Negotiations to put Beatles on iTunes stalled

LONDON – Paul McCartney said Monday negotiations on a long-awaited deal to make the Beatles' catalog available on the online music service iTunes have stalled.

"The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process," the former Beatle said. "I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

McCartney, who was speaking at the launch of his new album, Electric Arguments, added: "It's between EMI and the Beatles, I think."

The band's holding company, Apple Corps Ltd., has so far declined to allow the Fab Four's music on any Internet music service, including iTunes. The situation has been exacerbated by a long-running trademark dispute between Apple Corps and Apple Inc., which owns iTunes — a dispute that was resolved last year.

Record label EMI, which owns the Beatles recordings but needs Apple Corps' permission to release the music in new formats, said it was still trying to resolve the matter.

An EMI spokeswoman said: "We have been working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps. to make the Beatles' legendary recording catalog available to fans in digital form. Unfortunately the various parties involved have been unable to reach agreement but we really hope everyone can make progress soon."

The spokeswoman spoke on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.

Apple Inc. was not immediately available for comment.

DELUXE JIMI HENDRIX 'ELECTRIC LADYLAND' CD/DVD SET COMING NEXT MONTH

Coming on December 9th will be the Jimi Hendrix DVD At Last... The Beginning: The Making Of Electric Ladyland and the companion CD Electric Ladyland Collector's Edition, which is sold separately and packaged with a DVD. The set commemorates Hendrix's third and final album with the Experience -- the late Noel Redding and recently deceased Mitch Mitchell -- and was the last studio set released during his lifetime.


The Making Of Electric Ladyland, was originally broadcast on VH1 as part of the Classic Albums series, but the new edition includes about 40 additional minutes featuring friends and musicians who contributed to the legendary album's sessions. Among those featured in the documentary are Redding, Mitchell, former Animals bassist and Hendrix manager Chas Chandler, Band Of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles, Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady, and Traffic's Steve Winwood and Dave Mason as well as others who participated in the Electric Ladyland sessions that took place at London's Olympic studios and New York City's Record Plant.


One of the highlights on The Making Of Electric Ladyland features Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer, who breaks down Hendrix's work track by track and discusses his recording and production techniques in depth.


Kramer explained what it was like manning the boards for Hendrix during the Electric Ladyland sessions: "In the heat of battle, when you're in the studio and you're running tape and you know we're up to take 20 -- by the time we finish, take 27 -- who knew that take 21 or take 22 was gonna be a gem that you'd find 30 years later as being just absolutely phenomenal as an illustration of how Jimi was able to bring the band up to a certain level and have expectations from them beyond what a normal human being would want, you know?"


Electric Ladyland was released on October 16th, 1968 as a double album, and featured such Hendrix classics as "Crosstown Traffic," "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)," his definitive cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," among others. The album hit Number One on the Billboard album charts a month after its release and went on to hold the top spot for two weeks.

Chart Watch Extra: What A Turkey! The 25 Worst-Selling #1 Albums

I know a lot of you don't like lists, but this one is objective as opposed to subjective. There are a couple of surprises on the list - like the one from Led Zeppelin.

Chart Watch Extra: What A Turkey! The 25 Worst-Selling #1 Albums
Posted Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:00am PST by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

Most music lists are so flattering that any artist would love to be on them. The most #1 hits! The longest-running #1 albums! The most Grammys! It's an endless orgy of the first, the fastest, the longest and the greatest.

This is a list that no artist would want to be on. These are the worst-selling #1 albums between May 1991, when Nielsen/SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard, and the end of 2006. (I excluded 2007 and 2008 albums on the theory that they're still adding to their totals. Also, singling out low-selling albums from the past two years, when sales have been down industry-wide, would be like shooting fish in a barrel.)

Let me reiterate that all of these albums reached #1. (In fact, they all debuted at #1.) For one week (tellingly, none managed a second week on top) each of these albums was the best-seller in America. But they didn't sustain over the long haul. None of these 25 albums has sold more than 830,000 copies over the course of its entire run. Lil' Wayne did better than that in his first week with Tha Carter III.

The list includes a few artists who are known only by committed music fans. But it also includes a surprising number of household names, including such megastars as Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. Duds, it seems, can happen to anybody.

Just ask Marilyn Manson, who has had the lowest-selling #1 album of the year twice since 1991. No other performer can match that claim--or would want to. Mechanical Animals was the lowest-selling #1 album of 1998. The Golden Age Of Grotesque was the lowest-selling chart-topper of 2003.

Actually, not all of these albums were duds. They all need to be placed in context, which helps explain the lackluster sales totals of several of the entries. Johnny Cash's American V: A Hundred Highways came out nearly three years after his death. Led Zeppelin's How The West Was Won was a pricey, three-disk compilation. The Isley Brothers and Rod Stewart had been around for decades when they landed low-selling #1 albums. Sales tend to taper off after artists have spent many years in the spotlight. The bigger story, in all four of these cases, may be that the albums hit #1 in the first place.

Eight of these albums had first-week sales of more than 200,000 copies, which proves that splashy debuts don't guarantee long-term success. Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead opened with especially brisk sales of 355,000. The album's sales tally after nearly two years stands at 764,000. That means that nearly half of its sales occurred in the first week.

Of the 365 albums that topped the Nielsen/SoundScan chart from May 25, 1991 through December 31, 2006, these are the 25 that have sold the fewest total copies. The number following the title is the album's total sales as of this week.

1. Omarion, 21, 390,000. This was the R&B artist's second album in a row to open at #1. Omarion's solo debut album, O, had achieved the feat in March 2005. But 21, which charted in December 2006, has sold only about half as many copies as that earlier album (see #17). The key song from 21, "Ice Box," reached #12 on the Hot 100. This was the lowest-selling #1 album of 2006.

2. Jaheim, Ghetto Classics, 446,000. This was the R&B artist's third album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in February 2006. A key reason Ghetto Classics is on this list: No songs from the album made the Hot 100, whereas two songs from each of Jaheim's previous albums made the top 30.

3. Johnny Cash, American V: A Hundred Highways, 491,000. This charted in July 2006, nearly three years after Cash's death. It was the country legend's first studio album to reach #1. His only other #1 album on The Billboard 200 was the live Johnny Cash At San Quentin in 1969. So this wasn't really a dud. This is the only album on this list that had first-week sales of fewer than 100,000 copies. (It bowed with lukewarm sales of 88,000.)

4. Juvenile, Reality Check, 505,000. This was the rapper's eighth album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in March 2006. The key single from the album, "Rodeo," peaked at #41, a drop-off from such previous Juvenile releases as "Slow Motion" (featuring Soulja Slim), which hit #1 in 2004.

5. R. Kelly & Jay-Z, Unfinished Business, 524,000. This was the second collaboration by the superstar pairing. The first, The Best Of Both Worlds, peaked at #2 in 2002. But that first album has sold a healthier 933,000 copies. This was the lowest-selling #1 album of 2004-as well as the lowest-selling chart-topper of the Nielsen/SoundScan era to that point. (It may have been undercut by Jay-Z's collaboration with Linkin Park, Collision Course, which was released just five weeks later.) Unfinished Business charted in October 2004 with first-week sales of 215,000. That's 41% of its total.

6. Marilyn Manson, The Golden Age Of Grotesque, 526,000. This album, which charted in May 2003, was Manson's second #1, following Mechanical Animals in 1998. Both of these releases were the lowest-selling #1 albums of their respective years. The Gothic shock rocker is the only artist to have the lowest-selling #1 album of the year twice in the Nielsen/SoundScan era.

7. LeToya, LeToya, 529,000. This was the solo debut by LeToya Luckett, a former member of Destiny's Child. LeToya left the group in early 2000, after the release of its top 10 blockbuster, The Writing's On The Wall. LeToya has sold about one-twelfth as many copies as that album has. The album charted in July 2006. The single, "Torn," reached #31 on the Hot 100.

8. Prince, 3121, 530,000. What's a legend like Prince doing on a list like this? Anybody can have an album that under-performs, to use a favored industry euphemism. 3121 charted in March 2006. It was Prince's fourth album to reach #1; his first to do since Batman in 1989. "Black Sweat" was the only song from the album to make the Hot 100. It spent one week on the chart at #60.

9. Private Parts soundtrack, 562,000. The rock soundtrack to the Howard Stern comedy/biopic charted in March 1997. It was that year's lowest-selling #1 album. In fact, it was the lowest-selling #1 album between May 1991 and May 2003, when a Marilyn Manson album did even worse (see #6). It's also the lowest-selling #1 soundtrack from 1991-2008 (except for the two-week old Twilight, which will quickly surpass it). Apart from the four oldies on the album, no songs from the album made the Hot 100.

10. Gridlock'd soundtrack, 585,000. This soundtrack charted in February 1997, five months after the movie's star, 2 Pac, was shot to death. The album features two 2Pac tracks, one a collaboration with Snoop Doggy Dogg. No songs from the album made the Hot 100.

11. Busta Rhymes, The Big Bang, 613,000. This was the rapper's seventh album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in June 2006 with first week sales of 209,000. A single, "Touch It," had run its course by the time the album was released. The follow-up, "I Love My B***," stalled at #41 on the Hot 100. By contrast, five Busta Rhymes songs from previous albums made the top 10.

12. Bruce Springsteen, Devils & Dust, 650,000. This was The Boss' seventh #1 album; his first since The Rising in 2002. But it has sold less than a third as many copies as that album has. Devils & Dust charted in May 2005 with first-week sales of 222,000. It was that year's lowest-selling #1 album. The title song stalled at #72 on the Hot 100. It spent just one week on the chart, compared to 11 weeks for the title song from The Rising.

13. Madonna, American Life, 674,000. This was Madonna's fifth chart-topper; her first since Music in 2000. But this has sold less than a quarter as many copies as that album has. American Life charted in April 2003 with first-week sales of 241,000. That's 36% of its total. The album included Madonna's 2002 hit "Die Another Day" from the James Bond movie of the same name. The problem: No other songs from the album cracked the top 30.

14. India.Arie, Testimony: Vol. 1: Life & Relationship, 688,000. This was the R&B artist's third album, but her first to reach #1. It charted in July 2006. The single, "I Am Not My Hair," had one fleeting week on the Hot 100 (at #97). India.Arie's 2001 breakthrough hit, "Video," logged seven months on the chart.

15. Diddy, Press Play, 700,000. This was the rap icon's first #1 album since 1997, when, as Puff Daddy, he topped the chart with No Way Out. But Press Play has sold less than one-seventh as many copies as that album has. Press Play charted in October 2006. The album's key track, "Come To Me" (featuring Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls) went top 10 on the Hot 100. (By contrast, No Way Out contained four top five hits.)

16. Rod Stewart, Still The Same...Great Rock Classics Of Our Time, 719,000. This was the English star's first pop/rock album following four million-selling Great American Songbook collections. It charted in October 2006. The Songbook albums were trending downward in sales, from a high of 3,221,000 for the first to a low of 1,112,000 for the fourth. A fifth Songbook outing would probably have sold about what this did. So this wasn't a bad showing, just not as good as many figured. It was Stewart's fourth #1 album.

17. Omarion, O, 758,000. This was the R&B artist's solo debut album, following a pair of top 10 albums with the teen group B2K. O charted in February 2005. The title song reached #27 on the Hot 100. Omarion is the only artist with two albums on this list. (There's another dubious distinction.)

18. Nas, Hip Hop Is Dead, 764,000. This was the rapper's third #1 album, following It Was Written in 1996 and I Am... in 1999. But it has sold only about a third of what those albums have sold. Hip Hop Is Dead charted in December 2006, with first-week sales of 355,000. That's a whopping 46% of its total. The title track, featuring will.i.am, peaked at #41 on the Hot 100, lower than such earlier Nas hits as "Street Dreams" and "I Can."

19. Incubus, Light Grenades, 773,000. This was the hard rock group's sixth album, but its first to reach #1. It charted in December 2006. The key track, "Anna-Molly," peaked at #66 on the Hot 100, a far cry from the top 10 showing of the band's "Drive" in 2001.

20. Godsmack, IV, 815,000. This was the hard rock group's second consecutive full-length album to reach #1, following Faceless. But this has sold about half of what that 2003 album has sold. IV charted in May 2006 with first-week sales of 211,000. The key track, "Speak," reached #85 on the Hot 100.

21. The Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley, Body Kiss, 815,000. This was the veteran R&B group's second #1 album; its first since The Heat Is On in 1975. Body Kiss charted in May 2003. R. Kelly wrote and produced the key track, "What Would You Do?," which stalled at #49 on the Hot 100.

22. Led Zeppelin, How The West Was Won, 818,000. This live, three-disk compilation charted in June 2003. (It's the only album on this list that comprises more than a single disk.) This was the legendary hard-rock band's seventh #1 album; its first since 1979's In Through The Out Door.

23. LL Cool J, G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith The Greatest Of All Time, 822,000. This was the rap superstar's ninth album, but his first to hit #1. G.O.A.T. charted in July 2000 with first-week sales of 209,000. It was that boom year's lowest-selling #1 album. "Imagine That" was the only song from the album to make the Hot 100. It peaked at #98.

24. Various Artists, The Neptunes Present...Clones, 827,000. Pharrell Williams was featured on six tracks on this hip-hop collection. One of them, "Frontin'" (featuring Jay-Z), went top five on the Hot 100. The album charted in August 2003 with first-week sales of 249,000.

25. A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes And Life, 828,000. This charted in August 1996, making it the oldest album on this list. It was the lowest-selling #1 album of 1996-and the lowest-selling chart-topper of the Nielsen/SoundScan era to that point. (It took the unwelcome title from Depeche Mode's 1993 album, Songs Of Faith And Devotion.) Beats, Rhymes And Life was the New York-based rap trio's fourth album, but its first to hit #1. No songs from the album made the Hot 100.

Rewind: Cassette Tapes Are Back

Cassette Tapes: The iPods of the '80s.
Rewind: Cassette Tapes Are Back
by Claudine Zap
November 20, 2008 03:41:14 PM

120 Votes Before MP3 players, DVR, and Blu-Ray. Before live streaming and downloads, there were cassette tapes, an analog magnetic tape system for recording, listening, and mixing together your favorite tracks to share and play in your Walkman or boombox.

Think of it as a tiny reel-to-reel. The iPod of the '80s was last spotted at your neighbor's garage sale, the back of your friend's closet, and the "for sale" table at indie band concerts. Wait, what? That's right, cassette tapes are so out, they're in.

According to Splice Today, for underground bands, cassettes are the new, cool vinyl: "They perfectly suit thrifty DIY labels and musicians trying to maintain a lo-fi aesthetic, as well as the more artistically inclined."

While audio went digital, the lowly cassette was down but not out. In fact, we checked to see the buzz on tapes and found a bump in searches in the last week for "music cassette tapes" (+110%), "blank cassette tapes" (+210%), "books on cassette tapes" (+900%), and the sad but definitely true "cassette tapes problems damage" (+400%).

Say what you will about digital recording, you haven't really proved your love for a good tune until you've spent hours re-spooling a cassette that was eaten by your tape player.

If you already have every version of the iPod that's made, maybe it's time to go back in audio time. Given that it's a very DIY holiday this year, a mixed tape could be the perfect retro gift. You can even decorate the jewel box cover yourself.

We look forward to the re-discovery of the 8 Track.

McCartney hopes to release funky Beatles track

I'm not holding my breath that this will ever officially see the light of day.


McCartney hopes to release funky Beatles track

LONDON – Paul McCartney says it's time an experimental Beatles track saw the light of day.

McCartney says he wants to release "Carnival of Light," a 14-minute experimental track the Fab Four recorded in 1967 but never released.

The band played the recording for an audience just once, at an electronic music festival in London. It reportedly includes distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and shouts of "Barcelona!" and "Are you all right?" from McCartney and John Lennon.

McCartney said during a recording session at Abbey Road studios he asked the other members of the band to "just wander round all of the stuff and bang it, shout, play it. It doesn't need to make any sense."

"I like it because it's The Beatles free, going off piste," he told the BBC in a radio interview to be broadcast Thursday. Extracts of the interview were published Sunday in The Observer newspaper.

McCartney said he still had a master tape of the piece and "the time has come for it to get its moment."

McCartney, usually regarded as the most melodically minded Beatle, told the BBC he had a long-standing interest in avant-garde music. He said "Carnival of Light" was inspired by experimental composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

He said he had wanted to include the track on the Beatles' "Anthology" compilation, but was vetoed by his bandmates.

McCartney would need permission from Ringo Starr and the widows of Lennon and George Harrison to release the track.

How To Save A Major Automobile Company - Neil Young (Yes, THAT one)

Not exactly music related, but still interesting.


How To Save A Major Automobile Company

Neil Young (Yes, THAT one)

Posted November 13, 2008 | 07:57 PM (EST)

Find a new ownership group. The culture must change. It is time to turn the page. In the high technology sector there are several candidates for ownership of a major car and truck manufacturer. We need forward looking people who are not restricted by the existing culture in Detroit. We need visionary people now with business sense to create automobiles that do not contribute to global warming.

It is time to change and our problems can facilitate our solutions. We can no longer afford to continue down Detroit's old road. The people have spoken. They do not want gas guzzlers (although they still like big cars and trucks). It is possible to build large long-range vehicles that are very efficient. People will buy those vehicles because they represent real change and a solution that we can live with.

The government must take advantage of the powerful position that exists today. The Big 3 are looking for a bailout. They should only get it if they agree to stop building autos that contribute to global warming now. The stress on the auto manufacturers today is gigantic. In order to keep people working in their jobs and keep factories open, this plan is suggested:

The big three must reduce models to basics. a truck, an SUV, a large family sedan, an economy sedan, and a sports car. Use existing tooling.

Keep building these models to keep the workforce employed but build them without engines and transmissions. These new vehicles, called Transition Rollers, are ready for a re-power. No new tooling is required at this stage. The adapters are part of the kits described next.

At the same time as the new Transition Rollers are being built, keeping the work force working, utilize existing technology now, create re-power kits to retrofit the Transition Rollers to SCEVs (self charging electric vehicles) for long range capability up to and over 100mpg. If you don't think this technology is realistic or available, check out the Progressive Insurance Automotive X prize. Alternatively, check out Lincvolt.com or other examples.

A bailed out Auto manufacturer must open or re-purpose one or more factories and dedicate them to do the re-power/retrofit assembly. These factories would focus on re-powering the Transition Rollers into SCEVs but could also retrofit and re-power many existing vehicles to SCEVs. These existing vehicles are currently sitting unsold at dealerships across America.

Auto manufacturers taking advantage of a government bailout must only sell clean and green vehicles that do not contribute to global warming. No more internal combustion engines that run exclusively on fossil fuels can be sold period.

No Big Three excuses like "new tooling takes time". New tooling is not a requirement for SCEV transition rollers.

Build only new vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming and enhancing National Security.

Government legislation going with the bailout should include tax breaks for purchasers of these cars with the new green SCEV technology. The legislation accompanying the bailout of major auto manufacturers must include directives to build only vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming while enhancing National security, and provide the financial assistance to make manufacturing these cars affordable in the short term while the industry re-stabilizes.

Eventually the SCEV technology could be built into every new car and truck as it is being assembled and the stop gap plan described above would have completed its job of keeping America building and working through this turbulent time.

Detroit has had a long time to adapt to the new world and now the failure of Detroit's actions is costing us all. We pay the bailout. Let's make a good deal for the future of America and the Planet. Companies like UQM (Colorado) and others build great electric motors right here in the USA. Use these domestic electric motors. Put these people to work now. This plan reverses the flow from negative to positive because people need and will buy clean and green cars to be part of World Change. Unique wheel covers will identify these cars on the road so that others can see the great example a new car owner is making. People want America to win!

This plan addresses the issue of Global warming from our automobiles while enhancing our National Security and keeping Detroit working.

Neil Young, activist (Bridge School, Farm Aid) rock legend, has assembled a team that is in the process of transforming his gargantuan 1959 Lincoln Continental from a gas guzzler into a showcase for green technology and sustainability. The car will be entered into the Automotive X Prize that offers a $10 million prize to develop a vehicle that can get 100 miles per gallon or better. The almost 50 year old Lincoln, one of the biggest, heaviest production cars of all time, has been re-named "Linc Volt" and is the subject of a feature documentary called "Repowering The American Dream" that is now in production under the aegis of Young's Shakey Pictures.

'Led Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else'

This is good for a few laughs.


'Led Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else'


Jack Bruce (above) picked up the Classic Album gong for Cream’s Disraeli Gears at last night's Classic Rock awards.

After the ceremony Dave Ling grabbed Bruce for a quickfire interview – and was stunned when the legendary bassist launched into an extraordinary anti-Led Zeppelin tirade.

Here's a transcript of what transpired…

The million dollar question: Are Cream going to do anything again?
Oh yeah, I’m sure we will. But we’ll have Todd Rundgren [who’s just walked by] in the band by then.

It’s good news that there might be more from Cream.
Well, the trouble is that I’m doing so many amazing things on my own. Cream is just a band from many, many years ago, and we did do something [referring to the reunion shows in 2005]… Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one fucking gig – one fucking lame gig – while Cream did weeks of gigs; proper gigs, not just a lame gig like Zeppelin did, with all the [vocal] keys lowered and everything. We played everything in the original keys. [Becoming animated]: Fuck off, Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else. The worst thing is that people believe the crap that they’re sold. Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is.

That’s a bold opinion.
What? You’re gonna compare Eric Clapton with that fucking Jimmy Page? Would you really compare that?

To be fair, they’re different kinds of player, aren’t they?
No! Eric’s good and Jimmy’s crap. And with that I rest my case.

Are you having a good time this evening?
Sure. Yeah. I always have a good time, but especially tonight.

Especially tonight? So do you go to a lot of awards ceremonies?
No. I don’t go to anything. I’m not allowed out. I’m not even allowed in.

So what made you come along to this?
My wife and my kids insisted.

Why did they insist? Do they like magazine?
They like the magazine, yeah. I like your magazine, too. But that doesn’t mean I have to go along to your awards.

So who have you spent quality time with?
I met a lot of old friends. Jeff Beck. Gary Moore – loads and loads of people that I don’t often see. It’s nice to catch up with them again. Ozzy’s here and it’s really nice.

The atmosphere is quite chilled-out.
It’s excellent. No pressure. It’s quite different to the Grammys, though the Oscars are good.

So Disraeli Gears is now 41 years old.
Is it really? Wow.

It doesn’t seem like 41 years?
No. It seems much longer than that.

It must be an album you’re still proud of?
Of course. Albums like that are timeless. If you make something great – and Disraeli Gears is great, in its own way – it lasts forever. Nobody says Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony sounds dated, do they?