• EMI has this week serviced Roxette’s new single ‘The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye’ (Bassflow Remake) to Australian radio. The track was originally slated to be part of the band’s classic ‘Joyride’ album and has remained under lock and key for more than 20 years. Remixed by Peter Boström, the track is also now available at digital retail.
• Also making the rounds at radio this week are the aforementioned new Ricki-Lee single ‘Crazy’, Hot Chip’s ‘How Do You Do’, Krewella’s ‘Killin’ It’ and Nick Van Breda’s ‘Think About’. We’ll have a more comprehensive list of the new tracks serviced to media this week on our FACEBOOK page later today.
• Sad news for our friends in the UK, where yesterday’s scheduled PWL Live concert in Hyde Park was cancelled due to the condition of the grounds at Hyde Park. Kylie and Jason were to duet live on ‘Especially For You’, along with performances from Steps, Bananarama, Sonia, Sinitta, Lonnie Gordon and other PWL stablemates.
• Melbourne outfit King Cannons have announced a national tour. Fresh from an East Coast album launch tour, the band will hit the road again from late August, with shows planned in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT. All the dates are available at the band’s FACEBOOK page.
• ‘The Voice’ coach Joel Madden may have left out shores hurriedly following the show’s completion, but he and his band Good Charlotte have announced that they’ll be back later in the year for live dates in Sydney and Melbourne. They’ll play Melbourne’s Festival Hall on September 20 and Sydney’s Luna Park Big Top on September 21. Tickets for both dates are on sale this Monday.
• Australia’s Elvis Presley fans have until 11:59pm tomorrow to vote for their favourite Elvis songs for the King’s upcoming ‘By Request’ album, due in the middle of next month. More than 4000 local fans have already voted for their favourite, but you can add your two cents by heading HERE. ‘Elvis : By Request’ is due in-stores on Friday August 16.
• Melbourne’s ‘Gotta Have Heart’ charity fundraiser is back later this year, once again with a star-studded cast ready to entertain. For lovers of pop music, Anthony Callea is on the bill, along with Leo Sayer, Mahalia Barnes, Jon Stevens and more.
The event hits The Palms At Crown on Sunday August 26 for both afternoon and evening sessions, with tickets on sale now through Ticketek.
• Sony Music has announced that acclaimed director Spike Lee is hard at work on a documentary celebrating Michael Jackson’s iconic ‘Bad’ album and the singer’s world tour. Says the director of the project, “I’m more than just a huge fan of Michael Jackson, and having the chance to actually know him and work with him, I deeply care about his legacy. With this ‘BAD’ project I was able to uncover just what made this such a huge, important coming of age in his career and unearth compelling stories surrounding the making of the album, the long awaited follow-up to ‘Thriller’ – the best selling album of all time – the short films and the tour that may have never seen the light of day.” Three versions of the 25th Anniversary editions of ‘Bad’ will be released in Australia on Friday September 21 – a standard double disc release, a deluxe 3CD/DVD edition and a standalone DVD.
• Maroon 5’s latest British single ‘Payphone’ is a monster. A cover version of the track hit the top ten ahead of the official version’s release, the Maroon 5 version subsequently debuted at No.1. It was knocked off the top spot last week by Will.I.Am’s new single, but has bounced back to the top spot this week. Girl group Stooshe has a top five hit on their hands with new track ‘Black Heart’, while the week’s highest debut is all the way down at No.34 for Blur (‘Under The Westway’).
• Chris Brown’s new album ‘Fortune’ has premiered in the top spot on the British albums chart. Maroon 5’s ‘Overexposed’ held onto the No.2 position with Linkin Park’s former No.1 dropping to No.3.
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