Showbiz411

That was fast. The tracks from the “12-12-12″ concert are up on iTunes and there’s a list of songs that will be available soon on a physical CD. (No word on a DVD yet, but that involves editing of film, etc.) Strangely, the online album has no tracks or evidence of a performance by Kanye West, who was only one of two black artists featured on the show. (The other was Alicia Keys.) Kanye has been excised entirely, even  though he executed 11 of his, uh, songs including “GoldDigga,” his biggest hit. It’s unclear what happened, whether Kanye was snubbed or didn’t want to be on there by his own choice.

Also missing from the offering is most of Paul McCartney’s set. Only his opening number, “Helter Skelter” is on the iTunes album. The rest of his extremely lively performance–remarkable especially for the late hour is MIA including “Live and Let Die,” “Blackbird,” “I Got a Feeling,” and his collaboration with Nirvana on “Cut Me Some Slack.” All the other artists are represented by two or three tracks each including the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, The Who, Alicia Keys. Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters. But missing are the two Springsteen-Bon Jovi duets.

Technically, the entire show could be on iTunes since there’s no space or time limit. The CD’s, of course, would have to be shorter. The album is available through Columbia Records.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.