The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
- Country band Alabama back on road, 10 years after saying goodbye
- Beyonce and Jay Z 'rock Havana' for their anniversary
- British music retailer HMV handed lifeline
| Country band Alabama back on road, 10 years after saying goodbye Posted: 05 Apr 2013 08:16 PM PDT NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Ten years after embarking on a lengthy "Farewell Tour," country music band Alabama was back on the road on Friday to mark 40 years in the business. While the 2003 tour packed arenas across the United States, the crossover southern rock and country band will play in smaller venues this time, as well as taking to the seas for the first time on a four-day Caribbean cruise. "I just thought it would be a shame if we didn't make some kind of an effort to celebrate the 40th year of starting at The Bowery, and what we do best is sing," singer Randy Owen told Reuters. "It's a historical thing as far as our band goes. All of us are still together, still alive. We are so blessed to still be able to get on that stage and play. We're gonna have fun," Owen, 63, said. The group, consisting of cousins Owen, Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry, got their first major gig in the South Carolina town of Myrtle Beach in 1973 as the house band at a small club called The Bowery. Loyal fans were packing that club by summer's end, having no idea this bar band would go on to sell 73 million albums in the 1980s and 1990s and have more than 40 No. 1 singles, including "Love in the First Degree," "Dixieland Delight," and "Feels So Right." After a free show for some 200 fans at The Bowery on Thursday night, the 16-city "Back to The Bowery" tour officially kicks off on Friday at the Alabama Theatre - named after the band - also in Myrtle Beach. The band is also joining the latest trend of short themed-cruises that feature musicians, dancers, Broadway stars and other celebrities who sail with fans for several days of concerts, lessons and autograph signings. The Alabama & Friends Festival at Sea leaves from Miami in October for the Bahamas on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Pearl ship. While tour tickets are selling well, Owen said they had no idea if they would be playing to five people or a sold-out house when the tour was announced several weeks ago. "We just didn't know how the economy would affect people buying tickets. We didn't decide to do the tour for the money," he said. While the band has played concerts such as a benefit for tornado victims in Alabama in 2011, this is the first official tour since 2003. The group is bringing along three to four musicians to round out their sound. Owen said the band members are looking forward to seeing their fans again. "I think it's wonderful we still care about one another and we still care about the music. And actually we are still a pretty good band. |
| Beyonce and Jay Z 'rock Havana' for their anniversary Posted: 05 Apr 2013 08:12 PM PDT HAVANA: American pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary this week in Havana, where big crowds greeted them as they strolled hand in hand through the Cuban capital. They ate at some of the city's best restaurants, danced to Cuban music, walked through historic Old Havana and posed for pictures with admiring Cubans, who recognized them despite the past half-century of ideological conflict that separates the United States and Cuba. They were the latest and perhaps greatest big-name American stars - actors Bill Murray, Sean Penn and James Caan among them - to visit the Caribbean island in the past few years, but the first to cause such a stir everywhere they went. Fans in the street below cried out Beyonce's name as she and Jay Z and their mothers dined at the upstairs restaurant La Guarida, famed as the location for the hit 1993 Cuban film "Strawberry and Chocolate." A crowd of several thousand people swarmed around them in the main square of Old Havana, which prompted their security team to put a halt to their visit to the site. "I was in the eye of the whirlpool. We had to cut it short because it got so crazy," said architect Miguel Coyula, who gave the couple a tour of the 16th century heart of the city. They also visited a children's theater group called La Colmenita, a source close to the group said. On Thursday night, they dined at La Fontana, one of the city's more established private restaurants, or paladares, and a favorite of visiting foreigners, but police blocked off surrounding roads to prevent onlookers. Later, they went to El Gato Tuerto, a famous Havana nightclub, then to the Casa de la Musica in the Miramar district where the source said they "danced until dawn" to salsa and other music by the band Havana D'Primera. On Friday, they toured Cuba's famous art school, Instituto Superior de Arte, and, according to government blogger Yohandry Fontana, Beyonce was to have lunch with "important figures of Cuban culture." His blog ran several photographs of her and Jay Z under the headline "Beyonce Rocks Havana." Jay Z, in shorts, a short-sleeve shirt and straw hat, looked like a typical tourist, puffing on a big Cuban cigar. Beyonce, camera in hand, wore a colorful print mini-dress, big sunglasses, dangling ear-rings and her long braids piled high. The Grammy winner posed for a photograph with a group of smiling Cuban schoolchildren. The couple declined to talk to the media to explain the purpose of their visit. The source close to the group said they were invited by Cuba's tourism ministry. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a license granted by the U.S. government, though President Barack Obama's administration has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba for academic, religious or cultural exchanges. In Washington, the State Department said it had no prior knowledge of the visit. A spokeswoman at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana said she did not know if the two stars obtained a license for their trip, which if they did not could expose them to a fine. Publicists for the couple did not return emails or phone calls seeking comment. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which handles licenses for travel to Cuba, said it does not comment on individual cases. |
| British music retailer HMV handed lifeline Posted: 05 Apr 2013 08:12 PM PDT LONDON: Britain's most high-profile entertainment retailer HMV was handed a lifeline on Friday when a turnaround group bought it, ensuring a future for a firm which gave the Beatles one of their first big breaks. Opened on London's Oxford Street by English composer Edward Elgar in 1921, HMV was bought by restructuring specialist Hilco in a deal worth about 50 million pounds, a person familiar with the situation said. The rescue of the firm, whose stores have long been a presence on British high streets, is a timely boost for retailers and suppliers hard hit by the downturn in consumer spending, with many major names disappearing from town centres in the past two years. This deal safeguards at least 2,500 jobs. Hilco, which already owns HMV Canada, said it had acquired the business and certain HMV assets, including 141 stores across the country, from administrators Deloitte. "This is an exciting investment for the Hilco team and we will be able to use some of the developments already progressed in Canada to restore HMV to health," Ian Topping, from Hilco's HMV management team, said. Hilco said the deal had the backing of landlords and suppliers, all keen to protect a valuable outlet onto Britain's high streets. "The reaction of the British public to the administration of HMV shows a strong desire for the business to continue to trade and we hope to play a constructive part in delivering that," Topping said. RECLAIMING GROUND Famous for its 'Nipper the Dog' logo, HMV struggled to hold its own against supermarkets and online services in sales of CDs, DVDs and video games, and in January it brought in Deloitte to find it a buyer. To attract sales, it had been focusing on selling in-demand tablets and other devices but Hilco said on Friday that move would be reversed and it would look to "reclaim the space for an enhanced music and visual range". The group added it was in talks with landlords in Ireland with a view to re-opening the business there which closed during administration. Turnaround specialist Hilco has been involved in many high profile UK retail restructurings, including Habitat, Woolworths and Borders. Last year it was also brought in to clear stock and close stores at Clinton Cards and JJB Sports. It had long been seen as the favourite to strike a deal with HMV after it bought the firm's 176 million pounds of debt in January. The chain will initially be run by a Hilco team working alongside existing HMV management. HMV's chief executive Trevor Moore was made redundant in February. HIGH STREET RELIEF In its last full-year results for the year to April 28, 2012, HMV had sales of 923 million pounds but posted a pretax loss of 16.2 million pounds. To tackle mounting debt, it had already made a string of disposals in recent years, selling off its Waterstone's book chain in 2011 for 53 million pounds and all of its live entertainment business. Since being in administration the firm has also closed its small businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore. In its 92-year history it has some significant milestones. It had a hand in the Beatles' big break in the 1960s, recommending the group's demo record to publishers. In 1984, it underlined its status in the industry by opening the world's biggest music entertainment store in London and in 2006 its board rejected an 842 million pound bid from private equity firm Permira, saying it undervalued the group. Before going into administration, HMV had around 230 stores and over 4,000 staff. "There is relief all round that HMV's continued presence on the high street is assured," Lavinia Carey, Director General at the British Video Association, said. "Data shows that 24 million British shoppers bought a video disc in 2012 and 17.4 percent of those were sold in HMV." Norreena Ingum, a 63-year-old shopper from Somerset in south west England, said she was delighted with the news as she preferred going into a store rather than buying online. "We shop in here once a month because we haven't got a store in Somerset," she told Reuters. "Everything is here and I can have a good look." - Reuters |
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