LimeWire Music Blog

Today in Covers: Slash, Fergie, Cypress Hill on GNR; Solange Knowles on Dirty Projectors

2009-11-12T16:16:13Z

This morning brings a veritable Goofus and Gallant of cover versions. I’ll let you guess which one Slash’s version of Guns ‘N Roses‘ “Paradise City” — featuring Fergie and Cypress Hill! — is. The song was released as a Japan-only B-side to “Sahara,” the forgettable lead single from the guitarist’s new solo album. Check out the carnage below:

Of course, Slash can still shred with the best of them. But even Cypress Hill’s gratuitous rapping can’t save him here. Of course, shit really starts to make your ears bleed when Fergie starts howling. Why, Slash, why? And, more importantly, can the litigation-happy Axl Rose sue you for this, too?

Desperate to get that horrible rendition of “Paradise City” out of your head? Thankfully, there’s also an awesome cover song tearing up the web this morning. Pitchfork has posted Solange Knowles‘ take on Dirty Projectors‘ “Stillness Is the Move.” Our favorite Knowles sister (sorry, Beyonce) has lately been spending time onstage with indie luminaries like of Montreal, so it’s no surprise she’s decided to take on David Longstreth’s ode to R&B. While I love the original, I have to admit that Knowles’ James Brown-worthy scream at the end seriously endears me to this version. According to Pitchfork, the singer doesn’t have plans to release the song; she just loved “Stillness Is the Move” and wanted to put her cover out there. Listen below:

Solange Knowles – Stillness Is the Move

CMA 2009 Awards Recap

2009-11-12T15:52:46Z

It was Nashville’s biggest night of the year, as the 43rd Annual Country Music Association Awards were telecast last night on ABC from Nashville’s Sommet Center, and it was a big night for some of country’s new blood, particularly a 19 year old who set quite a few historic marks last night. The big winner of the night was that teenager, Taylor Swift. The Big Machine phenom walked away with Video Of The Year for “Love Story,” Album Of The Year for her Fearless disc, Female Vocalist Of The Year, and the night’s big prize, Entertainer Of The Year. In winning the final two, she snapped long winning streaks by Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney, respectively.

Swift kicked off the show with a clever opening to her song “Forever And Always,” with Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell. Iit might be a good idea to drop the running joke about writing songs about her exes; I think that anyone who dates Taylor knows they could be next. Trust me, I’m a Taylor fan, but it might be getting a long in the tooth to those who are not in her core.

Next up were hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who I thought did an even better job than they did last year. The two definitely seem to have a comic chemistry together that works well. I liked the song parodies they did early on, poking fun at everything from Kanye West’s interruption of Swift on the VMA’a and the impending retirement of Brooks & Dunn. They needed to do more of that! I also liked the fact that the pair were allowed to be somewhat corny, showing a little bit of (gasp!) personality!

The first prize of the night was a total surprise. I had thought that Billy Currington was almost a lock for his “People Are Crazy” single, but presenter Kid Rock announced the name of Lady Antebellum for “I Run To You.” It’s not a bad choice by any means, but I was a little surprised. Darius Rucker took to the stage next, and I am impressed Hootie’s stage presence. It was funny watching the crowd as he mingled, especially some of the people who wanted to stare directly at the cameras, but didn’t! While some pop/rock acts look at a jump to country music as a way to increase lagging sales, you can tell he is serious about his career choice. With that said, I was glad to see the crowd reaction to that, as well as his winning the New Artist Of The Year Award, though I don’t see why it’s still not called the Horizon Award. But, some people just don’t like change!

Two of the night’s best-looking performers, Jake Owen and Kellie Pickler took to the stage to present the Song Of The Year trophy. Pickler’s change to a red-head look was definitely a winner, as was Owen’s suit. If Hollywood ever makes a serious movie about the late Gram Parsons, I think Owen would be a natural fit. The winner of the trophy was “In Color,” and I don’t think the voters could have made a better choice. Jamey Johnson is one of those acts that is simply…real.

Miranda Lambert came out next with her new release, “White Liar.” I think it’s one of her best records yet, and it’s interesting listening to her. There may be more sex appeal, but she reminds me of what a modern-day Loretta Lynn would sound alike. Host Paisley came out next and performed his current hit, “Welcome To The Future.” I will go on record by saying that it’s not my favorite release of his, but I loved the video game graphics behind him on screen. Following Brad was newcomers The Zac Brown Band, who dazzled the crowd with a superb version of The Charlie Daniels Band classic “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Make no mistake about it, the “Chicken Fried” band should be around for a while!

Hall Of Famer George Strait made his presence known with his latest, “Twang.” It’s your basic throwaway ditty, but George Strait is….George Strait. Some may disagree, but he can get away with it every now and then. Plus, not every Jones or Haggard song sounds like Shakespeare. Have you ever heard “High Tech Redneck?”

Following Strait were the winners of Single Of The Year, Lady Antebellum. I think that “Need You Now” is one of the best records to come out of Nashville this year, and very well could be the Single of 2010….but I’m getting ahead of myself. The Capitol artists were shocked, as were a lot of people, when their names were announced as Vocal Group Of The Year, breaking a six-year run from Rascal Flatts. I thought they would be the ones to do it, but I didn’t think it would happen quite yet.

So…we’re off to hour two. Carrie Underwood electrified the crowd with her chart-topping “Cowboy Casanova.” I don’t think the song merits where it has landed on the charts, but the performance will likely set tongues wagging. Honestly, and no one will ever admit it, I think the song was recorded for her to create such a performance around. There’s a lot better material on her just released album, Play On, but I bet people are going to be talking about that performance all day. And why not, she is the modern day Shania Twain!

One of my favorite performances was the next one featuring rocker Daughtry and Vince Gill. Vince might be a little older, but if you want to see what class is, that’s a great example to me. The guy can sing with anybody from Del McCoury to Daughtry — that’s a pretty cool thing, if you ask me.

Possibly the most hilarious moment came when Underwood paused to compliment Paisley on his video for “Welcome To The Future.” Paisley began to do a mock acceptance speech, only to be interrupted by Little Jimmy Dickens, who told him he had a nice video, but the best one was Taylor Swift. “You go, honey,” said the most unlikely comparison to Kanye West. The CMA voters agreed, as Swift added that award to her tally, as well. Paisley had one of the best lines of the night, wondering how a 4’9, 88 year old got past security!

Other high watermarks of the second hour included Keith Urban’s “Till Summer Comes Around,” Sugarland’s somber “Keep You,” and Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice.” I will be the first to admit that the song is a little bit clichéd, but give me a RC Cola and a Moon Pie, and let me enjoy it just the same. The only award that I totally disagreed with was Album Of The Year, which went to Swift. It’s not anything against her, but I thought that Defying Gravity by Keith Urban made such a statement by not making one, but four million fans can’t be wrong, right?

The final third of the telecast was launched by Brooks & Dunn and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, with their current “Honky Tonk Stomp.” While I am sad to see the duo call it a day, I think we’ll hear plenty from both of them. Like Strait, it’s not their strongest song, but it should end their career on a high note. Song Of The Year winner Johnson performed his “Between Jennings And Jones” with Kid Rock. I will say that I probably will never attend a Kid Rock show, and couldn’t last five minutes hanging out with him backstage….but if you want to see a performer who respects country music, and “gets it,” go no further. He’s an incredible talent. I would love to trade album cuts with him sometime; I bet it would be fun!

There was only one major problem I had with the show, and it happened midway through hour three. There was a brief mention of Roy Clark being inducted into the Hall Of Fame, and then a lavish tribute to Barbara Mandrell by Martina McBride with her “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” hit from 1981, featuring fellow inductee Charlie McCoy playing almost identical harmonica licks as he did on the original. The crowd roared when George Strait re-emerged to play the part of George Jones on the , and then Mandrell was given a chance to speak.

My problem with this has nothing do with Mandrell. Ask my wife, and she will be the first to tell you — I’m one of the biggest fans the still-stunning singer has. However, in their attempt to be relevant to “Today’s Country,” the CMA has for years barely acknowledged the inductees into the Hall. Last year, Tom T. Hall, The Statler Brothers, and Emmylou Harris weren’t given a chance to speak, so I don’t understand the double standard. In fairness, maybe Clark couldn’t attend, but I think it should be either one way or the other. Let the inductees speak, or let them not. The show, which used to be 90 minutes long, is three hours long……Could you not do a spotlight on one per hour? I don’t think it would ruin the precious 18-34 demo ratings. With that said, I want to stress that I am glad Mandrell got to speak…I just think that all three should have gotten air time.

The show came to an end with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill announcing the winner of the Entertainer Of The Year prize. I don’t think that too many people were surprised when Taylor Swift’s name was revealed. There are going to be some that are going to have issues with this, whether due to her age, or her cross-over status. Let them have issues. While I am not part of Swift’s core, I have admired the way that she has handled her success every inch of the way. There have been points that she could have gone down another road, but she has always represented country music with class and honor. No, I don’t identify with some of her hits, but hey, I’m 35, Swift knows what she’s doing and who she’s singing to. And if you saw her on Saturday Night Live last week, we’ve got a huge mass-appeal star on our hands, and I applaud her every inch of the way. She’s not going anywhere!

Well, those are my thoughts. Three months and two weeks from today, I don’t know if anyone will remember the winners except…the winners themselves. But, I thought it was a better-than-usual telecast. There was only a couple of glitches with the sound, which has been one of the low points of some of the award show’s past but all in all, a great night for country music. Let me know what you think!

award show images via cmt.com

Steven Tyler Didn’t Quit Aerosmith, But Joe Perry May Have Kicked Him Out

2009-11-12T13:00:17Z

Hey, Upper East Siders… err, Aerosmith fans… Gossip Girl here. Looks like S and Little J (and by that I mean, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry) haven’t stopped their feuding yet. Rolling Stone scored an exclusive interview with Perry, in which he makes it known that Tyler isn’t necessarily returning to the band — not matter what Lips has to say about it.

Here’s how Perry tells the story of what went down Tuesday night at his band’s Irving Plaza performance: “There was all this commotion during our encore break and somebody said, ‘Steven is here’… And I was like, ‘What?’” That’s when Tyler asked if it would be cool for him to come onstage with the band for “Walk This Way.” “Being an acquaintance of 40 years, I said, ‘Why not?’ ” Perry told Rolling Stone. “So he came up and sang and that was the last I saw of him.” And, it sounds like, Perry had no idea that Tyler was going to make his much-publicized announcement.

Oh, boy. But the Perry interview does get to the root of the disagreement between Tyler and his bandmates: It’s a timing thing. “He wants to take two years off from the band,” said Perry. “The rest of the band wants to keep on working. We have so many different options to fill up that time. Anything is possible at this point. Basically, any communication that we’ve had over the last couple of months has been through managers, so that’s been pretty strange.” Yeah, I would say so.

What’s interesting here, besides the drama, is where the other members of Aerosmith are in all of this. It sounds like they’re in total agreement with Perry, but we haven’t heard them say anything publicly yet, either. So: Anyone wanna take a stab at guessing what the next installment of Gossip Girl: Aerosmith will bring?

Daily Pulp – 11/11

2009-11-11T23:08:13Z

Vampire Weekend (pictured) named their new album after videogame
TiVo alert #1: Michael Jackson’s band will perform on TV tonight
TiVo alert #2: The CMA Awards are tonight
Julian Casablancas‘ solo album was “an accident”
Travis Barker remixed Drake’s “Forever”

Exclusive: John Schneider Plots Return to Country Music

2009-11-11T21:34:44Z

Television stars have sometimes had an easier path to success on the charts than other performers. Several have parlayed their success on the tube to a hit on the record. However, few have done it as successful, or been as serious about their craft as John Schneider. The star of the CBS classic The Dukes Of Hazzard also placed 11 top ten songs on the country charts from 1981-1987.

In 1987, the sky was seemingly the limit for the New York-born singer. He had just won the “Star Of Tomorrow” award from Music City News magazine, and his You Ain’t Seen The Last Of Me album contained some of the best music of his career. However, disagreements with his record company led to his leaving MCA Records, and a renewed focus on his acting career. In spite of the success that he continued to enjoy on television, with roles on Smallville and a deliciously wicked turn on Nip/Tuck, there was something missing. “I’ve been working like crazy, but there’s a huge hole in my soul where my guitar used to be.” Schneider admits to LimeWire Music Blog. “A couple of weeks ago, I did a couple of shows in Nashville, then I would up on stage out here in California. It’s funny, it’s all at once. I wound up on stage with a group I used to travel with, America. I would gladly forego a lot of this tail chasing out here to get back on stage and sing songs.”

It appears that he is going to get that chance. The singer is in the process of releasing some new music, and he’s excited about it. What led John Schneider back to country music? Believe it or not, it was words of wisdom uttered years ago from his friend, Johnny Cash. “I did a movie with Johnny, Kris, Waylon, and Willie called Stagecoach. When we did the movie, I was recording and doing well. Then I stopped. I got my nose bent out of shape with some people at the record label, and I stopped. Johnny said, ‘That’s a shame that you stopped, but you’ll get back in, because one day you’ll hear a song that you will not be able to ignore, you will have to go into the studio and record it, because it will speak to you in a way that you cannot turn your back on it…and that song, John Schneider, is going to bring you back in to country music, and you won’t have to look for it. It will find you.”

“I’ve been working like crazy, but there’s a huge hole in my soul where my guitar used to be.”

As it turned out, truer words were never spoken. John just had to wait a few years. “So…many years later, Phil Redrow, who played Tex in Collier And Company, played me this song. It’s called ‘The Promise.’ As soon as it started, I asked everybody in the room to be quiet, as I wanted to hear these words because they so spoke to me. Then I knew that was the song that Johnny Cash had spoken to me about. So, I wound up in the studio, and we cut the song. It’s a tough song, because it asks tough questions. It’s a song about the state of the union, it’s a song about jobs going to other countries, and causing great unemployment here in this country. It’s called ‘The Promise,’ and the underlying message is asking the question of ‘Who took the promise from the promise land.”

The upcoming release of “The Promise” could prove to be as successful as his 1980s run on the country charts. He’s certainly equipped with great material. Another song that he is excited about is the tender story song “I’m Your Father Who Left.” Of the song, Schneider says, “This is another song by Phil. He had a hit on an old Waylon song. This is a song that has a terrific story that makes you want to pull over and listen to it. As soon as I heard, ‘Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself, It’s Crazy How The Years Have Gone By,’ I thought to myself, that is so conversational, that I had to hear the rest of it.” From there, the decision to record the song was a no-brainer. “As soon as he finished playing it, I thought ‘I’ve got to record this song, because there are so many people out there who are in what we think is an unusual circumstance, but having given up your child to your spouse after a divorce is not that unusual.’ I adopted my son from his biological father when his relationship fell apart from the woman who is my wife. It’s complicated. Phil managed to put this complicated group of circumstances into very beautiful but easy words to understand. I don’t think it’s a single, I don’t think it’s something that radio stations are going to play all the time, but it’s one of those songs that people are going to download on iTunes because it’s so true and so poignant.”

The quality of the new songs is on par with his classic output for MCA in the 1980s. His first single for the label, 1984’s “I’ve Been Around Enough To Know,” stands as one of the decade’s best moments. It was a song that, according to the singer, he almost didn’t get to record.

“It was so country. Bob McDill and Dickey Lee wrote an incredible song….great lyrics, simple ones that told a great story. That song came to me as I had just signed with MCA, and we were going around Music Row trying to get people to play me music that I would want to record. Nobody really understood how country I wanted the music to be. They were playing me kind of pop-country stuff. Gary Morris was big at the time, and he was doing great music — but it was more pop that I wanted to go. So finally, I said to the guys at Tree Publishing. I said, ‘Look, play me the last song in the world that you think John Schneider would want to record–something that is so classically country that I wouldn’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole.’ They said ‘Okay, we’ve got this song. We don’t think you’re going to like it. We don’t think it’s for you.” Once he heard the song, it was all he needed to hear. “Like a lot of people, I heard the opening lyric, ‘Hush, don’t talk now,’ and I was sold. That’s a great song. I want to record it.” It had been a few years since Schneider had hit the top ten during the height of “Dukes,” with “It’s Now Or Never” and “Them Good Old Boys Are Bad,” so there were some questions from the label about whether radio would be receptive. “That was the one that Jimmy Bowen at MCA put out a blank label on, because they didn’t want anyone to know that it was me singing it.”

Schneider’s producer, Jimmy Bowen, gets a lot of credit for producing records such as his, but Bowen preferred his artists take a proactive role in their recording careers, as Schneider noted. “There were two gentlemen who produced those records, and one of them was very seldom in the room,” he says. “Jimmy Bowen has a great reputation for producing records, but the magic of Jimmy Bowen, and I asked him when we were doing the second record for MCA, ‘How do you do this…You’re producing me, John, Reba, George Strait…How do you do all these people at the same time, and yet they don’t sound alike? It’s not cookie cutter…Everybody is distinctly different.’ He said, ‘My job isn’t to produce Jimmy Bowen records. God and everybody know there’s been enough of those. My job is to help John Schneider, Reba McEntire, George Strait, and all these people produce their own records.” So, Schneider got to take a very hands-on role in his albums. “I would go and find the music, and he helped cull out the good ones, then he went away. I produced the basic tracks, he got the sound right with the band and the engineer….then he would go away. At the end, we went over what I needed on each song for overdubs, and he would go away again. It’s interesting because Jimmy Bowen would never tell an artist no, because he wanted you to make the best you music that you could.” The process, different than any other in Nashville at the time worked. “The magic in Jimmy Bowen was leaving a real artist alone,” said Schneider. The numbers prove him right. Under his leadership, MCA became the top label in Nashville, and all of Bowen’s artists learned what worked for them, as each artist’s sales grew by leaps and bounds.

“Jimmy had a guy named Don Lanier, that everybody called Dirt. I’m not sure why, but that was his name,” recalls the singer. That was Conway Twitty’s favorite song finder, and Conway will always be known that if there was a good song in a shoe box somewhere, he knew about. Jimmy’s relationship was with Dirt. He was his number one man, and that was who Reba, George, and I all hit the streets with, and he was the one that got the song pluggers to really take out their A-list material. When you worked with those people in those days, the only songs that wound up on your record were ones that gave you goosebumps as soon as you heard them. You were never cutting one because Jimmy thought it was a good song. He didn’t care if he thought it was a good song, he only cared about you thinking it was. I’d listen to 1,200 songs to find ten. Everybody would. So, by the time you got it culled down to the ten that made the record, these songs were truly ten of your favorite songs of all time. They not only spoke to you, but they expressed who you were to the listening audience. That’s why Reba exploded. That’s why George exploded. That’s what I did. But they stuck with it, they didn’t get their nose bent out of shape…I did.”

Unlike some TV stars, John Schneider feels no reason to run from his on-air persona. In fact, he embraces it.

Of course, Schneider knows that his visibility among country music fans remains high, as a result of the never-ending success of The Dukes Of Hazzard. When LWMB asked him about the long-lasting appeal of the series, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, he says “it’s still a show that the whole family wants to watch together. There’s a difference between a show like parents would like their kids to watch, like, and I’m really dating myself here, like Little House On The Prairie or 7th Heaven. There’s a difference between that kind of television and the kind of television that Mom and Dad, and the kids Grandpa and Grandma really can’t wait to sit down and watch it. Dukes not only was fun and exciting with cars, and that sort of stuff, but it had something for everybody, and had it in abundance, so when it’s on TV, or people buy the DVDs they don’t sit in their room and watch it like TV today, where my son watches what he watches, my daughter watches what she watches, and we watch what we watch, and nobody really sits down and watches the same thing anymore — except shows like The Dukes Of Hazzard.”

Unlike some TV stars, John Schneider feels no reason to run from his on-air persona. In fact, he embraces it. One look at his web site, and you will see a new DVD called Collecting Hazzard, about some of the memorabilia created around the show. While he respects his past, he does feel there is more to John Schneider than Bo Duke. “There’s no sense in running from it,” he says of his television success. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I believe I can hit the ball further than that. Nobody ever thought Michael Landon would outrun Little Joe, and he did. Then they thought he would be Charles Ingalls, and I think there are just as many people out there who remember Michael Landon from Highway To Heaven, and now that I’ve been in the business for so long, I’m realizing that’s more of a generational thing. There are a lot of my daughter’s friends, and she’s 15…and they only know me as the guy from Smallville. They don’t even know what Dukes is. So, that I suppose, is going to take care of itself down the road, but Dukes will always be in my heart. It’s kind of like if you had a good time at your senior prom, and you really enjoyed it….and you married the girl you took. That’s how I look back at it—with a smile, with no regrets whatsoever. It’s a fantastic, wonderful show….but professionally, I’m an actor. It would be like when George Harrison said he was tired of playing ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand.’ That’s why the Beatles music changed as they were going through their career, and I don’t think they disliked ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand,’ but they were glad they got past it.”

Drake Admits That Freestyling Is Not His Thing

2009-11-11T19:57:34Z

Drizzy, say it ain’t so. Well, actually, he’s saying it is so. Anyone that has followed the meteoric rise of Lil Wayne protégé and Young Money recording artist Drake will remember when DJ Funkmaster Flex had him on his show a while back in April to spit a few on-air freestyles for listeners in the rotten apple.

With this being one of the first times that the young turk was given a platform like this, he retreated to pulling out his BlackBerry where he had written some preconceived rhymes for the occasion. Some die-hard hip hop purists balked at Drizzy, claiming that the only freestyling that they accept is impromptu, off the head verses. Answering the criticism to MTV, Drake basically says that freestyling is not his forte and that people should just get over it. He also defends that what people think are freestyles sometimes are anything but, whether fans know it or not.

“It was such a rookie hip-hop moment and obviously, the controversy of me pulling out my phone and rapping off my phone because I just wasn’t prepared,” he said of his visit to Flex’s show. “A lot of people don’t know the difference between freestyle or off the top and coming to a radio show knowing you got to go there. You got verses cued up in your head, whether they be off your upcoming album or verses that you just had laying around.”

The rapper also gave props to those who can and often do come off the dome with a verse, saying that it’s an admirable trait, but one that he just doesn’t have.

“I appreciate a guy like Common who goes city to city and just spits at the crowd for 10 minutes about everything he sees. I admire talent like that because that’s just not my creative process.”

Props to Drake for keeping it thorough and being real about it. He’s still one of the illest on the mic, freestyle or written. But if for some chance you missed the incident in question, check below.

Album Review: Greg Behrendt – ‘The Guy From That Thing’ (Image Entertainment)

2009-11-11T19:34:47Z

Yeah, you know Greg Behrendt. He’s The Guy From That Thing. His face is so familiar! Did he used to date your sister or something? Oh, that’s right: He’s the guy who wrote the wildly popular ladies’ advice manual He’s Just Not That Into You. And based on what you think of that book, you’ve probably already decided whether or not you’re interested in his other work. But Behrendt is, by trade, a comedian, and his comedy deserves to be judged on its own merits. In an album that accompanies the Comedy Central special by the same name, Behrendt expounds upon the perils of being Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, things that disappoint God (hint: anal sex), and his “morbid fear of shitting in my pants in front of people.” In this time of conceptual and alternative comedy, he’s a traditional dude’s funnyman, hitting all the major bases: sex, weird snack food, bathroom humor. He certainly isn’t the most inventive of contemporary comics, but when it comes to getting laughs, well…the audience on the recording sure seems satisfied.

Coalesce Release ‘OXEP’

2009-11-11T20:25:08Z

Recently reunited and always under the radar, midwest hardcore heroes Coalesce returned to form this summer with the release of Ox. It was the first album in ten years for the Kansas City act, but picked up naturally where their late ’90s masterpiece 0:12 A Revolution in Just Listening left off. A seamless thesis on the state of underground brutality, Ox added a dose of Americana to Coalesce’s already deconstructed belligerent hardcore, heady metal and unrepentant math. Bands traditionally drop attached EP’s before the release of an album, but as we learned when they released a full EP of Zeppelin covers in ‘99, these guys never do what you expect. OXEP is an additional seven tracks of precise atmospherics, rhythmic experiments and stop-in-your-tracks badass. Don’t take my word for it. The band has all 21 tracks of the combined Ox releases up streaming right now (and a free MP3), so you can check it out yourself. And while you do, be sure to scan Pitchfork’s interview with the band from June – it’s as epic as the band’s ridiculous career.

It Took A Cool Million to Bury Michael Jackson

2009-11-11T18:58:42Z

If you remember the shopping scene in Martin Bashir’s Living with Michael Jackson, then you’ll recall how the late King of Pop pissed away money like nobody’s business. While Jackson, who was in debt at the time of his death, made a few wise investments (he bought the Beatles’ publishing in 1984 to the chagrin of his “Ebony & Ivory” compatriot Paul McCartney, who had ironically schooled Jackson on the merits of investing in music publishing), his overspending was enough to send Suze Orman straight to the psych ward. So it was no surprise that court papers revealed yesterday that the singer’s funeral cost nearly $1 million. Here’s the breakdown:

The final tally of costs included $855,730 to Forest Lawn for cemetery and funeral charges including the purchase of other plots within the same mausoleum that houses Jackson’s body.

Also listed were: $35,000 for burial garments; $1,975 for wardrobe for the family; $2,000 for usher costumes; $3,682 for framing of a photograph of Jackson next to the casket; $959 for embroidery; $11,716 for invitations and programs; $16,000 for flowers; $30,000 for cars and security; and $15,000 for a funeral designer. There was also a charge of $21,455 for the “funeral repast” at a restaurant after the ceremony.

Lawyer Howard Weitzman, who represents the administrators, admitted to the AP that the ceremony could’ve been done less expensively. “But it was Michael Jackson, who was larger than life. There’s no reason he should not have a funeral that’s larger than life.”

2Pac Reincarnated In A Comedy Musical

2009-11-11T18:31:39Z

This is one of those things that can either be really dope or go terribly wrong. Not really sure which way this one is leaning yet. According to The Urban Daily, the enigma that is known as 2Pac will once again be resurrected, this time on stage in the form of a comical musical. The Upright Citizens Brigade, a pretty well known group of improve jokers and overall smart asses are responsible for the making of 2Pac: 2Pac: The Musical (no, the two 2Pacs are not a typo). The comedy troup is billing the production as “a parody jukebox musical that would make 2pac roll over in his grave if he were dead.”

The team has been using the ever popular nosey net tool Twitter to bring a little buzz to their stage play with some questionable tweets to say the least. In an effort to drum up some asses in the seats, the UCB sent both of these tweets:

2pacthemusical: Tupac is grabbing his glock and heading to UCB tonight @ 930pm

2pacthemusical: To all the single mothers on welfare. We’ve opened a shelter for you on 26th and 8th ave under Gristedes. You are appreciated and loved.

Hmmm. Not really sure what to make of this. But if this will help you make up your mind on if you plan to buy a ticket or boycott, here is a teaser that the troupe put together. Peep.

How Do You Want It? from Kevin DeBacker on Vimeo.