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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Show Will Skip Women, Classic R&B, Country, Sidemen

Roger Friedman
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Show Will Skip Women, Classic R&B, Country, Sidemen

The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame show is set for April 8th in Brooklyn at the Barclay’s Center. The inductees are Chicago, Deep Purple, Steve Miller Band, and Cheap Trick. NWA, the rap group that spawned Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, and became the story of “Straight Outta Compton,” will be the sole nod to diversity.

This year’s ceremony will exclude women, classic R&B, country, sidemen and women (instrumentalists), famed producers. The sole extra award will go to the late Bert Berns, founder of Bang Records, a controversial figure who was involved with both Janis Joplin and Atlantic Records. A musical based on Berns’ life, “Piece of My Heart,” played off Broadway last year and is possibly headed to Broadway this fall.

The irony is that Berns will get the Ahmet Ertegun Award, name for the co-founder of Atlantic Records. The Berns musical casts Ertegun and Jerry Wexler as villains in Berns’s life story. (A friend of Berns’ told me today, “Bert Berns’ biggest enemy was himself.”)

There will be no one in the Early Influencers category, and no sidemen/sidewomen. No classic R&B or doo wop. No country influences. The Hall is already promoting Kendrick Lamar as a presenter, simply to have a black name artist for their HBO special.

But mostly, this is a very white Rock Hall induction. Another irony: the show is coming the Barclays, which was really a passion project of Jay Z.

So many great artists remain out in the cold– from Nile Rodgers to Chubby Checker, Joe Tex, Mary Wells, Billy Preston, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and so on. There’s also The Moody Blues, Carly Simon, Roxy Music (and Bryan Ferry), a slew of groups from the 70s, real pioneers like Faye Adams, and so on– all missing.

But when Ahmet Ertegun died, all control of the Hall was left to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner. As one observer told me recently, “Once Ahmet died, the Hall became the Jann Wenner dog and pony show.”

Woof.

Exclusive: Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes Movie Gets a Distributor (Fox) Now Needs a Title, Release Date

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes Movie Gets a Distributor (Fox) Now Needs a Title, Release Date

EXCLUSIVE Warren Beatty’s “Howard Hughes” movie will be distributed by 20th Century Fox. The romantic comedy still needs a title and a release date.

Sources tell me that the film may yet be included in the Cannes Film Festival. “It’s done,” says a source, who added, “He’s– (Warren)– is great in it.”

A little update: Beatty himself has contacted me to say the film will not be going to Cannes after all.

New Regency, Fox and RatPac– the latter company is having a hit right now with “Batman vs. Superman”– financed the film. They’re eager for it to be released. The film stars Beatty, Annette Bening, and a big all star cast but focuses on two star crossed lovers played by Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins. Ehrenreich turns out to be a savvy choice for Beatty. He shined in the Coens’ “Hail Caesar” and may turn out to be the breakout star of 2016.

Beatty is notoriously indecisive about how and when to release films. But a Cannes centerpiece screening and a real red carpet premiere would do the trick here to give him confidence. Plus, I’m only hearing good things.

Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” to Open Cannes with All Star Cast

Roger Friedman
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Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” to Open Cannes with All Star Cast

The 2016 Cannes Film Festival will open with Woody Allen’s Cafe Society. Steve Carell, Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg and Parker Posey lead an all star cast. This is the third time Woody has opened Cannes. All signs point to a hot festival this year with George Miller heading the jury and films expected directed by or starring Pedro Almodovar, Oliver Stone, Jodie Foster and maybe Warren Beattyimage

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Streisand vs. Sarandon on Twitter: Hollywood Superstar Liberal Divas Take Sides in Hillary vs. Bernie

Roger Friedman
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Streisand vs. Sarandon on Twitter: Hollywood Superstar Liberal Divas Take Sides in Hillary vs. Bernie

It’s getting wild out there. This evening Barbra Streisand and Susan Sarandon went head to head on Twitter repping Hillary vs. Bernie. Streisand Tweeted:

“What’s the issue about Secretary @HillaryClinton getting $225k a speech when Pres Bush 41/43 got $1m/Trump $1.25m. OK for men but not women?”

Sarandon responded:
“It’s not how much. It’s from whom she is taking it and what she is saying. Transcripts would be nice.”

sarandon vs. streisand

And now it’s game on– west coast liberal Streisand, long time Clinton supporter, vs. east coast left winger Sarandon, who once backed Ralph Nader.

On Twitter, the debate rages on. Rare for two big stars like this to go at it. But that’s what makes horse races– and presidential elections!

PS I’ve never heard of these two titans of Tinseltown in the same place before. I couldn’t even find a picture of them together. I wonder if they know each other?

Kanye West’s “Famous” (Listen Here) Has 17 Credited Writers, 3 Samples and Nina Simone

Roger Friedman
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Kanye West’s “Famous” (Listen Here) Has 17 Credited Writers, 3 Samples and Nina Simone

Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” album was posted to Tidal in February, but no one’s ever heard it beyond that.

Now Kanye has put a track called “Famous” on Spotify. This is the song in which he alluded to making Taylor Swift famous by constantly embarrassing her in public.

The song has 17 listed co-writers. Seven-teen. “Famous” also has three samples, including one of a Nina Simone performance of a Jimmy Webb song. Webb wrote a few hits like “MacArthur Park” and “Wichita Lineman,” in case you don’t know.

 I once met the lawyer at DefJam who cleared Kanye’s samples, but she was too frazzled to talk to. LOL. How do you pay 17 writers? Maybe this is why Kanye says he’s $50 million in debt.

And this is what they came up with:

PS Kanye raps, but the vocals are by two of my actual favorite current singers– Swizz Beatz and Rihanna.

Days of Hell: Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups”– Starring Bale, Blanchett, Portman– Earns $450K

Roger Friedman
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Days of Hell: Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups”– Starring Bale, Blanchett, Portman– Earns $450K

Maybe it didn’t cost anything, but I’d be surprised. Terrence Malick’s latest sleep inducing effort, “Knight of Cups,” has finished its run with a staggering total of $453,414 in four weeks of release.

The movie starred three Oscar winners– Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Natalie Portman– as well as Freida Pinto, Brian Dennehy, and Antonio Banderas. Apparently none of them was a draw. And it’s doubtful anyone of them worked for scale or SAG minimum. Or slept on couches.

Malick’s last dream of a film, “To the Wonder,” made a grand total of $587,615.

Ben Affleck didn’t speak in that one.

To people under a certain age, Malick means “Zayn.” And over a certain age, it means “Days of Heaven,” a 1978 masterpiece. Nineteen seventy eight was a long time ago. Jimmy Carter may have been president. Electricity was still new.

One man, named Nicholas Gonda, has produced all the recent amnesia cures for Malick. His biggest accomplishment has been getting someone to pay the freight. I guess it now’s a badge of honor for some rich person to boast, Oh yes, I lost 10 million with Terrence Malick.

This time, the very nice and new Broad Green Pictures distributed “Knight of Cups,” maybe to put their names on the map. For a while it was Bill Pohlad, who got wise and made his own (pretty good) movie, “Love and Mercy.” Who’s next? Can’t wait to hear.

And where is Malick? No one in the public has seen him in years. I mean, years. Presumably the actors he hires see him.

Zayn Malik: Amazon, Singles Charts Immune to Hype for Ex-One Direction Singer

Roger Friedman
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Zayn Malik: Amazon, Singles Charts Immune to Hype for Ex-One Direction Singer

If you’re a teenager you know that Zayn Malik, now known just as Zayn, released his solo album on Friday. “Mind of Mine” — which could be reduced to MoM–has been hyped in teen land through the roof.

On iTunes, MoM is number 1, of course. That was to be expected. But so far MoM is not generating any new tracks on the iTunes singles charts. The first single, “PILLOWTALK” (all caps, for some reason), has come and gone. Quickly. Once MoM was released, iTunes sales of the single plummeted. Why buy the milk when you can get  the whole cow?

Meanwhile, over on Amazon.com, “MoM” is not faring well. The physical CD is number 46. The digital download is 11. Of course, Amazon skews older, so Zayn’s audience isn’t necessarily there.

Another chart, Street Pulse, sent out their interpretation of Friday’s sales. “MoM” came in 5th in overall sales. Still, expect “MoM” to be number 1 when sales are counted on Friday. It just won’t be the runaway success that was hoped for.

The PR spin on “MoM” is that it’s an R&B album. Hmmm.  Well, Malik used the same producer who worked on Frank Ocean and on The Weeknd. But R&B? The album sounds flat to me, and a little monotonous. I think they were trying for a Style Council sound. Zayn fans should check out “My Ever Changing Moods” if they want to hear how “MoM” is supposed to sound.

“MoM” should come in around 125,000 copies on Friday. That’s a little less than the 400,000 copies sold by One Direction in the debut week of their recent album, “Made in the AM.”

 

Miley Cyrus Says Hannah Montana “Is Chopped Up into Little Pieces and Buried in My Backyard”

Roger Friedman
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Miley Cyrus Says Hannah Montana “Is Chopped Up into Little Pieces and Buried in My Backyard”

Is Hannah Montana dead? This week on Instagram Miley Cyrus wrote regarding the 10th anniversary of the show that made her an international star: Even though HM is chopped up into little tiny pieces and buried in my backyard she will always hold a very special place in my heart! Celebrate this day with us! Get real drunk and remember #HM4EVR 👸🏼 send pics gettinnnnn buck wild in honor of this special day! ❤️❤️❤️

Hannah may be scattered, but Miley seems to be focused in a new direction– a struggle back to PG-13 from R rated behavior. She’s made a 180 degree turn from last summer, when she scared her tween fans by declaring she was “pansexual” and started using the F word as a verb, adjective, adverb and noun whenever she got the chance. Over this past weekend, she went to an NBA basketball game with her mother and sister, dressed in a sports jersey. Her hair was conventionally arranged, her make up was girl next door. Her tongue was mostly in place. There was no Twerking. She flashed an engagement ring from her ex-fiance and maybe current one, squeaky clean actor Chris Hemsworth. On Monday she appears as a mentor on “The Voice” and next September she will be a judge. She’s also starring in Woody Allen’s new unnamed TV series for Netflix.

What a change. Or changes. Is Hannah Montana back? Or have the two sides of Miley been integrated into one new person?

Miley’s journey from Hannah Montana Disney good girl to the baddest girl ever began with her infamous appearance on the American Music Awards with Robin Thicke. From then on, all bets were off. She appeared topless in a series of portraits by cutting edge photographer Terry Richardson, sending the internet into a frenzy. With her tongue wagging, and her top showing, Miley was Betty Booping herself out of her fan base. Whether she meant it ironically or not, she was scaring the kids.

Last summer, just throw fat on the fire. Miley announced she was “was dating women, and not hiding it. She went on a social media offensive for LGBT and trans fans. The “f” word wasn’t just peppered– it was key to her postings on Twitter. On September 1st Miley dropped a surprise free album for streaming called “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz.” It was a collaboration not with other American sweethearts like Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson, but with cult faves Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips.

(Just a note on the Dead Petz album here: It’s excellent. Sophisticated, edgy, musically a huge leap. But the titles and the lyrics weren’t for 12 year old girls. Titles like “Bang Me Box” and “F—–‘ F—ed Up” say it all.)

Miley, who’d cleverly turned her image from Disney girl Hannah Montana to a young Madonna on a wrecking ball, was on the verge of careening out of control.

Last November, she went off on a short tour of the Dead Petz music in clubs. Miley Cyrus, who should have been at Radio City Music Hall, was at semi seedy Terminal 5. Huh? That certainly wasn’t where she should have been.

A constant Tweeter and Instagrammer, Miley was everywhere. For the holidays she released a beautiful lament from the Dead Petz album called “My Sad Christmas Song” along with a Tweet: Merryf—ingChristmas.”

The lyrics were not all chestnuts roasting. They included this verse:
This is my sad Christmas song
So I rip another bong
I never been good at making plans
Next year, I’m gonna be with my man
My little sister says I’m the Grinch
But my mom thinks I’m just a bitch

At Christmas, Miley didn’t seem like she was going back to selling girl scout cookies. As recently as February 3rd, she Tweeted the announcement of joining The Voice as a mentor. The photo was typical post- Hannah Miley now: pink tongue licking a trademark red Voice game button:

That may been the tipping point. Since then, there’s been a seachange. There were no more Tweets (save for one f-laden one about wolf culling in British Columbia) from February 3rd until March 25th announcing her upcoming judge-ship next fall on The Voice. Most of her Instagram posts this winter have been pretty tame, or evidence of a struggle between Hannah and Miley. Who will win? Is Miley Cyrus being tamed to keep her audience and establish career longevity? I’ll be sad if her wild days are over. At 23, it’s a little young to thrown in the towel. I was hoping she’d be outrageous a little while longer.

Batman and Superman Save Warner Bros. with $170 Mil Record Breaking Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Batman and Superman Save Warner Bros. with $170 Mil Record Breaking Weekend

Warner Bros. has been starved for a hit for a long time– since Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” to be exact. Now they have it. “Batman vs. Superman” came in at $170 million for the weekend, setting a record for March and finishing 6th of all time debut weekends. Whew!

“BvS” also is the biggest opening Batman movie, beating “The Dark Knight Rises.”

It looked dicey, too. The reviews were soggy thanks to buzzkill bloggers who whined about one thing or another. But the fans came through, and kids loved Zack Snyder’s movie. Oh remember kids? They’re the ones who read comic books. That’s who “BvS” is for. And they ratified it.

With foreign box office, “BvS” zooms to well over a total of $450 million. (Keep refreshing.) The movie cost $250 million. So Warner Bros. can relax. They’ll make money and launch a whole series of movies including “Suicide Squad” and “Justice League,” plus more Batman movies with Ben Affleck, Wonder Woman, and no doubt another Superman movie with Henry Cavill.

Justin Bieber Incites Public Relations Nightmare Over Cancelled $2,000 Meet & Greet Tickets

Roger Friedman
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Justin Bieber Incites Public Relations Nightmare Over Cancelled $2,000 Meet & Greet Tickets

Justin Bieber– we love to hate him anyway. But recently, manager Scooter Braun had worked day and night to polish up Bieber’s image, give him a decent hit album, and maybe pave the way to rapprochement.

And, now it’s over. Social media is aflame with Bieber hate over a new incident that shows total disrespect to the fans themselves. This isn’t spitting on someone in public, or getting a speeding ticket. This is a slap right at his fan base, they feel.

Bieber abruptly cancelled what’s called “Meet and Greet” appearances before his shows. Most recording stars have them now, including Madonna, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Fans pay a high premium to meet their star and get a picture, either before or after the show. The price of a premium in this case was $2,000. You meet the Biebs, got a selfie, and had a great seat.

But Bieber’s cancelling of the M&G includes also giving back the ticket for a full refund. So, either pay the $2,000 and just see the show, or forget it.

Justin_Bieber_Purpose_World_Tour_-_REFUND_FORM_-_2016-03-26_21.30.16This has not gone over well.
‘

That’s just a sampling of what’s turning up on Twitter. Frankly, anyone who has enough money to waste $2,000 on a Justin Bieber ticket needs more help than a refund. But that’s just my opinion. The fact is, Bieber’s ill will on this subject is spreading fast– as things like this do these days.

And don’t forget– returning the tickets means Bieber can sell them again. Singing “Sorry” won’t help that at all.

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