Increased FCC scrutiny to clean up the airwaves prompted the ousting of controversial radio host Howard Stern's syndicated show from six Clear Channel-owned stations. After an interview with Rick Solomon, the purveyor and co-star of the infamous Paris Hilton sex tape, went over the line and was deemed offensive to blacks and women by Clear Channel executives, the show was pulled from stations in Orlando, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Diego; Pittsburgh; Louisville, Kentucky; and Rochester, New York. Infinity broadcasting, a subsidiary of MTV's parent company, Viacom, syndicates the morning program nationwide from New York's WXRK-FM.
The president of Northeastern University in Boston has canceled an April 2 concert by Ludacris that was to be the headlining event for the school's annual Springfest festival. President Richard M. Freeland cited riots by students after the New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory in which one person died. School officials called the move a "postponement," saying a concert of this size could happen again if the student body worked with the school to improve its relationship with the community. One of the most legendary unreleased records of all time, the Beach Boys' Smile, will finally hit shelves in the fall, 37 years after its intended release. Currently touring behind the record in the U.K., Brian Wilson recently entered the studio with original lyricist Van Dyke Parks to complete the material and sift through the hours and hours of recorded material that was scrapped in the spring of 1967 due to Wilson's growing drug problems and mental-health issues.
Estelle Axton, co-founder of influential soul label Stax Records, died at the age of 85 on Tuesday at a hospital in Memphis. Starting in 1957, Axton helped build the label into a hit factory with artists like Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's and the Bar-Kays. Axton is also credited with maintaining a sense of harmony between black and white musicians during a time of racial prejudice. Pre-production is under way on "Hip-Hop Cops," a movie spotlighting a division of the New York Police Department focused on rap-related crimes whose existence the NYPD has always denied. Radar Pictures will distribute the film, which looks past the police upward to City Hall. Beck, the Polyphonic Spree and the Electric Light Orchestra will appear on the soundtrack to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a film by Michel Gondry, the director of videos by the White Stripes and Bjork. The film, which stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst, opens March 19, while the soundtrack streets March 16. Metal matriarch Sharon Osbourne will play a lesbian bartender in an episode of NBC's Will & Grace, set to air March 25. The episode was taped last week.
Following up his 2001 album, The Good Times, was not one of the many things Afroman forgot to do because he got high. The toke-happy MC will drop his new LP, Afroholic: The Even Better Times, on April 20, through his own Hungry Hustler Records. Wilco will play six shows in April before performing at Coachella on May 1. The dates will start on April 21 in Columbia, Missouri, and run through April 29 in Tucson, Arizona.
Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters' chairman, has made an enemy of Ministry's Al Jourgensen with that "Voting Is for Old People" T-shirt. In a letter to Hayne sent Wednesday, the singer wrote, "Mr. Hayne, I am sure I don't have to give you a history lesson regarding the incredible amount of lives lost fighting for the right to vote in America alone. I am shocked and appalled at your recklessness. I see your actions as a blatant attempt to quash the efforts of Punkvoter.com, Music for America, Rock the Vote, and other pro-youth-vote organizations. It is public knowledge that you contribute to the Republican Party. Could this be the motivation behind your anti-vote strategy to suppress the youth vote you have so much influence over?" Kinks singer Ray Davies may have been hurt worse than most expected when he was shot in the leg in New Orleans last month, according to a statement released by his spokesperson. Because of ongoing treatment, Davis was forced to cancel his appearance at the 14th annual Tibet House Benefit concert, which took place Wednesday at New York's Carnegie Hall. |
