The Guardian today reports on the possible end of the double album, as highlighted by Robert Smith's unwillingness to take a paycut to release a second disc along with this month's 4:13 Dream. The question that came to mind: Should anyone care?
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Many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock. To help figure out which is which, here's "Corporate Rock Still Sells," where Al "GovernmentNames" Shipley examines what's good, bad, and ugly in the world of rock and roll. This time around, he celebrates the 20th anniversary of Billboard's Modern Rock chart by cherry-picking some of its most oddly notable chart-toppers:
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Gary Shaffer, owner of Back-Lite, a company that puts glowing transparencies on the back of jackets (classy!), is being sued for $11 million after wantonly accepting a request to put a Red Hot Chili Peppers logo on one of his jackets. While it was a solitary request that was done a "promotional item" and without charge, Brava International, which owns the RHCP emblem, claims Shaffer could have "made over a million dollars in profits." If Brava's interested, I know a few people who drew RHCP logos on their backpacks in the late '90s. If the statute of limitations hasn't passed on that, how about a finder's fee? [Rolling Stone]
From the "WTF?" file, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who had previously said they were on a somewhat permanent hiatus, are thinking of having French electro duo Justice produce their next album. Although the news would mark a significant change for an act that had Rick Rubin behind the boards for each of its albums since Mother's Milk, it would also be a presumed stretch for Justice, who have not produced an album other than its own. The news seems unlikely to be true, but if members of either act happen to read this, would it be possible to tie the record up for a decade or so with "creative difficulties"? Is that too much to ask? Or is this just the run-up to Coachella pre-booking RHCP as permanent headliners forever? [The Sun]
Chickenfoot is go! The supergroup, led by Sammy Hagar, will also bring together fellow former Van Haleneer Michael Anthony, wank wizard Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith for an album, and Hagar could not be more pumped. "When people hear the music, it's Led Zeppelin. It's as good as that. I know that's a mighty bold statement...We could rival Zep." Dude, I love Led Zeppelin! This is great news! I was totally telling someone the other day that we needed a new Led Zeppelin, and here comes Sammy Hagar with a bottle of tequila, saying that he's got one. I haven't been this stoked since Walking To Clarksdale.
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In honor of Madonna's "highly sexed up" cover for Hard Candy, Gigwise put up a list of 50 album covers they consider the "dirtiest and sexiest" ever. Unsurprisingly, naked women outnumber naked men by a rather large margin. But with rare exception, the appearance of a naked man is used as comedy. What, no shirtless Jim Morrison? No I'm In You? Check out what passes for beefcake with these guys (NSFW!!).
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Robert Plant on Radiohead: "What is this rhyming crap?" Robert Plant on the Red Hot Chili Peppers: "[like a] nursery rhyme." The Sun writer who got this tip is outraged at the thought of anyone comparing the Red Hot Chili Peppers to something as trivial as a poem for a sleepy child, but I actually think Plant's being kinda generous! [The Sun via ONTD / Photo: Getty]
Even given the bizarre identification angle—the protagonist is an alcoholic blogger (!)—Showtime's David Duchovny vehicle Californication was a pretty godawful show, unless you were so hard up for softcore that you needed to suffer through 20 minute jags of undercooked family drama. But we assumed, like the rest of Americans moderately familiar with turn of the millennium alt-rock, that the show had either cleared the punny name with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who slapped it on one of their weakest singles in 1999, or that Californication was a commonly used West Coast reference. Apparently neither, because Anthony Keidis' TiVo (and attorneys) finally caught up with Showtime this week.
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From LiveDaily:
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Apparently that Stadium Arcadium money has not yet trickled down to the lower echelons of the Chili Peppers' staff, as two of the group's roadies are auctioning off the privilege of placing a custom-made advertisement on the backs of their T-shirts:More »
Here is the deal if you win the auction:
* You email us a Jpeg or Gif of the advertisiment you would like displayed.
* We will then print the graphic onto two 8-1/2" x 11" pieces of paper and
* At the agreed upon show date, the Pepper's roadies Scott the Lampi and Dave Rat will afix the ad to the back of our shirts for the duration of the Peppers live perfomance, approximately 90 minutes.
Idolator
