Whitney Houston heads back into the recording studio next month to record her first all-new album since her 2003 Christmas disc, reports music industry titan and Houston career godfather Clive Davis. "We've already selected two-thirds of the material, and we're about five weeks away from going into the studio," he notes. As far as the songs, "They're going to be major, long-lasting copyrights, in the tradition that we've established."
Davis is entitled to make such a prediction, with no less than 28 nominations among the artists in his J Records stable going into next week's Grammy Awards. His annual pre-Grammy party, which is legendary for its superstar performances and celeb turnout, promises to be one of his biggest ever -- as Clive allows that the Feb. 7 event will be a reflection of the kind of year his company's had. That also includes the chart-topping success of Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable," the top country music position of Carrie Underwood's record, Rod Stewart's and the Foo Fighters' success in 2005 …
Plus, "We're really convincing skeptics what we can do with 'American Idol,'" adds Davis, who is chairman and CEO of BMG North America -- which produces the winner's CD. "Kelly Clarkson had an amazing year. Bo Bice's single is beginning to show itself. Fantasia has been nominated for several awards ... "
MEANWHILE:
Clive is happy to report that Barry Manilow's "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties!" album took the No.1 spot in Amazon.com preorders well before its release yesterday (1/31). It was he who gave Manilow the idea for the collection, about a year ago after one of Manilow's shows in Las Vegas. "Since we hadn't worked on an album together in five or six years, he was surprised and touched," recalls Davis. "He called me the next morning and said he didn't sleep all night; he'd been going over all the material, arranging and producing the songs in his mind."
FRIEND INDEED:
"She's fine. She's absolutely fine," says Sir Cliff Richard, speaking of his longtime friend Olivia Newton-John, with whom he attended last week's "Dionne Warwick: 45th Anniversary Spectacular" at Hollywood's Kodak Theater. Newton-John's been under the cloud of the mysterious disappearance of her reported boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, since last summer. Notes Richard, "Sometimes when people look at a sweet, kind, gentle person they see gentleness as weakness, and it's not. She's very strong, and she's handling everything all right."
Richard, who has sold an astonishing 260 million albums worldwide through his decades as an international chart topper, tried a first for his latest disc, "Something's Goin' On" -- working in Nashville with songwriters he'd never worked with before. He has a duets album planned for fall, with song partners including Elton John, Phil Everly, Lulu, Dionne Warwick (with whom he did "Anyone Who Had a Heart" for both the disc and the anniversary gala, which was taped to become a TV special), and, of course, Olivia.
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| Bad Girl Reese |
THE WILD SIDE:
Reese Witherspoon may be the golden girl of this awards season for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," but eccentric director John Waters hopes to show a different side of the actress.
Her 1996 movie, "Freeway," is one of the 13 flicks being shown by Waters on his new TV series, "John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You," which premieres Friday (2/3) on the here! Network. "Reese is today known as being this All-American girl, and she's a great actress, but she plays a really scary, juvenile delinquent monster in 'Freeway,' and I think a lot of people have never seen her do this kind of cutting-edge role. She's great in it," he notes cheerfully.
Waters, who goes into discussion about each film and highlights a different room of his house at the beginning of each episode, certainly has gone out of his way to find eclectic movies. "How many people have seen 'Baxter' -- a French movie about an S&M dog?" he asks. "It's amazing to me how times have changed since I started that these 13 movies can be showed on any kind of television."
SINGING FISH:
First there was the wondrous "Finding Nemo" with the voices of Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres. Then there was "Finding Nemo on Ice," and now preparations are underway for a workshop of the stage musical version of "Finding Nemo," with music and lyrics by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez of "Avenue Q" fame. Casting is underway.
(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)
The Beck/Smith syndicated newspaper column includes exclusive in-depth, behind-the-scenes reports on the stars, on the business of television and movie-making, and on the recording, publishing and media beats.
©2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
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