Digital Ringo
Ringo Starr has signed a deal to release his Capitol/EMI catalog online, Associated Press reports.
Downloads of his hit 1970 album, “Beaucoups of Blues,” and 1973’s “Ringo” will be available Aug. 28 along with a compilation album, “Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr,” his publicist said.
The “best-of” collection, including such tracks as “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Sentimental Journey,” also will be released on CD and as a collectors’ edition CD/DVD package featuring a film and video clips. Six Ringo ring tones also will be offered.
“Liverpool 8,” a solo album by the 66-year-old ex-Beatle, is planned for a January 2008 release. Mr. Starr’s first solo recording contract after the Beatles broke up was with Capitol/EMI, from 1970 to 1975. His former Fab Four band mate Paul McCartney released his 21st solo album, “Memory Almost Full,” earlier this month.
Head case
According to documents obtained by thesmokinggun.com, Britney Spears is threatening legal action against a Florida radio station that used a bald-headed photo of the pop star on billboards that appear to question her sanity.
In a June 14 letter to a Clear Channel Communications lawyer, Miss Spears’ counsel claims that the billboards promoting the “MJ Morning Show” are “outrageous to the extreme” and demands their removal. The three outdoor advertisements pair a paparazzi photo of a bald and snarling Miss Spears with a picture of WFLZ-FM morning-show host Todd Schnitt (who uses the air name MJ Kelli). The ads are headlined, “Total Nut Jobs,” “Shock Therapy” and “Certifiable.”
Miss Spears’ lawyer says the star’s “likeness has a multimillion-dollar value for authorized commercial exploitations” and, as a result, she is entitled to “very substantial damages” from Clear Channel. The “MJ Morning Show” airs on several stations across Florida. The Spears billboards, which first appeared last month, advertised the program in several Florida cities including Tampa, Jacksonville and Clearwater.
Julia adds to brood
Oscar winner Julia Roberts has given birth to her third child, a boy named Henry Daniel Moder, AP reports.
Henry was born yesterday in Los Angeles. He weighed 8½ pounds, Miss Roberts’ publicist, Marcy Engelman, said.
Miss Roberts, 39, and her husband, 38-year-old cinematographer Danny Moder, have 2-year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus. The couple were married in July 2002 at Miss Roberts’ home in Taos, N.M.
Compiled by Amanda Lewis and Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports.
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