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The FCC has proposed a $299,997,000 fine against “the largest robocall firm” it has ever investigated, the regulator announced. It would be the FCC’s largest fine ever, and targets a firm that made over 5 billion calls in three months, enough “to have called each person in the United States 15 times,” it wrote. 

The operation is run by Roy Cox, Jr. and Michael Aaron Jones via their Sumco Panama company, along with other domestic and foreign entities. In July of this year, the FCC issued its first ever “K4 Notice” and “N2 Order” directing all US telephone providers to stop carrying traffic related to the car warranty scam calls. “This resulted in a massive, 99 percent drop in the volume of such calls since June, according to [spam blocking app] RoboKiller,” the FCC wrote. 

The FCC proposed its largest-ever fine because it found the robocallers met the criteria for “egregious violations.” Consumers described the calls as “incessant” and “harassment,” and the robocallers used dirty practices like calling health care workers from spoofed hospital numbers. The firm also violated multiple FCC rules, like failing to identify the caller at the start of a message. 

In the calls, a message would open with something like “we’ve been trying to reach you concerning your car’s extended warranty,” and prompt you to speak to a scam “warranty specialist.” Robokiller advises users to avoid the calls in the first place if possible, not follow prompts, and above all, never provide personal information like banking details.

Which track from your 1971 Yamasuki album ‘Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki’ did Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders include on his 2008 ‘Late Night Tales’ DJ mix album?

“I wasn’t aware of this. Could it be ‘Kono Samourai’?

WRONG. It’s ‘Yama Yama’. ‘Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki’ was an ambitious pseudo-Japanese concept album of pop songs…

“At the time, there was a television series called Kung Fu starring David Carradine, and my writing and production partner Jean Kluger and I decided to do something with karate. I wanted to have the special shout of death [kiai] that a karate master uses before he kills somebody on an album. I don’t speak Japanese, so I bought an English-Japanese dictionary, chose the poetic phrases in English and learned the pronunciation phonetically, before teaching the children’s choir the lyrics in Japanese. Even in Japan, they didn’t think it was strange. It must have been a good accent! We hired a Belgium karate master, who wore his traditional outfit and delivered his shout of death. He was in front of me opposite the microphone in the studio and his arm kept brushing millimetres past my face, so I was a little frightened I’d end up dead! But it was fun.”

Which girl group released a cover of ‘Aie a Mwana’ (the best-known title of a song written by yourself and Jean Kluger) as their debut single?

“Bananarama.”

CORRECT.

“And that song is how they got their name as well. I did the lyrics in Swahili, even though I don’t speak the language. I asked the guy I was working with who helped with the lyrics to tell me phrases, and I chose the ones that sounded good. When the single was first released there was a transportation strike, so it flopped because it wasn’t distributed. When I later met Bananarama, I told them I was the godfather of their band and they laughed. Funnily, it was the favourite song of the dictator of the Congo at the time – he told me it was the most popular song in his country.”

Did you enjoy the Bananarama cover?

“No, I thought it was awful! They didn’t know how to sing at the time. [Pause] I’m joking! It was fun. They originally thought it was Swahili folk song, so I was happy with that.”

Which English football team’s fans used the Gibson Brothers’ 1978 hit ‘Cuba’ (which you wrote) as a chant, changing the lyrics to be about central midfielder Thiago Alcântara?

“I’ve never heard of this. I’m learning a lot of things I don’t know about my songs. Which team was it?”

WRONG. Liverpool.

“I need to look that up!”

What was it like working with the Gibson Brothers?

“Good. They were real brothers. I used to work with them as musicians, and one day they came to my house with a demo of ‘Come to America’ and I thought it was great. We were trying to find a name for them and I said, ‘If you were a girl band, it would be easier – we’d call you the Fender Sisters. So we went with Gibson because it was the name of another guitar brand that everybody would recognise. Alex [Francfort], their keyboardist and vocalist, had learned Japanese at school in Paris and told me they spent weeks learning the ‘Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki’ track ‘Aieaoa’ there! When ‘Cuba’ the album was released [in 1979], it only received one review in France which said: ‘If you have this record in your hands, the only thing you should do is throw it in the trash bin!’”

Your son is Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter. But what was the first-ever record cover he appeared on? (Clue: it’s produced by you)

“I remember that he did a couple of record covers. He designed some artwork on a Macintosh paint programme of a dancefloor with coloured squares and I used it for a dance song [‘Ottawan Megamix’ in 1989]. It was so early that I had to get in touch with a little company that had just started in California called Photoshop to get it off the computer so I could use it.”

WRONG. Even earlier, in 1977, he was pictured as a child in a pushchair on the cover of Soul Iberica Band’s ‘Baby Sitter’.

“Ahhh yes! The cover of ‘Baby Sitter’ was taken in the garden next to my house, with the babysitter pushing him in a stroller when he was aged around two or three. ‘Baby Sitter’ was a big disco hit in Japan.”

Did you always know that Thomas would follow in your footsteps?

“Never. His mother wanted him to learn piano and his teacher was in the Opera of Paris. After a while, I asked him if Thomas was any good, and the teacher replied: ‘He’s OK, but he has a great sense of rhythm that makes people want to dance’. When Thomas met [Daft Punk bandmate] Guy-Manuel, their common love was cinema. I think Thomas only came to the studio with me once which is good, because otherwise he would have learned to produce in a normal way and lost what made Daft Punk unique.”

Which band did you once intend to send a letter to asking if you could join them?

“The Beatles.”

CORRECT.

“I didn’t send the letter, but I did songs because of The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney. My brother used to live in Brighton, so I used to get the Beatles records before normal people in France. I was creative at the time and really thought I could bring something to the band, so wrote a letter to them [Laughs].”

Did you ever meet Paul McCartney?

“Yes. I was there when Daft Punk won and performed at the Grammys [in 2014]: during the show, Paul McCartney was singing along and clapping his hands. Afterwards, I saw that Thomas was talking to him for over 20 minutes. I said: ‘What did you talk about?’. He responded: ‘We talked about music. He asked me if I’d like to do a song with him’. I thought: ‘Oh my God!’ So Thomas introduced me to him. That Grammy awards was a special moment for me as a father. I saw Quincy Jones arrive in a wheelchair, and during ‘Get Lucky’, which Daft Punk performed with Stevie Wonder, he stood up and danced. I felt like: ‘Lord, it’s a miracle!’ I was proud.”

What number did Ottawan’s ‘D.I.S.C.O.’ reach on the UK charts in 1980?

“Maybe Number Two?”

CORRECT. Unexpectedly, it was your protest song following the infamous “disco sucks” Disco Demolition Night of 1979 in Chicago, where a mass destruction of disco records took place in a stadium.

“When they burned disco records in America, it was like Nazi Germany burning books with Jewish writers – those books are still read today. And disco still survives today, and is stronger than ever.  The people burning those records were like Trump fans now; it was a homophobic and racist movement. Disco was music made by gay and Black people, so these stupid prejudiced people wanted to use their songs to attack them. So I did ‘D.I.S.C.O’ as a retaliation to say, ‘We’ll see if disco is dead…’.”

On which two Daft Punk albums do you receive a credit?

“It must be the first two.”

CORRECT. On ‘Homework’, you receive a credit ‘for [providing] previous advice’ and on ‘Discovery’, you’re credited under the heading of ‘Design. Concept. Art Direction’.

“When the band started they were in their 20s, so I helped and advised them so that they got total artistic and financial freedom and stayed owners of everything they do. And I’m glad because I think there’s too much interference between the time an artist thinks of a project and when it’s distributed: it arrives distorted. One of the reasons for Daft Punk’s success is that they did exactly what they wanted and it came to the public exactly, unfiltered, from their minds.”

Did Thomas ever rebel against your musical taste?

“He did something worse than that! [Laughs] They did those first two Daft Punk albums in his bedroom next to my room. At the beginning, they were experimenting and I thought it was really special. I didn’t always understand it, and would say: ‘When will you write a song on top of it?’, not realising it was meant to be an instrumental. But whenever I said I liked something, they’d drop that song and I’d never hear it again! I was the benchmark: if I liked it, it wasn’t good enough! So in the end, I stopped commenting! [Laughs]”.

Ironically, it was hearing Daft Punk that made you want to give up making dance music yourself…

“I was doing dance music and when I heard Daft Punk, I said: ‘No, it’s a new generation coming. I cannot compete with this music’. At the time, I also had a big fight with the French authors’ society [about Jewish composers who had their intellectual property rights, and attendant earnings, stripped from them during the Nazi occupation of France] so the idea of writing a song and the rights going to them? I wasn’t into that.”

Was there ever any discussion of uniting the generations and collaborating on a track with Daft Punk?

“No. I was never involved with them artistically and I would never dare to ask to collaborate on a track together.”

What is the name of the 2007 single by Erykah Badu that samples ‘Kono Samourai’?

“I know she used it, but I don’t know the name of the song!”

WRONG. It’s ‘The Healer’.

“Yes! I was surprised, but glad it was used by modern artists. When I saw that Yamasuki was used in an episode of Fargo, that was rewarding also.”

Which famous singer inspired the title of your Soul Iberica Band track ‘I’m Looking For Jeremy’?

“I know that! It was Nina Simone.”

CORRECT. According to Jean Kluger, “a woman in [a] terrible state, who we later realised happened to be Nina Simone, was constantly looking for Abraham. We just changed the name.”

“It was Jean Kluger who had this experience, and I was not there in the studio when it happened.”

It’s one of 20 tracks included on your recent career-spanning compilation ‘The Vaults of Zagora Records Mastermind (1971-1984)’.

“When I was sent the tracklist the label had selected, I had to go on YouTube to verify some tracks to see if I was really involved in them – because I couldn’t remember them at all! [Laughs]. Some I remembered, but others… like when I saw the title of ‘Voyager II’, I thought: ‘Are you sure?!’ But listening back to these tracks, some of which are over 40 years old, I was surprised at how good and present they sounded. Some sound better than some tracks recorded today because they were recorded live on analogue tape. I also realised how serious I was about having fun with my projects.”

In 2021, MC Blitzy, Luis Fonsi and Nicole Scherzinger recorded a variation on Ottawan’s ‘D.I.S.C.O’  with which title?

“It was for a mobile games company. ‘She’s Bingo’?”

CORRECT.

“I win!”

The verdict: 6/10

“I’m very happy, because my memory’s better than I thought! I assumed I’d only get two or three. I will have a good day today!”

‘Vaults of Zagora Records Mastermind (1971-1984)’ is available now via Because Music.

The post Daniel Vangarde: “When I heard Daft Punk, I said: ‘I cannot compete with this music’ appeared first on NME.

Atari CEO Wade Rosen has made a bid to acquire the company after it reported financial issues.

READ MORE: How Atari’s new CEO is pressing continue for the software company

The company recently reported “a liquidity shortfall and additional financing requirements” in it’s half-year financial report, according to PC Gamer.

In a press release, Atari said that that a “friendly offer” had been “initiated to acquire control and increase the managing shareholder’s capacity to support the Company’s development ambitions”.

It continued that Atari’s CEO “intends to further strengthen his interest in Atari’s capital in order to support the Company with rolling out its transformation strategy”.

Wade Rosen. Credit: Press.

In Atari’s half-year financial report, published September 30, 2022, the company shared that “consolidated net income showed a loss of €5.4m for the period compared to a loss of €3.5m in H1 21/22”, citing “uncertain macro-environment” for games and the blockchain.

Speaking to NME ahead of the Atari’s 50th anniversary, Rosen recently spoke about how as a “pop culture brand… appearances in TV, movies, licensing etc, [Atari’s] never been stronger.”

He continued that the perception that games company no longer makes games, is something he’s keen to correct.

“Licensing is a big part of Atari, but we’re also focusing on making premium games for modern platforms.” replies Rosen, “[Scepticism] is understandable, but everybody at Atari today loves games – and they love making Atari games.

“We’re not trying to be anything that we’re not. We’re not trying to compete with companies that we can’t compete with… we’re just trying to make great Atari games.”

The post Atari CEO makes offer to acquire games publisher amid financial struggles appeared first on NME.

Just listen to this excerpt from Twitter Spaces chat, wherein Elon Musk discusses Twitter’s engineering challenges with technically-inclined people. He knows that “velocity” is needed, and he knows that the complexity of “the stack” inhibits this. But he has absolutely no technical understanding whatsoever beyond this, and is made a fool of by Netflix engineer Ian Brown asking him to explain these things in context: “tell me what’s so crazy about the stack; just describe it and how rewriting will gain you velocity.” — Read the rest

When Charlie Cox enters a room, he doesn’t seem like a killer. That’s probably a good thing for him in day-to-day life, but it does make you wonder how he’s wound up playing the roles he has. The British actor’s biggest roles to date are as ex-IRA enforcer Owen in Boardwalk Empire and the title character in Marvel‘s Daredevil – both men unafraid of beating a man to within an inch of his life, or beyond it. And now he’s playing an MI6 boss involved in some very shady business. They say you have to watch the quiet ones. Charlie Cox is one of those quiet ones.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I was doing a very confusing social media thing,” Cox gasps as he crosses a vast conference room at speed. He’s all of five minutes late. There’s no air of mystery to Cox. Quite the opposite. He’s immediately friendly and greets every question as if he can’t wait to answer it. We’re in Netflix’s head office, marooned in a room with seats for 20 (“it feels like one of us is here to be fired”) because he’s promoting a new show, Treason, for the streamer. He plays Adam, Deputy Director of MI6, who’s bumped up to the top job when his boss (Ciaran Hinds) is poisoned.

“A hero does the right thing at great cost to themselves”

It’s a show about which we can say very little, because big twists occur roughly every four minutes, but given the title, it’s not revealing too much to say that Adam makes some highly questionable decisions in episode one, breaking laws he’s sworn to uphold, which will have major repercussions for both him and his country. It’s hard to say whether Adam, who should be in jail, is a good guy or not. “I went back and forth on this,” says Cox. “I ended up feeling that what makes him a hero is that he’s able to ultimately do the right thing at great cost to himself. And he’s able to admit to and recognise past failings. I think that is the essence of modern day heroes, because nobody’s perfect.” It’s a very kind interpretation, though the law may see things differently, m’lud.

Cox works in the role for the same reason he’s so terrific as Daredevil. He has such a nice guy air about him that it’s intriguing when he behaves in any other way. “[He makes me] think of Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford,” says Treason’s creator Matt Charmon, who co-wrote the Tom Hanks-starring Bridge Of Spies. “These are guys that have a deep morality to them, a sort of trust. I think Charlie has that too. When he starts to wander away from what you think he is, you think, ‘Wait, was I wrong? How far is this guy going to go?’ It’s exciting to play with that expectation.”

CREDIT: Netflix

Treason is a spy show with lots of double-crossing and murder, but it’s less concerned with what goes on in the field than what happens to your personal life when you give everything to protect your country. “I really responded to the family element,” says Cox, who has two kids of his own. “The thing that shocked me into paying attention is that these big things happen to Adam early on and rather than them escalating into some car chase or explosion… we keep going back to how this man’s life affects his loved ones.” Treason has Cox playing a different kind of MI6 agent, one who’s mainly fighting battles with his own conscience.

Watching Treason, you might think this is an actor making a canny audition for a bigger spy series. Think again. Cox isn’t interested in playing James Bond. “Is my name even on the list?” he says, with genuine curiosity. “You’re the first person I’ve heard that from.” We’re actually not, he quickly admits. “Someone brought this up the other day and they told me there are odds [for who will play the next Bond]. Then she said, ‘Not for you, sadly.’”

Charlie Cox in upcoming Netflix miniseries ‘Treason’. CREDIT: Netflix

He’s right – yet somehow there are odds for 69-year-old journeyman actor Colm Meaney (300-1) – and that’s fine because he doesn’t want to do it. “The honest truth is that I think there are better candidates out there than me,” he says. “The Bond itch has been scratched a little bit for me with Treason but also particularly by Daredevil. Playing a superhero is not so different.” He doesn’t think the Bond producers should be asking him, a middle-aged white man, anyway. “I think they should do something different – and I think you know what I mean. It would be a really good time and opportunity to do that.”

Even if he were asked, it’s hard to see where Cox would find the time. He’s about to be busy for at least the next year, returning to the defining role of his career, pulling on the Daredevil cowl once more.

“‘Daredevil’ will be dark on Disney+, but it probably won’t be as gory”

Cox first played Matt Murdock, the small-time New York lawyer who has a sideline as a leather-clad crime fighter despite being blind, in Netflix’s series, which ran for three seasons from 2015-18. Well-received critically and commercially, it was a great moment in Cox’s career, and one he thought was done, until he got a call a couple of years ago. “Kevin Feige [head of Marvel Studios] called and said, ‘We’d like to bring you into the MCU’,” says Cox.

To try to simplify a complex situation: Netflix’s Marvel shows – Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Iron Fist, The Defenders – exist outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, made before the arrival of Disney+. When Disney started its own streaming service, with its own shows made in-house, Netflix lost the rights to show anything Marvel and the MCU basically pretended those shows and characters didn’t exist. Daredevil is, so far, the only character Feige has welcomed from the Netflix universe. “I was over the moon,” says Cox. “I love this character.” Feige gave Murdock a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home and a guest spot on She-Hulk. “He said, ‘After that, we’re not sure. We’ll see’.”

Charlie Cox as Daredevil. CREDIT: Alamy/Disney

The reception to both was so good that Daredevil will now return in 2024 in his own Disney+ show, Daredevil: Born Again. Cox is excited about exploring another version of the character. “This has to be a reincarnation, it has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” he says. The episode of She-Hulk, in which he had a one-night stand with the title character, showed Murdock as “quick-witted and funny and charismatic and carefree at times,” which is very different from the brooding Netflix version. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared towards a slightly more mature audience. My instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.” He knows there are people who will be hoping for simply a continuation of the previous series. “I would say to those people, we’ve done that. Let’s take the things that really worked, but can we broaden? Can we appeal to a slightly younger audience without losing what we’ve learned about what works?”

Marvel is putting a lot of faith in Daredevil: Born Again. So much faith that they’re giving it a massive 18 episodes. That’s a number unheard of in streaming shows. Other Marvel shows on Disney+ have got no more than nine. “They said to me, ‘We’re going to be shooting in 2023’,” says Cox. “I said, ‘Great, when?’ They said, ‘All 2023’. I start shooting in February and finish in December.” Aside from the fact he’ll be in production all year in New York, Cox says he knows little of what the show will entail. He says he hasn’t seen any scripts or outlines, which feels hard to believe, but he says it very convincingly.

“I was told ‘Stardust’ would lead to big things but none of that happened”

“I’m fascinated to discover why they’ve chosen to do 18,” he says. “I’m imagining there’s going to be an element to it that is like the old-school procedural show. Not necessarily case-of-the-week, but something where we go really deep into Matt Murdock the lawyer and get to see what his life is like. If that’s done right and he really gets his hands dirty with that world… I think there’s something quite interesting about that, to spend a lot of time in a superhero’s day-to-day life and you really earn the moments when he suits up.”

As evidently excited as he is about Daredevil’s return, there’s a note of caution in Cox’s answers. “You said earlier that I could be busy for years, and I thought, ‘Yeah, maybe. Hopefully’,” he says. “But if this show next year doesn’t hit the spot, then that might be it. Then it’s back to…” He doesn’t finish that thought. He’s not expressing any doubt in Marvel’s ability to make the series work, but protecting himself from great expectations. He’s not taking his big return for granted. Because he’s made that mistake before.

Alongside Sienna Miller in ‘Stardust’, his big break. CREDIT: Alamy

Back in the early 2000s, Charlie Cox was just an unknown actor. He’d done some minor bits in TV and Movies. He was doing fine. Then, suddenly, at 24, he was cast as the lead in Matthew Vaughn’s 2007 fantasy Stardust, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller. Cox was told this was it, the big time. “I’d been on a nice trajectory as an actor, doing little cameos in some interesting movies. Then I had this leap and became the lead of a big studio film,” he says. “I was told by so many people what that would mean and what it would lead to. None of those things happened.”

His big break came to nothing. A year later Cox was unemployed. “The doors did not all open,” he says. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to my career. I almost felt worse off [than if Stardust hadn’t happened]. When you’re up-and-coming, everyone’s interested, but when you’ve had the moment and it hasn’t translated into anything… people look for someone else. There was a period of time when I felt like I couldn’t get arrested.”

In HBO’s hit series ‘Boardwalk Empire’. CREDIT: HBO/Alamy

Frustrated at his lack of progression, Cox decided to take himself out of the Hollywood game for a couple of years, travelling around Africa and India. He went back to acting in theatre. Then he was offered a lifeline. “Boardwalk Empire came along and they offered me three episodes,” he says. The Martin Scorsese-produced, Steve Buscemi-starring gangster series was very high profile. Even a fleeting role would be good for the CV. “I thought, at least if I go into an audition room I can reference this and they’ll know what I’m talking about.” It became much more than a notable hit on his CV. The showrunners liked the character and Cox so much that he wound up appearing in 23 episodes. His run ended, bloodily, in 2012. It was a big enough role that a casting director noticed him when they were considering actors for Daredevil. If he hadn’t said yes to those three episodes, we probably wouldn’t be speaking now.

The commercial and critical success of Daredevil raised Cox’s profile hugely. The big time was calling once again. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, this has been such a success that even when it does end, I’m sure there will be other opportunities’. And there were, but not as many as you’d think. Not the right things.” He’s delighted with the work he’s been able to do, including King of Thieves with Michael Caine and, of course, Treason, but there hasn’t been a glut of projects.

“There were opportunities after ‘Daredevil’, but not the right ones”

He doesn’t say this to moan, but to illustrate why he doesn’t take anything for granted. “You have to do everything in your power to enjoy the moments of success when you’re experiencing them,” he says. It also explains why he’s returning to play Daredevil. He’s not so proud and precious that he feels anything negative about returning to past glories. “I’m incredibly grateful Daredevil’s coming back,” he says. “I love playing this character. How much longer at my age can I play the lead in a superhero film or TV show? Not very long, probably.”

On the day we meet, in mid-December, Cox is two days off his 40th birthday. He’s feeling OK about it, he says. He’s not yet fully in training to play Daredevil again, but he knows it’s going to be tougher than when he was in his mid-thirties. “I don’t remember the last time I didn’t have any [physical] issues,” he laughs. “My shoulder’s done. My knees are in bad shape. My back’s gone.” He guffaws. He says he’s now just used to the fact his body makes a lot of cracks and crunches when he moves around, but he sees plenty of action actors who don’t let a few noisy bones slow them down. “I was at a comic book convention a couple of weekends ago and Jean-Claude Van Damme was there,” he says. “I thought, ‘his body must be making a lot of noise. When he walks around you must be able to hear him!’”

Cox’s joints might be a little louder these days, but he bears all that wear and tear proudly. He’s been knocked about most of his career, both physically and figuratively, and he’s always pulled himself back up, ready to go again. He’s at the highest point in his career right now, the leading man he always wanted to be. What comes after this, he doesn’t know, but he’s gripping his latest chance tightly as he can, determined to enjoy every minute. Whatever the industry wants to throw at him after that, he’s ready for it. Don’t let the nice guy exterior fool you. He’s got plenty of fight.

‘Treason’ streams on Netflix from December 26

The post Charlie Cox: “If the ‘Daredevil’ reboot doesn’t hit the spot, then that might be it” appeared first on NME.

An individual who identified herself as “Mistress” and two associates—all in full BDSM regalia—addressed the Fort Lauderdale City Commission yesterday to ask that Broward County use $250,000 of a $1 million fund allotted for a yard waste processing plant to instead build a dungeon. — Read the rest

Journey‘s Neal Schon has filed a cease and desist to his bandmate Jonathan Cain over a performance at Donald Trump‘s Mar-A-Lago resort.

Last month, Cain performed the band’s iconic hit ‘Don’t Stop Believin” at the Florida complex with politicians and Trump acolytes Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake.

In a letter to Cain – whose wife Paula White-Cain is a former spiritual advisor to Trump – Schon’s lawyer wrote (via The Guardian): “Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarises the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political.

“Mr. Cain’s unauthorised affiliation of Journey with the politics of Donald Trump has the band’s fans up in arms, as is demonstrated by a sample of the attached emails and Twitter comments.

“This has caused, and continues to cause, irreparable harm to the Journey brand, its fan base and earning potential, especially in light of the forthcoming tour.”

“Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics…” the letter added. “He should not be capitalising on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”

In response, Cain said: “Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies.”

Former US President Donald Trump speaks during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on November 15, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida CREDIT: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

This new development is far from the first legal battle within Journey. Schon sued Cain last month over allegations that he was refused access to the band’s credit card, with Cain responding by alleging that Schon added over $1million (£830,000) in personal expenses to the card in question.

Also, Steve Perry, who fronted Journey from 1977 to 1998 and sang on many of their most well-known hits, is attempting to stop his former bandmates from owning trademarks to the names of some of the band’s biggest songs.

As Billboard reports, Journey’s two biggest mainstays – Schon and Cain – hold the trademarks to many of the band’s hits, including ‘Anyway You Want It’, ‘Wheel In The Sky’ and ‘Open Arms’, through their Freedom JN LLC company.

The trademarks covers the use of those titles on merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies and other apparel, making it easier for Schon and Cain to sue anyone infringing the trademark by selling items bearing those titles.

However, in a petition filed by Perry to the US Patent and Trademark Office on September 11, the singer argued that Schon and Cain’s trademark goes against a partnership agreement the trio signed requiring unanimous consent for any business relating to the trademarked songs, and that he had not provided that consent. As such, he has asked the agency to invalidate 20 of the pair’s trademark registrations.

The post Journey’s Neal Schon files cease and desist to bandmate Jonathan Cain over performance at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago appeared first on NME.

The two-year-old Meta Quest 2 is now faster due to a surprise performance boost in the headset’s latest update. Meta boosted the maximum frequency from 490 MHz to 525 MHz, giving all Quest 2 headsets up to 7 percent more performance. 

“No integration or coding is needed to start reaping the benefits of this improvement — the dynamic clocking system will automatically increase the frequency as it detects that your app would benefit from it,” Meta wrote. To get the extra speed, all you’ll need to do is either a doff/don (take it off and put it back on) or sleep cycle by clicking the power button twice.

What’s more, if you have dynamic foveation enabled in your app, the GPU will boost from 490 MHz to 525 MHz to maintain higher visual quality rather than increasing foveation (foveation lowers image detail depending on what you’re looking at). The result should be better overall image quality. 

Quest 2 owners will benefit from the extra speed with no app changes, but developers could also update apps, using the extra power to boost resolution. In any case, it makes the headset more useful in the final year of its lifespan, with the Quest 3 set to launch next year. 

Each year, our reflections on the past 12 months tend to focus mostly on its best and brightest moments. But there’s also a sadder side to assessing the past year, such as remembering the music legends who left us this year.

In 2022 we lost some huge icons, from Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie to Migos member Takeoff, and a wealth of pioneering talent who’ve made modern music what it is today.

Calvin Simon (May 22, 1942 – January 6, 2022)

Calvin Simon. CREDIT: LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo

A founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic, Calvin Simon helped steer the legendary collective through R&B, funk, acid-rock and much more, contributing to some of their most revered albums along the way. He featured on Parliament’s classic ‘Mothership Connection’ and Funkadelic’s ‘Cosmic Slop’ as a singer, before he parted ways with the collective in 1977. 20 years later, he reunited with Parliament-Funkadelic during their Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech. Simon died in January at the age of 79.

Ronnie Spector (August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022)

Credit: Getty

An icon of pop, Ronnie Spector co-founded the seminal ‘60s girl group The Ronettes, launching a career that continues to hold great influence over pop music (the late Amy Winehouse in particular cited Spector as her hero). The Ronettes toured with and supported The Rolling Stones and The Beatles in their prime, while five tracks from their 1964 debut album charted in the US. They split in 1967 but reformed in 1973, with Spector leading them throughout. She died in January at the age of 78 following a battle with cancer.

Meat Loaf (September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022)

Credit: Getty

Meat Loaf’s 1977 debut LP ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ is one of the best-selling albums of all-time: it remains so popular that it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually worldwide. Little surprise, then, that it spawned two equally fiery sequels (1993’s ‘Back Into Hell’ and 2006’s ‘The Monster Is Loose’). Rock fans were treated to his powerhouse, larger-than-life vocal performances throughout his recording career, the same that he’d utilise in his appearances in musicals like Hair and the film adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meat Loaf died in Nashville, Tennessee in January at the age of 74. TS

Jamal Edwards (August 24, 1990 – February 20, 2022)

Jamal Edwards. CREDIT: Getty

At the age of 16, Jamal Edwards launched the online music platform SB.TV and kickstarted a music media giant that would give many future superstars their start. Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Dave, Jessie J, AJ Tracey and many more got early exposure after going on SB.TV, giving new artists, particularly in the fields of grime and UK hip-hop, an important space to be celebrated and nurtured. Edwards died in February, aged 31.

Mark Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022)

Mark Lanegan – CREDIT: Getty

A cult hero to many in the alternative music world, Mark Lanegan began his music career as a member of the grunge band Screaming Trees, a favourite of Kurt Cobain’s. Although the band didn’t reach the same commercial highs scaled by Nirvana, Lanegan was held in high esteem for his work with Screaming Trees – a foundation he built on with a series of solo albums and, later, collaborations with the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Duke Garwood and more. After surviving a terrifying encounter with COVID-19 that left him deaf and unable to walk, Lanegan passed away in February at the age of 57. No cause of death was announced.

Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022)

Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins in 2016 CREDIT: Ashley Beliveau/Getty Images

In March, news came that truly shocked the music world: Foo Fighters’ loveable and legendary drummer Taylor Hawkins had died while the band were on tour in South America. Only 50 years old, Hawkins had long cemented his position as an icon of rock, both as Foos’ grinning stickman and the go-to drummer for the likes of Slash, Brian May, Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and more, all of whom he played with over the years. Two massive, star-studded tribute concerts in September highlighted the huge love musicians from all genres had for Hawkins, and the sizeable void his death had left.

Jordan (June 23, 1955 –  April 3, 2022)

Pamela ‘Jordan’ Rooke in 1977. CREDIT: Alamy

Fashion icon and punk legend Pamela Rooke’s first act of rebellion was changing her name to Jordan at just 14 years old, years before she became an integral figure of London’s underground scene in the ‘70s and was dubbed the “Queen of Rock”. She modelled for Vivienne Westwood, crafting the W10 London punk look alongside Johnny Rotten, Soo Catwoman and Siouxsie Sioux. Rooke was also a mainstay at Sex Pistols gigs, appearing with them on stage during their first televised performance of ‘Anarchy In The UK’ in 1976. She was recently immortalised on screen by Maisie Williams, who played Jordan in the band-inspired TV series Pistol. Rooke died in April at the age of 66 after a battle with a rare form of cancer. EC

Naomi Judd (January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022)

Naomi Judd of The Judds attends the 2022 CMT Music Awards at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 11, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. CREDIT: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for CMT

One day before she was due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, icon of the genre Naomi Judd died, aged 76. She made her mark on country music as one half of The Judds, the band she formed with her daughter Wynonna, scoring five Grammys and enjoying a years-long victory streak at the three major country music awards shows in the US. The Judds stopped performing together in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis C, before reuniting in 2000 for a massive tour and a handful of new material.

Ric Parnell (August 13, 1951 – May 1, 2022)

Although he performed as the drummer in bands like Horse, Atomic Rooster, Nova and Stars, Ric Parnell was best known for his role as Mick Shrimpton in This Is Spinal Tap. He joined Spinal Tap in blurring the lines between reality and fiction when they went on a real-life tour, positioning himself as Shrimpton’s “brother” Ric, and contributed to their 1992 album ‘Break Like The Wind’. Parnell died in May at the age of 70.

Vangelis (March 29, 1943 – May 17, 2022)

Vangelis CREDIT: Michael Putland

A largely self-taught musician, Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou – AKA Vangelis – was widely considered to be one of the most renowned composers in the world. He was behind the soundtracks of Blade Runner and Chariots Of Fire – he won an Oscar for his work on the latter film – while becoming a pioneer for electronic music in the process. He died from heart failure in May at the age of 79.

Andy Fletcher (July 8, 1961 – May 26, 2022)

Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode. CREDIT: Francesco Prandoni/Redferns

While Dave Gahan and Martin Gore pushed Depeche Mode forward with their public personas, Andy Fletcher – a founding member of the band – quietly drove their momentum from the back. The keyboardist took on business duties for the group, keeping them going over the years and helping them maintain their position as one of the most influential acts in electronic music. Fletcher died in May at the age of 60 after suffering an aortic dissection.

Ronnie Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022)

Ronnie Hawkins. Credit: Getty Images.

Rowdy Canadian rockabilly musician Ronnie Hawkins was known not only for his own music and larger-than-life stage presence, but for the acts he nurtured. He formed The Hawks in the early ‘60s and mentored his backing musicians, which included Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson. They went on to travel to the US, eventually backing Bob Dylan and forming one of rock’s most influential acts, The Band. When they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, they thanked “The Hawk” for bringing them together and teaching them the “code of the road”. Hawkins died in May at the age of 87 after an illness. EC

Julee Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022)

Julee Cruise in 2015 CREDIT: Amy T. Zielinski/Redferns

Julee Cruise operated mostly as a cult figure whose name bubbled beneath the mainstream, but was fiercely beloved by those who knew her. A frequent collaborator of composer Angelo Badalamenti and director David Lynch, she was best known for her 1989 single ‘Falling’, an instrumental version of which became the theme tune to Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Cruise often appeared in the show as a singer, while over her career she also served as a touring member of The B-52s and worked with Moby. She died in June at the age of 65.

Paul Ryder (April 24, 1964 – July 15, 2022)

Happy Mondays’ Paul Ryder CREDIT: Andrew Benge/Redferns

A founding member of the Happy Mondays, Paul Ryder was integral to the group’s music; his funk-laced basslines helping craft the band’s distinctive sound. Although he left the band in 2001, he rejoined them for their 2012 reunion and toured with them until his death. Between his Happy Mondays duties, Ryder toured with Tom Tom Club, wrote scores for TV shows and appeared in films including 24 Hour Party People. He died in July at the age of 58.

Olivia Newton-John (September 26, 1948 – August 8, 2022)

Olivia Newton-John CREDIT: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Best known for playing Sandy in Grease, Olivia Newton-John had already been pursuing her dual passions of singing and acting long before that role came up. She released her first single ‘Till You Say You’ll Be Mine’ on Decca Records in 1966, formed the touring duo Pat And Olivia, joined the ill-fated group Toomorrow, kickstarted a solo career and represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest before Grease took her to even headier heights in 1978. After playing Sandy, she continued to release records and take on parts in TV and film before reuniting with her co-star John Travolta on the festive album ‘This Christmas’ in 2012. Newton-John died in August at the age of 73 following a battle with cancer.

Darius Campbell Danesh (August 19, 1980 – August 11, 2022)

Darius Campbell Danesh in 2016 CREDIT: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

When he appeared on Popstars in 2001 performing a cover of Britney Spears’ ‘Baby One More Time’, Darius Campbell Danesh became an instant star. He built on the public’s evident love for him by taking part in Pop Idol a year later, where he finished third behind Will Young and Gareth Gates. He then scored his own success by shunning Simon Cowell’s talent show-to-pop star pipeline: after turning down a record deal from the judge, Danesh hit Number One with his debut single ‘Colourblind’ as his first album ‘Dive In’ landed in the Top 10. He died in August at the age of 41 after accidentally inhaling chloroethane.

PnB Rock (December 9, 1991 – September 12, 2022)

PnB Rock in 2020. Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

Rakim Hasheem Allen, better known as rapper PnB Rock, was on the up at the time of his death in September. After getting signed by Atlantic in 2015 following the release of a mixtape he’d written while in jail, the 30-year-old star had been building momentum with tours with Lil Baby, features with Lil Wayne and Quavo, and a huge collaboration with Chance The Rapper and Ed Sheeran in ‘Cross Me’. Shortly before his death, he launched his own label, New Lane Entertainment, hinting at a future focused on giving himself and other rising rappers artistic control.

John Hartman (March 18, 1950 – September 22, 2022)

Doobie Brothers’ John Hartman in 1989 CREDIT: Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

John Hartman helped form the Doobie Brothers in 1970 as their then-sole drummer. A year later, Michael Hossack was added as the second sticksman, playing in tandem with Hartman until the latter left the band in 1979. Before he departed the group, though, the legendary drummer contributed to a series of hit singles and albums, from ‘Listen To The Music’ to ‘What A Fool Believes’. Hartman later rejoined the band in 1987, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with his former bandmates in 2020. He died in September at the age of 72.

Coolio (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022)

Coolio performing at Riot Fest in 2022. CREDIT: Jason Squires/FilmMagic

LA rapper Coolio first rose to fame as a member of the rap collective WC And The Maad Circle, before splintering off as a solo artist in 1994 with his debut album ‘It Takes A Thief’. That record scored him instant success, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200 and setting him up for even bigger acclaim a year later when he released the enduring, iconic hit ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. The track was the biggest hit in the US in 1995 and the second best-selling single in the UK that same year, while it also earned Coolio his first Grammy. He released a further seven albums in his career, including his final one, ‘From The Bottom 2 The Top’, in 2009. He died in September aged 59 following a cardiac arrest.

Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022)

UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1957: 1957, Tennessee, Memphis, Jerry Lee Lewis. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Billed as “rock’n’roll’s first great wild man”, Jerry Lee Lewis was known for his high-energy performances which helped rock’n’roll become a force to be reckoned with in the US in the ‘50s. After making his mark with the likes of ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ and becoming embroiled in scandal surrounding three of his marriages – including one to his 13-year-old cousin – Lewis switched lanes to country music, where he enjoyed great success. He died in October aged 87.

Takeoff (June 18, 1994 – November 1, 2022)

Migos’ Takeoff performs live. CREDIT: Prince Williams/Wireimage

Migos’ quietest member Takeoff was also arguably the rap trio’s most instrumental, helping perfect their triplet flow. Over the course of the group’s many hit releases, he showed maturity, growth and undeniable, irresistible talent, while his solo album, 2018’s ‘The Last Rocket’, gave him his real opportunity to shine – and shine he did. Numerous guest features with the likes of Calvin Harris, Roddy Ricch, Pop Smoke, Lil Wayne and more further highlighted his lyrical dexterity, marking him out as a go-to name for those looking for smart, slick guest verses. Shortly before his death, he teamed up with his Migos bandmate Quavo for the joint album ‘Only Built For Infinity Links’, which only added to his growing momentum – something that was tragically halted in November when Takeoff was fatally shot, taking a modern hip-hop hero from the world.

Mimi Parker (September 15, 1967 – November 5, 2022)

Mimi Parker of Low CREDIT: Barry Brecheisen/WireImage

A singer and drummer for Low, Mimi Parker joined the band shortly after its inception, using a kit comprised of just one snare, one cymbal and one floor tom, with brushes instead of drumsticks. Vocally, her voice intertwined with her husband’s, Alan Sparhawk, combining to create a mesmerising tapestry that added to the band’s quiet, mysterious feel. As Low continued, Parker’s confidence grew as she took on lead vocals on more songs, including ‘Shame’ – her first time in the spotlight. She died in November at the age of 55 from ovarian cancer.

Aaron Carter (December 7, 1987 – November 5, 2022)

Aaron Carter. Credit: Gabe Ginsberg via Getty Images

Aaron Carter began performing and releasing music as a child star, releasing his debut album in 1997 at the age of nine. His older brother Nick had a starring role in the Backstreet Boys, and Carter’s first public solo performance was supporting the inimitable boyband in Berlin. The remainder of his short life was impacted by financial and legal issues, alongside battles with his mental health. He died in his California home in November aged 34. TS

Nik Turner (August 26, 1940 – November 10, 2022)

Hawkwind’s Nik Turner in 1971. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

A symbol of musical experimentalism, Nik Turner picked up his passion of expression over expertise from free jazz and decided to incorporate that attitude into rock. His first opportunity to do so was with Hawkwind, who invited him to join on saxophone while he was working for them as a roadie. Later, he formed and was integral to the bands Sphynx, Inner City Unit and Space Ritual, never losing sight of his love of invention. Turner died in November, aged 82.

Keith Levene (July 18, 1957 – November 11, 2022)

Keith Levene performs live with Public Image Limited in 1980. Credit: Tom Hill/Getty Images.

Levene first came to prominence as a founding member of The Clash. Despite being responsible for recruiting Joe Strummer from The 101’ers, the north London guitarist’s tenure in the band lasted a matter of months before he was dismissed, and he was credited with just one song, ‘What’s My Name’, on The Clash’s self-titled debut album (“I wrote more than I got credited for on the record,” Levene later claimed. “It was me and Mick [Jones] that wrote those tunes”). Following the break-up of the Sex Pistols, its singer John Lydon joined forces with Levene in 1978 to form Public Image Ltd (PiL). The band’s debut single ‘Public Image’ broke into the UK top 10, but, three albums later, Levene departed PiL after falling out with Lydon over their fourth album. Levene, who also operated as a solo artist and later worked with Red Hot Chili Peppers, died in November at the age of 65 following a battle with liver cancer. SM

Christine McVie (July 12, 1943 – November 30, 2022)

Christine McVie in 1969. Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Before she joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970, Christine McVie was already making moves in the British music scene, most notably as a member of the blues band Chicken Shack. After she married John McVie, though, she left the latter group to join the band she would become most commonly associated with, later moving to the US with them where they became one of rock’s most infamous and influential acts. Outside of Fleetwood Mac, she released three solo albums and 2017’s ‘Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie’ with her FM bandmate. She died in November aged 79 after a short illness.

Wilko Johnson (July 12, 1947 – November 21, 2022)

Wilko Johnson performing at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on October 18, 2022. Credit: Lorne Thomson/Redferns.

John Andrew Wilkinson might not have been well-known by his birth name, but mention his stage name – Wilko Johnson – and an image of a revered musician will instantly be conjured. A member of pub-rockers Dr. Feelgood, the guitarist developed an inimitable style on his instrument that later influenced the likes of Paul Weller and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. Later, Johnson joined Ian Dury’s The Blockheads and formed his own act, The Wilko Johnson Band, keeping his influence going for decades to come. He died in November at the age of 75.

Jet Black (August 26, 1938 – December 6, 2022)

The Stranglers’ Jet Black in 1986 CREDIT: Steve Rapport/Getty Images

In 1974, Jet Black – AKA Brian John Duffy – formed The Stranglers, leaving behind a life in the ice cream and off-licence businesses in favour of punk. He formed the backbone of the band on drums and came up with the idea for their biggest hit, ‘Golden Brown’, alongside keyboardist Dave Greenfield. In 2015, he stopped performing after suffering from chest problems and arrhythmia. He died in December, aged 84.

Angelo Badalamenti (March, 22 1937 – December 11, 2022)

Angelo Badalamenti performs on stage during the David Lynch Foundation’s DLF Live presents “The Music Of David Lynch” at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on April 1, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

A prominent composer and arranger, Angelo Badalamenti was best known for his collaborations with David Lynch. The New Yorker first worked with the director on the 1986 movie Blue Velvet before then scoring Lynch’s cult classic TV series Twin Peaks (as well as the 2017 reboot Twin Peaks: The Return) and his 2001 film Mulholland Drive. Badalamenti would later describe his creative partnership with Lynch as “my second-best marriage”. His long career also featured collaborations with the likes of David Bowie, Paul McCartney (who apparently informed him at Abbey Road that the Queen was a Twin Peaks fan) and Pet Shop Boys, while he also composed the ‘Torch Theme’ for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Badalamenti passed away at the age of 85 in December from natural causes. SM

Terry Hall (March 19, 1959 – December 18, 2022)

The Specials’ Terry Hall CREDIT: Mike Lewis Photography/Redferns

The leader of The Specials, Terry Hall was a singer who became synonymous with sharing stories of Britain’s working classes and, in the band’s early years, its disenfranchised youth. With The Specials, Hall became a pioneer of 2 Tone, while he would also expand his musical palette with Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Vegas, a bright solo career and more. In 2001, he appeared as a guest on Gorillaz’s single ‘911’, while other collaborations with the likes of Lily Allen, D12 and Tricky highlighted the respect and influence that surrounded the musician. Hall died in December aged 63 following a short illness.

Martin Duffy (May 18, 1967 – December 18, 2022)

Primal Scream’s Martin Duffy CREDIT: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns

Martin Duffy lived most of his life in the music world, joining indie band Felt when he was just 18 years old in 1985. He remained with them until they disbanded in 1989, after which he joined Primal Scream, with whom he had already contributed keyboards on their first two albums. He would also perform with The Charlatans after the tragic death of their keyboardist Rob Collins, while he also collaborated with the likes of Paul Weller and The Chemical Brothers. Duffy died in December at the age of 55.

Additional words: Erica Campbell, Sam Moore, Thomas Smith 

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