Link-O-Rama …

Claiming he was also swindled by promoter, R. Kelly says he will fight for concert tour investors who didn’t see any return on their cash – R. Kelly / PRNewswire / press release

NBC Universal says Apple should build antipiracy measures into its iTunes software. – CNET / News.com

French singer appearing at next month’s Eurovision competition says he will sing more lyrics in French after receiving complaints about his decision to sing English lyrics. – Associated Press

How’s Amazon MP3 doing? – The New York Times / Bits (registration may be required)

A few words with Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy – San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate

Getting up close and personal with Robin Trower – Modern Guitars Magazine

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

It’s not often that Was (Not Was) hits the road, but the music team of David Weiss and Don Fagenson has slotted a few May dates. Check ’em out in cities such as NYC (May 1), Philadelphia (May 2), Pittsburgh (May 7), Detroit (May 9) and Chicago (May 10).

Sheryl Crow adds yet more dates to an already jammed concert calendar. Additions include St. Louis (May 22), Kansas City (June 5), Denver (June 9) and Los Angeles (June 11).

Son Volt goes north to Alaska in June, playing four shows in two days in Anchorage (June 5 – 6 and two gigs on June 7), as well as hitting Talkeetna, AK for a gig on June 6.

And Styx slots a few non-Def Leppard, non-Boston nights. Like August 30 in Waterloo, IA, September 5 in Hutchinson, KS, September 6 in Garden City, KS, and September 27 in Biloxi, MS.

During the past couple of hours we worried incessantly about a possible barley and hops shortage while updating the schedules for State Radio, Stars, The Acorn, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Morcheeba, Reba McEntire, Marty Dread, Lifehouse, Brian Byrne, Boyz II Men, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, The Dresden Dolls, The Fiery Furnaces, Todd Snider, Tift Merritt, Wilco and Wynonna.

And that’s the shape of things to come at the halfway mark. More fresh concert data coming up in Your Latest Update, scheduled for sometime around 3 pm (PDT), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1950, Tony Bennett made his first recording, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Bennett had used the song, from the 1934 movie Moulin Rouge, to audition for Columbia Records. The record began Bennett’s 40-plus years with Columbia.

In 1960, rock ‘n’ roll singer Eddie Cochran died of severe head injuries following a car crash on his way to the London airport following a British tour. The other passengers, rocker Gene Vincent and Cochran’s fiancee Shari Sheeley, were seriously injured. Cochran was only 21, and had just begun to realize his potential. His two biggest hits were 1957’s “Sittin’ in the Balcony” and 1958’s “Summertime Blues.”

In 1970, country star Johnny Cash performed at the White House. U.S. President Richard Nixon is said to have requested to hear “Okie from Muskogee,” “A Boy Named Sue” and “Welfare Cadillac.”

In 1980, reggae musician Bob Marley played at Zimbabwe’s Independence Day ceremonies, later calling it the greatest honor of his life. A little more than a year later, Marley was dead of brain and lung cancer.

In 1986, a truck containing equipment belonging to the Canadian rock band Honeymoon Suite was stolen in New Jersey. They had to borrow instruments from the group Heart to play their next gig. When the truck was finally recovered, only Honeymoon Suite’s costumes and drum kit remained.

In 1998, Linda McCartney, the wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, died of breast cancer at age 56 on a family-owned ranch near Tucson, Arizona.

Also on this date in 1998, all 13,000 tickets for the Spice Girls’ first New York City appearance were sold in 12 minutes.