Ticketmaster Buys Front Line Management, Picks Up Guns N' Roses, Eagles Tours

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With the threat of Live Nation's own ticketing service looming on the horizon, Ticketmaster made a big move toward standing its own ground by acquiring the majority share of Front Line Management. With Front Line in tow, Ticketmaster now adds tours by artists like Christina Aguilera, the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Guns N' Roses to their roster. Ticketmaster purchased the 30% share of Front Line, previously owned by Warner Music Group, for $123 million and will now call the new enterprise Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. Primary and secondary ticketing, e-commerce and fan clubs will all fold into the terms of the deal. The venture also placed GNR co-manager Irving Azoff as its new CEO. Ticketmaster bosses likely got nervous after Live Nation wrapped up deals with Jay-Z, Shakira, Madonna and Nickelback, but this new shows Ticketmaster won't be rolling over.

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Song Stories

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

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