Norah Jones - Come Away With Me - Blue Note Records
Bob Beldon - Black Dahlia - Blue Note Records
Bill Charlap - Stardust - Blue Note Records
Dianne Reeves - The Calling - Blue Note Records
John Coltrane - The Ultimate Blue Train - Blue Note Records

January 23, 2003

The ratings for The Osbournes have dropped dramatically. I, myself, was very excited for the new season to begin. After the first three episodes, however, it became very boring. I quit watching. Now, it looks as if half of it's audience have also tuned out.

But the real news today comes as a result of RIAA's CEO, Hilary Rosen and her abrupt decision to 'hang up the spurs'. Citing her need to be with her young children and electing to finish out the year, Rosen will leave at the height of visibility for the RIAA as it continues to battle traders and a downshifting CD economy. The RIAA searches for her replacement who will need the nerves of steel that Hilary Rosen possessed.

The Cranberries have terminated their Island/Universal contract. No word on who their next label will be but the band cited deflating label interest as the reasoning for the defection. The Cranberries haven't enjoyed the sort of continuing success that they have in the past so scapegoats abound.

The Bee Gees have rightfully decided to cease after the death of brother Maurice Gibb. However, I'm willing to bet that,in time, the brothers will reform for another run.

I can't begin to tell you how depressed I was all day with the realization that BOC's "Agents of Fortune" was delayed. I will have a high strung two months to wait.

Guess what, folks? Apparently, I have irked Duane to the point of 'scratching' insanity. So, I told him to do his own column. Damned if he didn't produce a little something that he wants to turn into a weekly. He is the guy who understands stuff that I have to work with a little so at the end of MY column, I'll post his. Let me know what you think.

We're reading that Biohazard have pulled off the Biohazard/Kittie tour. Vocalist/Bassist Evan Seinfeld was hospitalized for an unknown reason but it must have been serious enough to necessitate the leaving the tour. We'll keep an eye on this news for you.

Rhino is working on a Ronnie James Dio box set concentrated on his career with his many bands and solo experiences. that includes Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf, and Dio. And for Molly Hatchet fans, their new live double disc, "Locked and Loaded" from SPV Records will be issued on February 24.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) has 3 reissues that are remastered with bonus tracks. These are important titles that deserve the treatment:

These titles have been out of print and will release on February 25.

If you were a fan of Murray Head from back in the day, he has 9 reissues coming back to you. You may, or may not, remember his 1984 hit, "One Night in Bangkok" and for the theme song for "Jesus Christ, Superstar":

• Between Us
• Greatest Hits
• Innocence
• Nigel Lived
• Pipe Dreams
• Restless
• Shade
• Sooner or Later
• Voices

OK, I'm wrapping it up. Check back tomorrow for more updates. And I'm working feverishly to get reviews done. So watch for those as well. Now read Duane's column.

Duane's Punk and Blues Notes

Hello MusicTAP readers. Today marks my first column done on a weekly basis regarding Punk Rock and Blues. I'll offer this to you in the same way that Matt does in his daily column without SACD [he's nuts - Editor] references and bands such as the Elder Wishbone Ash [he's insane - Editor] on just about every sentence. I hope to give you, the readers, both useful and informative news. With that having been said, let's go.

On the Punk scene, The Damned are preparing a live concert DVD. There is new Rancid in the works, according to Epitaph. With Rancid busy at work recording their newest album and Brett Gurewitz, once again, producing the album (he did their previous release) and with Nick Raskulinecz engineering, we can expect another big set. Look for that to hit stores sometime in June 2003. Dropkick Murphy's 'Score One For Charity' fatcityrockers.com reports: "As a warm up for their annual St. Patrick’s Day extravaganza, the Dropkick Murphys, along with Kicked In The Head, will be taking part in a Boston Bruins Alumni charity event at The Rack in Boston. Although this posh pool hall is about as punk rock as your average frat party it does put both bands in a very intimate setting. Tickets are going for $100 a pop and can be purchased by downloading this form from The Rack’s website: www.therackboston.com/images/bruinchallengeform.pdf. New Recover: There's a new video for "My Only Cure" from Recover on www.fiddlerrecords.com. There's also a new song off the Bled's up-coming release. The song is called "Dale Earnhardt's Seatbelt."

The New Official Online Home Of The Angry Samoans

Gale Force Records is now the official on-line home of legendary punk band, The Angry Samoans. Due to the fact that their official site is never updated, the band has authorized Gale Force Records to create a new on-line community for their fans. The Angry Samoans are still at it, playing shows for the last few years all over California and even making a trip up to Seattle to play the Experience Music Project with The Dickies and Dwarves to 1000 people. This summer, The Angry Samoans will be embarking on their first ever tour of Europe and the UK, including a stop at the last ever Holidays in the Sun Festival in June. Gale Force Records is a new punk label based out of Hollywood, CA. The first few bands to sign to Gale Force is SideKicK, Split Decision, Blockage, and The Underhills from San Diego. Look for an upcoming spring sampler of the label's bands and some great old school and new school punk bands. Some early confirmed bands River City Rebels, Rock Kills Kid, Angry Samoans, Dickies and many more. Check out the Official Samoans info site and Gale Force Records at www.galeforce-records.com. NOFX Warjournal - You can experience the process of recording an all new album with NOFX by reading the War on Terrorism War Journal. The first entry from Erik Melvin can be read here.

MXPX SuperBowl Commercial

Reeko writes: The word on the street is to keep your ears peeled for a Diet Coke commercial during the SuperBowl that features a new MxPx track from their upcoming record. So all you punk rock jocks, check it out. The Living End will record their next album in America. The band will head to the USA as soon as Big Day Out is over. This will be the first album for The Living End since a car crash seriously injured lead singer Chris Cheney 18 months ago. The positive thing is that there are now plenty of new songs from The Living End to play with and they are nearly all new. "There was a couple of scraps and bits and pieces left over from the last album but out of the almost 50 songs that we've demoed, there is probably only 3 that have older ideas in them. Chris just keeps popping them out" he says. The band plan to release their 3rd album midyear.

Vans Warped 2003 Dates (venues to be confirmed later)

6/19: Boise,ID
6/20: Bozeman, MT
6/21: Salt Lake City
6/22: Denver
6/24: Kansas City, KS
6/25: St. Louis
6/26: Cincinnati
6/27: Indianapolis
6/28: Minneapolis
6/29: Chicago
7/2: Calgary, AB
7/4: Vancouver, BC
7/5: Seattle
7/6: Portland, OR
7/8: San Bernardino, CA
7/9: Long Beach, CA
7/10: San Diego
7/11: Ventura, CA
7/12: San Francisco
7/13: Sacramento
7/15: Phoenix
7/18: San Antonio
7/19: Dallas
7/20: Houston
7/23: Atlanta
7/24: Orlando
7/25: Tampa
7/26: Miami
7/27: Jacksonville, FL
7/28: Charlotte, NC
7/29: Virginia Beach, VA
7/30: Washington, DC
7/31: Boston
8/1: Montreal
8/2: Toronto
8/3: Detroit
8/4: Milwaukee
8/5: Cleveland
8/6: Pittsburgh, PA
8/7: Buffalo, NY
8/8: Philadelphia
8/9: New York City
8/10: Asbury Park, NJ

Onto Blues Notes:

Tone-Cool Records recording artists Susan Tedeschi and North Mississippi Allstars today each scored their second career Grammy® Award Nominations from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, the Susan Tedeschi hit “Alone” from her album "Wait For Me" was singled out along with songs by Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, and Avril Lavigne. In 2000, Susan was nominated in the Best New Artist category on the strength of her certified-gold national debut record, "Just Won't Burn". Also from Tone-Cool Records, "The Story of TONE-COOL", a 24 song survey of the label's recordings. Includes two tracks from Susan Tedeschi, Rod Piazza, and more. Release date is set for February 25th.

That’s it for now folks. I will have some more Blues News after the Super Bowl when I head over to Blind Mellons and Croce’s in San Diego, CA will have more soon. GO RAIDERS! [groan - Editor].