Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl
was forced to leave the stage of Tokyo's Blitz club on Wednesday night after
being felled by the flu. Grohl and company were eight songs into their set when
the singer pulled
the plug, falling victim to a nasty flu bug that had been
circulating among the band's crew for several weeks. The Foo Fighters'
American publicity firm, Nasty Little Man, could not confirm reports that Grohl
was briefly hospitalized after the incident. Foo Fighters are scheduled to play
Nagoya on Jan. 23, ending their Japanese tour on Jan. 31, after which they will
continue on to an eight-date Australian tour ...
L.A. punkers X, who broke up less than two years ago, have
agreed to re-form the band's original lineup for a reunion tour. The tour,
which will feature founding guitarist Billy Zoom, who left the band
in 1985, will kick off on Feb. 7 in San Francisco. Dates are also planned
for Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston ... The debut album by video director
Steve Hanft's (Beck, Janet Jackson) crazed,
costume-wearing, indie-rock band Sexy Death Soda, California
Police State, will be released on Bong Load Records in mid-March. The
album will be preceded by a single with a remix by Sukia's Ross
Harris ... Country-punk band the Supersuckers will release their
major-label debut for Interscope later this year. The band released three
albums on Sub Pop Records, culminating with last year's Must've Been
High ...
Gritty blues rock guitarist/singer Chris Whitley will preview songs
from his upcoming album, Dirt Floor, at a Jan. 24 show at New York's
Knitting Factory. Whitley strips down his usually fiery electric-guitar
playing on the album for an all-acoustic sound recorded on two-track over two
days last December in his dad's barn in Vermont. The show will be
cybercast on both the Factory's website and Whitley's fan-run site,
www.phpad.com/whitley ...
Eric Clapton's 1998 U.S. tour in support of his new album,
Pilgrim (March), will be sponsored by luxury car maker Lexus. The
partnership, believed to be the first sponsorship of a rock tour by a
luxury car company, is explained in a statement from Corporate Marketing
Manager Steve Sturm, who writes, "Our intent through this new and mutually
beneficial relationship is to contemporize (sic) the Lexus brand and generate
excitement at the national and local dealer level." ... Former
Deee-Lite producer/DJ Towa Tei will release his second solo
album, Sound Museum, on Feb. 24. The 10-track album features guest
spots from clown-prince rapper Biz Markie and Kylie Minogue
and will be preceded by the single "Happy" ...
The new chairman of Island Records is former recording artist Davitt Sigerson, 40. Parent company PolyGram NV also named John Barbis, 50, as the new president of the label, whose roster includes U2, Tricky, DJ Shadow and the Cranberries. The Sigerson and Barbis appointments follow the departure of Island founder Chris Blackwell, who had a falling out with PolyGram Chairman Alain Levy and left the company this past fall after publicly dissing Levy and the label ...
Antoine "TCD" Lundy, lead singer with the 1980s hip-hop/doo-wop
outfit Force MDs ("Tears"), died on Jan. 18. Lundy, 34, had
suffered for two years with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as
Lou Gehrig's disease. A funeral for the singer will be held in East
Stroudsburg, Pa., on Friday ... -- Gil Kaufman and Chris Nelson
[Fri., Jan. 23, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]
Pearl Jam's satellite radio show "Monkeywrench Radio" will be
cybercast on Addicted to Noise sister site SonicNet (www.sonicnet.com) on Jan. 31... Rapper Ice Cube's double-CD
War and Peace will be released in June ... The 6th annual Noise Pop
festival will take place from Feb. 25 to March 1 in San Francisco. Among the
confirmed acts are: Apples in Stereo, Creeper Lagoon,
Imperial Teen, 16 Deluxe, John Doe Thing,
Fastbacks, Modest Mouse and the Flaming Lips'
audio experiment ...
Producers The Dust Brothers (Beck, Hanson) are
finishing work on the soundtrack to Orgazmo, a porn-themed comedy
from "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker ... Just released is The Final
Tour, an album of previously unreleased live recordings from late blues
legend Ted Hawkins. The 20-track CD features songs such as
"Strange Conversation," "Revenge of Scorpio" and "All I Have to Offer You Is
Me," which document Hawkins' nearly dozen years busking on Venice Beach,
Calif., sidewalks ... Seattle rockers Sky Cries
Mary will release Fresh Fruits for the Liberation on Feb. 10, a rarities
compilation spanning the years 1988-1998. On June 9, the band will release
the band's debut, Until the Grinders Cease, which has previously been
available only in Europe ...
The New Bomb Turks are preparing to release several
EPs in conjunction with At Rope's End, their new album from Epitaph
Records due in April. Collectors should keep their eyes peeled for
additional singles from Epitaph's European arm, the Sympathy for the Record
Industry label and a new imprint called All
City Records ... The remix of Mike Watt's "Liberty Calls" done by
Tortoise member Bundy K. Brown will be available on a
compilation CD issued with the spring edition of the Austin, Tex., fanzine,
Pop Culture Press ... The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners
denied a petition by Dr. George C. Nichopoulos -- the physician
famed for overmedicating the King Elvis Presley in the 1970s -- who
was seeking to have his license restored, according to Reuters.
Nichopoulos' license was yanked two years ago when he was found to be
overprescribing drugs to patients including rock piano legend Jerry Lee
Lewis ... -- Gil Kaufman and Chris Nelson [Thurs., Jan. 22, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]
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