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U2 is releasing a new 40 song collection of reimagined songs from their catalog. It’s called “Songs of Surrender,” and it’s a companion to Bono’s upcoming “Surrender” tour, which was a companion to his best selling book. There’s also a David Letterman special for Disney Plus. The trailer is below.
The band has released a new version of their song “Pride (In the Name of Love)” which you can also hear below. There are several versions of the album, super deluxe CD and LP, clear vinyl, all kinds of things including a regular two CD set for $19.99 of the greatest hits reimagined. I’m in! Love U2!
The Golden Globes may be over at NBC. The network gave the awards show a one year deal to see if they could come back from the racism scandal and other issues that have plagued the wonky group.
Alas, the ratings were the lowest ever, and reviews were sour. Globes host Jerrod Carmichael even offended the Beverly Hilton Hotel by calling it “the hotel that killed Whitney Houston.” The BHH is part owned by Todd Boehly, the owner of Dick Clark Productions and home to the Globes for the last 20 years. They will likely not be invited back. The added insult is that Boehly took over the Hollywood Foreign Press. Ouch three times!
The Globes don’t have a lot of options in the TV world, say insiders. ABC can’t take them because they have the Oscars. Netflix just signed up the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Amazon Prime could do it, and so could CBS. The latter won’t want to pay the huge licensing fee — $60 million — that the Globes have gotten in the past. The HFPA relies on that money to keep their members in style. Amazon has the money but not the inclination as they have few nominees in the first place.
So what will happen? Is this the end for this troubled show?
Meantime, the far more legit Critics Choice Awards air this Sunday on the CW Network at 8pm. Some of the group of 500 or so multicultural diverse actual journalists cross over with covering the Globes and have been invited to the Globes ceremony in the past. This year, we were all banned from the Globes show because they’re feeling the competition. The HFPA continues to be a mean-spirited little organization.
Watch the CCA’s! Chelsea Handler is hosting and she, unlike Carmichael, will be funny!
Lisa Marie Presley’s death was announced just as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were starting a screening last night of “A Man Called Otto” in West Hollywood at the London Hotel hosted by Colleen Camp. Hanks, of course, plays Colonel Parker in “Elvis,” the hit movie now getting so much awards attention. He and Rita spent a lot of time with the Presleys in the making of the movie.
But the couple didn’t find out about the death until they came out of the screening, and they were rattled. They took one look at the crowd of 100 “Otto” well wishers waiting for them at a reception and, reasonably, flinched. Yet they did come in and say hello for a few minutes, although Tom left before Rita, who was gracious and charming but obviously thrown by the news.
Just a short time after Rita got home, she posted a statement for both on Instagram. And yes, PS, the audience which included veteran actors Bruce Davison and John Savage, plus Francis Ford Coppola’s famed producer Fred Roos, songwriter-composers Diane Warren, J Ralph, and Benj Pasek, and Mark Isham, loved the movie. Savage told me, “We were wiping the tears away.”
Here’s Rita’s post:
“Our hearts are broken with the sudden and shocking passing of Lisa Marie Presley tonight. Tom and I had spent some time with the family during the Elvis movie promotional tour. Lisa Marie was so honest and direct, vulnerable, in a state of anticipation about the movie. She spoke so eloquently about her father, what the movie meant to her, that it was a celebration of her dad. She had her gorgeous daughters Finley and Harper with her who made us all laugh. She privately showed us her home, Graceland, and she made it feel like home to us. She was so gracious to us, Austin, Baz, and guests. If you haven’t heard her music please go listen. She had a sultry voice, a power and tenderness, that I have always loved. Our hearts and our prayers go out to Riley, Harper, Finley , Danny @nava_rone and Priscilla. A mother should never have to lose a child. Lisa Marie lost her precious son Benjamin, Priscilla loses her only daughter. It’s too much. Sending love to the family, prayers for peace and strength. Love, Rita and Tom”
Lisa Marie Presley has been rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles. TMZ says she has had cardiac arrest. There’s no other info so far.
Lisa Marie is the only child of Elvis Presley. Her mother is Priscilla Presley. Lisa Marie has three living children including actress Riley Keough. Her son Benjamin Keough committed suicide in 2020.
Presley has had a lot of ups and downs, several marriages including one to Michael Jackson. She’s also had a lot of financial trouble, but seemed to be improving lately after the “Elvis” movie has increased visibility for her dad’s estate.
Hopefully this was caught quickly she will be ok…keep refreshing…
Keith Richards says on social media today “new music is coming.” But is it a solo record? Or something from the Rolling Stones? He also says he hopes to see us soon– a tour?
Well, the Stones haven’t had an album of new music in eons. They did have a number 1 single called “Living in a Ghost Town” during the pandemic. It would be swell to have an album built around that song.
A new album would also maybe the first without Charlie Watts on drums– or perhaps they have some tracks with him. Either way, fans are up for whatever Keith has in mind!
OK, Oscar ballots are out, voting begins and now we have the Producers Guild nominees.
They are:
Avatar, Banshees of Inisherin, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion, Tar, Top Gun Maverick, and The Whale.
Those 10 could be the Oscars Best Picture nominees as well. It’s likely since they line up overlap with the Directors Guild, too. (Writers Guild doesn’t count because not every film is a signatory.)
So now what? Interesting that both Avatar and Wakanda made it in because they’re sequels to recent films. Maverick is like a new film, really, it’s so much better than the original and Jerry Bruckheimer deserves the nod. How they did that flying remains a miracle.
The winner of this award doesn’t automatically win the Oscar. This is about pulling off a great achievement.
Absent from this list are Woman King, Babylon, She Said, RRR, and Till. Till! This poor movie has really suffered at the hands of MGM. It should be there instead of a few others. What a shame.
As for Oscar ballots, the voting is competitive for the nominees. Best Actress is the hot category, where Michelle Williams is my first choice from “The Fabelmans.” She’s been nominated four times, she’s the only one of the pack without an Oscar, and her performance is sublime.
John Fogerty is finally reunited with his song catalog after 50 years.
Amazing. Irving Azoff and a small group of investors rallied to do what John has wanted since the 1970s. Now instead of selling his catalog — which everyone else is doing — Fogerty has his rights back to his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs with good partners.
Fogerty’s catalog was lost to him five decades ago when Saul Zaentz bought Fantasy Records, CCR’s label. Zaentz controlled the rights and wanted Fogerty to pay for use of the music. So John famously stopped playing his own songs. When he finally resurfaced with the hits “The Old Man Down the Road” and “Centerfield,” Zaentz actually sued him, saying Fogerty was just repurposing old songs. Fogerty won that suit, but still didn’t regain his rights to the old songs.
Zaentz, now dead quite a while, had a lot of nerve. He made Fogerty miserable and denied fans access to the CCR hits.
Fantasy was sold to Concord Records in 1994, which was eventually owned by Norman Lear. Now it seems that Concord has obliged Fogerty, Azoff and their group, sold the rights back to them and will be putting out CCR Records on the label with them. This is an incredible catalog of hits including “Proud Mary,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Traveling Man,” “Fortunate Son,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” and dozens more.
Fogerty says on Twitter, “As of this January, I own my own songs again. This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs. I also have a say in where and how my songs are used. Up until this year, that is something I have never been able to do.”
He adds: “I am looking forward to touring and celebrating this year! I want to thank @ConcordRecords for helping to make all of this happen. And, I am excited for new ideas and a renewed interest in my music … like a revival.”
I’m not surprised Azoff got involved in this rescue. He knows the value of songs, and artists’ rights. What Zaentz did to Fogerty was criminal and painful. So this is a happy ending, the good guys have won.
PS Fogerty released this song and video several years ago, called “Zantz Kant Dantz,” in response to this lifelong feud. It was very clever.
Every year on the Friday before the Oscars comes the luncheon for the ICG Publicists Awards. This is the 60th anniversary and it’s a big deal. The Publicists Award is for the best campaign of the season, the movie you knew about well before it opened and actually went to or saw as a result.
This year the nominees for the award, named for Maxwell Weinberg, are for Avatar, Elvis, Glass Onion, Nope, Top Gun Maverick, and The Woman King.
It would be hard to choose a winner among those titles, the first four especially.
The award, along with others, will be presented at a lunch at the Beverly Hilton on March 10th.
The announcement was made by Tim Menke and Sheryl Main, ICG Publicists Awards Chairs.
“The outstanding nominations this year shine a bright light not only on the diversity of the films submitted but also the individual challenges the publicity teams faced in this highly competitive field,” said Main.
The statement we all waited for, from Rod Stewart. Rod writes: Jeff Beck was on another planet . He took me and Ronnie Wood to the USA in the late 60s in his band the Jeff Beck Group and we haven’t looked back since. He was one of the few guitarists that when playing live would actually listen to me sing and respond .
Jeff, you were the greatest, my man . Thank you for everything . RIP”
1/2
Jeff Beck was on another planet . He took me and Ronnie Wood to the USA in the late 60s in his band the Jeff Beck Group
and we haven’t looked back since . pic.twitter.com/uS7bbWsHgW
Zendaya didn’t attend last night’s Golden Globes, but she did win Best Television Actress in a Drama for “Euphoria.” She posted a thank you to Instagram but was one of the many winners who did not thank the Hollywood Foreign Press. Very few did, with the notable exception of Jennifer Coolidge. Why? Because they know what a sham the group is.
