Posts Tagged ‘beatles’
March 9th, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Early peeks at The Runaways, music video vet Floria Sigismondi’s biopic about the rise and fall of the iconic Seventies girl-punk band, have provided fast-and-dirty looks at the drama surrounding Joan Jett (played by Twilight star Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning). In Rolling Stone’s latest exclusive clip, Stella Maeve as Sandy West and Stewart bang out some raw rehearsal tunes as manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) listens on the other end of the phone and offers a few words of encouragement when Stewart reports they’ve been busy practicing: “Well, get back to it, you bitches are going to be bigger than the Beatles!”
Watch the clip above and see another preview, plus click through all our photos from the set. And don’t forget to check out which songs Fanning and Stewart will be handling on the film’s official soundtrack. The movie hits theaters in limited cities March 19th and opens nationally April 9th.
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January 12th, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Photo: Getty Images
Director Robert Zemeckis’ 3-D update of the Beatles’ animated Yellow Submarine has found its crew of actors to voice the Fab Four, with The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes leading the cast as the voice behind George Harrison. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, Dean Lennox Kelly will voice the John Lennon character, Peter Serafinowicz will play Paul McCartney and Adam Campbell will portray Ringo Starr, and all four actors are reportedly negotiating their deals to appear in the Disney film.
Look back at classic shots of the Beatles.
For the performance footage in Zemeckis’ motion-capture take on Yellow Submarine, the Back to the Future director has recruited “The Ultimate Beatles Band,” the Fab Four. Producers for Yellow Submarine have secured the rights to the Beatles’ music, so the songs in the film will come courtesy of the real Fab Four and not the tribute band. By hiring actors to portray the Beatles, Zemeckis is keeping in tradition of the original film, which also employed voice actors in place of the actual band. The Beatles themselves only appeared in the film’s live-action epilogue.
As Rolling Stone previously reported, Zemeckis was interested in bringing in the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, to contribute to the Yellow Submarine remake. With actors being cast in their roles, it’s unclear whether Zemeckis still has plans for the pair, but considering new Spock Zachary Quinto interacted with old Spock Leonard Nimoy in the Star Trek reboot, Zemeckis — who is writing the screenplay — can surely construct a subplot where the faux Macca and Starr meet the real Paul and Ringo.
The Beatles’ complete album guide.
Aside from his performance in the cult classic Princess Bride, Elwes is also known for his starring roles in Saw and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Lennox Kelly also starred in the role of Robin Hood in a BBC series based on the famed archer. Comedy fans know Serafinowicz as the yuppie roommate from Shaun of the Dead and the guy who stole Simon Pegg’s girlfriend in Spaced. Campbell appeared in Epic Movie and Date Movie.
Zemeckis reportedly hopes that the cinematic release of Yellow Submarine will coincide with the London Olympics in 2012. A stage musical version of the new film is also rumored to be in the works.
Related Stories:
• Zemeckis Hopes to Recruit Beatles for “Yellow Submarine”
• Disney, Zemeckis Plot Remake of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”
• Why the Beatles Broke Up: The New Issue of Rolling Stone
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January 11th, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
To celebrate the release of Ringo Starr’s latest solo album, Y Not (read the review), Rolling Stone and LP33.tv are giving away a copy of The Beatles: Rock Band. The giveaway is open to residents of the 50 United States and Washington, DC who are 18 years of age or older as of January 12, 2010. To enter, fill out the form below with your name, age and e-mail address. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00pm EST on January 12, 2010 and ends at 11:59pm EST on January 19, 2010. Number of Prizes: 1. ARV: $199.99. Certain restrictions may apply. Complete Official Rules are available after the jump. Peruse our gallery of rock-star game avatars while you get the lowdown and check out Ringo Starr talking about working with Paul McCartney on Y Not in a video interview.
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Official Rules for the The Beatles: Rock Band Sweepstakes
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• The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Game
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g. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of RollingStone.com or who is otherwise in violation of the Official Rules. Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes in the event the Sweepstakes is not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, or technical failures of any kind. In the event of a dispute as to entries submitted by multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter the Sweepstakes at the actual time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is deemed to be the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PARTICIPANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR TAMPER WITH OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT(S) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
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6. Winner’s List: For names of prize winner, after January 19, 2010, send a separate, stamped, self-addressed, No.10 envelope to: “The Beatles: Rock Band Sweepstakes” Rolling Stone Online, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.
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January 8th, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Photo: MTV
Like the rest of America, the Rolling Stone crew is addicted to MTV’s latest reality circus Jersey Shore, starring eight “guidos” and “guidettes” in search of love, parties and hair gel while sharing a beach house in New Jersey’s Seaside Heights. In addition to introducing us to characters like Snooki and Pauly D, practically every sentence uttered by this over-tanned crew is worthy of Bartlett’s Book of Quotations.
For instance, when asked by In Touch about cast member Angelina leaving the house early in the season, six-pack-obsessed “The Situation” responded, “We wish she had stayed. What was she thinking? It’s like leaving the Beatles.” Yes, earnestly, the Situation compared a reality star’s exit two episodes into the season to leaving the Fab Four, perhaps the most iconic band ever. Don’t worry, we threw up in our mouths a little, too.
In the new issue of Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield explores America’s Inner Guido with an in-depth look at the Jersey Shore phenomenon and how these eight Italian-Americans just may be what this country needs right now. “A typical night out in Seaside Heights involves getting the crap kicked out of you by girls with names like JWOWW and Snooki after a few sips of Ron-Ron Juice,” Sheffield writes. “Can this be real? Who cares? It’s a runaway American dream where the highway’s jammed with broken guidos on a last-chance hair-gel drive.” Check out Sheffield’s entire Jersey Shore piece below:
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January 7th, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Photo: Bedder/Getty
The race for the best-selling album of 2009 was tight, and had Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream been released one week earlier, the headline on this story would be reversed. But according to Nielsen SoundScan’s final figures, Taylor Swift managed to stave off the Britain’s Got Talent sensation as Fearless sold 3,217,000 copies to become the top seller of 2009. Boyle was right on Swift’s heels, ending the year with 3,104,000 in sales and the distinction of having the best-selling release of 2009 (Fearless debuted in November 2008).
(Check out Rolling Stone’s Best Albums and Best Songs of 2009.)
Unsurprisingly, Michael Jackson was the year’s best-selling artist, as the singer’s June 25th death led to a massive resurgence of his catalog. In total, the King of Pop sold 8,286,000 units in 2009, easily beating out the 4,643,000 combined albums Swift sold last year. Jackson’s 2003 compilation Number Ones was also the year’s third-best-selling album, totaling 2,355,000 units sold. Jackson came in at Number Three on the top-selling digital artists chart.
In a year that featured new releases by U2, Green Day and Pearl Jam, it’s surprising that the year’s best-selling band is, well, no longer a band. As Rolling Stone previously reported, the Beatles’ best-of collection 1 was the decade’s top-selling album, and 40 years after the breakup, the Fab Four were amazingly also the top-selling act of 2009. Thanks to their remastered catalog, the Beatles sold 3,282,000 units in 2009 without the aid of digital music services, placing the group third behind Jackson and Swift and in front of Boyle on the 2009 top-selling artist chart. Additionally, Abbey Road was the year’s best-selling vinyl with 34,000 copies, beating out Jackson’s Thriller and Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. Radiohead, however, was the year’s best-selling artists on vinyl with 45,700 records combined.
The year-end digital charts tell a completely different story. Lady Gaga was the queen of the downloads, shifting 15,297,000 digital units (combined number of digital tracks sold) to outpace the Black Eyed Peas, Jackson and Swift, all of whom finished in the vicinity of 12 million digital units. Gaga’s The Fame was also the Number One digital album with 461,000 copies. Our Hot Diva also ended the year as 2009’s fifth-top-selling artist total. Over on the digital singles chart, the Black Eyed Peas wrapped up a year of Hot 100 domination by scoring 2009’s top two best-selling songs, with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” getting downloaded 4,762,000 and 4,426,000 times apiece.
For a look at the year’s biggest sales trends, check out 2009 Wrap-Up: Music Purchases Up, Album Sales Down.
Related Stories:
• Eminem and The Beatles: The Top-Selling Artists of the 2000s
• James Blunt, Snow Patrol Rule Decade-End U.K. Charts
• On the Charts: Boyle Sails On As Sales Begin Post-Holiday Slide
Read more articles from Rolling Stone
October 5th, 2009
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Photo: Mazur/WireImage
Album sales are down 11.1 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, Reuters reports based on figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. That decline comes even with the influx of sales after Michael Jackson’s death and the release of the Beatles remasters, as both artists’ respective catalogs have combined for about 6.3 million in sales this quarter. Even with the unexpected push from the catalog albums, total sales are still down 13.9 percent from 2008, a year which itself saw its sales drop 14 percent compared to 2007. If the trend continues, this will mark the eighth time in nine years that the record industry has seen a decline.
According to Reuters, 2009’s biggest seller so far has been Michael Jackson’s Number Ones compilation, which sold 1.8 million copies since the King of Pop’s death on June 25th. Sluggish sales can’t be blamed on a lack of marquee releases, though, as artists who have generally gone multiplatinum in the past — like Green Day, Eminem, Dave Matthews Band and U2 — have all put out high-profile releases this year. Eminem’s Relapse has lead the charge with 1.4 million copies since its release in May. After 30 weeks on the Billboard chart, U2’s No Line on the Horizon reached platinum two weeks ago, while Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown and DMB’s Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King have yet to pass the million copies sold mark.
There is some help in the coming months, between Eminem’s Relapse 2, a pair of long delayed hip-hop albums in 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct and Lil Wayne’s Rebirth (Weezy’s Tha Carter III was the best-selling album of 2008), Michael Jackson’s This Is It soundtrack, the debut discs from American Idol’s Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, plus reported releases by Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, Shakira, John Mayer, Carrie Underwood, Weezer and more.
For info on all the big releases due out in these final months of 2009, check out Rolling Stone’s Fall Music Preview.
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September 23rd, 2009
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Photo:Kravitz/FilmMagic
- Justin Timberlake has landed another high-profile film role, this time as Napster co-founder and Facebook president Sean Parker in David Fincher’s The Social Network, Variety reports. The singer picked up an Emmy for SNL earlier this week.
- Between their catalog reissues and Rock Band, it seemed like the Beatles were bigger than Jesus this past month — and now Google has confirmed it. According to the search engine’s stats, queries for the Fab Four outnumbered those for Jesus, the Telegraph reports.
- Eminem’s publishers Eight Mile Style LLC are co-plaintiffs in a new lawsuit against Apple that claims they didn’t grant permission for 93 Slim Shady tracks to be sold on iTunes. According to the AP, the company is also suing Aftermath Records.
- Lil Boosie has been sentenced to two years in prison after cops found a gun and illegal drugs in his car during a traffic stop last year, AllHipHop reports.
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July 15th, 2009
We’ve been so excited about hearing the remastered sound of the Beatles reissued catalog on September 9th that we forgot all about another of the reissue’s perks: Each of the 13 proper albums being re-released on 9.9.09 will be accompanied by a mini-documentary featuring the Beatles and producer Sir George Martin talking about how each album was created. On the Beatles’ official site, the Fab Four are offering up an excerpt of the mini-doc that accompanies Revolver.
While it appears that the docs won’t feature any actual footage from the studio, the Revolver short film artfully dissects and reassembles the LP’s iconic collage cover art as the voices of Starr, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison drop in and out give insight into what it was like recording the album. Against a backdrop of archival photos from the period, the band discuss how Rubber Soul and Revolver could have just been “Volume 1 and Volume 2,” experimentation in the studio and the stories behind classic tracks like “Tomorrow Never Knows.” McCartney also reveals why they called the album Revolver. “We suddenly thought ‘What does a record do?’ Hey, it revolves, great,” Macca says in the mini-doc. “So we called it Revolver.”
(Look back at the Beatles’ studio albums and Rolling Stone’s stories on the LPs.)
As Rock Daily previously reported, a lavish Box of Vision will be sold to house the remastered reissues. September 9th will also feature the release of The Beatles: Rock Band, which Rock Daily got a sneak preview of at this year’s E3 conference.
Related Stories:
• The Beatles’ Remastered Albums Due September 9, 2009
• Beatles Artwork Comes to Reissue Storage Set “Box Of Vision”
• Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr Unveil “The Beatles: Rock Band” in L.A.
June 1st, 2009
Photo: Djansezian/Getty
“Who ever thought we’d end up as androids?” laughed Sir Paul McCartney, giddily strumming the air guitar onstage this morning alongside fellow Beatle Ringo Starr for a select crowd of journalists and technology trendsetters in Los Angeles. On-hand to promote The Beatles: Rock Band, the pair joined Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison onstage at Microsoft’s press conference, held in advance of annual game industry confab the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which opens tomorrow.
Due for release September 9th on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, the game features creative input from all, including contributions by Dhani Harrison, son of the late George, who was instrumental in the project’s creation. As members of the Fab Four, represented on-screen by 3D virtual avatars, players can strum on guitar, sing or play drums along with the band to smash hits including “Here Comes the Sun” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Hitting stores the same day the Beatles’ entire digitally remastered catalog arrives on CD, 45 tracks will be playable courtesy of Rock Band developer Harmonix. Ten were revealed today, ranging from “Back in the USSR” to “Octopus’s Garden,” “I Am the Walrus” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” while the complete Abbey Road album will be available for download at launch. According to music supervisor Giles Martin, all tracks have been remastered for optimum quality.
“The game is good, the graphics are good, and we look great,” chuckled Starr. So too did the game’s introductory movie, previewed for the first time, a head-spinning montage of anthropomorphic suns, Donnie Darko-esque rabbit-headed performers and vintage-era concert sets. Like actual gameplay itself, the video spans the decades from 1963 Liverpool to the band’s psychedelic years. Fashion, scenery and artistic styles will change to reflect each period, with classic performances highlighted running the gamut from the band’s unforgettable appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to its seminal gig at Budokan in Tokyo.
Good vibes should further extend to first downloadable single “All You Need is Love” as well. On sale the day the game hits retail exclusively via Xbox Live, all proceeds from purchase of the digitally distributed track will be donated to international emergency relief organization Doctors Without Borders.
As demonstrated live by the Harmonix House Band, whose three singers helped round out a sunny rendition of “Day Tripper,” multi-part vocal harmonies will allow for collaborative vocal performances. The disc will additionally feature previously unreleased voice recordings from Abbey Road studio sessions, showcasing George, Paul, John and Ringo chatting between takes.
“The Beatles started many revolutions,” said MTV Networks president Van Toffler. “They launched the tech revolution, coming into a black and white world and exploding in psychedelic color.” Presumably, now they’ll be able to do so again right from your basement, and in high definition.
April 11th, 2009
Photo: Caballero/WireImage
a-ha, “Take on Me” [The Twelves Remix]
Shouldn’t there be a million and a half remixes of this song? Wasn’t everyone born after 1986 played this in the womb? We’re fairly sure this is now Rhode Island’s state song. What gives, Internet? All we’ve been able to find is this revved up Twelves remix and >this endlessly watchable video.
Keri Hilson, “Since U Been Gone” [Kelly Clarkson Cover]
We’re tiptoeing slowly back toward being OK with “Gone” covers. For a while there, every new version of this song seemed about as witty and original as your co-worker who’s still showing off his Borat impression. If you’re
an indie rock band, you should not ever cover this song. If you’re Keri Hilson, and you’re going for a slipper R&B version, we’ll let it slide.
Bjrk, “Nattura” [Switch Remix]
Superproducer Switch has accomplished the impossible: he’s managed to make Björk even weirder. This song sounds like it’s set in some Pixar version of Jamaica, and Bjork is reduced to a jabbering phantom who shows up for a few minutes to speak her mind before vanishing into the local greenery. In other words, this remix is a mind-blower.
Easy Star All Stars ft. Frankie Paul, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” [Beatles Cover]
The Easy Star All-Stars song-by-song reggae cover of Sgt. Pepper finds the Fab Four’s weird rasta center, and recontextualizes every song in such a way that there can finally no be debate — this time, every song is indeed about drugs.
We Are the World, “Why Can’t I Be You?” [Cure Cover]
We wish this cover was by the group of musicians who recorded the original “We Are the World,” because we’d really love to hear Dan Aykroyd get his pipes around this one.