Universal Music Wins Approval to Buy EMI Recorded Music

Vivendi SA (VIV)’s Universal Music Group won approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for its purchase of the recorded-music business of EMI Group, best known as the record label of the Beatles.

The FTC closed its review of the transaction, which allows the merger to go forward, following approval earlier today from European competition authorities after Universal Music agreed to sell about one-third of EMI assets to cut the combined group’s market share.

“Based on its review of company documents, discussions with industry participants and empirical analysis, commission staff did not find sufficient evidence of head-to-head competition to conclude that the combination of Universal and EMI would substantially lessen competition,” Richard Feinstein, director of the FTC’s bureau of competition, said in a statement.

Antitrust approval for the transaction comes almost a year after Universal Music agreed to buy London-based EMI’s recorded unit from Citigroup Inc. (C) for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.95 billion), effectively ending more than 80 years of business at EMI.

Major Companies

The takeover cuts the number of major record companies to three, as the industry faces challenges including illegal downloading and fewer CD sales.

“We have been working behind the scenes for this moment for about nine months, and we are very happy,” Universal Music Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge said in a phone interview.

With control over labels such as Virgin Records and Capitol, the next steps will be “about how we integrate, our ambition for the future and our intention to invest and rebuild with entrepreneurs, creative talent and music professionals,” Grainge said. The company is planning a “significant increase in investment,” particularly in Capitol records, he said.

Grainge also said he’s committed to achieving savings of 100 million pounds ($163 million) by integrating the two companies.

Among divestments, Universal Music will sell the Parlophone music label, home to Coldplay and David Bowie, as well as Black Sabbath’s record company Sanctuary, and the Chrysalis label, home to Depeche Mode, the European Commission said in a statement today. Universal will also avoid favorable terms for any new digital music deals in Europe for 10 years.

“The very significant commitments proposed by Universal will ensure that competition in the music industry is preserved,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

Opposition Voice

Public Knowledge, a Washington-based public interest group, opposed the transaction, calling on the FTC to block the merger entirely or demand stronger concessions appropriate for the U.S. market, such as ordering Universal Music to sell Capitol Records or the Island Def Jam Music Group.

“It is incredible that the FTC has not taken any action whatsoever to protect consumers and competition in the nascent digital music market,” said Jodie Griffin, staff attorney at Public Knowledge. “By failing to act to block this merger or even impose even one condition beyond that imposed by the European Commission, the FTC is allowing UMG to acquire unprecedented market power and amass a dominant collection of copyright holdings.”

Citigroup sold EMI’s publishing division in a separate transaction for $2.2 billion to a Sony Corp.-led group. That purchase was cleared by EU regulators in June.

Citigroup seized EMI from Guy Hands’s private equity firm, Terra Firma Partners Ltd., in February 2011 after it failed to meet loan terms. Hands bought EMI in 2007.

Joe South, Singer-Songwriter From 70s, Dies at 72

Singer-songwriter Joe South, who performed hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s such as "Games People Play" and "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" and also penned songs including "Down in the Boondocks" for other artists, died Wednesday, his music publisher said. South was 72.

South, whose real name was Joseph Souter, died at his home in Buford, Ga., northeast of Atlanta, according to Marion Merck of the Hall County Coroner's office. Merck said South died after having a heart attack.

"He's one of the greatest songwriters of all time," said Butch Lowery, president of the Lowery Group, which published South's music. "His songs have touched so many lives. He's such a wonderful guy and loved by many."

South worked as a session guitar player on recordings of some of the biggest names of the 1960s — Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel, among others. But he had a string of hits of his own starting in the late 1960s that made his booming voice a familiar one on radio stations, with a style that some described as a mix of country and soul.

He is perhaps best known for the song "Games People Play," which reached No. 12 on the Billboard charts in 1969 and won him two Grammys for Best Contemporary Song and Song of the Year. The opening lines evoked the message songs of the era: "Oh the games people play now, every night and every day now, never meaning what they say now, never saying what they mean."

The song, which was released on South's debut album "Introspect," spoke against hate, hypocrisy and inhumanity.

He also had hits with "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" and "Don't It Make You Want to Go Home," and wrote the Grammy-nominated "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden" for country singer Lynn Anderson.

Earlier, South's song "Down in the Boondocks" was a 1965 hit for singer Billy Joe Royal. He performed on Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," as well as on Bob Dylan's 1966 classic "Blonde on Blonde," a triumphant mix of rock, blues and folk that Rolling Stone magazine ranked No. 9 on its greatest-ever albums list. The magazine credits "expert local sessionmen" with helping to create "an almost contradictory magnificence: a tightly wound tension around Dylan's quicksilver language and incisive singing."

According to billboard.com, South also backed up Eddy Arnold, Marty Robbins and Wilson Pickett.

But his music career was struck by tragedy when his brother, Tommy Souter, committed suicide in 1971. A biography of South on billboard.com says he moved to Maui and retired from recording for a time starting in the mid-'70s, and that his career was complicated by a rough-around-the-edges personality. South's last album was "Classic Masters" in 2002.

According to South's website, he was born in Atlanta on Feb. 28, 1940. As a child he was interested in technology and developed his own radio station with a one-mile transmission area.

In 1958, South recorded his debut single, a novelty song called, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor."

South was an inductee in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Bobby Brown enters rehab

Brown, 43, agreed to enter a 90-day alcohol treatment program when he pleaded no contest in Los Angeles County to driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or higher last April. He also was sentenced to 36 months of probation, according to his attorney, Tiffany Feder.

"Mr. Brown takes his agreement very seriously and admitted himself three weeks after concluding his honeymoon in Mexico during a break from the New Edition tour," spokesman Christopher Brown said. "Bobby is doing well and receiving services that comply with his agreement with the state of California."

Brown married Alicia Etheridge, his manager, in a ceremony in Hawaii in June. The couple got engaged in 2010 at a New Edition concert after dating for close to three years. They have a 3-year-old son, Cassius.

Bobby's children and loved ones are very proud of him," his wife said in a statement released Thursday. "We appreciate his fans' prayers and well wishes. Bobby is mentally in a good place."

Brown was previously married to the late Whitney Houston, who he divorced in 2007. In addition to Cassius, Brown has one daughter, Bobbi Kristina, from his relationship with Houston, as well as three other children.

Brown will return to the concert stage with his group New Edition and for his solo performances starting in Orlando, Florida, on September 1, his spokesman said.

The R&B artist released "Masterpiece," his first solo album in 14 years, in June.

Romantic crooner Tony Martin dies at 98

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tony Martin, the romantic singer who appeared in movie musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s and sustained a career in records, television and nightclubs from the Depression era into the 21st century, has died. He was 98.

Martin died of natural causes Friday evening at his West Los Angeles home, his friend and accountant Beverly Scott said Monday.

Bing: Listen to Tony Martin songs

A peer of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, Martin sang full voice in a warm baritone that carried special appeal for his female audience. Among his hit recordings were "I Get Ideas," "To Each His Own," "Begin the Beguine" and "There's No Tomorrow."

"He's the ultimate crooner who outlasted all his contemporaries," musician and longtime friend Gabriel Guerrero said from his Oregon home. Martin recently sang to Guerrero over the telephone.

"He has truly remained the butterscotch baritone until he was 98," Guerrero added.

Although he never became a full-fledged movie star, he was featured in 25 films, most of them made during the heyday of the Hollywood musicals. A husky 6 feet tall and dashingly handsome, he was often cast as the romantic lead.

He married two movie musical superstars, Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse, and the latter union lasted 60 years, until her death in 2008.

Martin found his escape through music while growing up in San Francisco and Oakland amid a poor, close-knit Russian-Jewish family, enduring taunts and slights from gentile classmates.

"I always sang," he wrote. "I always played some instrument or other, real or imagined. ... At first, of course, my music was just for my own fun. I didn't recognize it right away as my passport away from poverty."

Performing on radio led to his break into the film business. His first singing role came in 1936's "Sing Baby Sing," which starred his future wife Faye and introduced the Ritz Brothers to the screen as a more frenetic version of the Marx Brothers.

As a contract player at Twentieth Century-Fox, Martin also appeared in "Pigskin Parade" (featuring a young Judy Garland), "Banjo on My Knee" (Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea), "Sing and Be Happy," "You Can't Have Everything" (Faye, Don Ameche), "Ali Baba Goes to Town" (comedian Eddie Cantor) and "Sally, Irene and Mary."

In 1940, he shifted to MGM and sang in such films as "The Ziegfeld Girl" (James Stewart, Lana Turner, Judy Garland), "The Big Store" (the Marx Brothers), "Till the Clouds Roll By," "Easy to Love" (Esther Williams) and "Deep in My Heart."

In 1948, he produced and starred in "Casbah," a well-received film-musical version of "Algiers" with a fine score by Harold Arlen and Leo Robin. He made singing tours of Europe and had a yearly contract at London's Palladium.

Martin had fallen in love with Faye while at Fox, where she was one of the studio's biggest stars. Married in 1937, the newlyweds were considered one of Hollywood's handsomest couples. But the marriage eroded because of career conflicts and his distaste for becoming known as Mr. Alice Faye. They divorced after two years.

Martin met Charisse, then a rising dance star at MGM, when they were dinner partners at a party given by their mutual agent. Just returned from the war, Martin was busy greeting old friends and paid her little attention.

They didn't meet until a year later, when the persistent agent arranged another date. This time they clicked, and they married in 1948. She had a son, Nicky, born of her first marriage to dance director Nico Charisse. She gave birth to Tony Jr. in 1950.

Charisse became a star at MGM during the 1950s, dancing with Fred Astaire in "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" and with Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" and "Brigadoon."

In later years, Martin and Charisse put out a 1976 double autobiography, "The Two of Us," and often toured in a singing and dancing shows. He continued appearances into his 90s, his voice only slightly tarnished by time.

"His voice is more or less intact," a New York Times critic wrote when he appeared at a New York club in early 2008. "Time has certainly taken its toll. He no longer belts. ... But the essential Tony Martin sound was still discernible."

Martin was born Dec. 25, 1913. His parents divorced when he was an infant.

"I was a Christmas present in a family that didn't believe in Christmas," Martin wrote. "The name they gave me when I was born on Christmas Day, 1913, was Alvin Morris. Tony Martin wasn't born for a long time after that."

He attended St. Mary's College of California, where he and other students formed a popular jazz combo, the Five Red Peppers. After college, he formed Al Morris and His Orchestra, and played in San Francisco nightclubs like the Chez Paree, often appearing on late-night national radio.

MGM chief Louis B. Mayer heard the bandleader sing "Poor Butterfly" on radio and ordered a screen test. It was a failure, but an agent landed Morris a contract at RKO, where he got a new name. He had enjoyed the music of Freddie Martin at the Coconut Grove, so he borrowed the name. "Tony" came from a magazine story.

His career at RKO was notable for a one-line bit in the 1936 "Follow the Fleet," which starred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He had better luck at Fox, but nightclubbing every night with a succession of film beauties detracted from his work.

"I was so busy having fun that I didn't even learn my lines," he admitted in 1955. "I muffed a wonderful chance, and that was the end of me for a while."

World War II brought the one big scandal in his life. He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and was given a specialist ranking. A year later, a Navy officer who facilitated Martin's enlistment was court-martialed, accused of accepting a $950 automobile from him. The singer was not charged but was dismissed from the Navy for unfitness. He asked his draft board for immediate induction into the Army and served three years in Asia.

The scandal lingered over Martin's head after the war, but he managed to rebuild his career with radio, films, personal appearances and records.

He is survived by stepson Nico Charisse.

Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City was handling funeral arrangements.

USHER Stepson Dies After Jetski Accident

Usher's 11-year-old stepson has passed away this morning from injuries suffered in a tragic jetski accident in Georgia earlier this month ... TMZ has learned.

Doctors removed 11-year-old Kyle Glover from life support after it was determined the injuries were too severe to overcome. We're told Kyle's mother, Tameka Foster, struggled tremendously with the decision.

According to our sources, Tameka is understandably devastated.

Glover was injured on July 8 ... as he was riding in an inner tube that was connected to a pontoon in Lake Lanier. According to authorities, a family friend who was riding a jetski behind the pontoon lost control and collided with Glover's tube.

The accident is currently under investigation.

Branson starts talks with Universal Music on Virgin Records deal

(the Guardian) Mogul says label he founded has been 'mismanaged' over the past decade and is a 'sleeping beauty' that could be rejuvenated

Sir Richard Branson has opened talks with Universal Music in his bid to buy back Virgin Records, saying the label behind the Spice Girls had been "mismanaged" over the past decade.

Branson, speaking for the first time about his ambition to return to the business he started more than 40 years ago, said it was a "sleeping beauty" of an asset as he talked up his hopes for a deal.

He has spoken to Universal Music chief executive Lucian Grainge in the last 24 hours – although the last day has been a busy one for Branson who celebrated his 62nd birthday in the Caribbean.

Branson said that the label, which in its halcyon days released records by artists including the Sex Pistols, the Spice Girls and the Rolling Stones, has been "mismanaged in the last 10 years".

Virgin Records is on a list of labels that Universal is considering offloading in order to gain clearance from European competition regulators for its £1.2bn takeover of EMI.

However, with Universal's owner Vivendi locked in negotiations with Brussels over the disposals needed to win approval for the EMI deal, it is not clear if Universal will definitely sell Virgin. Branson's activity, though, suggests that he is hoping to bounce Grainge into a quick sale.

Branson is set to team up with Patrick Zelnik, the French entrepreneur who launched Virgin Records in France in 1980, and possibly other financial backers to put together a business plan to buy the label.

"I have had informal talks with both Lucian Grainge and Patrick Zelnik about Virgin Records," said Branson. "I have known Lucian and Patrick for both 30 years. They are great record men and Patrick has committed to revitalise Virgin Records – which has been mismanaged in the last 10 years."

He added that he was serious about a bid in partnership with his former colleague: "The potential disposal of Virgin Records by Universal is an exciting opportunity and I am keen to try to work on an arrangement with Patrick Zelnik to acquire the company I started in the 1970s." No price was mentioned.

Branson said that he and Grainge viewed Virgin Records as a "sleeping beauty" which could yet become an "innovative and leading label once again with the right management and investment".

Zelnik, who has an 80% stake in French label Naive, said that while Universal is focusing on disposing of assets to appease market share issues in Europe the business plan for Virgin is predicated on an international basis.

"We are only interested if it is [a] global [deal]," said Zelnik. "We are just starting to get figures together for the business plan."

It is expected that Universal will know by the end of the month whether the European commission has accepted that the concessions go far enough to give a green light to the EMI deal.

Other assets on the list reportedly include labels such as Chrysalis UK, excluding Robbie Williams, Ensign, Mute, Jazzland and Sanctuary.

Universal was originally bullish about pushing the deal through the regulatory process, and offered few concessions.

However, the music giant is under immense pressure as it has guaranteed to pay EMI's owner Citibank the entire £1.2bn by the middle of September regardless of whether the deal goes through.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

50 Years Ago Today, the Rolling Stones Played Their First Gig

"It is quite amazing when you think about it," Mick Jagger recently told Rolling Stone, reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones first show on July 12th, 1962 at London's Marquee Jazz Club. "But it was so long ago. Some of us are still here, but it's a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago."

On that summer night in 1962, the Rollin' Stones were Jagger on vocals, guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards, pianist Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor. The drummer is up for debate; some fans contend it was their frequent early drummer, Tony Chapman, but Richards insisted in his 2012 memoir Life that it was friend Mick Avory. The Stones got the gig when Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated – the club's Thursday night regulars fronted by Jagger – were invited to play a BBC live broadcast. Jagger didn't take part in the broadcast, and Jones persuaded Marquee club owner Harold Pendleton to let their new group fill in. When Jones called local listings paper Jazz News to advertise the gig, the famous story goes, he was asked what the band was called. His eyes went straight to the first song on the nearby LP The Best of Muddy Waters: "Rollin' Stone." 

The band borrowed money from Jagger's dad to rent equipment for the gig. In Life, Richards recalled playing songs like "Dust My Broom," "Confessin' the Blues" and "Got My Mojo Working." "You're sitting with some guys, and you're playing and you go, 'Ooh yeah!' That feeling is worth more than anything," he wrote. "There's a certain moment when you realize that you've actually left the planet for a bit and that nobody can touch you … it's flying without a license."

 The band continued to play around London clubs that summer. In August, Jagger, Richards and Jones moved into a grimy second-floor apartment at 102 Edith Grove in Fulham, living amongst dirty dishes, two beds and no furniture. Soon, Charlie Watts moved in. "The Rolling Stones spent the first year of their life hanging places, stealing food and rehearsing," Richards remembered. "We were paying to be the Rolling Stones."

Today, Jagger admits feeling uneasy about celebrating the milestone. "One part of me goes, 'We're slightly cheating,'" he says. "Because it's not the same band, you know. Still the same name. It's only Keith and myself that are the same people, I think. I've tried to find out when Charlie's first gig was, and none of us can really remember and no one really knows. But it's an amazing achievement, and I think it's fantastic and you know I'm very proud of it."

Richards is less reflective. "Man, I don't count!" he says with a laugh. "The Stones always really consider '63 to be 50 years, because Charlie didn't actually join until January. So we look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception. But the birth is next year." 

On Wednesday, the Stones met at the Marquee Club to shoot an anniversary photo. And while they might look a little worse for wear and tear than they did 50 years ago, they haven't lost any cool. After more than 400 songs, over two-dozen studio albums, ten mega-tours, turmoil and countless public squabbles, they look dangerous and commanding as ever, still capable of giving crowds more satisfaction than any band 50 years their junior.

Richards says the band will discuss recording new material during their London stay, and the band is strongly considering at least one gig this year, while a tour is more likely next year. Here's hoping it all happens. As Pete Townshend told the band while inducting them in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, "Guys, whatever you do, don't grow old gracefully. It wouldn't suit you."

Here is what the Stones played on that night in 1962, according to meticulous, setlist-documenting Stones fansite It's Only Rock and Roll – though the setlist differs slightly from Richards' memory of the show described in Life.

1. "Kansas City"
2. "Baby What's Wrong"
3. "Confessin' the Blues"
4. "Bright Lights, Big City"
5. "Dust My Broom"
6. "Down the Road Apiece"
7. "I'm a Love You"
8. "Bad Boy"
9. "I Ain't Got You"
10. "Hush-Hush"
11. "Ride 'Em on Down"
12. "Back in the U.S.A."
13. "Kind of Lonesome"
14. "Blues Before Sunrise"
15. "Big Boss Man"
16. "Don't Stay Out All Night"
17. "Tell Me You Love Me"
18. "Happy Home"

EMI Publishing sold to Sony for $2.2 billion

Sony has paid $2.2 billion for a 50% share of EMI Publishing.

EMI owner Citigroup announced on Friday that it had sold its share of the company to Sony. This makes Sony Publishing the biggest publishing company in the world with rights to songs from The Beatles, Motown and Jay-Z.

This gives Sony the copyright to over 2 million songs.

The estate of Michael Jackson, various investment funds and Mudadala Development Co from the UAE owns the other 50% of the company.

Citigroup is in the process of selling the recorded music division of EMI to Vivendi's Universal Music for $1.9 billion. That sale needs to be approved by European and U.S. regulators.

Universal, already the biggest record company on the planet would be made even stronger when it adds the EMI catalogue, including the works of The Beatles and Pink Floyd to its assets.

Rolling Stones hire Shepard Fairey for 50th-anniversary logo

The street artist of choice for rock musicians, Shepard Fairey has lent his talent to the Rolling Stones, creating an updated logo for the band on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The Rolling Stones formed in 1962, led by Mick Jagger, with Keith Richards on guitar.

Fairey's updated design features the Stones' signature tongue-and-lips logo, which was created by designer John Pasche and was used for the band's 1971 album "Sticky Fingers." 

The Rolling Stones revealed the updated logo on the band's website earlier this week. Their first concert took place July 12, 1962. A 50th-anniversary concert tour is expected to kick off next year.

Fairey has collaborated with a number of rock musicians. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Neil Young to create art for Young's album "Americana." Fairey has also worked with the Smashing Pumpkins, the Black Eyed Peas and Death Cab for Cutie.

Pharcyde: L.A. hip-hop’s far side

(LA Times) In 1992, the group released the rollickingly irreverent 'Bizarre Ride.' The quintessential album's being celebrated with a box set, a reunion show and more.

This post has been corrected. Please see bottom for details.

In the haze of memory, it's easy to assume that the Pharcyde's debut, "Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde," came out at some time other than the fall of 1992. So much of L.A. hip-hop that year was dominated by the riots in Los Angeles. For example, Ice Cube took a victory lap on "The Predator," reminding listeners why "We Had to Tear This ... Up." Meanwhile, Dr. Dre and his lanky new protege, Snoop Dogg, readied "Nuthin' but a ‘G' Thang" as their inaugural vision of a post-Bloods/Crips truce, post-riots gangster's paradise.

In contrast, the Pharcyde's introduction came in July 1992 via a whimsical song full of dirty snaps, "Ya Mama," followed by an album that boasts one of the most famous uses of vagina dentata imagery on an LP cover. "Bizarre Ride" is now considered a quintessentially L.A. album, but 20 years ago, it seemed to have arrived from a world all its own.

The 20th anniversary of the album is being marked in several ways. Delicious Vinyl recently released a box set of seven 7-inch records, based on singles from the album, plus a full-size poster and a jigsaw puzzle of the cover art. On Wednesday, several core group members will reunite at the Roxy to perform "Bizarre Ride" in its entirety: rappers Tre "Slimkid3" Hardson and Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, and producers John "J-Swift" Martinez and John "L.A. Jay" Barnes. The group's internal dynamics have always been unsettled; missing from the show will be co-founders Imani Wilcox and Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson (who still tour together under the Pharcyde name).

The enduring fascination with the album traces partially back to its incongruity in that era, especially the group's rollicking irreverence. On "Officer," Pharcyde's members turned a staple of L.A. hip-hop -- the anti-cop anthem -- into a tongue-in-cheek tale about driving without a proper smog check, while "Oh ..." features vignettes about embarrassing intimate encounters, including one involving a friend's oversexed mother and a cup of ripple wine.

This was the key difference with the Pharcyde -- its members weren't above making themselves the object of ridicule or humiliation, displaying a sardonic but still visceral vulnerability. We take that quality for granted today (what's jokingly called "emo-rap"), but the early 1990s were dominated by superhuman MCs, be it the stern, prophetic gaze of Ice Cube, the sneering, chilling affect of Eazy E or B-Real, or the lyrical virtuosity of the Freestyle Fellowship.

In contrast, Hardson, Robinson, Stewart and Wilcox, with their whiny tones and hyperactive flows, were like overactive teenagers, bubbling over with equal amounts of excitement and insecurity.

To wit: Their biggest hit, "Passin' Me By" builds on pained stories of unrequited love. Compared with the endless variations on "I'm a pimp/mack/player," "Passin' Me By" spoke to listeners who could identify with their own futile attempts to charm a grade school crush.

What would seem like a relatively simple admission -- life can be awkward -- was practically revolutionary at the time. Besides New York's Leaders of the New School (perhaps the Pharcyde's closest counterparts), few other rappers seemed comfortable displaying anything other than a bulletproof countenance.

"Bizarre Ride" also manifested its difference sonically. Martinez not only sampled liberally from jazz records but he and the group also sequenced an album whose rhythm dipped and swerved with an improvisational spirit. It opens with a short, live instrumental, there are interstitial skits that sound straight out of a poetry slam, and there's a notable absence of classic funk loops that up until then had all but defined a West Coast sound.

"Bizarre Ride" created a musical lane that others would follow, especially the short-lived group Mad Kap, as well as the early pre-pop incarnation of the Black Eyed Peas.

Maybe it's because the Pharcyde's core members began not as rappers but as dancers in an earlier era of L.A. hip-hop. Maybe it's because they didn't hail from a single neighborhood, but from places across the region, including Torrance and Pasadena. Maybe it's because they were just quirky. Whatever the reasons, their chemistry -- volatile as it was -- held together long enough to produce this unique artifact of an album.

Their next LP, 1995's "Labcabincalifornia," was arguably a more sophisticated effort, but by then, the very landscape that Pharcyde's members had helped shift had made them sound less incomparable. "Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde" was, then and now, a heady journey whose paths, once carved, couldn't easily be remade, not even by the group itself.

(For the record, 5:50 p.m. May 22: An earlier version of this post had improperly spelled the names of Tre "Slimkid3" Hardson and Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart. The original photo, which showed Imani, has also been changed.)

Disco queen Donna Summer dies at 63

(CNN) -- Donna Summer, the "Queen of Disco" whose hits included "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls," "Love to Love You Baby" and "She Works Hard for the Money," has died, a representative said Thursday. She was 63.

Her publicist, Brian Edwards, said Summer was suffering from cancer. She died surrounded by her family in Florida, he said.

"Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith," a family statement said. "While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time."

Summer first rose to fame the mid-'70s, thanks to "Love to Love You Baby." The song, with Summer's whispered vocals and orgasmic groans helped define the mid-'70s disco trend and hit No. 2 in 1976. Summer followed the song with such hits as "I Feel Love," "Last Dance" and a disco-fied version of the Richard Harris hit "MacArthur Park," which outdid Harris' version by hitting No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. It was Summer's first of four chart-toppers.

But with her 1979 album "Bad Girls," Summer broke out of the disco mold as the genre, which had become renewed by the success of the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, was feeling a backlash. "Bad Girls" demonstrated Summer's vocal and stylistic range and produced two No. 1 hits, "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls," as well as a Top 10 ballad, "Dim All the Lights."

However, Summer had some trouble adjusting to the changing times. Her next album, "The Wanderer," went for more of a rock feel. It produced a Top 10 hit in the title track but fared relatively poorly on the charts -- especially after the success of "Bad Girls," a double album that spent five weeks at No. 1.

It wasn't until 1983's "She Works Hard for the Money," which became a ubiquitous video as well as a big radio hit, that Summer's fame approached its late '70s zenith.

The Recording Academy, which presented five Grammys to Summer, said she "had a dynamic voice and unique musical style that helped define the dance music genre in the '70s.'"

"She also was an artist who crossed many musical genres, as evidenced by her Grammy wins in the R&B, rock, inspirational and dance categories," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said. "Her talent was a true gift to the music industry, and our thoughts and sympathies are with her family, friends and fans throughout the world during this difficult time."

"I don't like to be categorized because I think that I am an instrument, and if you play me, I'll make whatever particular sound is supposed to come out for that color," Summer told CNN in a 2008 interview. "And so, in the overall spectrum of things, I'm just trying to be true to my -- what I feel my mission is."

Hollywood publicist Michael Levine said he was hired in 2002 to help Summer "rebrand and reinvent her image."

"She was a victim of her own success," Levine said. "The disco diva imprint was so great that she wanted to break beyond that."

"She would always bring a gift when she came to our office, which is not common," he said.

Celebrity reaction to news of Summer's death was immediate.

"I can't believe we've lost another wonderful singer," Dolly Parton said. "Donna, like Whitney (Houston), had one of the greatest voices ever. I loved her records. She was the disco queen, and will remain so. I knew her and found her to be one of the most likable and fun people ever. She will be missed and remembered."

Chaka Khan said she was Summer's friend for three decades.

"She is one of the few black women I could speak German with and she is one of the few friends I had in this business," Khan said. Summer moved to Germany in the early '70s to perform in several musicals.

"I was shocked to hear about Donna," singer Barbra Streisand said in a statement released by her publicist. "She was so vital the last time I saw her a few months ago. I loved doing the duet with her. She had an amazing voice and was so talented."

"She will be terribly missed. She was truly the #Disco Queen!" Singer La Toya Jackson said in a Twitter posting.

"We will miss Donna Summer! She changed the world of music with her beautiful voice and incredible talent," Janet Jackson told Twitter followers.

"Whitney. Tina Marie. Vesta. Now Donna Summer. The choir in heaven has a new member. They will be singing up a beautiful storm:)" actress Niecy Nash tweeted.

"Rest in Peace dear Donna Summer. Your voice was the heartbeat and soundtrack of a decade," music producer Quincy Jones tweeted.,

"I thought she was a very gracious and a very nice person. Always beautifully gowned and well spoken. I liked her," said legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin. "A very good singer. We won't forget all those many hits she put out there. You know, 'Bad Girls' and 'Last Dance' and all the hits. We won't forget those. My heart goes out to her family and to her friends and fans. It's really a sad day."

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Summer's honor to the Salvation Army.

Bassist Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn dead at 70

Donald “Duck” Dunn, whose powerful bass notes built the foundation for hits like Otis Redding’s “Respect,” Sam and Dave’s “Soul Man” and Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” died Sunday morning in Tokyo. He was 70.

Best known for his work with Booker T and the MGs, the famous Memphis session band, Dunn had been in semi-retirement for years. There had been no indications of serious health problems.

Steve Cropper, Dunn’s lifelong friend and musical comrade in Booker T and the MGs, said he died in his sleep.

He had played two shows in Tokyo Saturday night.

Cropper wrote on his Facebook page, “Today I lost my best friend. The world has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live.”

Dunn grew up in Memphis and was largely self-taught on the bass. He said he originally tried guitar, but gave it up after he heard Cropper play.

“I decided there were plenty of guitar players,” he said. “What was needed was a bass.”

His first hit came in 1961 with the Memphis group the Mak-Keys, who recorded a hypnotic instrumental called “Last Night.”

He joined Cropper, Booker T. Jones and drummer Al Jackson in 1964 to form the most famous incarnation of Booker T. and the MGs.

Known for their infectious, rock-solid rhythms, the MGs backed every major Memphis artist in the late 1960s. They were crucial in creating the sound for stars like Wilson Pickett, Redding, Sam and Dave, Eddie Floyd and Arthur Conley.

Their fans included the Beatles, and over the years Dunn played behind artists like Muddy Waters, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, the Blues Brothers, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis and Albert King.

The MGs were also one of the most harmoniously integrated groups in rock ‘n’ roll and soul music, since Cropper and Dunn were white and Jones and Jackson were black.

Dunn said it was simply never an issue.

Besides recordings, Dunn played himself in two “Blues Brothers” movies.

He was inducted with the rest of the MGs into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. They received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

Dunn is the second of the MGs to die. Jackson was murdered in his home in 1975.

Dunn’s death also closely follows the death of trumpeter Wayne Jackson — no relation to Al — who was a longtime friend and the founder the Memphis Horns, a group that played on many of the same sessions as the MGs.

Composer Mort Lindsey dies at the age of 89

Mort Lindsey, the orchestra leader and composer celebrated in the US for his work with Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, has died at the age of 89.

The noted arranger died at his home in Malibu, California on Friday following a long period of ill-health.

Lindsey was musical director for Garland's performances at New York's Carnegie Hall that led to the Grammy-winning album Judy At Carnegie Hall.

An Emmy followed for Streisand's TV concert A Happening In Central Park.

Judy At Carnegie Hall, a live recording of the Wizard of Oz star's concert on 23 April 1961, spent 12 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart and went on to win four Grammy awards.

Lindsey went on to work with Liza Minnelli, Garland's daughter, on her televised Liza With A Z concert.

The New Jersey native spent 25 years as musical director for The Merv Griffin Show, earning two Emmy nominations in the process.

As a composer, his credits include Garland's 1963 film I Could Go on Singing and Albert Brooks' 1979 comedy Real Life.