Thursday, June 23, 2005
Book on Jackson saga
NEW YORK -- The Michael Jackson saga is coming to bookstores. Court TV anchor Diane Dimond is writing a book about the singer's legal struggles, to be published this fall by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & amp; Schuster, Judith Curr, executive vice president and publisher, announced Tuesday. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The book is not yet titled. Jackson was acquitted last week of child molestation charges following a 4-month trial, but his supporters have long alleged that Dimond's reporting favored the prosecution, a charge she has denied. She even obtained a temporary restraining order against one Jackson fan, Bobby Joe Hickman, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn. Dimond alleged Hickman was inciting people to attack her and she felt so threatened that Court TV hired three guards to protect her.
Corgan wants to revivethe Smashing Pumpkins
CHICAGO -- On the same day Billy Corgan released his first solo album, he revealed that he wants to reunite his band, the Smashing Pumpkins. "For a year now I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep," Corgan wrote in a full-page advertisement published Tuesday in Chicago newspapers. "But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams," he wrote. The Smashing Pumpkins, a leader in the early 1990s alternative rock revolution, broke up in 2000 after winning two Grammys and selling millions of albums during 13 strife-ridden years. Corgan's subsequent project, Zwan, dissolved after only one album. Corgan, who lives in the Chicago area, did not reveal any details of a Pumpkins revival, including a possible timeline or what form a lineup might take. Band members included drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky, who left after the final album's recording and was replaced by former Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur on the subsequent tour. Corgan's solo debut, "TheFutureEmbrace," was released Tuesday. Drummer Chamberlin -- who also played in Zwan -- is featured on the album, which takes an electronic turn.
Locklear and perfection
LOS ANGELES -- Finding the perfect man is nothing but a fantasy, and Heather Locklear wouldn't have it any other way. Even though she stars in the new film "The Perfect Man," Locklear told reporters recently, according to AP Radio: "Perfect doesn't really exist. There's no perfect man. There's no perfect woman or person." Locklear, who is married to Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, doesn't mind, though. Imperfections are what make people more exciting, the actress said. "There are people that can be perfect for each other," added Hilary Duff, her co-star in the film. Locklear plays a single mom working in a bakery who has some desperate emotional bent for getting together with losers. Duff tries to salve her mom's romantic pangs by creating an ideal -- but fictional -- beau. This isn't the first time Locklear, 43, has played a mother. "Maybe a year before I was Dakota Fanning's mother," she said about her movie "Uptown Girls" with the then 9-year-old Fanning. "And then when I was in 'Dynasty,' I had a little baby; no one ever saw this baby. Well, now, 17. Well, OK. It's not impossible. I had to swallow my pride just a bit. But look at my daughter! How great!" "The Perfect Man," also starring Chris Noth, finished eighth at the box office this weekend, taking in more than $5.3 million.
Lennon collection for sale
LONDON -- A major collection of John Lennon memorabilia, including an oil painting from his student days and a handwritten "All You Need Is Love" manuscript, will go on sale next month. The July 28 auction also will include a table from the home Lennon shared with his first wife, Cynthia; a tunic thought to have inspired the costumes on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover; and a bedspread from Lennon's "bed-in" for peace in Montreal with Yoko Ono, Cooper Owen auction house announced Monday. Cooper Owen, which specializes in auctions of music and film memorabilia, said it expects to raise $2 million from the auction, to be held at The Hippodrome nightclub in central London.
Today's birthdays
Singer Diana Trask is 65. Musical conductor James Levine is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosetta Hightower (The Orlons) is 61. Actor Ted Shackelford is 59. Actor Bryan Brown is 58. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 57. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson is 49. Actress Frances McDormand is 48. Rock musician Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) is 43. Actor Paul La Greca is 43. Singer Chico DeBarge is 35. Actress Selma Blair is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Virgo Williams (Ghostowns DJs) is 30. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 28.