Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Vic Johnson and David Lauser will be "Livin' It Up" this summer as Mad Anthony himself will be going out on the road with Hagar as "The Other Half"; part of Hagar's Livin' It Up 2006 North American Summer Tour!
Here are the tour dates:
Launch Radio Networks reports:
Sammy Hagar is doing double duty while on tour this summer. He's playing a full set with his band the WABORITAS, and he's also doing a full-on VAN HALEN performance with THE OTHER HALF, which includes VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony and WABOS guitarist Vic Johnson and drummer David Lauser. Hagar told Launch that Michael Anthony has been liberated by this move, and he also said THE OTHER HALF is better than VAN HALEN right now. "He's kinda been chopped up over the years, you know, so now we took all those pieces that have been chopped up from different tours and put 'em all together, and he does this awesome bass solo," Sammy said. "And then we bust into about 10-12 VAN HALEN songs. For the hardcores that gotta have it, we're gonna give you THE OTHER HALF's version, which is basically closer to the record than (laughs) what the last VAN HALEN tour was, unfortunately."
The next stop for Hagar and company is tomorrow (Friday, June 9) at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Selma, Texas.
Several hours before each show on the tour, Hagar sets up a Cabo Wabo village that has food, drinks, mariachi bands, karaoke, and other diversions.
Continue reading "Sammy Hagar Plays Van Halen With Michael Anthony" »
From MediaBulletin
Amid reports that Virgin founder Richard Branson is planning to roll out a music channel to compete with MTV, Andy Fry of MediaBulletin says that "if any company has the credentials to create a credible challenger channel, it is Virgin. Given its strength in music retail, live events, digital downloads and radio, its lack of a branded TV offering seems an oversight." He talks to Patrick Johnston, head of business development at Entertainment Media Research, who says there is a case to be made for a Virgin offering, "but the audiences are so small and fickle that there is hardly any ad money there, unless it sells across channels or media like Emap, whose channels are manifestations of its magazine and radio brands."
There was a time when using rock music in advertising campaigns was unheard of. The artists considered such a move a sell-out, and would never allow their songs to be associated with a commercial product or service. But things have changed so much that now marketers are hard-pressed to find songs for campaigns that haven't already been used. As a result, marketers and their agencies now find themselves scrambling to find popular hit songs to use in their commercials. "A lot of the big, known songs and baby-boomer hits that we have grown up with have been used," says Mike Boris, a music producer at ad agency McCann Erickson. Some well-known examples include Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" for General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet trucks and Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" for GM's Cadillac. One of the first ever rock songs to be used in an ad was Carly Simon's "Anticipation," in a spot for Heinz ketchup. That one opened the floodgates, and now it's so common to use rock songs in ads that even the Rolling Stones--the original bad boys of rock--let Microsoft Corp. use their tune "Start Me Up" in a campaign to promote Windows in 1995.
Axl: Hilfiger 'Just Kept Smacking Me'
05/20/2006 12:17 PM, AP via Yahoo!
Verena Dobnik
It was a one-two encounter between Axl Rose and Tommy Hilfiger. The rocker and designer capped a Thursday evening out at a new club called The Plumm in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood with midnight fisticuffs.
"There was an issue between the two of them," Plumm owner Noel Ashman told The Associated Press.
Well, they have a KISS coffin, so why not a fragrance? I guess that in Gene's mind, the Kiss brand is not as watered down and/or over-the-hill is it actually is. Sure, it's a long way to the top when you wanna rock n' roll. But the tumble down should at least be graceful.
From 
It's not uncommon for famous rock bands of previous eras to get back on the road for a reunion tour. But the '70s glam band KISS, known for its flamboyant makeup and wild stage act, is trying something different to resuscitate its name--it's getting into the personal care product business. This fall the band will launch a line of products built around a fragrance to be supported by a marketing plan that includes print and TV advertising. Promotional events that include a sampling campaign of KISS masks, blotter cards, scented tattoos, stickers and car fresheners. Print contains the message, "You'll never forget your first..." followed by the band's KISS logo and the tagline, "Fragrances made for lovin' you!" TV ads, which also break in October, are still in development. The full product line will include men's hair and body wash, deodorant, and body spray. Women's products include shower gel, body lotion and body splash. The products are created under license via Gemini Cosmetics, New York.
Continue reading "Kiss Overextends Their "Brand' Yet Again!" »
On the occasion of its 1000th issue, a milestone the magazine marks this month with a million-dollar 3D cover, Rolling Stone is again the topic of considerable cultural buzz--just like the great old days, some might observe, when every new issue of the mag was greeted with enormous enthusiasm throughout the rock-and-roll nation. That enthusiasm has dulled as the music and country have evolved, but the magazine is nevertheless consistently first-rate. Jann Wenner, its founder, now 60, talked to USA Today about his beloved book, and why, in his opinion, it remains vital nearly three decades after its launch. Wenner: "I don't think it's lost its clout culturally. If you look around at all the media and think about the most impactful place you can be, if you're a musician or a movie star, Rolling Stone still carries more weight and prestige, I dare say, than Time, which used to have a lock. Most other magazines have an interview in a hotel room with a PR person present.It's nice, it's fun, and there's some prestige to being in some of these magazines, but there's no real depth. We go inside a person's life. You really see stuff."
Continue reading "Rolling Stone Turns 1,000 (Issues, That Is!)" »
Easily the best song on Have A Nice Day, it's no wonder that "Who Says You Can't Go Home" is a crossover hit. This is a great example of finding marketing channels for an act that should be a dinosaur. No MTV? No major rock station in New York, which just happens to be an important market? No problem. Just add a little country to the mix.
If Enigma wasn't already taken by another musical performer, then it would be fitting for the good ol' boys in Enuff Z'Nuff to change their name to that. Enuff Z'Nuff's career has always been puzzling and somewhat difficult to understand. Yes, it's been an Enuff Z'Nuff enigma. Oh, such alliteration!
Enuff Z'Nuff's Greatest Hits is available now. One listen to the 1-2-3-4 punch of the first four songs ("New Thing," "Fly High Michelle," "Mother's Eyes" & "Baby Loves You") might just leave the average listener slightly bewildered. The question is - why weren't these songs anywhere near a genuine hit single? Now I don't mean just some song lurking in the bottom of Billboard's Top 100 for a few weeks. I mean heavy MTV rotation and Top 40 radio airplay. Did the band's initial appearance convince their potential audience that (at least at first glance) Enuff Z'Nuff was just another Poison/Warrant/Slaughter/Winger-esque group? Sure, the hair was teased high and the lips were more than just slightly glossy. The shine might have blinded an albino. Is there a scarier sight to behold than Chip Z'Nuff's pursued lips? I think not! Okay, well maybe there is. Enuff Z'Nuff first image is not nearly as grotesque as a Sally Struther's hosted infomercial or a live autopsy. And every musical era has a certain look that is relevant to the times. Late 1960's hippies wore tie-dye. Disco revelers twirled in sparkling bellbottoms. The original punks had green hair (but no Green Day). New wavers bopped around in pointy shoes. Grungers wore their flannel proudly. And today's music scene wears its banality on its sleeve. So what if the late 80's rockers adopted what they considered charming androgyny? It certainly got Motley Crue laid!
I'd like to believe that - in a perfect musical world - the songs, and not just the fashion, should be remembered the most. Sadly, sometimes this is just not true. Unless your name is Springsteen.
Continue reading "Enuff Z'Nuff - Greatest Hits (But Maybe Not The Greatest Legacy)" »
Why exactly name your hard rock band “Big C*ck?” Shock value? To make people think “what the heck?” and hope they look further? Did someone in the band say, “sex sells” – although it doesn’t necessarily sell, but it does draw attention. Somebody direct these guys to Seth Godin for some marketing guidance. And hide their Jack Daniels!
It would be easy to call the four men of this band a bunch of idiots if it wasn’t for one thing, and that’s Big C*ck just happens be a very fun hard rock band. Vocalist Robert Mason pops out of the speakers with a voice that is not out of place in either a bar, theater or arena. It simply fills the room – no matter how big or small - and kicks some serious bootie. Mason, a casualty of George Lynch’s Lynch Mob and ex-Cry of Love, certainly deserves more recognition, but the rest of the band ain’t too shabby either. The riffs and lyrical content are not far from the AC/DC School of Barroom Boogie. Nor are they too distant from anything Dokken, Lynch Mob, or King Kobra ever did.
Continue reading "The Hard Rock Band With A Porno-riffic Name" »
