DURAN DURAN are being made into virtual characters on the website secondlife.com. The band will be turned into avatars on the site and the characters will live a rockstar lifestyle in parallel with the band's real-life activities, venturing out to promote releases and perform virtual concerts. Meanwhile the real DURAN DURAN are scheduled to headline the 'Bang!' festival in Miami on November 11th.
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GARY NUMAN has announced plans to undertake a short UK tour playing just material from his 1980 album 'Telekon'. The tour, planned for fans who want to hear more of Numan's older material, will only feature songs from that album plus singles and b-sides from the same period. The four-date UK tour takes place in December, see GIGS for all the details.
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BRYAN FERRY has signed-up to become the face of high street retailer Marks & Spencer and will front the store's Autumn campaign, 'Autograph', with pictures taken by David Bailey.
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LLOYD COLE is expected to release a new album 'Anti Depressant' on September 18th. See the NEWS section on the website for the album tracklisting.
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DEPECHE MODE will release a live DVD, 'Touring The Angel' on September 25th. The release will come as a triple-disc set containing an audio CD and two DVDs (one live DVD and one DVD of extras including extra performances, press conference footage and a documentary) and as a single live DVD. See NEWS for the full tracklistings.
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DOCTOR AND THE MEDICS' new six-track CD, 'Timewarped', has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.
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LISA STANSFIELD is thought to be starring in a new Channel 4 series entitled 'Goldplated', an eight-part drama desribed as 'Footballers Wives meets Shameless' which is scheduled to air in the Autumn.
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INXS' former frontman MICHAEL HUTCHENCE is the subject of a new Australian film which aims to set the record straight about the singer. 'Slide Away' is now in production with video-maker Nick Egan (who made many of the Hutchence-era INXS videos) directing.
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JAPAN drummer STEVE JANSEN has announced a handful of solo shows in Japan in September, playing a short set as part of a line-up which features three other artists. See GIGS for all the details.
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80s HITS STRIPPED - the compilation album of eighties artists performing acoustic versions of some of their best known songs - has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.
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HOWARD JONES will have his 'Live In Salt Lake City' DVD released on August 28th. The acoustic concert was filmed in 1996 in front of an audience of 4,500 fans. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.
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THE WATERBOYS are working on a new album which is expected to be ready for a February or March release. The album is currently untitled but is expected to include new tracks 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' and 'The Crash Of Angel Wings'.
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JANET JACKSON has changed the title of her upcoming studio album from '20 Years Old' to '20 YO' following suggestions from fans participating in the contest to design the cover of the album.
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TEARS FOR FEARS will be part of the line-up at the forthcoming 'Night Of The Proms' concerts in Belgium and the Netherlands in November.
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THE PRETENDERS' first two albums, 'Pretenders' and 'Pretenders 2', are to be reissued in October in expanded packages with bonus discs featuring live tracks, demos and previously unreleased tracks.
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THE EURYTHMICS' classic 'Sweet Dreams' is being covered by US rapper Kanye West on his current Lollapalooza dates in the USA.
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THE SMITHS' former guitarist JOHNNY MARR has joined US act Modest Mouse after writing and recording with the Seattle band. The new Modest Mouse album will be released in the Autumn and Marr will be joining the band on tour to support the release.
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Thanks to http://www.remembertheeighties.com/??for all the news this week.