BLUE OCTOBER FANS FIND A LOT TO LIKE ABOUT "HATE ME"
Blue October has a massive hit on its hands with "Hate Me," the first single off the band's fourth studio album, Foiled. While singer Justin Furstenfeld says he wrote the track as an apology to his loved ones, he told LAUNCH that he's heard different reactions to the song and its video from fans: "I had a mother come up to me with her son the other night at a show and say, 'My son overdosed in my arms, like you did in your video.' And I was like, 'What?' And she was like, 'My son almost died in my arms, and when he got out of rehab, we watched this video together, and it changed our lives.' And I was just sitting there going, what do you say to that?"

• Blue October has set "Into The Ocean" as the second single from Foiled. The album has been certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 copies.
• The Texas-based group will compete with 30 Seconds To Mars, Angels And Airwaves and others in a "battle of the bands" sponsored by Cingular Wireless, with the winner playing atop the marquee at New York City's Radio City Music Hall during September 7th's Fashion Rocks concert.
• Blue October's current North American tour pulls into Clifton Park, New York tonight (Friday, July 21st). The band will appear at Lollapalooza on August 4th in Chicago, and head out in mid-August on its first European jaunt.

STAIND, KORN, SYSTEM SUPPORT MUSIC IN TROOPS VIDEOS
The members of Staind, Korn and System Of A Down have no problem with their music being used as the soundtrack to so-called "viral videos" being made by soldiers stationed in Iraq. According to MTV.com, troops stationed in the middle of the country's bloody civil war have been using digital video cameras and laptops to record their experiences and edit them into videos, using their favorite rock songs as background music. Staind singer Aaron Lewis said, ""It's just crazy to see the footage of them right there in the middle of it, doing it all."
Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, whose band has played for and met many U.S. soldiers, told LAUNCH that nothing compares to hearing first-hand about the troops' experiences: "You know, just meeting them and talking to them and realizing, and just hearing kind of a little bit first-hand about what they go through, and what they've had to go through...honestly, it's just really an amazing, amazing thing to experience."

• Ex-Rage Against The Machine and current Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello said viral videos offer an uncensored look at the war that is not filtered by the Bush administration or corporate news outlets, explaining, "It is truly an indie media, from soldiers who are the ones who really know what's going on."
• Even though the soldiers' use of the music is technically illegal, Korn singer Jonathan Davis doesn't mind, saying, "I don't know what the record company is going to say about that, but what's it hurting? It's reality."
• System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian, whose band openly opposes the U.S. occupation of Iraq, said about the use of their music, "As long as it's not used to hurt others, I've got no problems personally with them using it."
• Many of the soldiers' videos, some of which are extremely graphic, can be found at iFilm, YouTube and Ogrish.com.

DECADES ROCK LIVE AIRS THIS WEEKEND

The fourth installment of Decades Rock Live, featuring Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and Death Cab For Cutie, will premiere tonight (Friday, July 21st) on VH1 Classic at 9p.m.. This episode pays tribute to Elvis Costello and will include Armstrong and Costello dueting on an acoustic version of Costello's "Alison," while Death Cab For Cutie collaborates with Costello on "Accidents Will Happen." Death Cab, Armstrong and Fiona Apple also join the guest of honor on "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?"
The show will have multiple airings over the weekend.

• Decades Rock Live is taped at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Costello segment was taped on May 19th.
• Incubus and Garbage singer Shirley Manson will lead the list of artists performing on the next edition of the concert series, which will pay tribute to the music of the Pretenders. The new episode will be filmed on August 11th.
• The show, which premiered last November, pays tribute to legendary rock artists with performances from the artists themselves as well as contemporary rock and pop acts who have been inspired or influenced by them.

DAVE MATTHEWS TAKES FENWAY LIVE
The Dave Matthews Band recently performed two nights at Boston?s Fenway Park and if you didn?t get the chance to see the shows, you?ll soon be able to hear them. The band will release a four CD set of the concerts, which includes the new tracks ?Can?t Stop? and ?The Idea of You.? Stay tuned to DaveMatthewsBand.com for details. Dave Matthews plays Hartford, Connecticut next Friday.


ALL-AMERICAN REJECT CANADIAN TOUR
The All-American Rejects have canceled the remaining dates of their Canadian tour, according to MTV News. Singer Tyson Ritter has been ordered by doctors to rest his voice, but hopes to be back out on the road in time to play a show in Costa Mesa, California next Wednesday. They hope to reschedule the missed shows for later this year.


CONTROL GETS UNDERWAY
Control, the new film about the life of the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, started filming this week. The movie is being directed by famed video director Anton Corbijn and is based on the novel Touching From a Distance, which was written by Curtis? widow. Corbijn feels that he is the best man for the job saying, ?I simply feel that as Joy Division and Ian Curtis played a big part in my life, I cannot think of a better combination of subject and director.? Yahoo Music reports that Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and Alexandra Maria Lara star. Control is set to be released next year.


WOLFMOTHER?S INNER JACKASS
?The Joker and the Thief,? a track off Wolfmother?s self-titled debut album, will turn up on the soundtrack for the new Jackass film. According to NME, the video for the track will also get the Jackass treatment with appearances by Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera and more. The Malloys will direct the clip. Also, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has teamed up with Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a song called ?Backass.". Karen describes the song as a ?little tune that makes you want to smash heads.? Jackass: Number 2 is released on September 22nd.


NEW TO THEATERS JULY 21

LADY IN THE WATER
Cleveland Heep is a lonely apartment building superintendent who discovers a sea nymph from an underwater world in his complex's pool. The girl's name is Story and she tells Cleveland that a wolf-like creature called a scrunt is out to kill her unless she meets a writer who can complete the fairy tale she came from. Luckily, the apartment building is home to two scribes and with the help of them and their neighbors, they keep Story safe and create the means for her to get home. Lady In The Water is the second movie by director M. Night Shyamalan to star Bryce Dallas Howard, the daughter of actor and director Ron Howard.


CLERKS II
Slacker clerks Dante and Randal move their wisecracking butts to a fast food restaurant in Clerks II, the foul-mouthed sequel to director Kevin Smith's 1994 film. As in the original movie, the buddies spend their time barely serving customers and talking a mile a minute about a range of topics including Lord Of The Rings and outlandish sexual acts. Rosario Dawson is new to the gang as the restaurant's manager, while characters like Jay and Silent Bob return to the fray.


MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND
A mild-mannered architect named Matt starts going out with an art curator who mysteriously excuses herself during their initial dates. He later finds out that the woman, Jenny, is really G-Girl, a stylish super heroine fighting crime in the Big Apple. At first excited by the prospect of bedding G-Girl, the reality of her clingy personality leads Matt to break up with her. After that, G-Girl does everything in her power to pay Matt back for breaking her heart. Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson star.


MONSTER HOUSE
The folks behind the Polar Express are back at it in Monster House, the story of a group of kids who discover there's more to a rickety old home than meets the eye. The movie takes place on Halloween, when pals DJ, Chowder, and Jenny are left to their own devices while DJ's parents are gone for the evening. Bored with the babysitter, they decide to find out why the creepy house across the street eats kids' toys and discover that it has a heart and soul of its own.
Monster House is on the scary side for young children, and is probably best suited for kids older than 12.


LATE NIGHT TALK SHOWS for FRIDAY, JULY 21
DAVID LETTERMAN (CBS) - Donald Trump, Nick Griffin, Sam Roberts
JAY LENO (NBC) - Tina Fey, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis
LATE LATE SHOW (CBS) - Tom Lennon, Jewel (repeat)
CONAN O'BRIEN (NBC) - Al Gore, Paul Giamatti, Beastie Boys
LAST CALL - Neil Goldman, Taran Killam, Paul Campbell, Harland Williams, Jasper Redd, Living Things
JIMMY KIMMEL (ABC) - Allison Janney, Morgan Spurlock, Jurassic 5

FOR SATURDAY, JULY 22
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - Host: Jason Lee, Musical Guest: Foo Fighters