Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr won’t allow the 1970 Beatles film Let it Be to be released on DVD because the footage shows the band in a “less than positive light.” [Express.co.uk]

“The Shock of the Lightning,” the lead single from Oasis’ upcoming album Dig Out Your Soul, has previewed as part of a movie trailer-like video released by the band. [NME.com]

T.I. will be one of the Hip Hop Caucus’ main spokesmen for the “Respect My Vote!” campaign, which encourages young voters who have never gone to college to become more informed about the 2008 presidential race. [Vibe.com]

Barack Obama’s campaign has denounced Ludacris’ “Politics as Usual,” a song that supports Obama but is also, according to a campaign spokesman, “offensive to Sen. Clinton, Rev. Jackson, Sen. McCain and President Bush.” [Billboard.com]

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Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Thanks to George Orwell, 1984 seemed destined to be a gloomy, ominous year — and there was some darkness, thanks to Echo & the Bunnymen and the Cure lurking in the background, but 1984 was much, much more than murky English mope rock. This was the year that gave us such blockbusters as Purple Rain, Born in the U.S.A., 1984, and Like a Virgin while also giving us such major underground touchstones as Let It Be, Reckoning, The Smiths, Zen Arcade, and Double Nickels on the Dime, as well as the first undisputed full-length hip-hop masterpiece, Run-D.M.C. — every one of them albums that defined the decade. But 1984 wasn’t just about canonical LPs. If anything, the singles of ‘84 were even greater than the albums, as this year saw a perfect storm of Top 40, album rock, MTV, and college radio hits, each one seeming better than the next.

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Alice Cooper – Along Came a Spider
Like School’s Out and From the Inside, Alice Cooper’s Along Came a Spider is a concept album. This time the central character is a spider-obsessed serial killer who has been beaten down by society and now lives by the arachnid code of “”You trap, you kill, you eat.” Slash and Kiss’ Eric Singer guest but longtime fans will be most excited to hear that the evil child “Steven” from Cooper’s 1975 album Welcome To My Nightmare is back and still breaking all his toys.

Steve Cropper/Felix Cavaliere – Nudge It Up a Notch
A collaborative effort by Booker T. & the MG’s/Blues Brothers guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper and former Rascals organist, songwriter, and frontman Felix Cavaliere, Nudge It Up a Notch is a vital and astonishingly creative album that offers plenty of proof that soul music is very much alive in the 21st Century.

Rick Springfield – Venus in Overdrive
On Venus in Overdrive, Rick Springfield returns to the power pop of Working Class Dog — at least in parts, most notably the single “What’s Victoria’s Secret.” These big hooks are balanced by some Beatle-esque psychedelia and spiritually searching ballads that aren’t too far removed from such latter-day Springfield records as Karma. This blend makes Venus in Overdrive Rick Springfield’s most satisfying record in a long time.

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Jack White and Alicia Keys are set to record the theme song for the forthcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The song, titled “Another Way To Die,” features Keys on vocals with writer/producer White on drums. [EOnline.com]

Super-duo David Byrne and Brian Eno’s upcoming album, Happening, is available on August 18th through the website EverythingThatHappens.com. A single will be available for download from the site on August 4th, while an enhanced version is planned for wider release in the future. [Billboard.com]

Bob Dylan will release the 8th volume of his “Bootleg Series,” Tell Tale Signs, on October 7th. As an added bonus, BobDylan.com is offering a free download of “Dreamin’ Of You,” a track featured on the collection (which also includes previously unreleased songs and alternate recordings). [BobDylan.com]

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“The Runaways,” a music biopic about the ’70s band featuring Joan Jett, Sandy West, Lita Ford, and other pioneering females in rock & roll, has secured financing from River Road Entertainment. [Variety.com]

Ryan Seacrest was bitten by a shark last weekend during a brief swim in the Pacific Ocean. The shark left behind a tooth as proof of the attack. [ChicagoTribune.com]

Kings of Leon’s upcoming album, Only By The Night, hits American shores in late September. In the meantime, fans can sample the record by downloading a new single, “Crawl,” from the band’s website. [KingsOfLeon.com]

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Solange, “I Decided” (Check out the song here)
Andy Kellman: Here’s where Solange gets to be herself, just like everyone else on her/his second album.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Or on your 82nd, as when Glen Campbell introduces himself on his forthcoming Meet Glen Campbell.
AK: Solo Star was nothing to be ashamed about, but definitely seemed more about attaining hits than Solange. (And it didn’t work. There were features from Lil’ Romeo, B2K, and Murphy Lee, which did not even seem right at the time.) “I Decided” does seem a bit self-consciously “here’s a left turn,” but she is clearly having too much fun for that to be a real obstacle.
Heather Phares: Yeah, this is a really fun single. The Motown angle doesn’t feel too contrived.

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Hot on the heels of celebrating the 15th anniversary of her classic Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair is in the studio working on her first album since 2005’s Somebody’s Miracle. Like the recent Guyville reissue, Phair’s new album will be released by Dave Matthews’ imprint ATO. [Billboard]

Gorillaz’ Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett will release an album based on their opera Monkey: Journey to the West — which just opened at London’s Royal Opera House and also inspired their music and animation for the BBC’s 2008 Bejing Summer Olympics coverage — later this summer. [XFM.co.uk]

The pier made famous by Oasis on the cover of the “Roll with It” single has burned down. [NME.com]

Due in October, I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone will be the first comprehensive biography of the genre-spanning, musical visionary’s life, and will feature the first face-to-face interview with Stone in 20 years. [Spinner.com]

Hoping that people who have mastered playing guitar-shaped video game controllers might want to play actual instruments, Best Buy will soon sell real guitars — including axes by Fender, Roland, and Gibson. [Idolator.com]

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