Newsbites: Unheard Staley tracks for movie

Unheard material: Layne Staley

Two previously unheard tracks recorded by late Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley will feature in the soundtrack of upcoming Jason Biggs movie Grassroots. It tells the story of a Seattle music critic who decides to stand for the city council elections despite having no political experience. Staley died in 2002 following a long battle with drug addiction. The band dedicated their 2009 comeback album, Black Gives Way to Blue, to his memory. See the movie trailer below.

Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini is frustrated at how he’s treated at airport customs areas. He says: “I have been harassed by customs agents three times after I told them I was a musician each time. One agent told me his son was a musician and that ‘all musicians do drugs’. I did everything to bit my tongue and not ask him if he’d arrested his son.”

The family of Boston singer Brad Delp are preparing to release a posthumous album of solo material. HIs daughter Jenna says: “This has been a massive undertaking. Many of Dad’s master tapes were damaged in a flood. His good friend Roger Carmody spent many months baking the mould off the tapes – and getting sick in the process. We’ve managed to salvage a great deal of the recordings and we’re in the home stretch.” The album will include material from the 1970s until the 1990s. Delp, who struggled with depression, took his own life in 2007.

Roger Daltrey of the Who is backing an experimental medical procedure that could restore speech to people with damaged vocal cords. He’s supporting the work of Dr Steven Zeitels, who operated on the singer six weeks before the Who’s 2010 Superbowl appearance. Daltrey says: “I didn’t know what was going on with my voice. The thought of waking up from the operation and not being able to sing again was terrifying. After it I had to be silent to two weeks, and the impact of having no voice really hit me.” The synthetic vocal cords, based on a vibrating gel, are described as “Almost like a musician instrument you learn to play.” Clinical trials are due to take place in the coming months with the specific aim of providing help to throat cancer survivors.

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian is looking forward to touring the UK with Motorhead at the end of the year, because he’s sure everything’s going to work like a charm. He says: “Motorhead’s given us a headline-set time. They’re being extra-special nice to us. When your idol’s being cool to you it makes you feel pretty good about stuff.” [RealRadioXS]