Rolling Stone Watts Cancer Fight
Aversion reports: Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer and is undergoing treatment. 

The band's manager made the news public Saturday (Aug. 14). Watts was diagnosed with the disease in June and is undergoing chemotherapy, according to the Associated Press. [more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Muse Injury Kills Tour
Aversion reports: After an unspecified injury sidelined its bassist, Muse pulled out of its remaining dates on the Curiosa tour and returned to England. 

Bassist Chris Wolstenholme suffered an injury to his wrist while touring as part of the opening festivities for The Cure's travelling package. No details were given about the cause or the severity of Wolstenholme's injury [more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: Aversion also has news on MxPx DVD in Works , Six Parts Seven Announce Album, Tour, Pete Doherty's Side Project Tours, Further Seems Forever CD Next Week, Strokes Live Record Streets in Oct., Unreleased Jawbreaker Song on Comp. and more click here to check it out

Wes Back in Bizkit
Blabbermouth reports: LIMP BIZKIT frontman Fred Durst has confirmed the departure of guitarist Mike Smith from the group's ranks. Smith (ex-SNOT) joined the band as the replacement for Wes Borland and appeared on BIZKIT's most recent studio CD (last year's moderately successful "Results May Vary") before being ousted from the group in favor of a returning Borland. BIZKIT, with Wes in tow, are currently writing material for their next studio CD, tentatively due in 2005. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Van Halen Sues Orioles
Blabbermouth reports: E! Online is reporting that VAN HALEN's touring company is suing the Baltimore Orioles for $2 million for reneging on a deal to allow the band to play a concert at Oriole Park early next month. [see full story for an interesting rumor]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Amorphis Lose Singer
Blabbermouth reports: Longtime AMORPHIS singer Pasi Koskinen has officially left the band, according to a posting on the group's web site. 

CHARON/ex-POISONBLACK frontman Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto will handle the vocal duties for AMORPHIS on the group's upcoming U.S. tour with TYPE O NEGATIVE. At the moment, there are no plans for Leppäluoto to join AMORPHIS on a full-time basis. [see full story for lots more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: Blabbermouth also has news on DANZIG: Toy Figure Set Preview Posted Online, LULLACRY: 'Fire Within' EP Enters Finnish Chart At No. 14, No ULI JON ROTH On MICHAEL SCHENKER's European Tour, GORGOROTH: Mexican Tour Dates Announced, OZZFEST 2004 Review: PHILIP ANSELMO Should Shut Up And Sing and more click here to check it out

p.diddy Booed Off Stage... Twice
Ananova reports: [a little silly news to start the week off] P Diddy was reportedly booed off stage two nights running by clubbers in Ibiza. 

Both times he arrived to cheers but fell out of favour when he tried to rap, reports the Daily Mirror. 

P Diddy's first appearance was at Space which the newspaper quotes a source as saying "started well". 

"He was getting the crowd going and singing over some tracks. But when he tried to rap the crowd turned on him, shouting and jeering until he left the stage." 

And a visit to underground club DC10 for after-hours party Coco Loco the following day was equally disastrous. [see full story for more] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Franz Gold
Ananova reports: Franz Ferdinand's self-titled debut album has gone Gold in the US selling more than 500,000 copies after 20 weeks on release. 

The album this week moved back up the Billboard Top 200 from No. 46 to No. 42. 

It peaked at No. 32 last month and is currently the only album by a British act in the Top 50. In June the album passed the one million sales mark worldwide. [see full story for lots more] - Click Here for the Full Story 

The Ravonettes Working on New CD
Ananova reports: The Ravonettes have started recording twenty songs for their new album. 

According to NME.com the band are currently working on songs which will feature on the follow-up to Chain Gang Of Love. [more] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: Ananova also has news on Morrissey adds more dates to UK tour, J-Lo heads list of presenters at MTV Video Awards, Jamie to find top music stars, The Strokes announce album release date, Kurt Cobain film finished and more click here to check it out

Beer, Racism & Rock n Roll?
AP reports: A Miller Brewing Co. promotion celebrating the "50th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll" has Rolling Stone cover shots of Elvis Presley, Blondie and others on eight commemorative beer cans. What's missing is a black artist. 

Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, said the absence is "beyond conspicuous" since black artists often are credited with inventing rock 'n' roll. 

The brewer and the magazine issued the cans this summer, depicting Elvis Presley, Blondie, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Willie Nelson, as well as two guitars. 

Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media, said race wasn't a consideration when choosing the artists. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Tom Dowd Changed Music
Charlotte Observer reports: It's called "Tom Dowd & the Language of Music," but "Tom Dowd Invents the Language of Music" might be a more accurate title. That's how significant and influential the career of this unsung savant has been. If you care about the popular music of the past 50 years, this is a documentary you'll want to see. 

Dowd is not as well-known as he deserves to be because he was a studio recording engineer, one of those rarely celebrated individuals who sit behind the board and make sure the music being played gets recorded the way it sounds. Ordinarily, Eric Clapton says in the film's opening section, "I'm not interested in guys like this." 

But by the time Clapton and Dowd finished collaborating, recording work by Cream and Derek & the Dominoes (including the classic "Layla"), the guitarist had a different story to tell: "The quality of success of those records could be laid at his door. He inspired confidence." [see full story for more - The film is currently in limited release in theatres and will be released on DVD by Palm Pictures on August 24th. I saw the film a couples weeks ago, if you are at all interested in the history of rock this is definitely a film to see.] - Click Here for the Full Story 

GNR Side Project: Hookers 'N Blow
Electric Basement reports: Keyboard player DIZZY REED of GUNS N ROSES along with his band HOOKERS 'N' BLOW will be embarking on a 2 week East Coast Tour that will take the band up and down the East Coast . Hookers 'N' Blow which features Dizzy Reed on keyboards, acoustic guitar, and vocals, Alex Grossi (Beautiful Creatures, Bang Tango) on guitar, Matt Starr (Fastmaster, Bang Tango, Beautiful Creatures) on guitar, drummer Troy Patrick Farrell, (Donnie Vie, Gilby Clarke, Mike Tramp, Fastmaster) and Curtis Roach (Waylon Jennings JR., Fastmaster on bass. 

Dizzy Reed and Hookers 'N' Blow are currently in Los Angeles rehearsing for their upcoming tour which starts on Sept 9. The band will be warming up with a few shows on the West Coast in August, where the band will be playing Johhny Foxxs Aug 20, and then Dizzy and Hookers 'N' Blow will start their East Coast Tour Sept 9 in Burlington, Vt at Club Metronome. [see full story more including the dates]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Woodstock 35th
AZ Central reports: Families in SUVs drive up to the grassy hill all summer. Dads snap pictures at the memorial plaque. Young couples look at the lush expanse and try to imagine the chaotic scene. 

This is not some old battlefield, but the former hay field where the Woodstock concert helped define a generation 35 years ago, Aug. 15-17, 1969. 

The steady dribble of nostalgic baby boomers and curious Gen-Xers visiting this remote field shows how Woodstock still reverberates in the popular imagination. Even as the hippies of Woodstock become eligible for AARP cards, the concert remains a symbol to many of the transcendent power of music. From Live-Aid to Lollapalooza, no concert has mustered the same cultural cachet. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Godsmack Acoustic Tour
liveDaily reports: Godsmack makes the most of some late-summer/early fall downtime from its opening stint on Metallica's tour to squeeze in some acoustic dates of its own. 

The Boston-based rockers--who have spent much of the year on the road with Metallica--have unveiled mid-September stops in seven western-U.S. cities. [see full story for dates (including with Metallica) - Click Here for the Full Story 

Helmet Return Next Month
liveDaily reports: Rock outfit Helmet, which has been off the radar since the last millennium, reemerges in September with a new album and supporting tour. 

The five-week club trek kicks off in Atlanta on Sept. 17, three days after Helmet's new studio set, "Size Matters," lands in stores. The album is the band's first collection of new material since 1997's "Aftertaste." 

Helmet's resuscitated lineup features founding member/frontman Page Hamilton, along with guitarist Chris Traynor (Orange 9mm), drummer John Tempesta (White Zombie) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). [see full story for more including dates] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Kittie Nix Tour
liveDaily reports: Rockers Kittie have cancelled the remaining dates on their summer tour--which was scheduled to run through the end of the month--because drummer Mercedes Lander is suffering from severe dehydration and exhaustion. [more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: liveDaily also has news on Briefly: Britney Spears, Ray Charles, Five Eight, Live Review: Gloria Estefan in Phoenix, Phil Collins readies live DVD as North American tour approaches, Live Review: Natalie Merchant in Los Angeles, Lenny Kravitz calls off fall tour and more click here to check it out

As I Lay Dying Dates
press release reports: As I Lay Dying has just confirmed a series of tour dates after the Strhess Tour with Himsa and All That Remains. As I Lay Dying will also be playing a show with friends.

 AS I LAY DYING Tour with All That Remains and Himsa 
8/20 Port Jefferson, NY The Village Pub
8/21 Lewiston, PA Ski Roundtop Purple Door Festival
8/23 West Dundee, IL Clearwater Theatre
8/24 Maplewood, MN Rock
8/26 Spokane, WA The Detour
8/27 Seattle, WA Graceland end tour
8/29 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk with With Passion
- Click Here for the Full Story 

Vader Will Rise In September
press release reports: On September 21st The Beast will rise. Right, we are talking about the new album from almighty VADER! 

Here's the track listing of The Beast:1. Intro -2. Out Of The Deep -3. Dark Transmission - 4. Firebringer - 5. The Sea Came In At Last - 6. I Shall Prevail - 7. The Zone - 8. Insomnia - 9. Apopheniac - 10. Choices - Click Here for the Full Story 

Phantom Planet Bootleg
press release reports: After a summer spent crisscrossing the US with bands like Hoobastank, No Doubt, Blink-182, Ambulance LTD, and many others, Phantom Planet will set out on a headlining tour beginning August 22nd at Nashville's Exit Inn. 

On August 31st, Phantom Planet will release Bootleg '04, an on-line only bootleg available exclusively through www.phantomplanetbootlegs.com. The majority of the tracks were recorded after their first tour with new drummer Jeff Conrad at Studio City Sound on December 5, 2004 for KCRW's 'New Ground' show hosted by Chris Douridas. It was completed in one take, involving no over dubs and was mixed by lead singer Alexander Greenwald. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Green Day's "American Idiot" Video
press release reports: Green Day's "American Idiot" video will will premiere [today and tomorrow], August 16th and 17th, on mtvU. 

Green Day will also be featured on MTV's Green Day Makes A Video. Airtimes for that show are below. American Idiot will hit stores on Sept. 21st. Premiere: Wednesday 8/18 @ 9:00p 

Repeats: Thurs 8/19 @ 10:30a - Fri 8/20 @ 6:30p - Sat 8/21 @ 9:00p Sun 8/22 @ 11:30p - Tues 8/24 @ 9:00p - Wed 8/25 @ 10:30a - Thurs 8/26 @ 9:30p - Click Here for the Full Story 

Fenix tx and F.O.N. Members Deliver Denver Harbor
press release reports: Denver Harbor, featuring ex-members of Fenix tx and F.O.N., will be releasing Scenic, their debut album, on October 12th through Universal. 

Tracklisting: 1. Xenophobia- 2. Satisfied - 3. Picture Perfect Wannabe - 4. Outta My Head - 5. All I Want - 6. Preludio - 7. Twenty Seven - 8. Move On - 9. Way Back Home - 10. The Ride - 11. Save Me - 12. Let You Go 

[click the full story link to hear a preview from the CD]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Tommy Byrnes New CD
press release reports: Tommy Byrnes, a multi-instrumentalist and composer, will release his brand new CD "Alehouse Insurrections" on August 31. Tommy Byrnes weaves a tapestry of highly accomplished traditional technique with the complex styles of the 70s progressive rock, acoustic folk and arrangements of the Celtic revival. "I thought I should record a few songs that had been around for a while, but I really wanted to start from scratch and write new stuff for the project," Tommy says. "I ended up with about 21 tracks recorded and pared them down to the nine that made it." - Click Here for the Full Story 

Uli Jon Roth U.S. Return
press release reports: Guitar legend Uli Jon Roth is finally returning to the States after an absence of 19 years. News of the tour was already spreading like wildfire among the many admirers of one of the last great and original guitar heroes before the tour was even announced. 

Best known for his ground-breaking work with the German hard rock band SCORPIONS, of which he was an original founding member, the enigmatic multi-talent is at long last embarking on a US tour, which will continue through September. 

The long-awaited tour will start in Los Angeles at the House of Blues on August 26th and ends in Mexico, where Roth is head-lining shows with special guests. In the States U.J.R. is sharing the bill with the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. [see full story for more info on Uli including the U.S. tour dates]- Click Here for the Full Story