Paul McCartney can now add one more honor to the numerous awards, accolades, and the knighthood he has received. The former Beatle yesterday was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University. In granting the honorary degree to McCartney - Sir Paul McCartney since he was knighted in 1996 - the university said no one compares with the legendary songwriter. Yale said the 65-year-old McCartney awakened a generation, giving a fresh sound to rock, roll, rhythm, and blues. A band played "Hey Jude," a Beatles hit, as McCartney walked on stage to accept the honorary degree. New Haven was the site of a British invasion of sorts on Sunday, as McCartney and former Prime Minister Tony Blair were in town for Yale's 307th commencement.
[The Boston Globe]

Starbucks Corp. will pull back on its entertainment division, turning over the day-to-day management of its Hear Music record label to Concord Music Group.
Starbucks started the Los Angeles-based music label in March 2007 and had signed such acts as former Beatle Paul McCartney. Concord, of Beverly Hills, Calif., will assume responsibility for current and future Hear Music artists.

Ken Lombard, who ran Hear Music for the past year, "has left the company to pursue other business interests," said officials at the Seattle coffee giant (NASDAQ: SBUX), in a statement. [Business Journal]

LONDON - A judge has awarded Heather Mills a total of $48.6 million in the financial settlement of her divorce from former Beatle Paul McCartney. [Yahoo]

Continue reading "Heather Mills awarded $48.6M from Paul McCartney"

Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse

The Arctic Monkeys took best British group and album - both for the second year in a row - while Foo Fighters won best international group and album.

The ceremony saw performances from Amy Winehouse and Sir Paul McCartney, who received a lifetime achievement honour.

Kate Nash won best British female and Mark Ronson was named best British male.

Producer Ronson, who performed with Winehouse and Adele at the Earl's Court show, is the first non-singer to have scooped the solo artist prize....

...US star Kanye West, who was unable to attend the ceremony, was named winner of the best international male prize. "I'm sure there's someone who deserves this more than me, but I just don't know who they are," he said in his acceptance video....

...Rihanna followed with a performance of her number one single 'Umbrella', accompanied by Klaxons. [BBC]

Continue reading "2008 Brit Awards - results, pictures, Beth Ditto, etc"

the fifth in a series where we asked comedians to tell us what was good this year....

Because the man does so damned much, Fred Armisen is one of the hardest individuals to sum up in a pre-list blurb. He's 50% of ThunderAnt (the other 50% is Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney). He just released a DVD called Jens Hannemann: Complicated Drumming Technique. He has also been doing some live gigs. And in addition to being a senior member of SNL, Fred's mug can be seen in scads of movies and TV shows (check out his resume on IMDB). Being equal parts artist and entertainer, he's absolutely one of my favorite people in entertainment and I am triple-dog-delighted he took the time out to share with BV the things he enjoyed in 2007 - Klaus

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10 things I bought/got/looked at this year that I love.

Paul McCartney, The McCartney Years DVD - It has live McCartney footage from 1976 that is amazing. He plays these really busy bass lines and sings at the same time effortlessly. I don't know how someone is able to do that so well. And I love that lefty Rickenbacker!

Petra Haden, Don't Stop Believin' - This is on a compilation album called Guilt By Association that came out this year. Her voice is just the greatest ever and the guitar solo part kills me. She's working on an acappella version of movie soundtracks right now that is unbelievable.

The Apple iPhone - It makes me feel like I am finally in the future. When I was a kid, this is what I imagined I'd be using in the 2000's. If you tap a business name into the map application, it finds it for you AND gives you the phone number AND gives you directions INCLUDING how to avoid traffic at that precise moment. I mean, are you kidding me? Thank you inventors who work at Apple!

God Of War 2 for Playstation - It's more complex than the first one but also more difficult. I liked it a lot, but couldn't finish it past the flying horse fights.

Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life - Mr. Martin writes about the part of his life when he was a stand up comedian. His focus on working on every detail of his act is fascinating. At age fifteen he was already giving himself notes in a notebook. "Relax. Don't shake."

dlisted.com - This celebrity gossip site seriously makes me laugh out loud. The guy who writes this is SO funny! I look at this probably ten times a day. I was going to quote some of his stuff but I say just go to it and read it.

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Continue reading "Best of 2007 by Fred Armisen"

an Ahmet Ertegun Tribute....

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Continue reading "Led Zeppelin reunion concert photos & setlist"

Paul McCartney Nutcracker, Seattle, 2007 (cred)

....I feel like I made the right decision, because right after I left, EMI got sold, so obviously something was wrong. They are now in new hands and are applying themselves and they're going to bring themselves into the modern world. This is the point. They were floundering. Like a lot of these record companies, they were in the old world and they needed to enter the new world. It's not just me. Look at Radiohead's new outing. Artists are taking it into their own hands again, and it's really showing the record companies that it's time they get their act together. It's not the end of the world for EMI, they are like family to me. But the funny thing was, they understood. I'd told people I'd known for years at the label, "Hey, guys, I've gotta make this move." And some of them said quietly, off the record, "I really don't blame you, man."....... [Paul McCartney to Chicago Tribune]

Continue reading "Paul McCartney on Radiohead & labels, Help! on DVD"

Stevie @ Radio City, NYC - Sept 18, 2007

Stevie Wonder recently finished his first tour in over a decade, Unfortunately for us, the only NYC show he played on that trip was the "Dream Concert" at Radio City Music Hall. Fortunately for us, he's coming back to play Madison Square Garden.....

Saturday November 17th
Doors: 7PM/ Show: 8PM
Tickets On Sale Monday, October 15th at 10am
Ticket Prices: $165.00, $100.00, $80.00, & $55.00

The Worst Duets in History
1. Ebony & Ivory - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
2. You're The One That I Want - Arthur Mullard & Hilda Baker
3. Dancing In The Street - Mick Jagger & David Bowie
4. Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby & David Bowie
5. Save Your Love - Rene & Renata

Continue reading "Stevie Wonder - more 2007 Tour Dates (MSG)"

Paul McCartney @ Amoeba Records, LA - June 27, 2007 (CRED) (info)

The past few years have been bittersweet for music retail in Los Angeles. The opening of Amoeba Records in 2001 gave the city one of the stronger music outlets in America, but was followed soon by the closings of Aron's Records and Rhino Records.

Yet indie music fans not wanting to brave the Hollywood traffic to hit Amoeba had an outpost outside downtown in Sea Level Records, run by Silversun Pickups merch man Todd Clifford. The store arrived as the city's Echo Park neighborhood was undergoing a revitalization, and stocked a heavily curated catalog (top sellers this month include Silversun Pickups, adventurous guitar rock act Electrelane and avant-folk duo CocoRosie). Yet come the end of this month, the 32-year-old Clifford will close up shop for good. [CNN]

DOWNLOAD: The Swayback - I'm Waiting for the Man (VU cover) (MP3)

According to the first two people in line, this is the second wave of fans looking to score a wristband to get into the Paul McCartney in-store. Amoeba staff already sent a group away after giving out the allotted number of wristbands. This photo was taken around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Wristbands for the in-store, which is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, were supposed to be handed out starting at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The people here are either waiting for another batch of wristbands or plan to sleep on the ground just in case Amoeba decides to let more people inside for the performance. [unsure shot]

Jack did it in NY. Jack did it in LA. Paul did it in NY. Now Paul's doing it in LA. Is Jack better than Paul, or is Paul better than Jack? Do you prefer your caffeine from Starbucks or Coke? Just kidding. (thx tm).

Paul McCartney @ Highline Ballroom, NYC - June 13, 2007

Paul McCartney stormed the stage of a small ballroom on Wednesday and delivered a 20-song set featuring Beatles favorites and select cuts from his newly released album "Memory Almost Full."

The free show for about 700 fans at the Highline Ballroom in New York's Chelsea district was hastily arranged, with McCartney's website only announcing the gig on Tuesday. Passes were distributed through a give-away on the website and to fans who lined up on Wednesday outside the venue.

The former Beatle and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer played a dozen songs from the Beatles catalogue that included opening number "Drive My Car" and Fab Four warhorses "Hey Jude," "Lady Madonna," "Let It Be" and "Get Back." The remaining songs came from the new album and other McCartney solo projects. [Reuters]

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Continue reading "Paul McCartney @ Highline Ballroom - pics & reviews"

Suddenly Franz Ferdinand at Bowery Ballroom doesn't seem like such a big deal. THIS is the same night.

Paul McCartney Secret Show - Wednesday night 13th June at the Highline Ballroom in New York City to celebrate the release of his new album 'Memory Almost Full'.

As with the London show PM.com has a limited number of wristbands to giveaway.

Click here for more details and to enter the wristband giveaway!Limited number of free wristbands available from 12.30pm (EDT) at the Highline Ballroom box office only.

First come, first served.Doors for the show open at approx 7pm (EDT).