Beck Q&A Sisqo Opens For *N Sync Chuck D's Nap Rap Rolling Stones Plan Tour, Again Super Furrys Remix Beatle? Bloodhounds Gank Floyd Leftfield, Primal Scream, Emerson , Play Ireland No Doubt Tour Dates Run-DMC Hit WWF Our Sad World Today in History, Birthdays, Music, & Stuff, May 1, 2000 Beck Q&A Well, here is some exciting news for all you crazy Beck fans out there - and we all know how crazy you crazy Beck fans can be (my crazy roommate, for example, has fashioned a halo above her bed constructed from a myriad of small photographs of Beck cut from magazines...which is really ridiculous considering everyone knows that he is MINE MINE MINE FOREVER AND ALWAYS MINE!). Whew. So on May 5 and 6, during two concerts at L.A.'s Greek Theatre, my sweet sweet beautiful angel Beck will answer questions submitted by you (yes you, crazy fan!) via the internet. He will also be taking requests for a song to play acoustically. Fans may submit questions and requests through http://events.artistdirect.com/beck/questions. In related Beck news, my angel-baby is also planning to release a B-side compilation titled Stray Blues: A Collection of B-Sides, slated for a tentative June release in Japan (no fair). Which probably means people like us will be forced to shell out voluminous amounts of cash to purchase the disc on import (or through Beckdirect.com). The tracklisting will be: "Halo of Gold" "Burro" "Brother" "Lemonade" "Electric Music and the Summer People" "Clock" "Feather in Your Cap" Sisqo Opens For *N Sync Erstwhile Dru Hill member Sisqo, the hottest little silver-haired gnome around (and also the man we think responsible for inspiring the episodic emergence of a sportily-clad "Hip-Hop Julie," the alter ego of Spin.com's Julie Pietrangelo), will be the saucy opening act for *N Sync's upcoming tour (kicking off next week in Biloxi, Mississippi). The boys are touring in support of their mega-selling No Strings Attached, the title of which perplexes us, see, because in that video, they seem to be attached to strings, sort of, I mean, is that, like, irony, or something? But back to the matter at hand-will the "Thong Song" prove too racy for the young girlies? *N Sync member J.C. told the MTV Radio Network: "We just think (Sisqo) will be a great compliment to the tour. It's a big tour and we want people to get their money's worth...But, I mean, you are going to get more than you paid for and that's the goal. We want people walking away from our show amazed." Oh yes, J.C. Amazed is exactly what they'll be. Countless doe-eyed girls pontificating on the merits of having dumps like a truck (truck, truck). That's what I call getting your money's worth. Thongs. Word. Chuck D's Nap Rap Here at Spin.com, we always knew Chuck D was the bomb. But now that he is teaming up with The Nap (Napster), he could very well be the Shiznit. According to Billboard, Chuck D's hip-hop Web site http://www.rapstation.com/ has officially joined forces with the controversial MP3-trading company...for a contest of sorts...hmmm...contests...yummy. Here's how it works: You can go to the site, download the instrumental "Power to the People and the Beats" (taken from Public Enemy's "Power to the People"), and then, get this, pen your very own Napster-themed lyrics to the track! Napster-themed lyrics! Napster-themed lyrics! Do you people even begin to understand how long we have been waiting for this? We will be famous! We will immortalize The Nap in glorious song and all will be right with the world! All will be right! With the world! Breathe...I am breathing. Anyway, once you've completed your lyrics, you must upload the track back to the site by May 14. The winner will be chosen by online voting the week of May 15, and the winning track will be posted as a free download on Rapstation. In a statement released by Chuck D, the rapper said he wanted to highlight the positive aspects of The Nap. In related news, nobody else does! Metallica and Dr. Dre are presently suing sweet Napster for copyright infringement. If I had my way, I would curl up every night next to Napster. I would stroke his horned head and allow him to nuzzle against my bosom. We would be happy, Nap and I. (sniffle...) Rolling Stones Plan Tour, Again According to Allstar.com, the Rolling Stones are planning...yet...another...tour. Though there aren't many details as of yet, SFX Entertainment (the giant international tour promoter/behemoth) has said they plan to launch the tour in 2001. In related news, The Rolling Stones are old. Dear God, they are so old. This is not a bad thing (some of the coolest people I know are old-Wilford Brimley, for example!), it's just kind of fascinating. Also fascinating is the fact that the Stones repeatedly stomp all competition at the box office, taking the No. 1 grossing spot for each tour since 1989: Steel Wheels ($98 million), Voodoo Lounge ($119 million), Bridges to Babylon ($89.5 million), and No Security ($64.7 million). Remember when the cast of 90210 went to the Stones show? It was heartwarming. Ian Ziering sure knows how to rock a mad beat. Remember him at that Cardigans gig at the Peach Pit? That shit was on. Super Furrys Remix Beatle? Britain's Super Furry Animals make really funny, really weird music for really funny, really weird people-such as ourselves. But wait, come to think of it, that Paul McCartney guy is really funny and really weird, too. Perhaps that's why the ex-Beatle recently asked SFA to remix "Plastic Beatle," a "sound collage" composed by McCartney. According to BBC Online, the collage is part of Peter Blake's "About Collage" exhibition at the Liverpool Tate Museum. The original composition included as-yet unreleased Beatles material, studio conversations between John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Star, outtakes from the Eleanor Rigby session, atmospheric sounds from Liverpool, and, um, McCartney's arrival and departure from a recent gig. OK, we'll give that one the benefit of the doubt. Though the Animals were not allowed to add any new material to McCartney's recording, we're pretty sure the result will be really funny and really weird. Bloodhounds Gank Floyd Don't get me wrong, I like mammals (almost as much as I like crafts!), but friends, I do not wish to hump them. Having said that, let's talk about the Bloodhound Gang, whose recent single "Bad Touch" has much to say about the humping of our small furry friends. The band's third album Hooray for Boobies has sold approximately 600,000 copies in the U.S. to date, thanks in no small part to a recent firestorm of controversy surrounding their song "Right Turn Clyde." The song's chorus contains the chant: "All in all you're just another dick with no balls." We think that's a hoot. But we also know that it's a melody borrowed from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2." But BG guitarist Lupus Thunder told Wall of Sound that nary a word was said about the song-that is until 300,000 copies of the Boobies disc had been printed. Only then did a legal expert at Interscope Records call attention to the song, and advise the band to seek clearance from Pink Floyd or else risk copyright infringement. To make a long story short, the albums were held, the Floyd people said no way, the albums were subsequently destroyed. But like any zany plot, there's an unexpected twist: Three days after the discs are destroyed, get this, Roger Waters himself grants the band permission. But, like, the albums are already destroyed! Here's the kicker: Even though the debacle caused the album's U.S. release date to be suspended, Thunder feels its European success paved the way for its wonderfully warm reception stateside. Now that's comedy. Or is it irony. In related news, the pig...the...pig is coming the PIG is coming the PIG THE PIG THE PIG! Leftfield, Primal Scream, Emerson , Play Ireland Some funny things happened this Saturday night at Ireland's Homelands Ireland. I know what you're thinking: Why do we care? We don't live in Ireland. Well too bad. Some funny things happened. I will tell you about them now. Here is my favorite story. It has to do with Primal Scream. Just before closing out their set with MC5's "Kick Out The Jams," bassist Mani thanked the audience and screamed "Tiocsaidh ar la." The Irish phrase, which translates as "our day will come," is used by Irish Republicans as a kind of battle cry against enemies. Many of the 30,000 concert-goers reportedly split after hearing the remark. This story holds a special little place in my heart, as I am quite familiar with how it feels to anger a nation. (And check Spin.com on Friday for our interactive Primal Scream feature.) Ex-Underworld member Darren Emerson, who announced his amicable departure from the group last week, played his first set since the split. Nothing exciting happened. But NME.com reports that he has been toying with solo material for the past three or four weeks, including some kind of collaboration with DJ Sasha. A spokesperson for Emerson reported he has no immediate plans to release anything, except for a mix album, Uruguay, recorded at a recent South American DJ set. The disc is due out May 15 through Global Underground imprint, Boxed. No Doubt Tour Dates Seems No Doubt will be launching a hot hot summer tour in support of their fourth album Return of Saturn, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 after its release April 11. In related news, Gwen Stefani has pink hair. It's pretty cool. You can see it on the May cover of Spin. Oh, sorry. Um, anyway, the tour will kick off June 5 in Dallas, and wrap Aug. 5 in Irvine, CA. "Simple Kind of Life," the second single off the new album (hot on the heels of "Ex-Girlfriend"), was released to radio this week. In related news, the recent No Doubt Behind the Music is really quite good. And Spin's very own Chris Norris is all up in that mess. 6. 5 Dallas, TX - Starplex Amp. 6. 6 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Pavilion 6. 8 New Orleans, LA - UNO Lakefront Arena 6. 9 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle 6. 11 Charlotte, NC - Blockbuster Pavilion 6. 12 Virginia Beach, VA - GTE Amp. 6. 14 Cleveland, OH - Nautica Stage 6. 15 Baltimore, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion 6. 19 Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center 6. 20 Long Island, NY - Jones Beach Theatre 6. 22 Boston, MA - Fleet Pavilion 6. 24 Seattle, WA - Museum Gig 6. 26 Philadelphia, PA - PLY Show 6. 29 Pittsburgh, PA - IC Light Amp. 7. 3 Detroit, MI - Phoenix Plaza Amp. 7. 5 Nashville, TN - Amsouth Amp. 7. 7 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest Amp. 7. 10 Minneapolis, MN - Roy Wilken 7. 12 St. Louis, MO - Riverport 7. 13 Kansas City, MO - Sandstone Amp. 7. 15 Denver, CO - Red Rock 7. 17 Salt Lake City, UT - E Center 7. 18 Boise, ID - Sandy Point Beach 7. 20 Vancouver, Canada - Plaza of Nations 7. 22 Portland, OR - Naito Plaza 7. 23 Anchorage, AK - Sullivan 7. 25 Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Valley Amph. 7. 26 San Jose, CA - Events Center 7. 28 Berkley, CA - Greek Theater 7. 29 Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl 7. 31 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint 8. 2 Phoenix, AZ - Mesa Amp. 8. 3 San Diego, CA - COX 8. 5 Irvine, CA - Irvine Meadows Amp. Run-DMC Hit WWF Run-DMC has contributed a track to the WWF Aggression album. What could possibly be on such an album? Well, I will tell you. Apparently, it is a veritable hodgepodge, a collection of rap-rock renderings of several WWF wrestler entrance themes. I can't think of anything worse (well, except for maybe Tina Yothers), but I guess it could be kind of interesting. For instance, the Run-DMC track, "The Kings," plays around with the theme for D-Generation X (a WWF crew including wrestlers X-Pac, Road Dogg, Bad Ass Billy Gunn, former World Heavyweight Title-holder Triple H, and his onscreen wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley). The boyz were in Brooklyn just last week, filming a video for the track, which features all the aforementioned wrestlers plus WWF rookies The Hardy Boyz. Jam Master Jay recently told MTV.com he sees similarities between sports entertainment and hip-hop. Jay said he was approached to do the WWF Aggression LP by a former labelmate from rap label Profile Records. The video should be released in the upcoming few weeks, and should not be confused with an already-aired clip for "The Kings" that spliced Run-DMC studio footage with shots of D-Generation X painting the town red, so to speak. The full WWF album is out now, and also contains tracks from Kool Keith & ODB, C Murder featuring Magic, Ice-T, and Method Man. Our Sad World Somehow, The New York Times managed to wrangle from Soundscan two very telling pieces of statistical info, which the fine newspaper published in a story this weekend: a list of the 1,000 best-selling albums since the company's inception in 1991, and a list of the top 200 artists based on combined sales. Prior to May 25, 1991, the Billboard charts were not structured to reflect actual sales, instead relying on the shady pontifications of record store clerks. What I'm trying to say is, these are the real deal. These are the records that people...actually...bought. The results, my friends, are not pretty. I throw this out to you, much like I would toss a slab of meat to a pack of slathering wolverines. This story pretty much writes itself: 10 Top-Selling Albums of the '90s (in millions): Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill (13.5) Shania Twain Come On Over (12.1) Metallica Metallica (11.7) Bodyguard soundtrack (11.6) Celine Dion Falling Into You (10.2) Hootie and the Blowfish Cracked Rear View (9.8) Titanic soundtrack (9.8) Backstreet Boys Millennium (9.4) Garth Brooks Ropin' the Wind (9.4) Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (9.3) 10 Best-selling Artists of the '90s (in millions): Garth Brooks (60.0) Mariah Carey (38.3) Celine Dion (34.6) Metallica (33.6) Beatles (30.2) Kenny G. (26.7) George Straight (24.5) Pearl Jam (22.3) Reba McEntire (22.0) Pink Floyd (21.8)   Any compliments, complaints, hot tips, or scandalous rumors can be sent to Beth   Wawerna at bwawerna@spinmag.com.   Today in History, Birthdays, Music, & Stuff, May 1, 2000 Created by Spin.com's email loving Ultragrrrl (ultragrrrl@aol.com), who informs us that "Stalking Thom Yorke [of Radiohead] is not a crime." Things to consider before turning 35: Do I want to be on VH-1's Behind the Music? I am a man, do I want long hair? Can I get Christina Aguilera/Justin Timberlake to sleep with me? I'm sure that these are things that the Black Crowes' Johnny Colt is thinking about today on his 34th Birthday. Oh, wait, except for the whole MBTM thing... he's too late on that one. The Stone Temple Pilots didn't do anything or have any special birthdays today, but I like their new single "Sour Girl" a lot. So today is now "Sour Girl"'s birthday. Munching off the head of a rat today, Black Sabbath's guitarist Danny De La Rosa is only 36. Perhaps a contender for Spin.com's fallen heroes, oh wait, you have to be a hero, never mind, Darius McCrary, the guy who played Eddie Winslow on Family Matters, is 25. You know, it's just too easy. It's too fucking easy. It's so easy that I have to take this shot, so forgive me. No, actually, hate me. Hate me because I'm petty, and terrible. Former Smashing Pumpkins' bass player, D'Arcy Wretzky, last seen being busted for crack possession, is 32. I guess this is where I say something for liability reasons: She is not a proven crackhead... but your mom is. I call her Crackula. 1964 - The richest band on earth, The Rolling Stones, saw their self-titled album get released on this day. The British Invasion is fueled even more and more and more as many a moptopper appears the world over. Thirty years later, the British Invasion happens again. Bam! Thirty-six years later, popstar Britney Spears covers the Rolling Stone's classic "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" as does Cat Power. 1972 - Just in time for college graduations across America, Alice Cooper releases "School's Out" and kids everywhere go crazy over the idea. 1985 - U2 releases Wide Awake In America. How wonderful was U2 back then? I mean, they're still fucking great now, but nowhere near what they were then. The allure of Bono is fading as he collaborates with Wyclef. Strangely, I saw Bono perform in the same place that American Psycho's Patrick Batemen did (well, in the book at least). 1996 - Garbage's debut album, Garbage, becomes gold and Shirley Manson gives up wearing panties as a direct result. Spin Headlines are featured on MusicNewswire

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