Shout! Factory has acquired the catalog of progressive rock supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer, Billboard.com has learned. The label will assume North American rights to 10 albums and a host of previously unreleased material. A reissue campaign will begin in January with a two-disc retrospective, “The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer.”
Keyboardist Keith Emerson, bassist/guitarist Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer formed in 1969 and scored four top 10 albums on The Billboard 200 between 1971-1974. The trio is best known for tracks such as “Lucky Man,” “Fanfare for the Common Man,” “Touch & Go,” “From the Beginning” and “C’est La Vie.”
The group disbanded in 1979 but reunited to tour and record in the early 1990s. Its last album was 1994’s “In the Hot Seat.”
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Mexican teen star Belinda, who started her career in television before establishing herself as a singer, has signed a record deal with EMI Televisa. Belinda’s first album for the label will be titled “Utopia” and is set for a fall release in the United States and all of Latin America. First single “Ni Freud, Ni Tu Mama” will be serviced to radio Aug. 21.
Producers and songwriters contributing to the set include Kara DioGuardi, Jimmy Harry, Greg Kursten and Greg Wells. Belinda’s album will also include one English-language track.
The singer is already making forays into the mainstream with a starring role opposite Raven-Symone in the Disney film “The Cheetah Girls 2,” which will premiere Aug. 25 on the Disney Channel. Belinda was previously signed to BMG, which released the soundtracks to her TV soaps, “Complices al Rescate” and “Amigos x Siempre” as well as her self-titled 2004 solo debut.
— Leila Cobo, Miami
Graham Coxon will release his next solo effort, “Love Travels at Illegal Speeds,” on Oct. 31 via Parlophone. It will be the first effort for the label from the ex-Blur guitarist, who has released five albums prior. The set was produced by Stephen Street, who helmed a pair of Blur records (“Modern Life Is Rubbish” and “Parklife”) prior to Coxon’s departure in 2002.
Coxon’s last album, “Happiness in Magazines,” was released in 2004 on Transcopic. He will perform at a number festivals in the U.K. and Japan through the end of September, with a short U.K. tour beginning Oct. 14 at the Villa Marina on the Isle of Man.
— Katie Hasty, N.Y.