Aerosmith guitarist goes solo as band flounders
Joe Perry says Steven Tyler hasn’t spoken to others since fall from stage
Reuters
updated 8:46 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 7, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Aerosmith has survived drugs, departures, divorces and discord since the rock 'n' roll bad boys formed 40 years ago.

But guitarist Joe Perry does not know if the band will overcome its latest troubles, and is forging ahead with his own ambitious touring and recording plans.

Aerosmith has been on a wobbly footing for the past few years, beset by various medical ailments that have prevented it from recording its first album of new material since 2001.

Things came to a head two months ago when the band canceled a stop-start U.S. tour after singer Steven Tyler fell off the stage and broke his shoulder.

Tyler, who spent time in rehab last year, has not spoken to his bandmates since that night, instead entrusting his newly-hired managers to send out occasional emails, Perry told Reuters in a recent interview.

"I'm an eternal optimist," he said. "We've been though some pretty thin times and some pretty thick times, and there have been periods when Steven and I — for no reason other than just to get some space — have not talked to each other for months. Then we get back together and things mesh."

Presumably some words will be exchanged later this month when Aerosmith regroups for two shows in Hawaii, the result of a lawsuit filed by fans upset when the band scrapped a planned appearance there two years ago.

Songwriting partnership on rocks
But perhaps more worryingly, Tyler and Perry — the primary songwriters in Aerosmith — have not composed a song together in 10 years, Perry said.

"I'm down in my studio every day, writing, and for some reason he wants to write with people like (outside songwriter) Mark Hudson and whatever," he said. "I can't explain it." (Neither Hudson nor Tyler's representatives responded to emails seeking comment.)

Instead, songs that Perry had hoped would end up on the next Aerosmith album — if only Tyler had added vocals — can now be found on Perry's fifth solo album "Have Guitar Will Travel," which was released on Tuesday.

Perry sings on most of the tracks, while an unknown German singer named Hagen Grohe sings on four. Perry's wife, Billie, discovered Grohe on YouTube and they brought him over to the United States. (Beat that, "American Idol" judges!)

Billie Perry actually wrote the lyrics for one of the tracks, the ballad "Do You Wonder," which sounds as if it could have been a massive Aerosmith hit.

"Yeah, it could have been — if there was an Aerosmith to record it, if it ever had people that actually believed in it," Joe Perry said.

He says he has received positive feedback from the band's other members, guitarist Brad Whitford, bass player Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer.

"I don't know if Steven's heard the record," Perry added. "I don't even know if he even listened to the last one (2005's "Joe Perry") all the way through."

At any rate, Perry is pressing ahead with promotion for "Have Guitar Will Travel," an independent release whose title is the result of a competition Perry conducted on Twitter. He plans to tour through November and then launch a three-month world trek at the beginning of 2010.

He also wants to record a new solo album, since the songs for the current one were written the arrival of Grohe.

"Now that I know what Hagen's capable of, after working with him on this, I'll be kinda tuning in sonically to what he can do. The next one will be another jump ahead, and that's gonna happen sooner than later," he said.

A recent Las Vegas gig with another guitarist estranged from his singer, former Guns N' Roses member Slash, could also yield various possibilities. Slash was present at Perry's club show in Los Angeles on Tuesday, when the set list included a reggae version of Aerosmith's "Dream On."

"I'm wide open," Perry said. "I'm out there and playing better than I've played in a long time. I'm inspired. I'm doing some of these other side projects, and I'm looking forward to doing more."

As for his day job, "I can definitely say that I'm not saying 'No' to an Aerosmith record or something, or tour or whatever ... I think we need more time to get everybody healthy and the whole thing, and see if Steven wants to be part of the band again."
Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33217295/ns … ent-music/

D’oh! Marge Simpson on cover of Playboy
Blue-haired matriarch of TV family won’t bare all in three-page pictorial
The Associated Press
updated 5:29 p.m. ET, Fri., Oct . 9, 2009

CHICAGO - Ay Carumba!

Marge Simpson has done something that Homer might not approve of but will make Bart the proudest kid in his school: She’s posed for Playboy magazine.

After more than a half century featuring women like Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford and the Girls of Hooters on its cover, Playboy has for the first time given the spot to a cartoon character.

And the magazine is giving the star of “The Simpsons” the star treatment, complete with a data sheet, an interview and a 2-page centerfold.

The magazine’s editorial director, James Jellinek, won’t say exactly how much of Marge will show in the November edition that hits newsstands on Oct. 16 — or whether she lets that big pile of blue hair down. But, he said, “It’s very, very racy.”

But he stressed that the mother of three — the youngest a baby, by the way — has a lot to be proud of.

“She is a stunning example of the cartoon form,” he said on Friday at the magazine’s headquarters in Chicago, appearing both pleased and surprised at the words coming out of his mouth.

For Playboy, which has seen its circulation slip from 3.15 million to 2.6 million since 2006, putting Marge on the cover was designed to attract younger readers to a magazine where the median age of readers is 35, while not alienating older readers.

“We knew that this would really appeal to the 20-something crowd,” said Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey.

The magazine also hopes to turn the November issue into a collectors’ item by featuring Marge, sitting on a chair in the shape of the iconic Playboy bunny, on the cover of only the magazines sold in newsstands. Subscribers get a more traditional model on the cover.

“It’s so rare in today’s digital age where you have the opportunity to send people to the newsstand to pick something up,” Jellinek said.

Playboy even convinced 7-Eleven to carry the magazine in its 1,200 corporate-owned stores, something the company has only done once before in more than 20 years.

“We love Marge,” said 7-Eleven spokesman Margaret Chabris.

For those who do collect the magazine — and they’re out there — the cover will bring to mind another first for the magazine that occurred in 1971 when a black woman appeared on the cover in exactly the same pose and, like Marge, smiling under an impressive head of hair.

“We knew it was something all of our readers would get a kick out of,” said Hennessey.

Jellinek said putting Marge on the cover, while unusual, made perfect sense. For one thing, the cover celebrates the 20th anniversary of the TV show. Further, he said there was an episode in which “Marge bears all,” which suggested the at she, or at least the people who drew her, would be comfortable with the Playboy treatment.

Perhaps most important, the idea seemed like a good one to the magazine’s founder, Hugh Hefner.

“He’s a huge ‘Simpsons’ fan,’ said Jellinek. “He’s been on ’The Simpsons.”’
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33242662/ns … ooks_more/

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  I love it.  I'll probably be picking this up (first Playboy I've bought in years).