Music News: Coldplay Continue To Give Away Their Music, Plus Madonna, Donna Summer, Clay Aiken

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Last week Coldplay offered up "Violet Hill," their first single off forthcoming album Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends, as a free download for seven days on their official site. It was reportedly downloaded by two million people, where "It would have outsold the whole of last week's [UK] top 40 (singles) four times over." The band continue to give the track away this week -- at least in their home country -- as a 7" vinyl single packaged in with British rock journal New Musical Express.

NME usually washes up on these shores in bookstores and newsstands with an inflated import price. The Coldplay issue offers new photos of the band and a brand new look for the mag: "Not only have we launched a brand spanking new-look magazine this week that’s seen us strip everything back to let the words and photography shine through, we’ve also added a whole load of new features to give you even more news, bands and gigs than ever before. Plus, to top it all off, the pièce de résistance is a FREE, 7-inch vinyl copy of Coldplay’s new single, 'Violet Hill.'"

Back here in the States, "Violet Hill" and a "single edit" of new track, "Viva La Vida", were added to iTunes. The latter is being offered for free with pre-orders of the album.

Yee-owch! Here's an interview MTV's John Norris did with Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Madge doesn't seem too jazzed to be talking to Norris, as she gets a tad frosty with him toward the end. (Of course, that might expain why the awful, out-of-key singing moment was then used in the montage.)

Meanwhile, with first-week sales of 280,000, Billboard reports today that Madonna's Hard Candy has topped the album chart, giving her a seventh #1 on that tally. As far as female artists, only Barbra Streisand has had more chart-topping albums, with eight total.

Amongst others, Donna Summer worked with producer Greg Kurstin on Crayons, her first album of original material in 17 years (due out May 20). Kurstin recently produced tracks on Kylie Minogue's X. "Stamp Your Feet," the current single off Crayons, pretty much makes you wanna do just that, though they could have done without the video.

New Stephen King/John Mellencamp musical originally set for a 2009 debut has been delayed.

Last show ever by The Police to benefit New York arts, while the band also donates to Bloomberg's MillionTreesNYC.

In a one-star (out of five) review, the New York Daily News assesses Clay Aiken's new CD, On My Way Here: "From the new songs' lyrics, we discover that Aiken has 'seen the best and the worst' of life. He has walked 'through fire,' 'risen from the ashes' and felt 'the weight of the world' on his shoulders. Along the way, he also discovered that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' which finally led him to realize, 'by the grace of God go I.'
If the universe holds any more survivor cliches, I've never heard them."

What are your iPod habits and desires?

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

"Take A Bow", a new single from Rihanna off the upcoming re-release of Good Girl Gone Bad. (Not a Madonna cover.)

Gavin DeGraw's self-titled third album.

Home Before Dark, Neil Diamond's latest set of original material, produced by Rick Rubin.

Sony's 20th anniversary enhanced CD/DVD version of Midnight Oil's Diesel And Dust.

The always-charming Toby Keith's 35 Biggest Hits.

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Madonna Opens Candy Shop at Roseland in NYC

We sent Towleroad correspondent Josh Helmin to cover M Dolla's gig last night in New York. Here's his report, along with some YouTube clips we discovered that may vanish quickly. So get a taste quick. Josh is one half of Josh & Josh are Rich and Famous, and co-produces our Towleroad TV segments. Unfortunately, we couldn't get her Madgesty on Towleroad TV - yet - but we'll have another segment of that coming up soon.

Last night Madonna delivered a six-song, 32-minute high-intensity performance at the Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan, in front of an estimated crowd of 2,200. Many of those attending camped out before sunrise for a chance at the free tickets handed out that day. (The rest of the lucky attendees won entrance through Z100, Verizon, or Madonna’s online fan club.)

A few minutes after ten o’clock Madonna appeared onstage on a throne, blonde hair lightly curly and clad in black pants and top, to deafening screams from the audience. Those standing on main floor crushed forward to get closer to her Madgesty, and thus my already good spot turned into a position about twenty-feet from the Material Girl herself.

After the first two songs, both from her new album Hard Candy (out this week), the audience went crazy as the first strains of “4 Minutes to Save The World” began. When Justin Timberlake popped on stage moments later the response was so vigorous that it was briefly impossible to hear the song. Madonna and Justin’s choreography had them grinding against each other and pacing the stage while singing their #1 iTunes hit.

After Justin left the stage Madonna slung her guitar across her chest and addressed the crowd. “This next song is for all of you that I saw last night sleeping on the sidewalks waiting to get tickets,” she said, before launching into a hard rock remix of “Hung Up.” Throughout the night she seemed ready to debut her new guitar skills, choosing to play her instrument during three of the night’s songs, and she looked far more comfortable doing so than in previous performances.

What perhaps made the performance so enjoyable was the clear impression that Madonna herself was having a great time. The love coming from the audience was unmistakable. She also looked amazing, especially considering that her 50th birthday is coming up in August. Her arms were, as usual, perfect ellipses of rock hard muscle (better than mine are ever going to be, I can tell you that much). And, to her credit, she also sang live. She certainly had backing vocals, but the effect of singing live was appreciated, especially considering the number of performers today who choose to lip synch, even when the choreography isn’t half as vigorous as Madonna’s.

The one snafu of the evening for Madonna came during the middle of “Hung Up” during which she briefly began singing the wrong words. She tried to cover for a second, and then looked behind her momentarily, before figuring out where the song was and jumping right back in without losing her composure. It was a quick error, and seemed to be forgiven immediately.

Madonna's Roseland Set List

Candy Shop | Miles Away | 4 Minutes

Hung Up | Give It 2 Me | Music (Fedde Le Grand Mix)

Clips via Madgetribe.

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Clay Aiken Cries from the Closet on QVC?

Clay Aiken debuted his new CD on QVC Monday night and folks are buzzing that the song he performed, entitled 'The Real Me', was pretty much a cry for help from the closet.

The lyrics:

Foolish heart looks like we’re here again
Same old game of plastic smile
Don’t let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
How much will they take before I’m empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know?

[Chorus:]
But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I’m loosening my grasp
There’s no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me

Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I’m tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade…

The truth shall set you free! Watch the performance, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Music News: So What Do You Think Of Hard Candy? Plus Coldplay, Glastonbury, Amy Winehouse, Robyn, Portishead

Photo courtesy Pud at Madonnalicious.

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

I'm going way out on a limb and assuming there might be some Madonna fans amongst the readers of Towleroad. So in honor of the release today of Madge's 11th studio album, Hard Candy, lets turn it over to you guys -- what are your thoughts of the album? Did you celebrate with a big bag of Jolly Ranchers or wallpaper your bedroom with 100 copies of the vinyl? Wish she woulda been a little more Material Matron and a little less Hooker Of Dorian Gray with the cover art? Let us know what you think!

Live outside the U.S. and not able to jet over to Madonna's gig at New York's Roseland Ballroom tomorrow night? Vodafone is making the show available for free to customers in 14 different countries. Says the company's global chief marketing officer, “Vodafone's strategy is to offer different music flavours and innovative formats allowing customers to experience music on their mobile in any way they wish."

Is Amy Winehouse recording the new Bond theme for November's Quantum Of Solace? "She has been doing some work in the studio, but [the Bond theme] is speculation, basically," says her label's spokesperson. "It would be lovely, but there's nothing to confirm at this stage."

Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri's father, Gaetano Thomas Oteri, was killed over the weekend, and his roommate, country songwriter Richard William Fagan, has been charged with the murder: "...the roommates had an alcohol-infused brawl around 9 p.m. Saturday night and Fagan allegedly cut Oteri, his music associate and publisher, with a 4- to 6-inch long Colt pocketknife. Police spokesman Don Aaron said Oteri died from a significant laceration to the wrist. Fagan is best known for penning the No. 1 songs 'Be My Baby Tonight' and 'Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)' for John Michael Montgomery."

Coldplay have unveiled the cover art (pictured right) for fourth album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, due out June 18. Today the band's new single, "Violet Hill," was made available as a free download from Coldplay's official site. The track will be free for one week before its official release to online digital music stores.

Mel B. denies rumors the Spice Girls will play Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday party in London this summer, as she's far too busy modeling underwear and recording a solo album.

With Coachella over, all guitars (and Jay-Z) point toward Glastonbury.

In February I interviewed Robyn for Towleroad, and today her full self-titled album finally sees its American release. In a final nod to Madonna, below is the video for Robyn's current U.K. single, "Who's That Girl."

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Third, the long-awaited third album from Bristol trip-hoppers Portishead, who performed at Coachella over the weekend. It's now been 11 years since their last full-length set of original material.

Shine, from 28-year-old London singer Estelle. The album features the single "American Boy," a duet with Kanye West that recently spent a month on top of the U.K. chart.

The Roots' Rising Down, featuring guest appearances by Mos Def, Common and Talib Kweli.

Santogold's self-titled debut. The Philadelphia-based artist topped numerous music mag's "ones to watch" lists last year.

Lyfe Jennings' third album, Lyfe Change.

Nine Lives, a new solo offering from Steve Winwood which also features Eric Clapton on the song "Dirty City." Winwood turns 60 in May.

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Rufus Wainwright Focusing on a Day in the Life of an Opera Diva

Rufus Wainwright, who was presented with GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak Award (named for the late casting director and given to an openly gay member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia) at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles over the weekend, told Variety about his next project, Prima Donna, an opera which focuses on a day in the life of an opera diva.

Said Wainwright: "I've written songs for so many years that it's basically become a bodily function. There's nothing glamorous about it whatsoever. I've wanted to write an opera since I was about 14 years old, but I couldn't find a story that I could wrap my head around. (Inspiration came from my fascination with) the construct of the diva, from Maria Callas to Norma Desmond and the (Jean-Jacques Beineix) movie 'Diva' from the '80s. And God darn it, there's a bit of me in that too. Once the lights go down, it all kind of boils down to the same thing. It just has to be good."

Wainwright (pictured here with his partner, German arts administrator Jorn Weisbrodt, at the GLAAD awards) will function "as both composer and librettist (in French)" for the work, which was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera.

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Lost in the Crowd: Ian Somerhalder Incognito at Coachella

Lost actor Ian Somerhalder showed up at the Coachella music festival dressed to impress.

Somerhalder was one of more than 150,000 people who showed up in the California desert to take in the ninth annual festival.

Sean Penn showed up there as well to announce his biodiesel trek across America in which he "plans to board a fleet of biodiesel buses and take about 300 people on an 1,800-mile trek across the U.S., ending in New Orleans." Said Penn: "I see this as a reckoning. My generation and those that came before have to recognize the numbing of incentive that we've passed on to the change hungry, imaginative, smarter than us youth of today."

But the act that everyone was talking about was Prince.

AFTER THE JUMP, one more shot of Somerhalder, as well as the song people are raving about — Prince's cover of Radiohead's "Creep".

(image source

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Music News: Coachella! Plus Midnight Juggernauts, Chris Brown, Yaz, Madonna, STP

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Since the inception of Indio, California's Coachella Music & Arts Festival in 1999, a half-dozen similar events inspired by Coachella (read: imitators) have cropped up annually across the states. The San Diego Union-Tribune sizes them all up, along with the growing festival fever sweeping the country.

Nevertheless, there's really only one Coachella, and this Friday kicks off the three-day outdoor "do" in the desert. Big-name headliners for the '08 fest include Roger Waters, Jack Johnson and the recently-added Prince, but flashier draws for the hipster set are Portishead, Kraftwerk, and Death Cab For Cutie. Other artists making a stop at Coachella this year are Hot Chip, M.I.A., Goldfrapp, Aphex Twin, Justice and Simian Mobile Disco, amongst over a hundred more.

One act to look out for this weekend is Melbourne electro trio Midnight Juggernauts. The synth-heavy Aussie act, which at times brings to mind Jeff Lynne in his E.L.O. days, gained attention after posting songs on MySpace and then meeting Justice, eventually being invited to support them on a tour last year.

Here are the videos for Midnight Juggernauts' "Tombstone" and "Into The Galaxy." Their debut album, Dystopia, sees a U.S. release from Astralwerks May 27.

Veteran alt rockers Love & Rockets just announced two warm-up shows prior to their Coachella gig: Pomona's Glass House tonight, and Cane's in San Diego on Thursday. They'll be the first full sets the trio has done in nine years. Says founding Rockets member David J to NME.com: "The time feels right for this band again. We'll be focusing on the music from our first four albums, the more guitar-based stuff."

In addition to some live content from the bands performing being available at Coachella.com, AT&T announced today it'll be exclusively webcasting from the event at AT&T Blueroom, while on-demand content will be made available next month.

If you've got tickets and aren't quite sure which stages to run back and forth between or how to plan who you want to see when, Artist Direct offers up a pretty decent preview of the festival.

Like your pop breezy, danceable, Euro-sounding and heavy on the vocoded effects? (And, no, this isn't leading up to something on Madge's new album.) Then check out Chris Brown's new single, "Forever," a new track tacked onto the re-release of Brown's latest set, Exclusive, and added to iTunes today. Bonus gay points -- not that the song needs any more -- to Chris for working with Polow da Don on "Forever," who crafted Fergie's "Glamorous."

Back in January I mentioned the reunion of Yaz's Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet (pictured left) for their Yaz Reconnected tour. So what was it like the first time in 18 years they saw each other in person?

"No Air" and "Tattoo" singer Jordin Sparks was forced to cancel an Earth Day show at Washington D.C.'s National Mall today, as well as several other dates with Alicia Keyes, due to an acute vocal cord hemorrhage. "Jordin is on a vocal rest, but she's expected to make a full recovery and join Alicia on tour in May," says a statement from Jive Records.

Things are rolling along for the reunited Stone Temple Pilots. Meanwhile, think you have the chops to blow Slash away?

Though it peaked at #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 stateside, Madonna's "4 Minutes" became Madonna's 13th single to top the U.K. chart on Sunday. She's racked up 12 #1s in the U.S. so far, spanning from 1984's "Like A Virgin" to 2000's "Music." Can you guess the other 10? (They're listed here.)

Perhaps the reason Sony BMG chief Clive Davis was shafted last week was for licensing this song, which recently spent two months at #1 in Germany, for an American release.

Forty-five seconds of new music from Franz Ferdinand has leaked.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Ashlee Simpson's third album, Bittersweet World, featuring production by Timbaland and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes.

Hideaway, the third LP from indie folk-pop duo The Weepies. Last year the band collaborated with Mandy Moore on her album Wild Hope.

Elephant Shell, the debut from Canadian indie band Tokyo Police Club, who share a label (Saddle Creek) with Conor Oberst's Bright Eyes.

From Donny... With Love, a collection of covers and standards from 50-year-old crooner and cheeseball Donny Osmond. Incidentally, despite there being six songs with the world "love" in the title here, the singer's own 1989 hit, "Soldier Of Love," remains absent.

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Enrique Iglesias Hugs Male Fan who Rushed Him

Enrique Iglesias played the Imperial Festival in La Guaciama, Costa Rica yesterday and was surprised by a male fan who rushed the stage during his performance. Iglesias, rather than call security on the young man, put his arm around him and continued singing. It's not the first time the singer has responded warmly to his male fans.

Previously
Enrique Iglesias Serenades Male Fan at G-A-Y in London [tr]

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #276

ERYKAH BADU: An entertaining assessment on what young women should do to make it in the music business.

NAKED COCKATOO: Death-defying featherless cockatoo does Mick Jagger impressions. Michelle Collins at Best Week Ever writes, "Oscar looks pretty delicious. Let’s hope he doesn’t sing and dance his way into some buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing."

AB ANXIETY: The arrival of a new trainer ruffles the staff at Sky Sports on Bravo's Workout.

HARD CANDY: Madonna discusses making her new record.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Karl Lagerfeld to Appear in Grand Theft Auto

More Lagerfeld news. The designer/photographer will soon be pixellated.

PSFK reports: "It’s just been announced that the designer will be playing a role in the newest installment of Grand Theft Auto, where he’ll DJ on air at the game’s K109 The Studio station."

Rockstar Games released the caricature above (I added the background).

According to WWD: "Players can pick from multiple radio stations for the soundtrack, ranging from licensed songs to new ones. Lagerfeld picked his favorite electronica and dance music and peppered the selection with some of his rapid-fire commentary. 'They had written a politically incorrect dialogue,' the designer said. 'I loved it, [particularly] in a time when everybody wants to be so politically correct when they talk.' He didn’t have to dig too deep to find his music selection. 'Music is part of the life of fashion, too,' he said. 'Through the famous sound stylist Michel Gaubert, I’m very much ‘au courant’ and know what’s going on.'"

Previously
Karl Lagerfeld Has a Diet Coke Butler [tr]
Lagerfeld Vulnerable as Bodyguard Models Happy Feet Togs [tr]

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News: Oscar Wilde, Tasmania, Project Runway, Erotic Jesus

Gay property developers driven from Tasmania by homophobic locals after dead kangaroo is found nailed to door. Stephen Roche: "It's been an interesting ride. But I don't feel as though I've been pushed out at all. It's a very small minority that have had any sort of homophobic prejudice. Tassie's probably got a way to go with acceptance of gay people."

Shopping with Milo Ventimiglia.

Lifetime poaches Project Runway from Bravo and NBC is MAD AS HELL.

Joe.My.God reports on the National Gay & LEsbian Task Force's New York Leadership Awards which said good-bye to Executive Director Matt Foreman.

Over 100 "pro-family" leaders applaud Romania's bigotry.

iTunes Canada removes Jamaican dancehall "Murder music": "This action followed a campaign led by the Canadian LGBT rights group Egale and Stop Murder Music. The songs include advocating or approval of killing gays: 'iTunes is exercising its corporate responsibility by pulling this murder music and raising the bar for other retailers and distributors to do the same,' says Akim Larcher, founder of SMM. He calls iTune’s decision a victory for the gay community in Canada and in the Caribbean."

Oscar Wilde brand alive and well and living in Paris: "In his day, Wilde - iconoclastic, bisexual, Irish - found fame and, briefly, fortune by dint of genius, charm and application. In his own time, he was an outsider and an exotic. Now he’s one of us. We understand his craving for celebrity. We share his obsession with youth. ('Youth is the one thing worth having,' he wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray.) Gay or straight, we are easy with his sexuality. Indeed, so prejudiced are we in his favour, we tend to overlook the fact that most of the young men in whom he took an interest were little more than boys."

Christian radio station miffed over Wisconsin school district's dress-up day: "Students at Pineview Elementary in Reedsburg had been dressing in costume all last week as part of an annual school tradition called Wacky Week. On Friday, students were encouraged to dress either as senior citizens or as members of the opposite sex. A local resident informed the Voice of Christian Youth America on Friday. The Milwaukee-based radio network responded by interrupting its morning programming for a special broadcast that aired on nine radio stations throughout Wisconsin. The broadcast criticized the dress-up day and accused the district of promoting alternative lifestyles."

Will you make it to third base with Neil Patrick Harris. These bitches did.

UC-Berkeley blood drive encourages gay men to find donors to take their place.

Sex and the City girls the star attraction at a benefit for The Point Foundation.

Erotic Jesus exhibit sparks outrage in Austria: "The source of the dispute, which Austrian media has dubbed Vienna's version of the Mohammad caricature row, is a retrospective honoring Austria's cherished artist Alfred Hrdlicka, who turned 80 earlier this year...The Church hastily removed the main picture, 'a homosexual orgy' of the Apostles as Hrdlicka describes it. But the protest has continued, much to the surprise of the small Cathedral Museum which is nestled down a narrow street in Vienna's historic Gothic quarter. The museum's director defends both Hrdlicka's work and his decision to host the artist's controversial versions of biblical imagery in a museum tied to the Catholic Church. 'We think Hrdlicka is entitled to represent people in this carnal, drastic way,' Bernhard Boehler said in his small museum office, across the street from Vienna's imposing St. Stephan's Cathedral. He said the museum never intended to offend people but that art should be allowed to provoke a debate."

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Got 4 Minutes?

Feel like you're at the Bodies exhibition? Check out the Madonna-Timberlake-Timbaland video, AFTER THE JUMP (before it's taken down)...

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Gay Rapper Qboy Fights Homophobic Bullying in Wales

Gay UK hip-hop artist Qboy was speaking out about being gay back in April 2004 when I first posted about him, but now he's involved with Excellence Centre Wales, "an organisation that gathers and shares excellence, information and good practice on equality and human rights as well as for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people" according to 24Dash, to raise awareness and help prevent bullying in schools:

"Rising star, rapper and DJ, QBoy speaks about his own experiences of homophobic bullying at school in his tracks and is committed to raising awareness of the issue. He said: 'When being bullied as a teenager never did I imagine it would play such an important part of my dream career of being a performer. It feels good to turn my unhappy experience into something positive and hopefully help other people going through similar experiences. 'I applaud the schools who are actively trying to combat and deal with the homophobia that is so evident in today's classrooms and playgrounds. Homophobia doesn't just affect those who are gay or perceived to be gay, it affects all of us and it is a problem we all need to help resolve. In the end, every one of us strives to live in a society which is happy and accepting of one another.'"

The group is doing its work in Cardiff, Wales, but it's certainly a message that would translate over here.

Gay rapper Qboy takes anti-homophobia message to Cardiff schools [24dash]

Previously
Qboy: homosexual hip-hop [tr]

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Music News: Matt Lauer Interviews Kylie Minogue, Plus Jesse McCartney, Fall Out Boy, George Michael

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Between R.E.M., George Michael and Kylie Minogue, it's a gay ol' week as far as new music releases. Kylie's X finally officially drops in the U.S. today, after making a brief three-week appearance on iTunes back in February.

Australia's "singing budgie" is doing stateside promotion all week for X -- including performances of new single "All I See" tonight on Dancing With The Stars, tomorrow on the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and then Thursday on Ellen -- and yesterday she sat down for an interview with the Today Show's Matt Lauer.

During their chat, Kylie responded to rumors that she'll soon marry French actor Olivier Martinez, tried to explain her elusive chart success in America and instructed Lauer on how he'll have to greet her once she's awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) this summer by the Queen of England.

The U.S. version of X contains an extra mix of "All I See," featuring rapper Mims.

SEEING DOUBLE: The pixelated cover of Jesse McCartney's new album Departure, due out May 20, might evoke some "rude" thoughts from Robbie Williams.

Amy Winehouse to appear alongside David Tennant on Dr. Who? April Fool's!

Following suit with Madonna, U2 have signed a 12-year deal with concert promoting firm Live Nation, though Universal will continue to distribute the Irish band's actual music. Says Bono of Live Nation, who has managed U2's tours for three decades: "We've been dating for over 20 years now. It's about time we tied the knot."

U.K. gossip site Digital Spy finds Beyoncé, Limp Bizkit, Sugababes, Steps, Fiona Apple, Blink 182 and Michael Jackson all have one thing in common: they've got the worst album titles of our times.

Think you've got what it takes to remix Radiohead? Five separate tracks from their new single "Nude" are up for purchase on iTunes, and buyers are encouraged to create and upload their own GarageBand creation to Radioheadremix.com. Net surfers have to May 1 to vote for their favorite mix on the site.

Fall Out Boy's plan to gig on every continent within two weeks falls apart. FOB frontman Pete Wentz: “It’s an utter disappointment… I read [on the MTV Newsroom blog] someone compared it to Geraldo opening Capone's vault, but it's worse than that, because, like, Capone's stuff is in there, you just can't get the light on. There's no spin for it; we got two hours away from Antarctica and we can't go.”

POP BLOG WATCH: Miss feeling like a clove-smoking, coffee-drinking teenage girl running rampant in the record store? Hit up Eurovision- and Swede-obsessed Poster Girl.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

George Michael's Twenty Five, a two-disc collection of various hits -- including four from Wham! -- and six songs previously unreleased in the U.S. The deluxe edition contains Michael's music videos.

R.E.M.'s 14th album Accelerate, produced by Jacknife Lee.

Moby's Last Night, which finds him returning to his dance roots.

A Town And Two Cities, the debut from British alt rockers Your Vegas. They also have a line of fashion accessories coming to U.S. Bloomingdale's.

Van Morrison's Keep It Simple, his 33rd studio album, and first since 1999.

Attack & Release, from Akron, Ohio blues-rock duo The Black Keys.

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Michael Stipe Has Had Enough of the Fear and the Arrogance

Michael Stipe talks to The Huffington Post's Scott Thill, and though back in January he told Sirius' Jane Pratt that for some unknown reason Mike Huckabee's charms were luring him in, this time Stipe makes it clear to Thill that he's a Democrat.

Says Stipe: "I'm for Barack Obama all the way. The Clinton campaign has took a desperate turn and has, I think, shown its true colors. How dare they use fear against Americans after these past seven years? I'm really tired of politicians telling me what to be afraid of. On the other hand, Obama is hopeful, grounded and clearly intelligent. He is, relatively, an outsider to the beholden D.C. club, and I think that is what America is calling out for; not a career politician but a true outsider candidate. He represents I think the true spirit of the beginning of the 21st century. Looking back, I feel like we've all had enough of the fear and the arrogance, and losing our place in the world. Our very big idea of a country and democracy has been brought to a near end by very small people."

Stipe and R.E.M. performed this morning in New York's Rockefeller Center for the Today show. That performance, and interview, is AFTER THE JUMP...

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News: Johnny Depp, Eureka Springs, Clark Gable, Bounty Killer

BOOK: Clark Gable was gay for pay. "David Bret’s angle on Clark Gable is this: Gable was 'gay for pay' and 'rough trade,' and he enjoyed having sex 'for bucks.' In addition, he 'would sometimes scrub his penis until it bled' and used a device to prolong erections. If these tidbits from the book’s first few pages aren’t too much information for you, you’re in luck. This breathtakingly trashy biography does not skimp on sordid anecdotes."

Johnny Depp the new, uh, face of Trojan condoms?

Gawker goes to the NYC Black Party.

T.R. Knight steps out with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen: We all have AIDS.

Survey shows increased support for gay marriage in Ireland: "Eighty-four per cent of respondents to an opinion poll conducted this month by Lansdowne Market Research said they supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. This is the same figure as a similar survey carried out in November 2006. However, 58% said gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry in registry offices, compared to 51% in the previous survey."

Did Heath Ledger father a love child?

Could Al Gore be brought in for clean-up duty at the convention? "Let’s say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. Let’s also assume — and this may be a real stretch — that such elders are strong and smart enough to act. All they’d have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party — and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along."

Madonna on the paparazzi: "The paparazzi are out of control. I haven't been to Los Angeles in quite a while, and I don’t watch television here or in England, and I was told there's now a television show where the paparazzi are the stars of the show—is that true? That they film each other doing paparazzi jobs? Which gives them more fuel. I usually found that type kept their distance—they definitely do in England, because it's illegal to photograph children. But that's not how it is here. They get this close, and don't care how much they scare your children. Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster."

Gay couple faces harsh realities in move from New Jersey to Idaho.

Is Regent Entertainment circling gay publications Out and The Advocate?

HIV-positive Canadian Martin Rooney takes on U.S. travel ban: "I said I was on disability. He said what's my disability. I said I have HIV. He hauled me into a backroom. ... He put on a set of rubber gloves to hold each of my fingers. Nobody else wore rubber gloves. Then he fingerprinted me, photographed me, ran me through the FBI's most-wanted list and told me to go back to Canada and not return until I came back with a waiver. I felt like I was being treated like a terrorist."

Arkansas gays converge on Eureka Springs for 'Diversity Weekend': "Homosexual and transsexual residents say that living in Northwest Arkansas has its benefits, such as the small-town atmosphere, natural beauty, and amenities such as shopping and restaurants. But many lament the limited social venues and a lack of connectivity within their own community. 'There is a fairly large population of people that are gay, lesbian or bisexual, but there is no community,' said Fayetteville resident J. Judd Harbin."

Ricky Martin battles human trafficking in Cambodia

Human rights groups halt concerts by 'murder music' singer Bounty Killer: "In Germany, Bounty Killer's performance in Essen was cancelled and other German concert dates are now in doubt as gay human rights groups are coordinating a Europe-wide campaign to halt his 'Deadly Alliance' tour of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland."

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Moby Praises 'Superior' Gays, Wants Gay Kids, Blasts Sally Kern

In an interview with The Advocate's Brandon Voss, electronic music artist Moby says he'd "much rather align myself with the gay community than the straight community" and says that he still stands by statements he made some time ago that gays are "superior to straight people."

Says Moby: "I also said that if and when I ever have children, I want gay children, which didn’t really endear me to the Christian right wing of America. There are a lot of people in the world who are virulently homophobic or misogynistic or anti-Semitic, and what baffles me is that if you just look at it empirically, gays, women, and Jews are certainly responsible for far fewer violent crimes than straight white guys. They’ve started fewer wars, and they tend to be well educated, fun to hang out with, and they have nice homes, bars, and restaurants."

As far as his own sexuality goes, Moby refuses to label it: "I just like to think of myself as being pretty open-minded. Also, you never know what the future might bring, so I have no idea. It’s a cliché to say this, but in a perfect world, the dichotomous definition of straight and gay would probably carry less weight."

In an entry on his website, Moby also recently blasted Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern for her remarks about gay people.

Said Moby: "ok, where to begin...how about this simple question: what did jesus (presumably sally kern's god) say about homosexuality? let's see...nothing? yup, nothing. dear sally kern: jesus never mentioned homosexuality. allow me to put it a different way, perhaps in question form...how many times did jesus mention homosexuality? oh (to be conversational), none? yup none. never. not once. zero. he did mention divorce (saying it was bad), and capitalism (ditto: bad), and judgementalism and intolerance (again: bad), and forgiveness (good). but homosexuality? never mentioned by jesus in the gospels. so why are the religious right in the u.s so utterly obsessed with homosexuality? and how is the homosexual agenda (whatever that might be) destroying the nation? i mean, if evangelicals call themselves christians shouldn't they sort of base their evangelical agenda on the things that christ actually said?

Moby's new studio album, Last Night, arrives on April 1.

Moby [big gay following]
hi, i'm here in austin and enjoying the fact that it's warm and i'm also checking the news [moby]

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Music News: Sam Sparro Is Not Related To Chaka Khan, Plus Fleetwood Mac, Sheryl Crow, Danity Kane, Madonna, Marilyn Manson

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

This week saw Australian-born, Los Angeles-based Sam Sparro crack the U.K. Top 40 with his electro number, "Black And Gold." On his MySpace, Sam describes his music as sounding like "ice melting and ass smacking." You can be the judge of that -- below is the vid for "Black And Gold," which, hmmmm, gave this viewer a bit of a opportunistic flashback.

Sparro, signed to Universal, is currently in England doing promotion for "Black And Gold" and his forthcoming self-titled album -- including tour dates with retro chanteuse, Adele. Interestingly, there seem to be a number of reports linking Sam to Chaka Khan, of all people.

The 24-year-old singer comically notes this on blog: "I had an interview a few weeks ago where someone had heard that Chaka Khan was my godmother! Now it has been reported that Chaka Kahn [sic] 'kick-started' my career. Thanks Chaka - I'm sure that's news to us both. I've actually only ever met her twice...when I was 12 years old. A friend of my family's was her musical director and married to her sister. Someone had suggested to her that she might record a particular gospel track on her on next record and I was the only one in the room who knew all the words - so I busted out singing it with piano accompaniment. She said 'Damn! That white boy can sing!' That was pretty much it. I wonder what other 'creative writing' will crop up in the future????"

Oh, Sam. I feel for you. There's also a behind-the-scenes clip of his photo shoot with U.K. gay mag Attitude on his site.

Fleetwood Mac to return next year with new material and Sheryl Crow in tow? Says Lindsey Buckingham: "I think we were all a little surprised (Crow) was announcing that to the world with such certainty. We have talked about the possibility of bringing another woman into the scene to kind of give Stevie a sort of foil and shake it up a little bit. (Crow) was certainly a name that has come up. We'll have to see." Buckingham released Live At The Bass Performance Hall, a new concert DVD, yesterday.

Michael Musto describes one DJ and Madonna fan's dislike of her new single and album cover, pointing out that the indifferent singer will no doubt be laughing "all the way to the nearest Barclays Bank (where she can pick up her accent again, if not her weirdly absent husband)."

Marilyn Manson's (pictured right) former bandmate Madonna Wayne Gacy suing for misuse of $20 million of the band's money: "Unauthorized purchases Gacy claims Manson made with group funds include the full skeleton of a four-year-old Chinese girl, various pieces of Nazi propaganda and a $150,000 engagement ring (money not so well spent, in retrospect) for ex-wife Dita Von Teese. He also claims in court papers that Manson paid for his entire wedding to Von Teese with the group's money as well as financed a drug habit."

Diddy's gyrating, Making The Band-concocted girl group Danity Kane score the week's #1 album on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart. Welcome To The Dollhouse posts the second-biggest sales week of the year, behind Jack Johnson's Sleep Through The Static.

The New York Times offers a dissection of Britney's TV comeback.

MTV revisits John Norris' 2004 interview with John McCain, where the Arizona senator was asked if he'd consider another run for the White House: "I think it's very unlikely. ... We had a kind of magical moment [in 2000]. A lot of things came together that I think would be very difficult to do again. And one thing I would hate to be is somebody who goes back in and would lose. ... It's a long time away, but I doubt it. [Smiling.] I'm not gettin' any younger!"

Pop Trash Addicts is just "your typical, Gen Y internet user" with a penchant for washed-up divas and La Toya Jackson.

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Battle of the legendary super talents: new singles from Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake ("4 Minutes"), Mariah Carey ("Touch My Body") and Heidi Montag ("No More").

Funplex, the first album of new material from the B-52's in 16 years.

Morrissey's latest Greatest Hits, compiled mostly of material from his past two albums and a minor smattering of his classics. Contains new songs "That's How People Grow Up" and "All You Need Is Me."

Temposhark's debut, The Invisible Line. Previously the British electronic duo had provided remixes for M.I.A., Kate Havnevik and Hellogoodbye.

Counting Crows' half rock, half country concept record Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings.

The Raconteurs' Consolers Of The Lonely, which, as mentioned last week, was literally completed at the beginning of the month.

Pretty. Odd., the sophomore set from Vegas emo act Panic At The Disco.

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News: Rick Astley, Zimbabwe, Fat Joe, David Cook, Karl Lagerfeld

Zimbabwe: Intelligence officers for the government of Robert Mugabe force opposition supporters to take down their posters and eat them. "Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters. According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them."

Fat Joe and Suge White mock fellow hip-hop artists 50 Cent and G-Unit with 'Gay-Unit' mix tape: "Featuring a Photoshoped image of 50, Yayo and Banks tightly embraced, all three rappers are portrayed with smeared lipstick on the face, as Yayo was tattooed with a "I Miss Jail" on his right shoulder and Banks sporting a portrait of Curtis on his left shoulder with 'Delicious' tagged under." (image via Rod 2.0)

American Idol: Is David Cook an 'original', or just a really good cover artist?

University of Pittsburgh study: LGB youth report higher rates of drug and alcohol use. "The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth...What's more, for some sub-populations of LGB youth, the odds were substantially higher, including 340 percent for bisexual youth and 400 percent for lesbians, researchers found. 'Homophobia, discrimination and victimization are largely what are responsible for these substance use disparities in young gay people,' said Michael P. Marshal, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC, who led the study. 'History shows that when marginalized groups are oppressed and do not have equal opportunities and equal rights, they suffer. Our results show that gay youth are clearly no exception.'"

The second coming of Rick Astley: the "Never Gonna Give you Up" singer talks about th