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Monday, October 08, 2007

Tuesday Rock Roundup

Eric Clapton, one of the music industry's most private artists, goes public today with the publication of his memoir, Clapton: The Autobiography. Clapton covers it all as best he can -- from his childhood, when he found out that his mother was actually the woman he was led to believe was his older sister, to his battles with drugs and alcohol, his many musical accomplishments, his affairs, the death of his son Conor, and the happiness he now finds with his wife Melia and their three daughters. Also in stores today is the two-C-D career retrospective Complete Clapton.

Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Sciafla are being sued by a former member of the U-S Olympic equestrian team for allegedly backing out of a contract to buy a horse worth 850-thousand dollars for their daughter. Todd Minikus, who filed the breach-of-contract lawsuit in Florida on Thursday, claims that the Springsteens reneged on a deal to pay him 650-thousand dollars and give him their horse, named Scarlett, worth 200-thousand dollars, in exchange for his horse, named Pavarotti. The lawsuit claims Bruce and Patti had a change of heart after Minikus rode the 10-year-old gelding at the Pan American Games in Brazil, which was held after the contract was signed but before the deal was completed. There's no official response to the suit from Springsteen's camp yet.

Yoko Ono has started an online peace campaign through a new website called ImaginePeace-dot-com. The site offers up peace banners for other websites, as well as downloadable flyers and designs for T-shirts. Ono, Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison will unveil the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland today, which would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday.

Don Henley's benefit fundraiser for his Walden Woods Project last week in New York was a success, with the piano he auctioned off going for 510-thousand dollars. The Walden Woods Art Case Piano, made by Steinway for Henley, was played and signed by Billy Joel, Elton John, Herbie Hancock and Bruce Hornsby.

In case you haven't seen it or been sent one, Bob Dylan has taken footage shot 42 years ago and turned it into a customized E-card. You can now insert your own words onto the cue cards that Dylan holds in the clip of his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from the 1965 film Don't Look Back. Close to 600-thousand people have watched the customized messages, which can be created through his website. It is part of the promotion campaign for his new best-of, Dylan.

Ozzy Osbourne is not happy that his wife Sharon is cleaning out their houses in Malibu, Beverly Hills, and England, and putting what they've collected up for bids. He says, "I don't know why we are selling everything, as I want it all." The auction of more than 600 lots of memorabilia, jewelry, costumes, paintings, furniture and decorative works of art will be held November 30th and December 1st at the Gibson Guitar Showroom in Beverly Hills, California. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation. Sharon turns 55 tomorrow.

Pete Townshend tells Johnnie Walker on B-B-C Radio Two that he would like to see The Who do a tour with Led Zeppelin next year. The Who and Robert Plant share the same manager.

The Police were joined on stage last week in Paris by their original guitarist, Henry Padovani. The Police are in Antwerp, Belgium tonight.

Jon Bon Jovi was at the American League Divisional Series game between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians last night at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York. He was interviewed during the game on T-B-S.

Bruce Springsteen has debuted at number-one in the U-K. His new album, Magic, is his seventh to go to number-one across the pond. The others were Born in the U-S-A, Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, Greatest Hits, The Rising and Devils and Dust. Magic is expected to debut at number-one tomorrow on the Billboard album chart, which would make it his third number-one out of his last four albums to hit the top spot here.

John Mellencamp announced last week that he had written a song called "Jena" [pr: geena] about the six black teenagers facing criminal charges in Jena, Louisiana. The town's mayor, Murphy R. McMillin, is now calling the song "inflammatory." In a statement, he says, "The town of Jena has for months been mischaracterized in the media and portrayed as the epicenter of hatred, racism and a place where justice is denied... However, the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough." For his part, JCM says: "The song is not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism." Mellencamp will include the song on his next album, which he is currently recording. He will kick off a tour October 26th in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Paul McCartney is part of two of the worst duets ever recorded, according to a poll conducted by B-B-C Six Music. His effort with Stevie Wonder on "Ebony and Ivory" was the worst, and his duet with Michael Jackson on "The Girl Is Mine" is number-six. Also on the list are "Dancing in the Streets" by Mick Jagger and David Bowie at three, and "Little Drummer Boy" with Bing Crosby and David Bowie at four. As for the best musical collaborations, that list was topped by Sinead O'Connor and The Chieftains with "Foggy Dew." Queen and David Bowie on "Under Pressure," despite also making the "worst" list, was number-three. And Run D-M-C and Aerosmith's version of "Walk This Way" was fifth.

NEW IN STORES TODAY:

Deborah Harry - Necessary Evil on CD, haven't cared since she dissed the rest of Blondie at the induction ceremony, but there you go, if you're still a fan.
Marc Cohn - Join The Parade (the Walking In Memphis guy)
The aforementioned Eric Clapton - Complete Clapton [2 CDs]
28 Weeks Later DVD, the sequel to the underrated British Pseudo-Zombie Thriller 28 Days Later. None of the original characters are referenced in it.
Evan Almighty DVD, the sequel to the entirely decent Bruce Almighty.
Reign Over Me DVD, with Adam Sandler in a serious role about a 9/11 Survivor.
Surf's Up DVD, yet another penguin animated film.
CSI: NY - Season Three DVD
Everybody Hates Chris - The Second Season DVD
Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series Collection DVD
Family Ties - The Complete Second Season DVD