Semisonic's Dan Wilson and Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones will soon be shaking, rattling, and rolling into a stereo near you. The two have joined forces on a cover of Bill Haley and the Comets smash hit "Shake Rattle and Roll" for MCA Records' upcoming soundtrack to Shake, Rattle and Roll, an CBS mini-series set for November.
In addition to Wilson and Barrett's contribution, Shake, Rattle and Roll: An All-Star Tribute to the Birth of Rock and Roll will also feature Blink-182's take on Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve;" K-Ci and JoJo, Jesse Powell, and Rahsaan Patterson add '90s flare to the Little Anthony and the Imperials classic, "Tears On My Pillow" (also covered by New Edition in the 1986); Terence Trent D'Arby returns with a cover of Jackie Wilson's "To Be Loved"; and B.B. King offers a never before-recorded tune co-written by Bob Dylan, "Fur Slippers," among others.
The album also features a never-before-recorded song written by Carole King and Toni Stern and performed by the Emeralds featuring Chante Moore. The 21-song soundtrack also features several tunes by the HartAches, the fictional band on which the story of the film surrounds.
In addition to providing music for the film and soundtrack, several of musicians will also have roles in the film. Barrett will play Bill Haley, Terence Trent D'Arby plays Jackie Wilson, Blink-182's Tom Delonge and Mark Hoopus play a surf music duo, B.B. King plays a fictional Blues Master, and K-Ci, JoJo, Rasheen Patterson, and Jesse Powell play a fictitious doo-wop quartet.
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An All-Star Tribute to the Birth of Rock and Roll is scheduled for an Oct. 19 release on MCA. Shake, Rattle and Roll, starring James Coburn, Kathy Baker, and Dana Delany, is scheduled to air on Sunday, Nov. 7 and Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.
This news thanks to Sable, Kevin Raub, CBS, and CDNow.
"They're filming a movie here on the South Shore of good ol' Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. The movie is tentatively called "Massholes" (a title that's likely to change if they want to avoid controversy) and it's by a first time feature writer-director named John Chase. It's being produced by the producers of "Next Stop Wonderland" for around $2 million. The movie is spoof of 80's teen adventures, and seems to be about the usual high-school crap: cheating on girlfriends, bullies, all-night parties, and ritual beach rumbles with eggs and shaving cream. The only "names" I know of who are appearing in the movie are Ron Lester, the rather rotund football player in "Varsity Blues", and Dickie Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones who has a cameo as a liquor store clerk. The movie is being filmed in a small beachfront town called Hull, which has been renamed "Mull" for the sake of the movie. Not exactly earth-shattering news, but possibly noteworthy -- you never know which movie the audiences will latch onto, so this one could disappear or be a smash when it's released. I think I read somewhere that teen movies were currently "hot" or something..."
This news thanks to DarkHorizons.com, KK, and Sable.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones touring tryst with the Offspring has ended prematurely. The ska troupe had been opening dates for the punk quartet since the middle of May and was scheduled to continue on for more dates in July, following the Offspring's tour in Australia. However, the Bosstones' gig at RockFest '99 in Atlanta, which also featured the Offspring, will be their last together. "It's not like a Courtney Love/Manson thing," says Bosstones frontman Dicky Barrett. "It's gone great. It's time for us to go home." Barrett kept his reason for bowing out of the tour fairly vague, but offered, "I think we've been screwing around too much and we have to work on our album, so I think we're probably going home [to Boston]." Barrett says working on their follow-up to 1997's Let's Face It is the group's top priority right now. "We have thirty songs that we have demoed and we wanna write about five or six more," he says. Thus far, the Offspring have yet to find a replacement for the Bosstones, but have until July 16, their next U.S. gig in Irvine, Calif., to do so . . .
This news thanks to Rollingstone.com and Sable.