With UPDATES
Even in death, Michael Jackson continues to collide with Paul McCartney.
I’m told that Sony has scheduled a listening party for their new Jackson album, called “Michael,” for December 13th.
That’s the same night that McCartney is making an historic appearance at the Apollo Theater to promote the 35th anniversary release of “Band on the Run.”
Oy.
The Jackson event is tentatively scheduled for the Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd St. And even though Michael won’t be there, my guess is the place will be full. No word yet on how to buy tickets or how much they might cost.
The event is FREE to fans. It’s first come, first serve, although some fans will get tickets if they buy albums through Best Buy. I’m not sure how that will work since the album is released the next day, but I guess it will be explained. I am told that some of the producers and musicians who worked on the CD will be there.
McCartney and Jackson’s feud goes back to the mid 1980s, when Michael asked his lawyer, John Branca, to buy the Beatles song catalog. He did, and the rest is history. Or misery, depending on how you look at it.
Meantime, the “Band on the Run” gift box- with the remastered CD, unreleased tracks and DVD–is really great. It’s as good a gift as the Beatles box set for McCartney fans. And on Sunday night, those fans included Steven Tyler, James Taylor, Mavis Staples and Gwen Stefani–all of whom serenaded McCartney with his hits at his Kennedy Center induction.
PS Don’t start calling Roseland today. They have no info yet.
