A-HA have decided to split at the end of 2010 after a special farewell tour to mark the 25th anniversary of their debut album 'Hunting High & Low'. The farewell tour will finish in Oslo on December 3rd and 4th and more dates are expected to be released soon. The band have stated that although they are retiring as a band they are not retiring as individuals, saying 'Doing this now will give us a chance to get more involved in other meaningful aspects of life, be it humanitarian work, politics, or whatever else - and of course through new constellations in the field of art and music'. The band will be announcing more dates around the world shortly but have said that the tour will include shows in the USA, South America, Japan and Europe and are hoping to schedule shows in Australia too.

DEPECHE MODE's 'Enjoy The Silence', YES's 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart', and PHIL COLLINS' 'Two Hearts' have all received awards from the BMI recently marking radio airplay in excess of 3 million plays.

ERASURE will release a 21st anniversary edition of their classic 1988 album The Innocents next week (November 24th in the USA). The album will be available as a standard CD featuring a remastered edition of the original release, and as a deluxe 3-disc (2-CD and 1-DVD) hardback book edition containing the remastered album, a disc of b-sides, remixes live tracks and rarities plus a concert filmed at Birmingham's NEC on The Innocents tour in 1988 as well as videos for all the singles and TV performances. See NEWS for the full tracklisting.

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD are to be awarded the 'Classic Track' award by Q Magazine for their classic single 'Relax' at next week's Q Awards in London.

NEW ORDER and THE CLASH are among artists to have classic album covers featured on a series of UK postage stamps. New Order's 'Power, Corruption & Lies' and The Clash's 'London Calling' are among the ten covers featured in the series alongside classic jackets from David Bowie, Blur, Coldplay, Led Zepplin, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Primal Scream and The Rolling Stones. The set of ten stamps will be available from January 7th.

YELLO have released a new album 'Touch Yello' via Universal in Germany. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

SHAKATAK will play two special 30th anniversary concerts at High Barn in Great Bardfield, Essex on January 22nd and 23rd.

SIOBHAN FAHEY has announced the tracklisting for 'Songs From The Red Room', her new album using the SHAKESPEARS SISTER name, which is scheduled for release on November 16th. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

SWANS WAY and SCARLET FANTASTIC singer MAGGIE K DE MONDE will appear at London's Halo Bar on November 20th as one half of Maggie & Martin, alongside MARC ALMOND collaborator Martin Watkins. The duo will be joined by a number of guests including THE AU PAIRS' Lesley Woods and a DJ set from ABC's STEPHEN SINGLETON.

MADNESS will reissue their debut album 'One Step Beyond' in an expanded 2-CD edition next week. The release, to mark the album's 30th anniversary, will feature the original album alongside a host of bonus tracks and videos. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

DURAN DURAN, ERASURE, DEPECHE MODE, OMD, PET SHOP BOYS, HUMAN LEAGUE, KIM WILDE and ULTRAVOX are among the artists complied on a new 3-CD release featuring original 12" mixes. The release contains one CD of tracks featured in a continuous mix by Blank & Jones and a further 2 CDs of remixes. The compilation will be released in Germany on October 30th with releases elsewhere expected to be announced soon. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

BOY GEORGE will appear as a special guest at Rufus Wainwright's forthcoming 'A Not So Silent Night' concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on December 9th. Boy George is planning to release a solo album next year which will allegedly include a song entitled 'Your Pain Makes a Beautiful Sound' which he has written about Amy Winehouse.

SIMPLE MINDS and OMD have announced that they will perform the KRAFTWERK track 'Neon Lights' together on stage as part of Simple Minds' forthcoming 'Graffiti Soul' tour where OMD will appear as special guests. Both bands have covered the track previously but the tour will be the first time they have performed it together. See GIGS for all the dates.

UB40 will play a special charity show at Birmingham's 350-capacity Rainbow Courtyard venue on November 3rd. The show is to benefit the venue which is under threat of closure and will kick off UB40's UK tour that runs through November and December. The band will also release another hits compilation 'The Best of Labour of Love' on November 23rd. See GIGS for all the dates.

NITZER EBB have announced that they will support DEPECHE MODE on their 'Tour Of The Universe' in January and February next year. See GIGS for all the dates.

CYNDI LAUPER and POISON singer BRET MICHAELS will be among the contestants on the new series of TV show 'Celebrity Apprentice'.

HELEN TERRY's 1986 solo album 'Blue Notes' will be reissued by Cherry Red on October 19th in an expanded edition featuring a number of bonus tracks many of which will be available for the first time on CD. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

JAPAN's MICK KARN has self-published an autobiography entitled 'Japan & Self Existence' which he describes as 'a personal insight into life as a musician and artist spanning more than 30 years'. Meanwhile his former bandmates DAVID SYLVIAN and RICHARD BARBIERI have also been active, Sylvian has released a new solo album 'Manafon' and Barbieri has joined the band Porcupine Tree.