THE BEATLES ANNOUNCE SIX-DISC ‘SGT. PEPPER’ DELUXE EDITION
The Beatles have formally announced the long-rumored 50th anniversary edition of their Sgt, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The reissue, which will be released in single and double-disc versions, will also be issued as a two-record set. The big news is the super deluxe six-CD set features a brand new stereo mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell created from the original master tapes, with two discs featuring 100 minutes of never-before heard outtakes, along with new mixes of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.”
Also included are both DVD and Blu-ray versions of the 1992 documentary, The Making Of Sgt. Pepper, along with 5.1 surround sound and hi-res stereo mixes, a 114-page booklet, two posters and a replica “cut-out” insert from the original album release. In addition to the new stereo remix, the main draw of the set are the second and third discs, which — according to the German Amazon site — features selections from sessions for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Penny Lane,” “A Day In The Life,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Good Morning, Good Morning,” “Fixing A Hole,” “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!,” “Lovely Rita,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better,” “Within You Without You,” “She’s Leaving Home,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).”

METALLICA’S LARS ULRICH SAYS RELATIONSHIP WITH JAMES HETFIELD IS ‘BEST IT’S BEEN’
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said in a new interview with Chilean outlet Sonar FM that his relationship with frontman James Hetfield is “the best it’s been” in their 36-year partnership. Ulrich explained, “I think it’s the best it’s been now. I think we know where each of us are, we know much more about who each other is, and we know how far we can push each other, and I think there’s much more of a partnership going on than there used to be. Now we’re not fighting to win an argument. We rarely argue over anything, and we try to see each other’s point of view much more. It’s called growing up.”
The drummer added, “So it’s in a very good place — much more mature than it’s been forever, basically.”
Ulrich told us a while back that the members of Metallica have gotten along consistently well ever since getting through the turbulent days of the early 2000s: [“I mean, look, we don’t wake up in the morning and call and see how the others slept. I mean, we don’t spend 24-7 together. But the time that we share is definitely, to me, feels as solid and as mutually respectful as it’s ever been.”] SOUNDCUE (:15 OC: . . . it’s ever been.)
Metallica nearly broke up in 2001 when bassist Jason Newsted left and Hetfield went into an extended rehab program amidst band infighting. The period was chronicled in the 2004 documentary Some Kind Of Monster.
Ulrich was also asked by Sonar FM about Metallica now self-funding its own record label, albums and other ventures. Ulrich replied, “Being autonomous and independent is a great position to be in because you never feel like you owe anybody anything.”
Metallica will kick off the North American leg of its “WorldWired” 2017 tour on May 10th in Baltimore. The trek will hit stadiums in 25 cities through mid-August. Support will come from Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat and Gojira.

If you love Disney, but you wish it was MORE METAL, your ship has finally come in.  Available RIGHT NOW is “Metal Disney”, an album full of Disney classics forged in the CHURCH OF SATAN.  (???)
They include “Under the Sea”, “A Whole New World”, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, and even “It’s a Small World”.
It would probably be cooler if they had various established bands tackling the different tracks.  But instead, they assembled a band consisting of singer Mike Vescera and guitarist John Bruno from Obsession . . .
Rudy Sarzo from Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne’s band on bass . . . and drummer B.J. Zampa, who’s played with Obsession, Dokken and other bands.
Vescera says recording this stuff was harder than you’d think.  Quote, “You think, ‘Aw, it’s a kid’s song.’  But when you get into how they wrote these things, they’re quite incredible and really well written . . .
“So it’s just figuring out what exactly is going on and then taking it piece by piece.”

FOREIGNER SALUTING 40TH ANNIVERSARY WITH CAREER SPANNING COLLECTION
Coming on May 19th is Foreigner’s career-spanning double greatest hits collection, titled Foreigner 40, which includes 40 songs recorded between 1977 and 2017. According to the album’s press release, “40 brings together the best songs from Foreigner’s nine studio albums, including all 16 of its Top 30 hits: ‘Feels Like The First Time,’ ‘Cold As Ice,’ ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’ and more.” Foreigner, led by co-founder Mick Jones, is set for a massive 40-date summer run with old friends Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience.
Foreigner 40 also features such recent material as “Too Late” from the group’s 2008 compilation No End In Sight and “The Flame Still Burns,” the title track from a vinyl EP released last year, making its debut on CD on 40. The band’s classic tracks have all been digitally remastered and the album features two new tracks recorded especially for this release — “Give My Life For Love” and a new version of “I Don’t Want To Live Without You.”

The tracklisting to Foreigner ’40 is:
Disc One
“Feels Like The First Time” (Radio Edit)
“Starrider”
“Cold As Ice”
“Long, Long Way From Home”
“Headknocker”
“Hot Blooded” (Radio Edit)
“Double Vision” (Radio Edit)
“Blue Morning, Blue Day”
“Dirty White Boy” (Radio Edit)
“Head Games”
“Women”
“Urgent” (Radio Edit)
“Juke Box Hero”
“Waiting For A Girl Like You”
“Night Life”
“Luanne”
“I Want To Know What Love Is”
“That Was Yesterday”
“Tooth And Nail”
“Reaction To Action” (Radio Edit)
“Down On Love”
Disc Two
“Heart Turns To Stone”
“Can’t Wait”
“Lowdown And Dirty”
“Soul Doctor”
“White Lie”
“Rain”
“All I Need To Know”
“Too Late”
“When It Comes To Love”
“Can’t Slow Down”
“In Pieces”
“Fool For You Anyway”
“Say You Will”
“Save Me”
“Girl On The Moon (Live)”
“Break It Up (Live)”
“I Don’t Want To Live Without You” – New Recording
“Give My Life For Love” – New Recording
“The Flame Still Burns” – First time on CD

WEDNESDAY MARKS 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAYNE STALEY’S DEATH
Wednesday (April 5th) marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley, whose body was found in his Seattle apartment two weeks later on April 19th. Police and medical authorities estimated that Staley had died on or around April 5th — the same date on which Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain took his own life in 1994. Staley, whose long and tragic descent into heroin addiction ultimately sidelined his career and that of his band, had all but disappeared from public view during the last few years of his life. It was only after his accountants notified his mother, Nancy McCallum, than no money had been withdrawn from his bank account for two weeks that she and the police went to her son’s apartment, where they found his remains on the living room couch.
Staley was born in Kirkland, Washington on August 22nd, 1967 to McCallum and Phil Staley. His parents divorced when he was seven, and Layne was raised by his mother and stepfather. He began playing drums at the age of 12, but soon switched to singing and met guitarist Jerry Cantrell in 1987. After rooming together for a while, Cantrell invited Staley to join his band Diamond Lie, which eventually evolved into Alice In Chains. The band, also featuring drummer Sean Kinney and original bassist Mike Starr, eventually became one of Seattle’s biggest “grunge” exports.
Alice In Chains released its debut album, Facelift, in 1990 and became an immediate success, thanks to the single “Man In The Box.” 1992’s Dirt was an even bigger success, spawning hits such as “Rooster,” “Would?” and “Angry Chair.” Yet the album was also a harrowing portrait of drug addiction and foreshadowed the problems that would haunt Staley for the rest of his life.
After several acoustic EPs and a self-titled third studio album in 1995, Alice In Chains virtually dropped out of sight, playing live less and less. Staley did form a side project called Mad Season with other Seattle musicians, which released one album in 1994 called Above. His last live performance with Alice In Chains took place on July 3rd, 1996, when the band opened for Kiss in Kansas City.
The singer’s last recording sessions with Alice In Chains took place in September 1998, when he laid down vocals on two new songs for the 1999 Music Bank box set. Reports of his deteriorating physical condition arose from the sessions.
Little is known of Staley’s life from 1999 to 2002. The last known photo of him, taken in February 2002, is owned by his mother and has never been made public. In his last interview, done in early 2002, Staley admitted, “I never wanted to end my life this way.”

REPORT: DANIEL CRAIG SET FOR ONE MORE BOND
Take that, Tom Hiddleston! Daniel Craig is being wooed by Bond bosses for one final run as 007, Page Six reports.
While Craig previously claimed he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another Bond film, the powers that be are dead-set on him because Hiddleston is simply “too smug and not tough enough” for the role in franchise producer Barbara Broccoli’s mind.
Broccoli and Craig are tight. She also recently produced his hit off-Broadway production of Othello with David Oyelowo, Page Six points out.
An insider blabs: “Daniel was very pleased with how Othello went and the great reviews. Now Daniel’s talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script — screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who’ve penned several Bond movies] are writing and they’ll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit.”
The nail in Hiddleston’s coffin was his highly publicized, cringey romance with Taylor Swift, insiders tell Page Six.

TRAILER FOR HEATH LEDGER BIOPIC REVEALS INSIDE LOOK AT ACTOR: The first trailer for the upcoming SPIKE TV documentary I Am Heath Ledger provides an inside look at an actor who few seemed to truly know. Filmmaker Matt Amato, one of the Oscar-winning actor’s closest friends says: “He wanted fame — and then when he got it, he didn’t want it.” The biopic about Heath Ledger arrives more than nine years after the 28-year-old committed suicide. The documentary will air Wednesday, May 17th at 10 p.m. on SPIKE TV and will debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23rd.
MARVEL’S THE DEFENDER GETS PREMIERE DATE IN NEW TEASER: Marvel’s heroes of Hell’s Kitchen are coming together for an Avengers-style limited series on Netflix, and now we have a release date. A teaser video was released (and then taken down) on YouTube showing footage of the quartet riding an elevator in Midland Circle. On the ride the video showed, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones smashes a security camera at the 8:18:20:17 mark. While the video was taken down, when fans plug those numbers into their browser, it redirects to The York Bulletin, the newspaper Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page works at.

NEW JERSEY TEEN ACCEPTED BY ALL EIGHT IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS: A New Jersey teenager will have to decide which Ivy League school to attend after being accepted by all eight of them. Ifeoma White-Thorpe decided to apply to Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown because they have great research facilities and she wants to study biology and pursue a career in global health. White-Thorpe isn’t sure which school she will choose. (CNN)

COWBOYS QB ROMO LEAVING NFL, WILL REPLACE PHIL SIMMS AS CBS ANALYST: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo announced Tuesday (April 4th) that he’s leaving the NFL and will replace Phil Simms as lead analyst for CBS’ football coverage. As Romo’s requested release by the Cowboys was announced, the franchise’s passing leader didn’t come out and say he was retiring. He made clear that other teams had been interested, but that the broadcasting opportunity was too good to pass up. He told reporters on a conference call, “Do I envision playing football? Absolutely not. Do I expect to get some calls? Yes, that’s the reality.” Romo was Dallas’ starting quarterback for 10 years, but lost the job last season due to a preseason back injury.

APPLE’S LATEST SAMSUNG ORDER CONFIRMS RUMORS ABOUT iPHONE 8: Apple has placed an order for 70 million OLED panels from Samsung which confirms rumors about the new design for the upcoming iPhone 8. The new phone will likely feature a major makeover including an edge-to-edge display, glass body and no home button. The OLED panels will offer brighter displays and better battery life than the liquid crystal displays on current iPhones. CNBC estimates that the iPhone 8 will cost between $900 and $1,000. (Elite Daily)

US IS FACING AN EPIC OUTBREAK OF LYME DISEASE: Experts are warning that that a surge in acorns could cause an unprecedented outbreak of Lyme disease. The rise in acorns means that mouse populations will rise and because of this, so will disease carrying ticks. An estimateed 300,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year but that number could rise in 2017. A mouse’s blood contains the Lyme-causing bacterium Borrelia burgdorfei which gets transferred to the tick’s stomach as it feeds which in turns will be passed on to whatever new host the tick bites on to. (NY Post)

Grilled Cheese Comes Out on Top as Best Comfort Food
When it comes to comfort food, food that you eat that makes you feel better when you’re down or sick, or just want something homey and comfy, what do you to turn to? In a new online survey on the site Ranker, a grilled cheese sandwich finished first as the top comfort food, followed by chocolate and pizza. The top 10 foods on the list were:
Grilled cheese sandwich
Chocolate
Pizza
Ice Cream
French Fries
Macaroni and Cheese
Chocolate chip cookies
Mashed potato
Fried chicken
Spaghetti and meatballs
Check out the full list of the top 50 comfort foods at: http://bit.ly/2nZ7zKM