Get Limited Edition CBT Prints At BEA In L.A.

Rantz will be at the BEA convention in Los Angeles this Friday and Saturday (5/30 & 5/31). If any of you happen to be going, head over to the Image booth from 1-2pm both days to say hello. He’ll be signing limited edition Comic Book Tattoo prints (only 200 available, and only available at BEA) and generally doing his best to not look exhausted.

Here’s what the print, by Jock, looks like:

We hope some of you can manage to score one!

UPDATE: Valyum noticed that Neil will also be at BEA on Friday.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Charlie W. and me (hey, that’s MY name, TOO!) told us about a postmortem addendum to the ancient Tori/Alanis “feud”¹ making its way onto various music news sites the past few days…

From Contactmusic.com:

MORISSETTE + AMOS MAKE PEACE OVER ‘HURT EARS’ COMMENT

ALANIS MORISSETTE and TORI AMOS ended a silent feud on the road when the Canadian rocker took the CORNFLAKE GIRL to task over a comment she made in an interview.

Morissette admits she was a little confused when Amos said the album Jagged Little Pill “made her ears hurt,” and decided to bring it up when the two were paired together on tour.

The Ironic hitmaker tells Venice magazine, “I was, ‘All right, what do you have to say for yourself?’ She apologised profusely.”

Years later, Morissette agrees her hit debut was a little harsh for some.

She adds, “She’s (Amos) right… It was a record that didn’t rhyme, and to some ears sounded really abrasive.”

While the above comments from Alanis are recent, we do want to stress that this is pretty much a non-event in Toriville, as Tori and Alanis cleared the air with each other years ago.

¹ (See Tori & Alanis: Their Comments On Each Other for a convenient rundown.)

It's Been A While Since We Mentioned Comic Book Tattoo

Since it’s been about a week while since we posted anything about the upcoming comic anthology….

Melanie points out that The Tori Store is currently sold out of the limited edition of Comic Book Tattoo. Whether they will get any additional copies to sell or not remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Amazon continues to merrily accept pre-orders for the limited edition while the regular hardcover remains unavailable. We’ve written to Amazon asking for clarification on this since it seems very strange that they would still be able to offer the limited edition after The Tori Store is, at least for the time being, no longer taking pre-orders for it. If we get any useful information from their response, we’ll be sure to post it.

On a related note, Persephone_e mentions that the UK bookseller Waterstone’s is accepting pre-orders for all three editions of the collection: softcover, hardover and, based on the price of £60 price difference, what appears to be the limited edition harcover. Thanks to her for that tip!

The New York Times Originals (May 18, 2008)

Joe Vallese was the first to alert us to a somewhat unexpected Tori sighting in the May 18th edition of the the New York Times Sunday Magazine: this striking photograph of Tori by Robert Maxwell which appears to be the latest in his series of photographs for The Times entitled “The Originals”. (Other photographs in this series can be viewed in The Originals gallery in his website.)

The photograph is accompanied by a brief write-up by Alex Hagwood about music being Tori’s gateway to travel — after all, this was the Summer Travel issue of the magazine!

Note that Maxwell has photographed Tori before — you can see one of those portraits in the Women gallery on this website.

Thanks also to booker and Fabz for the heads-up!

read more...

More From Matt -- and Jon -- in Cornwall!

Over the weekend, Matt Chamberlain updated his site again, talking a bit about recording in Cornwall at Martian Studios with Tori and Jon Evans. Quoth Matt:

Things are going great out here in Cornwall—just been recording music and drinking lots of great coffee that my friend Jon Evans got from an amazing coffee place in Oakland, CA called Blue Bottle Coffee. This company specializes in organic micro roasting,probably some of the best coffee i have ever had—it also makes you feel like a superhuman capable of playing drums for 18 hours straight…

Still no word on just what they are recording out there though, of course!

Thanks to Jimmy Ferrin for the tip-off!

Get Your Own White Parrot Necklace!

Y’all remember the fabulous white parrot necklace Tori was wearing in this photo shoot? B found it for sale at Amazon.co.uk for a mere 105 quid (about $200). Actually, many items from the Vibe Harslof line are for sale, including a black parrot, a silver cat, various hearts and other charms. Go nuts.

Billboard Reveals Tori's Sales Over Time

Rahdne recently wrote to Ask Billboard about Tori’s sales figures, and got a response that included sales figures for Tori’s albums and major singles, from Little Earthquakes to American Doll Posse. While Tori’s early albums have sold very well — LE moved nearly 2 million copies, and UTP sold 1.4 mill — ADP has sold a disappointing 152,000 copies in the United States since its release. While Nielsen Soundscan does track iTunes to some extent, it’s unclear whether these figures include iTunes sales of Tori’s albums.

Pimp CBT & Your IM At The Same Time!

Rantz finally revealed which “song” he wrote for the Comic Book Tattoo anthology, and shares a little e-schwag in the process. Pick your favorite and trick out your chat program with a little promo goodness.

Tori's Soundstage DVD Due For Re-Release

Good news: those of you who have been waiting for the DVD of Tori’s 2003 Soundstage performance in Chicago Ill., Liberator Music has acquired the rights to the Soundstage series and will be releasing (or re-releasing) everything, including Tori’s DVD, which has been out of print for some time.

Tori’s set includes “Black-Dove (January),” “Wednesday,” “Funny Day/China,” “Jackie’s Strength,” “Taxi Ride,” “Precious Things,” and “Cornflake Girl.” No release date has been set, but the Undercover article suggests it’ll be sometime in the next two years.

Other Soundstage recordings will emerge, including Aretha Franklin, Heart, Billy Idol, Chris Isaak, Cyndi Lauper, Counting Crows, Lucinda Williams, Alanis Morissette, and Joss Stone.

Thanks, Dylo and youremyenergy, for sending this in!

"Cherry Bomb" Details

Here’s the shizz on Cherry Bomb. Sounds really cool! We expect to have cover art to share with you soon.

Who says coolness can’t be taught?

CHERRY BOMB is the ultimate guide to infusing everyday like with rock-star style.

Entertainment journalist/author Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna has rounded up some of her famous friends, favorite rock chicks, and cool experts to dish out advice, inspiration, and know-how in her forthcoming book, CHERRY BOMB: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, and a Hotter Girlfriend, and to Living Life Like a Rock Star (Simon Spotlight Entertainment; On-sale August 5, 2008; $18.95).

CHERRY BOMB is an A-to-Z reference for everything awesome a girl needs to know, including the obvious (style, beauty, dating, and sex tips) and the not-so-obvious (how to prepare absinthe, how to sneak backstage, how to hit on a celebrity).

Unlike other lifestyle or advice books of its kind, CHERRY BOMB is a girl guide with a rock and roll twist. CHERRY BOMB – the titled influenced from the Runaways teen rebellion anthem of the same name — is peppered with playlists of songs for every occasion (songs to get over a broken heart, songs to get in touch with your “tough chick” side, songs to get you out of a funk), as well as contributions from some of the writer’s favorite rock chicks, including Tori Amos, Cherie Currie of the Runaways, Terri Nunn of Berlin, Samantha Maloney of Peaches, Louise Post of Veruca Salt, Imogen Heap, and others.

“Every time one of my contributors handed in their section or sat down with me for an interview and dished out their advice, it felt like Christmas morning when you’re a kid and you get every gift you want,” says Borzillo-Vrenna. “I’m honored to have all of these great gals (and a few guys) be a part of this book. There’s a little something for everyone in there and you don’t have to be a rock chick to enjoy it or get something from it. You just need to be a gal who’s not afraid to be bold, sexy, and a little different.”

Contributors include: 

• Cherie Currie of the Runaways (on “Cherry Bomb,” the song that influenced the book)
• Tori Amos (Life Advice)
• Dita Von Teese (Striptease)
• Betsey Johnson (Breast Cancer Awareness and Personal Style)
• Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke (Dancing Tips)
• Samantha Maloney of Peaches (Drum Lesson)
• Imogen Heap (Individuality)
• Lisa Loeb (How To Be a Great Hostess)
• American Idol makeup artist Mezhgan (Beauty)
• Stylist Cynthia Freund (Rock Chick Style Tips)
• Anna Sui (Fashion Inspiration)
• Kat Von D (Tattoos)
• Master Chef Dave Rubell (Black Vodka Recipes)

And many more…

Not for the faint of heart, this book will appeal to the girls who prefer black nail polish to French manicure. Written by the quintessential cook chick CHERRY BOMB will empower women to veer away from the pack, work every situation to their advantage, and look cool doing it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Borzillo-Vrenna has written about music for such music magazines as Billboard, Spin, and Alternative Press She has covered the celebrity world, most recently for People, where she served as a staff correspondent before resigning to work on her book, as well as Us Weekly and Teen People.  Borzillo-Vrenna also penned the sex and relationship advice column “Dr. Love” for Gene Simmons’ defunct Gene Simmons Tongue magazine and the “Miss Truth” gossip column for the also-defunct award-winning allstarnews.com. She currently contributes to RollingStone.com.

Borzillo-Vrenna’s first book was Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day by Day Chronicle in 2000 and the expanded Nirvana: The Day to Day Illustrated Journals in 2003 (Carlton Books). The writer, originally from Wallingford, CT, lives in Los Angeles with her Grammy Award-winning husband Chris Vrenna, who plays keyboards with Marilyn Manson.

ABOUT THE IMPRINT
Simon Spotlight Entertainment (SSE) launched in 2004 as an imprint targeting 18-34 year olds. The first book published by SSE was He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth To Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which became an instant national bestseller – hitting the #1 spot on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Other bestselling SSE titles include Happy Endings by Jim Norton, Positively False by Floyd Landis, The Loved Dog by Tamar Geller, The Cardio-Free Diet by Jim Karas, The I Chong by Tommy Chong, and Nothing’s Sacred by Lewis Black.  The imprint continues to publish hip original non-fiction, fiction, and media tie-ins. Recent and upcoming titles include TIKI by Tiki Barber, Out of Sync by Lance Bass, Steve & Me by Terri Irwin and Tori Spelling’s much-anticipated memoir. 

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at HYPERLINK “http://www.simonsays.com/” \o “http://www.simonsays.com/” www.simonsays.com

CHERRY BOMB
By Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
August 5, 2008
Price: $18.95
256 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4169-6116-1