OLD NEWS
 

*according to ratmdirect Sleep Now in the Fire will be the next single released from BOLA

*the Fraternal order of police has decided to reccomend  their members boycot first union bank since they allowed rage to play at the first union spectrum in philly. they said rage were promoters of cop killers and suggested the public boycott spots events held in First union arenas.  A reporter on wpvi channel 6 in philadelphia pointed out that the officer was shot in the head , and rage had a song, bullet in the head, without more explanation.  Thanks to Bubba182 for this news

*The punk band Anti Flag known for it's anti-war and anti-police brutality lyrics will open for Rage on December 6, 8, 9, 11, 12

*From SONICNET.COMCops Threaten To Boycott NBC Over Rage
Police organization opposes network appearance by political rockers because band supports death-row inmate.
Staff Writer Brian Hiatt reports:

The nation's largest police organization has threatened to boycott NBC and its sponsors if the network airs a performance by Rage Against the Machine.
 

The Fraternal Order of Police's threat was inspired by the political rockers' ardent support of death-row inmate and convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
 

The police-advocacy group also is calling on its more than 283,000 members to contact NBC and its affiliates and ask them not to air the performance, scheduled for Thursday's episode of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

"We believe very strongly that no one ought to profit from murder, and the fund-raising activities of Rage Against the Machine ... are allowing just that." — Gilbert Gallegos, Fraternal Order of Police president
 
 

"We believe very strongly that no one ought to profit from murder, and the fund-raising activities of Rage Against the Machine and others are allowing just that," the FOP's president, Gilbert Gallegos, said in a letter sent Tuesday (Nov. 9) to NBC executives.
 

An Epic Records spokesperson for Rage Against the Machine offered no comment on the FOP's actions. Representatives for NBC and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" did not respond to a written request for comment.
 

Along with former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and anarchist pop band Chumbawamba, Rage Against the Machine have been the target of an FOP boycott since August.
 

Pam Africa, coordinator for the Philadelphia activist organization International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, called the FOP's threats ridiculous, pointing out that the group did nothing when Rage recently appeared on CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman."
 

"Rage is calling for what is constitutionally right — a fair trial. That's all Rage Against the Machine asks for," Africa said. "It's obvious to everyone that Mumia didn't have a fair trial."
 

Abu-Jamal, a former journalist, has been on death row since he was convicted of the Dec. 9, 1981, murder of a Philadelphia police officer.
 

Abu-Jamal has proclaimed his innocence all along, and his supporters claim he was set up because of his work as a political commentator and because of his involvement with the Black Panther Party, a black-activist organization.
 

"There was gross prosecutorial misconduct. ... The jury was illegally purged of African-Americans," Rage guitarist Tom Morello said in January. "Whether you believe Mumia is guilty or innocent, in the United States of America, you cannot execute a man if there hasn't been a fair trial."
 

Morello recently said that Abu-Jamal's current appeals were largely funded by a Jan. 28 benefit concert held by Rage, rappers the Beastie Boys and Black Star, and punk-rockers Bad Religion at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.
 

Rage Against the Machine's latest album, The Battle of Los Angeles, contains numerous references to the Abu-Jamal case.
 

"Through steel walls/ Your voice blastin' on/ True rebel my brother Mumia," Rage singer Zack de la Rocha raps in the lumbering track "Voice of the Voiceless."
 

The CD's first single, the complacency-bashing call-to-arms "Guerrilla Radio" (RealAudio excerpt), also refers to the Abu-Jamal case with lines that suggest the trial was unfair and that voices of dissent have been silenced.
 

Africa saluted Rage for their support of Abu-Jamal. "Rage are freedom fighters — worldwide, courageous freedom fighters," she said. "Some people talk that talk, but Rage talk it and walk it."
 
 



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FROM SONICNET.COM
Rage Album Debuts At #1

Rage Against the Machine, Mariah Carey, Lil' Wayne, Counting Crows, Foo Fighters, Jim Johnston, Nine Inch Nails, Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle, Nina Simone ...
Rage Against the Machine's scathing The Battle of Los Angeles will debut at #1 on this week's Billboard 200 albums chart, easily outselling the five other new albums that will join it in the top 10. The Battle of Los Angeles, the political rock band's third album, sold 430,022 copies in the week ending Sunday (Nov. 7), according to SoundScan data released Wednesday (Nov. 10). R&B singer Mariah Carey sold 322,842 copies of Rainbow, which will enter the chart at #2. Also debuting: New Orleans rapper Lil' Wayne's Tha Block Is Hot (#3), composer Jim Johnston's wrestling theme collection WWF: The Music, Volume 4 (#4), and rock bands Counting Crows' This Desert Life (#8) and Foo Fighters' There Is Nothing Left to Lose (#10). The barrage of chart entries ends the three-week reign of Santana's Supernatural, which will fall from #1 to #5 this week.
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Rage Performances, etc:
Nov. 11: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" - TV Performance

*************

-The title of the new Rage Against the Machine album will be "The Battle of Los Angeles". This website might explain what the title means.

-Rage will be appear on David Letterman Nov 2., and at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square NYC Nov 3. They are also supposedly going to appear on Conan O'brien, but I'm not sure if it's confirmed.

-The Spitfire tour is about to begin.  Check back for dates.

-Epic Records has put up a new Rage site. The address is: www.epicrecords.com/ratm.

************

from mtv.com:
Rage Against The Machine plans to gear up for the release of its new album (and the world tour that is sure to follow) with a trio of club dates.

The band has already lined up an October 2 show at New York's Roseland Ballroom (which holds a mere 3,500), and plans to map out two more such shows at other clubs before the November 2 release of its still-untitled new album.

Tickets for the New York show go on sale Friday, September 24, at 4 p.m.

Rage is expected to use the dates to break in its new material, but is also expected to roll out better known tracks from its first two albums.

The band will then play to a much larger crowd as part of next month's two-day Coachella Music And Arts Festival, which also boasts sets from Tool, Beck, the Chemical Brothers, Morissey, Pavement, Perry Farrell, Ben Harper, Bis, Cibo Matto, and others. The event, set for Indio, California on October 9 and 10, will see Rage co-headline the second night with Tool.
 

-- Robert Mancini

************

FROM SONICNET.com:

Cop Group Boycotts Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys Over Mumia Abu-Jamal
Fraternal Order of Police also looks into R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe's support of convicted cop-killer.
Staff Writer Brian Hiatt reports:

The nation's largest police group is calling for a boycott of Rage Against the Machine and the Beastie Boys to protest their support of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
    "We're going to reach out to a lot of people and ask them to spread the word that Rage Against the Machine shouts out 'Free Mumia' in their concerts," Tim Richardson, legislative assistant for the Fraternal Order of Police, said Thursday (Aug. 19).
    The FOP, which boasts a membership of 283,000 law-enforcement officers, announced a general boycott of Abu-Jamal supporters Aug. 11, and is still compiling its full list of targets, Richardson said.
    Thrash-rockers Rage Against the Machine and punk-rappers the Beastie Boys have been marked for inclusion because of a January concert they headlined to raise money for Abu-Jamal's legal defense. Abu-Jamal has been on Pennsylvania's death row for nearly two decades, convicted of murdering a Philadelphia police officer.
    Richardson said the organization also is examining the views and actions of R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, ex-Talking Heads leader David Byrne and former Police leader Sting, who were among dozens of celebrities who signed their names to an advertisement in the New York Times in 1995. The ad called for a new trial for Abu-Jamal on the grounds that his original trial was unfair.
    "We want to provide our members and the general public with the information they need to inflict economic punishment on the supporters of this cop-killer," FOP National President Gilbert Gallagos said in a statement.
    Gallegos said the organization will not rest "until Abu-Jamal burns in hell."
    Richardson said the FOP, which opposes a new trial for Abu-Jamal, won't boycott those whose support of Abu-Jamal stemmed only from anti-death-penalty sentiments. Rather, they are more interested in protesting those who support Abu-Jamal personally.
    A Byrne spokesperson declined to comment, and representatives of Sting (born Gordon Sumner) and Stipe did not return calls.
    Spokespersons for the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine did not return calls for comment either.
    The benefit show the two bands headlined Jan. 28 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., sparked police protest. Hundreds of fans returned their tickets as a show of their support for police. Around 16,000 people paid $25 apiece to see Rage and the Beasties as well as punk group Bad Religion and rappers Black Star, according to an arena spokesperson.
    Beastie Boy Adam Yauch told the audience, "Mumia did not receive a fair trial. That's something everybody in this country should be concerned about."
    Rage Against the Machine, who have long been active in political causes, played in front of an upside-down American flag spray-painted with the words "Free Mumia." The band dedicated that night's performance of the song "Freedom" (RealAudio excerpt) to Abu-Jamal.
    The FOP's website (www.grandlodgefop.org) will maintain a regularly updated list of Abu-Jamal's supporters, according to a statement from the organization.
    Abu-Jamal, a journalist, was convicted of the Dec. 9, 1981, murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He insists he is innocent, and some of his supporters claim he was set up because of his work as a political commentator and because of his involvement with the Black Panther Party, a black-activist organization.
    Jessica Blank, events coordinator for Mumia 911, a group organizing a "National Day of Art" in support of Abu-Jamal's cause, said police are "being bullies about it."
    "It's one thing to organize a boycott, and it's another thing to organize a boycott when you're the police," Blank said. "These are armed people, people in position of authority and power, saying what music you can and can't listen to. ... It's ultimately a very dangerous thing."
    Blank said the Fraternal Order of Police is organizing the boycott now because of increased attention on Abu-Jamal, who has run out of appeals on the state level and will begin federal appeals in the fall.
    "They want to hurry his execution along," she said.

YOU CAN E-MAIL THE FOP(Fraternal Order of Police)HERE
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Rage Against the Machine's first CD, Rage Against the Machine, was listed in Spin magazine's 90 best albums of the 90's. Rage's album came in at number 26 on the list of nienty.
 

SPIN MAG--
The only self-proclaimed Marxist band to shake MTV in a mostly complacent decade, Rage Against the Machine blindsided the world with a rap-rock hybrid that addressed subjects weightier than babes and beer. Fueled by frontman Zack de la Rocha's furious rhymes and Tom Morello's scratchy guitar, their 1992 debut was a blisteringly conscious wake-up call that inspired dozens of genre-crossing offspring.

"The goal of the first record was to document our experimentation with hip-hop and punk, but also to destroy the boundaries between art and politics," says de la Rocha. "This had been done before, but the greed and indifference of the Reagan '80s had spilled over into the '90s. Given that climate, Rage wasn't supposed to be popular." But after incessant touring and a high-profile opening slot on 1993's Lollapalooza, the Los Angeles band made baggy-panted fans used to Jane's Addiction and Dr. Dre stop to consider the world outside the mosh pit (raising issues like America's treatment of its poor and the Chinese occupation of Tibet). "I was inspired by the conviction behind the music and the sincerity behind the lyrics," says Deftones singer Chino Moreno. "It's not like they were the first band [to mix hard rock and rap], but they were the first to do it right."

LORRAINE ALI

HERE'S THE TOP 10 OF THE 90 ALBUMS
1. Nirvana, Nevermind
2. Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet
3. PJ Harvey, To Bring You My Love
4. Beck, Odelay
5. Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted
6. Hole, Live Through This
7. Bjork, Post
8. Dr. Dre, The Chronic
9. Radiohead, OK Computer
10. Chemical Brothers, Dig Your Own Hole

ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT I THINK THIS LIST IS TOTAL BULLSHIT. YES RAGE DID MAKE THE LIST AND 26TH ISN'T TOO TERRIBLE BUT WHAT THE HELL IS PJ HARVEY DOING AT NUMBER 3 AND NUMBER 37? PAVEMENT IS NUMBER 5? TOTAL SHIT! IF PJ HARVEY CAN MAKE THE LIST TWICE THEN WHY CAN'T TOOL'S AENIMA AND KORN'S SELF TITLED ALSO BE ON THERE?

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ZACK TO BE ON SPITFIRE TOUR & ALSO SOLO ALBUM:

Although De La Rocha helped to form the tour, his actual involvement remains to be seen. According to Spitfire's spokesperson, the singer is busy with a Rage album and a solo debut and therefore could not be at any of the dates already scheduled. However, he may be available next Spring, when Spitfire rounds up speakers for a full-scale nationwide excursion.

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Follow this link to here Rage at Woodstock '99
Woodstock's Archive

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Tom Morello producing/playing on new Primus album - 6-21-99

Primus has already begun work on its next album, and the band has lined up a roster of collaborators for the effort that includes Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, Tom Waits, "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone, Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and both Metallica guitarists.

"It's sort of an ensemble piece," Primus bassist/vocalist Les Claypool told MTV News of the album during one of the band's stops on this the history of Primus. We did an EP last year with Toby Wright, but we haven't really come across anybody that we've gelled with or that artistically was able to take us in different places. We came up with the concept of working with various artists and producers that we really respect, so this album we had Tom Morello produce and play on a few tracks.

*******************************************

At the request of The Milarepa Fund, Rage Against The Machine
will play the Chicago-area Tibetan Freedom Concert on June 13
at Alpine Valley in East Troy Wisconsin,rather than
the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam as announced previously.

The Alpine Valley Concert will also feature
performances by The Cult, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, Blondie,
Live, Biz Markie, Outkast, The Roots, bluesman Otis Rush,
and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Representatives of The Milarepa Fund
asked Rage Against The Machine to change venues in the belief
that the band's participation will help heighten awareness of Tibet.

The Amsterdam Show will go on as scheduled. The roster of performers
includes Garbage, Ben Harper, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros,
and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, among other artists. Milarepa representatives
apologize to Rage fans in Amsterdam and will
be offering refunds. An Amsterdam date is planned
for Rage Against The Machine's next European tour.

*******************************************

no offical date yet on the new album, tom says soon

*******************************************

Rage Against The Machine Try New Sounds On Next LP--
*******************************************
Thrash rockers will incorporate 'new sounds' into their aggressive
political rock, producer says.
Staff Writer Chris Nelson reports:

Political thrash-rockers Rage Against the Machine are nearly finished
recording their third album, a work that promises to introduce new
elements to the group's popular sound, according to producer Brendan
O'Brien.

"It's got some new stuff, new sounds, different things going on,"
O'Brien said. The producer, one of the most prolific in the business,
also stood behind the mixing board on the band's second album, Evil
Empire (1996). He assured fans they still will recognize Rage's
trademark funk-rock attack.

"It's got some new stuff, new sounds, different things going on." --
Brendan O'Brien, producer.
http://www.thegauntlet.com/ratm.html

********

Check out the transcript from the Tom Morello AOL chat here.

The better RATM.com chat transcript is found here.

********

"THE MOST IMPORTANT ANTI-WAR PROTEST SINCE VIETNAM"
JOIN THE MARCH ON THE PENTAGON

Gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C. JUNE 5, 12 NOON Money for Jobs & Education NOT WAR Yugoslavia is the fourth country-along with Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sudan-bombed by U.S. military forces in the past eight months. U.S./NATO bombs and cruise missiles are raining down on Belgrade, Pristina,Novi Sad and other cities and towns in Yugoslavis-a country smaller than the state of Ohio. Bombs are falling on Serbs, Albanians, Hungarians, Romanis, and Montenegrins alike. In the name of "peace," NATO has killed thousands and destroyed hospitals, homes, schools, bridges, power and water treatment plants, factories, and more. In the name of protecting "human rights" the air war has triggered a refugee crisis displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Now, the threat of a U.S. invasion of Yugoslavia looms. A ground war will mean the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops. The bombing of oil refineries, chemical plants and NATO'S use of radioactive depleted-uranium weapons threatens Europe with an environmental disaster. NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT !"......Emergency Mobilizaton to Stop the War!

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Mumia 911:

Zack is singing on an album for Mumia Abu-Jamal. http://www.realized.net/unbound/ has mp3s from the single, check it out.

Support the National Day of Art to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal on 9/11/99. call 1-888-456-5056 or write mumia911@hotmail.com
Visit Refuse and Resist for more info.

Also check out www.mumia.org for the latest information about Mumia's situation

*******************************************

Tom  Morello and the RIAA will be doing a chat on AOL about the Littleton CO shootings and the hearings Congress is having hearings next week about violence and the entertainment industry.   The RIAA is going to be at the hearings and wants some input from music fans.

*******************************************

April 8th at 8PM est Tom Morello will chat live at RATM.com

*******************************************

3-29-99

It is reported that Zack has only done the lyrics for 5 of 15 songs. There is no offical release date, and no title. It won't be released probably for two months after the release date is announced.

**************

http://www.ratm.com/mumiashow.html

A Statement by Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine

Working to ensure the legal rights that all us presume to enjoy certainly has turned out to be controversial!

Let me say straight up that tonight's benefit is not to support cop killers, or any other kind of killers. And if there were no question about the guilt of Mumia Abu-Jamal, we would not be holding this concert.

But whether Jamal is guilty, or is himself the victim of an outrageous miscarriage of justice, is precisely what is at issue. Tonight's benefit seeks to answer that question by allowing Jamal to have the fair and impartial judicial review that he was denied by the state of Pennsylvania.

The proceeds from tonight's event go, not to Mr. Jamal, but to pay for the investigators, forensic experts, and lawyers needed to get an unbiased hearing of this case in the federal courts.

Parents should be proud that their children are attending and standing up for the rights to which all people are entitled.

Rage Against the Machine and the artists participating tonight are hardly along in questioning what has happened to Mr. Jamal. Among those who have questioned the Pennsylvania proceedings are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and head of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Ronald Hampton, Executive Director of the National Black Police Association; The European Parliament, meeting in Strousbourg; and Amnesty International, who are with us at the concert tonight.

We first heard of this case some years back when the Fraternal Order of Police and Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole pressured National Public Radio into censoring a Series of commentaries on prison life recorded by Mr. Jamal. Then Pennsylvania prison authorities put Mr. Jamal into punitive confinement as punishment for writing his first book, Live from Death Row, published by Addison-Wesley.

We began to ask ourselves, shouldn't political dissidents in THIS country enjoy the same rights that the U.S. government demands for political dissidents in Chine or Iran?

When we looked into the case, we found that Mr. Jamal was a prominent radio journalist in Philadelphia. He frequently reported cases of police misconduct on the air and was threatened along with other journalists by then Mayor Rizzo. He had no criminal record, but as we later learned, he had an enormous FBI surveillance file that had been kept on him since he was 15 years old.

His trial in 1982 was nothing short of a travesty. He was denied the funds necessary to hire expert witnesses, his court-appointed attorney did not interview a single witness before putting them on the stand, he was denied the right to represent himself, and then he was barred from attending his own trial when he continued to protest these outrageous acts. Important evidence was withheld from the defense by the police and prosecution. Witnesses were induced to change their testimony. And the state used its preemptory challenges to knock off prospective jurors on the basis of race.

Perhaps the most absurd allegation against Jamal is that he confessed to shooting Officer Daniel Faulkner. Jamal had been shot by Officer Faulkner and was beaten by other police arriving at the scene. Two months later, when Mr. Jamal filed police brutality charges, the police officers who were with him that night suddenly "remembered" that he had confessed. This was accepted by the court, even though the emergency room doctor and written police reports from that evening said that Jamal had made no statement.

We were then shocked to find that when he was granted a hearing on whether his first trial was unfair and whether he should be granted a new trial, this hearing was conducted by the same judge who had conducted the original trial that was in question.

This judge was a former member of the Fraternal Order or Police, and had pronounced more death sentences than any other sitting judge in the country Ð almost all of them on Black defendants.

If that were not enough, when his case went to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, we found out that 5 out of the seven justices were endorsed by the FOP in their electoral campaigns for that courts, and most of them brag about receiving various awards by police organizations

We have a great deal of sympathy for anyone who is a victim of tragedy, including the widows of slain police officers. But we do not feel that the proper answer to tragedy is to inflict injustice on others. We need to base ourselves on fact, not on emotion. And our path to closure should be paved with a search for truth and justice, not a search for revenge against whomever is targeted by the police.

Rage Against the Machine is not a stranger to controversy. And we are happy that our small effort in doing this benefit has focused increased attention on this case. We find ourselves following in the footsteps of Bob Dylan, whose famous song and concert for Ruben "Hurricane" Carter in 1975, helped to free someone who was falsely accused of murder right here in New Jersey.

It is ironic that tonight, on the day after the Pope called for an end to the death penalty in the United States, we will have others outside tonight calling for the taking of a life on the flimsiest of evidence.

One of the great things about young people is that they DO question, that they do care deeply about justice, and that they have open minds. We hope that some of them brought their parents tonight!

**Rocktropolis.com**

"...The Matrix soundtrack also includes a new track from Ministry ("Bad Blood," from the forthcoming Dark Side of the Spoon), and a healthy dose of undead rock tracks from Prodigy ("Mindfields"), Rob Zombie ("Dragula" [Hot Rod Herman Remix]), Rage Against the Machine ("Wake Up"), Monster Magnet ("Look To Your Orb For Warning"), the Deftones ("My Own Summer [Shove It]"), Rammstein ("Du Hast"), Propellerheads ("Spybreak!"), Meat Beat Manifesto ("Prime Audio Soup"), Lunatic Calm ("Leave You Far Behind"), among others.
  The Matrix soundtrack hits stores March 30 on Maverick Recordings. The film, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, hits theaters on March 31."
-- Kevin Raub
 
 

jan. 29, 1999
Controversial Benefit Rages On

Thursday night's controversial benefit concert at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. was a study in contrasts: two bands largely opposed, both musically and philosophically, united in a common cause. Proceeds from the event went to aid the defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been on death row in Pennsylvania since being convicted of shooting and killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in December of 1981. Headliners for the event were the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine, both bands among the most politically active major acts today.

The show went on amid protest from police organizations and state officials as high up as New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman. While unable to cancel the event because of the First Amendment, pressure from concert opposition led Ticketmaster to offer a full refund up until the day before the show. Though all the returned tickets were eventually sold, some fans still decided to stay home, possibly because of rumors that the concert might lead to clashes between police and demonstrators. Those who showed up were greeted by the Beastie Boys, following openers Black Star and Bad Religion. True to their current Buddha nature, the Beasties spoke calmly to the crowd of over fifteen thousand, acknowledging the loss suffered by Officer Faulkner's family, while maintaining that Abu-Jamal did not receive a fair trial. Adam Yauch also stated the group's opposition to the death penalty with a quote from Ghandi, "An eye for an eye just makes the whole world go blind."

In general the crowd, split between fans of the Beasties and Rage, listened with more patience than passion, but responded loudly a few minutes later to "Sabotage," the highlight of a tight and energetic set. Earlier, the B-Boys bounded across the stage to "Intergalactic" from Hello Nasty, at times breaking into a Harlem Globetrotters-style weave. Towards the middle of the hour long performance they took time out for some spacey instrumental jamming, thenclimaxed with the hard riffing of "So What'cha Want?"

While the stage was being prepared for Rage's performance, British rockers Chumbawumba spoke briefly about Mumia Abu-Jamal, who saw the Pennsylvania Supreme Court deny his final Appeal in late October. After 16 years on death row, Mumia is now awaiting Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridges' signature on his death warrant. Critics, including Amnesty International, and the law journal The American Lawyer, which called the trial "grotesquely unfair," claim that Abu-Jamal, formerly an award-winning radio-journalist, as well as a member of the Black Panthers and the black militant group MOVE, was convicted for his political beliefs rather than on the evidence. Abu-Jamal's lawyer, during appeal hearings, "admitted that he did not talk to a single witness before the trial, was totally unprepared…and made errors in law in failing to object at critical points during the trial."
 
 

It made for a charged backdrop for Rage Against the Machine, but if the controversy surrounding the show had an effect it was only to make their performance more defiant and vitriolic. In stark contrast to the reserved pleas of the Beastie Boys, Rage took the stage in front of an upside down American flag printed with "Free Mumia," and laced their demonstrative opening cords with chants of "Free Abu-Jamal." The crowd, which between sets had soundly booed Abu-Jamal friend and activist Pam Africa during her confrontational speech, now loudly roared approval. Mosh pits emerged in the general-admission floor seats, but the pushing and shoving couldn't match the energy of Rage frontman Zack de la Rocha, who patrolled the stage with a cocky stagger, stopping only to flail wildly, spewing forth his lyrics over the crashing punk-metal of the band behind him.

The music, building in intensity, took off with a poignant performance of "A Bullet in Your Head," from the band's self-titled 1992 debut album. When de la Rocha spoke it was to challenge the fickle crowd with their own collective power. "What can the cops and the politicians do to twenty thousand crazy motherf------s like yourselves?" he asked. Rage then launched into "No Shelter," from last summer's Godzilla soundtrack, before closing with a thrashing crescendo on the politically charged song "Freedom."

While Rage awaited the encore, Public Enemy's outspoken leader Chuck D walked up and took the mic. He noted that despite the controversy, music is the community that brings people together. Never one to sit the fence, Chuck D also voiced his support for Abu-Jamal, stressing that the case is about freedom, not racism. "There ain't no color line," he said to the loudest applause of the night, "right is right, wrong is wrong."

Rage followed up by encoring with "Killing in the Name," it's theme of opposition in the face of institutional racism taking on added meaning. Chuck D returned to the stage to add his vocals to the song's notorious conclusion, as fans chanted along from the stands. After a loud ovation, the show ended, and the arena emptied into the New Jersey night. — David Bienenstock From Wall of Sound
 
 

Here's an e-mail I recieved:

I was at my friends house. Her dad is a cop. He was saying that he and
a bunch of other off duty cops and troopers were going to go to the
parking lot during the concert (meadowlands thursday night) and write
down as many license plates as they could. They are going to give the
list to all the cops they know so that if they pull those cars over
they will not give them breaks but hammer them with tickets.He was
also saying that the cops who were working are going to ticket every
violation they see and tow cars for whatever reason bad plates expired
inspection whatever. This aint right, becareful and take a bus if you
can Tell anyone you know who is going this so they dont get surprised!!!!

* * * * * * * *

[ Fri., January 22, 2:45 AM EST ] FROM SONICNET.com

Cops Protest Rage Against The Machine's Abu-Jamal Benefit

Concert planned by band to honor death-row inmate reportedly draws fire from New Jersey state police officials.

Gil Kaufman:

Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello strongly defended Thursday (Jan. 21) his band's right to perform for the benefit of death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.

In response to sharp protests from police and New Jersey officials, the guitarist called in to New York rock station K-Rock (92.3 FM) Thursday evening (Jan. 21) to defend the activist band's support for Abu-Jamal with a planned benefit show next Thursday at New Jersey's Continental Arena.

"The core of this case is clear-cut and unambiguous: Mumia did not receive a fair trial," Morello said. "There was gross prosecutorial misconduct... the jury was illegally purged of African-Americans ... Whether you believe Mumia is guilty or innocent, in the United States of America, you cannot execute a man if there hasn't been a fair trial."

Morello concluded his on-air comments by saying that he thought that millions of people around the world, and the thousands at next Thursday's show, would not stand idly by while the state of Pennsylvania executes an innocent man.

Abu-Jamal has been on death row in Waynesburg, Pa., since being convicted of the Dec. 9, 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal has proclaimed his innocence all along, and his supporters claim he was set up because of his work as a political commentator and his involvement with the Black Panther Party, a black-activist organization.

"It's a concert in which we hope to both educate and inspire people to get involved," Morello said on the air.

The comments came after a number of K-Rock listeners who'd bought tickets to the event complained on the air that they wouldn't have purchased them if they'd known that the Abu-Jamal case involved the murder of a police officer.

New Jersey State Police Col. Carl Williams told the Bergen Record that he planned to write a protest letter about the show to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which books the Continental Arena. In addition to Rage Against The Machine, the concert -- honoring journalist and death-row inmate Abu-Jamal -- is also scheduled to feature sets from the Beastie Boys and veteran punk-rockers Bad Religion.

"It bothers me that it's at a state-run arena," Williams reportedly said. Williams' officers are slated to back up the arena's private security. "We're putting our troopers in with a hostile crowd, and my people are going to be there trying to maintain law and order," he was quoted as saying. "This is amazing. I'm dumbfounded."

The one-off, sold-out show at the 16,000-capacity East Rutherford, N.J., venue was organized by Rage as a fund-raiser for the Philadelphia-based Black United Fund -- an organization connected to the International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Abu-Jamal's supporters say they believe Faulkner's real killer escaped on the night of the shooting and that evidence was withheld during the inmate's trial which would have exonerated him. Abu-Jamal has nearly exhausted his appeals, but supporters continue to hope that bringing attention to the case might help block his execution.

Pam Africa, coordinator of International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, said earlier this month that she hopes the concert will build support for an April 24 rally in Philadelphia for the death-row prisoner. The rally has been dubbed the "Millions for Mumia March."

"[Rage Against The Machine] educate people about what's going on," Africa said. "We've [recruited] truly dedicated people who found out about Mumia through their children, and they found out about him through Rage concerts."

The Bergen Record reported that sports authority officials claimed they were deceived by the show's promoters about the fund-raising aspect of the show. A spokesperson for Epic Records -- Rage Against The Machine's label -- did not return calls for comment.

"[New Jersey Governor Christine Todd] Whitman believes that holding a concert for the benefit of a convicted cop killer is deplorable," Whitman spokesperson Wendy Patella said, according to the newspaper report.

The rock-and-rap community has been active in supporting Abu-Jamal over the past few months.

Among other projects, Rage frontman Zack de la Rocha is slated to appear on Unbound, a compilation benefiting Abu-Jamal's legal defense fund. The album is due to be released in March on Realized Records. Unbound is also supposed to feature new tunes from rappers Aceyalone, Poor Righteous Teachers and Dilated Peoples, as well as contributions from poets Saul Williams and Ursula Rucker.

(Contributing Editor Brian Hiatt contributed to this report.)
 
 

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12.14.98
Rage Against the Machine frontman Zach de la Rocha, Black Star's Taleb Kweli and "Slam" screenwriter Saul Williams have been tapped to contribute to a benefit album for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. Other confirmed participants for the album, entitled "Unbound" and due out in mid-March, include Organized Konfusion's Pharaoh Monch, Dilated Peoples and the Poor Righteous Teachers. Proceeds from the record will be used for legal defense for Abu-Jamal, who has been on a Pennsylvania Death Row for 17 years for the 1981 slaying of a police officer. An as-yet-untitled posse cut will be recorded for "Unbound" next weekend in New York City, featuring verses from Pharcyde's Tre, Peace from the Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone and Mumia's daughter -- under the rap moniker Goldii Loks. Common, Ras Kass and a few of the Roots may also pitch in for the track, and other previously-released MCs interested in getting in on the song are urged to send an e-mail to unbound@realized.net. The ensemble effort may end up being as long as 10 minutes, but plans call for an edited version to be released to radio as a single in January.

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11.30.98
Tom Morello along with Alice in Chains' singer Layne Staley and former Jane's Addiction drummer Steven Perkins and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble has recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's classic cut, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1 & 2". The group calls themselves Class of 99. The songs are found on the soundtrack to the movie The Faculty .

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**MTV.com**

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has written a letter to President Clinton, requesting executive clemency for imprisoned Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in jail since 1975 for charges stemming from the death of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.Morello wrote the letter at the behest of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, an organization determined to free Peltier on the grounds that he was denied a fair trial and access to government documents that have could been used in his defense.Representatives for Peltier originally filed a motion for Executive Clemency in 1993, but President Clinton has yet to review the case, even though such decisions are usually made within six months to a year after receiving such a request. Peltier's Defense Committee hopes to have him out of prison in time for Christmas, and have set December 19 as the first day of a planned civil disobedience campaign that will be staged to help free the activist.In the past, artists and celebrities ranging from Ani DiFranco to Robbie Robertson have staged benefits and concerts to raise awareness to the plight of Peltier. In 1992, Robert Redford produced a documentary about what happened to Peltier at Pine Ridge Reservation, entitled "Incident at Oglala," and while incarcerated at a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, Peltier recently phoned in a vocal part that was includes on Robertson's current album, "Contact From the Underworld Of Redboy."

In related news, Rage Against the Machine is currently at work on its third album, the follow-up to 1996's "Evil Empire," with veteran Pearl Jam producer Brendan O'Brien, and hope to have the new record out early next year.

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