Around The Arts

Metallica to present new 'Headbangers Ball'\nLOS ANGELES -- Metallica is back at the "Headbangers Ball."\nThe band will host a new version of the heavy metal series, one of MTV's earliest, when it premieres May 10 on MTV2. "Headbangers Ball" debuted in 1987 and lasted until 1995.\nMeanwhile, "Nose Dive" will document the key moment that ruined a particular artist's career, "from flaming out on live TV, to being arrested, to getting into that bad third marriage," the network said Monday.\nOther new shows include "Spoke 'N Heard," an alternative hip-hop video show; a redesigned version of the interactive video program "Control Freak," and a documentary special about the "22 Greatest MCs."\nMTV2, a spin-off of the original network, focuses more on musical content than the main channel, which devotes much of its time to dramas and reality programming.\nLOS ANGELES -- The man behind Big Bird is unmasking to tell fans -- to paraphrase the show's theme song -- how he got to "Sesame Street."\nCaroll Spinney, who has portrayed the lofty lemon-feathered puppet for 34 years on the children's public television show, chronicles his rise to bird-dom Tuesday in a new autobiography, "The Wisdom of Big Bird."\nHe said he was reluctant to step outside the costume, but after all this time, he figured older fans would be interested in learning the behind-the-scenes history of the show.\n"For years I've kind of hidden from the public because I've seen disappointed kids," Spinney, 69, said in a phone interview from his Connecticut home.\nSome friends once introduced him to a 9-year-old neighbor who was a fan. "He comes running in ... and said, 'Wow, where's Big Bird?'" he recalled. "And they said, 'Well, this is the fellow who's in it.' He looked at me and you've never seen such a crestfallen face."\nSpinney, who also performs as the show's green garbage-can dweller, Oscar the Grouch, said that character's scratchy voice was inspired by a foul-mouthed cab driver from the Bronx.\nPortraying such opposites on "Sesame Street," Spinney said, lets him showcase the happy and cantankerous elements of his own personality.\n"Some people have asked which am I most like, Big Bird or Oscar?" he said. "And my wife says mostly I'm like Big Bird. But if anything can get me sounding like Oscar, it's frustrating drivers."\nMan behind Big Bird releases autobiography\nWEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Two members of the rock band Great White have booked their first public performance since 99 people died during the group's concert in Rhode Island two months ago.\nGuitarist Mark Kendall and singer Jack Russell planned to perform an acoustic set at the Key Club on Tuesday night as part of a benefit to honor the memory of their guitarist Ty Longley.\nLongley, 31, was among the scores who perished Feb. 20 at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. Investigators suspect the band's pyrotechnics ignited foam that had been placed on the club's walls for soundproofing. A grand jury is investigating.\nGreat White representatives said proceeds from the pair's performance will be donated to a charity overseen by Longley's parents and earmarked for a scholarship assistance program and trust fund for his unborn child, due Aug. 3. Tickets are $20 each.\nPatrick Longley, the guitarist's father, said he has raised about $10,000 so far. "I don't care what they make," he said. "In my heart, all I care about is keeping my son's memory alive."\nGreat White has performed mainly as a nostalgia act at small venues in recent years, after reaching the peak of its fame with the 1990 hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." The other members of the group are bass player Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers.