Stranded In Stereo: Monday Morning Newsletter (9/22/08)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Monday Morning Newsletter (9/22/08)

Politics continue to permeate our music news. Former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann have signed on to headline a fundraiser for Senator Barack Obama in Pennsylvania this October. Though some members have appeared together previously, all four have not shared a stage as a group since their 2004 tour. The Change Rock Event is October 13th at the University of Pennsylvania. McCain tried to schedule a competing fundraiser concert, but then discovered that Frank Sinatra was dead.

Disturbed will be releasing a live album, titled Live & Indestructible, exclusively through iTunes on September 30th. Their Music As A Weapon tour is scheduled to begin in March of 2009. This should be about as exciting as Milli Vanilli’s live album.

The Chicago Cubs, a team that hasn’t won a World Series for 100 years, now has their own theme song.
Eddie Vedder, vocalist for Pearl Jam has released a song for the Chicago baseball franchise. It's called "All the Way." It’s crap.

Richard Wright died this week due to cancer–related complications. He was 65. Wright was one of Pink Floyd's founding members, playing keyboards in an early incarnation of Sigma 6. Wright was fired from the group in 1979, but returned for the 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. He last performed with the group in 2005 for Live 8.

One of the most bad-ass drummers in rock n’ roll died this week.
Earl Palmer was a session drummer for an unnameable number of hits including such classics as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin," Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High," Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" and "I Hear You Knockin'" by Smiley Lewis. He was 84. Palmer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Chiodos is releasing a limited edition CD, Bone Pallace Ballet: Grand Coda, on October 28. This augments their original Bone Pallace Ballet album from last year with four new songs, 2 acoustic versions, and a 30-minute DVD.

It was revealed this week that 39-year old rapper Nate Dogg has had another stroke. He was hospitalized on September 5 and degraded to the point of requiring life support. He has stabilized but is paralyzed on the left side of his body. A spokesperson claims that this is due to his bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle. José would like to know what the hell Nate Dogg is eating that is so dangerous?

Also reporting from the ICU is vocalist
Natalie Cole. She been hospitalized due to complications arising from her chronic Hepatitis C. Her current location is currently undisclosed, but a spokesperson concedes that she likely contracted the disease through her drug use years ago. Dr. House says that Hep C requires blood-to-blood contact so “drug use” means smack. José says smack is wack babe.

One of the creators of the Motown sound died this week.
Norman Whitfield died Wednesday after a long battle with diabetes. His producer credits included "I Heard It through the Grapevine,” by Gladys Knight, "War" by Edwin Starr, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone" by the Temptations, and "Car Wash" by Rose Royce. In 1973 he left Motown and founded his own eponymous label where he released early albums by Junior Walker among others. He was 67.

If you saw the cover of Vibe this week, you may not have seen what you thought you did.
Ciara (who graced the cover naked), claims that she was not naked at the photoshoot. In her version of the story, artists removed her panties digitally, as opposed to using rum. Vibe contends that the girl was butt naked and they have the pictures to prove it.

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