Here & There …

A look back at 50 years of Grammys – New York Daily News

Wanna buy a record label? Chrysalis just underwent a second round of bidding, – Financial Times

Amy Winehouse is still trying to make it to Grammys – The Chicago Tribune

About that “Jam” tour featuring the rhythm section of the famed Brit band – New York Post

Feist follows her bliss – Chicago Sun-Times (registration may be required)

Security flaws found in Yahoo Music Jukebox – Cnet/News.com

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

We still can’t believe the amount of new dates for Alesana the delivery truck left on our loading dock this morning – 46 shows and including almost every city, town and hamlet in the lower 48, plus Canada. Time frame is March through May and cities include Seattle, San Francisco, Omaha, Denver, Phoenix, Grand Rapids, Montreal, Providence and Cleveland.

We also received a very large package of new dates from Cross Canadian Ragweed. Ranging from February and running through August, the new shows include March 13 in NYC, April 5 in Corpus Christi, May 26 in St. Louis, June 26 in Milwaukee, July 12 in Kansas City and August 16 in Hot Springs, AR.

We posted six new dates for Avril Lavigne. New U.S. listings include April 19 in Tampa, April 25 in Woodlands, TX, May 7 in San Jose and May 10 in Everett, WA. We also added a May 27 date for Glasgow, Scotland, and June 12 for Bolzano, Italy.

Young Dubliners fatten up their summer schedule with new dates for June, July and August. New shows include June 20 in Lancaster, CA, July 24 in New York City and August 2 & 3 in Waterloo, IA.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for The Iguanas, The Nasty Habits, Tower Of Power, The Hunger, Stephen And Other Dummies, Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys, Paul Cebar, Moshav, Lorene Drive, Larry Keel And Natural Bridge, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Jackson Browne, Hubert Sumlin, Grupo Fantasma, Drew Emmitt Band and Antigone Rising.

If this was a football game, we’d say this is half time. That is, we’re halfway through our day here at the Pollstar Touring Research Center and Duct Tape Testing Grounds. But this isn’t football. No, sir. This is real life, and that means we’ll have more fresh touring data for you in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PST), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1957, Bill Haley and the Comets arrived in London for their first British tour. Haley’s popularity was already beginning to decline in North America, but he continued to tour regularly in Britain and Europe through the mid-1970’s.

In 1966, Sergeant Barry Sadler’s “Ballad of the Green Berets” entered the U.S. charts on its way to number one. Released at the height of the Vietnam War, it became one of the fastest sellers in the modern record business. The song was originally recorded for distribution to American troops, but RCA had Sadler record it with a full complement of studio musicians. Sadler soon resumed his military career, and was not heard from again until 1978 when he shot dead his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and served 30 days in prison.

In 1972, Paul Simon released his first solo single following his breakup with Art Garfunkel, “Mother and Child Reunion.”

In 1981, Anne Murray, still boycotting the Junos ceremony, won four awards. Her “Can I Have This Dance” tied for best single with “Echo Beach” by Martha and the Muffins.

In 1998, Tim Kelly, guitarist for the hard-rock band Slaughter, died after his car collided with a tractor-trailer which had jackknifed near Baghdad, Arizona. He was 35.

Also dying on this date in 1998, guitarist Nick Webb, co-founder of the contemporary jazz duo Acoustic Alchemy. He died in London of pancreatic cancer at 43. Webb had been working on Acoustic Alchemy’s 10th album, Positive Thinking, which was released three months after his death. Like many of the duo’s releases, it made the contemporary jazz airplay and sales charts.