In the midst of promoting Erasure’s latest collection due later this month, Nightbird, frontman Andy Bell announced that he is HIV positive in an interview and then he posted a special message on the band’s Web site. By doing so, Andy intends to dispel some of the prejudices and myths about being HIV positive, he wrote, ‘there is still so much hysteria & ignorance surrounding HIV & AIDS let’s just get on with life i.e. making music, doing a live tour & generally having a good time.’ Now with the label MUTE, the new Erasure album Nightbird chirps the familiar friendly feel-good melodies and twisted lyrics with a big chorus. The duo is scheduled to bring ‘The Erasure Show’ to the Chicago Theater on April 29.
What the world needs now is not another album loaded with duets of standards, but an exception will be made for Dionne Warwick. The ’60s soul icon is showing us ‘that’s what friends are for’ by pulling in some of the best talent together. With a caliber of Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Elton John, Pink and the members of Destiny’s Child, this is a most welcomed return for Dionne. Per Billboard magazine, this duets album should be out later this year.
Somebody’s spin doctor is working over time: Jennifer Lopez is claiming a rebirth after the media onslaught known as Bennifer and Gigli. J-lo is reminding those who can pay attention long enough why she is really a star, not by putting on weight to her backside, but by sharing the spotlight as she did on Will & Grace and in Shall We Dance. The latina star’s new album Rebirth is slated for release March 1 and boasts collaborations with Fat Joe and her husband Marc Antony. One of her new songs is titled ‘Cherry Pie’, but alas it is not a cover of the big-hair metal jam by Warrant—that would have even allowed us to forgive her for the movie Jersey Girl.
There are plenty of reality shows involving rockstars. Motley Crue currently has the bragging rights for having the drummer and singer in the midst of their own productions. Tommy Lee is in the works for a reality show about returning to school, while singer Vince Neil did a special episode of Remaking on VH-1 involving his recent plastic surgery procedures and preparations for a comeback. Both of these are just in time to coincide with the regrouping of the original members of Motley Crue, as they tour Red, White and Crue and release a two-disc career-spanning collection.
Ghetto-fabulous rapper Lil’ Kim has more cameras following her than usual for her upcoming VH-1 special ‘Makeover.’ Once this takes off, Lil’ Kim will be the first African American female musician to star in her own reality show. As a tie-in, the hip hop star recently announced that she is launching her own line of women’s clothes, Hollyhood, which should be available in select stores later this year. She showed her softer side by starting up Lil’ Kim Cares, which benefits battered women, runaways and the homeless.
Despite the omni-presence of reality shows, there still are some sitcoms and dramas in TV land that are not re-runs from their prime. Desperate Housewives found its audience and in the recent re-airing of the first episode they caught me by subtly playing ‘Fade into You’ by Mazzy Star in the background during a flashback scene. ‘Fade into You’ is one of the most beautiful songs out there and has been licensed for commercials after putting the down-tempo group on everybody’s it-list in the mid-’90s. Even British DJ Richard X sampled the tune perfectly into his effort with Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker, ‘Into You.’ A special CD/DVD collection of Mazzy Star’s material is being drawn together for release shortly by Capitol / EMI, per a fansite.
We might be tired of hearing it at every wedding and work party, but the song ‘Love Shack’ by the B-52s was inspired by a bunch of run-down houses in Georgia, one of which is where vocalist Kate Pierson lived in the ’70s. Unfortunately, the singer’s former house recently caught fire and burnt down. The cause, possibly arson, has not been clarified, but maybe too many sparks were flying?
As we wait for Annie Lennox’s Greatest Hits and for the re-issues of the classic Eurythmics albums to materialize, the Tourists provide us with ample material to sate our need for more Annie. In the late ’70s, Dave Stewart and Annie were members of the pop-punk quintet the Tourists, even having a hit with a cover of Dusty Springfield’s classic ‘I Only Want to Be With You’. Epic released the 10-track collection Should Have Been Greatest Hits and BMG accumulated a more expansive 20-track retrospective Greatest Hits, both of these span more than just the highs of the band and are slipped discs. Songs like ‘Useless Duration of Time,’ ‘One Step Nearer the Edge’ and ‘It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way’ capture the punk attitude of the era, but they are candy coated for a more pop audience, with hints of the sounds of Blondie and the Pretenders. Even after 25 years, these songs still maintain an ageless pop and rock authenticity.