After a flight from Canada to Shanghai, the singer for Behind Sapphire was detained and placed in jail for six days for what he claims to have “accidentally” hidden in his luggage. A glock? Hand grenade? Snacks from Panda Express? Nope — the vocalist was reportedly jailed because his suitcase contained collectible antique bullets from World War I.
  

A surprise was in store for the Canadian World-music-inspired band The Tea Party. Even though the group disbanded six years ago, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, their teaparty.com domain is a hot commodity and still visited often by members of the Tea Party political organization, whose ignorance apparently extends to Google ineptitude.  

Keith Richards has more cool in his elongated, coke-scooping pinky fingernail than 99 % of the actors in Hollywood, so news from Keef (reported by the U.K.’s Telegraph) that there has been talk of turning his bestselling autobiography Life into a feature film has casting directors all over Tinseltown sweating bullets.  

Jack White’s latest project isn’t another Indie supergroup, nostalgia act career revival or the introduction of a young ingénue. Part early Halloween gift, part late April Fool’s joke, White channeled his inner Dr. Demento and teamed up with the second most famous Detroit duo of this century, Insane Clown Posse, to — what else? — record a Mozart cover with raucous duo JEFF the Brotherhood.  

So far, this October’s planned concert honoring the late Michael Jackson seems like a tribute to the behind-the-scenes turmoil of Jackson’s life rather than the impact of his music. Jackson’s mother said earlier this year that the concert will be held in Wales (for some reason), two weeks after Jackson’s doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.  

Many Punk fans around the world first learned about “real” London through the music of The Clash. The spirit of “The Only Band That Matters” has been hovering over the city lately, starting last month when the campaign to bring people to next year’s Summer Olympics included a version of The Clash’s “London Calling,” an Apocalyptic vision of the U.K. capital city’s future and class inequities.  

Kanye West and Jay-Z were recently sent a message from independent record stores — please, sirs, may we sell your music and make you even more money? A coalition of stores signed a letter to the super-duo asking them to reconsider their deal with Best Buy to sell their much-anticipated Watch the Throne exclusively for about two weeks before other retailers may have the privilege.  

When a group of young Bay Area Punk musicians in the late ’70s decided to name their band The Dead Kennedys, in their minds the odds of a beer company using their compositions in a marketing campaign was as likely as them being invited to become the house band at the Kennedy family’s Hyannis Port compound.  

It was announced that Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne have been nominated for possible induction into the International Bowling Hall of Fame. (Kim Kardashian, Michael Jordan and the only people who make logical sense, Jeff Bridges and Bill Murray, are also up for the esteemed honor.)  

The U.K., when not obsessing over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, is abuzz right now with rumors about Paul McCartney’s possible involvement in the next Olympic games, which come to London next summer. According to NME, Macca is being coy but hinted that the whispers might indeed be true — he and Ringo Starr will perform at the opening ceremonies with a “new” version of The Beatles.  

Seth Putnam, frontman and founder of easy-listening faves Anal Cunt, died of a heart attack June 11. Oh, wait — Anal Cunt was actually a controversial Grindcore band named after a GG Allin tune, responsible for seconds-long songs like “Your Kid Committed Suicide Because You Suck” and “Van Full of Retards.”  

Did you know Bono put himself in the position to be murdered by a Canadian serial killer recently? Having clearly not seen enough horror movie thrillers, Bono found himself (and a buddy) in the middle of a downpour while taking a walk around town in Vancouver. Instead of just ducking under one of those orange traffic cones, the U2 singer was rescued when he was able to flag down a motorist.  

Concert venues were very strict with policies regarding taking photos or recording video or audio during a concert. We once had a Bic pen confiscated from us after being frisked on our way into a show (clearly an effort to stop us from selling our unauthorized pen sketches of Insane Clown Posse on the street after the concert).  

Somebody sure wanted a blockbuster No. 1 opening weekend for their new album. Along with the months-long promotional lead-up to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way album, sales for the release received an extra boost when Amazon made it available for 99 cents.  

George Michael recently announced his plans to return to music with a new album and worldwide tour. Michael, now known more as a tabloid joke, is making his comeback to help improve his tarnished legacy, but not for solely selfish reasons. The singer said his return is for young gay people, who he felt he let down in his career by not being “out” publicly from the start.