MICHAEL JACKSON: Estate sues ABC over last week's special
The estate of Michael Jackson has sued ABC and parent company Disney for copyright violations linked to last week's prime-time special.
Claiming "willful and intentional copyright infringement" for using copyrighted materials without permission, the estate cites "significant and repeated excerpts" from:
- Songs such as “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Bad” and “Leave Me Alone.”
- Music videos “Thriller,” “Black or White,” “Bad” and almost a dozen others.
- "Large swaths of footage" from Michael’s live performances, including extensive footage from the Triumphtour with his brothers -- which is owned by the estate.
- Performances embodied in the video specials Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest and Michael Jackson: Live at Wembley.
- A key moment from the estate’s 2016 Spike Lee-directed documentary, Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall.
- Unique footage from the estate’s 2009 documentary Michael Jackson’s This Is It.
So far, there's no response from ABC or Disney.
MORE BIG 95 KBGO MUSIC NEWS: Thursday, May 31st
ELTON JOHN: Live releases on the way this year
Elton John has dug into his tour archives from the past two years and is making available five shows through a partnership with PEEX.
The PEEX app allows you to download five complete unreleased Elton shows, which you can then customize with an interactive five-channel mixing desk.
The shows are from Stockholm, Sweden on July 2nd, 2017; Yarra Valley, Australia on October 1st, 2017; St. Catherines, Ontario on November 15th, 2017; the Henley Festival in England on July 6th, 2016; and London on June 3rd, 2017.
More dates will be added, including some from his upcoming Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which kicks off on September 8th in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
For more details, go to PEEX.Live.
THE BEATLES: 'Yellow' and 'White' releases on the way
In celebration of the 50th anniversary this July of The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine, they've released a seven-inch picture disc of the title track backed with "Eleanor Rigby," which, together, was originally released as their 13th single in August 1966.
This limited-edition release features images from the high resolution restoration of the film. It's available now through The Beatles' website.
Theatrical screenings of Yellow Submarine start on July 8th.
The original movie premiered on July 17th, 1968 in Britain, and on November 13th, 1968 in the U.S.
An announcement is coming soon regarding the 50th anniversary release of The Beatles, also known as the White Album, in the fall.
STEPHEN STILLS: Had no idea Neil Young compiled a new Buffalo Springfield box set
How's this for out of the loop?
On May 1st, Buffalo Springfield announced that they'll reissue their three studio albums on June 29th in a box set, What's That Sound: Complete Albums Collection.
The box was compiled by Springfield co-founder Neil Young, and the information was posted the same day on Stephen Stills's website -- but the other co-founding member says he knew nothing about it until a recent interview with Rolling Stone. He explains, "I gotta say that I think they did it when they were free and I was off [on tour] with Judy [Collins] the last time. They forgot to to tell me. The first I heard of it was when I got the notice that you were going to interview me."
The three albums have been remastered, with Buffalo Springfield and Buffalo Springfield Again in both mono and stereo mixes. There'll also be a limited-edition 180-gram vinyl box.
Toto guitarist Steve Lukather is happy with Weezer's cover of "Africa." He tweeted, "Congrats to Weezer for making our song 'Africa' number-one [at] iTunes and all over several charts. You guys are too much. Thanks!"
Taylor Swift remains the hottest ticket in music. But three classic acts join her among the Top 10 with "strongest demand" for tickets, according to StubHub: Eagles, U2 and Journey.
The current lineup of The Spinners and Rose Royce of "Car Wash" fame have been added to the 2019 Ultimate Disco Cruise. The floating party sets sail from Fort Lauderdale on February 14th.
We hear that plans are moving forward on a bio-pic of the late Rat Pack legend Dean Martin.
Brian Wilson continues to reschedule live dates postponed by his recent back surgery. He'll stage his Pet Sounds: The Final Performances at Caesars Windsor, just outside Detroit, on November 25th.
Smash Mouth's Fush Yu Mang will get a 20th anniversary reissue on June 29th that adds a newly recorded acoustic version of the album.
Carlos Santana’s father-in-law, David Blackman, died on May 3rd. Carlos’s wife, drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, says, “Rest in Power Dad. I love you, love you, love you. I’m so proud of you and I miss you so much! You’ll always be in my heart!” He was 89.
Michael McDonald went to see Paul Simon Monday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and wrote on Facebook that Simon’s music “has to be one of the greatest songbooks by any singular American composer! To hear it live in such a skilled performance by the composer himself supported by a world class band and technical crew is an experience you should not miss!”
Roger Daltrey went to see Nils Lofgren perform this week in London and visited the guitarist backstage after the show. Daltrey releases his new album, As Long as I Have You, on Friday.