PRINCE: Estate claims legal victory
The Prince estate says it has prevailed in its fight with a producer who'd claimed he has unreleased material recorded between 2006 and 2008.
TMZ reports that producer George Boxill never responded to a lawsuit filed against him -- he had until last Tuesday to do so. So a judge has handed the estate a summary judgment. Now, claiming they control the rights to the sessions, they want a court to issue an injunction barring Boxill from releasing them.
The estate blocked Boxill's efforts to release an EP of rarities, Deliverance, last spring.
ELTON JOHN: This time he means it--he's going to retire
Elton John's announcement last week that he is retiring from touring wasn't the first time he made such a claim. Elton talked about his previous retirement announcement:
"Nineteen seventy something at Wembley with Stevie Wonder on stage. I'd worked so hard up to that point I just think I was burned out and I was tired and emotional and overwrought and over there and that was a spur of the moment thing. This hasn't been a spur of the moment thing. This has been two-and-a-half years in the planning because we have to book the venues. We have to get the songs picked. We have to get stuff done for the songs. We have to build a stage set. You know, we have to choose what countries we're gonna be in when and it's like an army maneuver."
That first announcement, which was in 1977, lasted just 15 months.
Of course, Elton is not the first artist to announce a farewell tour. But unlike The Who, Barbra Streisand, Cher, KISS and the Scorpions, who all did the same thing but are still going, Elton says his mind is made up.: "I don't want to be one of those people. If I do, shoot me."
QUINCY JONES: No fan of Taylor Swift
Katy Perry ought to be thrilled to learn that legendary music producer Quincy Jones is on her side in the “Bad Blood” feud with Taylor Swift.
Quincy despises Taylor. In an interview with GQ magazine, he accuses her of being lazy in the recording studio. (quote) “The only place you find ‘success’ before ‘work’ is the dictionary, and that’s alphabetical.”
The Grammys have given Quincy 29 awards. The most significant were 35 years ago for Album and Record of the Year for Michael Jackson’s Thriller and "Beat It."
When asked about Taylor Swift’s songwriting, which some have called the best of the decade, Quincy told GQ, (quote) “Whatever crumbles your cookie. We need more songs, man. [Freaking] songs, not hooks.”
CHICAGO: Set to perform classic album in its entirety
Chicago will follow the lead of such acts as Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters, Yes, The Moody Blues and Cheap Trick by performing one of their albums in its entirety.
The album of choice is their self-titled second album, the two-LP set referred to as Chicago 2. It contains such legendary songs as “25 or 6 to 4,” “Make Me Smile” and “Colour My World.”
They'll go through it in the first half of each show, then play a hit-filled second half, making it what they jokingly call the "world’s longest encore.” This concert will be the band’s longest show ever.
Chicago's 2018 touring schedule starts February 7th with a nine-date residency at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.