January 8, 2008

Tuesday’s Bemusing Music News Day

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News

  • The Kinks’ Dave Davies is denying rumors that the band may reunite; his brother and ex-bandmate Ray had told the press that the band members were considering “getting back together.” Dave told NME that he and Ray “haven’t even spoken in over 6 months… a tour hasn’t even been discussed.” Dave suffered a stroke four years ago but has continued a solo career.

  • Rappers Lupe Fiasco and Rhymefest are exchanging a war of words over support for Barack Obama, and of course it’s all on their MySpace blogs. Fiasco told hip-hop news site SOHH.com that Obama “doesn’t impress me” because of “his agendas the bombing of Iran and all that stuff.” When confronted by Fest, Fiasco expressed cynicism about the democratic process: “I have no faith in it.”

  • The former Jamaica Broadcasting Corp seems to have lost a “massive collection” of 1970s music, including original recordings by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh as well as videos of historic concerts and events. The archive was apparently stolen, with a former program manager for the JBC calling the theft a “national disgrace.”

  • Eminem was in the hospital over the holidays due to complications from pneumonia. Huh?
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    WE CAME UP SHORT.

    We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

    That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

    So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

    Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

    And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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