Today's Quick Hits!

Spinal Tap Officially Rules
(Rock News Desk) This is Spinal Tap has been voted the best comedy movie of all time by a panel of over 200 experts.

The spoof rockumentary that goes up to eleven came home ahead of Airplane!, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Annie Hall. Big names including actor Dan Ackroyd and writer Richard Curtis contributed to the poll.

The iconic film stars writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as guitarist Nigel Tufnel, singer David St Hubbins and bassist Derek Smalls as they attempt to salvage their career with their new album Smell The Glove. more on this story

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Stevie Nicks Turned Down Prince's Purple Rain
(Gibson) Stevie Nicks has revealed that almost 30 years ago, Prince asked the Fleetwood Mac singer to collaborate on a new song. The Purple One sent Nicks a 10-minute instrumental and asked for lyrical assistance. The song eventually became "Purple Rain."

Nicks talked about the situation in an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She said it came about after the two teamed up on her 1983 hit "Stand Back," and Nicks asked Prince if he thought they'd ever write together. He sent her the unfinished track in response. But it was too much for Nicks to take in.

"It was so overwhelming, that 10-minute track, that I listened to it and I just got scared," Nicks said. "I called him back and said, 'I can't do it. I wish I could. It's too much for me.' I'm so glad that I didn't, because he wrote it, and it became 'Purple Rain.'" more on this story

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Coheed and Cambria Moving Forward: Now Hear Their New Song
(Banana 101.5) Coheed and Cambria have gotten a lot of attention this year, unfortunately all for the wrong reasons. Perhaps the most press the band has ever received came when bassist Michael Todd was arrested for armed robbery prior to their opening gig for Soundgarden in Boston. The band swiftly replaced Todd, and while remaining sympathetic of his plight, have wasted no time in moving forward as a band.

It has recently been reported that Coheed and Cambria have already begun writing and recording the follow-up to 2010′s 'Year of the Black Rainbow'. In addition to the album, the band has contributed their cover of 'Beer Drinkers and Hellraisers' to the upcoming ZZ Top cover album — 'A Tribute From Friends' (due Oct. 11th).

Their new song 'Deranged' will be featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming video game 'Batman: Arkham City', which is set for release October 4th. Check it out here

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Chickenfoot Up Next With Deeply Personal Song
(hennemusic) Chickenfoot have issued the fourth episode in a new video podcast series to introduce their forthcoming album, "Chickenfoot III," due September 27.

The every-other-day video podcast series is designed to take fans behind the scenes and hear the members of Chickenfoot give background behind each song on the new project while sharing a preview clip of the track. Episode #4 features the guys talking about the album's fourth track, "Up Next." The song has special meaning to the band. "Up Next" is written for our manager, [John] Carter, who died in the middle of making this record," says Sammy Hagar. "Carter was the guy who signed me to my first record contract when I was throw out of Montrose, and produced my first four albums. Carter, dear friend, became our co-manager, and he got cancer: last minute, got it diagnosed, got operated on immediately and died. It was horrible."

"No one knew Carter was sick," continued Sammy. "No one knew he was gonna die that year, no one knew he was gonna die that month. It was so crazy that it inspired this whole song." Check it out here

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Michaele Salahi Not Kidnapped, She Ran Off With Journey Star
(TMZ) TMZ has learned ... far from being kidnapped ... Michaele Salahi has run off with Neal Schon, the lead guitarist for the band Journey.

TMZ broke the story ... Tareq called authorities several times last night and today, claiming his wife has been abducted, because she left without taking her belongings.

But now we've learned ... Michaele has been dating the rock icon, went to his show in Nashville last night and is currently with Schon in Memphis, where Journey is set to perform with Foreigner.

Scoop Marketing, the rep for Journey, confirmed with TMZ that "Nobody kidnapped her and they are in Memphis together."

We've also confirmed Michaele has dated Schon in the past, and she's called it an "intimate and passionate relationship." more on this story

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Def Leppard Show They Got Talent
(hennemusic) Def Leppard put some rock into this season's America's Got Talent finale Wednesday night.

Originally scheduled to appear a week earlier, a last-minute scheduling change moved the British rockers to this week's season-ending show, as producers had 2 hours of programming to fill (to meet advertising commitments) for about 10 legitimate minutes of content.

Leppard performed a mix/medley featuring "Rock Of Ages" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me." more on this story

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Music Leads To Better Hearing
(Rock News Desk) A scientific study suggests people who play musical instruments throughout their lives are likely to have better hearing in their later years.

Researchers say a 70-year-old musician will have ears are strong as those of a 50-year-old non player – meaning a life in music could keep hearing 30% better than it otherwise would be.

Hearing ability is known to decline naturally with age, with as many as one in three experiencing moderate loss by their 60s, and two in three by their 80s. more on this story

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Jeremy Piven Honors Slash With Stones at Benefit
(TMZ) Jeremy Piven returned to the stage Tuesday night ... WITH A VENGEANCE.

Piven was tearing it up behind the drum set for a Rolling Stones tribute band in NYC ... and it was all to benefit young, recovering addicts.

The event was hosted by an organization called Road to Recovery -- and even though Piven dominated ... the entire thing was put together to honor Slash from Guns 'N Roses. more on this story

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Limo Driver Doesn't Remember Giving Reality Show Permission
(TMZ) The limo driver who sued the people behind the TV Guide reality show "Nail Files" for violating his privacy has a big problem ... in the form of a signed release form obtained by TMZ.

Fred Busby -- a limo driver -- claims he was taking the star of the show and her cameraman to LAX, when he went into a diabetic coma. Busby says the show aired the footage and portrayed him as drunk ... even though he insists he never signed a release form.

But we now have a release form that appears to show Fred's signature not once, not twice but three times.

The form states, among other things, "I recognize that my signature on this release is a condition of Company permitting me to be a guest/participant in the Programming or both"

We spoke to Fred's lawyer who tells TMZ, "My client does not recall signing any such documents"

The lawyer went on to imply that Fred may have been "incapacitated" when he was asked to sign the release, and therefore even if he did sign " it would not be enforceable" more on this story

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Chaka Khan Wins Grandchild
(TMZ) Chaka Khan just won temporary custody of her 10-year-old granddaughter because the child's parents are drug addicts -- this according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Chaka filed a petition for appointment of guardianship last week -- claiming she has already "assumed on a day-to-day basis the role of the child's parent fulfilling both the child's physical and psychological needs for care and affection."

Chaka claims the child's mother -- who lives in the same house -- is incapable of caring for the girl because of a "heavy involvement in drugs."

Chaka's sister Tammy McCrary -- who was also awarded custody -- filed an additional statement in the petition, claiming Chaka's son "also uses and abuses drugs and other illegal substances."

The judge temporarily granted the petition for custody on September 6th ... and extended it today. A hearing is set for October to make it permanent. more on this story

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Snooki Swaers She's Not Obscene
(TMZ) Snooki swears she's NOT an Obscene person ... but she claims the Obscene Jeans company used her name to promote the brand anyway ... and now the MTV star is calling them out.

It's all over a press release Obscene sent out Monday -- announcing a new product placement deal with Celeb Branding, LLC to "outfit the female cast members of 'Jersey Shore' in its hottest new fashions." The statement mentions Snooki, Jwoww, Deena and Sammi by name.

But Snooki's rep claims Snooki has NOTHING to do with the company and it had no right to use her name.

The rep tells us, "The inclusion of Ms. Polizzi's name in the announcement was unauthorized. Ms. Polizzi has never been approached by the company."

It's unclear if Snooki will be pursuing legal action against the company. more on this story