Overnight Sensations …

Our night crew has put together the following items guaranteed to offer enlightenment and knowledge during those darkest hours before your dawn:

The Troubadour Turns 50 – James Taylor and Carole King lend their voices to the venerable club’s birthday celebration.

Long Distance Voyagers – The Moody Blues announce a spring tour and get ready to take fans for a ride.

Here & There …

Universal’s Doug Morris on how not to be a Shmoo – Wired News

Selling vinyl in the digital age – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Some Brits think iPhone costs too much – BusinessWeek

The RIAA, MPAA, ticket scalpers and children – Computerworld

The parallel worlds of Michael Jackson and Britney Spears – Newsday

Artists make “CD For The Troops” – Chicago Sun-Times / Associated Press

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

We have more new Van Halen dates this afternoon than we did this morning. And we had a lot this morning. Stops just added include Cincinnnati, Baltimore, Raleigh and Tampa.

Sparks has a zillion shows lined up for London’s Carling Academy Islington. Okay, not quite a zillion. But almost.

Firehouse adds Japan, Illinois and Minnesota to its 2008 schedule; Fairport Convention has a U.K. gig for every day in February and Elvis Costello will rock in the new year House Of Blues style in Atlantic City.

Cobra Starship will hit the 2008 floor running with dates starting in January and running through the first week of March (so far); Bitch is back and playing Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and New York and Y & T will play Germany and The Netherlands in May.

It was a great day for tour dates! We started with new Van Halen dates and we wrapped up our afternoon with even more VH shows. We also added dates for Wu-Tang Clan, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dolly Parton, Ryan Adams, The Cult, The Commander Cody Band, The Erotics, The Cheeseballs, Sum 41, Stephen Pearcy, Sean Costello, Queensryche, Nina Storey, Megadeth, Kelly Clarkson, the Keith Urban / Carrie Underwood tour, Josh Blue, k.d. lang, Jack Johnson, Foo Fighters, Dillinger Escape Plan, and more artists and bands than even we can imagine. And we can imagine a lot. Like what you’re wearing right now.

But it’s time to put our tour-info-gathering-toys away for the day. Time to go out, seek nourishment and fuel up for another great day tomorrow at Pollstar.com HQ. Happy trails!