MICHAEL JACKSON is expected to announce details, later this week, of a London residency at the O2 Arena in the summer.
DEPECHE MODE have announced US dates for their upcoming 'Tour Of The Universe' which will promote the band's new album 'Sounds Of The Universe' which will be released on April 20th. The band have also revealed that the album will be released in five formats; a standard CD, a vinyl edition, a download, a special edition CD/DVD and a deluxe boxset. The band are also rumoured to be headlining the Glastonbury Festival. See NEWS for more details of the album release, and GIGS for all the dates.
MADNESS have announced more Australian shows which they will be playing in March and April in addition to their appearance on the V Festival bill there. The band will play four shows across the country, see GIGS for more details.
THE DAMNED have reissued their 'Phantasmagoria' and 'Always' albums in double CD remastered editions featuring the original album tracks alongside remixes, alternative versions, live tracks and radio session recordings. See NEWS on the website for the full tracklistings of both albums.
DURAN DURAN have given the War Child charity an exclusive live version of 'A View To A Kill', recorded in Paris last year as part of a collaborative concert with Mark Ronson, which will be available as a bonus download to anyone who buys the European version of the War Child 'Heroes' album, which has just been released.
TEARS FOR FEARS have lined up a run of seven summer shows in the US during July. See GIGS for all the dates.
THE REGENERATION TOUR has announced an amended line-up and the first of it's US dates. The tour will now feature ABC, HEAVEN 17, WANG CHUNG, BERLIN and THE CUTTING CREW. See GIGS for the dates announced so far.
PRINCE will release a set of three new albums exclusively via the US chain of Target stores on March 29th. The collection will feature two new Prince albums, 'LOtUSFLOW3R' and 'MPLSoUND' alongside 'Elixer' which has been recorded by his latest protege, Bria Valente.
SIMPLE MINDS will play a show in Liverpool, as part of the city's annual Summer Pops Festival, in July at the Liverpool Echo Arena. See NEWS for more details.
ALEXANDER O'NEAL will headline this year's 'Back To The 80s' show at Glasgow's Braehead Arena which will take place on June 13th and will also feature performances from ABC, BANANARAMA, GO WEST, CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT, BROTHER BEYOND, KYM MAZELLE and a special line-up of FOURGOODMEN featuring OWEN PAUL on vocals.
KRAFTWERK have confirmed that they will be headlining Bestival on the Isle Of Wight this summer.
SPARKS will release a new single 'Lighten Up, Morrissey' on March 23rd as a limited edition vinyl release, the same week as the duo play two shows at the Forum in London.
RETROFEST has expanded it's weekend line-up with more acts from the 70s, 80s and 90s, and now includes sets from GLORIA GAYNOR, SISTER SLEDGE, RICK ASTLEY, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, ASWAD, LEVEL 42, MIDGE URE, ABC, HEAVEN 17, NICK HEYWARD, GO WEST and BAD MANNERS.
GARY NUMAN has added more shows to his upcoming tour, bringing the UK leg of date up to six shows around the country. Numan is also working on two new albums 'Dead Son Rising', an album of new tracks built out of demos he re-discovered last year, and 'Splinter', the full follow-up to his last album 'Jagged'. See GIGS for all the dates.
IT BITES have announced four UK dates in March, as well as a show supporting Wishbone Ash and an appearance at South Wales' Castle Park Rock Festival in May. See GIGS for all the dates.
THE SPECIALS have added three dates to their upcoming reunion tour with the news of shows in Leeds' Millenium Square on May 24th and appearances at Ireland's Oxegen Festival and Scotland's T In The Park Festival in July.
PET SHOP BOYS are still working on their previously announced plan to write a ballet, and the duo have revealed that that the 'electronics and strings' production will be based on a Hans Christian Andersen story and will probably be finished by the end of 2010.
NEW ORDER bassist PETER HOOK has collaborated on two tracks on the new album from the Crystal Method. The album, 'Divided By Night', will be released on May 12th.
OMD will be playing a very special concert with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on June 20th where they will play their sound installation The Energy Suite as well as a selection of tracks from the OMD catalogue.
VINCE CLARKE has remixed Franz Ferdinand's 'No You Girls' which will be released as a single on April 6th.
INXS have parted company with JD Fortune, the singer they recruited through the 2005 reality TV series 'Rock Star:INXS'. Fortune claims to have been sacked from the band without explanation and his departure from the group puts a question mark over release plans for the new INXS album.
DAF have announced a UK date as part of their 30th Anniversary reunion tour. The show will take place at London's Islington Academy on March 28th with a compilation album, 'Das Beste Von DAF - 20 Lieder der Deutsch Amerikanischen Freundschaft', scheduled for release on March 30th. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.
DAVID BYRNE will headline one night of August's Big Chill festival in Hertfordshire. Byrne will play on August 9th, the last night of the festival, with Basement Jaxx and Orbital headlining the Friday and Saturday..
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