Stars salute MusiCares honoree Bruce Springsteen

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Be it concert or charity auction, Bruce Springsteen can bring any event to a crescendo.

Springsteen briefly took over auctioneering duties before being honored as MusiCares person of the year Friday night, exhorting the crowd to bid on a signed Fender electric guitar by amping up the deal. The 63-year-old rock 'n' roll star moved the bid north from $60,000 by offering a series of sweeteners.

"That's right, a one-hour guitar lesson with me," Springsteen shouted. "And a ride in my Harley Davidson sidecar. So dig in, one-percenters."

That moved the needle past $150,000. He added eight concert tickets and backstage passes with a bonus tour conducted by Springsteen himself. That pushed it to $200,000, but he wasn't done.

"And a lasagna made by my mother!" he shouted as an in-house camera at the Los Angeles Convention Center cut to his 87-year-old mother Adele Ann Springsteen.

And with an extra $250,000 in the musicians charity's coffers, Springsteen sat down and spent most of the evening in the unusual role of spectator as a string of stars that included Elton John, Neil Young, Sting, Kenny Chesney, John Legend, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Patti Smith, Jackson Browne took the stage two nights before the Grammy Awards.

"Here's a little secret about Bruce Springsteen: He loves this," host Jon Stewart joked. "There's nothing he'd rather do than come to Los Angeles, put on a suit ... and then have people talking about him like he's dead."

Alabama Shakes kicked things off with "Adam Raised A Cain" and over the course of the evening there were several interesting takes on Springsteen's voluminous 40-year catalog of hits. Natalie Manes, Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite played a stripped down "Atlantic City." Mavis Staples and Zac Brown put a gospel spin on "My City of Ruins." John added a funky backbeat to "Streets of Philadelphia." Kenny Chesney offered an acoustic version of "One Step Up."

Jim James and Tom Morello burned through a scorching version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" that brought the crowd out of their seats as Morello finished the song with a fiery guitar solo. And Mumford & Sons took it the opposite way, playing a quiet, acoustic version of "I'm On Fire" in the round that had the crowd leaning in.

Legend offered a somber piano version of "Dancing in the Dark" and Young shut down the pre-Springsteen portion of the evening with a "Born in the USA" that included two sign-language interpreters dressed as cheerleaders signing along to the lyrics.

"John Legend made me sound like Gershwin," Springsteen said. "I love that. Neil Young made me sound like the Sex Pistols. I love that. What an evening."

Springsteen spoke of the "miracle of music," the importance of musicians in human culture and making sure everyone is cared for. And he joked that he somehow ended up being honored by MusiCares, a charity that offers financial assistance to musicians in need run by The Recording Academy, after his manager called up Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich to seek a performance slot on the show in a "mercenary publicity move."

In the end, though, he was moved by the evening.

"It's kind of a freaky experience, the whole thing," Springsteen said. "This is the huge Italian wedding Patti (Scialfa) and I never had. It's a huge Bar Mitzvah. I owe each and every one of you. You made me feel like the person of the year. Now give me that damn guitar."

He asked the several thousand attendees to move toward the stage — "Come on, it's only rock 'n' roll" — and kicked off his five-song set with his Grammy nominated song "We Take Care Of Our Own." At the end of the night he brought everyone on stage for "Glory Days."

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Rosenthal: Chevrolet restores style to Impala name

Because a brand embedded in our subconsciousness can find a space in our garage, the Impala endures.

About 16 million Chevys named for an African antelope have hit the road since 1958. And even though the one you recently returned to the airport rental lot bore little resemblance the one whose "giddy-up" the Beach Boys sang of a half-century ago, General Motors is betting the bloodline still can claim hearts.

A revamped 10th-generation 2014 model is now on display at the just-opened 105th Chicago Auto Show as a prelude to its dealership debut in a few weeks, a bid to re-establish its good name.

"It's always been a great brand name," Russ Clark, director of Chevrolet marketing, said alongside one of the made-over Impalas on the Auto Show floor at McCormick Place. "In fact, when we did research on the name, we found Impala is one of the strongest in terms of consideration and favorable opinion of any name in the industry. A lot of that is heritage. A lot of it is the fact that people say, 'I know people who have had them, and everybody loved them.'"

The brand has been ubiquitous for decades, even if you don't remember the Beach Boys immortalizing the vintage growl of a "four-speed dual-quad Posi-Traction 409" or how Robert Blake's 1970s TV tough guy Baretta drove a rusted-out Impala from '66, the era when Chevrolet could move about 1 million Impala sedans and station wagons a year. My own first car was a four-door V-8 '72 Impala, a powerful and roomy hand-me-down whose weather-beaten body — like the brand's identity — clearly had seen better days by the late '70s and early '80s.

More recent Impalas have hardly been the stuff of song, and it's hard to imagine them inspiring nostalgia. They've been too dully utilitarian to be iconic.

Nonetheless, although sales have slowed, it has been the overall best-seller among big sedans. Three-quarters of those sales have been as fleet vehicles for corporate salespeople, government agencies and rental companies. That means the premium has been on space, reliability and keeping costs down rather than the kind of panache and extras that might foster pride of ownership.

The goal of this Impala overhaul in both four- and six-cylinder iterations — drafting on similar nameplate revivals for models such as Ford's Taurus, Dodge's Charger and Chrysler's 300 — is to flip that 75-25 ratio of fleet sales to retail on its head.

"It makes perfectly good sense on General Motors' part to finally put some style back in the Impala," auto industry analyst Art Spinella, president of CNW Research, explained. "If you have a great brand name, to almost toss it off, treat it as an orphan and send it off to the fleet sales department with bland styling and cheap interiors, that's a disgrace. What they've done is kind of salvage themselves with this.

"It's finally dawned on General Motors that you can sell a consumer car to fleets, but you can't sell a fleet car to consumers. You always keep fleet cars (looking) relatively obscure and you keep the price way down, and that's what General Motors had been doing for years to keep the (Impala sales) volume up. Now they're taking another look. I don't think they've necessarily gone far enough, but it's a step in the right direction."

To wander through the vast Auto Show, which runs through Feb. 18, is to be reminded of how deeply many of us connect to vehicles, starting as children playing with toy trucks and cars. There's a teenage rite of passage when car keys and a license expand the world. Certain makes and models mesh with what played on their radios, the places traveled in them, the stage of life they marked.

That emotional bond doesn't form so easily with a mere box with wheels.

"What was it that made us fall in love with cars in the first place?" Henrik Fisker, executive chairman and co-founder of high-end hybrid carmaker Fisker Automotive, asked the crowd at Thursday's Economic Club of Chicago luncheon. "It struck me that most of us, when we really start to get our heart pumping about cars, it's usually not the cars of today. It's usually the cars of the '50s and '60s."

Road salt, slush and rain were my old '72 Impala's kryptonite. In time, its front bench seat reclined like a La-Z-Boy whenever I hit the gas because the floor beneath had rusted through. Whatever my affection for the vehicle, I could see the road we were on — literally and figuratively — both looking ahead and glancing down.

Thirty years after I traded it in for a sporty red Pontiac with seats that reclined only how and when I wanted, I would not have expected my old flame to generate much heat.

Carmakers, like most marketers, know that even when a brand is disconnected from what it once represented, it still can resonate. The new Impala is neither the muscular car of old nor the generic conveyance of late. Yet Impala means something to would-be buyers, and good or bad, it gives them something to measure this latest version against.

"They have equity in the name and you never get rid of a brand that has a good reputation," Spinella said. "Some people will buy it because it's an Impala. Some people won't. But they'll look at it because it's an Impala and they remember the Impala. It's easier to reintroduce a name than to introduce a name nobody knows."

I can still remember driving around with my friends with no particular place to go, a song on the radio about a horse with no name. If there was a tune about a nameless car, I don't recall it.

philrosenthal@tribune.com

Twitter @phil_rosenthal

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Blizzard begins to slam Northeast

A blizzard blew into the northeastern United States on Friday, cutting short the workweek for millions who feared being stranded as state officials ordered roads closed ahead of what forecasters said could be record-setting snowfall.

Authorities scrambled to prepare for the storm, which had already resulted in a massive traffic pile-up in southern Maine and prompted organizers of the nation's sledding championship in Maine to postpone a race scheduled for Saturday, fearing too much snow for the competition.

From New York to Maine, the storm began gently, dropping a light dusting of snow, but officials urged residents to stay home, rather than risk getting stuck in deep drifts when the storm kicks up later Friday afternoon.

Even in its early stages, the storm created some panic. Drivers lined up at gas stations to top off their tanks, grocery stores were swamped as shoppers stocked up on bread and milk, and travelers were forced to confront flight delays and cancellations.

With the worst of the storm yet to come, the governors of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut declared states of emergency and issued bans on driving by early Friday afternoon.

“The rate of snowfall and reduced visibility during the evening rush hour in particular will make safe travel nearly impossible,” Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick told reporters.

The early edge of the storm led to a 19-vehicle pile-up in southern Maine, snarling traffic on a major interstate highway north of Portland. No major injuries were reported. A smaller accident briefly closed an interstate near Bolton, Vermont.

“It was close to whiteout conditions, it's sort of a precursor of what's coming later,” said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine State Police.

Officials across the region closed schools and more than 3,000 flights were canceled. Several thousand customers lost power in New Jersey and points south, though officials warned the number was likely to rise as the snowfall got heavier and winds picked up.

Governors and mayors ordered nonessential government workers to stay home, urged private employers to do the same, told people to prepare for power outages and encouraged them to check on elderly or disabled neighbors.

The light snow falling across much of New England on Friday morning was a taste of the weather to come, said Jerry Paul, senior meteorologist with Weather Insight, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

“That's going to be gradually building today as time goes on,” Paul said.

A wide swath of New England, including northeastern Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, and the Boston area, will likely see 24 inches to 30 inches (60 centimeters to 76 centimeters) of snow, with some areas seeing more than three feet (one meter) by the time the storm ends on Saturday morning, Paul added.

At the storm's peak, winds could gust up to 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour), he said.

Boston's record snowfall, 27.6 inches (70.1 cm), came in 2003.

CHEERING ON STORM

Organizers of the country's championship sledding race, that had been scheduled to get underway in Camden, Maine, on Saturday, postponed the event by one day.

“As soon as the weather clears on Saturday and it is safe, the toboggan committee will be out at Tobagganville cleaning up the chute as quickly as they can,” said Holly Edwards, chairman of the U.S. National Toboggan Championships. “It needs to be shoveled out by hand.”

Some 400 teams were registered for the race, which features costumed sledders on a 400-foot (121 meter) chute.

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LinkedIn shares soar after stellar results

(Reuters) - Shares of LinkedIn Corp climbed nearly 21 percent in midday trading on Friday on results that beat analysts' estimates for the seventh quarter in a row.

The social networking website for professionals reported on Thursday an 81 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue and raised its forecast for the current first quarter.

Several research firms raised their price targets for the company.

"If execution continues, we struggle to see how margin expansion can't approach (and possibly exceed) 2012 levels," wrote Macquarie analyst Tom White in a note to investors.

White raised his forecast for 2013 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margin to 25.4 percent from 24.7 percent.

In contrast to widely watched consumer Internet companies like Facebook Inc, Groupon Inc and Zynga Inc, all of which went public not too long ago, LinkedIn continues to trade well above its debut price of $45.

LinkedIn was co-founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman, who serves as the company's executive chairman. His stake in LinkedIn is now worth about $2.6 billion, according to company filings.

Shares of the company were up 20.9 percent at $150.00 on the New York Stock Exchange in early afternoon.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis and David Gregorio)

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Manufacturer: Device setting caused Bowl outage

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The manufacturer of a protective device blamed in the power outage that interrupted the Super Bowl said a low "trip setting" on the equipment caused the partial blackout in the Superdome.

Friday's statement from S&C Electric Co. of Chicago said the outage would have been avoided if the operator of the relay device had set the trip threshold higher.

The statement did not name the operator, but the equipment was owned and installed by Entergy New Orleans, the local electric utility company that supplies power to the dome.

Earlier Friday, Entergy said the device was the cause of the power outage.

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Health officials: Worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say the worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread flu dropped again last week. By some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks. Deaths from the flu or pneumonia have been dropping for two weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest flu numbers on Friday.

This flu season started about a month earlier than normal. Outbreaks began in the late fall, and the dominant flu strain is one that tends to make people sicker.

It's been nine years since a flu season started like this one, and that proved to be one of the deadliest. So far, this season has been labeled moderately severe.

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Year after Houston's death, Davis gala returns

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Last year, Whitney Houston died hours before Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy gala went on. This year, the music executive says she'll be remembered.

"In saying I'm proud of her legacy, I'm going to make sure that she's felt somehow during that night, yes," the 80-year-old said in an interview Thursday.

Davis' gala will take place Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, where Houston died on Feb. 11, 2012, at age 48.

The annual event is where Davis introduced a young Houston to the music world more than two decades ago. Davis — Houston's mentor, producer, champion and longtime friend — memorialized her at last year's gala, held downstairs from the hotel where she died and where her body was being examined by coroner's officials.

"Whitney and I had great times at this party over the years," he said, smiling. "I'd played her new songs and she'd come over in her pajamas and be listening late at night ... so it is bittersweet. Tragedy is still foul."

Houston was found drowned in a bathtub. Coroner's officials ruled her death accidental, with heart disease and cocaine use contributing factors.

The night continued last year after Houston's death — and the music will live on this year.

R&B singer Miguel, who's up for five awards at Sunday's Grammys — including song of the year for "Adorn" — will hit the stage. He rehearsed some of the song happily Thursday.

"I've dreamt about coming to this party," the singer said. "It's a huge honor to be included and perform."

Davis, per usual, was tight-lipped about the other performers.

"You should expect being blown away by the diversity of the music, by the vitality of the music, by the range of music today," Davis said.

Last year's performers included Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Alicia Keys, Jessie J and others.

R&B singers Brandy and Monica, mentees of Houston, were supposed to perform their new duet at that time, but were heavily emotional due to Houston's death.

Emotional Houston moments will be captured in an hour-long CBS special titled "The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family." It's a behind-the-scenes look at how Houston's death affected last year's Grammy Awards and will air the same night as Davis' gala. It includes interviews with Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and other artists.

Saturday's event will honor Epic Records chairman and CEO Antonio L.A. Reid.

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Follow Mesfin Fekadu at http://www.twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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McDonald's January sales down 1.9%

McDonald's January comparable sales fell 1.9 percent, due to weakness in the Europe and Asia, the company said Friday. 

The Oak Brook-based burger giant warned during its fourth-quarter earnings release that sales at restaurants open more than one year would be down. But analysts polled by Consensus Metrix had expected a decline of 1.1 percent.

Shares rose nearly 1 percent in morning trading, to $95.38.

Of greatest concern to Wall Street, same store sales in Europe declined to 2.1 percent. The company cited particular weakness in Germany and France despite solid growth in the U.K and Russia. Europe is the chain's largest market.

Comparable sales fell 9.5 percent in McDonald's Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa division, for which the chain cited weakness in Japan, and declines in China, attributable to a calendar shift in the Chinese New Year, and the ongoing fallout from a poultry crisis.

In the U.S., comparable sales rose 0.9 percent. McDonald's cited popularity of its core menu and moving the grilled onion and cheddar burger onto the Dollar Menu.

Total sales rose in January 0.3 percent, or 0.7 percent adjusted for the impact of currency.

While McDonald's expects sales to improve later this year, the worst isn't over. The company said it expects a 3 percent hit to February sales as a result of a shorter month in 2013.

"While January's results reflect today's challenging environment and difficult prior year comparisons, I am confident that our unwavering commitment to delivering an exceptional restaurant experience will enhance our brand's relevance and drive long-term results," McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said in a statement.

In a Friday research note, Janney analyst David Tarantino wrote that McDonald’s performance in the U.S. was ahead of expectations and the broader quick-service restaurant industry.

Though he expects comparable sales to be down through March, "we remain optimistic that planned initiatives can support better operating momentum after the first quarter," he said.

eyork@tribune.com | Twitter: @emilyyork

Reuters contributed to this report.

MCD data by YCharts

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Freezing rain, then snow

CAPTIONS

Weather warriors
Two ladies walk with umbrellas behind the Museum of Contemporary Art. Rain is forcasted to turn to sleet and then to snow as the day goes on. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune /February 7, 2013)

Staff report

12:20 p.m. CST, February 7, 2013

A freezing rain advisory had barely expired when the National Weather issued a winter storm advisory with up to 4 inches of snow expected to fall this afternoon and night.

Rain is expected to change over to snow by the middle of the afternoon "in time for the evening rush," the weather service said in the advisory.

"The threat for a period of heavy snow could result in reduced visibilities under a mile at times and rapid accumulation on area roads during the evening commute," the weather service warned.

The most snow is expected to fall north of I-88 and the North Side of Chicago, it said.

The morning commute was slickened by sleet and freezing rain across northeast Illinois, mainly along I-88 and north of the expressway, according to the weather service.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @chicagobreaking

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Google must extend payments across Europe for use of content

LISBON (Reuters) - Google Inc must extend its offer made last week to pay French publishers for use of their content to all media companies across Europe, the head of the European Publishers Council said on Thursday.

Last week, the internet search giant agreed to pay 60 million euros ($80 million) into a special fund to help French media develop their presence on the Internet. It will not pay them for posting links to their content.

French publishers had demanded licensing fees for headlines and snippets of articles in its search engine results.

Google settled a similar case with Belgian publishers in December by helping them boost online revenue, but still faces a dispute with publishers in Germany.

"Search engines get more than 90 percent of revenues from online advertising and a substantial part of these come directly or indirectly from the free access to professional news or entertainment content produced by the media," Francisco Pinto Balsemao told Reuters.

"The situation is very bad for media groups (in Europe). This use is carried out without the authorization from copyright holders or without any payment in return. So, all aggregators, like Google, should pay.

"Google's openness to negotiate and talk looks like a good step that must now be followed in other (European) countries."

The EPC represents 26 of the main media groups operating in Europe, including Thomson Reuters, Prisa, News International, Axel Springer and Impresa.

Advertising revenues in Portugal fell by 90 million euros last year to 526 million euros, its lowest since 1997.

Balsemao is also Chief Executive Officer of Portuguese media group Impresa, which owns Portugal's best-selling weekly Expresso and television channel SIC.

($1=0.7469 euros)

(Reporting by Filipe Alves; Writing by Daniel Alvarenga, editing by Axel Bugge and Mike Nesbit)

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