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'Rainbow' Tops AFI's Movie Music List

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" tops the American Film Institute's (AFI) list of top movie songs. The honor for the song, famously sung by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," was revealed last night (June 22) at the conclusion of a three-hour "100 Years ... 100 Songs" special on CBS.

"As Time Goes By," from the 1942 Humphrey Bogart/Ingrid Bergman classic "Casablanca," landed in the runner-up slot, followed by "Singin' in the Rain," from the 1952 Gene Kelly film of the same name.

The seventh installment in AFI's centennial celebration of American cinema, the movie music list follows specials ranking movies, stars, laughs, thrills, passions and heroes and villains.

The AFI's panel evaluated 400 songs, all of which had to have appeared in an American-made feature film. Each song needed to be integral in setting the theme, advancing the plot, setting a tone or mood or defining a character. The cultural impact and legacy of the song was also weighed.

The full list of 100 songs is posted on the AFI's Web site http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/songs.aspx

Here is the top 10 of the AFI's "100 Years ... 100 Songs" list:

1. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" ("The Wizard of Oz," 1939)
2. "As Time Goes By" ("Casablanca," 1942)
3. "Singin' in the Rain" ("Singin' in the Rain," 1952)
4. "Moon River" ("Breakfast at Tiffany's," 1961)
5. "White Christmas" ("Holiday Inn," 1942)
6. "Mrs. Robinson" ("The Graduate," 1967)
7. "When You Wish Upon a Star" ("Pinocchio," 1940)
8. "The Way We Were" ("The Way We Were," 1973)
9. "Stayin' Alive" ("Saturday Night Fever," 1977)
10. "The Sound of Music ("The Sound of Music, 1965)

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Директор Эрмитажа считает концерт Маккартни катастрофой

Концерты вроде выступления Пола Маккартни на Дворцовой площади, в подобных местах проводить недопустимо, утверждает директор Эрмитажа Михаил Пиотровский. Как сообщается на сайте ежедневной газеты "Известия", Пиотровский сказал, что из-за чрезвычайно большой силы звука за время концерта несколько раз даже срабатывала сигнализация и трещали стекла Зимнего дворца. Директор Эрмитажа подчеркнул, что громкие звуки и любая сильная вибрация крайне вредны для экспонатов музея. По его словам, нельзя допустить, чтобы такие акции повторялись.
Директор Эрмитажа подчеркнул, что опасно уже то, что на Дворцовой площади собрались около 60 тысяч человек. Кроме того, в ходе концерта на площади пускали фейерверки, что там делать категорически запрещено. "Получилось, что достигли цели те, кто хотел "выпендриться", организовав важный для себя концерт непременно на Дворцовой. Но ведь есть же много других мест в Петербурге, где такие шоу вполне уместны - пусть бы они там и проходили, - приводит издание слова Пиотровского.

По мнению руководителя Эрмитажа, проводить столь масштабные концерты в исторических центрах городов категорически нельзя - ведь в результате подготовки к шоу страдают и совершено теряются даже сами великолепные пейзажи, которые и привлекают организаторов концертов. Так, построенная на Дворцовой огромная сцена с высоким сверкающим огням задником совершенно закрыла Певческий мост, от чего, по словам Пиотровского, непоправимо страдает аура места.

URL: http://lenta.ru/culture/2004/06/22/concert/

KORN To Cover PINK FLOYD, NIN On Greatest Hits Album

KORN's upcoming greatest hits collection will include two new cover tunes, according to Launch Radio Networks. The group's versions of PINK FLOYD's "Another Brick In The Wall" and NINE INCH NAILS' "Head Like A Hole" will be featured on the album, which is due out this fall. By coincidence, California goth-punk act A.F.I. has also recorded a new version of the latter tune, although they landed a guest appearance from NIN frontman Trent Reznor. A.F.I.'s take on the song is slated to appear on a yet-to-be-named video game. KORN's greatest his package may also include the band's recently recorded collaboration with rapper Lil Jon.

Jane's Addiction Split

Group calls it quits after reunion tour, album

Jane's Addiction's reunion is officially over, as the influential alternative group has called it quits again. Guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney issued a statement through Navarro's Web site announcing the split.
"The deal is that it simply didn't work out," the statement read. "Sometimes the best creative relationships are the most combustible and they aren't meant to last forever."

The group (including original bassist Eric Avery) formed in Los Angeles in 1984 and released two influential studio albums, 1988's Nothing's Shocking and 2000's Ritual de lo Habitual. The group split after headlining the inaugural Lollapalooza Festival -- the brainchild of frontman Perry Farrell -- in 1991.

Ten years later, the members of Jane's announced their plans for a reunion. A new studio set, Strays, was released last year to lukewarm commercial response.

The news falls just days after Farrell had to announce the cancellation of this summer's Lollapalooza due to poor ticket sales.

British band writing opera about Gadhafi

The English National Opera has commissioned British band Asian Dub Foundation to write an opera about the life of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Guitarist Chandrasonic, whose real name is Steve Chandra Savale, has started work on the opera, which is expected to be complete for the 2006 season, BBC reported Thursday.

The musician, who typically plays a mix of rock, Asian and dance music, said he first thought of Gadhafi as the center of a musical piece six or seven years ago.

When I was much younger, all of a sudden this person popped into the press who was completely demonized and seen as the mad dog, and recently we have seen this journey from demonization to rehabilitation. ... he is frightening but fascinating, the way he has pushed himself onto the world stage, Savale said.

Little Steven Gathers Up The Garage Bands

Little Steven is putting together a history making concert in New York City featuring Iggy and the Stooges, The Strokes, New York Dolls, Bo Diddley and The Ravonettes.

Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival will be held on August 14 at Randall's Island in New York City.

The show will be the first appearance for New York Dolls since they reformed earlier this year for the Meltdown Festival in the UK.

The Underground Garage Festival is an extension of Little Steven's nationally syndicated radio show that is heard on 132 radio stations across North America. The E Street Band guitarist started the program on April 7, 2002. He is best known as the guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's band and also has his own band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.

Fans of the hit TV show The Sopranos will also know him as Silvio, one of Tony's loyal henchmen.

Other bands on the festival include The Mooney Suzuki, The Romantics, The Chesterfield Kings, The Fuzztones and The Electric Prunes.

Rhino Looks Back At Talking Heads

Rhino Records has set an Aug. 17 release date for two retrospectives celebrating the work of influential quartet Talking Heads. The label's revamp of the live package "The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads" will mark the first CD issue of a fan-favorite release from 1982, while "The Best of Talking Heads" is the group's first U.S. single-disc greatest-hits set.

Both titles were assembled with the involvement of all of the band's members -- David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and Jerry Harrison.

Originally a double-vinyl set, "The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads" has been buffed up to a two-disc release with the addition of 13 previously unreleased live tracks spanning 1977-1981. Also appended to the album are three cuts from a 1979 promotional-only live disc -- The Girls Want To Be With the Girls," an early version of "Drugs" titled "Electricity" and "Found a Job."

"The Best of Talking Heads" is an 18-track collection of the band's most popular tunes, including "Psycho Killer," "Burning Down the House" and "And She Was."

Last fall, Rhino released the three-CD, one-DVD box set "Once in a Lifetime," including songs from throughout the band's career as well as all its videos. A 1992 Sire/Warner Bros. compilation, "Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand in the Vaseline," surveyed each of the band's studio albums across two discs and added five then-previously unreleased songs.

In related news, former Heads frontman Byrne will follow a July European tour with another North American run. He is touring behind his latest album, "Grown Backwards," released in April by Nonesuch.

Here is one of Byrne's upcoming tour date:
July 17: St. Petersburg, Russia (K-2)

Squeeze Men's Single Life

Difford and Tilbrook don't talk much anymore . . . but they may regroup

It was Rolling Stone that first dubbed Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook -- songwriting axis of U.K. pop-rockers Squeeze -- the Lennon and McCartney of their generation. A quarter of a century later, with Squeeze now in the past, the two men whose names were once creatively synonymous are each busy carving out solo careers. Difford's album I Didn't Get Where I Am was released on DRT in February, while Tilbrook's Transatlantic Ping Pong came out June 8th on Compass Records.
Interestingly, both men are collaborating with other writers in the absence of their former partners. "Collaboration is something that I really enjoy," says Difford, who has co-composed with a variety of people including his album's producer Francis Dunnery. "I used to -- many, many years ago -- write on my own, but I found it a very lonely kind of place to be." Tilbrook's album features co-writes with several others, as well as some solo compositions. He had to learn how to write lyrics, something he didn't do in Squeeze. "It was something I found very difficult at first," admits Tilbrook. "I stopped writing lyrics when I was fourteen when I met Chris. He was a much better lyricist. I didn't start writing again until I was forty. It was a bit of a shock to the system. I wrote loads of stuff I didn't like, that I knew was rubbish, and I just had to get over that hump." Difford, meanwhile, has had to learn how to sing in something more attractive than the croak with which he famously rendered Squeeze anthem "Cool for Cats".

Squeeze folded after Difford decided that 1998's Domino was one album too many. "We made the record because we had a studio to make a record in, but in our hearts I think we knew it wasn't the right time," Difford says. "Also, this was the first time we'd made a record without a record company, and I think that you've got to have the foundations to promote your record and to make it work, because if you don't it's just a wasted effort." Tilbrook counters: "Squeeze made thirteen albums, the last of which came out on my label, and it's the only one to have made any profit."

The Difford and Tilbrook/Lennon and McCartney comparisons are actually mentioned by Difford in his song "No Show Jones." Its lyric sees him also referring to him and Tilbrook as the Captain and Tennille. Explains Difford, "The trouble is, we were Captain and Tennille. We had the ability to write absolute crap and perform like a couple of turkeys." He adds, "We were also Lennon and McCartney, which is much more important. I won't deny it, it was nice to be thought of in those terms, but I never used to think about it terribly much." For his part, Tilbrook says the Beatles comparison was damaging: "I think our writing got a little bit precious round about that time, when we started getting those reviews. That was a quote that was much bandied about and I think that our writing became a little too self-conscious at the time. It took a couple of years to drift back down to earth."

The pair's friendship suffered when Difford left Squeeze. "I felt a little hurt by that exit but then we've had time to sort that out," Tilbrook says. "I understand why Chris is the way he is just like he understands me, so I feel nothing but friendliness and warmth for him." The two are now sufficiently friendly for Difford to have contributed lyrics to a song on Tilbrook's album called "Where I Can Be Your Friend." (Difford says that the song is about their relationship, although he didn't tell Tilbrook this.) Says Difford, "I don't speak to Glenn terribly much. I love him dearly and would like to work with him but I think that we've probably gone too far in different directions to come back together again now, which is quite sad."

In the meantime, Difford is halfway through his next project, a thematic album set in the 1960s with backing from a jazz quartet. Tilbrook is touring America through June. Difford is also keen to do live work, and a Squeeze reunion may not be as remote a possibility as his previous remarks suggest. "I suppose where I'd like to be this time next year is onstage doing a gig somewhere with Squeeze, or if Squeeze aren't around I'll do it on my own," he says. "If there was an offer to tour with Squeeze and Glenn felt that he could accept working with me again, then I think it's probably a very, very possible thing for us to do. "

AMBULANCE CHASER: David Lee Roth

Legendary rocker David Lee Roth, the famed front man for the '80s megaband Van Halen, is apparently reinventing himself as an emergency medical technician.

The other night at the Four Seasons restaurant, the 48-year-old millionaire musician revealed to dinner companions that he has been living in a modest apartment on the lower East Side and showing up most days for EMT training.

"I used to be a surgical orderly in South Central L.A.," he told me yesterday. "I started that when I got out of junior college in the early '70s, and that led to a variety of things in the outdoor medical fire force and training with the Green Berets. ... My father was a surgeon and uncles and my cousins were also in the medical community, so I come by it natural."

Roth, who said he has relocated to New York from his estate in Pasadena, Calif., specifically to train as an EMT, said he hopes to obtain his certification in November and work as a volunteer one weekend per month.

"I want to be working in the outer boroughs. This city promises great color and insight in each and every neighborhood," Roth said. "On the upper East Side, it's gonna be heart attacks and stomach aches. But in other neighborhoods, it's all trauma."

Presumably Roth won't be singing "Jump!" to a distraught person on a ledge.

He said he started his EMT training last Friday under the auspices of New York safety consultant Linda Reissman. "She's got a résumé as long as your femur," Roth said. "That's a medical joke."

Speaking of jokes, fellow diner Lawrence Robins asked Roth at the table: "What would happen if you ended up having to work a rock concert and deal with somebody who had overdosed? Can you imagine the reaction when they saw you putting the oxygen mask on them?"

Roth, according to Robins, replied, "You know, it's funny, we've actually discussed what would happen if I rescued a Van Halen fan."

Yesterday Roth - who has been very low key about his new pursuit - demurred, "You're getting way off on a tangent, my friend. My dream would be to save a Scandinavian hikerette."

Kool & The Gang Reload (with video)

Kool and the Gang have done the unconventional thing for their best of album. They re-recorded their hits with special guests.

According to the band members, they didn't want to do a tribute album so they worked with other artists to make the record.

'Hits Reloaded' features collaborations with Sean Paul, Atomic Kitten, Lil' Kim, Ashanti, Blazin' Squad, Lisa Stansfield, Jimmy Cliff, Jamiroquai, Angie Stone, Youssou N'Dour, Redman, Blackstreet, Natural, Mousse T, and Xavier Naidoo.

Priest To Play The Hits On Ozzfest

After 14 years apart, the seeds of reunion between Judas Priest and its former lead singer Rob Halford were planted, cultivated and harvested in just a matter of hours last year.

"We actually made the decision in a meeting about the British box set. We went into the meeting with no intention of discussing reformation and when we came out, we decided to do it," guitarist Glenn Tipton tells Billboard.com. "It was a completely spur-of-the-moment decision. We had offers for two or three years and as you know, Rob was doing his solo thing and [Priest was touring] with [singer Tim] Ripper [Owens], [so] we turned them down. But then we just realized that if we didn't do it now, we'd never do it. It was that simple."

With the mammoth five-disc (four CD/one DVD) career-spanning box set "Metalogy" having arrived in stores last month, Judas Priest is currently on tour in Europe, readying for its high-profile slot on Ozzfest 2004, which begins July 10 in Hartford, Conn. With a set list aimed directly at a new generation of metal fans, the legendary band is playing it straight this time out.

"It is not really a greatest hits [tour] but it is total classic Priest," says Tipton. "We felt that after 14 years, that is what people not only want but deserve. So, instead of trying to be clever, or playing long-lost numbers or things that really people didn't expect, we felt that for these summer dates, the set list should just include classic Priest. So, that is what we are giving them." This includes "Breaking the Law," "Living After Midnight," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," "Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)," "Beyond the Realms of Death" and more.

Tipton says the band's next disc, which is completely written and recorded with only overdubs outstanding, will be out later this year, with a follow-up tour on tap for 2005. The guitarist said he couldn't disclose the title of the album, which will be released by Sony.

While he's looking forward with Priest, Tipton can't help but look back at what former frontman Owens provided the band.

"We consider the Ripper years [to be] great years," says Tipton. "We did two fantastic albums -- 'Jugulator' and 'Demolition' -- and it proved a lot to ourselves and to the fans, and it proved to be very interesting, a slightly different angle to the band. And it was certainly commendable from Ripper's point of view particularly, and I think [important] for the band's survival through difficult years. So, I think it does make the reunion, I suppose, more nostalgic in that sense."

The mission of Three Dog Night
Band looking for recognition of place in pop history
CNN
Monday, June 28, 2004

(Chuck Negron, Cory Wells and Danny Hutton, in the center, led Three Dog Night in the early '70s. )

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- "One" was a pretty good number for Three Dog Night.

The band had three No. 1 singles in the early '70s -- "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Joy to the World" and "Black and White." The band was perhaps the No. 1 chart group of that time, with 21 Top Forty hits between 1969 and 1974. And then, of course, "One," the Harry Nilsson song, became its first Top Ten hit. (It peaked at No. 5.)

But "One," as Nilsson wrote, is a pretty lonely number, too. Because, even though Three Dog Night was on top of the world for a time, the band finds little respect nowadays.

"We've been on a mission in a way," says Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton in an interview with CNN.com to promote the band's new greatest hits CD, "Three Dog Night: The Complete Hit Singles" (Geffen/UTV). "We're trying to get people to realize our place in history, how popular we were. We've kind of been buried."

That's often the fate of bands perceived as singles groups, particularly groups who peaked in the early '70s, as if singles were piffle compared to the "serious" long-form LP. (Rock critic Dave Marsh did much to resuscitate the single with his 1989 book, "The Heart of Rock and Soul.")

And, adds fellow 3DN singer Cory Wells, Three Dog Night never thought of itself as a singles band anyway.

"We never released a single. We released albums," he says. "The public picked the singles."

"We usually [thought] the first song on side one was the single," adds Hutton. "We were never right."

Diverse influences

Hutton was right about other things, however, particularly the concept for Three Dog Night itself.

In the mid-'60s, the Ireland-born Hutton was a solo singer having little success; Wells was singing lead for an L.A. band called the Enemys. The two became friends and brought in versatile Chuck Negron to try Hutton's idea of a band with three lead singers.

The group had many influences, Hutton and Wells say. Negron's background was doo-wop; the other singers drew from their favorites.

"I loved Little Richard. ... And folkie-Celtic European kinds of things," Hutton observes.

"I was a big fan of black gospel," adds Wells. "As a kid there were black groups I sang with from my teen years to my early 20s."

The three linked up with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and actually recorded some tracks for him (one, "Darlin'," was a 1968 Beach Boys hit). Wilson called the band Redwood; that quickly became Three Dog Night, after an Australian aboriginal expression regarding a particularly frigid night.

Hutton, Wells and Negron drafted four musicians for instrumental support, and by 1969 the group was on the charts to stay.

'The songs came from everywhere'

Three Dog Night was also known for covering songs by then-little known songwriters. Besides Nilsson's "One," there were Hoyt Axton's "Joy" and "Never Been to Spain," Laura Nyro's "Eli's Coming," Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me," Paul Williams' "An Old-Fashioned Love Song," Russ Ballard's "Liar" and John Hiatt's "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here."

"Our focus was on good music, instead of a theme," says Hutton. "The songs came from everywhere -- demos that came in, friends."

Being touched by Three Dog Night had profound financial rewards. The two say that Hiatt, then a nightclub-and-hotel entertainer working for a song publisher, went out and bought a Cadillac with his "Sittin' Here" royalties. Newman, who had established a critical following but no chart success with his first two albums, broke through with his third studio record, 1972's "Sail Away," after 3DN took "Mama Told Me" (from "12 Songs") to No. 1 in 1970.

Three Dog Night itself just focused on making the record, "taking the song apart and cutting the fat out" in Hutton's words.

The quickest recordings often worked best: "Never Been to Spain" was recorded in 45 minutes, the two recall. On the other hand, "Heavy Church," from 1970's "Naturally," took 10 days "and just laid there," says Hutton.

Negron left the group in 1977, and the other two singers devoted themselves to other pursuits. Hutton became "a bad amateur carpenter," he says; Wells devoted himself to cabinetry and fishing. (He lived in legendary arranger Nelson Riddle's old house, winning the sale over a lawyer when Riddle told his real estate agent, "Sell it to the musician.")

But the band has been back touring for several years, and the crowds still come out to see Three Dog Night. The group still has four of its seven original members -- not bad for a band in its 36th year.

"When we do a tour, our job is to take people back to the '70s," says Wells.

Still, it would be nice to have a little more recognition, they note.

"We have opening acts who are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," says Hutton. He shrugs. "But you can't live life wondering. We're here, and we're kicking ass."

(Three Dog Night still tours regularly. Danny Hutton and Cory Wells are in the front.)

Sex 'n' violence Mozart causes ruckus
Berlin production of 'Seraglio' greeted with 'Scandal!'
Monday, June 28, 2004

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- A Mozart opera modernized to feature prostitutes, full-frontal nudity, drugs and sadistic violence has created a storm in Berlin.

The premiere of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" at the Komische Oper last week was met with shouts of "Scandal!" and "That's not Mozart!," and threats by opera house sponsor DaimlerChrysler that it would pull its $24,000 annual funding.

"The overall depiction of sex and violence is absolutely unacceptable," Matthias Kleinert, an adviser to DaimlerChrysler president and chief executive Juergen Schrempp, told the Bild daily.

"When the prostitutes were massacred on stage I had to leave," he told Berlin's BZ daily.

The production, from Spanish director Calixto Bieito, moves the comic opera from an 18th century Turkish palace to a brothel, full of forced prostitution, drug abuse and violence.

The performance has its supporters, and the opera house has reported strong turnouts.

Berlin's top culture official, Thomas Flierl, called the opera "a true reflection of social phenomena," though Komische Oper artistic director Andreas Homoki said DaimlerChrysler's stance was understandable.

It is "legitimate and clear if a trustee withdraws because it can't identify with the theater any more," he told the Berliner Morgenpost.

The opera house receives about $300,000 from corporate and private donations.

Two years ago, Bieito's production of Verdi's "A Masked Ball" at the English National Opera was panned by British critics for its nudity, simulated gang rape and cross-dressing. Tenor Julian Gavin withdrew from the lead role before rehearsals started because of the staging.

Bieito's 2001 production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at the ENO was booed on opening night. In that staging, Don Giovanni had sex in the back of a car and behind a bar, and instead of being dragged down to hell in the closing scene, he was stabbed to death by the characters whose lives he defiled.

Guitar grandfather turns 50
June 29, 2004

THE sainted grandfather of electric guitars, the Fender Stratocaster, famously cradled on stage by music legends from Buddy Holly to Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, is turning 50.

It was half a century ago that the curvaceous instrument, recently named by What Guitar? magazine as the world's greatest electric guitar, debuted in a career that would change the sound of music forever.

Invented by a California radio repairman, the "Strat" became an instant staple for rock 'n roll musicians, starting with Holly, and won iconic status when Hendrix vaunted his on stage as he famously performed The Star Spangled Banner at the 1969 Woodstock concert.

"It's an American rock 'n roll icon. There is no more recognisable guitar in contemporary music than the Strat," University of Southern California guitar professor Richard Smith said.

"From a technical standpoint, it was a genius invention because it's absolutely practical – it moulds into the body perfectly. As soon as you hold one, it embraces you," Prof Smith, an acclaimed jazz recording artist, said.

The Stratocaster was first produced in early 1954 by Los Angeles engineer Leo Fender, who had tinkered with improving amplified hollow-body instruments since the 1940s.

He produced the first solid-body guitars, including the Telecaster Broadcaster models, in 1951 and the Stratocaster, with its simple built-in electronics, first hit stores in September of 1954.

Its incredible versatility has lent it easily to rock, jazz, R and B, heavy metal, reggae and classic guitar tunes. From the start, its sound could differ completely between genres or even from player to player.

"There is an intangible alchemy to putting a neck on a chunk of wood to make a guitar," Prof Smith said.

"No two Strats sound alike. They have an incredible variety of sounds available on the same instrument. It's brilliant. There is no other instrument like it on God's earth."

The instrument has hardly changed in the 50 years that it has produced Holly hits, the blues riffs of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the soulful sounds of Clapton, the shimmering tone of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, the sound of Joe Walsh of the Eagles, and the melodies of Jeff Beck.

Even as the company's custom production plant in Corona, near Los Angeles, produces special collectors' replicas of the first Stratocaster, selling for a cool $US5400 ($7725), its basic modern production models remain essentially the same, barring some electronics and materials updates.

"Fender got it right back in '54," Fender Musical Instruments spokesman Morgan Ringwald said from the company's corporate headquarters in Scottsville, Arizona.

"It's versatile and simple and 50 years on, it hasn't changed a great deal."

A Stratocaster can cost anywhere between $US499 for a model from Fender's cut-price factory in Ensenda, Mexico, to a specially designed, model, such as the gold-inlaid version made to mark the 75th anniversary of Walt Disney's Fantasia, which cost about $US75,000, Ringwald said.

Special Strats, including a mass production model bearing Eric Clapton's name and replicas of Hendrix's legendary Woodstock model – one of the all-time favourites among Strat fans – can costs a few hundred or a few thousand US dollars.

Musicians including Clapton, Beck, Alanis Morisette, John Mayer and Shakira order their personalised Strats at the Corona plant, where craftsmen work with the stars' technical aides to produce exactly the guitar they want.

Rod Back with Ron!

Rod got back together with his old Faces pal Ron Wood tonight for a blistering rendition of the Faces smash 'Stay With Me' at the Olympic Torch concert in London.

Rod, who headlined the prestigious show, opened with 'Stay With Me' prior to the supporting artists - including Ozzy Osbourne and James Brown - playing their songs. He then closed the show with 'Rhythm Of My Heart' and 'Sailing' joined on stage by the cast of the London musical 'Tonight's The Night'.

We can exclusively reval that Rod is planning a date at London's Royal Albert Hall for later in the year. Watch this space!

Meanwhile, Rod has almost completed his new album 'The Great American Songbook Volume III'. Guests on the album include Stevie Wonder.

INFINITY SIGNS ON AS SPONSOR FOR ROD STEWART SUMMER 2004 TOUR

Infinity Sound Systems, a leading manufacturer of high-performance loudspeakers and infotainment systems for the home and the car, today announced it has signed on as the official sponsor of legendary musician Rod Stewart on his upcoming North American summer tour, "From Maggie May To The Great American Songbook." The 37-city tour begins on July 1st in Orlando, Fla., and continues through August 30th, finishing at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Infinity, which is known worldwide for offering high-performance audio products through superior technology performance and design, continues its goal of presenting only the best in music on concert stages around the world and superb audio systems for the home and the car. Parent company Harman International and their well-renowned brands have sponsored tours with some of the greatest names in Rock `n' Roll -- JBL/Eric Clapton's "North American 2004 Summer" tour, Mark Levinson/Sir Paul McCartney's "04 Summer" tour, Harman Kardon/Sir Paul McCartney's "Back In The World 2003" tour, Infinity/The Eagles' "Farewell 1" tour and JBL/The Who's "Summer 2002" tour.

As a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rod Stewart has thrilled listeners with his distinctively expressive voice since the Sixties, where he gained prominence with trailblazing British bands such as the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces, before launching a remarkably successful solo career. On this current tour, Stewart will be performing songs from his extensive catalog of hits including "Maggie May," "Tonight's The Night," "You're In My Heart," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and "Have I Told You Lately." Stewart's most recent album, "As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook: Volume II," a reprise of his mega-successful (more than 4 million sold) "It Had To Be You ... The Great American Songbook," recently entered the Billboard Top 200 Album charts at #2. "From Maggie May To The Great American Songbook" is a culmination of the legendary singer's impressive career that recently reached new heights with 3 albums on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.

As a supporter of Rod Stewart's North American tour, his first concert tour in three years, Infinity will maintain a highly visible presence at all of its 37 stops. Infinity will be featured on signage at all the venues, as well as on programs, tickets, advertising and other media. In addition, a video featuring Infinity home and car audio products will be presented during the intermission at each concert.

Infinity is a leading supplier of consumer home theater and stereo loudspeakers, as well as a global automotive OEM supplier for advanced-technologies/infotainment systems including car audio, multimedia and navigation for major automobile manufacturers.

Joe Pullin, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems Vice President of Global Marketing, stated: "Aligning ourselves with legendary Rod Stewart will provide synergy for Infinity and our infotainment systems. His pure entertainment and concert quality sound is positioned closely to our brand and product attributes."

Rod Stewart voiced his appreciation about the sponsorship with Infinity: "I am very pleased to have the support of Infinity. They are one of the most respected names in audio and they share the position as I do in presenting great music."

Eli Harary, Infinity Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Mike Giffin, President of Harman Consumer Group Mobile Aftermarket Division, noted: "We are truly honored to sponsor Rod Stewart on his up-coming tour. Having sponsored previous tours, we feel very lucky to have once again found a performer of exceptional musical talent and appeal who is the ideal fit for illustrating the sharp, clear power and brilliance of the Infinity sound."

Waits' 'Real Gone' Arrives This Fall

The wait for a new Tom Waits studio album is nearly over. The inimitable artist's "Real Gone" will be released Oct. 5 through Epitaph's Anti- Records label.

As previously reported, the 15-track disc was written and produced by Waits and his wife/longtime collaborator Kathleen Brennan and recorded in an old Mississippi schoolhouse.

Known for refusing to conform to any style or structure, Waits is said to have combined everything from funk and Jamaican rhythms to urban and rural blues on "Real Gone." The set features such cuts as the comic, funky and instructional "Metropolitan Guide," the R&B/hip-hop inspired "To of the Hill" (featuring vocal percussion supplied by Waits) and the rock-steady groover "Sins of the Father."

Musicians contributing to the album are Larry Taylor (guitar, bass), Marc Ribot (guitar), Primus' Les Claypool (bass) and Brian "Brain" Mantia (drums) and Shotgun Messiah's Harry Cody (guitar, banjo), as well as Waits' son, Casey.

Curiously absent from the set is the piano, a staple instrument of past Waits recordings, while turntablist elements of hip-hop are incorporated for the first time.

"Real Gone" will be the follow-up to the simultaneously released 2002 concept albums "Blood Money" and "Alice." Those sets, which stemmed from previous theatrical collaborations with Robert Wilson, debuted at No. 32 and No. 33 on The Billboard 200, respectively. Waits last toured behind his first Epitaph-related release, 1999's acclaimed "Mule Variations."

For more than three decades, Waits has been a critical favorite driven by a passionate and sometimes frenetic artistic vision. Although he has remained a cult figure within the realm of popular music, he has wielded substantial influence on other artists. In recent months alone, his songs have appeared on albums by Norah Jones ("The Long Ride Home" on "Feels Like Home"), Diana Krall ("Temptation" on "The Girl in the Other Room") and Lucinda Williams ("Hang Down Your Head," a bonus track on the Australian version of "World Without Tears").

Waits also guests on the latest Los Lobos album, "The Ride," and has contributed songs to the soundtracks to "Shrek 2" ("Little Drop of Poison") and Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" ("Saw Sage" with C-Side). He appears in the latter, in a roadside cafe segment with Iggy Pop.

Moby, Public Enemy Make War

New collaborative single available online

Moby and Public Enemy's new collaboration, "Make Love F*ck War" is being released this week through the iTunes Music Store. The song, originally written and recorded for an upcoming compilation for the 2004 Olympic Games, is being sold as a single for ninety-nine cents, or as an EP with varying versions for $2.97.

Organizers for the Olympic compilation were responsible for putting the collaboration together. "They approached me and asked if I'd like to do something with Public Enemy," Moby says. "Back when I used to DJ in the mid- to late-Eighties, I played Public Enemy all the time. I've been a fan of theirs since forever, so of course I said yes."

Moby created the music for "Make Love F*ck War," while PE's Chuck D and Flavor Flav inked the lyrics, inspired by events of the past year. Moby went back in time to complement the duo's lyrics. "I was trying to go for that late-Eighties Bomb Squad production sound," he says. "A few of my friends said, 'Wow it sounds really dated.' [Laughs] I said, 'Well yeah, that's the point.' I didn't want to make some kind of Neptunes-ish, slick R&B track with Chuck D on it. I wanted to make something that sounded like a building falling down."

In addition to making the song available through the iTunes, Moby contributed a list of his top ten protest songs to the Music Store, a task that proved more difficult than he initially anticipated, as half of the songs he picked weren't yet available on iTunes. "You can't fault iTunes, you can fault the slow people at the labels who would rather see their music downloaded illegally," he says. "My favorite protest song of all time, though I'm not sure if it's technically a protest song, isn't there yet: John Lennon's 'Imagine.' But popular music is full of great protest music, so I found another five. There's great stuff from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Public Enemy and the Clash."

Moby also says he's targeting an April 2005 release for the follow-up to 2002's 18, though he's not really sure what it will sound like, as he's already recorded three albums and plans to release one of the three. "I guess I'm a little bit of an overachiever," he says. "I'm playing them for my friends and asking, 'Which one do you guys like?' Cause I think I like them all."