Police in Athens, Ga., this week arrested a former contractor accused of stealing $20,000 in audio gear from the 40 Watt Club, a burglary that had drawn offers of more than $15,000 in rewards from members of R.E.M., Camper Van Beethoven and others. The gear has been recovered, police said.
The legendary 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga. — an early home base for college-rock mainstays R.E.M., The B-52s, Pylon, Love Tractor, Guadalcanal Diary and more — was burglarized Friday, with dozens of pieces of equipment stolen related to the venue’s PA system. Members of R.E.M. and Cracker have offered rewards.
Musicians and fans from around the world are standing in solidarity today with the people of Manchester, site of an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing that killed at least 22 fans leaving an Ariana Grande arena concert last night. We’ve rounded up reactions from Johnny Marr, Peter Hook, Alison Moyet, Pet Shop Boys and more.
As part of the promotion for its new album and tour, Depeche Mode has been letting a different fan take over the band’s Facebook page each day for a year, and, well, some of those fans — like skateboard legend Tony Hawk — are more well-known than others.
Morrissey has announced, through his customary outlet, the quasi-official fansite True To You, that his 30-year publishing deal with Warner-Chappell Music “has come to an end” — and that he’s now shopping his solo catalog and The Smiths’ catalog to any new publishers that might be interested.
On this holiest of holy days — Record Store Day, of course — Johnny Marr took to Facebook to lament the ongoing loss of record stores, calling them “a very important kind of shop,” and blaming greedy landlords for pricing music more and more retailers “out of their premises and livelihoods, and our culture.”
Warner Music UK today launched a new official website for The Smiths, an timeline dubbed “The Interactive Sound of The Smiths: 1982-1987” that lets visitors scroll through the history of the band as presented through its discography, with each single and full album available to stream via Spotify.
Friends of Devo’s Robert “Bob 2” Casale — who died unexpectedly two weeks ago from heart failure — are trying to raise $100,000 to support the late musician’s wife and children, with Casale’s brother and bandmate, Gerald Casale, noting that the 61-year-old “had no will or insurance” at the time of his death.
Ministry’s Al Jourgensen has decided to check himself into rehabilitation for alcohol issues, his label 13th Planet confirmed tonight, after the legendary industrial-metal frontman let the cat out of the bag himself on Facebook, writing, “Kicked dope and crack by myself… but I need help on this one.”
Morrissey’s year of medical maladies continues, with the former Smiths frontman today announcing that he was treated and discharged from Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a concussion (his second in a year), whiplash and an arm injury — although Moz didn’t bother to explain what happened to him.
Peter Murphy avoided jail time last week when he pleaded guilty to meth possession and no contest to hit-and-run driving in connection with a Southern California car crash, for which he was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to attend 45 days of Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
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