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7/01/01
A Champion Of Punk Rides Off Into The Sunset

Neumu's Michael Goldberg writes: He was the champion of punk rock, back in '76 when no one quite knew what to make of it. He helped The Ramones and Blondie play a San Francisco club, showed The Clash and the Sex Pistols around when they hit town, introduced Romeo Void, Translator and Wire Train to the world and brought Lou Reed to the White House. For the past six years he's been president of Reprise Records, the AOL Time Warner label with such credible artists as Neil Young, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Green Day, Chris Isaak and Wilco. Next Friday is his last day at Reprise. His name is Howie Klein, and for the music business, his departure is not a good thing. As far as I know Howie, who will be a "consultant" to the Warner Music Group, has no plans to run another label.

My sense though I could be wrong is that he's had his fill of the music business. Howie is a friend of mine. We first met in 1975, as I recall, when he was working as a publicist, promoting an experimental album by former Monkee Mike Nesmith. We became friends then, and 26 years later we're still friends. To see Howie now, you might not realize that he's the guy who played singles by Crime and The Nuns on the punk radio show "The Outcaste Hour," which he once hosted on San Francisco radio station KSAN (back in the day when KSAN was a pretty good "progressive" rock station). When KSAN went country, Howie headed for college radio; at KUSF he continued to play punk singles. In 1978 he co-founded 415 Records, ran it out of his 16th Street apartment (the one my wife and I passed on to him when we moved), and managed against all odds to score a hit with Romeo Void's "Never Say Never." He was an unmistakable figure on the San Francisco scene in the late '70s with his shaved head, shades and black leather jacket. You'd find him hanging at the Mabuhay Gardens, talking it up with Sally Mutant or Avengers singer Penelope Houston (who he signed to a Reprise contract as a solo artist two decades later).

Based on the success of Romeo Void, Columbia Records did a deal with 415, and suddenly Romeo Void, Translator, the Red Rockers and Wire Train had a real shot at success. That's when Howie got his first taste of working with the corporate music business. If working the business is an art, Howie is a master artist, because even though none of the 415 acts broke through in a big way, by the time the Columbia/415 deal had run its course, Howie was seen as one of the key rising young record guys. He soon had a new job as General Manager at the very cool Sire Records, the label that had signed Talking Heads, The Ramones, Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Dead Boys, the Flamin' Groovies and others. At one point Howie and I, plus Neumu's Cinematronic editor Michael Snyder, collaborated on a Flamin' Groovies compilation CD, Groovies Greatest Grooves, which remains (in my very biased opinion) the single best representation of the Groovies' genius. Howie was one of the few people in the established music business who recognized the importance of the Internet, and he was unequivocally supportive when I came to him in 1994 and told him about a new thing I was going to start, an online magazine called Addicted To Noise. He immediately said he'd advertise, and proceeded to run an ad in ATN every month for the next two years until I sold the company.

One time when Neil Young was playing this bar just north of Half Moon Bay called the Old Princeton Landing, Howie flew up from L.A. and brought me along. There's nothing quite like seeing Neil Young and Crazy Horse rock a bar that holds maybe 100 people. I know it was particularly meaningful for Howie having Lou Reed on Reprise; Howie was a Velvet Underground fan going back to the '60s, when the Velvets' first albums were released. Howie was also a journalist for a time, in the mid-'70s, and he remains an excellent writer. In fact, he wrote a record review column for me in the early '80s, when I was managing editor of a city magazine called Boulevards.

When Joey Ramone died earlier this year, Howie sent out an email to express his grief, but also because he didn't want anyone to forget the import of The Ramones. This is what Howie wrote, and I think it says a lot about him, and the faith in the power of music that he's maintained through all his years in the business: "I can't overemphasize the importance of Joey Ramone in the history of rock 'n' roll. He was, in the truest sense of the term, a genuine revolutionary. By the time The Ramones stormed the music scene, the fun and meaning had been wrung out of rock 'n' roll. The excitement and courageousness of teenage angst and rebellion had given way to 'professionalism' and to a quantifiably controllable corporate assembly line. To pick up a guitar in front of an audience you had to try to be as good as Jeff Beck; you had to have been an 'expert' and a veteran virtuoso. Or you needed to cede all creativity to a proven producer. The idealism [and] excitement of FM Radio had already turned into complete shit all it had come into existence to defeat. And suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, The Ramones were causing a tremendously noisy stir on the NYC Bowery. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy made it OK for fun-loving fans to get onstage again. Rock 'n' roll was being re-born again. And everywhere The Ramones went they were like the Johnny Appleseeds of the punk rock movement In the wake of a Ramones tour bands would pop everywhere. In many ways they were as important to Popular Music as Elvis, the Beatles and the Stones. That important."

-------------------------------------------------

Also leaving is Reprise "intern/contest-meister," Jack Mack, a Klein alter-ego which he used as a way of gauging fan reaction to Reprise releases.

6/14/01 - cdnow
New New Order News
New Order's long-waited warm-up show in England now has a place and time: July 18 in Manchester, from which the band hails. The venue for the show, which will include ex-Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan and ex-Marion guitarist Phil Cunningham on guitars, was still TBA at press time.

The band is using the date to prepare for its summer stint on Moby's Area: One tour, as well as a Japanese date. In other New Order news, the band has reportedly pulled two songs ("Nothing's Gonna Change" and "Run This River Dry") from the its upcoming new album, NEWORDERGETREADY, and added three more ("Rock the Shack" [with Primal Scream], "Close Range," and "Sabotage"). However, as the album is being mastered on Thursday (June 14) in England, an absolute final track listing is not to be expected until early next week, according to a spokesperson for the band at Reprise Records. NEWORDERGETREADY hits stores on Oct. 16 in the U.S.

-Kevin Raub

6/14/01 - launch.com
Disturbed Graduates To OzzFest Main Stage
Disturbed has been moved to the OzzFest main stage after its opening-day performance on the second stage in the group's hometown of Chicago Friday (June 8) prompted safety concerns over the massive fan turnout. The band will now appear fourth on the main stage, between sets by Crazy Town and Linkin Park, while Mudvayne will take over as second-stage headliner. Disturbed originally turned down the offer for the main stage in order to take advantage of the second stage's more intimate setting. The group regrets the change, according to a spokesperson, but "understands the need to appear on the main stage in order for their fans to see their show in a comfortable and safe environment."

A post on the OzzFest site (ozzfest.com) put Disturbed's Chicago show in perspective: "At least 15,000 people jammed the second stage area to watch their local heroes who, judging by their sterling songs and energetic showmanship, just keep getting better and better...It was a smothering effect of hell-bent anarchy and elation that made Disturbed, by my count, the darlings of this day-one OzzFest."

The current main-stage lineup features Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Crazy Town, and Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society. Second-stage bands will now rotate in and out of the tour's main-stage opening slot.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

6/14/01 - launch.com
Eric Clapton Not Retiring, Only Scaling Back, Publicist Says
According to his publicist, reports of Eric Clapton's imminent retirement are greatly exaggerated, even if they're coming from Clapton himself. Responding to the firestorm of rumors and reports set off by Clapton's comments in a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview, wherein "Slowhand" said his current world tour will be his last, publicist Ronnie Lippin told AP that Clapton does not plan to retire from music.

"He will be recording in the future," Lippin said. "The only thing he won't
commit to doing again is 12 months on the road. The last time he did this was 10 years ago. He's in his 50s now, and he figures he's not going to want to be doing another of those tours 10 years from now. He probably will do smaller tours, and he's going to honor all the commitments he's made for 2001."

Clapton told Rolling Stone that he has two more albums remaining on his
contract with Warner Bros. Records, one of which he plans to be a
collaboration with the late Curtis Mayfield's vocal group the Impressions.

He'll be touring North America through mid-August and is expected to announce additional dates around the world soon. Clapton's next show in Friday (June 15) at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.

-- Gary Graff, Detroit

6/11/01 - cdnow
Disturbed Moves To Ozzfest Main Stage After Overwhelming Response
As a result of the overwhelming fan turn-out for DISTURBED’s headlining
second stage Ozzfest performance at the tour kick-off in Chicago last Friday (June 8), the group have been moved to the main stage. Even the newly expanded second stage area couldn’t accommodate the number of fans on hand for the explosive group’s set.

Ozzfest organizers decided to move DISTURBED to the 5:05 PM slot on the mainstage after their second stage performance in their hometown Chicago, due to safety concerns. This new slot took effect on Saturday, June 10 in Milwaukee.

As previously announced, DISTURBED were originally offered a spot on the mainstage months ago, but turned it down because they wanted to perform up front and close to their fans. While the band--DAVID DRAIMAN (vocals), DAN DONEGAN (guitar), FUZZ (bass) and MIKE WENGREN (drums, programming)--regret not being able to perform in a more intimate setting, they understand the need for them to appear on the mainstage in order for their fans to see their show in a comfortable and safe environment.

6/11/01 - cdnow
Orgy's Jay Gordon Readies First Two Bands From Divison 1
Jay Gordon's record label is up and whirring. The Orgy singer and aspiring entrepreneur will soon have two bands recording for his Division 1 Records –- Two Hit Creeper and the Ex-Supermodels.

"Two Hit Creeper is like death accordion rock," gushes Gordon about the L.A.-based hardcore combine, fronted by a singer who plays the squeezebox and goes only by the name Michael. "I love the true psychosis of the band. It's intelligent and angry, if you can actually use those words in the same sentence."

Gordon will co-produce for the group when it begins recording at an L.A. studio in June. "We're gonna track about 30 songs in four days, and then overdub our asses off -- make everything sound perfect," he says.

The Ex-Supermodels, the first Division 1 signing, are currently in a New York studio with producer Paul Logus (Jennifer Lopez). Gordon describes that band -- which features House of Pain's Danny Boy O'Connor -- as "Crystal Method meets DMX." He says he may also co-produce a track or two.

Division 1 resides under the umbrella of The Firm Records, which is owned by The Firm Management company -- the same company fired by Orgy last year. "We're great friends," Gordon says. "We didn't have a nasty spill or anything. It was just a matter that certain things were conflicting. But we all get along great."

By hooking up with producer Jay Baumgardner last year to start his own imprint, Gordon follows the lead of Korn, Papa Roach, and his own Orgy partner, Amir Derakh, into a good hedge against rock's fickle future.

"I just want to do some things that I like to do -- produce some records, maybe write a screenplay or something like that," Gordon insists. "But I don't see myself being David Geffen just yet."

- Corey Levitan

6/7/01 - cdnow
Depeche Mode Treats Fans To Intimate Roxy Show
Fans at the front of the stage reached out and touched their faith as Depeche Mode played a special Monday (June 4) night at the Roxy nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

Sponsored by L.A. area alternative radio station KROQ -- which gave tickets away every day of the previous week -- the performance was a rare opportunity to see an arena band in an ultra (pun intended) intimate setting.

Then again, Depeche Mode has had a special relationship with KROQ since the 1980s and especially with the L.A. audience, filling the Rose Bowl in 1988 and playing "fan appreciation" shows at the Universal Amphitheatre and Shrine Auditorium in the 1990s. Along with U2, Depeche Mode is the only '80s band that still has such drawing power.

For the most part, it was the fans (and hardcore ones at that), not the invited elite, who packed the club, which holds less than 500. Fans began lining up before noon, and that line eventually stretched all the way down the street. And that was just the wait for the box office to hand out special instant-souvenir laminate entry passes at 6 p.m. The doors did not open until 8 p.m.

The band took the stage almost an hour and a half later with, surprisingly, no introduction from any of the station's on-air personalities. After some brief vamping from Martin Gore on guitar and Andrew Fletcher on keyboards, along with the tour drummer and additional keyboardist (two backing singers joined in later), frontman Dave Gahan entered to deafening roars and wild screams. Wearing black tuxedo pants and a vest, shirtless underneath, Gahan joined the band as they moved into "Walking in My Shoes."

The hour-long set of a dozen songs included a handful of selections from the new Exciter album, as well as true fan favorites, such as the stomp of "Clean" and the pulsating "Halo," the audience shouting out to the opening line of "You wear guilt, like shackles on your feet."

A finger to his lips hushing the crowd for the delicate new ballad, "When the Body Speaks," Gahan's brow of sweat turned tearful around his closed eyes as he sang and swayed to the melancholy number. Gore stepped up to the center mike on electric guitar for "Breathe," a bluesy torch number, then picked up the acoustic again for the plucked tension-and-release of the current single, "Dream On," which gave way to ultimate Depeche in the dance beat and electric guitar lines cascading over synth blanketing for "Enjoy the Silence."

He didn't say much between songs, save a few "thanks yous" and a comment about the heat, but Gahan worked his flock, bumping and grinding, wielding the mike stand like a quarterstaff, and flashing smiles at the adoring throng just below him. He even shook the hand of one fan who was holding up a note announcing that it was his birthday. Another fan held up a Depeche license plate.

The band's song architect, Gore, played mostly guitars; so much for the group's misinterpreted-by-some image as a keyboard band. A throbbing "I Feel You" melted into "In Your Room" and the dance rhythm picked up again for "I Feel Loved," another big sing-along and the next single.

An encore found Gore solo, the rest of the band seated behind him on the amps, while he introduced "a country song." Gore sang an almost folksy version of "Bottom Line," and his guitar displayed a little insert that read "Basildon, Texas," (the band formed in Basildon, England). Hands were outstretched upwards, pushing towards the stage for "Personal Jesus," a final song of that fan faith and obvious devotion.

Depeche Mode set list:

1. "Walking in My Shoes"

2. "Clean"

3. "Halo"

4. "When the Body Speaks"

5. "Breathe"

6. "Dream On"

7. "Enjoy the Silence"

8. "I Feel You"

9. "In Your Room"

10. "I Feel Loved"

11. "Bottom Line"

12. "Personal Jesus"

- Darryl Morden

6/5/01 - launch.com
Clapton's Friends Talk About His Retirement Statement
Eric Clapton has announced that his current world tour would be his last major outing, but he's certainly not the first star to make such a declaration. Ozzy Osbourne and the Who have "retired" more times than anyone can remember. Other acts who've said goodbye and returned include Bad Company, the Doobie Brothers, the Cure, the Kinks, and David Bowie. With that in mind, LAUNCH asked two of Clapton's oldest and dearest friends whether they believed the guitarist would really stay off the road after his Reptile world tour ends. Singer-bassist Jack Bruce, Clapton's cohort in Cream, probably has had the most recent contact with Clapton, since the duo reteamed for new versions of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "White Room" on Bruce's upcoming album Shadows In The Air.

LAUNCH asked Bruce whether he thinks Clapton will really retire from the road.

"Well, I think it's possible. I mean, Eric--let's face it, hats off to him. He's been working very hard for a very long time, bringing a tremendous amount of pleasure to a lot of people. Maybe he has earned a bit of a rest, but he did tell me that a long time ago, before he embarked on this world tour, that he was never gonna do it again," Bruce said. "I think it's difficult for us old guys to give it up, because if you don't do it, you kind of think, 'Well, what do I do?', you know? Bruce added, "Maybe he won't want to do the very long world tours, but I'm sure Eric will continue to make his contribution and bring that pleasure to many people."

Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy, who's been a friend of Clapton's for more than 30 years, also weighed in on the subject. Guy, whose latest album, Sweet Tea, came out last month, said Clapton has been able to give things up before, so maybe he's serious about giving up touring.

However, Guy also told LAUNCH that not everyone has been happy about Clapton's "clean & sober" lifestyle. "He stopped some of the things he had been doing in his past life," he said. "The last time I talked to him, he said, 'I don't drink, I don't smoke no more.' He don't do anything. But I heard some people that was playin' with him, his sidemen, they say, 'I wish he go back on drinkin', 'cause he hard to get along with now."

-- Darren Davis and Bruce Simon, New York

6/4/01 - Neumu
Neumu Debuts With R.E.M. Interview, Original Animated Music Videos
Award-winning Internet pioneer Michael Goldberg (Addicted To Noise, SonicNet) and acclaimed designer Emme Stone (Elephantcloud, "Ottergirl") announce the launch of Neumu, a new kind of online magazine.

Updated daily, Neumu includes album and movie reviews, art and photography exhibits, comics, original music video pieces, music news, essays and opinion pieces, artist interviews and more.

"Neumu is an experiment based on my belief that there are intelligent people in the world, people who appreciate smart, challenging art, music and words," says Goldberg, who launched Addicted To Noise, the first online music site with original journalism, in 1994; Newsweek called him an "Internet visionary." This year his yearlong investigative project, "Playing With Fire: The Untold Story of Woodstock 99," received a Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Web reporting.

"Neumu is for people who want writing and art and music that come from the heart, not commercially-driven Web site 'content,'" says Northern California resident Goldberg. "Neumu means revelation through art and music."

The current site is beta version 0.5. "We decided that rather than wait to get everything 'perfect'. We'd just get the site up and tweak it, fix the mistakes and bugs as we go," says Goldberg. Currently, the site is optimized for Explorer at 800 x 600 resolution.

Designed to be an oasis from the hyper-commercial "buy buy buy" mentality that's taken over the Web in recent years, Neumu will not include any advertising or sponsorships.

Showcasing musicians, photographers, artists, animators and writers, Neumu launches with an in-depth conversation with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and the debut of "TwinklePop," an area that features original music-video pieces. In the coming weeks an exhibit of Charles Peterson's rock 'n' roll photographs of Nirvana, the Supersuckers and others will be featured in "Depth of Field."

Neumu will cover the musicians the contributors feel are making a true artistic contribution to the culture. "I have long been frustrated with the media's emphasis on commercial music, often to the exclusion of musicians making work of lasting artistic value," Goldberg says. "Neumu is all about the most exciting artists of our time, from Low, Sleater-Kinney and Guided By Voices to Mark Eitzel, Songs: Ohia and Spoon."

For the site's original design, a year in the making, Sydney, Australia-based Emme Stone created a post-rock visual landscape in which fragile illustrations that sometimes turn frenetic create the site's remarkable look and feel. "Neumu is all about human emotional expression and responses to such, and the interface needed to reflect this," she explains.

Neumu's film section, Cinematronic, is edited by former CNET movie critic Michael Snyder.

Neumu's album review section, 44.1 kHz, features the work of an outstanding group of contemporary music critics -- contributors include Johnny Walker (Black), Anthony Carew, Lee Tran Lam, Kembrew McLeod, Kevin John, John Darnielle, Jenny Tatone, Randy Reiss and Philip Sherburne -- and will provide coverage of a diverse mix of albums.

"Datastream," a daily music news section, will provide news and information about artists, mostly non-mainstream.

Neumu's animated music video area, TwinklePop, is curated by Annette Loudon of Dakar, Senegal. It features exclusive motion-design and Web-music clips from the likes of ioResearch and Tree-axis. "For the first time artists are free to make experimental animation pieces inspired by the music they love, with the assurance that their work will be seen, and presented in the appropriate context," says Goldberg.

Depth of Field, Neumu's monthly photography exhibit, is edited by Portland-based photographer Jim McGinnis.

In addition to acting as Creative Director for Neumu, Emme Stone is editing a weekly comics section called "Underneath."

Neumu Editor-in-Chief, Michael Goldberg, writes a daily essay, "The InsiderOne Daily Report," as well as his weekly column, "The Drama You've Been Craving." Additionally, each week the "Captured" section features one of his photographs. "With the photographs I'm exhibiting in 'Captured,' the idea is to reveal something of the spirit and the soul of this world," said Goldberg. "In most cases, they are anything but literal."

6/3/01 - CDNow
CDNow Reports The New Order Rumours
New Order has finally settled on a tentative track listing for NEWORDERGETREADY, its first album in eight years.

In addition to singer Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, drummer Stephen Morris, and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, the follow-up to 1993's Republic features collaborations with a slew of top musicians including ex-Smashing Pumpkins ringleader Billy Corgan ("Turn My Way").

Primal Scream worked with the band on a track called "Rock the Shack," which at press time had not made the tentative track listing. The same goes for a track featuring the Chemical Brothers, according to a source
close to the band. "Crystal" will be the album's first single.

NEWORDERGETREADY was co-produced by Steve Osborne (Happy Mondays, Curve) and the band, and recorded mostly at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios outside Bath, England. The album is scheduled to be mastered on June 15.

In addition to his participation on the record, Corgan will also join New Order on guitar for its upcoming West Coast stint on Moby's Area: One tour. Ex-Marion guitarist Phil Cunningham, who has also worked with
Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner's Electronic, will also tour with the band.

NEWORDERGETREADY is due on Reprise Records in October.

Here is the tentative track listing for
NEWORDERGETREADY:

1. "Crystal"
2. "60 MPH"
3. "Turn My Way"
4. "Vicious Streak"
5. "Nothing's Gonna Change"
6. "Someone Like You"
7. "Run This River Dry"
8. "Player In the League"
9. "Primitive Notion"
10. "Slow Jam"
11. "Run Wild"

- Kevin Raub

5/30/01 - CDNow
Stevie Nicks Unveils Full Tour Itinerary
The rest of the itinerary for Stevie Nicks' 33-date U.S. tour has been confirmed. As previously announced, the tour kicks off on July 6 in Burgettstown, Pa.,

The tour, which is in support of Nicks' new album,
Trouble in Shangri-La, will cross the country and come to a close in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 1.

Stevie Nicks tour dates:

July 6, Burgettstown, Pa., Post Gazette Pavilion
July 7, Clarkstown, Mich., DTE Energy Music Theater
July 10, Rosemont, Ill., Allstate Arena
July 11, Cincinnati, Ohio, Riverbend Music Center
July 13, Hartford, Conn., Meadows Music Theater
July 14, Mansfield, Mass., Tweeter Center
July 17, Camden, N.J., Tweeter Center
July 18, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Blossom Music Center
July 20, Wantagh, N.Y., Jones Beach Theater
July 21, Holmdel, N.J., PNC Bank Arts Center
July 24, Virginia Beach, Va., Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 25, Raleigh, N.C., Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
July 27, Charlotte, N.C., Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 28, Bristow, Va., Nissan Pavilion
July 30, Atlanta, Chastain Park Amphitheater
Aug. 3, Dallas, Texas, Smirnoff Music Center
Aug. 4, Houston, Texas, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug. 7, Albuquerque, N.M., Journal Pavilion
Aug. 8, Denver, Colo., Fiddlers Green Amphitheater
Aug. 11, Portland, Ore., Rose Garden Arena
Aug. 12, Seattle, Wash., Key Arena
Aug. 14, Concord, Calif., The Chronicle Pavilion
Aug. 15, Mountain View, Calif., Shoreline Amphitheater
Aug. 17, Irvine, Calif., Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Aug. 18, Phoenix, Ariz., Desert Sky Pavilion
Aug. 21-22, Universal City, Calif., Universal Amphitheater
Aug. 24, San Diego, Calif., Coors Amphitheater
Aug. 25, Las Vegas, Nevada, Aladdin Theater
Aug. 28, Bonner Springs, Kan., Sandstone Amphitheater
Aug. 29, St. Louis, Mo., Riverport Amphitheater
Aug. 31, Indianapolis, Ind., Verizon Wireless Music Center
Sept. 1, Columbus, Ohio, Polaris Amphitheater

5/30/01 - sonicnet
Morissette Previews New Album At Los Angeles Show
Alanis Morissette has returned to the jagged little sound that
made her famous.

The Canadian singer debuted eight new songs during a show Friday night, providing a generous preview of her next album, which is sitting in limbo while she fights a contract dispute with Maverick Records.

Much of the new material harked back to the edgier pop-rock of Morissette's 1995 smash, Jagged Little Pill, and steered away from the moody, Eastern-influenced sound of its follow-up, 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.

Accordingly, the two-hour performance — the first of two consecutive nights at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre — was almost entirely devoted to new songs and Jagged hits. Junkie tunes were hard to come by, with only the hit "Thank You" and "Sympathetic Character" making the cut.

Clad in a sleeveless peach shirt and a sheer slit skirt wrapped around black leather pants, the singer and her five-man band performed before a colorful backdrop picturing flowers and a yin-yang symbol, with the word "Artist" printed in the center. Morissette played guitar on most of the new songs, including the opening numbers "Unprodigal Daughter" and "21 Things I Want in a Lover."

"Wow, we're actually doing this," she said early in the set. "These are new songs I wrote in the last six months. Thanks for letting us try them on for size."

She then led the band into the chimey, flaring "Fear of Bliss," featuring the line "Sometimes I feel this is too good to be true."

On the softer side of the new material was the ballad "Flinch," for which
Morissette played acoustic guitar. "What are you, my dad/ You touch me like you are my dad," she sang. The lyrics, in typical Morissette fashion,
featured slight variations of the same line throughout the song, with the
singer substituting "kin" and "aunt" for "dad" in subsequent verses.

A couple of new songs recalled the confrontational angle that marked so much of Jagged, but traded the petulance of "You Oughta Know" for more reflective, mature sentiments. On the percussion-heavy "Bent 4 U," Morissette sang, "A million times, a million ways, I feast on scraps from you." On "Narcissist," which featured spoken verses set against melodic choruses, she sang, "I try to help you, but you really don't want me to."

Both "Purgatorying" and "A Man" carried a moody feel, the latter opening with Morissette's voice set against keyboards.

Though the crowd, which included Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, embraced the new material, Morissette effectively sprinkled her hits throughout the show to avoid chancing patience. Highlights came with the chilling rendition of "Uninvited" and the show-closing "Ironic."

Several of the new songs have already turned up on Napster and elsewhere on the Net.

The next stop for Morissette is the Rock Am Ring festival in Nürburgring,
Germany, on June 1.

— Teri vanHorn

5/29/01
Stevie Nicks Summer Tour Dates Announced
The high priestess of rock and roll STEVIE NICKS will embark on an extensive concert tour this summer with an itinerary that will take the superstar across the United States.

Nicks will perform material from her new CD TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA which entered the BIllboard album charts at No. 5 and has remained a Top 20 hit for the last three weeks. She will also cover material from her previous solo albums as well as her hits as a member of Fleetwood Mac.

Billboard Magazine hailed Nicks new album as "this years comeback equivalent to Carlos Santana and her strongest material since her landmark Bella Donna."

Check local venues for on sale dates and ticket prices.

The tour dates are as follows:

Date City Venue

July 6 Burgettstown, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
July 7 Clarkstown, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
July 10 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
July 11 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
July 13 Hartford, CT Meadows Music Theater
July 14 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
July 17 Camden, NJ Tweeter Waterfront
July 18 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
July 20 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach Theater
July 21 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 24 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amph.
July 25 Raleigh, NC Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
July 27 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amph.
July 28 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion
July 30 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amph.
August 3 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Center
August 4 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 7 Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion
August 8 Denver, CO Fiddlers Green Amph.
August 11 Portland, OR Rose Garden Arena
August 12 Seattle, WA Key Arena
August 14 Concord, CA The Chronicle Pavilion
August 15 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amph.
August 17 Irvine, CA Verizone Wireless Amph.
August 18 Phoenix, AZ Desert Sky Pavilion
August 21 Universal City, CA Universal City
August 22 Universal City, CA Universal City
August 24 San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheater
August 25 Las Vegas, NV Aladdin Theater
August 28 Bonner Springs, KS Sandstone Amph.
August 29 St. Louis, MO Riverport Amph.
August 31 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
September 1 Columbus, OH Polaris Amph.

5/29/01
Book Of Love - The Chaos Control Interview

check it out: [click here]

5/26/01 - rollingstone.com
Clapton Tour To Be His Last
Eric Clapton, who is two weeks into the U.S. leg of his Reptile Tour -- his first worldwide jaunt in a decade -- says that the tour will be his last.
"I was musing that it might be the last time," Clapton says about the planning stages of his current tour. "Now I'm going, 'This is definitely the last time.' It's hard. It's doesn't work for me anymore. I will leave the door open for a couple of projects, to play the odd theater, but I'd say this is near the end. Anyone I talk to about it goes, 'Oh, you'll never stop.' I won't, in truth. I will always want to express something. But I don't need to do it like this anymore."

Clapton, who has two albums left in his contract with Warner Brothers, does still plan to record. He claims to have two projects in mind: a collaboration with the Impressions, whom he first worked with at the funeral of their frontman Curtis Mayfield in late 1999 and who backed him on several tracks on his latest album, Reptile; he's also planning an album of "soulful rock blues, like an old Tony Joe White record."

Though Reptile is Clapton's first proper solo release since 1998's Pilgrim, the album is his second project in the past year, as he and B.B. King collaborated on and released the hit album, Riding With the King last year.

"Since I got sober, I've just been trying to develop . . . a career with dignity, records where I can say, 'I finished it, it's complete,'" Clapton said. "Whether or not it's up to the standard of the current thing, it's complete."

5/26/01 - reuters
King/Clapton Win Big At Annual Blues Awards
Blues legend B.B. King was a double winner at the 22nd Annual W.C. Handy Awards, taking entertainer of the year honors and the contemporary album of the year prize along with Eric Clapton for ``Riding
With The King.''

Blues belter Shemekia Copeland, 22, daughter of late blues great Johnny
Copeland, was also a double award winner at Thursday night's event for best contemporary female artist and for blues album of the year with ``Wicked.''

Etta James was inducted into The Blues Hall of Fame during the ceremonies and won a Handy as ``Soul Female Artist of the Year.''
New Orleans piano man Dr. John presided over the event held in the restored 1920's era Orpheum Theater.

The evening included included performances by award winners Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band (for blues band of the year), Eddy ``The Chief'' Clearwater (for contemporary male artist) and Clarence ``Gatemouth'' Brown (for instrumentalist/fiddle).

The Handy Awards are presented by The Blues Foundation, a Memphis-based organization dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of the music. The awards are named for Alabama-born William Christopher Handy, the composer of ``St. Louis Blues'' who is widely regarded as the father of the blues.

5/26/01 - allstar
Stevie Nicks Speaks Out On Fleetwood Mac's Plans
A new Fleetwood Mac album has been talked about and talked about, but it looks like Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks will finally put
their plans into action.

"When I get done touring for [Trouble in] Shangri-La, Fleetwood Mac will do another record," Nicks says in a recent interview conducted by Jon Wiederhorn and running June 8 on CDNOW.

"I've already given Lindsey [Buckingham] 17 demos of songs from the last 30 years," she continues, "and some that are newer -- two that I pulled off of this record that I decided weren't right for this record, and were very much right for Fleetwood Mac. Mick and I have made it our mission to make it happen. So it will."

The last time Fleetwood Mac was together was for its 1997 tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the release that year of its live album, The Dance.

Meanwhile, Trouble in Shangri-La debuted on The Billboard 200 at No. 5 two weeks ago (allstar, May 9), and Nicks will kick off a solo tour on July 6 in Burgettstown, Pa.

-- Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna

5/24/01
Exciter Excites The Masses Worldwide
Depeche Mode's new album, EXCITER, entered the U.S. album chart at #7, with well over 100,000 over-the-counter sales. Generally, the album has done Top 10 almost everywhere in the world with #1 positions in Germany, France and several other countries. Among the first-week chart positions are:

1 (NE) - GERMANY*

1 (NE) - FRANCE*

1 (NE) - SWEDEN*

1 (NE) - GREECE*

1 (NE) - BELGIUM*

2 (NE) - ITALY*

2 (NE) - SPAIN*

2 (NE) - SWITZERLAND*

2 (NE) - FINLAND*

2 (NE) - ICELAND*

3 (NE) - CANADA*

3 (NE) - NORWAY*

3 (NE) - AUSTRIA*

3 (NE) - DENMARK*

7 (NE) - USA*

9 (NE) - UK*

11 (NE) - PORTUGAL*

13 (NE) - IRELAND*

15 (NE) - HOLLAND*

20 (NE) - AUSTRALIA*

5/24/01 - sonicnet
Two Ex-Smiths Sniffing For Record Deal
Drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke, one half of quintessential U.K. gloom troupe the Smiths, will make the Stateside debut of their new band, Specter, on Saturday in New York, according to a group spokesperson.

Five East Coast dates have been lined up to give the band, which takes its name from frontman Jason Specter and is rounded out by guitarist Will Carol, a chance to shop around their demo in hopes of securing a U.S. record deal. The band has previously played a handful of shows around their hometown of Manchester, England.

In what can either be viewed as a slap in the face for Joyce and Rourke or a blessed coming for diehard Smiths fans, Specter's Sunday show at New York's Don Hill's will be part of the second annual Smiths tribute night, titled "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" after the song of the same name which appeared on the Smiths' 1984 singles collection Hatful of Hollow. In March, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr joined ex-Crowded House singer Neil Finn for a series of guest-star-studded gigs in New Zealand.

The Smiths' frontman Morrissey, meanwhile, has kept relatively quiet since being legally required to pay an estimated $1.7 million to Joyce for back royalties three years ago.

Specter tour dates, according to Mike Joyce's Web site:

* 5/26 - New York, NY @ CB's 313 Gallery
* 5/27 - New York, NY @ Don Hill's
* 5/29 - Washington, DC @ Velvet Lounge
* 5/30 - Boston, MA @ Milky Way
* 5/31 - New Haven, CT @ Tune Inn

— Joe D'Angelo

[buy smiths records]

5/23/01 - sonicnet
Depeche Mode Excited By Exciter's Contrasts
For Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, the band's new album, Exciter, is all about contrasts.

The contrast between the coolness of electronics and the warmth of the human voice. The contrast between upbeat tunes and downbeat lyrics. Even the contrast between the hopeful mood of "I Feel Loved" and the attack dogs threatening him in the song's video.

"They're real attack dogs, and I'm singing 'I feel loved,' and [the director]
told me whatever I do don't look into the dogs' eyes," Gahan said of the
video shoot, in which the band played a sweaty Los Angeles club that came under siege by police and their tooth-baring canine helpers. "I didn't feel scared, and that's not because I'm a tough guy. It was just like, 'The dogs are there. They're going to kill me. Just get the shot.'"

"The dogs are there. They're going to kill me." — Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan

"I Feel Loved" is the second video and single from Exciter, which came out May 15. The British group hooked up with producer Mark Bell, who worked on Björk's Homogenic and Selmasongs, and Gahan said Bell let the band explore its musical contradictions.

While the band's been known for its keyboard-based sound since 1981's debut LP, Speak & Spell, Gahan said he's most excited when the electronics are placed side-by-side with guitars or his own emotional vocals.

"I wanted to be human, and when you're working with a lot of electronics and stuff like that, I think there's a real contrast there that is exciting, and that's what's interesting to me about what Depeche Mode does," Gahan said. "A bit raw and rough on the edges, just as we all are, and then there are the electronics that Martin [Gore] likes to be perfectly in time and perfectly in place."

Even though the album may be called Exciter, the music is often subdued and haunting, never getting into the uptempo, rocking territory of previous singles like 1990's "Personal Jesus" or 1993's "I Feel You."

Instead, Depeche Mode offer plenty of ballads, such as the gently yearning "When the Body Speaks," alongside the stop-start tension of "Dream On" and "I Feel Loved," a song that harks back to the dance-pop of the group's early days.

"The song for me is a dance song," Gahan said. "Some twisted electronics I've written and the vocal melodies are quite dark, so it's a contrast to the music." Gahan said the band plans to perform about a half-dozen Exciter songs on its upcoming North American tour, which kicks off June 15 in Montreal and ends August 14 in Los Angeles (see "Depeche Mode Plan Summer North American Tour").

After the tour wraps, Gahan said he plans to start work on his first solo
album, which he said will have a different feel than Depeche Mode.
"It's song-based," he said. "It's about what's going on around me, my own experience, things that have happened to me in the last 10 years and the things that are happening to me right now. I'm excited about that."

— Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, with additional reporting by Meridith Gottlieb

5/23/01 - Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone Looks At 'Exciter'
Depeche Mode should be horribly burnt out or split up by now: They lost their initial songwriter, Vince Clarke, after their 1981 debut; their principal musician, Alan Wilder, after their eighth album; and their sanity in 1995, when singer Dave Gahan became a heroin addict and attempted suicide. It's easy to forget that these Essex, England, unlikelies have been around as long as R.E.M., U2 and Duran Duran. But unlike those titan troupers, they never made an embarrassing album (live discs aside) and never became so huge that they overstayed their welcome. Even at the peak of their late-1980s teeny-bopper popularity, these quintessential synth-poppers somehow remained punk. Lingering in gorgeously melodic, genuine sadness, Gahan, Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher still have the knack for turning a lifelong bummer into one big black celebration.

But even old reliables have their ups and downs, and Depeche Mode's tenth studio album ranks miraculously high. Produced by Bjork collaborator Mark Bell, Exciter glimmers like a gentle ambient doodle with vocals: The beats are mostly minimal, closer to early Kraftwerk than to current electronica. But because Gore's songwriting is so focused and Gahan's vocal presence is so commanding, the softest songs leap to the foreground like a whisper from a lover.

Although they integrate guitars and orchestrations with greater finesse, the skeletal arrangements leave Gahan no harmonic place to hide, no singalong choruses to coast. Lips pressed against the mike, the rehabbed frontman turns in his most physically intimate, emotionally masterful performances on unearthly ballads like "When the Body Speaks." Yet he also proves himself capable of summoning bygone sleaze on the album's hilariously sullied, sole industrial jam, "The Dead of Night." And on one of Gore's vocal cameos, "Breathe," his wounded choirboy tenor sounds grandly operatic in the Scott Walker lounge-troubadour tradition.

Recent landmark albums by kindred spirits Radiohead and Moby may have
rejuvenated their white machine soul, but the Modesters have never kowtowed to trends.

Exciter isn't nearly as catchy as hit-packed discs like 1987's Music for the Masses. But from the breathless a cappella opening of "Dream On" to the closing strains of "Goodnight Lovers," Exciter maintains an otherworldly mood and purity of purpose that today's angst-ridden rockers would trade their Jeff Buckley CDs to attain.

5/22/01 - launch.com
Joey Ramone's 50th Birthday Celebrated
Cheap Trick, Blondie, the Damned, the Independents, Bellvue, and Little Steven Van Zant helped the crowd celebrate the life of Joey Ramone, the late singer of the Ramones, Saturday night (May 19) at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. Richard Hell also made a guest appearance.

The event, billed at Ramone's 50th Birthday Bash, was put on by Ramone's mother, Charlotte Lasher, and his brother Mickey Leigh. Lasher and Leigh told members of the press that it was a happy occasion, marking Ramone's birthday, not a memorial or a tribute. Lasher told LAUNCH about the biggest obstacle. "Time I think. This was all done in a short amount of time with the most wonderful people. The whole crew."

Leigh said that Joey actually helped out with the ceremony. "These things have been tradition for him, these birthday bashes, and while he was in the hospital we were kind of getting the ball rolling from then," Leigh recalled.

"Hopefully he was going to get out, but we promised him that we would have a 50th birthday bash regardless and he said, 'No matter what, you're going to have a party, right?' We promised him."

The tribute opened with Little Steven Van Zant, who told the sold out crowd of 3,000, "If Joey were here, he'd love this." The guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band went on to mention Ramone's death as being on par with those of the Doors' Jim Morrison and the Beatles' John Lennon. He added in his New York/New Jersey accent, "Joey, wherever you are, you did good."

Backstage, Van Zant told LAUNCH the reason why he was hosting the event. "Joey and the Ramones were one of the most important things in the history of rock 'n' roll," he said. "They revolutionized music. They came up with an entirely original genre of rock music after everybody thought everything important had been done. They came up with something new and have been influencing everybody ever since--and will continue to influence the world of rock musicians for generations to come." The event also featured videos and video interviews of the Ramones, a taped musical tribute by Green Day, and several interview clips of Metallica. Whenever drummer Lars Ulrich hit the screen, the crowd booed mercilessly.

Taped remembrances by vocalist-guitarist James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett, were spared such a response.
At the end of the birthday bash, Ramone's favorite cake, Ring-Dings, were distributed and later thrown about the crowd.
In related news, U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman (D) of Long Island and Joey's home of Queens prepared a congressional proclamation, which declared May 19 "Joey Ramone Day."

-- Darren Davis, New York

5/18/01 - billboard
Depeche Mode In Classic Form On 'Exciter'
Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, Dave Gahan, and Andrew Fletcher are laughing. The tension of a long day of glad-handing on behalf of their new disc, "Exciter" (Mute/Reprise, May 15), has been broken by a spate of playful jibes and jokes.

Ensconced within the sunny, plush setting of L.A.'s Four Seasons Hotel, the band exudes a warm, almost familial air that seems uncharacteristic for an act that has amassed a 20-year catalog of songs about life's darker edges.

"We've seen each other through enough twists and turns over the past 20 years that we are a family," Gore says, referring to a headline-grabbing history that includes various band members' bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and near-suicidal depression. "We've invested as much in each other as blood relations."

The laughter that fills their hotel suite indicates that they've come out on the healing side of the personal drama. "There were days in the
not-so-distant past when I wondered if I was going to be able to proceed with this band," Gahan admits. "To be in a place where we're sitting here -- feeling happy and healthy -- and talking about a new record is extraordinary. It's quite humbling, actually."

The members of Depeche Mode may be happier in their personal lives, but "Exciter" shows the band in classic musical form. Their first collection of new tunes since 1997's "Ultra" (between sets, they issued 1998's "The
Singles: '86-'98," a best-of compilation) is typically moody, always
introspective, and often literate. Gahan continues to be the compelling vocal embodiment of Gore's hypersensitive, often haunting words.

If there's any significant sign of growth within Depeche Mode's music, it's
in the instrumentation. Although the band is wisely continuing to mine the searing synth-pop sound that sparked a string of hits ("Just Can't Get Enough," "People Are People," and "Personal Jesus") and helped to shape the electronica movement, it is now adding elements of traditional blues, retro funk, progressive rock, and orchestral pop to its arrangements.

For example, "Dream On," the first single, is distinguished by nicely
detailed guitar work as well as skittling, staccato beats, while "The
Sweetest Condition," a strong single option, layers languid slide guitar
lines into a mix of industrialized keyboards and swaying rhythms.

Produced by Mark Bell, "Exciter" also benefits from such potent tracks as
"When the Body Speaks," on which a quietly rumbling beat supports delicate guitar lines and an intimate, almost whispered vocal by Gahan; "I Am You," wherein futuristic instrumentation is offset by a hypnotic chorus chant of the words, "I am you/And you are me" and further enhanced by a sweet midsong symphonic interlude; and "Goodnight Lovers," a gospel-spiked ballad that closes the album on a pensive, meditative note.

"After 20 years, making a Depeche Mode record can be quite a challenge," Fletcher says. "You have to feed the monster, if you will, that demands very specific sounds and stylistic elements. But you also have to feed yourself. You have to feel like you're doing more than merely painting by numbers."

Gore, who remains the band's primary tunesmith, agrees. Yet growth didn't come easily this time, as he admits to hitting a dry spell while writing material for "Exciter." "I started working on songs about a year and a half ago, and I struggled. I spent the first six months doing nothing. I couldn't get motivated. I couldn't come up with an idea that worked for me. It was actually quite frightening."

Then Gore decided to break his typically solitary writing parameters and
invited Bell and the other band members into his process "just to bounce
ideas off," he says. "Having people there provided the pressure I needed to get rolling. It also pushed me to consider different ideas as I was writing, which was great -- if not a little tension inducing at times. I'm a naturally shy person about my music, so it was a challenge to let my ideas flow freely in such a raw state."

In the end, though, Gore notes that this batch of songs has greatly
revitalized his interest in Depeche Mode. "Some of my favorite songs of the past 10 years are on this album. I'm extremely proud of what we've
accomplished this time."

For Gahan, "Exciter" is a chance to prove that he's still "got the goods." He says, "Let's face it, when you've reached the unfortunate point where you've nearly ended your life -- and the world's been watching the entire time -- there comes a minor need to establish and affirm, if only to yourself, that you can still get the job done."

If anything, Gahan says he is at a point where he's "never felt stronger or more creatively alive." And, after years of performing Gore's material, he feels that it's "just about time to write and record some of my own songs." He adds that the forum for his creative expression is still being formulated and that it's not likely to surface until after Depeche Mode has put its latest project to bed.

And "Exciter" is not likely to be put to bed anytime in the near future.
"Dream On" is building a solid radio audience in the States. The track is
also a bona fide smash in Europe, where it's already topped the charts in
Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Germany. It's also reached the top-10 on charts in the U.K., Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Austria.

Among the choice bits of international promotion for the project is a special two-hour radio documentary on the band for BBC London Live. The show aired May 7, and it's now available in streaming form on the band's Web site (depechemode.com).

Depeche Mode will hit the road for a five-month, 24-country tour this summer. The trek will begin June 15 in Montreal and finish Oct. 30 in Istanbul, Turkey. Tickets for the tour went on sale in late March, and sales have been brisk.

This is the band's first road jaunt since 1998's The Singles tour, where it
played to more than 1 million fans in 18 countries, according to the label.
"That was a scary tour for me," Gahan notes. "The pressure was high. But this one is going to be great."

Fans can expect a typically elaborate show, with longtime artistic collaborator Anton Corbijn on board to provide stage designs. "Anton is almost like a member of the band," Fletcher says. "He interprets and dissects our music in a way that is staggering. He's full of brilliant surprises and lots of fun."

Right now, a round of brilliant surprises and a lot of fun is precisely what
the members of Depeche Mode are hankering for. "We're ready for anything," Gore says with a smile. "This time, we're all going to remember every moment, every step of the way -- and that's the most brilliant part of it all."

-- Larry Flick

5/17/01 - sonicnet
Exciter-- the SonicNet review
While Basildon, England's Depeche Mode began their career in the 1980s as slightly geeky, New Romantic electro-poppers, by 1993's classic Songs of Faith and Devotion they had emerged as electronic rock's answer to the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin — morphing, along the way, into a band whose taboo-breaking lifestyle had become intertwined with their music until there was little distance between the two.

Yet, as all Dionysian rockers eventually discover, the survival of such
trangressive questing presents unique problems. After you've died for your "art" — as Depeche Mode vocalist Dave Gahan just about did after a 1996 incident — what next? If 1997's eclectic Ultra pointed toward a number of possible musical (and philosophical) directions, then Exciter — whose very title seems a bit of an in-joke on the part of this ever-perverse group — settles with more certainty on an overall unity of mood and texture.

Indeed, the "excitement" here is of a more mature, psychological nature, with the Mode positioned as wily survivors who enjoy whispering salacious tales of temptation in your ear. Take the subdued single "Dream On," in which the band's lyricist, guitarist/keyboardist Martin Gore, warns via singer Gahan that "Paying debt to karma/ You party for a living/ What you take won't kill you/ But careful what you're giving." With its mix of Gore's acoustic guitars, muted electronic polyrhythms tweaked expertly by ace Björk producer Mark Bell, and Gahan's whispery vocal, the quietly sinister "Dream On" takes the Mode into new musical territory, and sets the tone for much of what follows.

Longtime fans will no doubt be initially thrown by the lack of "motorik"
beats and general rock action here. Yet after a couple of listens, many of Exciter's songs begin to worm their way into the subconscious. Gahan, his singing more delicate than ever, mines heretofore unexplored realms of emotion on "Shine," a laid-back invitation to sensual pleasure ("Forget the pictures on your TV screen/ We'll steal the visions/ That you keep for your dreams"), crooned in Bowie-esque fashion. And the mellow (!) highlight "When the Body Speaks" is a yearning lullaby in which straightforward sentiments like "Oh, I need your tenderness" are rescued from banality by the passion with which they are rendered.

Not everything works here: while the monster electro-mash of "The Dead of Night" is an effectively sardonic trip through Club Zombie that momentarily evokes the more raucous Mode of the early '90s, "I Feel Loved" comes across as a retread of past successes inserted to assuage those put off by the band's new direction. And even the new direction is subject to occasional lapses, as on the aptly named "Comatose," a pointless, uncentered ballad.

Still, by the time the Mode wrap up here with what might be called the
ambient R&B of "Goodnight Lovers" — which, with its references to "soul
sisters and soul brothers," sounds like something from Body Heat-era Quincy Jones — one is left impressed by these survivors' ability to ease so gracefully into middle age.

5/17/01 - JAM! Showbiz
Morissette rescues musical 'Jane Eyre'
The closing notice for Jane Eyre, the $6.5 million Broadway musical based on the Charlotte Bronte novel, was taken down yesterday after the singer came up with $150,000 to keep the show running, at least for another week.

"She is a good friend of Paul Gordon, the composer, and also a huge fan of the show," said Bob Fennell, a spokesman for the musical.

Jane Eyre was originally set to shut Sunday at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre after 185 performances, despite having received five Tony Award nominations, including a best-musical nod. When Morissette heard that the show was folding, she offered to help out. What will happen after next week is uncertain, Fennell added.

No angels have stepped forward to save Seussical, a $10 million-plus
production based on the stories of Dr. Seuss that will end its run Sunday
after 197 performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

5/16/01 - sonicnet
Stevie Nicks- the big SonicNet Interview
Stevie Nicks has always considered herself a songwriter first, performer
second, but try telling that to the acolytes who flock to New York's "Night of a Thousand Stevies" to honor the woman, her wondrous voice and last but definitely not least, her wardrobe. One of the most charismatic figures of rock and roll, Nicks has enchanted audiences for more than 25 years with her ability to convey both power and vulnerability. As a solo artist and as part of Fleetwood Mac, she writes songs that elevate the feminine to a sacred place without alienating the male contingent; everyone feels honored to share her secrets and spells. In the words of friend and collaborator Sheryl Crow, Nicks is "the woman men want to be with and women want to be."

Trouble in Shangri-La, Nicks' first solo record since 1994's Street Angel, features collaborations with Sheryl Crow, Macy Gray, Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Maines. A concept record that asks the question "what is paradise?," Shangri-La features songs from as far back as 1970 and from as recent as this year. From the title track to the driving "Sorcerer," Nicks has added a bluesy depth to her vocal repertoire. The five songs produced by Crow introduce looped drums and a light, country twang. The record also includes a guest appearance from Nicks' former lover, bandmate and sometime-nemesis Lindsey Buckingham, which is a good sign for all the Fleetwood Mac fans who've been wondering about a reunion.

Speaking from her California home, Nicks tells Steffie Nelson the process
behind her album, her determination to overcome stage fright and the creative bond she still shares with her Fleetwood Mac cohorts.

Sonicnet: The response to the new record has been great. Billboard said
you're in your finest musical form since Bella Donna.

Stevie Nicks: Really? Well, I am actually in my finest form since Bella
Donna. Bella Donna was made up of all the songs that didn't go on the
Fleetwood Mac records between 1975 and 1980 — which was many — because when you're in a group with three writers you only get two or three songs per album. It's the same with Trouble in Shangri-La — I started writing these songs in 1995 right after the big [1994] earthquake in California. And the other three were from the mid-'70s.

Sonicnet: In your bio you mention that you needed to replenish the creative well — go out and live your life for a while to get some new ideas.

Nicks: After the earthquake, in 1995 I went to Phoenix, and I never thought it was gonna take five years [to make an album]. So what happened is exactly what you said: In order to write the nine new songs on this record I had to really live. I can't just make up songs, I can't just make up poetry. I don't write a poem unless something catches my eye and I go home very inspired or I meet somebody that really impresses me in some way. I would love to have written these songs during the first year and put this record out and be on to my second record by now, but I couldn't. I wrote "Love Is" at the end of 1995 and I wrote "Trouble in Shangri-La" at the end of 1996, so it took one year to write those two songs. And I had to fit the three old songs and the new songs that I would come to write in between those two, because I wanted to stick to the concept of "trouble in Shangri-La."

Sonicnet: How do you define Shangri-La? Was that your time with Fleetwood Mac?

Nicks: Pretty much, yeah. You know, if you live in a huge house and have a fabulous car and lots of money for 20 or 30 years, pretty soon paradise becomes your world. And it's nothing special. And that's the saddest part of all. I think you must always have trouble in Shangri-La to keep yourself from becoming complacent. If you stop searching you'll get lost. Once you've attained paradise, people say, "Well, you don't have to write any more songs, you've got lots of money." It's like, but does that mean I'm finished? So you can never feel that your work is done. You can never say, "That was the best song I ever wrote," because hopefully you'll write an even better song.

Sonicnet: Did you do a lot of reckoning with the past while making this
record?

Nicks: I had just done the Fleetwood Mac reunion, which I loved, and then I did my Enchanted box set. With Trouble in Shangri-La, I really felt that I was making a step away from the past. The box set really was all about the past, and the Fleetwood Mac reunion was all about the Rumours songs. I really felt a necessity to go into the future because when you're in a great old band that still exists, you can always live on that ... you can always be that. Or you can go ahead and do your own thing along with doing that.

Sonicnet: It seems like you've really embraced the role of rock 'n' roll
matriarch, inspiring and collaborating with a younger generation of female
artists.

Nicks: It's awesome for me, it really is.

Sonicnet: There's some interesting production on the record, and you delve into country and reggae a little bit as well. Were a lot of your new sounds inspired by working with Sheryl Crow and Macy Gray and Sarah McLachlan?

Nicks: Actually, for the five songs I did with Sheryl Crow [as producer] we used her people. And so yes, she was very responsible for the instrumentation of those songs. "Candlebright" was written in 1970; it was one of the demos Lindsey and I moved to L.A. with, and so I have an incredible demo of just me and Lindsey. And it's exactly like what's on the record except that it's me and Sheryl. Singing with Sheryl is very much like singing with Lindsey — she's a real great duet singer, and so we had a great jumping-off point from the beginning. I went in, it was her band and a couple of extra people that she brought in for different sounds — violins, Chamberlin, all her little visions. I pretty much let her run with it. I said, "Here's the demo, now you put your magic on it. All you have to do is make it so that we both think it's better than the demo." And we did.

Sonicnet: How did it feel to have Sheryl Crow write "It's Only Love" for you and about you?

Nicks: Well, she came up the stairs carrying her guitar, and she just sat
down and played it for me. And she told me, "I went home and I just was
really thinking about all your stories and all the stuff you've been through" — because now that we've been friends for four years I've just about told her all the great stories, she knows them all — and that's really what she wrote the song about, all my different relationships and the men that I was with and the men that I'm still good friends with and really care about. They're all still out there and around me, and she finds that pretty amazing. I think that's what inspired her to write the song — you know, "sometimes lonely is not only a face that I have known." And she sees my life: I am not married, I don't have children, and I made that choice. I knew if I had children I would have to take care of them and I couldn't hand them over to a bunch of nannies. So I knew if I had a baby I would stop making music and I would start being a mom. And I decided in my life, that my mission was to make people happy. It was more important. I only just got a dog two years ago, and trained her myself. And that's the motherliest thing I've ever done.

Sonicnet: What about the song "Sorcerer"? Although it was written many years ago it feels like it comes from the perspective of a wise woman.

Nicks: "Sorcerer" was written in 1974, a year before we joined Fleetwood Mac. It was really about the city of Hollywood and how strange it was to us. It was all about models and rock 'n' roll and drugs and scary people. I was a very, very prudish little girl from San Francisco who had strict parents, I had not had a lot of freedom, and coming into this town was freaky. "All around the black ink darkness, and who found the lady from the mountains." The lady from the mountains was me. I did a [nude] photo session for the Buckingham Nicks album and I was horrified about that cover. I did not want to do that, and I was really made to feel like, "Don't be a child, don't be a baby, this is art, this is your future." And I did do it, and I never forgot that. It was the one time in my life that I did something that I felt was not morally right for me to do.

Sonicnet: How did the Natalie Maines duet, "Too Far From Texas," come about?

Nicks: That was a song that a friend of mine sent me a couple years ago, and when I first heard the Dixie Chicks I marked it in my brain that this was a song that I could probably sing with this girl Natalie Maines. I didn't know her; I wrote it in my journal, turned the page down, put a little star by it and never thought about it again. In the studio I told Sheryl about it and that I thought it would be incredible [to cut it] with the girl from the Dixie Chicks. We recorded it live. Sonicnet: Do you have a favorite song?

Nicks: My personal favorite is "Bombay Sapphires." When it says, "I can see past you to the white sand," that sentence right there is the whole reason for "Bombay Sapphires." It means that I'm really trying to get over
something, and though I'm freaked out about it I'm looking to the green ocean and can see past all of these problems to the incredibly beautiful white sand and the ocean beyond it. I'm gonna be OK because I am movin' past you. And when "Bombay Sapphires" almost got pulled off the record because it wasn't recorded right, I was horrified that one line was not gonna be on the record. It's really important for me to tell people that if they're in an unhappy situation they should not stay forever and be miserable.

Sonicnet: How was it producing the song yourself and singing with Macy Gray?

Nicks: It was easy, because it was exactly what I wanted to do. It was done in one night. I really did have a vision for that song, and [on earlier attempts to record it] nobody else saw my vision. The first time it was too R&B, the second time it was too Wagner, dirgelike. The third time it was back to its little funky reggae self. I'm managed by the same people who manage Macy, and in the spur of the moment I just said, "You know, I bet Macy could sing the high part on that chorus." Two days later she was in the studio. So none of this was very thought out. It was all perfect accidents.

Sonicnet: You used seven producers on this record. Was it your intention to work with so many people?

Nicks: Well, I couldn't really find one producer who could do the whole
record. The whole idea of the concept record is pretty much gone, and I
really wanted to keep my concept going even though there were different producers. When I recorded, say, "Fall From Grace" with John Shanks, Sheryl Crow was there that night at the studio. So it was like, all the producers kind of blended a little bit and became friends because they all really cared about this record and they all really wanted it to be great. I told Chris Lord-Alge, who mixed it, "You have to be the master seamstress here, because I don't want the mood to be changed." So he really worked hard on that.

Sonicnet: Sheryl Crow has said, "There's always a male producer who wants to make [Stevie] into something that is maybe not as intimate as what she sees her music as being."

Nicks: Sometimes people want to change things just for the sake of change. Not because they need changing. That's a problem that I have. It's like, we're all in the studio rockin' out, everybody loving the track, and then [after a break] I come back in and the drumbeat has been changed. What is that? You have to be very tough with these producers or it will be their record. I decided that there was not gonna be a song on this record that I did not love. There were two that didn't come out right; I pulled them and gave them to Lindsey. We're gonna put 'em on a Fleetwood Mac record, probably next year.

Sonicnet: Could you talk a little about that?

Nicks: Sure. Lindsey and Mick were here two weeks ago. I went back through the song vaults and I pulled 17 songs from a hundred years ago all the way up to now. We listened to Shangri-La, and we listened to the 17 demos, and Lindsey was knocked out. He really hadn't heard all these songs; I guess I just never really played them for him. He had no idea that I was going to present him with 17 songs; he thought maybe we were gonna work on a song. So he called me the next day and said, "I'm driving up the coast and I'm taking notes and I'm very happy with all these songs." So that's about the nicest thing he ever said to me, really. "I'm very happy with all this music" was like, "Oh my God, I can't believe he said that!" So you know, I will follow my Trouble in Shangri-La through as long as it goes, and Lindsey and Mick will work on [the new Fleetwood Mac songs] when I'm gone, and I'll come back and we'll go in the studio and polish it all up. And hopefully a Fleetwood Mac album should be out by the end of next summer. It's very easy to sit down and plan this all out because you never know what's gonna happen. But in the perfect plan that's what I would like.

Sonicnet: How did it feel to have Sheryl Crow write "It's Only Love" for you and about you?

Sonicnet: What about the song "Sorcerer"? Although it was written many years ago it feels like it comes from the perspective of a wise woman.
Nicks: "Sorcerer" was written in 1974, a year before we joined Fleetwood Mac. It was really about the city of Hollywood and how strange it was to us. It was all about models and rock 'n' roll and drugs and scary people. I was a very, very prudish little girl from San Francisco who had strict parents, I had not had a lot of freedom, and coming into this town was freaky. "All around the black ink darkness, and who found the lady from the mountains."

The lady from the mountains was me. I did a [nude] photo session for the Buckingham Nicks album and I was horrified about that cover. I did not want to do that, and I was really made to feel like, "Don't be a child, don't be a baby, this is art, this is your future." And I did do it, and I never forgot that. It was the one time in my life that I did something that I felt was not morally right for me to do.

Sonicnet: How did the Natalie Maines duet, "Too Far From Texas," come about?

5/16/01 - sonicnet
KRS-One Kicks Off Hip-Hop Appreciation Week
If KRS-One has his wish, members of the hip-hop community will form a tighter bond during the next seven days, and the general public will better understand the culture as well.

The fourth annual Hip-Hop Appreciation Week, KRS-One's brainchild, kicked off Monday (May 14) in New York. Produced by the rapper's Temple of Hiphop Kulture, the eight-day series of events (May 14 - May 21) — ranging from lectures to independent movie screenings and taking place in New York and New Jersey — is meant not only to celebrate the hip-hop community, but also to raise money for charity, heighten social consciousness and "decriminalize hip-hop's public image."

"In a time when our youth are in such an immediate need of moral guidance, concerned men and women cannot sit back and hope someone, someday, will offer such guidance," KRS said in a statement. "We have the ability and the resources to productively guide our youth, today! What we don't have is enough people that care. Everyone can do something."

Hip-hop notables KRS-One, Chuck D and DJ Ralph McDaniels will lecture during the week. Members of New York's political realm, including Reverend Al Sharpton, have also been scheduled to come out in support. Most of the activities are free and open to the public.

Among the week's highlights are a screening of the groundbreaking b-boy flick "Wild Style" on Wednesday night, with the movie's director Charlie Ahearn and legendary rap troupe the Cold Crush Brothers on hand to answer questions from the attendees. On Thursday, Chuck D and Poor Righteous Teachers' Wise Intelligent will be among the MCs expressing their views on the rap game at a town meeting with members of the Harlem community.

Sunday is shaping up to be Hip-Hop Appreciation Week's most anticipated day, with McDaniels hosting a block party in Brooklyn and KRS getting inducted into the Bronx Walk Hall of Fame earlier that morning. The Blastmaster joins the company of former inductees and Bronx natives such as Rita Moreno, Red Buttons and Stanley Kubrick.
Later that night, the Teacha will speak and perform at club SOB's as part of a fund raiser. The proceeds from the benefit will be going to the urban arts programs at Long Island City, Queens' Robert F. Wagner Secondary High School of the Arts.

Students at Wagner have the option of enrolling in the school's elevated arts program, where professionals in the music industry hold workshops to teach kids subjects such as video directing, graphic design, graffiti drawing and breakdancing. When a lack of funds threatened to end the program, one of the school's teachers tracked down KRS and asked for help. He agreed to make the benefit a part of the week's activities.
Plans for next year's Hip-Hop Appreciation Week are already underway. KRS founded the Temple of Hiphop in 1997 in order to promote and protect the nine elements of hip-hop, which he described in his statement as "Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, Deejayin, Beatboxin, Street Language, Street Knowledge, Street Fashion and Street Entrepreneuralism." KRS said the membership in his non-profit organization has grown to 25,000.

KRS and his organization have put into action a voter registration drive, and in 1999 a Temple of Hiphop Kulture compilation album was released featuring artists such as Xzibit, Big Daddy Kane and Ras Kass.

[buy the Temple of Hiphop Kulture album]

— Shaheem Reid

5/15/01 - launch.com
Steely Dan Goes Back To Old School For Honorary Doctorates
Steely Dan singer-guitarist Walter Becker and singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen were awarded honorary doctorates Saturday (May 12) by Boston's Berklee College of Music, where Fagen was a student for a time in 1966. Fagen, who broke his musical vow to never go back to his old school, got a standing ovation when he told the audience, "I just want to say, from a blues verse from Mose Allison, 'When you move up to the city, there's just one thing I hope/When you move up to the city, there's just one
thing I hope/You don't take money from a woman/and don't start messin' around with dope,'" according to The Boston Globe.

Becker was a bit more philosophical in his acceptance speech, before echoing the thoughts of his partner of more than 30 years. "If I had any advice based on my career so far that would be worth sharing with you, it would be two things: number one, as you go into your musical careers, people will try to refocus you on their goals and their artistic aspirations. And it's always best to stay focused on your own. It's the only shortcut that really is available," Becker told the crowd before adding, "And number two, the blues. Playing the blues. Play the blues--it works over everything."

On Friday night (May 11), Becker and Fagen were on hand as Berklee College students performed many of the duo's signature hits in a tribute concert. Cover versions of classic Steely Dan songs including "Peg," "Deacon Blues," "Do It Again," and (of course) "My Old School," along with newer numbers like "Cousin Dupree," moved the usually acerbic Becker to say, "It was great. It was awesome. It was all so good," while his partner in crime Fagen added, "The kids did a great job. They sounded better than we did."

It's been an amazing couple of months for Steely Dan, what with its big
Grammy wins in February and its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in
March.

Earlier this year, LAUNCH asked Fagen and Becker if they felt like the group was finally getting its due:

(Becker) I think we've been getting our due right along.
(Fagen) I don't think we've ever looked for a due. We have a lot of great fans. We've sold records steadily, pretty much, for 25 years.
(Becker) Neither one of us has had a real job since, you know, the '60s. (Fagen) And the, you know, when we do concerts, you know, the audience gets all excited and they really like it and we all have a lot of fun, so that's pretty satisfying, you know? So the awards thing is kind of a...let's face it, it's mostly a sales pitch, to a large extent."

-- Bruce Simon, New York
-- Gary Graff, Detroit

5/15/01 - launch.com
Depeche Mode Returns After Four-Year Layoff With 'Exciter'
Depeche Mode returns today (May 15) with Exciter, the
group's first album of new material since 1997's Ultra. While fans might
think four years is a long time in between albums, the group's keyboard
player Martin Gore says otherwise.

Gore tells LAUNCH, "Four years seems like a long time for people waiting for a record, but it doesn't seem like a long time to me. That seems to be the sort of cycle we're in at the moment. You know, we put out the greatest hits, you know, two-and-a-half years ago; we went on tour with that, then, you know, sort of bummed around a bit I suppose. But, you know, we were working on this record for a year and a half anyway, and the greatest hits out, and the tour, that's not a lot of time off."

Exciter features the single, "Dream On," currently ascending multiple
Billboard charts, including Modern Rock Tracks (Number 16), Adult Top 40
(Number 30), and the Billboard Hot 100 (Number 85).

Depeche Mode will kick off a 33-date North American tour in support of Exciter in Montreal June 15.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

5/15/01 - sonicnet
Stevie Nicks Confirms North American Tour
Stevie Nicks will tour North America this summer and fall in support of her
new Reprise album "Trouble in Shangri-La." The full itinerary is not yet
finalized, but according to Nicks' official Web site, the trek will begin
July 6 in Pittsburgh and keep her on the road through late September.

"Trouble in Shangri-La" debuted at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 earlier this
month, earning Nicks her highest album chart showing since 1983, when "The Wild Heart" bowed at the same position. First single "Every Day" is No. 21 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart this week.

Don't expect Nicks to drench her live sets with songs from the new album. "I learned an important lesson back during the first 'Rumours' tour with Fleetwood Mac," she told Billboard in January. "You can't shove new songs down your audience's throat. You can do three or four at the most.

"On that 'Rumours' tour," Nicks added, "we did most of that album, and people didn't want any part of it. They want familiarity. They want the comfort of songs that feel like old friends. You can't exploit your fans by forcing them to embrace songs they don't know yet."

Here are Stevie Nicks' confirmed tour dates:
July 6: Pittsburgh (venue TBA)
July 7: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
July 14: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
July 21: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
July 25: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek)
Aug. 3: Dallas (Smirnoff Music Centre)
Sept. 4: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

5/14/01 - sonicnet
Alanis To Prep For European Trek With U.S. Dates
Alanis Morissette will play two intimate Los Angeles shows before she heads to Europe for a summer tour.

The shows, at the 700-capacity El Rey Theater on May 25 and 26, will serve as a warm-up for a six-week jaunt that kicks off June 1 at the Rock Am Ring Festival in Cologne, Germany, according to the singer's publicist. Tickets for the L.A. gigs will go on sale Sunday via Morissette's Web site. The concerts will include new material that "may be included on her next release," according to a statement. The album is done, but Morissette is refusing to deliver the tapes to her label — the Madonna-run Maverick — because of a contract dispute, according to Reuters. A label executive who requested anonymity would only say that Morissette and the label are "in negotiations."

Morissette will fly back to Ottawa for her only other North American date on July 1.

— Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen

5/7/01 - toronto sun
Stevie Nicks And Destiny's Child To Collaborate
Toronto Sun Stevie Nicks and Destiny's Child may have
released brand new albums last Tuesday, but collaboration, rather than
competition, is on their minds.

Nicks, in Toronto yesterday to promote her first solo disc in seven years,
Trouble In Shangri-La, returns to L.A. today after Destiny's Child requested she play the guitar in the video for their next single, Bootylicious, which samples Nicks' 1982 solo hit, Edge Of Seventeen.

"We're trying to attempt this wild collaboration -- really we've only spoken for five minutes," said the 52-year-old singer, whose mystical songs, throaty voice and distinctive style helped propel the popularity of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 landmark album, Rumors, and her own successful solo albums.

"I can only get there Monday night and go Tuesday and see if I want to do it. I can play guitar. I just don't play it in front of people, so it's an
interesting concept for me to actually stand up there and be the Led Zeppelin girl."

Nicks whose high-heeled suede boots, flowing dresses and feathered hair
inspired generations of wannabes, already has her wardrobe picked out: "I think I'm going to wear pants, long, long, and really high shoes and a little velvet tunic that's real fitted you know, so I'll look just totally wild. I hope it happens -- I really do."

Nicks also confirmed some other major news yesterday: Fleetwood Mac, who regrouped for a successful reunion tour in 1997, are heading back into the studio in the fall sans keyboardist-vocalist Christine McVie. They will follow the new album up with another band tour. But Nicks, who begins her own solo tour on July 6 in Pittsburgh (so far there's no confirmed Toronto date), probably won't be able to join drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie and guitarist Lindsay Buckingham in the studio until December.

"I gave Lindsay 17 demos from 1970 to 1999, basically," she said. "I had two songs that were going to go on this record that I pulled for Fleetwood Mac because I felt they were better Fleetwood Mac songs than they were Stevie Nicks songs. So that's a very exciting premise for all of us because if you take Chris out of the mix and you also take her out of the trio, it leaves us with Buckingham-Nicks. And it leaves Mick and John and Lindsay in a much more of a guitar-oriented thing."

Despite relationships with both Buckingham and Fleetwood -- among others -- Nicks never married or had any children. She said she got close a couple of times but in the end her songs -- and now a Yorkshire terrier named Sulamith, who greeted visitors at the door of her panoramic-viewed presidential suite yesterday -- became her offspring. Ultimately, she didn't want to be an absentee mom.

"I didn't even get a dog until two-and-a-half-years ago and raised her myself and that's when I really realized that I had really made the right decision. And she is really my baby and she's the light of my life. So I know if I had a little girl or a little precious boy, you know, I would have stopped doing this and I wouldn't be here now."

And if Trouble In Shangri-La doesn't sell, Nick said she'll simply move into
animated features and children's books. "I'm a very creative person, so there's so much more that I want to do before I die," she said. "So in order for me not to be hurt, I have to look at it that way because this record is really my heart. So if it were to be a huge bomb, then I would have to not look at it that my work was terrible. I would have to go, 'Well, this is just not the right time.' "

Nicks, who has certainly been a major influence on younger female artists, has many of them on Trouble In Shangri-La. Among them are Sheryl Crow, who Nicks met years ago at the premiere party for the film Boys On The Side. Crow co-produced six tracks and wrote It's Only Love. There's also a piano-playing Sarah McLachlan who appears alongside her producer Pierre Marchand on Love Is. Nicks wound up in Vancouver for a week after Marchand couldn't get into the U.S. due to green card problems.

5/5/01 - launch.com
Stevie Nicks Says Fleetwood Mac Reunion Is A Go
In interviews earlier this year, Mick Fleetwood promised another Fleetwood Mac reunion in the near future. The drummer and band founder said that after singer Stevie Nicks and singer-guitarist Lindsey
Buckingham finished their respective solo projects, they were committed to another Fleetwood Mac album and tour, albeit without singer-keyboardist Christine McVie, who has left the band.

Nicks, who this week released her first new solo album in seven years,
Trouble In Shangri-La, tells LAUNCH that Fleetwood's comments weren't just wishful thinking. "Mick and I are gonna make this happen. We're the strong ones, and we're gonna push this through if it kills us," she says. "We really want to do another record. Christine doesn't want to do it--she doesn't--and bless her heart, if that's what she wants, then that's what she's gonna get. She moved back to England. She wants to be an Englishwoman living in England, and you cannot make people do stuff."

Nicks says Fleetwood Mac will probably reconvene in early 2002. She'll be
spending most of the rest of this year on the road