he will be supported by The Coral.

REM are to release a 25th anniversary edition of their 1983 album 'Murmur'. The 2-CD edition will feature the original album in a remastered version on one disc and a live concert, recorded in Atlanta after the release of the original album, on the other. The deluxe edition is scheduled for the end of November. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

THE LONG RYDERS will play a second US show at Atlanta's The Earl in January and will now play shows there on the 9th and 10th.

That's all for this week, but please do visit the website for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying my book, 'Remember The 80s - Now That's What I Call Nostalgia', a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) which is currently HALF PRICE, or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic solo catalogue, TOYAH's brand new album 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen' or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...

RememberTheEighties.com is also on FACEBOOK here and MYSPACE here... come along and join the fun!

Cheers!

Richard