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Hawthorne Heights Plead For ROCK

Hawthorne_heights_03m With its second album, "If Only You Were Lonely" (Victory Records) out today (Feb. 28), the band Hawthorne Heights is pleading with its fans to make it a huge success... on behalf of rock.

"We need you, your friends and anyone else you know that likes ROCK music to buy our album," the group says in a statement on its MySpace page. "Our society and culture has put rock music on the backburner. If our album can debut at  No. 1 all of us will have taken ROCK music back to the top of the charts where it belongs."

The band is up against stiff competition for the top spot from rapper Ne-Yo, whose "In My Own Words"is out this week on Def Jam. He's been having big success with the single "So Sick."

"Many people are saying that Ne-Yo is going to outsell us because Ne-Yo has had a tremendous amount of over the top, mainstream media coverage," Hawthorne Heights says in its message. "No one expects us to win. We need to prove them wrong. They underestimate us...

"This is a ‘call to arms’, a ‘battle cry’, not just for Hawthorne Heights but for all of the other great ROCK bands and independent labels that we all love. All of us deserve this and it is something that we can do together."

The question is: Will it work?

PS: Lest you think it's only a PR play dreamed up by some handlers, it was on the band's mind when HH visited Billboard's New York offices today in the midst of a promoting the new release. "We hope rock wins," lead singer JT Woodruff made a point of saying after he and guitarists Casey Calvert and Micah Carli performed a few well-received acoustic songs for the staff.

February 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brit Heads Down Mardi Gras Way

Eager to shake the baby-on-the-lap incident from the public mind, Britney Spears headed for her native Louisiana this week to help out kids displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Britney recently took a group of girls from New Orleans' St. Catherine of Sienna shopping and to lunch and borrowed the school's dance troupe for a live appearance this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America."

February 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Springsteen Mines Seger?

Springsteen_bruce_05m There was talk that the E Street Band would soon be taking another trip to Atlanta to record with Brendan O'Brien... but it's likely no longer the case.

Although not officially announced, Bruce Springsteen's next album looks to be a collection of songs by Pete Seeger, reports Backstreets. The always well-sourced fanzine points out that the Boss has long championed the songs of folk legends songs, recording Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" for a 1998 tribute album and covering Woody Guthrie several times on record and in concert.

If it comes to light, it would be safe to assume another acoustic tour -- solo or with a small band -- will follow, leaving Max Weinberg behind Conan's drums, Lil' Steven in the Underground Garage and prepping for the March 12 premiere (disable pop-ups to see the clip) of "The Sopranos" and Danny Federici to his smooth jazz pursuits.

February 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trapped In The Urban Dictionary

R. Kelly's name has become ubiquitous, but not in the way he perhaps hoped it one day would.

A man who allegedly told an 11-year-old girl that he was "fixin' to do an R. Kelly" won't face charges because a Sacramento judge refused to allow prosecutors to present testimony asserting that the Chicago-based R&B star's name is a verb in the "Urban Dictionary" and means to have sex with an underage girl.

February 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Headline Of The Week

Michael_george_01m_1 It's only Monday, but I can't imagine seeing a better headline than "Careless Spliffer," which comes from U.K. tabloid The Mirror's coverage of George Michael's arrest on drug charges after he was found asleep behind the wheel of his vehicle in London.

The Sun's "George Looked Out Of It" (paired with a bug-eyed portrait) is interesting, but nowhere near as ticklish as The Mirror's song title play. Wham!'s "Wake Me Up" would have been a good fit, too.

February 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)



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