Myspace.com is to launch a music service which is being seen as competition and an alternative to iTunes. Record Companies have been concerned about a lack of competition to the Apple service, and now three major record companies - Universal Music, Sony BMG Music and Warner Music - have signed deals with myspace for their new platform “myspace music”. This is seen as competition for iTunes, which in the opinion of many record companies, holds a too powerful grip on the market for digital downloads. Conspicuous is the absence of …

The first decade of the 21st century seems to have been under the sign of comebacks of various accomplished musicians. One of the biggest sensations was certainly the return of Maggie Bell, who had dissappeared for the best part of 30 years, just occasionally popping up to appear in various concerts in her home Scotland. For the rest of the world she seemed unreachable, hiding out in Rotterdam, Holland with her family. Being a Maggie Bell fan since about 1972, I have always been unhappy that I have always for …

You may have noticed a comment on this page by an institution named “The Web Sheriff”. This british-based institution apparently protects the interests of artists on the Internet. Now I would be the first to admit that there is a problem with “peer to peer” technology damaging the record business, and while I feel for the artists who are losing revenue (apart from the superstars, who have more money than they could ever spend anyway), I have little to no sympathy for the big record companies, who seem to have …

After the “Forgotten Hits Newsletter” ran into trouble with certain ISPs that classified it as Spam, Kent has changed the face of Forgotten Hits by starting a blog and a dedicated website. Although he has changed his email provider and he is sending out a reduced newsletter via a gmail account, it looks as though the days of Forgotten Hits as an email is slowly but surely coming to a close.
Comment
Ridiculous
Who has never received emails promoting penis enlargement, viagra and the like? Spam is certainly the biggest problem on the …

And again we take leave of a musician who made a mark on us when we were young. Norman Smith (known as Normal Norman to John Lennon) has passed away at the age of 85. Smith was initially succesful as the Beatles engineer working on every Beatles production between 1962 and 1965, before being succesful at the beginning of the 70s as Hurricane Smith. Unforgotten his hit “Oh Babe what would you say” that hit the top 5 both sides of the Atlantic…
Read the rest of this article on the …

We are sad to announce yet another death this week…. Blind blues guitarist and bandleader Jeff Healey died of cancer yesterday at the age of 41 (2. March), it has been revealed on his website. He leaves his wife Christie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (3)
Healey, famed for playing his electric guitar flat on his lap, died of retinoblastoma which claimed his sight when he was a one-year-old-child.
Read more on the BBC Website
The official Jeff Healey Website

Mike Smith, singer of the British pop group “Dave Clarke Five” has passed away at the age of 64, just days before the band are to inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to the BBC website pneumonia was the cause of his death. The Dave Clarke Five had 19 UK Top 40 hits including “Bits and Pieces”
Read the whole article on the BBC website

It is with deep regret that I pass on the news of the death of Ron (Comatoez). Although he wasn’t a player of Mystery Lyrics, he is well known to many of you that frequent or frequented the AOL Oldies Chat Room. It appears that Ron suffered from heart failure and passed away over Whitsuntide. We shall hold his memory in honor…