Wednesday, 25 January 2006 05:45

 

The soulful Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack at the age of 64 on Jan. 19. Best known for rousing hits like “Mustang Sally” and “In the Midnight Hour,” Pickett’s raspy voice earned him a place as one of the founding fathers of soul, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. His music’s extensive use in the film The Commitments helped extend his sounds to an entirely new generation. His last album was the Grammy-nominated It’s Harder Now, released in 1999.

The velvet-voiced Lou Rawls also died last month. Rawls was 72, and had been suffering from brain and lung cancer. The singer sold over 40 million albums in a career that spanned nearly five decades and brought him three Grammy wins. His most renowned tune was “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” Rawls also appeared in a number of films, including Leaving Las Vegas and Blues Brothers 2000, and numerous television series, including Fantasy Island and The Fall Guy.

Popular KCRW radio host and Grammy nominee Chris Douridas was arrested shortly after midnight Jan. 6 outside a popular Santa Monica bar. Douridas, who is 43, was arrested under the suspicion of drugging and trying to kidnap a 14-year-old girl. Witnesses reportedly saw Douridas place a substance into the victim’s drink and carry her out of the Circle Bar on Main St. The girl was treated and released from a hospital, while Douridas was released by police after posting $1 million bail. The Los Angeles district attorney’s office is awaiting toxicology results before deciding whether to file charges. KCRW is standing behind its DJ, and told The Los Angeles Times: “Chris has been with us for 15 years, during which he has interacted with thousands of people, men and women of all ages, and has been entirely appropriate at all times. We believe in Chris as a person, and we think he has strong character. And we also think people are innocent until proven guilty.”

Lou Reed: New York is being simultaneously exhibited in New York between Jan. 20 and Feb. 25 at the Steven Kasher Gallery and The Gallery at Hermes. The photographs in the exhibition are being called “a personal eulogy to the city that has been the fulcrum of Reed’s creative world for decades.” The two shows offer up 50 of Reed’s photographs of New York, and the exhibitions will accompany the release of Lou Reed’s New York, which is being published by Steidl/Edition 7L.

The Hold Steady are heading back on the road, getting things back in gear Feb. 1 for two weeks of U.S. dates before heading down under to Australia with French Kiss labelmates Les Savy Fav and Thunderbirds Are Now! Craig Finn and his cohorts have been working on tunes for their third record, slated for release later this year.

Soon, you’ll be able to create all the pillaging mayhem of a GWAR stage show in your own home. Shocker Toys has announced they have acquired the rights to produce GWAR action figures in Shockini form and six- to eight-inch fully sculpted figures. Oderus Urungus, Flattus Maximus, Beefcake the Mighty, Jizmak Da Gusha, and Balsac the Jaws of Death will be featured in the set based on their GWAR characters. Included will be plenty of murderous accessories, and even a comic book for a little reading. The figures are set to hit stores later this summer.

Stephin Merritt is keeping rather busy outside of his work with the Magnetic Fields. He continues to compose a musical adaptation of the gloomily brilliant children’s book Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Scheduled to be finished this fall, the work will be presented at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, in addition to several other theaters around the country. Also this fall, Merritt (as The Gothic Archies) and novelist Daniel Handler (as Lemony Snicket) will unleash a CD of songs to accompany the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events. The disc will feature 13 songs plus creepy bonus tracks and should coincide with the unveiling of Lemony’s 13th and final volume of the series, scheduled for release Oct. 13. But, there’s more: Merritt’s Showtunes, a selection of original theater music, is set for release March 14 on Nonesuch Records. The record contains a selection of compositions created for Chen Shi-Zheng’s Orphan of Zhao, Peach Blossom Fan, and My Life as a Fairy Tale. The complete recorded score for each play, including selections not on the CD, will be available online through iTunes and most major pay-per-download services.

Indie rock poster girl and owner of Righteous Babe Records Ani DiFranco is finally close to opening her new performance space in Buffalo. DiFranco, along with her manager, spearheaded a $10 million restoration of an old Gothic revival church.

The music industry is lamenting its 2005 album sales drop of 7.2 percent, an amount accounting for about 48 million fewer album purchases. Meanwhile, digital-song downloads jumped 150 percent in 2005, while totals sales in the digital sphere topped the $1 billion mark.

While the official lineup for the Coachella music festival has yet to be released, rumors are already gaining steam that Billy Corgan is set to reform with his old bandmates and perform as the Smashing Pumpkins this summer. Corgan has fanned the flames on his Web site recently by writing: “The surprise I have in store for you all will be announced soon enough. Hold on to your horses. After all, good things surely come to those who wait.... Don’t you just love the suspense?” This all started last year when the singer took out full-page ads in local Chicago newspapers reading: “I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.”