AC/DC’s first album of new material in eight years, Black Ice, comes out Oct. 20, but if you don’t live near a Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club, forget about leaving your house in search of a copy. The CD will only be available at outlets of the Arkansas-based chain of megacheapness, although those of you who don’t live near a Wal-Mart (or just don’t feel like standing under the store’s super-unflattering fluorescents) can also purchase the album via the band’s official site. Wal-Mart’s most recent exclusive music deal comes at an interesting time for the store, which is the No. 1 music retailer in the country, as it’s planning on going ahead with a long-planned revamp of its music section in the near future. From the Wall Street Journal:
In one of the stranger promotional teasers in recent memory, CAA managing partner Rob Light disclosed a list of acts that should be touring the States next year to HITS. Among them: Wal-Mart favs AC/DC, who haven’t toured since 2003, and KISS, who might creak around arenas once again. More »
He’s tried John Cougar Mellencamp. He’s tried Chuck Berry. He’s even tried ABBA (sez McCain: “”Nobody likes them, but they sold more records than anybody in the history of the world, including The Beatles. But everybody hates them. You’re a no-class guy if you like ABBA. Why does everybody go see ‘Mamma Mia?’ Hypocrisy! Rank hypocrisy! I’m not embarassed to say I like ABBA, ‘Dancing Queen.'”) But nobody seems to want John McCain using their music as his campaign theme. What, doesn’t one of those Hillary Clinton fans who swear they’d rather vote Republican than for Obama own a worthwhile copyright?
Ubiquitous American retailer Wal-Mart got a fair amount of press for its status as “one of the few remaining chain stores selling music” today, with stories in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal about its upcoming music strategy. But the WSJ gets the scoop: Wal-Mart’s next store-exclusive release will be the upcoming album by AC/DC, which is slated to hit stores in the fall. Unlike the two other classic-rock stalwarts who had chart-topping exclusives with the Bentonville behemoth, the Eagles and Journey, AC/DC’s album will come out on a major label (Columbia). The Journal notes that “Columbia’s decision to sell a major new release at only one chain has the potential to alienate retailers left out,” although those alienated retailers can at this point be counted on one person’s digits. And how is Wal-Mart going to celebrate its music mogul status? By demanding lower wholesale prices and cutting floor space even more!
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson has put out three new songs to promote the DVD release of Totally Baked, a pot comedy starring a cavalcade of VH-1 level stand-ups. Most entertaining of the eerily AC/DC-esque trio is “Who Phoned The Law,” which appears to be about a zoo’s worth of stoned animals having a wild party. Chorus: “The dog’s got the munchies, the cat ate the stash. The chicken and the tuna’s lying, laughing on their ass. The monkey’s in the kitchen, and the donkey’s in the hall. Hey! Hey! Who phoned the law?” I might have that “chicken and the tuna” line wrong, but it’s not like Brian’s voice is getting clearer with age.
AC/DC is currently recording their first album in eight years with Brendan O’Brien. You may know O’Brien as the man behind some the finest albums by Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, and Matthew Sweet, and some of the lamest by by Bruce Springsteen, Train, Papa Roach, and Incubus. Barf. “Rage Against The Machine in the ’90s, Audioslave today” sums up his career pretty well. So who was the bearer of such blase tidings? Why, Eddie Spaghetti! The once and future Supersucker spilled the beans on his band’s Web site.
Fremantle, Australia will put on “The Bon Scott Project,” a multimedia homage to the legendary AC/DC singer who had been raised in the town. Along with putting up 19 artists’ tributes to the man, hosting panels, and a few musical performances, the project will display a few personal letters from Bon Scott that show his “bawdy and humorous side but also offer an insight never before seen into the personality of the man.” A blog has been set up for fans to contribute their own feelings and memories to, and its already full of musical appreciation, rumors of love children and quotes from his many letters.
AC/DC are now the proud owners of www.acdc.com which was previously “held by a porn site with metal fans perhaps getting more than they bargained for every time they clicked.” If Bon Scott was still alive they would have left the porn up. More »
AC/DC are now the proud owners of www.acdc.com which was previously “held by a porn site with metal fans perhaps getting more than they bargained for every time they clicked.” If Bon Scott was still alive they would have left the porn up. More »
