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More Top Stories: Weezer, M.I.A. and More

August 9, 2010 8:30 AM ET

Moments after a reunited Soundgarden closed out Lollapalooza, the grunge band's native Seattle radio station The End debuted the previously unreleased track "Black Rain." The song, an outtake from the 1991Badmotorfinger sessions, will appear on the group's upcoming collection Telephantasm and in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock . [The End 107.7]

Weezer premiered their first single, "Memories," from their upcoming album Hurley this weekend on Los Angeles' KYSR 98.7 FM. The nostalgic burst of power pop features lyrics like "Playin' hacky sack back when Audioslave were still Rage." Hurley hits stores September 14th but the band has already released the hilarious, Lost-referencing cover art here. [YouTube]

Universal Music Group has pulled all of their music videos — including clips by Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and the Black Eyed Peas — from MTV.com after contract talks between the two companies broke down. Universal had hoped to have MTVN syndicate UMG videos through Vevo, the music site owned in part by Universal and Sony Music — rather than through the label directly, as had previously been the case. Despite the disagreement, MTV will continue to air Universal music videos on its channels. [Wall Street Journal]

As he works on his highly-anticipated follow-up to llinois, singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens will hit the road for a fall U.S. tour, which kicks off in Toronto and wraps up with a two night stand at New York's Beacon Theatre. [Asthmatic Kitty]

M.I.A. was forced to cut short her Saturday set at the U.K.’s Big Chill festival after her invitation for fans to join her on stage during "Paper Planes" resulted in 200 people rushing toward the stage. [BBC]

Former Guns n' Roses drummer Steven Adler is currently on the road promoting his recently released autobiography My Appetite for Destruction — but another G n' R bio looks to be on the way: Duff McKagan's wife Susan Holmes revealed this weekend that her husband is already 450 pages into his own book. [SuHolmesMcKagan Twitter]

Wyclef Jean’s Fugees mate Pras revealed that he would not back Jean’s bid for Haiti’s presidency, instead opting to support his opponent, Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly. Pras reportedly questions Jean’s plan to bring Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating earthquake earlier this year, into the 21st century. [The Huffington Post]

Erykah Badu and Rick Ross have joined forces for an extended mash-up clip for Badu’s "Window Seat (Remix)" and Ross’ "Turn Me Away (Get Munny)." [Smoking Section]

Two new Gucci Mane tracks, "Gucci Time" and "Don't Believe That,” have leaked. The songs are reportedly off his upcoming post-prison album The Appeal, due out September 28th. [Nah Right]

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »