Disney Takes Inspiration from Joy Division?

The Walt Disney Company has drawn the ire of some Joy Division fans for using the band’s iconic Unknown Pleasures album cover as the basis for a T-shirt design featuring Mickey Mouse.

But Disney is free to use the image since the original cover is in the public domain and was never actually owned by Joy Division. It was taken from the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy. It depicts CP 1919, the first radio pulsar ever detected (in July 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell).

Factory Records co-founder Peter Saville told The Guardian last year that the image was the only time the band gave the label an album cover suggestion. “They gave me the title too but I didn’t hear the album,” Saville said. “The wave pattern was so appropriate. It was from CP 1919, the first pulsar, so it’s likely that the graph emanated from Jodrell Bank, which is local to Manchester and Joy Division. And it’s both technical and sensual.”

According to the Disney site selling the T-shirt (which is sold out online but still available in Disney parks): “Inspired by the iconic sleeve of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album, this Waves Mickey Mouse Tee incorporates Mickey’s image within the graphic of the pulse of a star. That’s appropriate given few stars have made bigger waves than Mickey!”

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Roger Daltrey Takes The Who’s <em>Tommy</em> to America

After premiering his solo version of The Who’s legendary rock opera Tommy at The Royal Albert Hall, London, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, Roger Daltrey is now taking it to North America.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, May 19 (for Canada) and Friday, May 20 at (for the U.S.) for the Tommy tour. On the trek, Daltrey will be backed by will be Frank Simes (guitar), Scott Deavours (drums), Jon Button (bass), Loren Gold (keyboards) and, also on guitar, Simon Townshend (younger brother of Pete).

Pete Townshend is not involved but gave his best wishes in a statement:  “Great to see Roger performing Tommy with his band in 2011. I will be there in spirit and Roger has my complete and most loving support. Roger is touring his unique concert version of Tommy using his faithful presentation of the original work as the backbone for a set of wider material. It is wonderful to hear the way Roger and his new band re-interpret the old Who songs.”

The tour launches September 13 in Hollywood, FL, and concludes November 2 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB.

Tommy dates:

Sept. 13 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock

Sept. 15 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Pavilion

Sept. 17 Boston, MA Agganis Arena

Sept. 18 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

Sept. 21 Philadelphia, PA MANN Center

Sept. 23 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum

Sept. 24 Hartford, CT XL Center

Sept. 27 Montreal, QC Place Des Arts

Sept. 28 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place

Sept. 30 Toronto, ON Sony Centre For The Performing Arts

Oct. 1 Windsor, ON The Coliseum at Caesars Windsor

Oct. 5 Minneapolis, MN U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center

Oct. 7 Hammond, IN Venue at Horseshoe Casino

Oct. 8 St. Louis, MO Peabody Opera House

Oct. 11 Cedar Park, TX Cedar Park Center

Oct. 12 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre

Oct. 14 Kansas City, MO The Midland by AMC

Oct. 16 Broomfield, CO 1STBANK Center

Oct. 19 Los Angeles, CA NOKIA Theatre

Oct. 21 San Jose, CA San Jose Civic

Oct. 22 Las Vegas, NV The Joint

Oct. 24 Portland, OR Rose Quarter-Theatre of the Clouds

Oct. 25 Seattle, WA KeyArena at Seattle Center

Oct. 27 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena

Oct. 29 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place

Oct. 30 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome

Oct. 1 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre

Oct. 2 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre

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