Pavarotti's legacy:
That unforgettable, unmistakable sound
New York Times Sep 6, 07 8:05 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Placido Domingo is the better musician, but no other voice could match the late Luciano Pavarotti's, Anthony Tommasini writes in today's Times . The music critic looks at a career dotted with highs as lofty as the high Cs Pavarotti "tossed off" with "ease, pinging tone and utter glee" and concludes his take on Pavarotti's "Nessun dorma" with an unapologetic "Wow!"
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Musicians who make it big twice as likely to bow out early
BBC Sep 4, 07 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The cliché "live fast, die young" now has backing from science. More than 1,000 American and European musicians active from 1956 through 1999 came under British researchers' scrutiny, and the stats are grim: The performers were twice as likely as civilians to die young, with drug and alcohol problems accounting for a quarter of those deaths, the BBC reports.
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Ability may be in genes, but early musical training a must, too
Scientific American Sep 1, 07 5:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Sounds like absolute pitch—the ability to identify a note without a reference tone—might be genetically determined. “Either you have it or you don’t,” said the lead researcher in a report in Scientific American , who cautioned that even those with the theoretical genetic predisposition must be exposed to music early. It remains to be seen if a single gene controls the tonal gift.
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Reviews of 'superdrunk,' 'confused' performance get guitarist riled up
Associated Press Aug 29, 07 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Keith Richards, the man who ate a cigarette onstage and snorted his father’s ashes, has reached his limit. The 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist wants Swedish newspaper critics to apologize for scathing reviews of a concert this month in which they called Richards “superdrunk” and “a bit confused,” the AP reports.
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Winehouse drama escalates as in-laws call singer, husband 'drug addicts' on BBC
Guardian (UK) Aug 28, 07 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The continuing drama surrounding "Rehab" singer Amy Winehouse took a bizarre new turn this morning when her in-laws, in an plea broadcast on the BBC, begged fans not to buy her records. Her husband's parents called for a boycott to force the couple into rehab, the Guardian reports. "One of them, if not both of them, eventually will die," they said.
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Post-Katrina hard times in the Big Easy threaten legendary jazz scene
Times-Picayune (New Orleans) Aug 27, 07 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The battered post-Katrina economy drove jazz musicians into the streets of New Orleans yesterday, holding instruments silent at their sides in what they termed a “solidarity march.” Ninety percent of city musicians were living at or below the poverty line even before the hurricane, the Times-Picayune reports, and now competition for remaining spots has bands playing for peanuts.
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Richards, Wood defy smoking ban at UK show, plan to continue
Times (UK) Aug 22, 07 5:01 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Threat of fines appear unlikely to keep the Rolling Stones from smoking onstage, the Times reports. Guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood lit up during a show yesterday in London despite frantic warnings from venue staff. "You might say that Keith and Ronnie lighting up while they swap licks is part of the Stones performance," one source said.
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Troubled 'Rehab' singer needs to 'address her health,' publicist says
BBC Aug 22, 07 2:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Another overseas import has been held up due to a high level of suspicious substances -- Amy Winehouse has canceled her U.S. tour to address her "health problems." A publicist's statement made no mention of rehab, but said the chanteuse was advised by doctors to shelve her tour, and that her affliction was caused by "the rigours involved in touring."
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Starting small, even with big star power
New York Times Aug 21, 07 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A little movie looking for a crowd will open on only 4 screens this fall, but its distributor boasts that “I’m going to play every major city in the United States with this movie.” With Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett taking star turns in a Bob Dylan bio pic, the confidence is understandable. Each will portray the artist in different periods of his life, the New York Times reports.
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Obsessed woman left singer $300K
New York Daily News Aug 20, 07 2:08 AM CDT
(Newser)
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An obsessed female fan of Connie Francis put $300,000 in assets in the Sixties singer's name—then shot herself days later. Now Francis, known for her old hits "Who's Sorry Now" and "Where the Boys Are," is suing the fan's family to collect the money. Relatives claim Francis, 68, exerted undue influence over the retired convenience store manager .
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First album in five years due October 2
Reuters Aug 16, 07 4:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Bruce Springsteen will release "Magic"—his first album with his iconic E Street Band in half a decade—on October 2. The 11-track album is produced by Brendan O'Brien, who also produced the Grammy-winning "The Rising," the last Springsteen/E Street collaboration.
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Star percussionist redefined the genre - more than once
New York Times Aug 16, 07 3:18 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Max Roach, a drummer who moved to his own beat and became a seminal figure in modern jazz, died today at 83. Roach renovated his genre's traditional instrumentation, and pioneered a layered, contrapuntal style that became the trademark of contemporary percussion. Even his recent albums defied the conventions he helped forge. "You can't write the same book twice," he once said.
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Fans around the world pay tribute, cough up cash to honor the King
Reuters Aug 16, 07 6:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Elvis fans braved 100-degree heat to make the pilgrimage to Graceland for the 30th anniversary of the King's death, lining up last night for a candlelight vigil and chance to pay their respects. Tens of thousands were expected to file past the grave and snap up commemorative T-shirts.
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But Rolling Stone
can’t get cocaine
satisfaction
Guardian (UK) Aug 7, 07 5:13 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Keith Richards says that—reported denials aside—he did indeed snort his father’s ashes. The Rolling Stones sideman revealed in an interview yesterday that media reports had mixed up the story, and that he’d only meant to deny mixing the remains with a popular opiate. “I said I chopped him up like cocaine, not with,” he clarified.
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Boston Globe Aug 3, 07 4:19 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Tommy Makem, the great Irish singer and storyteller who, with the Clancy Brothers, led the revival in Irish folk music in the late 1950s and 1960s, died after a long battle with lung cancer yesterday. He was 74. "To hear Tommy Makem sing 'Four Green Fields,' " writes Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen, "was to hear Enrico Caruso sing 'Vesti la giubba,' or James Brown sing 'I Feel Good.' " revival of
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Music industry wants
to start collecting AM, FM royalties
BusinessWeek Jul 5, 07 6:26 PM CDT
(Newser)
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It's time AM and FM radio broadcasters started paying for the music they play, a group of music industry types has decided. They're lobbying Congress to amend the federal law that has exempted t