HELLO...
I will be doing an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with HAZEL O'CONNOR on Monday, talking about her recent activities, her upcoming tour and her appearance at RETROFEST in September so if you have any questions for Hazel then please email them to me before Monday lunchtime and I will do my best to fit them into the interview!
Talking of RETROFEST, I will be drawing the winner of the first PAIR OF TICKETS I'm giving away in the run-up to the event later this week, so if you fancy joining me for a brilliant weekend of eighties acts then get yourself over to the website and make sure you're entered! There will be FIVE PAIRS OF TICKETS up for grabs between now and September and one winner will have their tickets upgraded to VIP ACCESS TICKETS!
There's been loads of news added to the website this week so I would recommend you get over there as soon as possible to read it in full! Here's the quick version...
DURAN DURAN's new album will be called 'Red Carpet Massacre' and will be released in the Autumn. See NEWS for more information including the titles of a number of songs expected to feature on the album.
DEPECHE MODE frontman DAVE GAHAN's second solo album 'Hourglass' will be released in October although no specific date has yet been scheduled. See NEWS for more information including a list of track titles...
THE CURE have announced dates in the USA, China, Japan and Australia starting in July and running through to October in support of the band's currently untitled new album which will be released some time in the autumn. See GIGS for all the dates.
PRINCE has lost his new UK record deal after they found out about his plans to distribute two million copies of his new album 'Live Earth' free with The Mail On Sunday in July.
KOOL AND THE GANG will release their first new album for over ten years on July 10th. The album is entitled 'Still Kool' and has already been released in Germany to tie in with a promotional visit there by the band last week.
BRYAN FERRY has said that once he has finished touring his album of Bob Dylan songs 'Dylanesque' he hopes to return to the studio with ROXY MUSIC to carry on recording the material they started last year, although he has given no indication when any new material might be released.
GEORGE MICHAEL will play two rescheduled shows at Dublin's The Point Depot on August 1st and 2nd.
SPEAR OF DESTINY have announced that their forthcoming studio album will be called 'Imperial Prototype' and will be out by November. The band have also scheduled a short set of UK dates in August and September, see GIGS for all the details.
POISON have recorded a cover of Justin Timberlake's 'Sexy Back' which will be released as a digital download on 16th July. The track doesn't feature on 'Poison'd' the band's recent album of covers but was recorded during the sessions for the album and is being made available now due to demand from fans to hear the track.
ALISON MOYET is expected to announce October dates shortly which will tie-in with the release of a new studio album. The album is currently untitled but tracks will include 'A Guy Like You', 'Can't Say it Like I Mean It' and 'Not The Thing, Henry'...
GARY NUMAN and Ade Fenton will release another collaborative single, 'The Leather Sea', on july 23rd, the second single featuring Numan to be taken from Ade Fenton's recent 'Artificial Perfect' album. As previously announced Gary Numan will play four UK shows in July, see GIGS for details. Gary Numan has also said in a recent interview that he will play a handful of shows in December during which he will play his 'Replicas' album in full. Dates for those shows are expected shortly
ORANGE JUICE frontman EDWYN COLLINS will release a solo album, 'Home Again', on September 17th preceded by a single 'You'll Never Know' on September 10th. The album was originally scheduled for a 2004 release but was delayed by Collins' recent illness and has only just been completed. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are to play a one-off London show at the Brixton Academy on September 7th.
CROWDED HOUSE will play a short tour of the UK and Ireland in November and December, finishing with a show at London's Wembley Arena on December 9th. See GIGS for all the dates.
12"/80s/POP, featuring 12" remixes of some of the 80s greatest pop hits, has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.
KATRINA LESKANICH will tour Norway in July and August, see GIGS for all the details.
That's all for this week, but please do visit the website this week for all the latest TOUR DATES, INTERVIEWS, LINKS, RELEASES and REVIEWS... please also support the site and think about buying a copy of our 19-track compilation CD 'This is Not Retro' (nineteen NEW tracks from nineteen of the eighties' most enduring artists!) or LOTUS EATERS frontman PETER COYLE's fantastic 'Meltdown For The Mindless' CD, the first EP from SIMPLE MINDS / BIG COUNTRY / H2O spin-off FOUR GOOD MEN or any of the Hi-Bias RETRO:REMIXED and RETRO:ACTIVE titles in the SHOP section...
Thank you to all of you have become my friends on MySpace... I'm feeling ever more popular! It's here if you fancy joining me!
Cheers!
Richard
www.remembertheeighties.com - "The eighties... up to date!"
