This is it folks! The end of 2005 is here and by now you're heavy into the busiest time of your whole year. But never fear, The Darkness are here! In the last two years, the UK rockers have confronted just about every major problem a band can have, fought through them and come up trumps with their new single One Way Ticket and a stellar album of the same name. Featuring a thunderous riff, walloping drums and their staple monumental wall of guitars, this is the same kind of awesomeness that saw the band stride into the hearts of the world the first time around. Classic-rock icon Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Bowie, Rolling Stones) really was the only producer ambitious enough to realise the sound the UK rockers were chasing. Get your rock on now! It's on RD117.
	Ask anybody who caught the recent Foo Fighters Aussie tour and they will tell you unabashedly that Dave, Taylor, Chris and Nate completely rocked the joint and that it was by far the gig of the year. Now comes their latest single Resolve, a song that's a little lighter than we're used to from the mighty Foo, but listen a bit closer and you'll hear some pretty heavy lyrics. This is the 3rd single from the sprawling double album In Your Honor which looks set to become their biggest yet. Also playing from RD117.
	Brisbane hard rock heroes, Japunga have finally cut their very first music video. The result? A shiny, slice of footage that sees the band enduring the sweltering heat and rockin' it out under Brissie's Gateway Bridge. A Hundred Years is the song and Souls Conflicting is the album that has led Jef, Luke and Rudi away from metal to create a more melodic and accessible hard rock sound. If you haven't seen these guys live yet, you really must check them out. They truly have a phenomenal sound for a three-piece. In the meantime, A Hundred Years can be found on RD117.
	The likes of Bow Wow and even older R&B crooners may have some competition on their hands! His name is Chris Brown, he's only 16 years old and is already being compared favourably to the likes of Usher. Now you can play his US smash Run It, a synth-heavy, steady bass production from Scott Storch that challenges the ladies to take control of the dancefloor. Watch out for his name in the future, his ambitious and fresh vocals have laid the foundation for a bright, successful career. Check him out for yourself on CR117.
	Wanna be a pop star? Then take a leaf from the book of Disco Stewie Harrison. Hire one of Australia's best producers (Adrian Hannan); one of the top gospel singers in our country (Roma Waterman) and grab a great old Eric Carmen hit from the 70's and cover it. It takes a larger than life character like Stewie, Nightlife client and the owner of the Eureka Sportz Saloon in Geelong, to make his fantasy a reality and the resulting single I Need You is on this month's CR program. Also as a gift from us to you... a selection of great Christmas songs has been included this month. From the Hoff to Kylie, Robbie to U2 as well as some truly classic gems and a couple of not so classic novelty hits-to-be, you're bound to find something here to bring your venue to life! Merry Christmas everybody, and thanks for all your feedback and suggestions during the year. I look forward to hearing from you in 2006.

	Author - Ben Preece Music Programming
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Best of 2005

50 odd music-heads - only 35 spots - somethin's gotta give! Just for fun in this Christmas edition of our newsletter, we thought we'd list our favourite music videos for 2005. Trouble is - with so many staff at Nightlife these days - we've had to cull it down to just 5 of the best from each department.

Our music programmers are threatening to include these songs in the 'Best of 2005' HOTEL_MIX list for December and January, meanwhile, feel free to plagiarise our ideas for your New Year's Eve party - enjoy : )

Top 5 from NMV

At Your Service
Counting down to a Happy New Year

New Year is nearly upon us once again, and it's time to blow the dust off the New Year's Billboard and start a countdown to the party of the year.

Firstly, check that the date and time is correct on your HDMS™. To change this, access the Set Date and Time feature in the Utilities menu.

Secondly, you will need to activate this Billboard so that it displays on the TVs when your Billboards would normally appear. To do this, use [Ctrl][B] on the keyboard to go into the Billboards program, press the [Space] bar to access the individual Billboards and arrow to the New Year's Countdown Billboard. Activate it by giving it an appropriate display time using the [T] key and an appropriate display period by using the [P] key. If this is the only billboard you would like activated make sure all other Billboards have their [T]ime set to 0.

Thirdly, there are several ways to program your HDMS™ to show Billboards on the TVs. To have the Billboard work in conjunction with video clips and display between songs, use the Billboards Display Time in the Utilities menu to set a time it appears for. To activate a dedicated billboard display instead of video clips, program Video Output 1 or Video Output 2 in the scheduler, or use [F6] to manually set up.

We have included a cheat sheet with this month's update package on how to fix the New Year's Countdown on your TVs on the day. Keep it close to the system so it can be referred to on New Year's Eve.

There are many ways to program your HDMS™ to meet your Billboards needs. Contact our Customer Support Centre on 1800 773 468 if you would like further assistance.

News from NZ

Sad times fell upon the NZ hospitality industry recently, as one of our industry leaders, Michael Erceg was killed in an air accident. For those of us who had the privilege of meeting Michael, they would know what a special person he was. The hospitality industry as a whole has benefited from the achievements his company, Independent Liquor Ltd, has made and this is not only on our shores. Challenging major competitors and entrenched marketing habits were his specialty, to a point where he re-wrote the manual. But above all, there was an enduring personal quality, which proved that you can be a true gentleman and achieve great financial wealth. It's this kind of thinking which we should all take with us into Christmas.

2005 - Hear The Music

Man! Time flies when you're having fun huh? Once again the silly season has landed on us a little too quickly but it's really the perfect time to remember the year in music. This year we've got you covered - all you need to do is install your December update disc, pull up our most actively programmed playlist - HOTEL_MIX, set it to random and you're geared up to listen to the hottest mix of tunes from January 2005 to now! Use it quick though, it will return to its usual format - a scorching mix of fresh, new tunes and the top 100 - in January 2006.

If you don't have HOTEL_MIX activated, don't be shy - give our friendly Customer Support team a buzz for advice. Ben Preece