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oh my gosh - if you’re around my age (32) you simply must have some level of affection for boy george and culture club - i still remember listening to karma chameleon when i was kid and thinking to myself that lead singer boy george was way cool - next month he’s doing a small club tour here in the states and i bought my tickets awhile ago - i’ll be seeing him play at the el rey theatre on july 15th - the night after i catch coldplay on the first night of their US tour (i am in love with chris martin - and contrary to recent reports the band’s new album viva la vida does not suck) the middle of july is going to be super hot! i just love going to concerts - tomorrow morning i’ll be picking up janet jackson tickets for when she comes to los angeles in september!



the pictures below are from tonight’s opening of the RS lounge club over in london where boy george lent his DJ skills (i just bought a kick-ass technics turntable - finally i can play my vinyl) he actually looks fairly decent (he was never a cute guy - interesting - oh yes - cute….no) he’s had a bunch of super messy incidents over the years but somehow he still manages to pull himself together (as a bonus i’ve included the video for do you really want to hurt me? one of the band’s best songs and he better sing it live in july) popbytes over & out for now…xxoo

PHOTOS | WENN

CTV is reporting that Canadian Idol season 5 runner up, Jaydee Bixby, will soon be releasing his debut album! Recorded in Vancouver, BC, his album “Cowboys and Cadillacs” stays true to Jaydee’s country vibe. The first single to be released is called “Old Fashioned Girls“, which you can listen to in the photo montage below.
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Take our ink-stained hands and join us at the OldStand, where Jon McMillan goes to remind everyone what an honest-to-goodness music magazine is supposed to look like.

We’ve suffered through some half-assed list issues here at the OldStand, but RS 602 (”New Faces ‘91″) has a compelling mixture of the thoughtful, the prescient, and the ridiculous. On the plus side: David Fricke’s trip inside the acid-fried mind of Ministry’s Alain Jourgensen, the patron saint of Chicago’s Wax Trax records, and a primer on independent labels which, in the days before the internet, might have been a suburban kid’s first exposure to Matador, Sub Pop, Creation, and Flying Nun.

As with any exercise in picking the “next big thing,” there are some hits and some misses. The Charlatans UK (lead singer Tim Burgess looks “like New Kid on the Block Jordan Night on ecstasy”) and De La Soul are still active 17 years later, and it’s hard to argue with the Chris Isaak pick. Even the obligatory artists-recommend-artists section has a few gems, including Brian Eno on My Bloody Valentine: “[Soon] sets a new standard for pop … it’s the vaguest piece of music ever to have been a hit.”

And then there’s New Faces cover boys Extreme. Allow me to transcribe:

“There are lines you draw, Paul, no matter what you do,” Bettencourt is saying. “We could sell a million records, but if it’s all twelve-year-old girls who think that one of us is pretty, what the fuck kind of audience is that to have? Of course you want to be rich, but how far would you go, you know? Would you suck dick to do it?”

“Thaaat’s debatable!” barks Cherone happily.

Bettencourt and Geary shoot irritated glances at Cherone, then get back to the topic at hand.

“Seriously, what’s the most important thing to you?” asks Geary. “Maintaining your integrity? What I’m saying is, if you’ve got your bottom line, then shut up. You want your cake and eat it, too.”

The two continue to hammer away at each other; apparently neither realizes that although they’re approaching the argument from different angles, they’re both making the same point.

“I recently read this thing,” Geary says. “The guitar players in Warrant were in Guitar Player, and I notice that they’re struggling for respect from their peers. That’s a big major problem for them. They have all the money, and they’ve got success, and…”

“I’m just making a point,” says Geary. “Warrant is saying, ‘Jeez, I got a million dollars, but I don’t have any integrity,’ and you’re saying you’d rather have what you have than what they have.”

“Okay, then be quiet,” says Bettencourt sullenly.

More than words, indeed!

And it gets even more embarrassing, with a not-nearly-ironic-enough pullout fashion spread featuring dueling MCs Hammer and Van Winkle and a shitload of Z Cavaricci (Hammer: “Contrary to the Media, Vanilla Ice and I have actually been friends for about three years”). Now, I don’t know much about fashion, but I do know that in 2-4 years, when the coming early-90s nostalgia apocalypse comes, we will all look like idiots. Except, apparently, for Vanilla Ice, who will look like Frank Sinatra.

People in London are flipping their wigs, literally and most likely literally, too, at the news of the Foos show Saturday night in Wembley stadium. Billboard.com reports on This Moment In Rock History:

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones turned an already high-profile Foo Fighters show into a once-in-a-lifetime event Saturday night (June 7) at London’s Wembley Stadium, joining the Foos for covers of Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” and “Ramble On.”

Taylor Hawkins sang “Rock And Roll,” and Grohl took vocals on “Ramble On” because that is what singers do. Dave later told the crowd that it was “the greatest day of my entire life” because duh. Take it away, super loud YouTube clips:

good morning! there has been a new track floating around the net over the past few weeks from the legendary deborah harry (of blondie) called fit right in (produced by brooklyn’s super buddha) and as per usual it’s really catchy tune - i wouldn’t expect anything less from ms. harry - who will be going back on tour this summer with blondie (parallel lines 30th anniversary tour) that would be a totally fun show to attend! take a listen to the new single below plus there’s a ‘bonus’ video of deborah sitting down to chat with actress (and now singer…ugh) scarlett johansson as part of myspace’s artist on artist series! popbytes over & out for now…oh monday…xxoo

» listen to deborah harry’s fit right in [windows media player]

Amy Winehouse has been on a downward spiral for the better part of this and last year. Now her career may well be over. News of the World obtained leaked footage of Amy Winehouse singing a racist chant, “Blacks, Pakis, Gooks and Nips, Gooks and Nips! (And deaf and dumb and blind and gay!)” …

On St. Elsewhere, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse covered the Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone.” Gordon Gano & Co. have now returned the favor, offering their take on “Crazy.” (Which, yes, true, has already been covered by almost everyone, from Twilight Singers to Nelly Furtado and back.) So far less than a minute’s streaming, but even from this sound clip we can see that the Femmes are staying pretty true to the original’s script: Gano even does the “ha ha ha” where Cee-Lo lays his laugh. Because it’s the Violent Femmes, though, it’s a lot creepier (in a good way). And it sounds like the Violent Femmes.

American Idol season 7 runner-up, David Archuleta, has signed a recording contract with 19 Recordings/Jive Records.  He is expected to release and album later this year. 
Simon Fuller, the creator of Idol, believes that David has a great career to look forward to and said: “It was fascinating to watch David’s journey through ‘Idol.’ He is […]

here’s lead singer beth ditto of gossip leaving via the back door of london club punk wearing a garbage bag as a ‘disguise’ - lame attempts like this to fool photographers always fail miserably - ms. ditto looks like a complete messy train wreck - but i love beth no matter what! (i love how by the end she breaks free of her plastic constraint and manages to flash the peace sign) popbytes over & out for tonight…xxoo (oh thank heavens tomorrow is friday!)

PHOTOS | WENN

Every bit of that headline is true. In this simple, one-take footage, the Hawaiian-born, Minnesota-based singer-songwriter and the Shins’ frontman do a pretty duet on “Something About Your Love” from Jennings’s sixth full-length In The Ever. Please note the awesomely chill bearded guy, who is not Will Oldham, but who is sitting by the side, letting this tall glass of mellow wash over him like a warm breeze.