Buzz Briefs: Led Zepp, Spector
Led Zeppelin: Reunited And It Feels So Good
Led Zeppelin's time is coming again.
When the diviners of rock 'n' roll classics "Stairway to Heaven," "Whole Lotta Love" and "You're Time is Gonna Come" reunite for their first full concert in almost three decades, the question on everyone's mind is sure to be: How many more times?
Monday's reunion in London has become one of the most anticipated concerts of all time. Whether a larger tour will follow could depend on how well Zeppelin's members - singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and the late drummer John Bonham's son Jason - perform in front of a frenzied audience.
"I've got to go through it, see how I feel," Jones told Rolling Stone magazine in its December issue.
If the result of the band's early rehearsals is any indication, Zeppelin fans have reason to be hopeful. Bonham told Rolling Stone that the band clicked immediately, right from the opening notes of the first song they tried: the haunting dirge "No Quarter."
Spector's New Attorney Aims To Hold Off Retrial
The proposed date would put the new trial exactly one year after the record producer's first one ended in a hung jury.
Doron Weinberg told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler on Friday that he needs five months to review all the material from Spector's first trial. A mistrial was declared Sept. 26 when jurors could not agree whether he had shot actress Lana Clarkson to death in 2003.
Clarkson's family was in the courtroom Friday, as were Spector and his wife, as the schedule was discussed.
Weinberg said co-counsel Christopher Plourd is involved in two death penalty cases and could not be available to try the Spector case until the fall.
Denis Leary Battles Inner "Writers' Strike" Demons
"We're waiting for the writers' strike to be over, and I'm a writer and producer on my show, so I'm kind of striking against myself. We're waiting to go back to work," Leary said.
On the other hand, there's a little sense that maybe some progress is about to be made.
"As a writer, I think I and the other writers deserve a lot of money. As a producer, I hate myself, but I have to have a meeting with myself. I'm negotiating," Leary said.
Who Knew Donald Trump Had A Green Thumb?
The Rancho Palos Verdes (Calif.) City Council has voted unanimously to order the celebrity mogul to remove a 10-foot-high hedge of ficus trees planted earlier this year at his Trump National Golf Club without city permission.
The council will take final action Dec. 18, and Trump will then have three weeks to remove the hedge.
Hundreds of ficus trees were planted to screen the driving range from nearby homes but neighbors complained that some of them blocked their multimillion-dollar ocean views.
"I wish they could be out by Christmas; that would make a great Christmas present," Mayor Doug Stern said this week.
"The City Council should be ashamed of its decision," Trump told the Daily Breeze of Torrance. "It's very sad that the town is willing to destroy this beautiful hedge. There's no plant as beautiful as the ficus."
However, Trump said he would remove the hedge and plant the ficus trees on another of his properties.
Madonna And Real Estate Transactions Don't Mix
The Material Girl claims in court papers that the co-op's board of directors wrongfully blocked her purchase of the seventh-floor apartment at 1 W. 64th St. on the Upper West Side.
Madonna, who already owns a large apartment in the building, is asking the court to let the sale go through and award her legal fees, according to a notice filed Wednesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
The 49-year-old singer moved into the building after she was rejected by the board at the ritzy San Remo co-op in 1985 - presently home to U2 frontman Bono.
Midboro Management Inc., the company that manages the West 64th Street building, would not comment on the dispute, and the co-op board president did not answer a call Friday for comment.
"General Hospital" Fans Can Now Sleep Better
In case anyone is still carrying a grudge from 1982, "General Hospital's" Genie Francis would like her fans to know she's sorry.
The actress played Laura on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital," and her fairy-tale wedding to Luke (played by Anthony Geary) riveted 30 million viewers in 1981 and landed the couple on the cover of Newsweek magazine.
Now Francis is apologizing for suddenly quitting the show the following year.
"I'm sorry for leaving you so abruptly, for not taking into account the feelings of the people who helped Laura truly take on a life of her own," the 45-year-old actress said in a statement Thursday from the Hallmark Channel. "It was the decision of a young, impetuous girl, and the woman she has become asks for your forgiveness."
Earlier this year, Francis won her first Daytime Emmy for supporting actress in a drama series. She had returned briefly to "General Hospital" as Laura, a role she began playing at age 14.
Francis said filming "The Note," a movie about reconciliation, prompted her to examine her past choices and apologize.
"The Note" premieres Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.
Teri Hatcher Has To Watch What She Puts On Her Lips
Attorneys for "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher say there's no way to gloss over it - the allegations that she promoted a rival lip plumping product are false.
Hatcher and her production company, ISBE Productions, entered into an agreement in 2005 with the skin products company Hydroderm for the actress to exclusively promote its products.
The company filed suit Tuesday, alleging Hatcher violated the agreement by promoting City Lips, which competes with Hydroderm's lip plumping product.
In his motion, Hydroderm attorney Robert Heller wrote that Hatcher's name or image has been used to promote 22 other cosmetic products.
In his response, filed Thursday, Hatcher's attorney, Joseph Taylor, wrote that the actress did not make deals with other cosmetic companies, did "absolutely nothing wrong and has been ready, willing, able and eager" to work for Hydroderm, having participated in an all-day photo shoot and having made herself available for TV appearances.
Taylor blamed management upheaval at Hydroderm for causing "corporate paralysis" and called the lawsuit and a related press release a "destructive publicity scheme" designed to prevent Hatcher from claiming the full value of the agreement.
Hydroderm wants to recover the $2.4 million in payments to Hatcher since November 2005, plus about $400,000 in expenses.
Taylor said the agreement contains a binding arbitration clause and the matter should not have ended up in court.
Gary Collins Will Be In The Slammer For Four Days
Gary Collins has been sentenced to four days in jail after he pleaded no contest to charges in a drunken driving case.
Collins was arrested in an October crash in Sherman Oaks that involved an 89-year-old motorist. The actor-TV host wasn't found at fault in the collision, but officers said they smelled alcohol on his breath.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens instructed Collins, 69, to surrender by Jan. 10, to start serving his sentence.
She also ordered Collins to serve four years' probation upon his release, pay a $500 fine, perform 100 hours of community service, enroll in an 18-month alcohol education program and attend 26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
A court clerk said Collins was sentenced immediately after pleading no contest Thursday to two counts in the crash.
Collins was driving a 2004 Ford Explorer when his sport utility vehicle was struck by the other driver in the San Fernando Valley, police said. Collins' vehicle then crashed into two parked cars.
Collins wasn't injured, and the older man was taken to a hospital for unspecified injuries.
During his long TV career, Collins has made appearances on series such as "JAG," "Yes, Dear" and "The Young and the Restless," as well as on "The New Hollywood Squares." He also hosted the "Hour Magazine" talk show in the 1980s.
Ray Liotta Needs To Keep An Eye On The Road
It wouldn't exactly make a thug highlight reel: Ray Liotta, the actor perhaps best known for his role as a gangster in "Goodfellas," pleads no contest to reckless driving for crashing into two parked cars.
Liotta, who was initially charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, pleaded no contest to the lesser charge Wednesday as part of a deal with prosecutors, Pacific Palisades city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said Thursday.
The actor was placed on three years probation and ordered to enter a 12-hour alcohol education program, according to court documents.
He could have faced up to six months in jail if convicted of the initial charge, Mateljan said.
Liotta was arrested in February following the crash in Pacific Palisades.
"Ray had some unexpected drowsiness from the interaction of some medications prescribed by his doctor," Liotta's attorney, Blair Berk, said.
Court papers said he'll have to pay $1,328 in restitution and fines, and pay the owners of the damaged vehicles. No one was injured.
Liotta played gangster Henry Hill in the 1990 movie "Goodfellas." He also starred in "Slow Burn," "Narc," and "Cop Land."
Crime Of Passion May Have Killed Mexican Musician
A trumpet player was found dead with his hands and feet bound and a nylon bag over his head in southern Mexico, in what authorities said was apparently the country's third murder of a musician in less than a week.
Jose Luis Aquino, 33, had been hit repeatedly on the head, said a spokesman for the Oaxaca state attorney general's office who could not be named according to departmental rules. He said authorities were still investigating possible motives but suspected a crime of passion.
Aquino played for Los Conde, based in the southern resort of Puerto Escondido, according to its Web site. The band has recorded a half-dozen albums, and members appeared in the early-1990s film "Mafioso pero Gracioso," or "Funny Mobster."
Los Conde singer and guitar player Francisco Conde said Aquino played for 14 years in the band, was married and had two children.
"He was a good person and never fought with anyone," Conde said. "He didn't smoke or do drugs."
A wave of organized crime violence has terrorized many parts of Mexico and the latest victims appear to be popular musicians. Most disquieting were the weekend slayings of two singers who had crooned only about love and loss, not drugs and guns like some "narcocorrido" celebrities killed in the past.
The murders of Sergio Gomez, lead performer for the top-selling group K-Paz de la Sierra, and Zayda Pena of the group Zayda and the Guilty Ones has mainstream singers worrying they may become targets by becoming identified with one or another of Mexico's warring drug gangs.