Rockin' New Year!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Jovi, Clapton, Beatles, Cocker and Mercury

Bon Jovi's Pay-Per-View New Year's!

Bon Jovi will celebrate the birth of 2004 with a special performance, Bon Jovi: Full House, The Concert From the Boardwalk available only on Pay Per View. Premiering on New Year's Eve the concert will be the only televised arena to see the band perform songs from the new album live. The 88-minute show features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. The concert will preiere at 6:00 pm on New Year's Eve.(Arrow FM)


Eric Clapton, The Zombies & Others Set For London Benefit

Eric Clapton and the Zombies have signed on for a benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in March. One Generation 4 Another is a fundraiser for The Lord's Taverners, a British group that distributes money to promote youth sports and recreation, with an emphasis on special needs children. Other performers so far include former Squeeze members Jools Holland and Paul Carrack, Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green, and Chris Rea, with more names to be added. Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings will act as the house band. The show takes place March 15th.

Clapton just spent the past month touring the Far East. He starts a European run on March 26th, which wraps up with six nights back at the Albert Hall in early May. A North American itinerary hasn't been announced yet.

The Zombies recently announced a U.S. tour for the month of February. (965theplanet)


Beatles Secret Reunion?

An internet auction maintains they have proof that the Beatles secretly reunited in the mid-Seventies in a final attempt to record an album. The momentsintime.com website is auctioning a recordings list and tape, rumored to have been made at a session in 1976 which ended in a fight between the band. Curator Gary Zimet says that John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded five songs at the Davlen Studios in Los Angeles, but decided to never release them. The tape label lists the songs as follows: Happy Feeling, Back Home, Rockin' Once Again, People of the Third World and Little girl. The songs are said to be in good shape, while a bulk of the tape was said to be "erased" by the Beatles. An unerased version of the tape is still being held in the vaults at Abbey Road Studios. Mr. Zimet quoted a letter from Mr. Kovner, a sound engineer who confirms that the session took place, that the tape was a "failed attempt to reunite" the Beatles. "This tape deserves its place in the rock archives. The only copy is in a vault in Abbey Road," the letter said. A spokesman for McCartney disputed the rumor: "What reunion was that? I am not aware of any Beatles reunion in the 70's." (Arrow FM)


Joe Cocker "Collection" Coming

Vocalist Joe Cocker has pored through his archives and chosen his 20 favorite songs from his own canon for the forthcoming hits album "Joe Cocker: Ultimate Collection," due Jan. 13 from A&M/Hip-O Records.

The selections on the disc span Cocker's recording career from 1968 to 2000, including material originally recorded for A&M, MCA, Island, Capitol, Cocker Selects Best For 'Collection' Sony and Eagle Records. A specialist at interpreting songs written by others, Cocker's selections include covers of tunes by the Beatles ("She Came In Through the Bathroom Window," "With a Little Help From My Friends"), Randy Newman ("Sail Away," "You Can Leave Your Hat On"), Jimmy Cliff ("Many Rivers to Cross"), Lovin' Spoonful ("Summer in the City"), Billy Preston ("You Are So Beautiful") and Leonard Cohen ("First We Take Manhattan").

Other tunes set to appear on "Ultimate Collection" are the John Hiatt-penned "Have a Little Faith in Me," the Box Tops' "The Letter" and "Up Where We Belong," Cocker's duet with Jennifer Warnes, which hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1982, winning both a Grammy and an Oscar. Cocker also re-recorded a version of "Unchain My Heart" specifically for the greatest-hits set. (Billboard)


Freddie Mercury On Stage

A new theater production based on the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury will be opening in New York's off-Broadway in January. Titled Mercury: The Afterlife and Times Of A Rock God, the one-man show centers on Freddie Mercury, chilling up in heaven, trying to make sense of his life before God. Huh? The show opens on January 11th at New York's Triad Theater. (Arrow FM)