Aerosmith gets back to work after '08 break

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Aerosmith is ready to return to work on its next studio album, according to drummer Joey Kramer.

"Today is the first day (bassist) Tom (Hamilton) and I are getting back together," he wrote Monday on the group's Web site (http://www.aeroforceone.com). "We just rehearsed for two hours and it feels so good! We can't wait to get back into the studio and get back out on the road to do what we do best."

Work has already begun on the band's first album of original material since 2001's "Just Push Play." Aerosmith pressed pause on the project last year while band members recovered from a variety of medical issues, such as singer Steven Tyler's rehab stint and lead guitarist Joe Perry's knee surgery.

"Like a lot of other things in life, you don't get to call the shots on these things, do you?," guitarist Brad Whitford told Billboard.com last fall. "We're just ... getting older."

There's no date for the new album, but it's expected to be out sometime this year via Columbia. Aerosmith also has one live show lined up on February 1 at Estadio Olimpico in Caracas, Venezuela.

Reuters/Billboard

AC/DC to release "Black Ice" in October

AC/DC to release "Black Ice" in October

Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rock band AC/DC's first studio album in eight years, "Black Ice," will be sold exclusively in the U.S. via Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and the band's Web site, beginning October 20. First single "Rock 'n' Roll Train" will hit U.S. radio on August 28.

In an unusual move, the exclusive release comes with the full cooperation of AC/DC's label home, Columbia, which says it is planning "multiple activities for fans" leading up to release date.

The 15-track "Black Ice" is the follow-up to 2000's "Stiff Upper Lip." An extensive world tour in support of the set will begin in late October.

In addition, on September 9 Columbia will release "No Bull: The Director's Cut," a newly edited DVD of AC/DC's July 1996 show at Madrid's Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas.

Reuters/Billboard

Smashing Pumpkins sue Virgin Records over Pepsi ads

Tuesday, Mar 25, 08

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The alternative-rock band Smashing Pumpkins have sued Virgin Records, saying their former record label damaged the Grammy-winning band's image and reputation for artistic integrity by using it in a worldwide promotional campaign.

The Pumpkins claim in their breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, that Virgin used the band's name, music and image without its permission in a "Pepsi Stuff Promotion" to market the soft drink and Amazon.

"Its a frustrating situation honestly to be treated so poorly by a label where we had so much success," the band's singer, Billy Corgan, said in a written statement.

"Recently they have ignored our pleas to give our fans special editions of our old albums, telling us they weren't interested so there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy involved with them turning around and using us like this," Corgan said

The lawsuit asserts that Smashing Pumpkins "worked hard for over two decades" to build goodwill with fans damaged by Virgin's use of its music and image in the campaign.

"Virgin has deceived and confused the public into believing that (the Pumpkins were) affiliated with the promotion," the lawsuit says.

A spokeswoman for Virgin, now a boutique label that forms part of closely held EMI Group's Capitol Music Group, has been at odds with the band over the years and no longer releases its material, declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation.

The civil complaint seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against Virgin from using its name or material in future promotions.

The Pumpkins, which formed in Chicago in the late 1980s, achieved mainstream success with such albums as "Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness." The band won Grammy awards for best hard rock performance in 1996 and 1997.

Pepsi, marketed by PepsiCo, is based in Purchase, New York. Amazon.com, an Internet-based business specializing in the sale of books, CDs, DVDs and video games, is based in Seattle. (Editing by Todd Eastham)