April 2002 Nippy News

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2002/4/29
WVEE-FM V-103 in Atlanta, Ga., reported producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs was in Atlanta last week and said he has been doing things from a fan's perspective -- music he, as a fan, would like to hear Whitney sing. He thinks this is going to be her best album. (Thanks J.) USA Today has profiled Arista's L.A. Reid in an article that mentions Whitney. The article provides no information about her upcoming album, but provides some perspective on the turmoil and goals the company has been facing in the past two years. A new compilation album called "Funky Ladies Vol. 3" was released recently in Europe by EVA/BMG-ARIOLA. The album includes hits from Whitney (It's Not Right But It's Okay), Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, Macy Gray, Britney Spears and others. Separately, sales of "Love, Whitney" were poor in Belgium. The compilation album didn't appear on the Ultratop Album Chart. (Thanks Eddy VB) FM Hit, the No. 1 radio station in Argentina, celebrated its tenth anniversary by compiling a list of the best hits of the decade in Argentina and worldwide. They ranked Whitney's "I Will Always Love You" at No. 12 on that list. (Thanks Javier)
2002/4/27
Music Charts Update: News from Sweden
2002/4/25

Bandstand Clarification: I asked follow-up questions today of The Hype Council, the company that is handling online promotions for the American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Special. They clarified that Whitney is going to make an appearance on the show, but isn't expected to perform. The report from yesterday confused the extent of Whitney's participation in the show. On the Charts: Whitney's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" slips a bit on the Billboard sales chart. Read the details released today. Princess Update: View the latest VHS statistics for "The Princess Diaries.
2002/4/24
Bandstand Update: According to The Hype Council, Whitney will be performing on The American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Special, set to air Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC-TV. Other superstar artists and performers are scheduled to appear. Viewers also will witness a once-in-a-lifetime supergroup performance involving many of the artists scheduled to perform. The show was taped last week, but no portion of Whitney's appearance has been shown on entertainment news shows yet. The company handles online press for the special. (Thank you W.G. - The Hype Council) Album Schedule Confusion: One of BMG's web sites has listed August 6 as the projected release date for Whitney's next album. Both Arista and BMG have previously stated that Whitney's album is expected to be released in October. It is not unusual for BMG to post conflicting release dates on its web sites. (Thanks Dzemil) Live DVD? CDnow has listed a "Live In Concert" DVD for Whitney with an expected release date of May 14 for the U.S. and Canada. No further details were provided aside from a price of US$32.54. The online retailer said it will post additional information about the DVD if its distributor provides more details. (Thanks Akea)
2002/4/21
Whitney Pictures: The May 2002 issue of In Style Magazine includes two pictures of Whitney that were taken in January at a birthday party for Ming Lee Simmons, the 2-year-old daughter of Def Jam Records' Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee, in Saddle River, N.J. The first picture shows Whitney and Bobby talking to Kimora, and the second picture shows Whitney posing with Bobbi Kristina and Kimora. The magazine also mentions Whitney again on a page covering celebrity godparents, noting that Whitney's godmother is Aretha Frankiln. Here's an excerpt from an article that covers the Simmons party: Guests meanwhile, enjoyed such activities as face-painting and necklace-beading as well as other old-fashioned, pre-Gameboy amusements like ring toss and beanbag toss. Late arrival Whitney Houston, who brought along husband Bobby Brown and 8-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina, may have missed the choo-choo but made it in time to sing "Happy Birthday." She kissed her co-hosts hello and greeted fellow revelers, including Sean Combs' mother, Janice: "Hey, Mama Combs, how you doin'?" Then the superstar entertainer was herself entertained: She nibbled on cotton candy as one clown painted a curlicue on her cheek and another crafted a rose out of a balloon. The rest of the circus troupe prepared for the main event: the lighting of Ming Lee's cake. [Winnie the] Pooh carried it in his paws, and Ming Lee, sucking on a lollipop, smiled as the crowd harmonized around her. "Look at that face! How cute is she?" exclaimed Whitney. Despite the extravagant spread, Kimora Lee pointed out that her daughter isn't always so indulged. "She never gets suckers." Added Dad: We don't like Ming to eat sugar, but today she has had a lot." (Thanks B.J.) Brazil Gold: According to Shopping Music Magazine, both "Whitney: The Greatest Hits" and "Arista 25 Years of #1 Hits" have been certified Gold in Brazil, signifying 100,000 copies. (Thanks Fernanda)
2002/4/19
Music Charts Update: News from Sweden
2002/4/18
On the Charts: Whitney's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" slips slightly in its 40th week on the Billboard sales chart. Read the details released today. For Bobby Fans: Bobby Brown has been working with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on their new LP, "Thug World Order," to be released this summer. On a yet-to-be-titled track, Brown takes it back to his "Every Little Step" days, both singing and rapping on the cut. "It's a song talking about everything everybody is talking about; their cars and their jewelry," member Krayzie disclosed. "We got that but we don't need that to shine." "Dude is like Tupac," Layzie said. "He's off the hook. He's live. He wrote the rap in his head in like five minutes. Dude was cool to work with. He's real professional. You could tell when you work with him, he's been doing this since 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'Mr. Telephone Man.' His work ethics is like Tupac." "When people hear it, they gonna say, 'OK, OK,' " Bizzy chips in. "It's not no joke. He's holding his own too. If you can get on a track with these brothers and hold your own with these brothers right here, you're alright with me." [From SonicNet] Princess Update: "The Princess Diaries" has moved down on the VHS charts. You can view two charts (1 & 2) for the weeks ended April 6 and April 14.
2002/4/13
New RealAudio: The following streaming remix samples have been added to the Whitney-Fan.Com music directory, all of which contain extra adlibs that were never released on commercial singles. Just The Lonely Talking Again (Extended Remix) - rare mix released on 3-track U.S. promo CD and 12" vinyl. We Didn't Know (Extended Remix) - rare mix released on 3-track U.S. promo CD and 12" vinyl. I Belong To You (U.K. Mix) - somewhat rare mix released on 4-track promo 12" vinyl.
2002/4/12
Whitney and She'kspere: Arista's L.A. Reid has told a newspaper that Whitney is recording with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs. You can click on the link above for the full report. The article also covers Reid's work on Bobby Brown's "Don't Be Cruel" album. Check out Rickey Minor's official web site, which has some interesting tidbits about Whitney in his biographical and production pages. As we know, Minor was Whitney's musical director for many years before he began to expand into working on other projects. His biography briefly mentions how he met Whitney and how he became her musical director. Most notably, he talks about Whitney's 1994 performance at the American Music Awards, as well as part of her concert tour to promote "The Bodyguard" soundtrack, during which she performed seven sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and then returned later that year for another seven nights. His production page lists some of Whitney's live performances and album tracks that he has produced and in which he has participated. (Thanks Anthony) Music Charts Update: News from Sweden
2002/4/11
On Bandstand: Whitney is expected to appear on American Bandstand's 50th anniversary special set to air May 3 on ABC-TV in the U.S. You can click the link above for more information. On the Charts: Whitney's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" has moved up more than 10 places on Billboard's Hot 100 sales chart this week based on a buying increase. Read the details released today. Princess Update: You can view two charts (1 & 2) to track "The Princess Diaries" VHS rental and sales statistics for the weeks ended March 30 and April 7. Check out Rui's recently revamped Whitney Houston All Access web site!
2002/4/9
Preacher's Wife DVD Comes To North America Continuing on their quest to liquidate the vaults, Buena Vista has announced a retail date of 8/13 for the following wave of catalog favorites, all priced at their bargain price of $19.95. In good news, each will be presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios, but features are minimal, with only trailers included, if that. Watch for full specs soon, and the titles are Stakeout and Another Stakeout, the cry-fests Beaches and Camilla, Big Business, 80's comedy faves Can't Buy Me Love and Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Tom Cruise in the godawful Cocktail, Loaded, Love Serenade, the Whitney Houston remake The Preacher's Wife, and finally, Tim Burton's Ed Wood. [From DVDFile] Gold Star: The Film & Television Action Committee has awarded Filmed in America Gold Star awards to producers who turned down financial incentives offered by foreign governments and chose to shoot in the United States. Feature recipients include "The Fast and the Furious," "O," "The One," "Planet of the Apes," "The Princess Diaries," "Someone Like You," "Slackers" and "Pretty When You Cry." [From Daily Variety]
2002/4/6
BMG Release Schedule: BMG Germany has provided a list of expected release dates for its top international artists. As you can see below, their expected schedule for Whitney lists her new album for October 2002, which concurs with an Arista report from last month's Nippy News. (Thank you Dominik) INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: BOYZ II MEN new studio album Date of release: May 20 MONICA new studio album Date of release: July 1 O-TOWN new studio album Date of release: July NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Best Of Date of release: August TLC new studio album or Best Of with new tracks Date of release: September Depends on the health of T-BOZ, who suffers from sickle cell anemia. TONI BRAXTON new studio album Date of release: September BLU CANTRELL new studio album Date of release: September MARIO debut album Date of release: September OUTKAST new studio album Date of release: October WHITNEY HOUSTON new studio album Date of release: October SANTANA new studio album Date of release: October ROD STEWART new concept album - All Time Favorite American Songs Date of release: October DIDO new studio album Date of release: October SARAH MCLACHLAN new studio album Date of release: November
2002/4/5
New Candid Photo: Argentina magazine Caras has published a photo of Whitney and Bobby in Miami. You can click on the link above to view it. (Thanks Javier E.) A new article from Billboard with BMG Chairman and CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz says the company plans to release a number of high-profile projects, including Whitney's, in "the next few months." This sentence in the report is merely a generalization, as Whitney is still recording and Arista has yet to launch full-scale marketing plans for her and several other artists listed in the report.
2002/4/4
Whitney In The Studio: As you know, Whitney is in the studio recording her new album. This photo was taken exclusively for Whitney's official Web site. Whitney herself asked for this photo to go to her forever true fans. Per Whitney: "Get ready for another GREAT album for my fans to love. Thank you for your patience! Love Whitney!!!!!" [From the Platinum Club] The fan club photo was taken the same day as the photo issued last month through Corbis. On the Charts: Whitney's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" moves up slightly on the Billboard Hot 100, but slips on the R&B chart. Read the complete statistics released today, plus news from Switzerland. Princess Update: "The Princess Diaries" continues to perform well on video, slipping a bit in VHS rentals and moving up slightly in VHS sales. If you missed the earlier Nippy News, use the News Archive or the newslog.