Sound Bites: Gloria Gaynor, Schoolhouse Rock!, Furious Five

December 28 -- Gloria Gaynor to Be Given Star in Hollywood

"I Will Survive" singer Gloria Gaynor will see her stardom cemented this spring when her name gets carved into Hollywood Boulevard, according to her official Web site, gloriagaynor.com. She is planning to release a new album, still without a title, at around the same time. The first single for the upcoming disc, "Just Can't Stop Thinkin' About You," is due out Jan. 16.

Schoolhouse Rock! Creator Dies

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Thomas G. Yohe, co-creator of the Emmy-winning, educational Schoolhouse Rock! television cartoons, died of cancer Dec. 22 in Norwalk, Conn., at the age of 63. He helped create more than 40 of the popular, three-minute animated features, which ran from 1973 to 1985, including "Conjunction Junction," "Zero My Hero," and "I'm Just a Bill." Yohe contributed drawings on which the animations were based, and he also worked with jazz singer Bob Dorough on many of the songs. He wrote "Tyrannosaurus Debt" on his own, and created the picture of the dinosaur eating money behind the Capitol building. "It was a wonderful idea," co-creator George Newall told the Los Angeles Times. "That's what he would do. He was a terrific idea guy." In 1996, rock bands such as Pavement, Ween, and Blind Melon covered many of the songs for the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks compilation.

Furious Five Sues LL Cool J

Four members of seminal rap crew the Furious Five have filed a lawsuit alleging that rapper LL Cool J's 1997 song "4,3,2,1" illegally uses portions of "Superrappin'," a 1980 song recorded by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. In addition to LL Cool J, the suit names track producer Erick Sermon, Zomba Enterprises, Def Jam Records, Famous Music Corporation, and Funky Noble Productions. The plaintiffs — Nathaniel Glover (Kid Creole), Guy Todd Williams (Raheim), Eddie Morris (Mr. Ness), and Melvin Glover (Melle Mel) — are seeking general damages, an accounting of profits, statutory damages, exemplary damages, attorney fees, and a trial by jury. "4,3,2,1" appeared on the platinum-selling album Phenomenon.