The reason to root for Kanye West's puppet show

Another week, another Kanye West headline. The Hollywood Reporter had the news this morning that West is developing a show described as "hip-hop meets the Muppets" for Comedy Central. This isn't completely new territory for the uptown rapper, as Stereogrum reminds us that Kanye has already gotten the puppet treatment via his video for "Champion," for which a screenshot is below.

Whether the news that West has shot a half-hour pilot interests you will likely depend on A) your interest in Kanye (he's good), or B) your thoughts on Jackhole Productions, the Jimmy Kimmel-associated company that was behind Comedy Central's "Crank Yankers" (a show that was bad). But credit West for looking for fresh ways to expand his own brand, and thankfully avoiding the bad action-movie route that befell fellow Chi-Town rapper Common.

But beyond seeing a puppet-tized version of Kanye, perhaps the real reason to tune in will be one of West's collaborators in the series, yet another Midwest-bred rapper in Rhymefest. Billed as an exec producer on the show, the working-class musician released one of the stronger albums of 2008, and it doesn't cost a dime. His collaboration with celeb producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse) for the Michael Jackson tribute "Man in the Mirror" is a free download away, and humanizes Jackson while struggling to manage one's own aspirations in a fame-obsessed culture. Any more exposure for Rhymefest is welcome.

Tentatively titled "Alligator Boots," the project is reported to be under consideration for airing in 2009.

Jack White, Alicia Keys misfire on new Bond theme

The song: Jack White and Alicia Keys, "Another Way to Die"

The good: It brings a bit of rock 'n' roll bite to the Bond theme and is instantly more memorable than the song Chris Cornell recorded for "Casino Royale."

The bad: Any hooks by the song are provided by riffing on the instantly recognizable Bond theme, not by anything new offered in the song. And Keys, usually a relatively bold, in-your-face R&B singer, seems oddly tamed here, her voice not meshing well with White's yelled warble. In her defense, it's hard to not sound silly when you sing, "Suit 'em up, bang bang!" And there's some odd, out-of-place sudden electronic textures here and there, resulting in an overly-crowded song.

Final thoughts: One of the highest-profile film-related songs of the year, "Another Way to Die" is too firmly entrenched in Bond-lore to have any sort of life outside of the upcoming film, "Quantum of Solace." The first mistake was mimicking an iconic film score with some electric guitars and modern effects, which is always, always, always, always a bad idea (see Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton in "Mission Impossible"). But don't fault White and Keys too much, as tackling a Bond theme has proved to be an insurmountable task for a bevy of pop stars of late. Everyone from Cornell to Madonna to Garbage has seemed to drown under the pressure of having to craft a tune for the franchise, trying too hard to sound modern (see Madonna's "Die Another Day," the music equivalent of soulless CGI effect after CGI effect), or burdening songs with overwrought string arrangements (see Garbage's "The World Is Not Enough").

The promise of White roughing-up the Bond song was intriguing, but by the 15th second of the tune, "Another Way to Die" reveals itself to be little more than hard-rock updating of the James Bond fanfare. It's passable, certainly, and for a brief second it even sounds as if the song might veer into harder, Black Sabbath-like territory. But it soon slinks away into jam-packed busy verses, where orchestral flourishes and trash-can rhythms battle for airtime under the anonymously shouted vocals of Keys and White.

As ignorable action-movie background music, "Another Way to Die" probably works just fine; its bombastic drums are a more than workable sound to some seven-figure, crash-and-bang effects. Yet about halfway through the song, the piece dissolves into a bit of a mess, with out-of-place "whoa-whoas" and a cheesy squiggles of a guitar solo. It's probably easier to stomach in the midst of a fight scene and works just fine in a brief television commercial.

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Photo: Sony Pictures

'Bond' and Coke don't mix for Jack White, but didn't he already drink the Kool-Aid?

Those who want an easy sneak of the new James Bond theme can get a snippet of it via a television ad, where the song has made its debut. The cut, "Another Way to Die," is from this winter's "Quantum of Solace," and was recorded by Jack White and Alicia Keys.

Late last week, the NME had posted a brief news item declaring that White and his management were displeased with the song's placement in the ad. White's people said:

"Jack White was commissioned by Sony Pictures to write a theme song for the James Bond film 'Quantum Of Solace', not for Coca Cola ... Any other use of the song is based on decisions made by others, not by Jack White."

Any chance Sir White got a little confused as to exactly what franchise film he recorded a song for?

Don't get us wrong, there's plenty-o-Bond fans here at 202 W. 1st St., but recording a song for a Bond film isn't all that different from recording a tune for an extended commercial.

To take the cynical stance, the Bond films are a bit like live-action catalogs, a two-plus hour showcase for new cars, watches, gadgets, booze and clothes. According to this 2005 Forbes article, the last Bond film, "Casino Royale," featured six brands with prominent screen time, which was, to be fair, was a bit low for a series that has launched new car campaigns.

While corporate cola jingles may not be as cool as Bond set pieces, White and Keys weren't recording a song for a well-meaning indie film here struggling to find an audience. And besides, based on the brief ad, "Another Way to Die" pretty closely mirrors the Bond score as it is, making it belong more to Bond lore than it does any single artist.

Is Kanye West taking Web criticism to heart?

A little more than a week after debuting his new single, "Love Lockdown," on the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West has posted on his blog that a new version of the song has been recorded. The paparazzi-battling West wrote, "Your prayers have been answered!! There's a new version of Love Lockdown coming. We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it."

Hmmmm? Perhaps West didn't like some of the criticism the song received?

As noted earlier, a few prominent publications took West to task, questioning his more straight-forward vocal approach in the relatively spare and moody song. But whether or not you like the song (and I'm a big fan of the tune), what's most intriguing about this development is the idea of West turning his upcoming "808's and Heartbreak" into a sort of work in progress and offering the public a glimpse at the process. It's the mix-tape on a much grander scale, with an artist perhaps re-recording a song after it received a giant shrug from the public.

"Love Lockdown" version 2.0 isn't all that much different. The rhythms are a little more amped-up in the chorus, West's vocals seem to get a bit more enhanced and the song is graced with a bit more of an electronic buzz. West's readers appear to be pleased, with multiple readers praising the new version for being more "powerful."

My one criticism of the song hasn't changed, and it's that West "goes a little overboard on the vocal manipulation." But West wrote in an earlier post (now replaced, but quoted on Pitchfork), that the effect is here to stay: "Sidebar ... if you don't like autotune ... too bad cause I love it and have been using it since The College Dropout!!!"

Image: http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/

Has 'Love Lockdown' got you excited for more Kanye?

After debuting his new song at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday, signs are pointing to a winter release for Kanye West's new album, which, according to retailers Amazon.com and Target.com, is titled "808's & Heartbreak."

But there's a slight mystery here, as the album is listed as being released by a Pendulum Records. Pendulum Records? Kanye is signed to Roc-A-Fella/Island, and Pendulum is in the midst of working the debut gospel album from Regina Belle.

The official Roc-A-Fella site has no mention of the album, Kanye hasn't responded via his blog, and we've requested some confirmation/denial from a Kanye spokeperson, which we have yet to receive. Kanye, has however, made "Love Lockdown" available as a free download on his site, and you should go grab it, as it's a terrific song.

Retailers are listing the new album with a Dec. 16 street, meaning it would be eligible to lose a Grammy for album of the year in 2010.

"Love Lockdown" saw West again going in a new direction. It's arguably West's sparsest, spookiest song to date, built around a stalking bass, a menacing, jazz-like piano and a haunting rhythmic march. West, singing "I ain't loving you, the way I wanted to," is putting his electronically enhanced vocals front and center. He's half singing, half lecturing, and his gradual build matches the torment and tension of the music. 

But others weren't so kind. The New York Times' Jon Pareles wrote that West "made the mistake of singing rather than rapping," and Simon Vozick-Levinson, one of the Pop Watchers at Entertainment Weekly, wrote "This song would be awesome ... if Kanye gave it to an actual singer."

But the vocal approach West takes in "Love Lockdown" isn't all that different from some of his past works (see "Drunk and Hot Girls"), and it sounds even more damning on the single version than it did live (although I do think West goes a little overboard on the vocal manipulation). But it again proves West to be the rarest of superstars -- an artist unafraid to challenge himself, and to trust his instincts enough that he'll perform a new song on such a staged and safe event as the MTV Video Music Awards, where a comedian with some scripted and amateurish political jokes passes as rebellion.

Via Billboard.com

Photo credit: Associated Press

The MTV VMAs: What you didn't see on TV

Los Angeles Times contributor Denise Martin is reporting live from the benches on the Paramount Pictures lot, the site of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

Bubbly for Britney: MTV ensuring its audience stays happy for Britney's kick-off: Free Champagne for the audience. Throughout the night. Twenty minutes until the show starts and people are on their third round. And no one's carding.

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson taking their seats together. No PDA. Yet. Eyes peeled.

The collective "whaaaa?" after Britney's 15 second opening monologue. Big beefy security guards rushing her straight out of the building. She's gone before Rihanna takes the stage. (Britney later returns to the crowd to laugh as host Russell Brand makes fun of Gov. Sarah Palin.) Britney gets a second standing ovation after winning her first ever VMA.

"Twilight" star Robert Pattinson waiting on the sides, playing with his wild hair.

DJ AM and Travis Barker spinning music during commercial break - and no one dancing - while Jonah Hill poses for fan pictures. He's the only celebrity so far to do so.

Michael Phelps getting the best reception of the night so far. (Even the Jonas Brothers pale next to eight Olympic gold medals.)

Chris Brown busting a move in the aisle for Lil Wayne. And getting a shout out in return mid-performance.

Brett Ratner hob-nobbing with Viacom execs before Paramore took the stage. And Robert Pattinson looking confused (yet relieved) after Russell Brand cut off his introduction of the band.

Making it official: Joe Jonas taking his seat next to -- sorry ladies -- Taylor Swift. They even posed for photographers! Kind of heartless, though. Nick sat watching in silence as rumored ex-girlfriend Miley Cyrus introduced Pink.

Lead Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger's Miley love: She not only stops Cyrus for a hug during a break, she follows her to her seat for more one-on-one time.

Inspiring a collaboration? Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas getting way into TI's ode to excess "Whatever You Like" and then getting down to his duet with Rihanna.

Is Perez getting a cut from the label? Amongst a sea of too-cool celebs, Perez Hilton waving his hands in the air and singing along to LL Cool J's impromptu performance of a new song off his upcoming album.

For the record: An earlier version of this post misidentified Joe Jonas as Kevin Jonas.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian / AP

Live blogging the MTV VMAs

5:05 p.m.: The red carpet is open, and the countdown to Britney Spears' appearance has begun. How times have changed. Only one year ago, Spears showed up at the MTV Video Music Awards, and -- by all accounts -- appeared to destroy her career. But a couple guest stints on "How I Met Your Mother" later ('she acted sort of OK!!!!'), and everyone seems to have forgotten about all the craziness and complete lack of talent -- other than the ability to look pretty while dancing. Yay. Thus begins the 'what will she do now' hype, which the Los Angeles Times is not immune to, and the only real thing that passes as drama for tonight. So now that 2008 is The Great Britney Comeback, what can MTV do for an encore in 2009? Surely producers are already plotting some 2009 Brit stunt.

5:10 p.m.: MTV tells us that all the stars' cars are affixed with GPS devices, so everyone's arrival can be tracked as they make their way to the Paramount Pictures gate on Melrose and Bronson. This sounded exciting. We dashed to MTV.com to see if there was some type of fancy map with moving cars. No, they're wasn't, but maybe the pre-show will cut to a graphic of all the cars making their way through Hollywood? In fact, Katy Perry is nearby, MTV tells us. The cameras cut to Perry's car. Hmmmm. As far as we can tell, the GPS consists of a giant paper sign that says "Katy Perry" affixed to the hood of the limo.

5:15 p.m.: T-Pain is arriving with a "circus" to hype his album "Thr33 Ringz." His circus? An elephant, a drummer and what may or may not be a member of Slipknot.

5:17 p.m.: Country tart Taylor Swift is doing red carpet interviews and talking fashion. Swift herself is decked out in a sparkling gold dress. We've already made this joke.

5:24 p.m.: MTV's GPS tells us Panic at the Disco is nearby. Panic at the Disco's GPS system? A giant placard on the the hood of the car.

5:26 p.m.: Katy Perry tells us she "doesn't have a whole lot of money." Kids, stay away from those major label deals. And keep your publishing.

5:34 p.m.: Coffee break. "America's Best Dance Crew."

5:43 p.m.: Paris Hilton & Benji Madden, with some pink paint on their Twitter-friendly limo, "BFF."

5:45 p.m.: Swift and the Jonas Brothers, and Swift is practically speechless, playing the part of every teenage girl in America.

5:50 p.m.:  Ashlee Simpson on how to show up at the MTV VMAs when pregnant: You have to "pick a dress that doesn't stick to your stomach."

6:01 p.m.: Spears and "Superbad's" Jonah Hill, with Spears showing off those "HIMYM" acting chops in a sub-"SNL" bit about Hill thinking they're on a date.

6:02 p.m.: Spears opens the show! By saying one sentence really fast and reading from the teleprompter without flubbing her lines and then walking off stage and not tripping and looking good in her dress! She's back!?! Welcome to the 25th anniversary of the awards, she says, and we're off.

6:05 p.m.: It's the light-stick-waving gang from "Batman & Robin," and on comes Rihanna, dressed for a screen test to a sequel for "The Outsiders," singing a version of "Disturbia" that references the Eurythmics and the White Stripes.

6:11 p.m.: British comedian Russell Brand comes out attacking U.S. politics, and fires off a round of jokes directed toward Republican vice president candidate Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter. A wee bit heavy on the American political jokes, me thinks. Brand then moves to mocking the Jonas Brothers and their supposed virgin status, and brings his routine full circle. "Eight years of Bush are what the Jonas Brothers are going to have to cram into their bachelor parties." The tween parents must be loving this.

6:18 p.m.: Winner best female video: Britney Spears' "Piece of Me." Spears topples the No. 1 single of the summer, Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl." But do we really even need to give out awards at these things? Everyone remembers the best picture winners at the Oscars, and the album of the year winners at the Grammys, but does anyone recall who won a "Moon Man" at the 2005 MTV VMAs? Is that stuff even in Trivial Pursuit?

6:27 p.m.: Demi Moore (Demi Moore?) introduces best male video, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the MTV VMAs by wearing an outfit straight out of the '80s. Chris Brown wins for "With You."

6:30 p.m." The Jonas Brothers performing "Lovebug" acoustically, singing it outside on Paramount's New York backlot. It looks like they're on the set of "Sesame Street," but then it gives way to an all-out Disneyland-meets-"A Hard Day's Night" onslaught of tweens.

6:35: p.m.: Cut to Katy Perry singing "Like A Virgin." Classy post-Jonas Brothers move. But we only get about 40 second of it, and then it's that bad Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercial.

6:40 p.m.: Poor Katy Perry. She loses to Britney, and then cuts her two songs shafted by commercial breaks. And she showed up at the awards wearing what looked to be a diaper.

6:41 p.m.: Michael Phelps! "A true American hero" says Brand, introducing Leona Lewis to kick off a disaster of a medley with Lil Wayne. This is a mess from the start. Wayne's "A Millie" is loaded with too many expletives to even translate on TV, and then T-Pain arrives to join Wayne for "Got Money" and obliterate any sense of groove. Kanye, you must have some glow-in-the-dark effects that are more impressive than all of this, no?   

6:47 p.m.: Some sort of award is given to some people from "America's Best Dance Crew." Two minutes of life, wasted.

6:48 p.m. Best dancing in a video: The Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up."

6:56 p.m.: After a long commercial break, we're back to see Danity Kane and Pete Wentz reminding viewers to vote for best new artist, and are treated to a bit of Danity Kane counting the votes. Finally, something the girl-group is actually suited to do.

6:58 p.m.: Paramore is said to be performing a few miles away in West Hollywood at the Whiskey A Go-Go, but then they're not, and are just performing on a set that kinda looks like the club's stage. Paramore sings "Misery Business," and Hayley Williams is strutting like a hair metal star as she powers through the song's choppy riffs and clunker of a chorus. Poor Katy Perry. She gets chopped by a commercial break, and she has to endure a full Paramore song?

7:07 p.m.: Russell Brand with another joke about the Jonas Brothers' promise ring. Really, the fact that they wear promise rings isn't really funny.

7:09 p.m.: For those keeping score at home, Linkin Park won best rock video for "Shadow of the Day." Watch it on mute.

7:11 p.m.: Miley Cyrus is doing the new commercial for Rock Band! Oh no, that's the show.

7:13 p.m.: Pink is performing on the Jonas Brothers set, but she's blowing stuff up, cuz she's older and all. She tears off a blue dress for an all-leather outfit, performing on a stage with mini pyrotechnics. The song is still a Joan Jett throwaway.

7:20 p.m.: The Ting Tings! For about 10 seconds. How was that worth it for the act? So they got to perform to a bunch of drunk VIPs and journalists?

7:24 p.m.: Slipknot comes out with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), who's pretending he's drunk. The bit is actually kinda funny, and Plasse was wearing a Slipknot mask, but quickly becomes not-so-funny when Slipknot quieted the room by threatening to beat him up. Then Lil Wayne won for best rap video.

7:27 p.m.: Jordin Sparks, sticking up for promise rings. The "Idol" kids bring some heartland values to the event.

7:29 p.m.: T.I. sings "Whatever You Like," cruising around the backlots. Then cue the Numa Numa dance, and on comes Rihanna to duet for "Livin' My Life." She comes off better here than she did during "Disturbia," as there are no glow-sticks, and her cool-as-ice approach immediately cuts through the sample of O Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei."

7:39 p.m.: Christina Aguileria giving "Genie in the Bottle" a bit of rock 'n' roll makeover before she covers Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl." Oh wait, never mind, that' Aguileria's new single, "Keeps Getting Better."

7:42 p.m.: Russell Brand starts apologizing for mocking the Jonas Brothers' promise rings, and the Jonas boys actually look somewhat hurt.

7:44 p;.m.: Best new artist goes to Tokio Hotel, beating Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Jordin Sparks. Bit of a surprise to see the glammy pop-punk band take it. Maybe Universal had its interns working overtime on the text messaging.

7:50 p.m.: This Travis Barker/DJ AM thing is thankfully confined to the commercial breaks. Not even LL Cool J can save that thing.

7:52 p.m.: Paris Hilton arrives to hpye her new MTV show, which was already name-checked once in this blog, and that's more than needed.

7:53 p.m.: The Britney comeback continues!!!! She wins for best pop video. "This little Moon Man is cool," she says. She thanks God for the second time, and add her label this time around.

7:54 p.m.: Lupe Fiaco performs "Superstar," in what is instantly the most compelling live moment of the show, but then it's interrupted by a Taco Bell ad behind him.

8:00 p.m.: To the commenters who are upset about the Russell Brand's political jokes, here's some Kid Rock to even things out for you, with his Skynyrd-sampling bundle of fake American nostalgia "All Summer Long."

8:08 p.m.: Kanye West to be performing a new song. So for those on the West Coast looking for a reason to DVR the show, and wondering what to fast forward to, pretty much just the Kanye performance that closes out the show.

8:10 p.m.: Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year. Britney cannot win video of the year.

8:11 p.m.: Britney wins.

8:12 p.m.: Wow, MTV. How desperate are you to have some sort of star back? Pathetic.

8:13 p.m.: Kanye singing"Love Lockdown." So what, Herbie Hancock wasn't available to debut some new jazz interpretations of pop songs?

8:17 p.m.: "Love Lockdown:" Kanye almost approaches singing in the song, which is sparse, based on a vintage, jazzy piano line, and slowly builds, thanks to an arsenal of drums. It doesn't end the show with a bang, but instead gives the MTV VMAs some actual art.

8:23 p.m.: Perez Hilton is interviewed, and confessed he voted for Britney three times. People vote on these things? They're not just engineered with record labels as promotional gifts? Huh, one would never know, as the 2008 MTV VMAs were about little more than setting up a comeback for Britney Spears, although she did little more than walk around and not flub her lines. But the best performance of the evening goes to Kanye, followed closely by 10 seconds of Lupe Fiaco, followed closely by the Rihanna/T.I. pairing. But did anything happen tonight that will be talked about tomorrow? Maybe a bad promise ring joke or two, but nothing that made me forget about the horrific lose by the Chicago Cubs earlier in the day. Till next music awards.

'Betrayed' by MTV no more, Kanye West to close VMAs

It's Britney and Kanye together again.

Rap superstar Kanye West is set to close out the 2008 edition of the MTV Video Music Awards, according to MTV's site, to be held Sunday night at the Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles. West, who's not one to shy away from an award show billing, is apparently back on good terms with VMA producers. The far-from-shy rapper vowed to never again perform at the VMAs just one year ago, according to MTV.com.

Last year's VMAs, held in Las Vegas, had West performing off the mainstage, and shut out in all five categories he was nominated in. The Chicago-bred star also lashed out at the network for having Britney Spears open the show in what has become known as one of the more awkward live performances in television history.

After last year's telecast, West was quoted as saying MTV "exploited Britney in helping to end her career," and that he felt as if he "got betrayed" by MTV by having to appear on a secondary stage.

But West and award shows appear to have a love/hate relationship. He lashed out at American Music Awards in 2004, and the following year, he said "I'm gonna really have a problem" if he didn't win a Grammy for album of the year. He didn't win. Then in 2006, West declared: "If I don’t win, the awards show loses credibility,” after failing to win the best video prize at MTV Europe Awards.

But all this back-stage drama has happened while West has delivered some of the strongest award show performances in recent memory. His glow-in-the-dark appearance with Daft Punk may have been a table-setter for his tour, but it was the liveliest moment of last year's Grammys (revisit it below). Likewise, his 2006 take on "Golddigger" was an all-out pep-rally. 

West brings a bit more star power to this year's VMAs, which also features performances from Spears, tween stars the Jonas Brothers, newcomers the Ting Tings, rapper of the moment Lil Wayne, and pop stars Rihanna and Pink, among others.

Christina Aguilera was also a late addition to the awards.

Sharon Osbourne responds

Last Tuesday, Extended Play did a post concerning Penelope Spheeris' Ozzfest documentary "We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll." Shot in the late '90s, the film has never seen wide release and has been held up in what has been reported as "music copyright issues."

Last week's blog post was written after Rolling Stone interviewed Ozzy Osbourne's son, Jack, who told the publication he is filming a documentary about his father. Instead of discussing Jack's film, Extended Play used the opportunity to highlight Spheeris' still-unavailable film, writing that it "remains a fascinating look at Ozzy, the music business and life as part of the traveling circus that used to be Ozzfest."

In the post, Spheeris said the film may never be released.

Extended Play wrote:

Spheeris said, "I don't know. I think that's more a question for Sharon Osbourne."

Spheeris, who said the film's rights belonged with the Osbournes, said she spent 3 1/2 years filming and working on "Sold Our Souls," bits of which she said had surfaced in Ozzy-related TV and promotional specials. She said that a week before the movie was to be released, she received a call from a lawyer who said the music had not been cleared, as the bands performing on Ozzfest had not signed any agreements to be used in her documentary.   

Said the "Wayne's World" director, "The good news is that I became an expert on music clearance."

For a while, she hoped the film would eventually see the light of day, but today Spheeris seems resigned to the fact that it may never be shown in the form she intended.

"I woke up literally for a couple years and opened my eyes and tears just came streaming down.... [Sharon] basically asked me to stop showing. I'm not going to go up against Sharon," Spheeris said.

At the time, calls and e-mails were placed to representatives of Sharon Osbourne, asking about the possibility of the film ever seeing release, and to respond to Spheeris' comments. Sharon's publicist with the Mitch Schneider Organization later replied with what she said was an e-mailed response from Sharon.

The e-mail is printed below in its entirety.

Dear Todd,

In answer to your questions:

We would love for “We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll” to eventually be released. We didn’t invest over a million dollars in the movie to keep it locked away. In reality, we were unable to secure the necessary music licensing and talent releases from all of the bands that participated in the documentary. We needed a substantial amount of money to secure these releases so as a business proposition it just didn’t make sense to pour even more money into the project. We all tried to find an independent backer to come in, but were unable to find anyone.

As far as not allowing Penelope Spheeris to show the documentary at film festivals, please see below the list of festivals where I know that the film was shown (and there may have been more).

-Sundance Film Festival (2001)
-SXSW Film Festival (2001)
-Melbourne International Film Festival (2001)
-Sydney Film Festival (2001)
-Singapore International Film Festival (2001)
-Silver Lake Film Festival (2001)
-Chicago Underground Film Festival (2001)
-San Francisco Independent Film Festival (2002)
-Boston Underground Film Festival (2002)

I also arranged for two industry screenings in Los Angeles and London that I totally financed at great expense in an attempt to find a distributor for the film.

Tell me, what sense does it make for us to invest one million dollars in a film to let it sit? I truly wish that Penelope had found us an independent backer so we could have finished the project. Let her find us a backer to complete the project and we’ll do it. 

Finally, I find your comments about “We Sold Our Souls…” being a documentary on Ozzy Osbourne very misleading. It is not! “We Sold Our Souls…” is a documentary on the Ozzfest summer touring festival filmed in 1999. My son, Jack, is producing a documentary on his father’s life.  The two are totally different projects. 

Sincerely,

Sharon Osbourne

Photo: Getty Images

Jack Osbourne need not proceed; Spheeris had Ozzy covered

Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack tells Rolling Stone that he's knee-deep in making a documentary about his father, citing -- in part -- displeasure at the portrayal of Ozzy in the MTV unscripted sitcom "The Osbournes."

"I'm trying to paint a realistic picture of who my father is. I think 'The Osbournes,' to a degree, tarnished the public's perception of my dad as a bit of a senile, funny, bumbling guy," the younger Osbourne told the magazine. "Yeah, my dad can be that guy, but it's not him."

But Jack need not bother proceeding.

There already exists a documentary that portrays Ozzy as human, warts and all, and it was filmed way back in the pre-"Osbournes" era of 1999. Too bad few may ever see it.

"We Sold Our Souls to Rock 'n' Roll," directed by Penelope Spheeris ("The Decline of Western Civilization"), remains a fascinating look at Ozzy, the music business and life as part of the traveling circus that used to be Ozzfest. (In 2008, Ozzfest was a single-date affair in Texas.)

The film has long been held up by what has been publicly reported as "music copyright issues," and news and information on Spheeris' doc are hard to come by. It lacks so much as a Wikipedia page; clips don't seem to exist on YouTube; and Spheeris said at a screening years back that she was allowed to show it only at film festivals at which she was present.

Today, Spheeris said, she's not even allowed to show the documentary at film festivals. When asked if "Sold Our Souls" may ever be released, Spheeris said, "I don't know. I think that's more a question for Sharon Osbourne." (Extended Play has put a call and e-mail out to reps for the Osbournes and is awaiting a response.)

Spheeris, who said the film's rights belonged with the Osbournes, said she spent 3 1/2 years filming and working on "Sold Our Souls," bits of which she said had surfaced in Ozzy-related TV and promotional specials. She said that a week before the movie was to be released, she received a call from a lawyer who said the music had not been cleared, as the bands performing on Ozzfest had not signed any agreements to be used in her documentary. 

Said the "Wayne's World" director, "The good news is that I became an expert on music clearance."

For a while, she hoped the film would eventually see the light of day, but today Spheeris seems resigned to the fact that it may never be shown in the form she intended.

"I woke up literally for a couple years and opened my eyes and tears just came streaming down.... [Sharon] basically asked me to stop showing. I'm not going to go up against Sharon," Spheeris said.

For "We Sold Our Souls," Spheeris' crew hit 28 cities on the Ozzfest trek and captured candid moments with Ozzy and family backstage and on flights. Because it's been about six years since I've seen it, I unfortunately have to refrain from providing specific details about the film, but I remember wanting to see it again, immediately, being taken by how Spheeris was able to balance the fandom with the machinery behind such a massive business endeavor.

Jack's certainly right, in that "The Osbournes" probably changed the public perception of his father and his family, turning them into a sort of live-action cartoon. But an honest portrait of his father already exists on film -- a shame few may ever get to see it.

When told that it's been reported that Jack is filming a documentary about Ozzy, Spheeris laughed and said, "If Jack uses part of my film in his movie, that's when I'm going to stand up and start screaming."

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