Quick Takes - March 12, 2010

Floyd is tickled Pink by British court ruling

In a victory for the concept album, Britain’s High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band’s original records.

The prog-rock group sued the music label, saying its contract prohibited selling the tracks “unbundled” from their original album setting. Pink Floyd lawyer Robert Howe said the band was known for producing “seamless” pieces of music on albums such as “Dark Side of the Moon,” “The Division Bell” and “The Wall,” and wanted to retain artistic control.

EMI claimed the contract -- negotiated a decade ago, before iTunes and other online retailers -- applied to physical albums, not Internet sales. Judge Andrew Morritt backed the band, saying the contract protected “the artistic integrity of the albums.”

-- associated press Grisham novel heads to stage

Arena Stage will present the world premiere of a play based on John Grisham’s earliest novel, “A Time to Kill,” as part of its 2010-2011 season, which will be its first at its new home, the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C.

Artistic director Molly Smith said Thursday that Rupert Holmes’ adaptation of the legal thriller would debut in May 2011. Arena will present the production by special arrangement with producer Daryl Roth, who plans to take the show to Broadway.

The book was made into a 1996 movie starring Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, and Donald and Kiefer Sutherland.

-- Karen Wada Leno reclaims late-night lead

“The Tonight Show” went right back to its winning ways in the late-night ratings when Jay Leno returned as host last week. Figures released by the Nielsen Co. Thursday showed that the NBC franchise averaged 5.6 million viewers last week compared with 3.7 million for CBS’ “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

Letterman won the competition during most of the time that Conan O’Brien was hosting “The Tonight Show.”

Leno also won the battle for viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic that many advertisers covet, averaging 1.9 million to Letterman’s 1.3 million.

Preliminary figures for this week show Leno continuing to win in both arenas, except for Monday, when Letterman triumphed with viewers aged 18-to-49 (but not in overall audience).

-- Lee Margulies Postage stamps fit for museum

Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of artsy types in line at the Post Office in the coming days. The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday issued a set of 10 commemorative stamps featuring the work of Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.

“The individual stamps are gorgeous, but they also are presented together in a pane that is conceived as a work of art itself,” a Postal Service spokesman said. “The stamps are different sizes and placed as if they were pieces hanging in a gallery.”

Each pane includes information about the paintings and a brief note about Abstract Expressionism, the postwar movement known for its artists’ bold spirit and spontaneity.

The other artists included are Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Hans Hofmann, Joan Mitchell, Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb and Clyfford Still.

-- Karen Wada Follow cleanup of a Van Gogh

One of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous paintings, “The Bedroom,” has been taken away for restoration, but art lovers don’t have to miss it. They can follow the cleanup on a blog, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said Thursday.

The 1888 painting of Van Gogh’s room in the French city of Arles, with its brilliant lavender walls and pine-colored bed, was one of the artist’s favorite works.

The painting was removed from exhibition in January, and the restoration work is expected to continue through August, a museum spokeswoman said. The head of the project, Ella Hendriks, will blog once or twice a week on the museum’s website, www.vangoghmuseum.nl/.

-- associated press Finally

On the road: Diana Ross is planning a national concert tour that includes a June 9 performance at the Nokia Theatre in L.A.

On a roll: Betty White, who received a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in January, will host “Saturday Night Live” May 8.