What is it about the spooky shell of a human known as Michael Jackson that inspires people to make such monumentally misguided decisions? Some people entrusted their children to him; now comes word that someone had the genius idea to advance him huge sums of money for an album he never produced and was never going to in the first place because he's not capable of earthly functions anymore. Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, apparently operating under the assumption that Jackson could somehow be restored to his previous glory, pumped millions into a record deal for Jackson in the hopes of reviving his career. Now Jackson claims that the money was a "gift" and Sheikh Abdulla is taking him to court in London for the sum of £4.7 million. Hold on, though—that whole series of events may be pretty sketchy, but it's just not weird enough to be a Jackson story yet.
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A few weeks ago, Robert Plant informed the world that he would not be hitting the road with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and son-of-John Bonham in an attempt to squeeze money out of fans of Led Zeppelin, because he was pretty happy performing bluegrass with Alison Krauss and he really needed a two-year vacation or so. This led to many rumors of Page, Jones, and Bonham auditioning other lead singers—including the dude from Alter Bridge—although they were never confirmed. Until this weekend, when Jones took the stage at a guitar show in the UK and told the crowd that a) yes, there may actually be a Led Zeppelin reunion tour in the works (provided that the global economy doesn't completely crater and people don't have to start taking shelter in the arenas that would play host to the shows) and b) Robert Plant is basically a wuss these days:
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Latest by clarknhilldale: @derek_the_dork: Zep were second choice for the Cadillac ad, too. Remember, the tag line was "break through." They wanted to use the Doors "Break on Through," but John Densmore used his veto power (so to speak) and blocked the sale. more »
What's worse is that I can't stop thinking the hand in this ad for the fast-food monolith's Brazilian division is attached to Ronald McDonald's body, thus ruining yet another memory from my childhood. Thanks a lot, McDonald's! [copyranter]
With all this talk about American Idol, it was probably inevitable that someone would bring up the Mark Burnett-produced "Lead Singer For A Day" competition Rock Star—which, after two stints on CBS' reality-heavy summer schedule and the loud flopping of season-two band Rock Star Supernova's album and tour, was canceled last year (its time slot was given to a reality show about pirates). And lo, it did, during a conference call that Burnett had with reporters about his next shining example of peoples' willingness to humiliate themselves on TV, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad. (Sigh.) Despite getting the ax from CBS, Burnett is still hoping to put on another season of Rock Star—and all he needs to do is find the right band! Well, and a network to put the show on. Details, people! [Reality TV World via Blabbermouth]
Latest by MrStarhead: Army of Anyone needs a new frontman... and a new guitarist and a new bass player. And I'm not sure what the drummer's plans are. more »
You know what's always a lot of fun? Putting the lawsuitwatch on a company that claims what it's doing is 100% legit. Today's candidate is Clickster, the slogan of which is "music for nothin' and your tracks for free"; it's basically a desktop widget that allows users to rip audio streams from MySpace and online radio streams. How do they say the ripping is legal? "With Clickster you DO NOT SHARE FILES with other users. It is this act, of sharing files with other users, which has prompted many high-profile legal claims against users of P2P networks." Um, OK! That reads like a big sign in red blinking text that says "CEASE AND DEIST THIS" to me. Let the countdown begin! [Mashable]
I'd say that the $70 wooden flash drive version of Jennifer Lopez's Brave was a last-ditch effort on the part of Epic to make back all that money it spent on the sparkle-pony album cover, but if you look closely, you'll see that there are diamonds embedded inside the African mahogany encasing the USB stick. Never let it be said that La Lopez will eventually stop putting the "ass" in "classy"! [Luxist via The Boy Genius Report]
If only Thriller could protest Michael Jackson's plans for its re-release with a hearty rendition of the chorus to "Leave Me Alone": "According to reports, Jackson plans to spruce up the 25th anniversary addition of the album by adding four remixes of Thriller tracks. Those lending a helping sequined gloved hand on the remixes for 'Wanna Be Startin' Something,' 'The Girl Is Mine,' 'Billie Jean,' and 'P.Y.T.' are Kanye West, Akon, and Will.i.am." I'll give the Kanye collaboration a pass, if only because of what he did with the "P.Y.T." sample on "Good Life," but really, was the world screaming for a remake of "The Girl Is Mine"? Especially if there's a strong possibility that Jackson will be tussling with will.freakin'.i.am? [RS]
There is a time and a place for New Found Glory. The time is eighth grade, and the place is far, far away from famous movie songs. Their album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part 2, a sequel to their 2000 EP of the same name, is an abominable collection of soundtrack covers which have all been processed through Jordan Pundik's treacherous nasal cavity and come out even less interesting than you had assumed they would. Unfortunately, the songs are no longer streaming from the band's MySpace page, but the mere sight of the track list is enough to send a shiver down your spine:
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How to interpret the newly announced contest to find "the next Great Rock Journalist" (their caps, not ours)? Maybe, having seen what's become of music writing, Bigstring, the Documentary Channel, Ticketmaster, and Virgin Mobile decided to try to reverse, at least a little, the decimated ambition, foreshortened word counts, and it's-all-good critical acumen increasingly typical in the field. Or, more likely, it's a way to get the corporate message out in the name of "journalism":
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Oh, Jason Lee. You have come such a long way since you were skateboarding for Sonic Youth. And by "come a long way," we mean "transformed yourself into Rupert Everett."
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Yesterday's Concert For Diana was full of many inexplicable things—eighty appearances by Joss Stone, an unable-to-improvise Ricky Gervais, and a seven-minute version of "I'll Be Missing You" among them—but the head-scratching kicked off pretty much right away, when Fergie took the stage:
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Idolator
What is it about the spooky shell of a human known as Michael Jackson that inspires people to make such monumentally misguided decisions? Some people entrusted their children to him; now comes word that someone had the genius idea to advance him huge sums of money for an album he never produced and was never going to in the first place because he's not capable of earthly functions anymore. Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, apparently operating under the assumption that Jackson could somehow be restored to his previous glory, pumped millions into a record deal for Jackson in the hopes of reviving his career. Now Jackson claims that the money was a "gift" and Sheikh Abdulla is taking him to court in London for the sum of £4.7 million. Hold on, though—that whole series of events may be pretty sketchy, but it's just not weird enough to be a Jackson story yet.
More »
You know what's always a lot of fun? Putting the lawsuitwatch on a company that claims what it's doing is 100% legit. Today's candidate is 
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