November 2007

Michael Des Barres made a special guest-appearance on an episode of the controversial TV-show Nip/Tuck, which aired on FX, November 13th.

Michael told desbarres.com before the episode aired:
"I just shot an episode of Nip/Tuck, a series on FX. I play a Beverly Hills hair dresser who is addicted to plastic surgery. It was one of my most favorite roles. The make up lasted 5 hours and is glamorously grotesque."

The episode was apparently well-received by fans of Nip/Tuck, a show famous for its controversial storylines. A reviewer on Film.com wrote about the episode: "Even considering this show's proud history, this was probably the most lurid hour of television I've ever seen outside of pay cable."

Some reviews mentioning Michael's role:
TVguide.com:
"Speaking of addicts, I didn't know that was Michael Des Barres as plastic surgery addict Everett Poe until I saw the opening guest-star credit and then recognized his voice. There are so many people in this town like Everett who refer to themselves as "plastic-surgery perfectionists." You know the ones. When they make a comment at a party, you look at them and wonder if they are being sarcastic or serious. You just can't tell...because their face doesn't move when they speak. Michael did a fabulous job, though."

TVsquad.com:
"The episode's featured patient, Everett Poe, was a total freak. Plastic surgery addict. But because he owned a high-end salon and promised to send patients to McNamara/Troy, Christian agreed to work on him. I wish we had seen more of him though. His "hide who you are" mystique was interesting."

October 2007

Michael participated in a reading of Catherine James' new book Dandelion: Memoir of a Free Spirit at the Book Soup on Thursday, October 4th.

A video of Michael reading from the book is now up on YouTube.

September 2007

Michael appears in the video for a parody song called "I'm Too Old for American Idol" by the band Bellylove. (He provides the voice of the judge).
The video is up on YouTube, and the song can also be heard on Bellylove's MySpace page.

And two rare Silverhead demos from 1974, "James Dean" and "Marilyn", are now up on Silverhead-guitarist Rod Davies' MySpace-page here.

August 2007

Picture on the right: Michael was on board the inaugural flight of Virgin America from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, called "California Dreaming", which took place on August 8th.

On July 19th, he appeared at a book reading at Book Soup in West Hollywood for his ex-wife Pamela's new book called "Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies". He was interviewed for an article in the Los Angeles Independent which can be found here.

3 interesting video clips have appeared on YouTube. They are all interviews with Michael and John Taylor from 1985, talking about the Power Station summer tour. One of the clips even features some rare footage from the music video for Chequered Past's song "How Much Is Too Much".

Links:
Clip 1    Clip 2    Clip 3

July 2007

The extensive interview with Michael that appeared in the April 2007 issue of Juice Magazine is now available to read here on desbarres.com.

The interview can be found here.

About his latest band, Michael says in the interview:
"I'm really excited about the Free Love Foundation. It's a 12-piece soul band with these incredible brothers and sisters. It's music that I've loved all my life, soul music, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. I'm very excited to play these songs, and songs that I've written with Paul. I look forward to finding new outfits to wear and taking this as far as I can go."

June 2007

Another new song was added on June 21st, with this message from MDB:

"Enjoy Michael's new Song "MR.BITTERSWEET" on the Michael Des Barres and Free Love Foundation's MySpace page. Stay tuned for more to come!

Much Love and Respect,
Michael Des Barres"

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Michael is mentioned in the June issue of Yogi Times. It's an article about the Environmental Motors and Gibson Guitars event last month.
Click here to read it.

More pictures from his acoustic performance are available on electrifyingtimes.com (bottom of page).

May 2007

A brand new song from Michael Des Barres and Free Love Foundation was posted on their MySpace page on May 24th. The song is called "Let's Get Connected, and can be heard here.

Update: On May 31st, it was replaced with a slightly different version of the same song, now it's called "Let's Get Connected (Heal The World)" and has different lyrics.
The new version was accompanied by the following message: "Enjoy the new song on Myspace - Let's Get Connected (Heal the World). It's got Soul, Funk and a lot of LOVE! Much Love to ALL!"

Michael did an acoustic set at "Sustainable Guitars and Green Cars" - a launching party for environmentalmotors.com, hosted by Gibson Guitars. It was a private event, and took place in Hollywood on May 17th. The flyer can be seen here.

April 2007 - part 2

On Saturday 28th April, Michael performed together with John Taylor and Roger Taylor from Duran Duran at a benefit show.

Info from duranduran.com:
"This past weekend John headlined a benefit show for the Brentwood School in Los Angeles at their annual fundraising event, Brentwood Live. Joining John, who took lead vocals on many of the songs, was Roger on drums, Dom Brown on guitar, Mindi Abair on sax and vocals, and Michael Des Barres on vocals. They did a couple days of rehearsal and performed a short set Saturday afternoon."

Michael provided lead vocals on the Power Station songs "Get It On" and "Some Like It Hot".
The full set list and more pictures can be found on duranduran.com.

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And Michael recently recorded some vocals for a TV-commercial for the Hyundai Santa Fe called "Waterslide".

The TV-commercial can be seen here.
A video from the recording of the music can be seen here.

April 2007 - part 1

There's a new video up on YouTube, where Michael interviews Pete Townshend at last month's SXSW Festival.
There's also an interview with Michael afterwards, where he talks to Jaqueline Renee.
The video clip can be seen here.

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The previously mentioned Juice Magazine interview with Michael appears in issue #62, which will be available from April 13th. The magazine can also be ordered from Juice Magazine's online store.

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Season 1 of "WKRP in Cincinnati" will be released on DVD (R1) on April 24th. It includes the episode "Hoodlum Rock" - Michael's first TV-appearance in the US (1978), where he played "Dog", vocalist in the band Scum Of The Earth. The Detective-songs played in the episode are intact, but unfortunately the episode on the DVD is a shorter, syndicated version.

And season 2 of "Cagney & Lacey" will be released on DVD (R1) on May 8th. It includes the episode "The Gang's All Here" (1983), where Michael played a character named Malcolm Kingsley.

March 2007 - Part 2

Michael made several appearances at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas last week.

On March 14th, he attended the 25th anniversary Austin Music Awards together with Pamela Des Barres, where they presented an award. The Austin Chronicle has an article with picture of Michael and Pamela here.

On March 15th, he took part in a panel discussion at the Austin convention centre, moderated by B. P. Fallon.
The other participants were Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers), Marco Pirroni (Siouxsie & the Banshees), Kathy Valentine (the Go-Go's), Zach and Taylor Hanson (Hanson).
The Austin Chronicle writes that "Des Barres ruled the panel with whip-smart wit that was at its best when paired with Pirroni's dry humor. The two tweaked each other mercilessly about their pasts - Pirroni's in Adam & the Ants, Des Barres' as an Eighties icon - which tickled the audience". Full article here.

Also on March 15th - Pamela and Michael read excerpts from "I'm With The Band" at the Whisky Bar. Mentioned in this MySpace blog.

March 17th - Michael appeared at a RajiWorld party. Someone called Cathy has a report about this in her blog, which includes a picture of MDB on stage.

Other blogs mentioning Michael:
FunkyJenn's MySpace blog / Sounding Off / Nakia.net / 5 of 9er

March 2007 - Part 1

Legendary radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer ("Rodney on the ROQ") was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, March 9th. Michael and Pamela were there to congratulate him (see picture on the left).

More pictures: Picture 1 Picture 2

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MDB and Free Love Foundation have been getting a lot of attention lately. There is a another video up on YouTube, which includes some new live footage from a recent concert at the House Of Blues on the Sunset Strip. The clip can be seen here.

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There will be an extensive interview with Michael in an upcoming issue of Juice Magazine.
Interviewer Steve Olson has talked with Michael about a variety of different topics, including growing up in England in the 60s, Silverhead, Detective, Chequered Past, Power Station, how he got the role in MacGyver, working with Clint Eastwood and of course Free Love Foundation. Stay tuned for more info on when the issue will be available!

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Michael is going to appear at this year's South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), which is held 14-19 March in Austin, Texas.
He will take part in two panel discussions:

• 15 March: a special artists' panel at the SXSW Conference 4:15- 5:30 PM
• 15 March: with Pamela Des Barres at Whisky Bar 7:30 PM

(both panels are only open for people with wristbands or badge holders)