Don't You Forget About Me

According to Billboard, New Wave heroes Simple Minds will reunite with all of it's original members next month. The original lineup will hit the studio for the first time in 27 years with the goal of recording "at least two new tracks" for release before the end of the year.





Blondie celebrates the 30th anniversary of their 80s masterpiece, "Parallel Lines". The album, featuring the smash hit "Heart Of Glass", has sold over 30 million copies.

The "Parallel Lines 30th Anniversary Edition" includes the 7" single version of "Heart of Glass," the French version of "Sunday Girl" and some remixes, plus a DVD with promo videos and TV performances.

RIAA Gets It Wrong Again

First, the Recording Industry Association of America generated tons of bad publicity by it's campaign to sue single mothers (and others) for hundreds of thousands of dollars for alleged illegal file sharing. Now the RIAA has effectively shot themselves in the foot.

Tanya Anderson of Portland, Oregon has been awarded $103,000.00 to cover court costs and legal fees stemming from the RIAAs unsuccessful prosecution of her last summer. The RIAA plans to appeal but still faces a case of malicious prosecution brought by Anderson.

Meanwhile a Minnesota judge is considering granting an appeal to Jamie Thomas, who was the first P2P defendant to face a jury trial for illegal file sharing. Thomas was originally ordered to pay $222,000.00 in damages.

The appeal judge is citing a potential "error of law" as to whether making a track available in a shared folder on a P2P network is an infringement. Arguments for a new trial begin July 1.

How about the RIAA taking some of that prosecution money and putting it towards helping the artists they represent put out a product people want to pay for?

Last Shadow Puppets Stuck In Time Warp

The Last Shadow Puppets new album, "The Age of the Understatement" is out. Arctic Monkey's leader Alex Turner's side project has produced wonderful results.

The album has a dramatic retro vibe that can only be described as Burt Bacharach meets Quentin Tarantino. Songs like, "Standing Next to Me" and "The Chamber" have a Mersey beat sound that will have you reminiscing about Gerry and The Pacemakers.

"Black Plant", with it's driving beat, Herb Alpertish horns and swirling violins, could easily be mistaken for a lost track from an old James Bond movie. "Standing Next to Me" is pure 60's talk show cabaret. "My Mistakes Were Made for You" looks to be the lead single.

If having one of the most compelling new voices in Rock allows for this type of experimentation, I'm all for it.