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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 30
Monday, October 30, 2006
Hall of Fame nod puts R.E.M. back in spotlight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Athens’ own R.E.M. has made the list of nominees for the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the band’s very first year of eligibility. In order to be nominated, a debut single or album must have been released at least 25 years ago. “We looked at the calendar and, sure enough, it’s been 25 years,” R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs told Buzz Monday from his Athens office. In 1981, the band released its very first single, “Radio Free Europe,” with the B-side, “Sitting Still,” as a single on the Atlanta independent label, Hib-Tone. Other previous nominees getting another crack at being inducted this year include rap and hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Patti Smith and the Stooges. The Dave Clark Five, Chic, the Ronettes, Joe Tex and Van Halen are also among the nominees. Five of the nine nominated acts will be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The finalists will be chosen by more than 500 voters. R.E.M.’s inclusion on the ballot may actually help Smith, who for various reasons has thus far been denied inclusion in the elite club. “The guys are massive fans of Patti’s,” Downs said. “[R.E.M. frontman] Michael [Stipe] has gone on record saying that her album ‘Horses’ is one of the reasons he’s a writer and a singer.” If both acts make it into the 2007 class, Downs predicted “it could result in one of those classic jam sessions that the Hall of Fame ceremony is known for. But the guys are really just pleased to be considered.” Meanwhile, a rare vinyl copy of the band’s debut Hib-Tone “Radio Free Europe” single on eBay Monday had an opening bid of $75. But we found the single and its B-side were a bit cheaper (and technologically more accessible via iPod) on the band’s double disc set, “And I Feel Fine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987,” released this fall.
Whitney steps out Alpharetta home owner Whitney Houston re-emerged publicly over the weekend with longtime mentor Clive Davis. Houston, 43, was escorted to a benefit for juvenile diabetes research in Beverly Hills, Calif., by Davis, her record producer, People magazine reported Monday on its Web site. “I feel great,” Houston was quoted as saying, while Davis, one of Saturday evening’s honorees, told People: “We’re going to make a killer album.” A blond Houston, wearing a black gown and diamond earrings, sat at the main table for the 17th Carousel of Hope Ball with Halle Berry and Berry’s boyfriend, model Gabriel Aubry, People said. “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee sang Houston’s “I Have Nothing” at the event. Houston filed divorce papers in Orange County Superior Court two weeks ago, a month after filing for legal separation from Bobby Brown.
Dooley’s ‘horror story’ At Monday’s 12th annual Pink Ribbons fashion show and luncheon, Barbara Dooley, wife of former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, told her “horror story” — her diagnosis and subsequent treatment for breast cancer. “The cancer was found through a regular checkup,” Dooley told Buzz. “And the emotions you go through are incredible. But you tell yourself to think positive thoughts. “But then I found out that there are times when you can scream and holler and it’s OK.” Dooley, chic in a pink-and-black suit, finished her treatment in July, and her hair is growing back “very curly.” Vince, Barbara said, was the stabilizing force in the family. “He was so kind through it all that I told him, ‘If I had known how sweet you are, I would have had cancer years ago!’ ” Brenda Wood of WXIA-TV emceed Pink Ribbons, which was founded by Dr. Sheldon M. Lincenberg, head of Georgia Plastic Surgery. The 555 guests at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead raised about $80,000 for the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund and Bosom Buddies of Georgia. A highlight of the event was the Parisian fashion show with guest designer Kay Unger. Ten breast cancer survivors modeled chic after-five looks. One model survivor, Susan Murphy of Grayson, said her way to cope is to “live well, laugh often and love much.”
Sick bay Former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has revealed that he has prostate cancer. “Since we’ve caught it very early, and it’s small and slow-growing, I fully expect to have a rapid and complete recovery,” Lesh, 66, says in a statement on his Web site. He plans to have surgery in early December. Lesh says he’s been monitored by “a crack team of doctors” since his 1998 liver transplant. One doctor noticed recently that he had elevated levels of prostate specific antigens (PSA), proteins produced by cells of the prostate gland. High PSA levels can indicate prostate cancer. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, Lesh said.
Celebrity birthdays CBS anchorman Dan Rather is 75. Actress Sally Kirkland is 62. Actress Deidre Hall (“Days of Our Lives”) is 58. NBC anchorwoman Jane Pauley is 56. Director Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings”) is 45. Drummer Larry Mullen of U2 is 45. Actor Dermot Mulroney is 43. Actor Rob Schneider is 42. Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas (“American Pie”) is 26. Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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It’s over between the two Regular Guys (one says)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eric Von Haessler, in the wake of the restroom stunt that led to his firing from 96rock last week, said that he and “Regular Guys” radio co-host Larry Wachs are unlikely to pair up again.
Sure, he said the same thing in 2004, after their first firing from 96rock over an indecency snafu. They got back together in 2005. “I was talked into it,” Von Haessler told Buzz last week. “I sort of knew I needed to move on.”
Trouble started for him and Wachs after Wachs taped a conversation between two fellow radio hosts at Viva 105.7, another station owned by Clear Channel, on Oct. 9 in a company restroom. They aired the conversation on the radio Oct. 10, leading the targets — Juan “Yogi” Tapia and Jose “Panda” Carias — to file a lawsuit against Clear Channel, Wachs and Von Haessler, citing invasion of privacy and negligent hiring.
Von Haessler was taken off the lawsuit last Thursday, according to Jamie Hernan, lawyer for Tapia and Carias. Though Von Haessler said that saves him on legal costs, “it’s still a stupid lawsuit.” And he’s still out of a job.
Because Clear Channel boss Chuck Deskins has asked employees not to discuss the case, Tapia and Carias declined to comment. But in a news release, the pair said they’ve been threatened in nasty e-mails and calls from irate “Regular Guys” fans and have hired bodyguards to protect themselves.
At the same time, they refuse to drop the lawsuit unless Clear Channel promises not to hire the “Regular Guys” again and not to retaliate against Tapia and Carias, who are under contract with Viva until 2009, Hernan said.
Von Haessler said he thinks Tapia and Carias are not driven purely by privacy issues or because the “Regular Guys” would make fun of Mexicans and illegal immigrants. “They are getting as much as they can out of their careers on the grave of the Regular Guys,” he said.
Clear Channel, which owns six radio signals in Atlanta, has had major financial and ratings problems locally, fueling rumors that some may change formats as early as today.
‘Rocky’ road to semi-stardom
There’s no easy explanation as to why a 31-year-old low-budget movie about transsexual aliens inspires a theater troupe to re-enact the story in sync with the film every week, word for word, song by song, grope by grope. But that’s what Lips Down on Dixie does with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Plaza Theatre on Ponce de Leon Avenue. Buzz checked out the Halloween edition Friday night.
But as costume maker and hostess Candace Weslosky noted, Halloween didn’t change the show, which drew a typical audience of about 100 people, about half of them “virgins” who have never seen it live. “It’s Halloween every week for us,” she told Buzz. The film is ” ‘Battlefield Earth’ bad,” she told the crowd, yet “we do this purely because we have no life.”
The troupe (www.lipsdownondixie.com), which relies on volunteers and donations, has dined on Meat Loaf (as in the movie), mocked Brad and Janet and danced “The Time Warp” again and again for six years at the Plaza. But they’ve had to restrict audience props. No throwing toast, for instance. “When toast gets wet and gets stuck in a place the cleaning people miss, it eventually smells like vomit,” Weslosky explained.
Weslosky, 23 and part of the show since 2000, wasn’t even alive when the movie first aired. But her loyalty paid off. She found love in the midst of such inanity and is now engaged to Chris Miller, who plays Brad.
Road to ‘Hell’s Kitchen’
If you’re a culinary Casanova and dream about getting verbally roasted by Gordon Ramsay on Fox’s summer hit “Hell’s Kitchen,” auditions will be held at the Flying Biscuit in Candler Park from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 2 and at Viking Culinary Art Center, at 1745 Peachtree St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 3. (Flying Biscuit baker Jeff Dewberry appeared in Season One in 2005.)
But if you’d rather just watch a reality show live, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” is going on tour and will hit the Gwinnett Arena on Jan. 26, with contestants actor Joey Lawrence, Lisa Renna, her hubby Harry Hamlin, pop singer Willa Ford, Season Two winner Drew Lachey and singer Joey McIntyre. Tix go on sale Nov. 4.
If carols don’t satisfy you …
Last year, 99X radio held its Christmas concerts over two days at the Tabernacle, with headliners O.A.R. and Our Lady Peace. The names and venue are bigger for the Dec. 6 “Mistle Toe Jam,” starring the Killers, Jet, AFI and OK Go, at Philips Arena. Tickets range from $27 to $49 and go on sale Nov. 4.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Grace Slick is 67. Actor Henry Winkler is 61. Actor Harry Hamlin is 55. Actor Kevin Pollak is 49. Singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale of Bush is 39.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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