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Despite the fact that many of today's bands draw heavily from the genre's tropes, New Wave still gets sort of a bad rap. People tend to remember the terrible hair, the neon-colored clothes and the empty keyboard bloops (not to mention the entirety of the Culture Club catalog). But there were gems, and luckily modern bands are taking from the best. For example, take Psychedelic Furs, the English group formed by singer Richard Butler in the late 1970s. Sometimes derided as a one-hit wonder (people tend to remember the song "Pretty In Pink," which came from the hit movie of the same name), the Furs turned out seven excellent albums between 1980 and 1991.

Their self-titled debut is a raw but warm collection of tunes that found the band still trying to nail down their core sound. They had it figured out by 1981's Talk Talk Talk, a classic in the genre and one of the best releases of the decade (it contained "Pretty In Pink" as well as the awesome "Into You Like a Train"). They followed that with the stellar Forever Now, which was produced by Todd Rundgren and contained the hit "Love My Way" (which got a second life when it was included on the soundtrack to the hit Adam Sandler film "The Wedding Singer").

The band continued with 1984's Mirror Moves, 1987's Midnight to Midnight and 1989's Book of Days. It was an incredible run, though the band ended in 1991 (frontman Butler then formed Love Spit Love, a profoundly underrated modern rock outfit most famous for a cover of the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" that appeared on the soundtrack to "The Craft"). Butler is one of the great unheralded songwriters in rock, and his work tells the tale. Rock out to "Pretty In Pink" and listen to some Psychedelic Furs today.

Tags Psychedelic Furs, video

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

With half the field in play in the second round of MTV's Musical March Madness tournament, it's time to dive into the bands that are left in the South region. Be sure to keep voting in the second round races that are already open, as many of them are getting tighter and tighter.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(1) Linkin Park vs. (8) R.E.M.
The men of Linkin Park took down a very game Sleigh Bells squad in the first round, clearing the way for their confrontation with R.E.M. (who had a surprisingly tight race against Hinder to advance). The Georgia band's new album Collapse Into Now isn't exactly setting the world on fire, but they have enough fight in them to give the juggernaut that is Linkin Park a tough run. Which one will advance to the Sweet 16? You decide!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

Tags #MMM, March Madness, Poll, video

Wednesday night's (March 23) "American Idol" was Motown themed because nothing says "contemporary artist" like songs that were written half a century ago. That didn't prevent the stars from showing up in droves. Look! There's Jennifer Beals and Liv Tyler! Is that Kirsten Dunst having a gal's night out in the studio audience? And golly! Adam Shankman looks just divine in sweatpants!

The tension was extra-thick Wednesday, and not just because the audience clearly loves Steven Tyler a million times more than Jennifer Lopez. (Awkward!) You see, the top 11 were competing for 10 spots on this summer's "Idol" tour, which is not only a big money maker for the contestants but also an opportunity to be in close contact with stalkers from coast to coast.

Seacrest giddily pointed out that this was the first time Randy Jackson made it through a telecast without using the word "pitchy" but he failed to congratulate Tom Petty for no longer being the most decayed-looking American rocker alive. That distinction now goes to Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, who was also spotted in the audience. Golf claps! (Anything louder and he'll be spooked back into his hole.)

Before I go on a rant about how you need to tune into my new weekly show "Idol Party Live," airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. on MTV.com, let's get to Wednesday's (mostly solid) performances!

Casey Abrams
Song: Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Verdict: I Heard It On The Subway
Team Iovine tried its best to reign in Casey's "screechy scream." Team Hair Stylists tried its best to reign in Casey's curls with hair gel. And I tried my best to reign in my Negative Nancy side so I might finally enjoy Casey Abrams' vocals again. Everyone failed. I love Casey Abrams as a TV character. He can whip the crowd into a frenzy with a simple demon face and mere proximity (except for Gordon Ramsey who refused to clap and some goddess in a leather jacket who didn't even acknowledge the growling hippie walking past her).

J. Lo squeed, "You're so specific as to who you are. Is there anybody like you right there?" Truth, Ms. Lopez, but there's also nobody like the homeless lady on the A train who sings her original drum-and-vocal composition, "Gotta Eat! (This Ain't No Joke, For Real I'm Broke)" — do you want to give her a million dollar record contract too? More importantly, what's the phone number to vote for Casey's adorable gal pal Megan? More of her, please!

Thia Megia
Song: Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave"
Verdict: Cold Front
Motown launched the successful careers of kid stars like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. So how frustrating is it that Jennifer Lopez gave Thia Megia's stiff stage presence a pass on Motown night because she's "only 15, I mean 16, I mean 15, I mean, how old are you again?" I'll give Megia a little credit for attempting something other than an end credits movie ballad, but I'll be damned if there's anyone on out there that believe this girl’s ever felt a burning sensation anywhere, other than that one time she had chicken pox two weeks ago. (She's young, y'all!) After her performance, Thia let America in on a dirty little secret: "I flubbed the lyrics a little bit but hopefully nobody noticed." You mean, the lyrics of "Heat Wave" aren't "[stop singing, turn nervously to the band leader, mumble]?" You learn something new every day!

Jacob Lusk
Song: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "You're All I Need To Get By"
Verdict: Holy S---!
I've been saying for weeks that Jacob Lusk was this year's Jennifer Hudson. Read more...

Tags American Idol, video

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

There are now officially two regions open in the second round of MTV's Musical March Madness. Every single one of the bands in the West can win, including the two acts below.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(2) Blink-182 vs. (7) Red Hot Chili Peppers
In the midst of some good-natured ribbing and the spirit of healthy competition, Blink-182 toppled their pals in All Time Low in a thrilling first round collision. In the second round, they have to stare down Red Hot Chili Peppers, the veteran act who managed to topple Death Cab for Cutie despite the fact that they haven't released any new music since 2006's double album Stadium Arcadium. Of course, Blink-182's last new album was in 2003, so there's an even playing field in this match-up. Which one will advance? You decide!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

Tags #MMM, Blink-182, March Madness, Poll, red-hot-chili-peppers, video

"I'm psyched, man. It's going to be fun. It's like a real rock bill, you know? It's nice to have a rock-and-roll show, and I can't wait."

-Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, expressing his enthusiasm for the group's upcoming shows that will find them sharing a bill with the legendary Motörhead. MTV News caught up with Foo Fighters at the annual South By Southwest festival over the weekend, where they were not only the opening performer at the mtvU Woodie Awards but also played an incredibly well-received set that found them playing Wasting Light in its entirety.

Grohl has a long history with Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, as the two have collaborated under the name Probot and Kilmister recently starred in the video for the Foos' "White Limo" (which comes from their forthcoming new album Wasting Light). He's excited for the shows, but also notes that Foo Fighters will have an uphill battle because of the way the bands are billed. "We're going to do some shows with Motörhead ... unfortunately we have to go on after them," Grohl joked with MTV News' James Montgomery. "We actually played with Motörhead at Hyde Park once, and Lemmy's a good friend, and Phil [Campbell] the guitar player too. They're just fun to be around, and they're legends, and I'm a huge Motörhead fan, so it's an honor to have them come out and do gigs."

Wasting Light will be out April 12, but in the meantime, the band finds itself in the hunt for the 2011 MTV Musical March Madness championship (they're currently locked in a battle with Disturbed for the right to move on to the Sweet 16).

Tags Foo-Fighters, motorhead, Quote, video

Though there was a period of time when it seemed like every aspect of Britney Spears' life was put on the front page of the tabloids, she has managed to keep her life relatively mysterious as of late. Though she is forward about some things, she mostly plays everything close to the vest. That's what makes Spears' list of "25 Things You Don't Know About Me" (a series of facts she gave to Us magazine's website) so intriguing. Some of them seem like they could come from just about any star (she's a fan of animated films and white lilies), while others are biographical facts that everybody sort of knew already (she both played basketball and wrecked her mother's Lexus while she was in high school).

But there are a handful of true surprises that are particularly strange and interesting, if not entirely revelatory. The fact that she apparently takes two baths a day is somewhat amazing, especially considering how time-consuming that process must be. Spears also adores chocolate (she says, "I can eat chocolate morning, noon and night") as well as orange sherbet and chewing ice.

By far the greatest revelation on the list is number four which states, "I make a mean fake dinosaur when playing with the two loves of my life, Sean, 5, and Jayden, 4." The image of Britney Spears — easily one of the biggest pop stars in the world and one of the most famous people on the planet — pretending to be a tyrannosaurus is pretty amazing.

But which fact did you think was the most surprising? Vote in the poll below and let us know in the comments!

Tags britney spears, Poll

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The second round is quickly becoming contentious, and there are a number of routs and upsets going down all over the place. Both bands in this particular match-up have shown they want to win, so this one should be no exception.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(3) Green Day vs. (6) U2
Adam Lambert had a surprising surge in 2010's Musical March Madness tournament, but this time around he couldn't build enough of a front to get out of the first round against Green Day. The Berkeley punk legends take on U2 in the second round, following the Irish quartet's victory over Ke$ha in the opening round. Which one of these former collaborators (on "The Saints Are Coming") will survive to play again? Vote and find out!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

Tags #MMM, green-day, March Madness, Poll, U2, video

Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

See that guy in the red shorts grabbing crazy air right there? That's singer Chris Brown, who had himself quite an interesting day on Tuesday (March 22). He released his brand new album F.A.M.E. (which features the smash singles "Deuces," "Yeah 3x" and the new track "Beautiful People," whose new video premiered yesterday on MTV's "The Seven"), then paid a visit to ABC's "Good Morning America." That interview ended in a tantrum, though that didn't stop Brown from attending his album's release party or paying a visit to the famous basketball courts at West 4th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village for some pick-up games. Brown is a pretty impressive player, and he held his own in a friendly game of street ball.

Brown wasn't the only star making noise, as Taylor Swift continued to make her way through London and the stars of the hit NBC comedy "30 Rock" worked on an episode of the show in Central Park (an episode that featured Jane Krakowski wearing a giant dog suit). Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted" archive, which features over 500 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Madonna, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers and Kanye West!

Tags Chris Brown, photo, Spotted!

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The games in the NCAA men's basketball tournament don't start up again until Thursday (March 24), but the throwdowns in MTV's Musical March Madness continue unabated. Check out the next pairing from the West bracket, which pits a couple of young superstars against one another.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(4) Florence and the Machine vs. (5) Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco are one of the favorites in this year's tournament, and they established themselves as serious contenders in their first round victory over a game Avril Lavigne. They have to overcome a spry Florence and the Machine squad that trounced Brandon Flowers in round one. Will they play spoiler, or will Panic! at the Disco ride their just-released new album Vices & Virtues to the Sweet 16? You decide!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

Tags #MMM, Florence and the Machine, March Madness, Panic! At The Disco, Poll, video

By Kara Warner

No matter how easy it may seem to get famous people to talk about themselves (typically their favorite subject), there is a definite art to conducting a celebrity interview. And not many people fully understand the process better than bestselling author and prolific celebrity profile writer Neil Strauss who, over the course of his two decades in journalism, has career highlights that include making Lady Gaga cry, fielding drug offers from Marilyn Manson and shopping for diapers with Snoop Dogg.

In his newest book, "Everyone Loves You When You're Dead," Strauss (who also wrote the pickup artist insider tome "The Game" and the Mötley Crüe biography "The Dirt") combed through the source materials from over 3,000 articles he has written in order to bring fans further inside the minds of celebrities via their inner-most and honest commentary on topics like creativity, spirituality, drugs, aging and the psychological toll of fame.

MTV News was lucky enough to get Strauss on the phone for a few minutes to talk about the book and the crazy, shocking and unbelievable star encounters that fill out its 500-ish pages.

MTV News: Looking back on all the memorable celeb encounters you've had, what were some of the most outrageous or unforgettable?

Neil Strauss: I interviewed Snoop Dogg right after Tupac and Biggie had been shot and he'd just left Death Row records. [He] felt like everyone was saying that he was the next guy to be shot and we were driving around in my car and he was shopping for pampers, sitting in the driver's seat. I'd just moved to L.A. and learned how to drive, and I was like, "Oh man, I'm in trouble."

The first time I interviewed Marilyn Manson, they had a bunch of drugs spread out on the back of the tour bus and were telling me to "go do the dust." And because they kept calling it dust, I didn't know — was it angel dust? What was this stuff? I didn't know if it was cocaine, angel dust or something else, and I remember I did that move where I tried to blow it around with my nose and I ended up blowing it all over the floor and looked like an idiot.

MTV: Have you kept track or kept in touch with any interview subjects? Particularly someone like Trent Reznor, who was unhappy at the time you interviewed him but seems to be doing well now?

Strauss: It's interesting to see where people go, especially because Trent Reznor in the interview said "I'm never going to move to L.A. and marry a model," and he of course bought a home in Beverly Hills and is married to an artist who was a Playboy model. Every musician who has ever said, "I'm never moving to L.A. and dating a model" always ends up moving to L.A. and dating a model.

MTV: Do you ever keep in touch with the people you interview?

Strauss: I'm really bad about it. I never make friends with them, I don't know why. The exception is Courtney Love who, after the Rolling Stone interview, moved in with me.

MTV: What about someone like Britney Spears?

Strauss: Yeah, she did actually call me a year later and invited me over to her house. Read more...

Tags britney spears, Lady Gaga, Marilyn-Manson, motley-crue, Neil Strauss, Trent-Reznor