OMD have lined up a short UK tour for later this year with dates announced for late September and early October, see GIGS for all the dates.
SPANDAU BALLET will reissue their classic single 'True' on May 5th to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original release. The single will be released as a downloadable EP (see NEWS for the full tracklisting) and will be followed by a Spandau Ballet 'Sight & Sound' CD/DVD package, featuring all the band's hits and their accompanying promo videos, in the summer.
BOY GEORGE has announced a handful of US concert dates to take place in July and August, see GIGS for all the dates.
YAZOO's classic single 'Situation' has been sampled - with the duo's permission - on 'If This Is Love' the first single from a new girl band The Saturdays who will be debuting the song live when they support Girls Aloud on their forthcoming tour.
THE WATERBOYS will release a download-only album of rare and unreleased material next week. 'Kiss The Wind' features sixteen archive tracks recorded between 1991 and 2006 and includes demo versions, live tracks and cover versions.
HOWARD JONES will play a very special anniversary concert at London's Indigo 2 on September 20th. The concert, to celebrate twenty-five years since the release of 'New Song', will go onsale on May 2nd with a limited number of VIP tickets available. See NEWS for more details.
GRACE JONES, TOM TOM CLUB, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, STIFF LITTLE FINGERS and GANG OF FOUR are among the artists appearing at this year's Meltdown Festival on London's South Bank in June. The festival is being curated by Massive Attack.
THOMAS DOLBY has remixed Radiohead's current single 'Nude' using the publicly available 'strands' of the original song which Radiohead have made available for users to remix in their own style. Dolby's ambient, dreamlike 'Bathing In The Icefloe Mix' won't be released commercially but is available at Radiohead's remix website - see NEWS for more information.
BAUHAUS frontman PETER MURPHY has announced a solo tour of the US which will start in late May and run through to July. See GIGS for all the dates.
DEACON BLUE have announced shows in Perth and Gateshead in July in the run-up to their performance at Liverpool's Summer Pops on July 11th. See GIGS for all the details.
NEW ORDER are to release a new live DVD on June 2nd. 'New Order: Live In Glasgow' was recorded at the Glasgow Academy in 2006 and features eighteen tracks including four JOY DIVISION songs. The release will also contain a bonus disc of footage from the band's personal archive including eighties footage from Glastonbury, Rome, Cork, Rotterdam and Toronto.
THE B-52's have announced shows in Barcelona and Madrid in July. See GIGS for all the details.
BLONDIE will play at this year's Latitude Festival which will take place in July at Henham Park in Suffolk as well as the Summercase Festival in Barcelona and Madrid on July 18th and 19th.
THE BLUE NILE have announced a handful of dates in July, see GIGS for details.
BIG COUNTRY, THE PROCLAIMERS, SIMPLE MINDS, DEACON BLUE, MIDGE URE, MARILLION are to be included on a new 5-CD compilation album 'The Great Big Scottish Songbook' - a celebration of Scottish music - which is released on May 25th.
PAUL WELLER is to headline a new Isle Of Wight-based Festival which will take place this summer. Weller will headline on July 26th with Girls Aloud topping the bill the following night. The former Jam singer has also announced a one-off Liverpool concert at the Echo Arena on November 17th.
JOHNNY HATES JAZZ's classic 'Turn Back The Clock' album, which is about to be reissued in a remastered edition with bonus tracks, has been reviewed in the REVIEWS section.
DONNA SUMMER will release her new album 'Crayons' on May 20th and will support the release with a US tour through June, July and August.
MADONNA is to headline BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend live event on May 10th. The event will take place in Mote Park, Maidstone.
THE DAMNED will appear alongside a host of acts including the previously announced BLONDIE and FROM THE JAM at this year's Guilfest festival which takes place over the first weekend of July.
RICK ASTLEY has replaced KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS on the bill for the the forthcoming Here And Now shows in Blickling and Exeter on July 19th and 26th respectively.
