News

Johnny Marr has unveiled the video for his first ever solo single, "The Messenger". As revealed by NME last month, Marr will release his debut solo album, also called The Messenger, on February 25. The album was recorded in Manchester and Berlin, and mastered at London’s Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright. The pair previously worked together on remastering work for The Smiths' box set Complete.

Rare footage has surfaced of Elvis Presley talking at a press conference. The event took place the day before the first of four nights at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1972, and is among the last press conferences Elvis ever did. Asked whether he would like to perform abroad, 'The King' expressed a desire to visit the UK. He said: "I've never been to Britain, I’d like to, very much, I’ve never been out of this country except in the service."

Ridley Scott's production company, Scott Free, are making a documentary about Bruce Springsteen. According to a story in Variety, Springsteen And I will be compiled by director Baillie Walsh from footage submitted by fans.

Damon Albarn has created an 'audio collage' to be simultaneously broadcast on every BBC radio station in the UK and worldwide to mark 90 years of radio. The simulcast, named Radio Reunited, will reach a potential global audience of 120 million people across every inhabited continent.

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is set to release his debut solo album. Regions Of Light And Sound Of God will come out in North America on February 5, 2013 on the ATO label. The album was inspired by the 1929 graphic novel God's Man, by Lynd Ward, writes Pitchfork.

The Rolling Stones have announced plans to play the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on December 8. The show will come after the band's gigs at London's O2 Arena on November 25 and 29, and before their previously announced shows in New Jersey at the Prudential Center in Newark on December 13 and 15. Tickets for the new date will go on sale November 19. Mick Jagger recently spoke to Billboard about the high ticket prices for the band's forthcoming shows, saying they are so costly because the band's gigs are "expensive to put on".

Billy Bragg delivered the second annual John Peel Lecture earlier today (November 12) at the Radio Festival 2012 at The Lowry in Salford. Bragg's speech saw him rallying against the decline of state educated musicians in the UK Top 40, highlighting a magazine study which revealed that 80% of artists in the charts in 1990 were state educated, as compared to the charts in 2010 which were dominated by those who had been privately educated. He said – via The Guardian: "A decent education in the arts will only be available to those able to pay for it."

Happy Mondays have announced two back to back shows in London in December. The reformed line-up will perform a double header at the Camden Roundhouse on December 19 and 20. Support will come from 808 State. Earlier this year, the Mondays confirmed that they are working on a new album, which will be the first time all the original line-up have recorded a record of new material since 1992's Yes Please!.

Paul McCartney, and his wife Nancy Shevall, were within two feet from crashing in a chartered helicopter, it has been revealed. The Beatles man and his wife were traveling in a £5million, 9-seater Air Harrods helicopter in May when their pilot became "disorientated" in poor weather conditions and dropped the aircraft towards trees situated within their East Sussex estate.

A selection of John Lennon's personal correspondence is soon to be released as a digital App. 68 letters have been chosen by Hunter Davies, editor of The John Lennon Letters, for inclusion, along with another 10 letters that will be exclusive to the App. Davies will commentary and context by Hunter Davies, audio transcriptions by Christopher Eccleston as John Lennon and a foreword by Yoko Ono. The app is currently exclusive to iOS, although it may eventually appear on other platforms.