Arch MUSIC NEWS for 8/21/12

FALL ALBUM RELEASES:

With Christmas only about 4 months away, music’s superstars are positioning their newest releases for the upcoming shopping season.  Here’s a list of some of the biggies on the way:

September

(4^th) Matchbox Twenty – “North”

(11^th) Dave Matthews Band – “Away From The World”

(11^th) ZZ Top “La Futura”

(18^th) P!nk – “The Truth About Love”

(18^th) The Killers – “Battle Born”

(18^th) Carly Rae Jepsen – “Kiss”

(18^th) Nelly Furtado – “The Spirit Indestructible”

(25^th) No Doubt – “Push And Shove”

October

(2^nd) The Wallflowers – “Glad All Over”

(9^th) John Fogerty – “Wrote A Song For Everyone”

(22^nd) Taylor Swift – “Red”

November

(6^th) Aerosmith – “Music From Another Dimension”

(13^th) Big Boi – “Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors”

(13^th) Soundgarden – Untitled

Release Date TBD

Ke$ha – Untitled

Green Day has their own edition of the popular mobile phone game Angry Birds Friends, now available at greenday.com/angrybirds. The musical episode of the game features ten new levels, as well as new pig characters inspired by the members of the band.  Green Day are gearing up to release their new albums, ¡Uno! ¡Dos! and ¡Tre!, with the first one due out September 24.

Whitney Houston‘s final film Sparkle made $12 million in its opening weekend in theaters. Sparkle, a remake of the 1976 musical movie, co-stars Jordin Sparks and Cee Lo Green and came in fifth place at the box office.

Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Tom Keifer (formerly the singer for Cinderella) will release his long-awaited solo album in the Spring of 2013.

Singer-songwriter Scott McKenzie has passed away at the age of 73. McKenzie was best known for the ’60s anthem “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair),” a tune written by John Phillips of The Mamas And The Papas. McKenzie also co-wrote The Beach Boys‘ ’80s hit single “Kokomo.”

American Idol is reportedly making room for hip-hop star Nicki Minaj on its judges’ panel. A source tells “Us Weekly” there are “a few more slight things to sign off on but it is happening.” Fox has yet to comment on the report.

Beyoncé and Bradley Cooper may be starring in Clint Eastwood‘s upcoming remake of “A Star is Born.” “Variety” is reporting that Eastwood wants “The Hangover” actor to star opposite Beyoncé in his version of the 1937 classic. Cooper is rumored to be currently considering the role. The movie will be about an aging rockstar who falls in love with a young star who is on the rise. Screenwriter Will Fetters is said to have based the “aging rockstar” on an older version of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. It has also been rumored that Leonardo DiCaprio was Eastwood’s first pick for the role and that the February start for filming was delayed because of Beyonce’s pregnancy.  ”A Star is Born” has been rebooted twice since the 1937 original — once in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

Mick Fleetwood will have some high-powered help in celebrating his new restaurant in Maui. The Fleetwood Mac drummer will formally launch Fleetwood’s on Front Street with a series of Grand Opening events this week. MauiNews.com says Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is on board for Thursday’s concert, which will also serving as a charity benefit.

Sebastian Bach says he and Jon Bon Jovi are “friends again.” He says that he and the Bon Jovi frontman buried the hatchet a few years ago. Bach says he and Jon had been good friends when Bon Jovi offered to take Skid Row on the band’s first tour, but Jon put conditions on the partnership that sparked the rift. He explains that Skid Row had to sign a deal giving Jon a cut of the profits if the band became a success. Sebastian admits he “was bitter about that for a while,” but eventually realized the Bon Jovi tour likely played a key role in Skid Row’s rise to fame.