WHEELS& DEALS: GUNS IN AVALON

The horse race on the Mickey Avalon front, we hear, is finally coming to an end, as Interscope is finalizing a deal for the Kevin Wolf-managed act. A&R gunslingers Joe “3H” Weinberger and Ben Gordon get the kudos for the signing. Hotshot legal eagle Francois “Mean Machine” Mobasser mediated the weaseltude. Homeboy is smokin’ right now with all the deals he’s closed of late… Meanwhile, the Jim Welch-managed Shiny Toy Guns has signed with Bruce Carbone at Universal for the U.S. and Canada. The group’s single “LeDisko” continues to be one of the Top 10 most-requested songs on L.A.’s KROQ. So it appears that the New Wave resurgence is still going strong, which bodes well for bands like The Killers, who have a new album coming out in October… Is the deal done for the hugely buzzin’ Cold War Kids?… Word on the street is that Warner Bros. brass was spending quality time with Radiohead during their L.A. shows, but there’s no official word of a deal in place… Speaking of the Bunny, former Epic A&R guy Kenny “Tick” Salcido joins the WB creative team as Director of A&R… Several A&R folks were spotted at the Little Ones show at the Echo last week. Seems like talk about the band on music blogs and sales of their EP on iTunes is generating some early weasel buzz… Meanwhile, it seems that the Mercy Arms isn’t the only Aussie group developing into a big derby Down Under. Will the buzz for Operator Please cross the Pacific and hit stateside? Stay tuned… STEP INTO A SLIM JIM: The folks at your favorite wrestling network, WWE, are reportedly taking meetings with several major labels to secure a new deal for their “entrance-theme albums.” We hear that their previous arrangement with Sony has expired, and their new deal will encompass the releases for the WWE Superstar albums (the John Cena releasehas already sold about 500k) and the soundtracks for the WWE Films releases, among other projects. Obviously, they have millions of eyeballs watching their weekly programs in 131 countries, which makes for a very impressive marketing vehicle… VIVA SIN CITY: Lastly, we’re about six weeks away from the Amplify Music Festival in good ol’ Las Vegas (Aug. 15-18). We hear numerous A&R reps from major and indie labels alike will be in attendance and participating on the industry panels. Both ASCAP and BMI will have their selected must-see acts for the conference. And this year’s event is structured in the spirit of Sundance mixed with the Shortlist Awards, where the four acts with the top performances during the conference will receive awards from a panel of industry professionals. Music retailer Sam Ash, one of the corporate sponsors, will be awarding thousands in gear and cash to the selected artists. Log on to www.amplifymusiccompfest.com for info on band registrations and badges. We’ll see you there. And of course, we already have a booth reserved at O.G.’s… BUZZIN’: Ben Lazar, Barcelona and Phil Costello… Hit me up: [email protected]

BUZZ/GIGS:
MERCY ARMS Wed., July 19, 8:30 p.m., Newtown, Sydney, Australia
OPERATOR PLEASE Wed., July 10, 8 p.m. Ric’s Bar, Brisbane, Australia
BLACKPOOL LIGHTS Fri., Aug. 4, TBD, Spaceland, L.A.