A brand new exhibition giving the most personal insight into the family life of John, Julian and Cynthia Lennon launches on Wednesday 17th June at The Beatles Story in Liverpool. Through personal on-screen conversations, Julian and Cynthia take visitors on a journey through their family life - re-living the various phases of a story which begins in Liverpool in the band’s early days, and ends with the tragic and untimely death of John Lennon. In one of the key features of the exhibition, Cynthia recounts how she felt ostracised by The Beatles when her marriage to John broke down, and how she was left to look after their son Julian following the split. Paul McCartney, sympathetic to the emotions of Cynthia and her then five-year-old son Julian, wrote Hey Jude in order to console him during the divorce. The lyrics for the multi-million selling chart topper were composed by McCartney on a car journey as he travelled to visit his fellow Beatle’s wife and son. Originally titled ‘Hey Jules’ for Julian, he later changed the wording to ‘Hey Jude’ as it was easier to sing. Julian bought the notes at auction some years ago along with many of the other items in the exhibition in memory of his father. Other personal possessions, including Lennon’s Honda ‘monkey bike’ motorbike and an electric guitar inscribed with the message ‘To Julian from Daddy, Christmas 1973’, will tell a 20-year tale of John Lennon’s home life and music career. Julian Lennon says: ”John Lennon is an idol to millions of people who grew up loving his music and ideals, but to me he is the father I loved and lost. I hope this exhibition lets people see another aspect of his life and our time together as a family. This collection represents something of great importance to us as it is part of our history. We hope you find it a fitting tribute to a great talent and a remarkable man.’ Jerry Goldman at The Beatles Story comments: ‘The Beatles Story is dedicated to celebrating the music and cultural influence of the Beatles. We are delighted to be working with Julian and Cynthia to tell their story of their life with John through this world exclusive exhibition, being hosted in our new second venue.

Original band members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, came together today to kick off the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit with the world premiere of The Beatles: Rock Band. The first-of-its-kind music-based video game offers a revolutionary tour of The Beatles’ music, career, and legacy. Presented by Apple Corps, Ltd., and MTV Games’ Harmonix Music Systems, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), The Beatles: Rock Band will be released worldwide on 9/9/09, as will the release of the entire, original, digitally re-mastered Beatles CD catalogue. ‘All You Need Is Love’ is also to be released exclusively as a downloadable track through Xbox LIVE on 9/9/09 with charity proceeds to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

The rock video game war will heat up again in the fall: both of the industry’s flagship series are hitting consumers with tantalizing titles in 9/09. Harmonix’s The Beatles: Rock Band arrives September 9th, and now Activision has confirmed Guitar Hero 5 is due September 1st. The game will boast 85 brand-new master recordings, and this week Activision is announcing the band lineup in a series of scavenger hunt-like stories; fans who track down all the featured artists can enter a sweepstakes to win five tickets to concerts at a venue of their choice. Tracks from Queen & David Bowie (presumably “Under Pressure”), Kings of Leon, Santana, Sonic Youth and A Perfect Circle will appear in the game. The title will also come equipped with tunes by Weezer, Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, Elliott Smith and the Bronx. According to information posted on the game’s official Website, the entire set list will be available for play immediately, and for the first time home rockers will be able to select any combination of instruments — so multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers or vocalists will be able to play at the same time (the perfect use for that army of plastic instruments cluttering your living room). There’s also a new Play Party Mode, which allows instruments to join and drop out of a song without interrupting or ending the track; players need to just pick up an instrument and hit a button to join the action without navigating any menus. Gamespot reports that there’s a new series of competitive modes called RockFest, which include Momentum (difficulty level shifts mid-play) and Streakers (bonus for nailing 10-plus perfect notes). A new Revival Meter allows band members to save a weaker player who has failed out. CNET adds that Guitar Hero 5’s new features and downloadable content will be compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour. The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and the White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid” will also appear on the game’s set list, along with songs by Blur, Blink-182, Kiss, Band of Horses and Iron Maiden.

Lion OBrien Formed in 2008, from London, England, United Kingdom Genres:Pop, Rock, Indie Lion O’Brien write songs about love, work, robots, vampires and other aspects of common everyday life. Blending sharp lyrics with infectious melodies and anthemic choruses, Lion O’Brien are striving to forge their own original brand of feel-good music. Originally started by James O’Brien (ex-Costar - Only Ever Records) as a side project in the summer 2008, Bermondsey based Lion O’Brien soon took on a life of its own. After writing an album’s worth of majestically melodic pop songs, James recruited pianist/ backing vocalist Teresa Kelly, and bassist Mike Jones through the small ads. After a host of successful acoustic shows they recruited the Isle of Wight’s best drummer, Eve Barnes, and went electric. Lion O’Brien are currently gigging around the UK, and have been championed by the likes of the BBC’s Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson, and DJ Alex Zane (MTV and XFM). http://www.myspace.com/lionobrien

Def Leppard are set to release deluxe editions of the classic albums ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Adrenalize’ on the 8th June 2009. The band also headline Dublin’s O2 Arena on Friday the 12th June and they headline the UK’s Download festival on Sunday 14th June 2009.

Having sold over 65 million albums worldwide since their debut release in 1980 and proved themselves one of rock music’s hardest working and consistently powerful live bands (playing to over 50 million fans in the last 15 years alone), these timely deluxe expanded editions are a must for any discerning music fan. Def Leppard remain one of only five rock groups who can claim two separate original 10 million plus selling albums in the US (’Pyromania’ being one of them). The others are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen.

Both Deluxe Editions will feature deluxe digipak gatefold packaging with expanded booklets containing rare and previously unseen photographs, comprehensive sleeve-notes telling the story behind each album and include images of rare single covers and memorabilia from the period. Liner notes come from Rolling Stone’s David Fricke.

‘Pyromania’, Def Leppard’s third album originally released in 1983, was the album that took the band to the global stage. Produced by Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, the album sold over 10 million copies in the USA alone and spawned the huge singles ‘Photograph’, ‘Rock Of Ages’ and ‘Foolin’’. The Deluxe Expanded Edition features a remastered version of the original album and a bonus disc of a previously unreleased 15 track show from the LA Forum in 1983.

Blazing a trail for the Black Country’s music scene, Wolverhampton wonder-boy Scott Matthews provided us with a truly spell-binding session. Scott Matthews is a music fan. Raised on a stout diet of classics: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, he tried his hand at the punk-funk route (for a while he says he thought he was Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante), as well as soul and indie. A few years ago he turned to solo singer/songwriting and found his groove. His creative incarnation may have changed, but Matthews still looks to the inventive, classic songwriters for his inspiration, namechecking Ryan Adams, Badly Drawn Boy, Beck and Tom Waits as his current favourites. All these artists point to the kind of things to expect from Scott, although it’s probably Jeff Buckley to whom he’s been most compared, in part because of his fragile yet powerful falsetto vocals, but also for his musicality and rich, atmospheric songs. Matthews is fond of experimenting with soundscapes and instrumentation, and for his debut record, Passing Stranger, used legendary tabla player Sukvinder Singh Namdhari, (who has played with Ry Cooder and Ravi Shankar) along with guitars and strings to add texture. In front of about 100 reverent fans, Scott and his band played his famous haunting single Elusive, along with Dream Song and Passing Stranger to a hushed, captive audience. Proving he’s not let stardom go to his head, Scott spent some time after the session was over, chatting to the fans and signing autographs outside. You can also watch an exclusive behind the scenes feature filmed on the day
Scott Matthews will release his second album ‘Elsewhere’ on May 18th ’09 on the San Remo label through Island Records. Featuring 11 new Scott Matthews compositions it is produced by Scott and Gavin Monaghan (Mercury Rev, The Smiths, Joe Strummer, Elvis Costello). Scott is joined on the album by his regular touring group Danny Keane (cello), Craig Johnson (bass) and Sam Martin (drums) while a string section was drafted in for gorgeous album opener ‘Underlying Lies’ and a horn section for cast iron heartbreaker ‘Suddenly You Figure Out’, while Scott’s brother Darren plays piano on three songs including the first single ‘Fractured’, an atmospheric minor key rocker, which is about needing to help someone once in a while. Check out the video here. The song ‘12 Harps’ features vocal contributions from fellow Wolverhamptonian Robert Plant. Says Scott: ”Elsewhere’ comes from the feelings and emotions that so often dictate my state of mind. It captures my thoughts, frustrations and memories and I also look back on a difficult time emotionally, where the music reveals its healing properties. Hopefully you’ll see ‘Elsewhere’ as a place you can go visit once in a while to get lost in that moment and forget anything you feel needs to be forgotten.’

The full tracklisting for ‘Elsewhere’ is:

1. Underlying Lies
2. Jagged Melody
3. Suddenly You Figure Out
4. Fractured
5. 12 Harps
6. Speeding Slowly
7. Into The Firing Line
8. Up On The Hill
9. Elsewhere
10. Fades In Vain
11. Nothing’s Quite Right Here

The full list of 2009 shows is as follows:

May
19 - Birmingham, Glee
21 - Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
23 - Oxford, Academy
24 - Cardiff, Glee Club
25 - Manchester, Ruby Lounge
26 - Bristol, Fleece
28 - Dublin, Whelans
29 - Liverpool, Academy 2
30 - Glasgow, Oran Mor
31 - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
June
3 – London, Bloomsbury Theatre

Scott Matthews released his debut album ‘Passing Stranger’ on Island Records to widespread acclaim in Oct. ‘06. His singles ‘Elusive’ (for which Scott bagged an Ivor Novello Award for best song), ‘Dream Song’ and title track ‘Passing Stranger’ were on high rotation on the radio through ’07 and the album went on to sell over 80,000 copies. He spent a lot of ‘06/’07/’08 on the road, highlights being a special guest at a Foo Fighters secret show, a support slot with one of his heroes Bert Jansch, a UK tour with Rufus Wainwright and supporting Robert Plant & Alison Krauss on the UK leg of their ‘Raising Sand’ world tour. Album ‘ELSEWHERE’ release date: MAY 18th ’09; ‘ FRACTURED’ EP release date: MAY 11th 2009.