December 2002 Click the three images below to enlarge: [Byata and Zeehot] [Band members: Carmine Appice, Bill Pascali, special guest TM Stevens and girls] [Carmine and girls] The photos above are some press photos for the new Vanilla Fudge CD that will be released in Japan in January 2003. It's called "The Return", and is on 'Worldsound / Bianic Records / JVC Records.
November 2002 [Brian May of Queen with Carmine.] To the left is a photo of Carmine and Brian May at a reception in Los Angeles on October 18, 2002 for the induction of Queen into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Carmine has been doing many radio, newspaper and magazine interviews to promote the new Vanilla Fudge CD, titled "The Return", which is out now. You can buy it at your local record store, or online at either CDNow or Amazon. It contains all of Vanilla Fudge's hits re-recorded using today's sonics with great energy. It features new arrangements of NSYNC's song "Tearin' Up My Heart", Backstreet Boys' song "I Want It That Way", Rod Stewart's song "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" (which Carmine co-wrote), and Marvin Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar". This is a different version than the limited-edition CD that was sold at Vanilla Fudge shows lately...the artwork is updated, and T.M. Stevens (bass and vocals) appears on the song "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"! Tour dates will be announced soon! Carmine's Mapex Clinic Tour dates are being finalized now, and will be announced soon. Also, while Carmine was in New York, he saw Ace Frehley (of KISS) at an Alice Cooper concert in the Beacon Theater. Photos of Carmine, Ace, and drummer Eric Singer will be posted soon.
July 2002 ["Skill And A Shout It Lets Out" album cover.] The "Tribute To Rock Bands Of Japan" that Carmine recorded in Tokyo last February is scheduled to be released on July 24th from VAP records. The title is "Skill And A Shout It Lets Out" (VAP VPCC-84426 / ¥3,000 tax incl.)...quite an odd title in English, but it's a Japanese release. Other musicians featured on the album are: T.M. Stevens, Hiroya Fukuda, Kyoji Yamamoto, Mitsuhiro Saito, "Demon" Kogure, Takashi Ohashi, Nobuo Yamada, Yougo Kouno, Minoru Niihara, Shinichiro Ishihara, BAKI, TATSU, Toshihito Maeda, Taiji Fujimoto, Mitsuo Takeuchi, Yuji Adachi, Takashi Yoshida, Reibun Ohtani, Shigeru Nishikawa, Kazuhide Shirota, et al.
June 2002
The "Rockdetector- Ozzy Osbourne" book, for which Carmine Appice was interviewed, is scheduled to go on sale in late June / early July. An advance chapter is posted at: Cherryred.co.uk. Besides interviewing Carmine the book includes a full Carmine Appice discography and history. Interviewed exclusively for the book are: Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, Bernie Torme, Carmine Appice, Steve Vai, Pete Way, Phil Soussan, Tommy Aldridge, Lindsey Bridgewater, Terry Nails, Don Airey, Dana Strum, Frank Hall, Dave Potts, Terry Horbury, Lita Ford, Fred Coury, Kelly Garni, Ray Gomez and the late Randy Castillo.
May 2002
Message from Carmine Appice: "I went to the 'KISS Expo' on April 28 (2002) in New Jersey. It was really cool. I signed autographs for fans for five hours...pictures, CDs, T-shirts, and drum sticks were all signed. I had a great time. I got to see old friends like Neal Smith (drummer of the original 'Alice Cooper Band'), Richie Rano of 'Starz', and I saw Bill Aucoin...when I was managed by 'Aucion Management', Bill also managed Starz (and 'KISS'). Me and Eric Singer (KISS's drummer) were hanging out, and I jammed with Richie Scarlet's band. All in all, it was a great day!" --Carmine Appice Other news: Carmine is getting ready to do a "Mapex Drum-Clinic Tour" across America. The clinics will be at "Sam Ash Music Stores" in cities around America. The tour schedule, so far: May 13, 8:00PM - Morgate, FL May 14, 8:00PM - Orlando, FL May 15, 8:00PM - Carrollwood / Tampa, FL May 16, 8:00PM - Cherryhill, NJ May 19, 8:00PM - Lynurst / Cleveland, OH May 20, 8:00PM - Columbus, OH May 21, 8:00PM - Cerritos,CA Vanilla Fudge are going to Korea to play on June 1 (2002) at the "Busan City Rock Festival" in honor of the (Soccer) World Cup. This will be a free concert featuring many other bands. Vanilla Fudge will be releasing a new CD titled "Vanilla Fudge 2002" in June in Korea as well. Also being released soon is "Carmine Appice / Guitar Zeus - Korea"...featuring big-name Korean guitarists. At the (above mentioned) "Busan City Rock Festival" in Korea, one of these great guitarists will join Vanilla Fudge on stage to do a Guitar Zeus song. Carmine said: "This is going to be a great night for me, The Fudge, and 'Guitar Zeus - Korea'. I've never played in Korea before, and we are gonna ROCK!" Also, on Tuesday, April 30, Carmine went to see "Motorhead" to say 'hi' to (members) Lemmy, Phil, and Mickey. The concert was at "WWF New York". They invited him up to jam a song (to a great roar of the crowd in Carmine's hometown). Carmine said: "We rocked, it was fun! But Lemmy said that I counted the song off too fast. He couldn't get the lyrics out. Oh well, so much for speed metal..."
April 2002
The new version of the hit song "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" featuring Carmine Appice on drums, titled "Sexy", is currently on the Pop/Rock Top 20 List at MP3.com. (Carmine co-wrote the song with Rod Stewert). Click here to visit the MP3 Pop/Rock Site, and Download the song "Sexy" by Carmine Appice, and help move it up to the #1 position! "Sexy" is also on the "MP3 Pop/Rock Covers" Top 5 list! Also visit the Carmine Appice MP3 Page. Carmine Appice wrote the lyrics and sang a song for the Japanese market that he titled "Anita". It was done with Hiroya, of Anthem, and T.M. Stevens on bass. Carmine's drum book, "Ultimate Realistic Rock Re-release" is breaking sales records in America. It was voted the #4 educational book in the "Modern Drummer Magazine" 2002 polls. The Japanese version will be released in Japan soon. Carmine will be a guest (along with Eric Singer) at the "2002 KISS Expo" in New York City on April 28. Vanilla Fudge (with Carmine Appice on drums) will play at the "Busan Rock Festival" in Korea on June 1st. Possible dates for Japan (and other parts of Asia) in early June 2002. (See Carmine's American Site for more tour dates.)
February 2002
On February 3rd, Carmine came to Tokyo to do a Tribute To Rock Bands Of Japan, along with T.M. Stevens. Carmine stayed in Tokyo for 3 days of recording. He also sang one of the songs (in English). Then he did two drum clinics for MI/ESP schools. One in Tokyo on Feb 8th and the other in Osaka on Feb 9th.
May 2001
Carmine did a three-city drum clinic tour in Japan: May 10th - Abbee Road music clinic in Kokura, Kita-Kyushu May 11th - Sound Staff Clinic in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture May 12th - Velvet Sound Clinic in Shizuoka