SUSANNA HOFFS and MATTHEW SWEET were already members of Ming Tea, the freakout-interlude band from the Austin Powers comedies, but now — under the monicker Sid N' Susie — have recorded Under the Covers Vol. 1, a 15-track set of '60s remakes out April 18. Craig O'Neill will be delighted to learn one of the tracks is an obscure number by the Left Banke. Van Dyke Parks plays keyboards and pens liner notes. You can stream their versions of “And Your Bird Can Sing” (Beatles), “Run To Me” (The Bee Gees) and “Sunday Morning” (The Velvet Underground) at MySpace. We have to wait for the full platter, which includes “The Kids Are Alright” (The Who), “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” (Fairport Convention), “Alone Again Or” (Love) and more…
BILLY BRAGG: If you can't wait for a Love cover, Frank at Chromewaves is killing music by posting the British barker's cover of Love's “Seven and Seven Is.”
INDIE ROCK FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY: At Stereogum, Scott has the goods on See You on the Moon, an album of indie rockers that parents can listen to with their kids. And Scott is killing music with a leak of Broken Social Scene's cover of “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”
THE CHARLATANS (UK) have a new single out in April, but you can hear the first two minutes at MySpace. It sounds very Charlatan-y.
RICK JAMES to be played by Terrence Howard in a biopic?
THE LOVE SHACK: The rusted tin roof is about all that's left of the five-room cabin on the outskirts of Athens, GA where the B-52s' Kate Pierson once lived. It's just one of many Athens musical landmarks being lost to the ravages of time.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: The fantastic power-pop of The Only Ones — “Another Girl, Another Planet.”
WE ARE SCIENTISTS are touring the UK and praising the humility of tourmates Arctic Monkeys. W.A.S. frontman Keith Murray likes the lads enough to give the Monkeys' Brit Award acceptance speech for them. Of course, even ex-Journey singer Steve Perry loves the Monkeys!
MICK JAGGER vows never to go under the plastic surgeon's knife, according to his daughter Elizabeth. Good decision; at this point, reminding everyone he's survived enough to kill a dozen other people may be his strength.
FILESHARING: Contrary to what it told the US Supreme Court, the RIAA believes that ripping your own CDs to your own iPod or MP3 player is not perfectly lawful.
OVERZEALOUS CD COPY-PROTECTION may result in federal regulation, according to Jonathan Frenkel, director of law enforcement policy with the Department of Homeland Security.
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE is working on an album, The Fragile Army, set for the July 4th weekend. What's more, the band is blogging its progress.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The story about the troubled singer being a hoax, which I suspected was a hoax itself, is revealed to be a hoax.
Hecklerspray posts “Ten Reasons Why Pete Doherty Is Brilliant And Not Crap At All.” File it under sarcasm. Meanwhile Moss pregnancy rumors are being floated from Down Under.
MONTY PYTHON'S PERSONAL BEST premieres on PBS tonight. Each episode will include members of the original Monty Python troupe performing in favorite clips from the classic series, repurposed with exclusive new material. Each of the five living Pythons — John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — produced and wrote his own episode, and collaborated to create the sixth special in honor of the late member Graham Chapman. Check your local listings for airtimes.
COLIN FARRELL now alleges that a former Price Is Right model was part of the scheme to sell the XXX rated video of Farrell with ex-Playmate Nicole Narain.
WILLIAM SHATNER is terrified to become an American citizen because he is convinced he will flunk the citizenship test: “I'm good for about five minutes as far as (memory) retention. I spout out the line and — boom — I've already forgot it.” That. Would. Explain. His. Unique. Line. Delivery.
BRITNEY SPEARS took SPF to Hawaii, but Spenderline is nowhere in sight. And the pics raise the question of whether she has another bun in the oven or too many buns in the tummy.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: Domino grossed 20 million and had a 57 million dollar budget. Studio execs hope to recoup some of that loss from fanboys going over the sex scenes Zapruder-style with their DVD players.
BRADGELINA: Pitt and Jolie took the kids (they are being called “BAMZ” in some quarters) to an amusement park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Just Jared has more pictures than anyone can reasonably bear to look at… 142, to be precise.
JESSICA SIMPSON is furious her reality show Newlyweds left her with a “dumb blonde” image — because she was only following a script. She would much rather be seen as having been dishonest is portraying the first year of her marriage — which is about as long as it lasted.
KING KONG: I really liked the movie, but I don't like it when the studio tries to double-dip the hardcore fans with the “barebones DVD first, special edition to follow” trick. So the planned triple-dip of Kong is particularly annoying.
UNDERAGE STARS PARTY WITH IMPUNITY: I was wondering when someone would notice that club owners and cops turn a blind eye to teen stars living it up in bars most nights of the week. TMZ finally covers it, with video. California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says it's now investigating.
SIENNA MILLER: Page Six speculates that she didn't reunite with her cheatin' sweetheart Jude Law after she allegedly sampled Daniel (James Bond) Craig's more impressive wares.
GREY'S ANATOMY star Ellen Pompeo has even worse taste in men than the character she plays on ABC's hit drama.
MISCHA BARTON: The waifish OC hottie, recently (and laughably) called a “fat pig” by Nicky Hilton has some choice words for Nicky's sister — two of which were, “Silly b-tch.”
LARRY SUMMERS: The former Clinton Treasury secretary announced yesterday that he will resign as president of Harvard University, bringing to close a stormy tenure in which he made impolitic remarks about women, alienated many black professors and repeatedly clashed with the faculty at America's most prominent university. However, as Deep Throat told us so long ago, if you want to know the story, follow the money.
IRAQ: At Iraq the Model, Mohammed and Omar relay the latest political maneuverings. Mohammed looks at US support for the more secular parties, while Omar notes that the Shia bloc is overreacting to it.
CARTOON JIHAD: There were further protests of the Danish cartoons in Pakistan and Iraq, but the news may be that the riots in Libya were probably the work of both Islamic radicals and anti-government forces. It's odd that no one has asked cartoonists about the controversy, but The Nation has now interviewed cartoonists Joe Sacco and Art Spiegelman. There's a send-up of the BBC coverage of the story at WFMU's Beware of the Blog.
PORTS IN A STORM: Pres. Bush vowed to veto any attempt to block a Dubai company's takeover of management of major U.S. seaports, defying members of Congress who insisted the deal posed security risks. Surprisingly, Sen. John McCain, a possible 2008 presidential contender, said while Congress should seek answers, it should not rush to judgment before finding out the facts. It may be that port security will remain with the Coast Guard and with longshoremen's unions, and that several members of DubaiPorts World's top management are Americans. It may be that the UAE may be as good an ally as the US has in the region, though that's faint praise. And that Dubai Ports already bought the global port assets of U.S.-based CSX Corp. without similar uproar. But there's also plenty of fodder at the above links as to why the UAE is not a great candidate for the job. Given the current odds that Bush's veto could be overridden, one has to wonder whether there is a quid pro quo at work — some will imagine a benign deal for more help in shutting down terror financing, Michael Moore will imagine something else.
MYSTERY BLOB ATTACKS L.A.: A mysterious black goo to burbles from streets downtown, forcing the evacuation hundreds of apartment dwellers. If only Steve McQueen had lived to see it.
TORTOISE LOVE: Frank at Chromewaves is just back from a blogging conclave in Amsterdam, where he snapped photos of two giant tortoises getting it on noisily at the Artis zoo.
HOG and BONGO form an inter-species attachment at the Los Angeles Zoo, where they have been spotted grooming, napping and even canoodling. How this story gets covered without a photographer is simply ridiculous.
WAYWARD WHIPPET UPDATE: Psychics have joined the search for Vivi, who escaped from a travel cage at NYC's JFK airport after winning an award of merit at the Westminster Kennel Club show.
CATS in trouble know who to call: Donald David, Esq.