Quick quips: Jon Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Slash, Lulu, SuperHeavy, Johnny Gill, Peter Gabriel

Jon Bon Jovi wants more people to volunteer in some of the poorer areas of Red Bank, NJ, so he has opened a new "pay-what-you-can" restaurant. The JBJ Soul Kitchen will give people the choice of earning food by volunteering in the community or by making a suggested donation.
Bon Jovi told New York magazine that this isn't your standard soup kitchen. "Picture the coolest brasserie in your hometown, that's what this is. It's the hottest-looking restaurant in this town. We have to get rid of a few stigmas attached to the word volunteering and making a difference."


A handwritten letter from 1960 written by Paul McCartney to an unknown drummer to offer an audition for the Beatles is going up for auction at Christie's on November 15. The estimate for the item is $14,000.
The letter, dated August 12, 1960, was inside a book picked up at a sale in Liverpool. The letter reads:

We would like to offer you an audition for the position of drummer in the group. You will, however, need to be free soon for a trip to Hamburg (expenses paid £18 per week (approx) for 2 months). If interested ring Jacaranda club and ask for a member of The Beatles.


Meanwhile, one of John Lennon's teeth is also going on the block, this one on November 5, and is expected to bring in even more than the letter, $16,000. Lennon had given the tooth to his housekeeper, Dot Jarrett, as a souvenir.


Slash has finished the initial recording session for his next album which is scheduled for an April 2012 release. According to the guitarist, "This one's definitely a very focused… very hard. Some of it's very heavy. It's got sort of a more unified sound to it, especially with one vocal all throughout."
Lulu was given Scala's Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award on Monday at ceremonies in London. The singer said in accepting the award "When I attended the Women of the Year Lunch last year, I was so moved by the amazing women I met and the inspiring work they do in their communities, nationwide and indeed worldwide.
"To be invited back as a winner is beyond my wildest expectations and I'm humbled and thrilled. When women roll up their sleeves, there is no end to what we can achieve."


The supergroup SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Damien Marley and A.R. Rahman has found generally good success in Europe, topping the charts in a couple of country, but it has found far fewer fans in the U.S. To date, the album has only sold 33,000 copies and seems destined to be a footnote in history which is unfortunate because it really is an excellent album.


Two veteran artists will debut in Billboard's top 50 this week. Based on Hits Daily Double's projections, Johnny Gill's Still Winning will move around 16,000 copies, good for the high twenties while Peter Gabriel's New Blood sold around 10,200 and will come in somewhere in the 30's.