Adding to their arsenal of risqué videos — remember the naked mud wrestling in 1983′s “Girls On Film?” — Duran Duran’s latest, “Falling Down,” stars a bevy of nearly-nude beauties, but this time they’re in rehab. “We subtitled it ‘Supermodel Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ only it’s not Jack Nicholson, it’s Lindsay Lohan…or someone like her,” says bassist John Taylor, 47, who, along with his bandmates, plays a doctor at a facility that could be called the Betty Ford Models Clinic. The patients’ lack of clothing and excessive smoking were apparently the reasons the clip’s been banned by U.K. TV, according to a spokesperson for the label. “It’s a storm in a teacup,” Taylor says of the controversy. (And, anyway, the band had the foresight to prepare a PG-13 version too, which is now in medium rotation stateside on VH1.)

The theme of starlets and scandal extends to the cover art and title track of Red Carpet Massacre, Duran Duran’s 12th studio release, which drops November 13. “It’s the zeitgiest,” Taylor says. “Should we put a bet on how long it’s gonna be before there’s a sitcom that takes place in a rehab? I would bet you there’s one in development right now, because that’s where the next ‘Friends’ is gonna come from — it’s gonna be based in a rehab. Celebrities go off to rehab, they check into Promises, and nobody knows what happens there. All we know is they come out and they’re back!”

“Of course, what happens in our video isn’t really what goes on in rehab,” adds the 12-years sober Taylor of the clip directed by Anthony Mandler (also the man behind the lens for the Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done”). “I’ve got first-hand experiences. This is a parody.”

As for the band’s tradition of showcasing scantily clad babes, they explain it this way: “We’re true artists,” Taylor defends with a laugh. “The entire story of art, from Picasso back, is about old dudes trying to get close to young chicks. What we do is nothing new.” Wild boys never lose it.

Virginia rap duo the Clipse announced today that they have signed a five-year contract with Columbia Records, evidently bringing to a close years of acrimonious label drama for the group.

The Clipse — two brothers who rap under the names Malice and Pusha T — first signed with Elektra in the mid-’90s, recording an album that was never released. Things began to look up when they moved to Arista, which released 2002′s gold-certified Lord Willin’, spawning several hit singles. The Clipse began working on a follow-up album, Hell Hath No Fury, almost immediately, but a corporate merger forced them to switch labels yet again in 2004 — this time ending up on Jive — before they could capitalize on these successes. The album’s release was postponed many times over the next two years as relations between the rappers and their new label soured, culminating in a lawsuit (later settled out of court) in which the Clipse sought to leave Jive. Fury finally came out on Jive in November 2006 to widespread critical acclaim, but the Clipse’s contract with Jive ended this summer. (In an ironic twist, Jive and Columbia are both owned by the same conglomerate, Sony BMG.)

The deal represents a symbolic coup for Columbia’s new co-chairman, producer Rick Rubin, who has pledged to challenge music-biz orthodoxy and focus on nurturing talented artists. And fans may not have to wait nearly as long to hear more music from the duo: Their deal includes plans for a new Clipse album next summer, a group effort with their associates the Re-Up Gang in March 2008, and eventual solo albums from each sibling.

It’s not often that you see a successful band actually acknowledge the backroom dealings that go on between radio stations and record companies. You know, the whole “your band better show us the love or see your spins go bye-bye” tactic that many mainstream formats employ. Well, Matchbox Twenty claim they’re being played like that, and they are mad as hell and they’re not gonna take it anymore!

After having to cancel an in-studio appearance on Charlotte, NC, radio station WLNK due to illness (singer Rob Thomas suffered a violent bout of food poisoning) and then hearing the afternoon jocks rant about how the band dissed them by not showing, Thomas went on the offensive, penning an open letter to The Matt and Ramona Show, calling them out for “blackmail,” disrespecting their audience, and wrongly assuming that a liner notes thank you to Matt Serletic, the band’s longtime producer, and his wife Ramona was intended for them. (Snap!)

In an open letter of their own, Matt and Ramona claim that they were well aware that the thank you was intended for Serletic and say that Thomas misinterpreted their “rant,” which was meant in jest. “No ill will here, even though we’ve been accused of blackmail (we still find his use of that word a bit humorous),” Matt and Ramona told Hollywood Insider via email. Not surprisingly, the station has decided to make the most of the “controversy” by touting a “Matchbox 20 vs. Matt & Ramona” page on its website and posting the audio clips.

So now that it’s all out in the open, how does Thomas feel about it? “Better than ever,” he said backstage at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre on Friday night. “I think they’ve offered for us to go back and apologize — off the air and maybe they’ll tape it — but Paul [Doucette, Matchbox guitarist] and I had to tell [Atlantic Records], ‘You just don’t understand. We don’t want a relationship with them now.’ It’s not like we’re trying to figure out how to make it work. Our way to make it work is, ‘Don’t play our music anymore.’”

Thomas’ main gripe is that the station’s grievances were aired, well, on the air. “These kind of things are usually done under the board,” he said. “You don’t do something [you're booked for], the radio station will call your record company and say, ‘Listen, we’re not gonna play your records if you’re not gonna help us out.’ And I was already reworking my schedule to take a 5:30 a.m. flight one day to fit them in, but it came out on the air and they were really mean. Why would we ever go to a station that talked about us that way?”

Matt and Romana told Hollywood Insider that Thomas’ letter has
resulted in threats from Matchbox Twenty fans and boycott letters to
the station’s affiliates and advertisers, but that “we’re always
willing to talk or hug it out.” They added, “At first we thought
[Thomas] had simply been misinformed about the nature of our fun,
wise-cracking show. We tried to make it clear that we didn’t insult his
fans and even put one of his defenders on the air.”

Each week, Hollywood Insider will ask one music maker to share his or her opinions about whatever he or she is passionate about. Upcoming guest bloggers will include Serj Tankian, Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman. This Friday’s contribution, by musician Taylor Hanson, is especially pressing. (BTW, Tay’s brother, Isaac, is “doing fine,” after having surgery earlier this month for a near-fatal form of pulmonary embolism). Consider this your weekend send-off: something to ponder as you take a short break from the biz.

Take a Walk, people.
by Taylor Hanson

What is the cause of our time? What is our generation going to be remembered for? Are we destined to be defined by party-hopping celebrities and shock-value news coverage? These are some of the questions I think about and pose to those that have joined us on 1 of the 25 barefoot walks (35 before we are finished) that we have done in cities across the country trying to encourage action – focused on poverty and AIDS in Africa.

Over a cup of coffee and some other crazy juice that was probably slipped into our lattes, I brainstormed with TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie about how we could help. TOMS is unique in that it donates a pair of shoes, every time you buy a pair, to a child livivng in poverty. Blake and I met in August, and three weeks later, through our shared goal of galvanizing action and the band’s decision to incorporate giving into our businesses, we kicked off The Walk Tour with TOMS shoes in toe.

Our own quest began when we went to Africa in early 2006 to learn about the issues with AIDS and poverty at its worst. There, we recorded two African children’s choirs and began our efforts to use our music with the song “Great Divide” to support direct action, sending funds straight to doctors and buying medicine with the proceeds of GD on iTunes. What unifies the message of a pair of shoes, or a song, or any action, is that we each have something we can use.

My experience in Africa was, in a word, life-changing. And also inspiring. There, you have a situation where kids are born with a disease, had no choice in the matter, and somehow pushed through — they don’t act like victims, they don’t feel hopeless — I saw that over and over again. The money that comes from download sales of “Great Divide” goes to a hospital whose main focus is children and mothers suffering with AIDS. With all the advances in AIDS research, there are drugs you can administer to mothers that, if taken a month before giving birth, will effectively stop the transfer of the disease from mother to child. That’s life-saving medicine, but what’s needed is the manpower to administer it, the people there who are looking for real solutions to a pandemic that’s affected an entire generation.

It’s true of any cause: if it’s not on your doorstep, it feels inconvenient, so it’s easily ignored. There had been a wave of money that’s come from the states, but we’re not facing a death sentence like in the ’80s. Still, this is relevant to us. Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we’re from, the average American town, is now among the top five states in number of AIDS-infected cases. It’s just as important now as it ever was.

Through each stop of the tour, we invite fans and anyone else who would like to take part, to join us for a one-mile walk. The guys and I do it barefoot and focus on what it feels like to be in need and how many impoverished people have needs as simple as a pair of shoes.

What began as a humble idea has steadily grown. We’ve had thousands of fans, local artists and other supporters come along and walk. In a few days, we will celebrate the first wave of TOMS shoes being delivered to Africa with a special walk in West Hollywood on Tuesday, Oct. 30th, along with a performance to thank those who take part. Please, join us at 10:00AM at West Hollywood City Hall, then on to Sunset Boulevard.

The Walk is just the beginning. Following this first leg of the tour we, along with members of the TOMS shoes staff, will be delivering thousands of shoes to children in South Africa one by one, reminding us that a simple action from an average person can produce something extraordinary. Now there is nothing wrong with a party hop, and no doubt we can’t all put our day-job on the back burner and become activists…or can we? After all, everyone can walk.

For more information on Hanson’s Walk A Mile campaign, check out hanson.net or TomsShoes.com