The Nocturnal Forum

Liam Gallagher blasts ginger Florence

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:04:04 +0000

Liam Gallagher has told Xfm Manchester he’s not a fan of Florence And The Machine. Speaking with Clint Boon, the former Oasis frontman said:

'No, I’m not having someone with ginger hair making music', he said of the Xfm New Music Award Nominee. 'I’m not going down that road. I’m sure she’s a nice girl, but she sounds like someone’s stood on her fucking foot'.

He also wasn’t blown away by the current crop of bands.

'People are far off being the best band in England or the best band in the world. There’s some good bands out there but there’s no one claiming that mantle'.

It seems every week now he's bashing someone but I guess there isn't much great bands out there at the moment.

David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' voted 'gayest album ever'

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:06:48 +0000

http://www.nme.com/news/david-bowie/39680

David Bowie's 1972 album 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' has been voted the gayest album of all time by a panel of "gay experts".

Out.com polled a panel including Boy George, Rufus Wainwright and Cyndi Lauper to determine the 100 most homosexual albums of all time, with Bowie's effort emerging as Number One.

According to the compilers, albums included were "not only records by queer musicians but also any records that have had relevance to those voting".

The Smiths, Tracy Chapman and Madonna also made the top ten.

(chuckles)

Lily Allen gives her view on piracy

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:17:00 +0000

http://www.nme.com/news/lily-allen/48488

Lily Allen has waded into the illegal download debate again, claiming that she doesn't oppose people purchasing burned copies of her CDs as long as they pay for them.

The singer, who previously launched a campaign against illegal file-sharing and said that music piracy and downloading is damaging the industry, said she wants fans to appreciate the value of her work.

"If someone comes up with a burnt copy of my CD and offers it to you for �4 I haven't a problem with that as long as the person buying it places some kind of value on my music," she told Key 103.

The singer's old anti-file-sharing blog was supported by a host of artists including Mark Ronson, Gary Barlow of Take That and Bat For Lashes Natasha Khan before she pulled the plug on it in September because the "abuse" she was getting for doing it was "getting too much".

The star initially criticised the Featured Artists Coalition, which is supported by Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, over their stance on illegal downloads. But they later sent her a letter outlining that they were in fact opposed to the concept in principle.

So let me get this straight, she hates people sharing her music on the internet, but if someone wants to make shed load of copies of her album and sell them for a profit that's ok?

She's a very strange lady indeed.

Steve Tyler quits Aerosmith

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:36:42 +0000

http://www.fashion.ie/aggregator/gossip/219634-steven-tyler-quits-aerosmith

Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith, according to the band’s guitarist Joe Perry. It comes just months after the singer spoke out publicly to dismiss reports the band was on the verge of splitting following a year of cancelled tour dates, injuries and accidents. In August (09), Tyler broke his shoulder after falling off stage while performing in South Dakota, and the group was forced to scrap the remainder of its summer tour. Perry admitted that following the accident he and Tyler didn’t speak for more than a month, prompting rumours the band’s future was in jeopardy. And it seems fans’ fears were justified – guitarist Perry has revealed his pal has left the rock group after its performance as part of the Formula One racing season’s final weekend in Abu Dhabi last weekend

Boyzone star Stephen Gately found dead

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:44:18 +0000

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6869799.ece

Boyzone singer Stephen Gately has been found dead at the age of 33, it was reported today.

Gately was believed to have been holidaying in Majorca when he died yesterday, according to a newspaper.

A friend of Gately's told the newspaper: "It looks like he went out for a few drinks, then got back, fell asleep and never woke up."

Boyzone manager Louis Walsh told the News of the World: "We're all absolutely devastated. I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet.

"I only heard after The X Factor and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man."

All four remaining members of Boyzone - Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham - will be flying to Palma, Majorca tomorrow.

Boyzone star Shane Lynch told the News of the World: "Me and the boys are flying out in the morning. We just need to get over to where he's passed and work out what we need to do."

Ronan Keating, who is in Chicago, has been left devastated by the death of his close friend. A pal revealed to the newspaper: "Ronan is completely distraught. No-one saw this coming.

"He loved Stephen like a brother, they were so close, it's absolutely floored him.

"It's a massive shock to everyone and no one can take it in yet.

"He was a man in the prime of his life, and this is a huge tragedy."

Thats a shocker. He was very well liked in Ireland.

Marilyn Manson has swine flu

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:50:13 +0000

The 'We�re From America� rocker has been officially diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, although he does not have a life-threatening case and is expected to make a speedy recovery.

Joking about his diagnosis on his MySpace Celebrity blog, he wrote: 'So I have officially been diagnosed, by a real doctor, with THE SWINE FLU.

'I know everyone will suggest that f***ing a pig is how this disease was obtained.

'However, the doctor said my past choices in women have in no way contributed to me acquiring this mysterious sickness. Unfortunately, I am going to survive. M [sic]'

Manson isn't the only celebrity to have been diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease, which originated in Mexico and has the symptoms of a heavy cold.

'Harry Potter' actor Rupert Grint - who plays Ron Weasley in the hit wizard film franchise - thought he was going to die when he contracted the highly contagious disease.

He said: "It was quite scary when I first found out I had swine flu. I thought, 'Am I going to die?' But it was just like any other flu really. I had a sore throat and I went to bed for a few days."

Kasabian singer Tom Meighan was rushed to hospital in Sydney, Australia, where he was diagnosed with the virus.

A day later, his bandmates guitarist Serge Pizzorno, bassist Chris Edwards and drummer Ian Matthews were left bedridden after coming down with the same symptoms.

Leonard Cohen collapses on stage

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:07:11 +0000

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0919/breaking15.html?via=mr

Canadian musician Leonard Cohen is recovering after collapsing onstage while on tour in eastern Spain, his music company said today.

The veteran poet and performer has been released from hospital after suffering from a stomach complaint, Doctor Music Concerts said in a statement. It is understood he had a case of food poisoning.

Mr Cohen was part-way through his song Bird on the Wire in Valencia when he fainted, causing the band to stop playing to rush to his aid as concertgoers watched. The concert was stopped.

A video showing Cohen kneeling down several times during the performance and then keeling over sideways during a saxophone solo has been placed on YouTube by a fan.

The musician, who will be 75 on Monday, was taken in an ambulance to the Nueve de Octubre hospital in Valencia but released early today, his Barcelona-based Doctor said.

Cohen was due to perform the last show of his Spanish tour at the Palau Sant Jordi concert hall in northeastern Barcelona on Monday. Trucks carrying Cohen's show had arrived at the hall this morning and were to set up as normal, a spokesman for the concert hall said.

Cohen had to come out of retirement five years ago when he discovered that most of his retirement fund had disappeared in a disputed case of mismanagement.

After leaving Spain Cohen was due to perform next at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on October 17th, his website said.

Lady Gaga Hangs self on stage

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:16:53 +0000

Found this hard to watch tbh. I know its all a show but maybe its going to far. SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

[The hanging bit is at the end if you want to skip on. Which you probably will]

Elton John to adopt Ukrainian baby

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:14:20 +0000

Elton John said he wants to adopt a 14-month-old boy from an orphanage in Ukraine who has 'stolen his heart'.

The singer was visiting the country with his Aids foundation and during his visit yesterday he performed 'Circle of Life' for the children, some there because their parents had died of Aids.

At a press conference later he and partner David Furnish, were asked whether they thought of adopting and John announced he would like to adopt one of the children, Lev.

He said: 'David and I have always talked about adoption, David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said 'no' because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child.

'But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today.'

'I don't know what the procedure is to adopt a boy from the Ukraine. I don't think that I can because England has a treaty with the Ukraine but David is Canadian so we might be able to work through something like that.'

Ukraine has the fastest rising HIV rates in Europe. Two years ago the singer gave a free concert on the main square in Kiev attended by tens of thousands people to raise awareness of HIV and Aids.

LOL

Beatles fans buzzing over remastered music, game

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:40:38 +0000

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/09/09/beatles-release-game-music.html

A wave of Beatlemania swept the globe anew Wednesday as fans from Tokyo to London to New York queued to buy the Fab Four's music in formats old and new.

Creating the buzz were the band's remastered albums and The Beatles: Rock Band video game.

Music fans who already own the iconic band's albums on LP and CD were among those in early-morning queues outside music stores, waiting to buy the newly released material. It includes painstakingly digitally remastered versions of the Beatles' original U.K. albums and box sets of stereo and mono mixes.

"It's kind of like restoring the colouring of the Sistine Chapel," music journalist Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of Spin magazine, told CBC News on Wednesday morning.

Fans in the U.K. also gathered at famous Beatles sites, including outside the band's legendary Abbey Road recording studio.

"I will absolutely go out and buy them," Uma Nolan, an Irish nurse visiting London, said of the entire new 17-disc remastered set of albums.

"I'm a huge Beatles fan and have every single LP in original first edition copies. They were the first real pop group. The entire generation was waiting for that to happen. They sent worldwide pop culture off into orbit."
'This is where it all happened'

Newer fans are also eager to get their hands on the much-anticipated Rock Band video game, which allows players to perform as the Fab Four using the game's microphone, guitar and drum controllers. The initial batch of songs offered in the game will be bolstered by further online releases.

The Beatles: Rock Band was launched at a midnight event featuring a Beatles tribute band at the revamped Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the band got its start.

"This is where it all happened," fan Hans Roosenbrand, who travelled from Holland to Liverpool for the launch, told gaming website Games Industry.

"I have been coming here every year for 34 years. The first thing to do tomorrow is go to the record shop," he said, adding that the video game was "a good opportunity for young kids to get to know The Beatles."

I saw a Beatles song on one of the music channels last night and was like 'wtf?' How cool will it be to see The Beatles in the charts after all this time.

Rapper Speech Debelle wins Mercury Prize

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:35:46 +0000

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/09/09/mercury-speech-debelle.html

British hip hop artist Speech Debelle emerged triumphant at the U.K.'s Mercury Prize Tuesday night, snagging the prestigious music honour for her debut album Speech Therapy.

"It feels better than I imagined," the singer-rapper said after her win. "My family's here. My friends are here …I don't get emotional — I'm emotional."

She beat out more established acts such as rock group Kasabian and solo artist Bat for Lashes.

The 26-year-old Debelle, whose album was inspired by a period when she was homeless, had reportedly sold less than 3,000 copies of Speech Therapy before Tuesday evening, when she picked up the �20,000 (about $34,000 Cdn) prize.

By Wednesday morning, however, online retailer Amazon reported that the south London singer-rapper has seen a 4,000 per cent rise in sales.

Mercury Prize judge Charles Hazlewood praised Debelle for "just quietly telling her stories in the most beguiling way."

Since its inception in 1992, the Mercury Prize has been considered a noted — and much emulated — music prize that celebrates the year's best album by a British or Irish artist, as chosen by an independent group of music journalists and industry reps.

Judges have often favoured little-known artists over established acts. As such, winners typically see a significant jump in album sales. Past winners have included the Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Dizzee Rascal and Antony and the Johnsons.

Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:26:06 +0000

Apparently GaGa Admitted to this a long time ago, but somehow it didn"t make a splash in the news. There was video of her penis hanging out during a concert.(See Video Below)

So GaGa"s a hermaphrodite " I thought that was a politically correct term, but I"ve been informed the more PC term is "intersexual." She has a penis and a vagina and she identifies as female. This is reportedly her statement about it, although take it with a grain of salt, because I haven"t been able to trace it back to any reliable source:

Gaga Said..."Its not something that I"m ashamed of, just isn"t something that i go around telling everyone. Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but i consider myself a female. Its just a little bit of a penis and really doesn"t interfere much with my life. the reason I haven"t talked about it is that its not a big deal to me. like come on. its not like we all go around talking about our vags. I think this is a great opportunity to make other multiple gendered people feel more comfortable with their bodies. I"m sexy, I"m hot. i have both a poon and a peener. big f*cking deal.'

I keep picturing the Rock calling her a hermaphrodite like he did that time with Chyna.

Another Michael Jackson crazy story

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:47:03 +0000

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090629-20267.html

Controversial Body Worlds creator Gunther von Hagens plans to preserve the late Michael Jackson’s body in a dancing pose for display using his plastination process, a spokesperson told The Local on Monday.

Shortly after the legendary pop entertainer was pronounced dead in Los Angeles, von Hagens released a statement revealing his personal assistant had been contacted by an anonymous member of Jackson’s management team about plastination some six months ago.

“During the phone conversation we were told about Michael Jackson’s interest to become plastinated after his death,” the statement said, adding Body Worlds did not confirm the King of Pop’s interest because the caller wished to remain anonymous and the body donation form is available online.

The validity of the call “is soon to be seen,” the statement added.

On Monday, Institute for Plastination press spokesperson Christiane Casott told The Local the organisation is still awaiting confirmation the King of Pop wanted to become plastic.

Von Hagens promised the late 50-year-old’s family that his body would be preserved through plastination for “a didactic eternity,” and would be conducted free of charge.

“The pose would be a dancing one, to be determined by the family in detail,” he added.

The provocative 64-year-old, known as “Dr. Death” in Germany, is infamous for transforming the bodies of people and animals into exhibition pieces for his Body Worlds exhibitions. He recently caused a stir this May in Berlin where his show, “The Cycle of Life" featured dissected corpses having sex

I thought he already was plastinatised?

Nonetheless, another odd story here.

Michael Jackson has been bald for years

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:18:31 +0000

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090627/908/ten-stress-killed-michael-jackson-says-e.html

The stress of the upcoming concerts in London - which would have earned him $50 million to $100 million to get out of debt - killed Michael Jackson, says a former publicist.

The King of Pop, who had earned $750 million, was reportedly in debt between $300 and $500 million when he died Thursday.

He was working hard for his 50-date comeback 'This Is It' tour beginning July 13 in London.

Canadian Stuart Backerman, who was Michael Jackson's close confidante and publicist from 2002 to 2004, told the local Vancouver Sun Friday that stress killed the pop star.

He also revealed unknown facts about the star's private life and his insecurities.

'To be quite honest, his lifestyle, the anxiousness he has been under, and stress in terms of the concerts in London (was incredible)' was too much for the King of Pop to handle, the Vancouver man told the newspaper.

'Remember, he signed up for 50 concerts, (rehearsed) every other night. (That's a lot) for a guy who hasn't performed since 2001. Even in 2001 he could barely do two sets of 20 minutes at that Madison Square Garden (Motown) celebration. Since then he has not really practised,' said the Canadian who handled Jackson's public affairs at the most difficult time in the pop star's life.

Backerman said Jackson was probably taking too much Demerol (a powerful opiate painkiller) to deal with the stress.

'I have heard from very, very good sources, in fact it has been confirmed as I understand it, that at 11.30 a.m. (Thursday) he was given an injection of Demerol,' Backerman told the newspaper.

'He used Demerol following the Pepsi commercial (in 1984) and the burning of his hair and the scalding of his scalp. I would say between that, (and) the pressure he's been under trying to practise and rehearse and get in shape after all the years of doing nothing, and all the other stresses ... it created almost a lethal cocktail of situations that put him over the edge, and taxed his heart to the degree that he couldn't handle it,' the Canadian said.

He described the ill-fated Pepsi commercial in 1984 as the defining moment of Jackson's 'descent from the King of Pop to a walking tabloid headline'.

Jackson was filming a TV commercial for Pepsi when his hair caught fire from a special effects explosion and he was seriously injured.

'That Pepsi commercial debacle was a seminal event in Michael Jackson's life,' Backerman said.

'He was in pain, deep, incredible pain, and he was prescribed Demerol. Like a lot of people who get pre.scription drugs, that turned into a semi-habit. And it created the situation of him being 'off' sometimes, because of his Demerol,' the former publicist said.

Michael Jackson started wearing wigs after that mishap to hide his scalp.

'Because his scalp was burned, he could never have that gorgeous head of hair that he had in the 'Thriller' days that girls died for. He was such a handsome African-American male. He had the perfect, beautiful Afro, tied back, he was the handsomest guy around, really. But he couldn't grow his hair any more, so he had to wear different wigs which made him look strange,' Backerman said.

'He wore wigs. Those were all wigs, all of them. That kind of parted-down-the-middle, dopey look that you see. Sometimes you could see that he didn't have the wig on properly, and it covered what was really just stubble on his hair, because of the accident. Cosmetically he had to get that (covered up), and that sort of led to his thinking about other cosmetic approaches', including Jackson's infamous nose jobs and surgeries.

Backerman said Jackson probably kept trying to change his face because of his troubled relationship with his father who was very demanding as he pushed his son to stardom.

'He saw a computer graphic of what he would look like at about 50 years old, and he freaked out because he thought he looked just like his father Joe Jackson,' Backerman told the newspaper.

'That combined with the wig got him thinking about changing his look,' he said.

'(His father) was very hard on Michael, being the lead singer and being the youngster. He pushed him around, and he pushed his brothers around. Michael was very scared of his father,' Backerman said.

'He grew up ... that's the point, he never grew up. He never really grew beyond the prepubescent 12-year-old, in a sense. That's why he was attracted to - and I don't necessarily mean sexually - but he was attracted to hanging out with 11, 12, 13-at-the-most year-old boys, you know? Because he felt comfortable with them. They didn't judge him, they loved him, and he could love them.'

About the lawsuits against Jackson for allegedly molesting young boys, Backerman said: 'I had no personal experience seeing Michael in any dalliance. I would like to think that whatever he had going with any boys was reasonably innocent prepubescent experimentation - if that.'

Backerman said he parted company with Jackson in early 2004 after the star joined hands with the controversial religious group the Nation of Islam.

'They basically took over Michael's business and isolated everybody,' Backerman alleged.

He said Jackson was done in by his crazy shopping habits and unfettered spending.

'He had a tremendous burn rate of several million dollars a month running Neverland, shopping and going crazy, flying people all over the world. He kept borrowing against his asset base, and put himself in a deep cash-flow situation,' Backerman said.

Apparently there was only dissolved tablets in his stomach after his death, truely shocking. This man did not take care of himself, he was a sick man before his death.

New Futurama Episodes On Their Way!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:27:03 +0000

Animated comedy Futurama is to return to US TV screens with 26 new episodes - seven years after it was axed by Fox.

They will air in 2010 on cable network Comedy Central, which shows repeats and previously commissioned four specials.

Futurama tells the story of pizza delivery boy Philip Fry, who was cryogenically frozen at the end of 1999 before being defrosted in 2999.

Creators Matt Groening and David X Cohen said they were "excited and amazed" the show was returning.

'Passionate fans'

The show, which follows the space-age adventures of Fry, his love interest Turanga Leela, and Bender - a cigar smoking misanthropic robot - originally ran on Fox between 1999 and 2003.

The popularity of the repeats of the 72 original episodes - bought from Fox in 2006 - as well as strong DVD sales for the four feature-length specials have led to the resurrection.

Groening, who also created The Simpsons, said: "We're thrilled Futurama is coming back.

"We now have only 25,766 episodes to make before we catch up with Bender and Fry in the year 3000."

Comedy Central's David Bernath said there remained "a deep and passionate fan base for this intelligent and very funny show that matches perfectly with our audience".

"It's fantastic that we can add brand new instalments of Leela, Fry and Bender's adventures to our existing library," he added.

In 2005, Fox resurrected another animated comedy, Family Guy, which it had cancelled in 2002.

Excuse the lame article but I had to post something to promote this fairly awesome piece of news. Futurama is in our future!

THE WIRE SEASON 2 STARTS ON BBC2 23:30 TOMORROW

Sun, 03 May 2009 21:06:01 +0000

Because you needed to know this.

Bob Dylan Criticises The Rolling Stones

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:47:02 +0000

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/bob-dylan-disses-the-rolling-stones-203351?cpn=RSS&source=MRNEWS

Can't say I disagree, I thought that that Shine a Light concert was pretty poo, as is all their performances nowadays, they're just not the rock n' roll band they used to be! They perform their songs all...strangely. Funky I guess, like Bob says. Still, Bob himself should pack it in! I really didn't think much of that new song of his and I was watching a live performance of Blind Willie McTell last night...rotfl, it was just terrible!

Eminem spoofs celebs in comeback single

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:08:26 +0000

Eminem debuted the video to "We Made You," the first single off his forthcoming album "Relapse" on MTV Tuesday.

The video, directed by Joseph Kahn, mercilessly spoofs a slew of celebrities, including Jessica Simpson and her alleged weight issues, Kim Kardashian's rear, Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson's fractured lesbian relationship, Sarah Palin, Elle DeGeneres, Jessica Alba and others.

"When you walked through the door, it was clear to me/ You're the one they adore, who they came to see/ You're a rock star, everybody wants you," goes the track's chorus over the Dr. Dre-produced beat.

In the video, Eminem plays John Mayer crooning to a smitten Jennifer Aniston; Tony Romo doing a dirty dance with Simpson, Spock from "Star Trek;" Kevin Federline alongside a dancing Britney Spears; and an incarcerated Blake Fielder-Civil making out with estranged wife Amy Winehouse. 50 Cent and Bobby Lee from MAD TV make guest appearances.

"Relapse" is due in stores in May 19.

I was really into Eminem years ago before he got stale towards the end. I sold his albums to make money for Christmas one or two years in school. I'd rather listen to him in the mainstream than most others they have on there these days.

Iconic Waxworks Up For Sale In Hollywood Auction

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:49:39 +0000

Fans of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, The Beatles and Cher can now get their hands on their own life-sized model of the stars - wax representations of the icons are going up for auction next month.

Executives at the Hollywood Wax Museum in Los Angeles are selling off the imitations along with nearly 200 other waxworks of celebrities including actors Stevie Wonder, Will Smith and Charlie Chaplin, sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, and former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George Washington.

A portion of the profits from the Profiles in History sale will be used to help preserve Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

The auction, the first in the wax museum's 44-year history, is due to take place on 1 May.

wtf Cher?

Rock star admits he was terrified when he appeared at WM

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:26:05 +0000

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper told Slam Wrestling that he was terrified when he appeared at WrestleMania 3 in Detroit, Mich. "I had performed in front of big audiences, but nothing like (Wrestlemania III)," Cooper said.

"It was terrifying, and I remember telling Jake (Roberts) as we were riding that little ring on wheels down the aisle, 'This isn't my audience, my audience isn't as crazy as this.' It was one of the most terrifying things in the world -- 90,000 people, wrestling fans, 60,000 of them were blue-haired ladies going nuts and screaming for blood." To read the full story, visit Slam Wrestling.

I remember being terrified going to a small wrestling show in Cork when I was 9 so add about 92,000 people on, I bet it was pretty terrifying for him.

MP3s Go High Def

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:00:46 +0000

http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/april/01MP3s_Go_High_Def.shtml

(PR) Thomson, worldwide leader of services to the content creators, today introduces mp3HD, the latest addition to the mp3 family. The new mp3HD format allows mathematically lossless compression of audio material while preserving backward compatibility to the mp3 standard.

Content creators, the music industry and end users are now able to enjoy the ultimate audio quality experience with the same ease of use as the mp3 format. Users and content owners can organize their music library with the simplicity that they are used to with mp3 files. With the mp3HD format, the music industry can engage in user-friendly distribution of lossless music and audio files. The added file size required for lossless compression no longer being a limiting factor thanks to the continuous increase in Internet bandwidth capacity and file storage size.

"Over the past years, most of the music download services have adopted mp3 as their format of choice. By introducing this new mp3HD format, Thomson enables users and content providers to enjoy ultimate audio quality while preserving the convenience of the mp3 format," said Rocky Caldwell, General Manager, mp3 and Audio Licensing for Thomson.

mp3 is the most famous and recognizable digital audio and music file format. It was co-developed by Thomson and the Fraunhofer Institute IIS. The mp3 format is one of the major assets of Thomson's portfolio of licenses with over 600 licensees.

mp3HD files are mp3-compliant files that include additional side information, which, together with the mp3 portion of the file, can be decoded by an mp3HD-capable decoder. Standard mp3 players can simply play the mp3 portion of the file.

By visiting the websites www.all4mp3.com or www.mp3HD.com, users can download free mp3HD utilities, such as a command line encoder to create their own content and play it back with the Winamp plug-in.

The evaluation encoder enables the creation of mp3HD files out of stereo material in wav form at 16 bit precision and 44.1Khz. It is available for both Linux and Windows platforms. The mp3HD Winamp plug-in for Windows is capable playing back the lossless files as a bit-exact replica of the original. Professionals can find all information and license mp3HD from Thomson at www.mp3licensing.com.

John Entwistle's Death Saved The Who

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:19:52 +0000

http://nightwatchershouseofrock.blogspot.com/2009/03/john-entwistles-death-saved-who.html

The Who would be no more if bass player John Entwistle hadn't died in 2002 - because Pete Townshend only agreed to hit the road to help his pal out of debt.

Band leader Townshend reveals he planned to bow out of performing with the rock group after that year's hits tour, but when Entwistle died in Las Vegas on the eve of the trek, the guitarist was forced to forget his past differences with frontman Roger Daltrey, and get on with the shows. The tour brought the two existing The Who stars closer - and led to bigger plans.

The guitarist tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper, "John's death in 2002 was a factor in the return to serious touring. That 2002 tour was the last I ever intended to do with the band, and my mission was to make enough money for John so that he could get out of debt. He had some back tax, and a double mortgage to juggle. He died the day before the tour was meant to begin. I felt his mischievous and wonderful sense of irony in that: 'You thought you'd give me a hand-out Pete. Well, now I'm giving you a hand-out. Take my share, and tour without me if you dare.'"

Daltrey and Townshend took on the challenge, replaced Entwistle with accomplished session musician Pino Palladino and performed in Los Angeles to kick off the tour - as planned.

Townshend adds, "It felt like a gracious gift from John, in the best of humor, even though his passing was really tragic. Roger and I were thrown together. We had been respectful, and friendly to each other, but we had never been great friends. We had never managed to find a way to live with how different we are, and how differently we think and work. With John gone, we were on our own, no distractions, no excuses that we were working to help John pay his debts."

Ex Cop Charged For Urinating on Metallica Fans

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:16:49 +0000

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/26/nail_polish_helps_nab_robbery_suspect/

A former Brewster police officer is scheduled to be arraigned April 8 in Boston Municipal Court on two counts of assault and battery and one count of open and gross lewdness stemming from a Jan. 18 incident at TD Banknorth Garden. During a Metallica concert at the Garden, Joseph Houston, 29, allegedly exposed himself and urinated on a young couple from Connecticut, according to the Suffolk County district attorney's office. He was ejected from the concert, and then refused to leave North Station despite repeated orders to do so by Transit Police, the DA's office said in a statement. Houston was escorted out, only to return, the DA said. He was arrested and charged with trespassing. Brewster Police Chief Richard J. Koch said Houston has been discharged for cause from the department.

Sharon Osbourne Goes Off on Reporter

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:36:16 +0000

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b106283_sharon_osbourne_goes_off_on_reporter.html

Wanna piss off Sharon Osbourne? Ask her if she thinks there would be any controversy over the fact that a family with past drug issues like hers is hosting a family-oriented variety show. That's what one reporter (not us!) did this morning during the press conference call to promote the family's new show Osbournes: Reloaded.

"That must be the most ridiculous question I have ever been asked in my entire career," Osbourne spewed. "I'm really angry. Do you know how many people in this country alone suffer from addiction?"

"This is a terrible epidemic that covers every race," she continues. "It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, black or white. It's an epidemic of drugs and alcohol in this country. OK? And all my family are examples of being truthful about their condition and working through it and trying to better themselves as human beings."

She continues, "You know that we have been so open about our lives. My husband has struggled with addiction his entire life. And my son has been clean and sober for six years and lives a very, very strict AA lifestyle. And, so if anything he is a beacon of hope to any young person in this country who is struggling with addiction. So when you talk about family, we are family and we are a real family. I've taken real offense, because you know why? We're real people. And probably half of the people watching our show, they have someone in their family who has a problem with alcohol and drugs."

Well, now that that's over, on with the show. What can we expect from Osbournes: Reloaded? Answer: lots of pranks, contests, audience interaction, performances and even visits from a few of the Osbournes' famous friends, such as Pamela Anderson, Miss Piggy and Fall Out Boy. Oh, and children play the parts of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne. (They say friggin' a lot!)

Specifically: Kelly Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne duet on Black Sabbath's "Changes." Ozzy sings solo. Fall Out Boy does a ditty, too. Kelly sings a version of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now." Pamela has a wardrobe malfunction and reveals a bit of her bits to the audience. And, Miss Piggy speaks through helium as she answers questions to a blindfolded cast about who she is. "We didn't want to make it celebrity driven," says Sharon. "The show is more about being funny with real people."

Stupid reporter. That Miss Piggy thing sounds like a riot.

(not one MFF member replies)

Lady Gaga tops British pop charts again

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:43:30 +0000

U.S. glam ~~rag~~ diva Lady Gaga took top spot in Britain's singles pop charts Sunday, emulating the success of her debut release.

The 23-year-old New Yorker's "Poker Face" jumped three places to replace the Comic Relief charity single "Islands in the Stream" at the top, the Official UK Charts Company said. Lady Gaga hit No. 1 earlier this year with her Grammy-nominated single "Just Dance."

What do people see in this...thing? She's terrible. Its almost as if the PR people pick the number one these days and the people downoading/buying the records are brain-washed into buying the like of Lady GaGa. People wil be listening to Led Zeppelin in 20 years but Lady Gaga will be lucky if she gets played again in 8 months. She'll become an after-thought. Just like that Katy Perry.

Woodstock 2009

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:13:14 +0000

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090321/music_nm/us_woodstock;_ylt=Apg5BJHlDF3t.NaN1oc3LHBxFb8C

AUSTIN, Texas (Billboard) � Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang says plans for a 40th anniversary concert are "all speculative ideas" for now, but he hopes to bring them to reality this summer.

Lang told Billboard.com that his vision is "a free event ... a very green project," possibly in New York City.

"We want to have as small a carbon imprint as we can and use as many green techniques as we can," said Lang, who was in Austin to participate in a South by Southwest panel discussion on the legendary 1969 concert.

The holdup? "It's got to be sponsor-driven," he said.

"It's free, but it costs a lot of money. That's kind of what we're in the middle of right now. Depending on how successful we are in raising that sponsorship (money) will determine when and how we do this event -- or if we do this event, frankly."

He added that reports of a concurrent Woodstock festival in Berlin, possibly at Tempelhof airport, were "premature."

Lang said that musically a 2009 Woodstock would go "back to its roots ... There would be a lot of legacy bands -- the Who, Santana, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Cocker maybe. And it would be people like Steve Earle and Ben Harper. There's certainly room for the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers and Dave Matthews ... That would be the shape of the music."

The Chili Peppers, of course, closed the ill-fated 30th anniversary concert in 1999, which was marred by complaints about the facilities, food and water prices and ended with a fiery riot. But Lang said he's confident that the Woodstock brand is not permanently damaged.

"I think it always hearkens back to the '69 event, somehow," he said. "When people think (of Woodstock) they don't think '99 or '94. They think (of) the '69 event. I think (1999) has its ramifications, but I don't think it did any real damage in that sense."

With or without concerts, Woodstock's 40th will be celebrated with an array of projects this year. Lang has written a book in collaboration with Holly George-Warren that will be published in August. He's also working on a VH1 documentary with filmmaker Barbara Kopple.

On June 9, meanwhile, Warner Home Video will release a four-hour director's cut of the film "Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music," featuring 18 new performances, including some by five groups -- Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, Johnny Winter, Mountain and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band -- that did not appear in the original film. Rhino Records will roll out new albums of Woodstock performances.

And director Ang Lee has made "Taking Woodstock," a narrative feature film about the real estate agent who helped the 1969 festival move to Bethel, N.Y., after losing permission to hold it in nearby Wallkill.

Leon Jackson latest X-Factor victim

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Scottish singer Leon Jackson, winner of The X Factor in 2007, has been dropped by his record label after one album.

A spokeswoman for Sony BMG label Syco Music confirmed the 20-year-old was no longer with the company.

"I had a great year and learned so much recording and releasing my album," said Jackson, who released his debut record, Right Now, last October.

"Every artist knows these things can go either way. I'm really looking forward to my tour and doing more writing."

Jackson won the 2007 series of The X Factor, beating 24-year-old Welsh favourite Rhydian Roberts in the final.

Another addiition to the long list of X-Factor and Pop Idol failures. Even Will Young didn't become as big as the potenial he could have been. Give it another year or so and Leona will drop off the face of the earth as well. You heard it here on MFF first folks! I never liked Leon. He always tried to do Sinatra and me, Nathan and maybe even acphenom knows NOBODY does Sinatra but Sinatra himself.

Stone Roses NOT Reforming

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:29:14 +0000

Former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has used one of his own artworks to end speculation that the band are planning a comeback.

Squire, now an artist, has superimposed a statement onto one of his latest steel exhibits.

It said: "I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses."

Earlier this week, the Mirror newspaper claimed the band had agreed to play 21 comeback shows.

The Stone Roses were one of the most revered bands of the late 1980s and '90s, with their debut album still regarded as one of the landmark releases of British guitar music.

The denial was added to a photograph of the artwork, called Civilian, from his Luggage series.

Speculation about a Stone Roses reunion has resurfaced ahead of the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut.

Shame. The Mirror newspaper are idiots making up lies.

Michael Jackson's 50 London concerts sell out

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:13:48 +0000

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_en_mu/eu_britain_michael_jackson

LONDON – Tickets for Michael Jackson's 50 London concerts sold out within hours of becoming available, organizers said Friday.

For Ayesha Obi — who, having waited since Wednesday, was first in line — the experience was a thriller.

"He is a legend and I love his message to the world," Obi, a 19-year-old student said outside the O2 Arena in south London. "I've been hoping that he would perform live again."

The shows are scheduled to kick off in July and stretch into February. The pop singer has said the series, entitled "This is It," will be his last in the British capital.

After 360,000 advance tickets sold out earlier this week, roughly 500,000 tickets were made available Friday, organizers said. Hundreds of people waited outside the arena for the chance to buy them.

"I have come 150 miles just for this," said Lee Middleton, a 34-year-old construction worker from Liverpool, in northwest England. "We have made some very interesting friends waiting in line. ... People were singing his songs and dancing."

Tickets were priced between 50 pounds and 75 pounds ($70 and $105) — but some were went for hundreds of pounds (dollars) on internet auction sites.

While Jackson has said the shows will be his last in London, there has been speculation they could be part of a world tour. Jackson, who has sold more than 750 million albums and won 13 Grammys, hasn't undertaken a a major tour since 1997 or released an album of new material since 2001.

The 50-year-old singer has been seen in public infrequently since he was acquitted of child molestation in California in 2005. He has struggled to pay his debts, and was forced last year to give up the deed to Neverland, his 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) ranch and miniature amusement park in California.

Joaquin Phoenix makes rapping debut, attacks fan

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:19:21 +0000

http://www.hollyscoop.com/joaquin-phoenix/joaquin-phoenix-attacks-fan-in-florida_19574.aspx

Joaquin Phoenix lived out his hip hop dream when he jumped into the crowd at LIV nightclub in Miami Wednesday night, only problem is he was rushing into the crowd to attack a fan.

Fans waited four hours at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel for Phoenix to perform. He eventually took the stage at 2am, mumbling the words to his songs over a backing track.

About two minutes into the performance someone near the stage screamed out a couple profanities and Phoenix responded. "We have an a**hole in the audience," reports our Hollyscoop correspondent.

The two exchanged a couple of words then Phoenix asked "Do you have a million dollars? I've got $1 million in the bank, what have you got."

The unknown man screamed out a couple more offensive words and before he was done "Phoenix was jumping into the crowd and headed straight in his direction."

The bouncers immediately came and split the two up. Who got the first blow is still up in the air, but one thing is for sure, Casey Affleck and his crew got every second of this "unplanned" fight on camera.

The bouncers eventually led Phoenix back up on the stage and then escorted him out of the nightclub, hopefully to seek some help.

While Phoenix insists his rap career is the real deal, it's a little hard to take him seriously when his brother-in-law Casey Affleck follows him around everywhere with a video camera. Affleck is said to be filming a Borat style documentary about Phoenix and his endeavors as a singer.

What do you guys think? Has he lost his marbles, or is he for real? Are we the ones being fooled by his "performance"?

I think its a work. But a part of me is afraid it might not be and he'll end up dead or in a menal home.

Ringtone To Make Chicks Boobs Grow

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:09:24 +0000

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/ringtone-that-gives-women-bigger-breasts/

Music and sound can have a powerful effect on the mind. A slow, light song can relax you, a happy, upbeat song can give you energy, and a good driving song can make your journey seem half as long. A song from a tape that you completely wore out in high school can bring you back instantly. A researcher in Tokyo, Japan who studies the mind and artificial intelligence has taken this one step further. He is trying to show not only that music and sound can affect your mind, but that it can also make physical changes to your body. The experiment goes like this: In Japanese cities, people use cell phones. A LOT. It’s not uncommon for people in Tokyo to hear their cell phone ring 20-40 times per day. Hideto Tomabechi, one of the guys who helped deprogram members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan, has embedded a sound in a ringtone that fools your mind into interpreting it as a crying baby. The hypothesis is that if women’s minds and bodies respond to the ringtone in the same way that they are known to respond to a real crying baby, then they will experience the same physiological effects as if they heard the real thing . If it’s heard often enough, over time their breasts will grow.

Are you shitting me? This is fucking brilliant!

Monkee Peter Tork has rare cancer

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:15:08 +0000

http://www.rte.ie/arts/2009/0307/torkp.html

Peter Tork, a former member of 1960s group The Monkees, has a rare form of head and neck cancer.

According to the BBC Tork revealed the news on his website but said it has not spread to other parts of his body.

His spokesperson said that Tork, 67, had surgery in New York this week which went well. He will begin radiation treatment after a recovery period.

Tork said on his website that adenoid cystic carcinoma had been found in his tongue but that it was: "a bad news, good news situation".

He added that it was so rare to find such a cancer on the tongue: "that there isn't a lot of experience among the medical community".

"On the other hand, the type of cancer it is, never mind the location, is somewhat well-known, and the prognosis, I'm told, is good."

He added that he has been: "humbled by the encouragement, affection and support" of friends, family and fans.

The Monkees' TV show first appeared on NBC in 1966, while their hits included chart-topper 'I'm A Believer'.

Rihanna and Chris Brown Update

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:26:24 +0000

Happy times.

....Not such happy times.

Blood in a Lamborghini is proof of the attack pop star RIHANNA allegedly suffered at the hands of boyfriend CHRIS BROWN, it was claimed last night.

Forensic experts studying photos of the silver car’s interior said spatters of blood, scuff marks and damage all pointed to a “terrible struggle”

The claims came as singer Brown, 19, was charged with assault and criminal threats in Los Angeles — and US reports gave the most graphic account of the incident yet.

They said Brown hit Rihanna’s head against the car window, bit her ear and fingers and got her in a headlock until she began to black out — forcing her to try to gouge his eyes to make him let go.

Brown is also said to have told her: “I’m going to beat the s*** out of you” and “I’m going to kill you”.

Brown was arrested a month ago after allegedly beating up Barbados-born Rihanna, 21, on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Pictures of the star’s injuries leaked out on the internet and yesterday a report from a detective working on the case gave horrific detail on what allegedly happened.

The report said the attack came after she read a text from another woman on Brown’s phone and a row broke out.

Brown allegedly first tried to force her out of the rented Lamborghini he was driving, bashed her head on the window and kept punching her until he stopped in a city park.

Yesterday one of America’s top crime scene experts made a CSI-style analysis of pictures of the Lamborghini and found “clear signs” of a fight.

The court documents named the victim as Robyn F — Rihanna’s full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty — and Brown could get up to four years, eight months if convicted

Her face is evidence enough for me! Lets hope they throw his stupid ass in jail so he can't make anymore music. Maybe Chris could do some of acphenom's third eye self improvement stuff. Only I'm allowed to hit girls, maaaan.

Michael Jackson's O2 shows to be his 'final curtain call'

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:16:31 +0000

Michael Jackson took to the stage at London's 02 Arena earlier today to tell screaming fans that his forthcoming shows in the capital would be "the final curtain call".

As reported earlier this week, the 50-year-old singer was speaking at an event to confirm his first series of full concerts in over ten years. His 02 Arena residency will begin on July 8 2009 and will run for 10 nights.

In characteristic fashion, Jackson was over an hour and a half late in making his announcement. After a brief introduction from presenter Dermot O'Leary, Jackson appeared on stage in a black and silver sparkling jacket and with just a touch of swagger in his step. "I love you so much," he told the crowd, waving peace signs and smiling. "Thank you all". He then began chanting "This is it! This is it!" along with the crowd.

"I just want to say, these will be my final show performances in London. This will be it, when I say this is it I really mean this is it." After a pause, he told the crowd: "I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear, this is it, I mean this is the final curtain call, ok?"

Jackson then said "I'll see you in July" before departing the stage. The 2,000-strong audience was made up of reporters, camera crews and a large contingent of fans.

The singer hasn't performed a full concert since he was cleared of child abuse charges in 2005. His return to the stage is said to have been prompted by financial woes, and an auction of his personal possessions is set to take place in April this year.

Tickets for the 10 date tour go on sale at 7am on Friday 13 March 2009. Presale information is available from michaeljacksonlive.com and by texting MJ to 81707. Prices start at �50, �60 and �75.
---
I want to go.

Kanye West's girlfriend

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:54:53 +0000

Not really news but come on! The only explanation is that Kanye is gay.

Friendly Policeman Batters 15 Year Old Girl

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:49:24 +0000

A security video released Friday shows a King County sheriff's deputy purportedly shoving and kicking a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell after her arrest.
The video is at:
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/40437097.html?video=pop&t=a

That guy probably has woman issues.

Phoenix wants to be remembered for his music

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:55:31 +0000

JOAQUIN PHOENIX says he’d rather be remembered for his disastrous attempts at a music career than his Oscar-nominated acting. The Gladiator star recently announced he was giving up movies to concentrate on making hip hop records.

But his musical debut was shambolic and he sparked concerns he was going into meltdown with a mono-syllabic appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last week. Many fans believe that bearded Joaquin’s actions are part of a spoof documentary, as he is being filmed by brother-in-law CASEY AFFLECK, or research for a new role.

However Joaquin maintains he is deadly serious about becoming a successful rapper. He said: “I’m experiencing something and it’s what I feel. “I feel like everything in my life is leading up to this and suddenly acting doesn’t seem like that’s a big part of what was important in my life. “I imagine, when I look back on my life, acting will be just a very small portion of something that I did, and I think music will be the dominant theme in my life.”

The 34-year-old says that playing JOHNNY CASH in Walk the Line prompted his change of direction. He added: “I’ve always loved music and never really played anything, and, after Walk The Line, I kind of learned to play guitar and having that sense of performing, that certainly opened the door for me for music.

“I think now I would just like the music to speak for itself. I don’t think we’ll ever get to the reason: 'Oh, that’s why he quit and this is why he’s doing this.' “I don’t fully understand it myself. “I’ve always followed my heart and felt what was true at the time and that’s what I’m doing now.”

I cannot wait for his first single to be released. Who else wants to support him here on MFF? GO JOAQUIN PHOENIX!

Bowie dismisses Stardust claims

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:22:11 +0000

Singer David Bowie has denied rumours he is to resurrect his Ziggy Stardust alter ego.

It had been reported that the star was to revive the character for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.

But the 62-year-old's website has dismissed the claims, describing the story as "poppycock".

Bowie has been in semi-retirement since cutting short a 2004 world tour following a heart scare.

Newspapers and websites reported that the star would be performing his classic 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in its entirety.

However, a statement on Bowie's website said: "I'm sure the majority of you saw this tale for what it was anyway - poppycock.

Bowie retired his alter ego on stage in London in 1973.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7855392.stm

"However, we feel duty-bound to deny this particular story, lest members be fleeced of their hard-earned."

No More Free Beatles Podcasts

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:05:25 +0000

Norwegian would if they could. Beatles fans hoping that a loophole would allow them to finally legally listen to the Fab Four's tunes for free online are going to have to say hello goodbye to a series of Norway radio podcasts.

The blogosphere has been abuzz in recent days after Norwegian public radio network NRK planned 200-plus episodes, each showcasing one of the band's classic songs in its entirely and the history behind it. (Sure, the commentary was in Norwegian, but beggers can't be choosers.)

Although the Beatles' music company Apple has yet to seal a deal to release the band's catalog for download, NRK believed it could get away with the podcasts thanks to an agreement with the International Federation of the Photographic Industry trade group. The deal allowed podcasts to be made out of radio shows broadcast the previous four weeks.

But because the podcasts were taken from Our Daily Beatles, a program NRK aired in 2007, the network was contractually obliged to remove them. Norway's version of NPR hoped to present a podcast for all 212 episodes of Our Daily Beatles by the end of the month, but managed to give away only 14.

There's still no word on when Apple will finally put the Beatles' music online. In a terse statement, the company would only say the NRK podcasts "are not authorized."

While iTunes and Amazon.com are still without downloadable Moptop tunes, Beatlemaniacs can take some solace in the band licensing their music for a Rock Band-like strum-along video game expected to hit stores around Christmas '09.

Katy Perry breaks up with her boyfriend

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 04:07:37 +0000

"Hot N Cold" singer Katy Perry's relationship with Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes is officially on ice. A source close to the couple has confirmed to E! News that the two called it quits just before New Years.

Perry, 24, who received her first Grammy nod for her smash hit "I Kissed a Girl," had been dating McCoy, 27, for about a year. The former couple hit the road together last summer for the Van's Warped tour and had recently returned from a vacation to Mexico for the holidays.

On New Year's Eve, Travis took to his blog at FriendsOrEnemies.com to express his feelings about the split. He posted the lyrics to "Looking at the Front Door" by Main Source, which includes the lines: "I’m the one you’re against and it doesn’t make sense/‘Cause I’m the one that you claim to love for life/But all I get is gray hairs and strife."

He followed that post with one about his current squeeze -- his laptop, which he says is "LOYAL. LISTENS. and NEVER LETS ME DOWN." Katy Perry was asks about this quote to which she replied 'I'm just going to get some lovin' off my Irish sugar daddy 820'

The woman has tastes.

Marilyn Manson Wants Ex-Wife Back...for Trial

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:32:06 +0000

Marilyn Manson wants to hook back up with Dita Von Teese...and Trent Reznor and several other old pals.

The shock-rocker's camp has unveiled a witness wish list that includes his ex-wife, his Nine Inch Nails-fronting mentor to testify on his behalf in an upcoming court showdown with estranged keyboardist Stephen Bier.

Bier, otherwise known as Madonna Wayne Gacy, sued Manson for more than $20 million last year, claiming Manson siphoned off millions of dollars in band revenue.

The funds allegedly paid for drugs, assorted Nazi paraphernalia, the cost of Von Teese's engagement ring and the ex-couple's 2005 wedding, and interior decorating of Manson's mansion, which features a stuffed grizly bear, a pair of baboons and the skeleton of a 4-year-old Chinese girl.

Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, countersued in August, claiming Bier didn't live up to the terms of his contract and was simply a disgruntled ex-employee. Bier left the band in 2005, shortly before Manson began work on his sixth album, Eat Me, Drink Me.

The trial is set to kick off on Feb. 2. Both Manson and Bier are expected to take the stand, along with their witnesses.

Reznor, for instance, is expected to speak about his tenure producing Manson's debut album, Portrait of an American Family, released on Reznor's Nothing Records imprint. As for Von Teese, the burlesque model will answer questions about their marriage and personal life.

I want all words highlighted in bold for my next birthday.

A girl I went to school with said the other day she would 'do' him. Why? He looks like a right fucking weirdo. Its like fucking Katy Vick.

Lennon in new charity ad

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:31:22 +0000

Former Beatle John Lennon is featuring in a charity's TV advertisement in the US, 28 years after his death.

The singer has been brought back to life using digital technology for the One Laptop Per Child initiative.

The charity aims to deliver tough, solar-powered computers to the world's poorest children.

"Imagine every child, no matter where in the world they were, could access a universe of knowledge," Lennon is seen saying in the commercial.

"They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want. I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way."

Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980 as he and wife Yoko Ono arrived at their apartment building next to Central Park, New York.

Ono has given her approval for the commercial, which will air on spots donated by broadcasters, and has also been placed on YouTube.

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation, created in 2005, started producing XO laptops late last year at a cost per machine of less than $200 (�135).

In 2007, British comedian Bob Monkhouse featured in an advertisement for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, four years after he died of the condition.

Producers blended archive footage of Monkhouse with shots of a body double in a graveyard in Surrey, with a soundalike delivering some of his old jokes.

McCartney claims he was the anti-war member of Beatles

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:16:54 +0000

Paul McCartney has said that he was responsible for politicising The Beatles.

He claims he had a meeting with philosopher Bertrand Russell in the 1960s and that triggered the band’s politicisation.

"We sort of stumbled into things," he told the journal Prospect. "For instance, Vietnam. Just when we were getting to be well known, someone said to me: 'Bertrand Russell is living not far from here in Chelsea, why don't you go and see him?' and so I just took a taxi down there and knocked on the door."

"He was fabulous. He told me about the Vietnam war – most of us didn't know about it, it wasn't yet in the papers – and also that it was a very bad war.

"I remember going back to the studio either that evening or the next day and telling the guys, particularly John [Lennon], about this meeting and saying what a bad war this was."

It had previously been accepted that Lennon was the political driving force behind the band and Tariq Ali, a former leader of Britain's anti-war movement, has disputed McCartney's claims.

He told The Sunday Times: "This is news to me. We never heard of Paul's views at the time. It was John Lennon who was concerned about the war. He never mentioned McCartney and I never thought of asking him to join us."

And in other news, Alexandra won X-Factor...not that important obviously.

Leona Lewis says Grammy shortlist is empowering to women

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:31:00 +0000

Leona Lewis has been reflecting on the fact that so many female artists have been nominated for next year's Grammy awards.

The British singer is nominated for three gongs, including Record Of The Year for 'Bleeding Love'.

Other female nominees include homegrown talents Adele, Duffy and MIA, plus US performers Katy Perry, Madonna and Rihanna.

London girl Leona told the World Entertainment News Network (WENN): "I am so supportive of any artist but female artists in particular. It's a hard industry and so many people want the chance to live out what we are doing."

She added: "I think that we have to support each other and flourish on it. It's great that so many women are coming out and being successful - so empowering!"

The awards ceremony will be held on 8 February in Los Angeles

This was posted for Walshy, obviously.

Coldplay sued

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:47:53 +0000

Is Coldplay`s `Viva La Vida` a rip-off of the 2004 Joe Satriani track `If I Could Fly`? Joe thinks so, and he is suing Coldplay.

When you play the two pieces back to back, yeah there are similarities.

Go 50 seconds in to the Satriani piece and the melody certainly has similarities to the Coldplay song.

Is it a direct rip-off? Well, that will be up to the lawyers to work out.

What is interesting is that this is Joe Satriani taking action, not some unknown who claims that Chris Martin once came to one of his gigs.

Coldplay also came under fire from New York band Creaky Boards who claimed Martin ripped off one of their songs after coming to one of there gigs. Martin claimed he wasn’t even in the US at the time he was alleged to have been at the gig.

They're the two versions above, what do you think?

Radiohead and co launch 'music artists' coalition

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:39:18 +0000

Kate Nash, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree are among the artists hoping to establish a new committee dedicated to give bands in the music industry more of a voice.

Called Featured Artists' Coalition (FAC), the group was initially launched at this year's In The City festival in Manchester.

The committee has already met with Culture Secretary Andy Burnham to discuss a loophole in copyright law that allows DVD makers to use artists' music without paying for it. One band manager told (Music Week) that "nine out of ten" DVDs in major retailer stores are unofficial titles like this.

Rowntree says he wants to turn FAC into a legitimate organisation so it can "campaign for change in the music industry".

He said: "This is a lively group of people who are interested in artists' voices finally being heard."

Since its launch, over 700 people have signed up to FAC, including Klaxons, Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Kaiser Chiefs.

Alex Ferguson stood up Sinatra!

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:40:43 +0000

Alex Ferguson is a man of very few regrets. But one he will always remember is the night he stood up his hero Frank Sinatra. The Manchester United manager had a London dinner date with Ol’ Blue Eyes himself but cancelled after seeing his Reds crash to a shock defeat against Charlton in April 1989.

Ferguson was so incensed by the 1-0 loss at Selhurst Park he bombed out the legendary crooner to start an immediate inquest on the coach back to Manchester. It is an example of the passion that has kept him at the top for over 20 years.

Ferguson confirmed: “You can’t beat Sinatra. I was actually supposed to have dinner with him one night, but we lost to Charlton so I cancelled it and went home!

“I wasn’t in the mood to meet anybody that night so I went back home on the bus!”

Charlton’s goalscorer that day — former Celtic left-back Mark Reid, who converted a penalty — was unaware of his part in Fergie’s 19-year heartache until last night.
Obsessed

Reid, 47, now a driving instructor in Irvine, Scotland, said: “I remember sending Jim Leighton the wrong way that day. “Still, I’m amazed Fergie stood up Sinatra because of it. I would have gone along but I guess it’s that drive and will to win which has made him the greatest manager ever.

“Funnily enough, I also scored a penalty for Celtic which knocked his Aberdeen side out of the Scottish Cup in the early 80s.”

Fergie is a massive music lover and is even looking for a piano tutor to teach him how to tinkle the ivories properly. He said: “I like a broad section from the crooners like Nat King Cole, Matt Munro, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, right through to Annie Lennox and Mick Hucknall.

“I have tried to play the piano but I need a tutor now. I tried to do it without a tutor and I found it very difficult but I still sometimes sit down at it and fiddle about. I really need to get a tutor, though. Not to master it but to become sufficiently good at it.

Away from United, 66-year-old Ferguson has also become a racehorse owner and wine buff in recent years. His piano playing is just another way of avoiding becoming too obsessed with life at United.

How could you stand up ol' blue eyes? He'll always regret it.

Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards officially dead

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:04:37 +0000

Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards has officially been declared "presumed dead".

The guitarist went missing nearly 14 years ago, although his body has never been found.

According to the band's spokesperson, Edwards' family have obtained a court order officially changing his legal status.

They added that the matter was "hugely emotional" for the band, who along with the guitarist's family are not commenting further at this stage.

A missing person can be declared legally dead after seven years under UK law, though Edwards' parents had previously refused to take this option.

However the family’s lawyer, David Ellis, told Walesonline.co.uk that their change of heart reflected "an acceptance that his affairs have got to be sorted" and it was "not the same as an acceptance that he is dead".

Because the guitarist left no will his parents have been granted control of his estate by the court order. According to reports it is worth �455,990, although that will be reduced to �377,548 after death duties are paid.

Manic Street Preachers have continued to pay Edwards' share of band royalties despite his disappearance.

The star went missing from a hotel in central London on February 1, 1995 aged 27.

His car was found near the Severn Bridge, and it is believed Edwards took his own life, although there have been a series of alleged sightings of the guitarist around the globe since his disappearance.

As previously reported on NME.COM, the Manic Street Preachers have indicated that their next album will feature lyrics entirely written by Richey Edwards - they were left behind when he disappeared.

Imagine if he is still alive and out there somewhere. Amazing that they never found his body.

The catholic church ends their feud with John Lennon

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:49:19 +0000

Semi-official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has run an article forgiving the late Beatle John Lennon for a controversial statement he made in 1966, when he claimed that his band were "more popular than Jesus".

The article in the newspaper, which normally reports on the comings and goings of the Pope, said that Lennon had just been showing off and praised the band.

The article said that Lennon's comments had been, "Showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician who had grown up in the age of Elvis Presley and rock and roll and had enjoyed unexpected success."

The newspaper was marking the 40th anniversary of the band's self-titled album known as 'The White Album'.

Lennon's 1966 comments, made in an interview with the London Evening Standard, had criticised religion.

"Christianity will go," he said. "It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right.

"We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

They completely misunderstood what he was really trying to say...

Boyzone accused of promoting gayness

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:36:01 +0000

Boyzone have been accused of sending a "deadly message" to their fans.

The recently reformed group have sparked outrage among Irish clergy with the video for their new song 'Better'.

The music promo sees openly gay singer Stephen Gately embrace a man while the other band members - Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch - canoodle with women.

The Rev. David McCullough, minister of Dromore Reformed Presbyterian Church, fumed: "This video, that will be watched by millions, is sending out a deadly message to young people. It is stating that homosexuality is simply another norm.

"The video very cleverly interweaves softly lighted, black and white images of heterosexual couples with a homosexual couple. The message is plain and the often repeated drum beating of the homosexual lobby that says that homosexuality is a normal lifestyle."

The holy man claims the video is "a perversion of God's good and perfect plan" and airing it runs the risk of harming young people.

Boyzone have not commented on the claims.

They have been guilty of promoting homosexuality for years...but tbh I don't think the video will do much harm to any child who watches it. I mean, there hardly going to go out and kiss a boy because Stephen Gately did it in some poxy video, if anything it will deter them.

RATM shock Asda customers

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:06:29 +0000

Rage Against The Machine's 1992 hit 'Killing In The Name' has sparked complaints – after it was played on the shop speakers in a branch of the Asda supermarket chain.

According to the Lancashire Evening Post the song, which features the phrase "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" repeatedly bellowed by singer Zack de la Rocha, was played in the entertainment section of a branch of the shop in Preston.

Shopper Nicola Gahagan complained about the barrage of swear words coming from the speakers, saying, "It was awful – it should have been turned off."

A spokesperson for the supermarket accepted the complaint, saying, "This shouldn't have happened. We're sorry."

LOL

Mythical Beatles track does exist

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:12:41 +0000

Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed a 14-minute long Beatles track many thought was a myth does exist - and says he wants the public to hear it.

He told BBC Radio 4's Front Row the track - called Carnival of Light - was not released because the other Beatles thought it was too "adventurous".

The improvised track was recorded in 1967 for an electronic music festival.

Sir Paul said Ringo Starr and John Lennon's and George Harrison's estates would have to agree to a release.
[i]Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed a 14-minute long Beatles track many thought was a myth does exist - and says he wants the public to hear it.

He told BBC Radio 4's Front Row the track - called Carnival of Light - was not released because the other Beatles thought it was too "adventurous".

The improvised track was recorded in 1967 for an electronic music festival.

Sir Paul said Ringo Starr and John Lennon's and George Harrison's estates would have to agree to a release.

He said he had been asked to create the piece for an electronic music festival, and asked the other band members to be "indulgent" for 10 minutes at London's Abbey Road studios before giving them vague directions.

Sir Paul explained: "I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn't need to make any sense. Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around.

"So that's what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It's very free."
He said he had been asked to create the piece for an electronic music festival, and asked the other band members to be "indulgent" for 10 minutes at London's Abbey Road studios before giving them vague directions.

Sir Paul explained: "I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn't need to make any sense. Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around.

"So that's what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It's very free."[/i]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7732546.stm

Spielberg and Smith plot Oldboy remake

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 06:11:51 +0000

Spielberg and Smith plot Oldboy remake

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are planning to collaborate on a remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, according to Variety. The pair, who have been looking for a project to work on together for some time, are said to be in early discussions about reworking the acclaimed Korean thriller, which centres on a man who is kidnapped and held in a dirty cell for 15 years without explanation.

Smith would play the imprisoned man - Choi Min-sik in the 2003 original - who is freed just as he is about to put an escape plan into practice. He is given money, clothes and a mobile phone and sets out to discover who stole his life from him in order to take revenge.

A direct remake would seem to be particularly dark territory for both Spielberg and Smith, as the original contains a number of family-unfriendly themes and sequences, such as the famous live octopus sushi scene. Spielberg is currently said to be searching for a writer.

The original Oldboy was a huge favourite of Quentin Tarantino, who tried to persuade his fellow Cannes jurists to award it the Palme d'Or in 2004. In the end they plumped for the safer territory of Fahrenheit 9/11. It remains to be seen whether Smith and Spielberg will end up making a similar decision.
---
Save me some rope Nathan.

Rick Astley Wins Best Act Ever!

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:34:50 +0000

The ultimate power of the audience vote was underlined when Rick Astley scooped Best Act Ever.

Rick was not available to attend the Awards.

In his absence the Award was picked up by Katy Perry and Perez Hilton who charmed the audience with a quick dance routine to his famous track Never Going To Give You Up.

In a statement Astley said: "I am honoured that my fans worked so hard to help me win Best Act Ever at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards.

This is the first time I have been nominated for the EMAs and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me."

Source: http://www.mtv.co.uk/channel/mtvuk/news/458975-mtv-awards-emas-rick-astley-wins-best-act-ever

Now that�s what we call the power of virality. 80s popster Rick Astley scooped the Best Act Ever award at tonight�s MTV European Music Awards, beating off Britney Spears and U2.

And if you�re wondering why we�re writing about it, well, it just shows the power of a proper organic viral - in this case, the infamous �rickrolling� clip on YouTube. It was enough to propel the mild-mannered singer back to the spotlight. Not that he was able to actually turn up and collect the award, mind. D�oh!

Source: http://musically.com/blog/2008/11/06/rick-astley-scoops-best-act-ever-award-at-mtv-emas/

Prodigy collaborate with Dave Grohl

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:15:45 +0000

The Prodigy have collaborated with Dave Grohl and James Rushent from Does It Offend You Yeah? on their new album 'Invaders Must Die'.

The band's Liam Howlett told NME.COM that they joined forces with Grohl after the Foo Fighters frontman emailed asking if he could contribute.

"Dave emailed me asking what I was up to, and asked if he could send some stuff," explained Howlett.

The two parties then worked together over the internet, with Grohl laying down drums for new track 'Run With Wolves'.

Does It Offend You Yeah?'s James Rushent also appears on the track 'Invaders Must Die'.

Howlett revealed that the new album marked a return to The Prodigy's "DIY roots".

To read the full interview with Howlett, get this week's issue of NME on UK newsstands nationwide now (November 6).

As NME.COM previously reported, The Prodigy tour the UK next April, with support coming from Dizzee Rascal.

Lil Wayne in BBC News death hoax

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:39:38 +0000

Lil' Wayne has become the subject of a death hoax, after a fake BBC News page appeared to claim the rapper had been shot dead.

According to the fake site, Wayne was supposed to have been killed in the early hours of Saturday (November 1) morning, following a despite between the Blood and Crips gangs.

The page, which can be seen at Kineticnorth.com, claimed the rapper had been pronounced dead after being shot six times.

The hoax caused rumours of Wayne's murder to circulate around the internet over the weekend until several sites, most notably Perezhilton.com, went out of the way to state that the rapper is still very much alive.

A similar online death hoax using the same 'BBC News' generator also appeared this weekend suggesting UK grime artists Wiley was dead too.

Beatles finally confirm release of Fab Four Rock Band game

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:10:33 +0000

A new version of the Rock Band computer game featuring the music of The Beatles is set to be released, it was announced today (October 30).

Apple Corps, Liverpool legends' label finally ended months of speculation and confirmed they will be developing a version of the game with Harmonix and MTV Games, which owns the Rock Band.

The new partnership is the first time the band's songs will be used in a computer game.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono were involved in the deal.

"The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music," McCartney said in a statement. "I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out."

Starr added: "The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that The Beatles' legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence."

Ono said: "It's cool. I love it and hope it will keep inspiring and encouraging the young generation for many decades."

The game is set to be released in 2009.

I'm not a fan of these type of games but if I was, this would be the one I'd buy.

Fans slam Led Zeppelin plans to reunite without Plant

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:24:30 +0000

Led Zeppelin fans have overwhelmingly slammed the band's plans to reunite without frontman Robert Plant.

The group's bassist John Paul Jones suggested Led Zeppelin will reform without their singer yesterday (October 2.

The bass player said he and guitarist Jimmy Page have been trying out singers for the role, prompted NME.COM users to leave comments on the site, with almost all of them blasting Jones and Page's plans.

"Does this story make anyone else feel sick?" wrote 'lukey45', while 'sgows' wrote, "Sacrilege, how can they do this?".

'Orangeboy' suggested that Plant was an irreplaceable singer. "How ridiculous," they wrote. "Plant's voice is half of what made Zep who they were. It simply isn't Led Zeppelin without him."

The majority of users slammed Jones and Page, without only a handful of posters leaving few positive comments.

"Yes! Get in!" wrote '20legend'. "Robert Plant shouldn't hold them back."

'zoso_02' claimed: "Led Zeppelin is basically Jimmy Page, not any of the other members. It may be different from Zeppelin with Robert Plant, but it will certainly be fantastic and ecstatically received."

*Sunshine slams Jones while acphenom locks in the figure four leglock on Page*

AC/DC top sales charts in 29 countries

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:01:27 +0000

AC/DC have topped the charts in 29 countries with their new album 'Black Ice'.

The veteran Australian rockers' new album, which was released globally on October 20, has topped the charts in countries including the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

'Black Ice' has sold more than 780,000 copies in the US alone, despite the fact that it is being sold exclusively at Walmart, Sam's Club, and on the band's website.

This is only the second time the band has topped the US chart in their three-decade-long career. Their first was in 1981 with 'For Those About To Rock We Salute You'.

AC/DC are set to kick off their world tour tonight (October 2 in Pennsylvania, as previously reported.

I'm gonna download it. I meant to the other night but it slipped my mind.

Led Zeppelin to tour with Robert Plant replacement

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:59:13 +0000

Led Zeppelin will tour with a replacement for founding singer Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones has confirmed.

Earlier this month it was reported that the rock legends were rehearsing with singer Myles Kennedy after Plant refused to consider touring with the band.

Jones has now told BBC Radio Devon that the band are trying out "a couple" of alternative singers for a proposed tour.

"We want to do it," he explained. "It's sounding great and we want to get on and get out there."

The bassist added that he and his bandmates were not after a Plant soundalike.

"It's got to be right," Jones said. "There's no point in just finding another Robert. You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band. There would be a record and a tour, but everyone has to be on board."

There has been speculation about the possibility of a full Led Zeppelin tour since they played a reunion show on December 10 last year at the London O2 Arena.

Robert Plant ruled himself out of a tour by releasing a statement last month saying he would not be part of any such plans.

Shame. Its not the same without him.

Jennifer Hudson's family murdered

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:45:04 +0000

The bodies of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson, were found at their family home in Chicago on Friday.

Police, who are still searching for the actress's nephew Julian King, described the crime as a domestic incident.

Hudson's whereabouts are unknown but her publicist confirmed the tragedy.

"We can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson," said Lisa Kasteler, Hudson's personal publicist, in a statement.

Deputy Police Chief Joseph Patterson said Ms Donerson's body was found on the living room floor of her home in the south side of Chicago. Jason Hudson's body was discovered in the bedroom. Mr Patterson said both had "fatal gunshot wounds".

Neighbours reported hearing gunshots at Donerson's home in the gritty Englewood neighbourhood of the city between 8am and 9am on Friday morning, but no one raised the alarm until Hudson's sister Julia returned home from work and made the gruesome discovery.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert for 7-year-old Julian King.

William Balfour a man suspected in the deaths was in custody on Friday night but the 7 year old boy had not been located according to reports. The child was the grandson of the female victim, Patterson said.

Records with the Illinois Department of Corrections show that Balfour, who has not been charged with a crime, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Hudson, 27, first shot to fame as a contestant on American Idol. She won a best supporting actress Oscar, a Bafta and a Golden Globe for her role as Effie White in the big screen adaptation of Dreamgirls and was most recently seen in Sex and the City.

The star, who grew up in Chicago, is currently enjoying new success in the music charts.

Her song "Spotlight" is in the top spot on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts and her recently released, self-titled debut album has been a top seller. She is also starring in hit movie The Secret Life of Bees.

The singer, whose father died when she was a teenager, recently spoke about how her family, including her older siblings Jason and Julia, helped to ensure her feet remained on the ground despite her fame.

She said: "My faith in God and my family, they're very realistic and very normal, they're not into the whole limelight kind of thing, so when I go home to Chicago that's just another place that's home," she said.

"I stand in line with everybody else, or, when I go home to my mom I'm just Jennifer, (so she says), 'You get up and you take care of your own stuff.' And I love that; I don't like when people tell you everything you want to hear, I want to hear the truth, you know what I mean."

Ringo turns heel

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:01:04 +0000

Former Beatle Ringo Starr has said that he will no longer sign autographs or read fan mail, urging his fans to stop writing to him.

In a video message posted on his website, the 68-year-old drummer said: "Please do not send fan mail to any address you have."

"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed."

"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do," he said.

"No more fan mail and no objects to be signed. Nothing."

J.R.: Why, Ringo why???????? Ya son of a bitch!!!!

Arctic Monkeys release free download

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:09:21 +0000

Arctic Monkeys are previewing their new live DVD with a free download.

The track is taken from a limited edition live album that comes with the box set version of the band’s ’Arctic Monkeys Live At The Apollo’ and is available from Arcticmonkeys.com until October 10.

The box set itself meanwhile features the live album - which was recorded in Texas in 2006 - on vinyl, a cinema poster from the Apollo show and four portrait postcard prints by Sheffield artist Pete McKee.

The special edition can be ordered through the band’s official website.

The DVD itself was recorded in Manchester last year and features the following tracklisting:

’Brianstorm’
‘This House Is A Circus’
’Teddy Picker’
’I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’
’Dancing Shoes’
’From the Ritz To The Rubble’
’Fake Tales Of San Francisco’
’When the Sun Goes Down’
’Nettles’
’D Is For Dangerous’
’Leave Before The Light Come On’
’Fluorescent Adolescent’
’Still Take You Home’
’Da Frame 2R’
’Plastic Tramp
’505’
’Do Me A Favour’
’A Certain Romance’
’The View From The Afternoon’
’If You Were There, Beware’

The DVD is released on November 3.

Girls Aloud 'murder blog' author charged

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:42:42 +0000

A man who posted a 12-page story allegedly depicting the rape, murder and mutilation of the members of Girls Aloud is being prosecuted. Civil servant Darryn Walker, 35, is accused of uploading a story called 'Girls (Scream) Aloud' to a porn website.

Action was taken against him after the Internet Watch Foundation was alerted to the story, reports The Independent. Walker, who lives in South Shields, is set to appear in Newcastle Crown Court in the coming weeks.

He is being prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. The case marks one of the few times the act has been used against the written word since Penguin Books were famously prosecuted in 1960 over 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'.

Lets hope they don't find this site.

Norwegians suing iTunes

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:14:25 +0000

A Norwegian consumer group has announced its intention to sue Apple over what it alleges are 'unfair barriers' to playing iTunes music in a variety of MP3 players.

The independent Norwegian government body is urging other countries to follow suit and file their own cases against Apple for what it believes is an important consumer right to be able to play music purchased via Apple iTunes in other consumer devices.

"I want them to make their services interoperable so that you can play music bought on iTunes on other devices, including mobile phones," Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon told Reuters.

"The consumer's freedom of choice in the online music market is an important right," he added. The agency is reportedly working with consumer protection bodies in Scandinavia, Germany and France to put pressure on iTunes, and is attempting to bring other countries on board.

"It's a consumer's right to transfer and play digital content bought and downloaded from the Internet to the music device he himself chooses to use," Thon said. "iTunes makes this impossible or at least difficult, and hence, they act in breach of Norwegian law." iTunes has until November 3 to respond before the case goes to the Market Council, Thon said.

Yeah! Lets fucking kill those iTune bastards!

The Undertones almost never recorded 'Teenage Kicks'

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:35:53 +0000

The Undertones bassist Mickey Bradley has revealed how the band almost never made their best-loved track. The band's classic single 'Teenage Kicks' was recorded 30 years ago this month (September), but Bradley told BBC News that the song was almost scrapped because vocalist Feargal Sharkey wouldn't commit to the band.

"We were in the middle of a personnel crisis - Feargal wanted to leave," explained the bassist. "He may have thought the band was going nowhere, or maybe he thought TV aerial installation was the career he wanted, but I was delegated by the rest of the band to talk to him.

"I phoned him, from (bandmembers) John and Damian O'Neill's house, which was the centre of operations for the band. 'OK, you're leaving, but why not wait 'till we make the record?' "It was never spoken of again. By Feargal, anyway." Famously, The Undertones sent the finished version of the song to John Peel, who played it on his BBC Radio 1 show twice in a row because he liked it so much.

Great song, too.

'Death Magnetic' CD quality claims

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:08:45 +0000

Metallica's co-manager Cliff Burnstein, has hit back at claims that the CD version of the band's new album is of poor audio quality. Fans have reported that the CD version of Metallica's 'Death Magnetic' was not as high quality as the 'Guitar Hero' version.

During the debate Ted Jensen, the engineer who mastered the album, distanced himself from the CD version. However, Burnstein has since claimed that the fan uproar has been exaggerated.

Burnstein claimed that fan reaction to the CD album had been "overwhelmingly positive". He told the Wall Street Journal: "There's something exciting about the sound of this record that people are responding to."

He looks like a wolf.

MFF's Primetime News

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:58:03 +0000

What is MFF's Primetime News? Its basically true news that circulating the internet at the moment with our twist on things.

acphenom: Welcome to MFF's Primetime News.
Sunshine: My name is Sunshine...
acphenom: I'm acphenom! *fixes news notes*
Steve: And I'm the weather lady.

acphenom: Starting off with some interesting news now, George Michael was arrested in a public toilet on suspicion of possessing drugs on Friday. The singer was cautioned after the arrest, which took place in London's Hampstead Heath. Michael was reportedly in possession of class C and class A drugs, one of which may be crack cocaine, according to our drugs specialist Walshy. He did an E tablet once you know. In a statement, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "A 45-year-old man was arrested on 19 September on suspicion of possession of drugs in the Hampstead Heath area." Michael was arrested for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Beverly Hills in 1998 with a boy called Steve, and pleaded guilty in 2007 to driving while unfit after using drugs sold to him by a man called Cloudy.

Sunshine: Today, Amy Winehouse has been branded a "junkie f**k-up". No new news there then. (chuckles) Noel Gallagher says the singer, who has a well-documented problem with heroin and crack-cocaine, is a drug addict because she can't handle the pressures of fame and having a hit album. "I don't care for f**k-ups" he claims. Either do we here at MFF Primetime News...even though we're all on the dole. (chuckles)

acphenom: Eminem has been branded a liar by his mother. Debbie Nelson claims the image her son - real name Marshall Mathers -painted of her being a bad parent addicted to medication, living off welfare and neglectful of her youngest child. In fact she claims she was also a hooker who used piss on married men for cash and is angry her son left that info muted to the public.

Sunshine: Debbie added the pair were very close when he was a child, and claims he told her he negatively portrayed her because "the fouler he was, the more the audience loved him". Clearly it hasn't worked, mate. (chuckles)

acphenom: Now over to our weather lady - Steve.
Steve: (high pitched girls voice): Yes...its hot hot hot! *does Macarena dance*
Sunshine: Thanks for that update, very interesting.
acphenom: Well thats all we have time for. Good evening.
Sunshine: Goodbye.
*news presenters pretend to talk while Primetime News theme comes on*

Ronnie Wood back on drink?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:24:08 +0000

Ronnie Wood's wife is reportedly convinced the Rolling Stones star is back drinking.

The 61-year-old guitarist was seen out with friends, including snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan and artist Damien Hirst, only days after leaving Surrey's Life Works rehab clinic, where he was being treated for drink, sex and drug addictions.

A friend close to Jo, 53, said: "To say she has her suspicions about his drinking would be an understatement. Nothing surprises her with Ron any more.

"He's moved back from rehab and his family are sure he is back on the vodka. They know him better than anyone else. One of his sons was told Ron had been spotted drinking neat vodka again.

"Jo knows better than anyone that he is an expert at keeping his drinking under the radar."

Jo previously vowed to refuse to speak to Ronnie until he was drink-free, though she did visit him towards the end of his stint in rehab.

Others who attended the party with Ronnie at London's exclusive Claridge's restaurant insist he didn't have a drink on the night, sticking to coffee.

A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Ron played snooker, ate bacon and egg rolls and drank some coffee. Ronnie O'Sullivan scored a 145 break and everyone left with a smile on their face. It was all good, clean fun.

"Ronnie has been having sessions three nights a week with an addiction counsellor even though he has left rehab and is doing really well."

Ronnie was originally admitted to rehab in July following a ten-day drinking session with now 20-year-old Ekaterina Ivanova, a Russian-born waitress, who he met in a London club.

Sad situation...time will only tell if Ronnie can get himself together. Thats if he is back drinking of course.

'The Wrestler' Wins Top Film Award

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:00:22 +0000

'The Wrestler' wins Venice Film Fest top award
4 days ago

VENICE, Italy (AP) � Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" has won the top award at the Venice Film Festival.

The film awarded the Golden Lion on Saturday stars Mickey Rourke as a wrestler forced into retirement who strikes up a romance with an aging stripper played by Marisa Tomei.

Russia's Aleksey German Jr. won the award for best director for "Bumaznyj soldat (Paper Soldier)," a story set in the early days of the space program in the Soviet Union.

Italian Silvio Orlando was crowned best actor for his role in Pupi Avati's "Il Papa' di Giovanna," (Giovanna's Father), about a father's relationship with his troubled adult daughter.

France's Dominique Blanc won best actress for playing a jealousy-struck woman in "L'Autre (The Other One)," directed by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic.

I jumped about when I heard this, I really want it to be a kick ass movie! We had a topic about it a while back, I think I bumped it a couple of weeks ago. Its gonna be so awesome!

Aniston Bends Over In New Film

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:36:30 +0000

Yes, forget the world not ending, this is news worthy!

"I was just sent a clip from Management a film starring Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn that is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The clip previews the first meeting between Mike Cranshaw (Steve Zahn) and Sue Claussen (Jennifer Aniston) when Sue checks into the roadside motel owned by Mike's parents. Following their awkward introduction as you will soon see is an evolution of the story into a multi-layered, cross-country journey of two people looking for a sense of purpose."

I wanna see this film now.

'Elbow' win Mercury Prize

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:59:15 +0000

Elbow claimed that their Nationwide Mercury Prize victory is "the best thing that's ever happened to us" during their acceptance speech tonight (September 9) in London.

The group, who were awarded a �20,000 cheque for their fourth album 'The Seldom Seen Kid', seemed genuinely overawed at their accolade. Speaking from the podium, singer Guy Garvey said: "Thank you very much. I'd like to thank all the players we've been with since day one, including Phil Chadwick, our manager. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to us. We'd like to dedicate this award to Brian Clancy, one of the greatest men who ever lived. Thank you very much and have a top evening!"

Clancy, a late friend of the band, is honoured by the band as 'the seldom seen kid' of the album's title. Garvey later explained his surprise at the band's victory, saying: "I had a tenner on Radiohead. It just feels great, very unexpected. You look at it in the same way as Bedouin tribes look at a pint of milk. It doesn't happen very often but it's all the sweeter. "It's been a long time we've been doing it so it's cause for celebration. To the rest of the lads I'm so proud to do it with it with my best mates.

Referring to Badly Drawn Boy's 2001 win for 'The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast', bassist Pete Turner said: "I live three doors down from Damon Gough who won it so I can hold my head up high and give him the finger!" Speaking about Brian Clancy, Garvey explained: "Miss him everyday, he was a great man he should be stood here in many ways. "The trophy will be sat on Mandy Clancy's mantle piece, his mum, she's a very special lady. He was a dude and everyone who has done music in Manchester knows who he was. It was an album that celebrates his life and we're very proud to have known him."

Elbow triumphed against stiff competition from a variety of artists including Radiohead, British Sea Power, Laura Marling and the bookies' favourite, Burial.

One of they're songs was on a Sky1 advert for Prison Break which I thought was quite good, very country rock like. Other than that, I don't think I've heard any other song by them. This will obviously boost they're downloads on iTunes.

Britney Spears wins the lot at MTV awards

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:33:00 +0000

Britney Spears continued her successful comeback this year by winning three prizes at the MTV Video Music Awards, including video of the year.

Spears, who was criticised for lip-synching at the 2007 awards, also triumphed in the best pop video and best female video categories. The singer, who took part in an opening comedy sketch with Superbad actor Jonah Hill, politely thanked God, her children and her record label for each of her award wins. "Wow, thank you, I'm in shock right now. I was not expecting this," she said after accepting the the shiny Moonman statue for video of the year at the end of the night. "This is such an honour to have this award right now."

Wearing a glittering silver dress and her hair in soft blonde waves, she posed for photos with her three trophies for her song "Piece of Me", accompanied by manager Larry Rudolph. Those in attendance defended Spears after her turbulent year during which former husband Kevin Federline was granted custody of the couple's two children, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, in January. Hill, her comedic co-star for the night, described her as "a really great person", while Paris Hilton, who presented Spears with an award, said to her: "I love you. I miss you. And I hope you secretly fucking die."

Jackson 'four' reunite

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:36:26 +0000

Four members of The Jackson Five reunited onstage at the BMI Urban Awards last night (September 4).

Four of the Motown legends - Tito, Jackie, Marlon, Randy - accepted a lifetime achievement prize from sister Janet Jackson at the ceremony.

When Marlon was asked where Michael Jackson was, however, he bizarrely claimed he was "away riding a camel in Egypt somewhere", reports Associated Press. Jermaine Jackson was also not present at the ceremony.

"It's a great honour to know your music influenced a generation," said Tito. "We're very proud of this moment."

The Jacksons did not perform at the event, also attended by their father Joseph, mother Katherine and sisters LaToya and Rebbie.

Jackson going out with Pammy?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:42:06 +0000

Michael Jackson is reportedly dating Pamela Anderson.

Pop legend Michael, 50, has met former 'Baywatch' star Pammie, 41, for two dates in Malibu, California, sparking rumours the pair are enjoying a budding romance.

A source told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was all arranged by their people in total secrecy, very cloak and dagger. Michael is such a private person. He gets nervous when he thinks people are following him around, so he chose somewhere neutral for their first date.

"They arrived separately at the Shutters Hotel on Malibu beach so no one would suspect anything and then had a few drinks at the bar."

Michael and Pammie hid away in a corner of the bar for privacy, and appeared to be enjoying each other's company.

The source added: "They were very friendly. Pamela was being her usual flirty self and Michael seemed to be responding. They are such a strange couple but they seemed to really hit it off."

The pair got on so well on their first date, they have met up again already, going for a coffee at the Country Mart in Malibu. Both Pammie and Michael have been unlucky with their previous marriages.

Michael has been married twice, to Lisa-Marie Presley and nurse Deborah Jean Rowe. Pammie has tied the knot three times, to Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee, Paris Hilton's ex Rick Salomon and Kid Rock. None of Michael or Pammie's marriages lasted more than three years.

The 'Don't Believe Everything You Read' saying was made for articles like this. I think its bullshit. They're probably just friendly with each other if they are having dinner or whatever. It would be a shocker if it were true.

Paul McCartney writes song for his bitch

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:35:27 +0000

http://music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?H=Paul-McCartney-writes-song-for-Nancy&nItemID=20945

Sir Paul McCartney has written a love song for his girlfriend Nancy Shevell.

The 66-year-old former Beatle feels so strongly about the US heiress he has put his emotions into music for Nancy, 48.

A source said: "The song Paul has written a song for Nancy looks set to be on his new album. Paul has long been inspired by the women in his life and Nancy is no different."

Earlier this year, it was revealed Paul had collaborated on a song about his ex-wife Heather Mills - from whom he suffered a bitter divorce in 2007 - with world music artist Nitin Sawhney.

A source said of the track: "Paul has done a track about how he feels about Heather because no one has heard his side of it at all. It's a very emotional and very powerful song."

Paul has also previously composed songs for his first wife Linda, who passed away after a battle with breast cancer in 1998, including 'Maybe I'm Amazed' in 1970.

A number of Paul's songs for The Beatles, including 'And I Love Her' and 'Here, There and Everywhere' were said to be inspired by his ex-fiancee, Jane Asher.

Meanwhile, Paul has been spotted kissing Nancy on his boat named after Linda.

The couple were sailing at The Hamptons, on New York's Long Island, while on holiday with Paul's four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, with Heather.

Nancy is presently in the process of divorcing her lawyer husband of 23 years, Bruce Blakeman. The pair were separated when Paul and Nancy met.

Jason Donovan doing new album

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:43:36 +0000

Former Neighbours star Jason Donovan is to release his first album in 15 years.

His last album, All Around the World, languished at number 27 in the UK charts in 1993.

Donovan's new album, called Let It Be Me, is inspired by music from the late 1950s and early 1960s and will be released in November.

The 40-year-old had hits with songs like Too Many Broken Hearts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has enjoyed a TV comeback in recent years.

He came third in ITV1's jungle show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2006 and went on to appear in soap Echo Beach with Martine McCutcheon.

Let It Be Me features new versions of classic songs like Blue Velvet, Love Hurts and Smoke Gets In My Eyes.

The Australian-born star has also reworked his old hit Sealed With a Kiss, and written new track Dreamboats and Petticoats.

Donovan married his long-time girlfriend Angela Malloch, a stage manager and the mother of his two children, in a ceremony in Bali in June.

Please Jason...don't do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3pQpqeqSc

Lars Ulrich inspired by Noel Gallagher to give up coke

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:47:08 +0000

Metallica drum king Lars Ulrich has revealed how Oasis' Noel Gallagher inspired him to finally give up cocaine.

Throughout history there have been many role models to turn to when giving up drugs, drink and other nasty habits - monks, monarchs, even Moby. And so given all the multifarious options, we have to wonder: why would Lars Ulrich be inspired by Noel Gallagher?

Metallica's drummer said this week that he has sworn off cocaine, and all because of Oasis' big-mouthed frontman. "I don't do that any more," he told the music website theQuietus.com. "That's all done, thank you for asking! I was like, You know? Enough of this. I don't need it. I was very impressed with Noel Gallagher; as you know, I'm an Oasis fanatic, and Noel was like 'You know what? No more cocaine!' and I thought, 'If he can do it, everybody else can do it.'"

Noel Gallagher has claimed he stopped using cocaine in 1998.

"It was literally something that happened one morning," Ulrich said, prompting us to recall the moment we realised Oasis were crap. "Like, Y'know? Fuck that."

Ulrich has now been clean for two years, but he insists he never got in too deep. "It was always more of a social thing," he said. "We were never, like, rolling around and spending days in bathroom stalls, and peeking out the keyholes of doors for days."

Nor was his panic attack at the 2004 Download festival a result of drug abuse. "I was at the tail-end of my divorce and there was a lot of things going on that were running amok," he explained this week. After Ulrich went into hospital for treatment, Metallica went on with the show, borrowing drummers from Slayer and Slipknot.

We too would have panic attacks if Noel Gallagher was our model for wisdom, morality and inspiration.

Slash hopes Guns N' Roses bootlegger 'rots in jail'

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:11:04 +0000

Former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash has slammed the blogger who allegedly leaked nine songs from the yet to be released Axl Rose-produced 'Chinese Democracy'.

The FBI arrested Kevin Cogill earlier this week in Los Angeles after he posted the songs on his website back in June.

Cogill has now been released on $10,000 bail - but could face up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

According to Latimes.com the band released a statement saying: "Presently, though we don't support this guy's actions at that level, our interest is in the original source. We can't comment publicly at this time as the investigation is ongoing."

However it Slash, who has not performed on the album, has been more vocal. He said: ""I hope he rots in jail. It's going to affect the sales of the record, and it's not fair. The internet is what it is, and you have to deal with it accordingly, but I think if someone goes and steals something, it's theft."

Cogill's lawyer, Anthony Eaglin, refused to comment.

R Kelly in $1.5m fraud drama

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:07:01 +0000

R Kelly. has been named in a fraud case, which saw over a million dollars deposited to the singer�s account by a South African woman.

Busiswe Zakwe, of Durban, South Africa, says she deposited $1.5 million dollars to Kelly�s bank account after convincing people to invest in a tour of South Africa by Kelly. When the singer did not come to South Africa, she reportedly absconded with the cash.

Police raided her office after receiving complaints that she had conned people out of $1, 300 each in 2005, reports perezhilton.com.

Police found a deposit slip which apparently proves the money went into R Kelly.�s account. The say they confirmed the account does indeed belong to the rapper and now plan to question him about the whereabouts of the money.

In June, R Kelly. was found not guilty of 14 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting child pornography. If he had been convicted, he could have faced up to 15 years in prison.

Next week on the R Kelly show...

Fucked Up frontman strips naked onstage

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:49:53 +0000

Fucked Up frontman Pink Eyes stripped naked onstage during the band's set at Leeds Festival this afternoon (August 24).

The Canadian hardcore band performed a nine-song set early in the day on the Lock-Up Stage in front of a rabid crowd-surfing audience.

During 'Vivian Girls', taken from the band's 2006 debut 'Hidden World', Pink Eyes, already stripped to the waist, took down his shorts and boxer shorts, tucked his genitals between his legs and faced the audience.

The singer then showed his naked buttocks to the cheering crowd.

Performing the rest of the set in his boxer shorts, Pink Eyes remained offstage in the photopit singing to audience members, who continually hugged the singer and sang into his microphone.

Pointing to the hardcore fans at the front and centre of the crowd, the singer said: "I love all these fucking kids here, I love you guys [the rest of the crowd] too, but these guys fucking rule! Thanks kids!"

Extra security guards were drafted in to control the rowdy fans, many of whom crowdsurfed repeatedly � one fan's trousers even fell down as he was carried over the crowd.

Following the closing track, the frontman disappeared into the audience and remained chatting to fans while his band packed up their equipment.

Fucked Up played:

'Blaze Of Glory'
'Days Of Last'
'Vivian Girls'
'Baiting The Public'
'Neat Parts'
'Crusades'
'David Comes To Life'
'Generation'
'Crooked Head'

Oasis taking a newer, less mainstream direction

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:02:19 +0000

Noel Gallagher has said the forthcoming Oasis album, 'Dig Out Your Soul', will see the band taking a newer, less mainstream direction.

Speaking to BBC 6Music, Gallagher explained that he does not expect to hear too many of the new songs on radio because of their more experimental nature.

"It's not Britpop, let's put it that way. It's not our usual thing," he explained. "It's just really exciting, three of the tracks have got two drummers on, me and Zak [Starkey] playing drums. Some of it sounds a bit glam. There's no pop singles on it. I'd be amazed if anything else gets on the radio past the first single."

Gallagher said that the album takes influences from The Stooges, The Doors and The Pretty Things - as well as John Lennon.

"There's a kind of piano-y, John Lennon-y obligatory plod-away song in the middle, which Liam wrote," he said, "and that's to break up the two sides which are pretty intense, and it's full-on from the start to finish."

'Dig Out Your Soul' is released on October 6. It's preceded by a single, 'The Shock Of the Lightning', on September 29.

Soul Legend Isaac Hayes Dies at 65

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:33:48 +0000

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003837514

I know these topics usually just end up as a round of 'R.I.P.'s' but I suppose it is a notable piece of news and I wouldn't want him going without a mention. Though, I'll admit...I know him only from South Park and have only read-up a bit about him on Wikipedia.

65 is still a young and unexpected age to go if you ask me, so hopefully he passed away peacefully which sounds like it's the case here

Dwayne Johnson Interview

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:55:32 +0000

I'll try and post more interviews if you dig this one.

...
Through his own charitable entity, The Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, he has created a platform of hope and possibility for children nationwide by providing programs designed to enrich and empower the lives and self-esteem of under-served, at-risk youth and children hospitalized for medical disabilities, disorders and illness.

Andy Fickman most recently guided the hit comedy "She�s the Man� starring Amanda Bynes, which won the Teen Choice Award as Best Comedy. Certainly one of the busiest filmmakers working, he brings a wealth of experience creating, directing, writing and producing television, film and stage projects to his position on "The Game Plan.� He also directed the acclaimed film version of "Reefer Madness� for Showtime as well as the independent comedy "Who�s Your Daddy,� starring Brandon Davis, Christine Lakin, and Patsy Kensit. Currently, Fickman is working on a myriad of film and television productions that include projects for Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray�s Mayhem Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Walt Disney Pictures, CBS, Twentieth Century Fox and Columbia Pictures among many others. Dwayne and Andy are fabulous guys and we really appreciated their time. Here�s what they had to tell us about their recent collaboration:

Q: Is "Southland Tales� anything like you imagined when you made it?

DJ: Nothing like I imagined, and much better than the cut we showed at the Cannes Film Festival.: Yes, we shot all of that about a month or so after we wrapped "The Game Plan.� It was an attempt to synergize the movie with those shows and with the Disney Channel. It was a very big collaborative effort, which was great. That�s the way Disney is. Therein lies the power of that brand, and Disney.

Q: Did you shoot all of those shows for the Disney Channel after this project? Are they all related?

ANDY FICKMAN: And, Madison [Pettis] got cast in "Cory in the House� after we cast her in "The Game Plan.� When we found her, she had just done some commercials and a couple episodes of "Barney.� So then, that helped because "Cory in the House� was happening and the movie was coming out at the same time, so it really was great. A lot of times, your bigger stars don�t necessarily want to get involved with cross-promotion and, from the very beginning, on the set, Dwayne was very excited about the notion of that. It was a big deal for Disney to have Dwayne wanting to do that.

Q: Can you talk about the general appeal of this character?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: From the get go, I thought, "Wow, what a great character to play, and from scratch.� It�s great when you can create a character like this, from scratch, and be collaborative with the director and everybody on board. For me, personally, I love comedy and I love self-deprecating comedy. Physical comedy is great, dark comedy is great, but self-deprecating comedy, for me, always takes the cake, so to speak. It�s great, when you just have the ability to laugh at yourself. I think we all should. There are different moments. For me, putting on the ballet outfit to the bubble bath, and you name it, is funny. That appealed to me. And, selfishly, for me, being a proud daddy � I�ve got a little 6-year-old girl at home, who challenges me every day, just like Madison challenged me in the movie -- I wanted to make a movie that she could come and see. Of course, the goal is to make a big family comedy, a big broad comedy, but for me, personally, selfishly, I had the opportunity to take her to go see a Disney movie [I�m in], and play a character like this. There were a lot of elements that fell in place that made it very, very comfortable for me to make that.

Q: Did you take anything from your wrestling experience for this?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I�m just naturally like that. I�m just very naturally arrogant, basically. [Laughs]

ANDY FICKMAN: There were no rehearsals. We just turned on the camera.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: All the photos in the movie are from my house. As a matter of fact, I have them all up on my ceiling. When I wake up, I like to look at myself.

ANDY FICKMAN: When you�re trying to mock up photos, you have to get the actor on the set to take the photos. And, we asked his mom to supply us with some. We had endless numbers of Dwayne photos. If you look in the movie, some of them are of Dwayne�s bad decision to grow a weak mustache. [Laughs] It was the worst look ever on him.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: [Laughs] The worst. It was awful.

Q: How was it to look at that huge wall-size photo, every day?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: That was great. Let me tell you something, that�s wonderful for the ego. Every day, to come to the set and see a huge picture of yourself that covers the entire wall, it�s absurd, but you�ve got to love it. Now, I believe it�s in your room, right? (He asks Andy Fickman)

ANDY FICKMAN: Yes. It�s actually on my ceiling, so I can blow darts at it, every day.

Q: Can you talk about your, and your character�s, Elvis obsession?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I love Elvis. The moment I sat down with Andy, I said, "Andy, do you love Elvis?� He said, "Absolutely!� And, we went for it. It was another fun way of adding a layer to the character that might be interesting. Again, self-deprecating comedy is great. I love the fact that he was singing to her, in a very sweet and tender moment, and she says, "I think you sound like a wounded moose.� I love that type of comedy, and how the joke falls back on me. For an actor to sing in a movie, and play the guitar, it�s really not funny. You�re like, "Oh, he can sing and play guitar.� But, the joke makes it funny, when it falls back on him.

Q: Do you have a favorite Elvis song?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: "Are You Lonesome Tonight� is my favorite. "Love Letters.�

Q: Do you like the live version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight�?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I love the live version. There�s many live versions. There�s this one where he laughs, and he can�t stop laughing. It�s great.

Q: Are you really that bad of a singer?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I am. I can�t hold a tune. It was movie magic, in the studio.

ANDY FICKMAN: A lot of times, you have an actor who wants to pre-record their song. With pre-recording, you can go in and fix everything. That�s him playing the guitar, and that�s him singing, and he was spot on. We didn�t go in and do any mixing. All of the Elvis estate and Graceland, everybody, has seen this performance and everyone�s just been so happy. It blew everybody away.

Q: Did you have to fix anything with the green leotard, or did it fit right away?

ANDY FICKMAN: There were a lot of visual effects. You can do a lot with CGI now.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Yes, you can. What�s funny is that I put that outfit on and the moment I put it on, we were about two hours away from shooting, and I was like, "Wow, it�s really tight.� It was made for me, but it was the first time I tried it on. I tried it on and it was very thin and very tight. I was like, "Well, this is a Disney movie.� I went to see Andy and I said, "Andy, can you come and look at this really quickly?� �cause we were about ready to shoot. And, he said, "Okay, let me see.� And then, I opened it up (the robe over his costume), and he said, "Can we start to cover this up?� So, we started to add layers where we had to.

ANDY FICKMAN: We went smaller. The first version we had wasn�t small enough. We went a size smaller. And, that was also the very first day of filming, so that�s a great way to ingratiate yourself with your cast and crew. The very first day, you�re walking around in your ballet outfit.

Q: What did you take from your experiences with your own daughter that you brought to this? Any moments?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Sure. You bet. I�m very, very lucky to understand what that blessing is, to be a parent. And, not only be a parent, but there�s a very, very unique bond between a daddy and his little girl, and I recognize that now. Every day, I recognize it and live it and embrace it. That bonding process, and understanding that, made it very easy for me. I could easily take scenes from that movie and translate them right into my own real life, and from life into the movie as well. It�s because of those experiences that I�d had that allowed me to easily bond with Madison. And, not only that, but easily appreciate Madison, appreciate her silliness, appreciate her crankiness when she gets tired, appreciate everything like that. Six years ago, before my little girl was born, if Andy had approached me about doing the movie, I still would have loved to have done the movie, and I think it would have been just as funny, but I don�t think, however, that the emotion would have been there. I think that type of emotion, especially when it comes to kids, you have to have a kid, if you�re going to act it that well, emotionally.

Q: Your character�s apartment is so clean, and then this kid comes in and messes everything up.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: That�s the way life is. It�s the exact same way. I could clean my place and have it completely clean and spot free, and then, as soon as the little girl comes around, that�s it. There�s toys everywhere and everything is left open. That�s what happens.

Q: How patient are you?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I�m pretty patient. You have to be. The thing that I love struggling with is the fact that it�s a dictatorship in my house, and there�s no democracy. As adults, we can control a lot of things. But, with little kids � she�s 6 -- democracy is out the window. That�s the way it is. To see her actually strategize, and I see it happening in her mind, I turn to mush.

Q: Did you have any input into the football scenes?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Sure. I was very lucky. I had a chance to play 10 years of football with some great players. And, we had a great football coordinator to help and to make sure that the football was very real, and looked very real. Also, to Andy�s credit, because he comes from the world of theater, he wanted to show football a tremendous amount of respect. More importantly than that, he wanted to make sure that he showed ballet a tremendous amount of respect too, and to make sure that you saw the parallels of the difficulty of both sports, and how both of them are equally difficult.

Q: How challenging was it to learn ballet?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: It was very, very challenging. I, like a lot of my guy friends, kind of dismissed ballet, for years. We were there with the Boston Ballet, and I was blown away by the incredible amount of discipline that those little girls, and little boys, had, [along with] the hard work and dedication. There was this amazing respectful silence when we were done. We would rehearse every day for two weeks. We essentially had a ballet boot camp for a couple of hours a day and, at the end -- six or seven o�clock, they had already gone through school, and then they stayed with me and Madison the whole time -- there was this respectful silence that would permeate the air, and then, they would all come and individually thank us for our time. I love seeing that in our children today. I love seeing that type of discipline, honor and respect.

ANDY FICKMAN: It�s pretty awe-inspiring to see it.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: It was unbelievable. I required Andy to do that, every time I came onto the set, too. [Laughs]

Q: Do you draw on your physicality as a football player and a wrestler when you�re doing ballet?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I learned to, absolutely. The incredible amount of body control that it takes to be a ballet dancer was mind-boggling to me. I never knew. I just didn�t know. So, I was very happy that I was exposed to that. And, it also reminded me just how for some of the greatest athletes in the world, ballet is part of their training regimen. For some of the greatest football players in the world, in skilled positions -- wide receivers and running backs -- ballet is part of their training regimen.

Q: Can you talk about your fitness regime now?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Andy and I have the same fitness routine now.

ANDY FICKMAN: We get up in the morning, and that�s about it. [Laughs]

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I train every day. I have to. I do a different variety of training, whether it�s outside or inside. I have to get away and, for me, that hour and a half is a way to get away, and it�s like a little sanctuary for me, too. Specifically, I do plyometric work, which is some box jumps and sprints and quickness and agility drills, things like that. From that, I do cardio and weight work. With women, it�s more a lifestyle and a mental change. Specifically with women -- and I�m surrounded by women, from my mom to just everybody -- women have that great tendency to put themselves last, and to put working out last. They�ll say, "I�ve got so many other things to do.� It�s so true. You�ve got to change your mind-set and think, "I�ve got to do this first.� Make it fun, get a trainer, get a partner, get an iPod, do fun things. That�s my suggestion. I suggested the same thing to Andy, too.

ANDY FICKMAN: I was like, "Somebody�s got to direct the movie.�

Q: Have you seen the final cut of "Southland Tales� that�s coming out?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I�ve seen it. It�s fantastic. And, they�re showing it, as we speak, right now, to press in Texas.

Q: Is it anything like you imagined when you made it?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Nothing like I imagined, and much better than the cut we showed at the Cannes Film Festival.

Q: Now you guys are doing a second film together ("Witch Mountain�). What is it that you like so much about working together?

ANDY FICKMAN: He�s dreamy. [Laughs] I look into his eyes and I think, "That�s The Rock.� [Laughs] Listen, a director�s dream is to get onto a set and have a collaborator. You can yell action all you want, but at the end of the day, you need somebody who is going to be there to work. Dwayne Johnson is an amazing actor because what he gives you is the comedy, the heart and the willingness to do all the things you guys are asking about. That�s not just something where a director can say, "Hey, do you mind going and doing this?� If it�s not coming from that actor, I�ve got nothing to play with.

And so, when you think, "What�s the next movie I want to jump into?,� it�s a rarity when you can think, "You know what? I just spent a year of my life working with this one actor and I had a great time. I want to do it again.� For us, it was the opportunity to work with Disney, who has been a huge partner for us, and to tackle a favorite of ours, growing up -- a re-imagination of "Escape to Witch Mountain� -- where we�re going to be able to have a lot of fun with the action and the comedy, and I think people that enjoyed "The Game Plan� are going to get an awful lot out of it. Honestly, for the director, you don�t work with an actor again unless you find that working with him is inspiring. For me, walking onto the set every day, I learned stuff, as a director, from him. I would never tell him that to his face, but I learned stuff from him, every day, that I�ll now be able to use on his next movie to teach him how to be good. [Laughs]

Q: On a political note, what do you think of Barack Obama possibly becoming the first ever African American President?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I think that would be tremendous. I had the opportunity to speak with Barack, and I think he�s great. I�m very proud of him and all his success. If it does happen, I think it�s wonderful.

~~"The Game Plan� opens in theaters on September 28th.~~

Morgan Freeman injured in car accident in Miss.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:33:32 +0000

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) � Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was in a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday after being injured in a car accident near his home in Mississippi.

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman, 71, is in serious condition. The hospital is about 90 miles north of the accident scene in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer of Memphis when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday.

"There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Williams said. He said both Freeman and Meyer were wearing seat belts. The woman's condition was not immediately available.

Freeman was airlifted to the hospital in Tennessee.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 5 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

McFerrin said it appeared that Freeman's car was airborne when it left the highway and landed in a ditch.

"They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle," McFerrin said. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."

McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor.

When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." His screen credits also include "The Shawshank Redemption," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Dark Knight," now in theaters.

He was born in Memphis, Tenn., but spent much of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He is a co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.

The hospital where Freeman is being treated is commonly known as The Med, and is an acute-care teaching facility that serves patients within 150 miles of Memphis.

-

Imagining Freeman getting air lifted as someone tries to take a photo and then him having to say "No freebies, no freebies" makes me laugh. I seriously hope he's okay, along with everyone else involved in the accident. It'd be sad to lose that wonderful voice of his.

Petition asking Bono to retire launches

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:19:18 +0000

An online petition asking for U2 frontman Bono to "retire from public life" has so far raised $390. The petition is published on Thepoint.com. It's stated aim is: "To get Bono to retire from public life (so he'll stop leading misguided counter-productive philanthropy efforts)." The petition's creator also declared that all money raised will be given to charity, depending on the success of the petition. The creator states: "We will give money to Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "But we will only pay if we meet our objective." U2 are currently putting the finishing touches to their new album, the follow-up to 2004's 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'.

Keane to release third album

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:14:37 +0000

Keane have revealed details about their new album. Called 'Perfect Symmetry', the album will be released on October 13. In a posting on their official website, the band revealed that the album was recorded in various locations, namely Paris, Berlin, London and LA.

"We started out in Paris, where Jon Brion (collaborator) inspired us to create first and think later," they explained in the post. "We took the night train to Berlin, where everything came together in an avalanche of experimentation that took us all by surprise; where we made a pact with [producer] Stuart Price to ignore the rules of good taste; where we were hypnotised by Marlene Dietrich and spent many a long night throwing ideas around in the crumbling 'Cabaret'-esque glamour of our favourite bar."

They added: "We've hidden ourselves away in the depths of the English countryside, recorded a new track in London at the last possible moment, and now we're in Los Angeles tying up the loose ends." The album is the band's follow-up to 2006's 'Under The Iron Sea'.

I liked a couple of their songs a few years back. Great name for a band imo, lol. I can't understand why most people think they're shite and/or gay. Give them a chance, Walshy.

May I Die Now?

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:18:28 +0000

My Chemical Romance Cover Bob Dylan For Upcoming Watchmen Movie

My Chemical Romance are set to cover Bob Dylan for the soundtrack to the upcoming Watchmen movie.

Band frontman Gerard Way is an outspoken fan of the superhero comics on which the film is based and contacted its director Zakk Snyder asking if he could be involved.

Snyder, who has previously directed the movie epic 300, said of Gerard: �He's a super-great guy, and an awesome musician, and so we�re trying to work with them right now to put together possibly a song for the end titles.�

The director continued that one of the possible covers is of 'Desolation Row', the 11 minute closing track to Dylan's 1965 album 'Highway 61 Revisited.'

Asked by MTV whether he's heard the material MCR have recorded so far, Snyder enthused: �I�ve talked with him and I�ve heard a little bit of some stuff that�s he�s done and it�s pretty freaking cool.�

Watchmen is slated for release in Spring 2009 and is set to be one of the blockbusters of the year.

I was looking forward to that film. Oh well, I'd best go drown myself in holy water or something.

Music News Update 07.24.08

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:51:29 +0000

Emo and Goth to Be Made Illegal in Russia
http://www2.kerrang.com/2008/07/emo_and_goth_to_be_made_illega.html

That's really sad...the Russian government are fucking stupid. I mean how are they even going to regulate that? 'Emo' music doesn't even exist, it's a culture and fashion trend, not a style of music.

Metallica New Album Title and Track Listing
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=101446

At first, I thought the title sounded corny but it's got a good explanation behind it so I like it now.

Alice Cooper Slams X-Factor, American Idol etc.
http://www.gigwise.com/news/44767/alice-cooper-slams-disposable-american-idol-and-xfactor-shows

Amen, Alice. Take those fuckers down!

New Documentary About 'Magical Mystery Tour' Movie
http://www.antimusic.com/news/08/july/24Magical_Mystery_Tour_Memories.shtml

Brian Wilson refunding unsatisfied fans after gig

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:29:16 +0000

Brian Wilson has offered to refund fan who were unsatisfied with a recent show in New York City, after seeing their comments on his website.

The former Beach Boy and his manager-wife Melinda Wilson responded to unhappy concert-goers after the ‘Stand Up For A Cure’ charity benefit at Hammerstein Ballroom last week (July 11) during which Wilson only played for 75 minutes.

Some tickets for the show cost several hundred dollars, but patrons complained of bad visibility and the fact that Wilson did not play with a full band. They were also unhappy with his choice of songs, reports brooklynvegan.com.

Melinda Wilson announced on brianwilson.com that fans who were unhappy could send their ticket stubs to the Wilson’s publicist who would reimburse them.

Her message read:

"Brian saw the posts and asked me to respond. He's really sensitive to all of your feelings and doesn't want to offend anyone. He wanted to make this offer to keep everyone cool (as he said)…”

Meanwhile, Brian Wilson plays a free show at Coney Island tonight (July 1, and she recommends that the unhappy fans “take advantage of that.”

--By our New York staff.

Metallica to release new album through 'Guitar Hero'

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:10:25 +0000

Metallica are to release their new album 'Death Magnetic' though video game 'Guitar Hero'.

The new record will be released in record shops on September 22, and can be downloaded for the video game at the same time.

The band are rumoured to be following Aerosmith and releasing a special edition of the game entirely devoted to Metallica songs next year.

Metallica fans - what do you think of this?

Ronnie Wood gone to r[e]hab

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:13:04 +0000

Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood is "seeking help" with his battle with alcohol in a rehabilitation centre, a spokeswoman for the star has confirmed. The move follows tabloid speculation over the state of his 23-year marriage to former model Jo Wood.

"Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab," his spokeswoman said. "His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery." This is not the first time the 61-year-old has sought help for addiction to alcohol. In 2002 he checked into a clinic to undergo treatment. A long-term addiction to the drug cocaine led to the star having a plastic septum inserted in his nose in 1975.

Ian Brown won't do Stone Roses reform

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:00:18 +0000

Former Stone Roses bassist Mani has said that the band would have reformed if frontman Ian Brown wasn't against the idea.

The bassist, now playing with Primal Scream, revealed that guitarist John Squire, drummer Reni and himself would be up for a reunion.

Speaking to BBC News, Mani explained: "I spoke to John and Reni about it a few years ago and they said they'd love to do it at some point in time, but Ian Brown seems dead set against it.

"If he changes his mind then we'll probably do it, but then I'll be back to Primal Scream after the one year of doing it."

The bassist continued to stress his total commitment to his current band, saying: "I think it's quite disrespectful to talk about The Stone Roses reforming when I'm having such a great time with the Scream."

The Stone Roses split up in 1996 following their badly-received 1994 album 'The Second Coming', and Squire's subsequent departure in 1995.

My brother is always on about how I should download them, he says they're good. I don't think I have heard a song ever by them. Anybody here ever listen to them?

New Flaming Lips album 'sounds like John Lennon meets...

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:42:29 +0000

...meets Miles Davis.'

^Flaming Lips' members posing like homosexuals.

The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne has talked about his band's forthcoming new album, which they recently began recording.

The album will be the band's first since 2006's 'At War With The Mystics'. A release date and title are yet to be decided on.

"Some of it sounds like John Lennon," Coyne told BBC 6music. "But if he got together with Miles Davis and they went back in time, but there was a supercomputer that they could figure out how to work!

"We've done a couple of songs, but we have a handful of other songs that I know have a good vibe to them."

Talking about bigging themselves up.

TNA Victory Road Results

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:27:11 +0000

The show is opening up with the World X Cup elimination match:

Puma & Masato Yoshino & Milano Collection A.T. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero & Averno vs. Tyson Dux & Alex Koslov & Doug Williams vs. Curry Man & Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley

Tremendous opening match. A few timing issues early, maybe went too long, but the crowd loved this long match with mostly people they didn't even know. Lots of "This is awesome" chants. It came down to Shelley and Yoshino traded great moves and near falls before Shelley used the emerald frosien (Celtic cross) for the pin. Crowd really got into Yoshino.

Scoring is

Team TNA 6 points

Team Japan 4 points

Team International 3 points

Team Mexico 3 points

I think the winner of Ultimate X gets five which means anyone can win.

Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love is next.

Kim got the pin after a codebreaker and necktie like flying clothesline in a match with liberal interference by Velvet Sky. Post-match saw the Beautiful People double-team Kim, who ducked out of trouble before getting the paper bag treatment. Kim was real good here and Love tried her best to keep up. She was afraid her top had broken and was holding it up in the post-match.

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt is next.

Lethal used the Lethal combination and had Dutt beat but was worried about So Cal Val. Dutt crawled to Val and said "I love you" but didn't say "I'm sorry." Dutt came up from behind and schoolboyed Lethal with his feet on the ropes to steal the win. They portrayed it like Val was confused about what to do next.

Robert Roode is mad about the stock market crashing.

LAX vs. Beer Money for the tag titles with fans as lumberjacks is next. Boy, there is no question that the fans as lumberjacks are not plants. They may as well have put up a banner saying, "Sponsors, run away as fast as you can."

Not much of a match. The fans whipped Roode & Storm but not Homicide & Hernandez. Finish saw Roode get whipped by the fans and then Hernandez put Roode on his shoulder and Homicide came off the top with a Gringo cutter and got the pin.

Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong for the Knockouts title is next.

Wilde used a front rolling cradle off a choke slam to get the pin. Short match and actually had the least amount of heat on the show. Whatever did work in Orlando didn't translate off TV. Post match saw Raisha Saeed use a great running tackle on Wilde in the aisle. Kong was about to power bomb Wilde on a chair when The Monster Abyss ran in. Kong didn't back down but Saeed talked her into leaving. Saeed slapped Abyss. Black hole slam on Saeed. They made a point that Jim Cornette will have to take action for the man-on-woman violence.

Ultimate X for the World Cup with Kaz vs. Naruki Doi vs. Volador Jr. vs. Daivari is next.

Volador Jr. won the match for Team Mexico. This was the weakest of all the Ultimate X maches that I can recall. The finish was spectacular with Daivari about to win and Kaz jumping off the top of the stand into almost the center of the wires with a legdrop on Daivari and they both took the bump into the ring. Volador Jr. then climbed up to win. Even thought they were in Houston, they didn't appear to draw any kind of an Hispanic crowd as crowd really didn't seem to care about Team Mexico winning. Crowd was quiet first two-thirds of the match but started to get into it after that.

A.J. Styles & Rhino & Christian Cage vs. Team 3-D & Kurt Angle. Frank Trigg is out as an announcer. It's a Full Metal Mayhem match. They didn't even do a graphic, say percentages or anything. They had to know it would come off so minor league doing it this way, since this isn't the first time this has happened. But they did it anyway.

Great match. They did little with ladders but were putting people through tables left and right. Devon injured his right ankle doing a Doomsday Device on Rhino. Sort of ironic because the finish involved Earl Hebner doing a worked ankle injury. It looked like Devon is going to be out of action for a little while. Finish saw Styles on top of a ladder but Frank Trigg waffled him with a kendo stick. Kurt Angle then climbed up the ladder and gave Styles an Olympic slam off the ladder through a table for the pin.

Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash were backstage. Nash said he was in Joe's corner and Joe made him promise that no matter what, to stay in the back and Nash said he would. Is that carny for he won't?

Samoa Joe vs. Booker T for the TNA title is next.

Wild finish. They showed Sharmell at ringside a million times to tip off she was getting involved in the finish. I mean, it was ridiculous how bad they gave it away. She slapped Joe who decked the guy sitting next to her and rammed Booker into the post. Both guys juiced. Joe destroyed Booker, 3 refs, the entire security team and had Booker in the choke when Sting came out. Sting told Joe that he had proven enough and it was time to leave. Joe acted like he was leaving and then didn't jump Sting, but jumped back in to beat on Booker. Sting then came in. He and Joe argued. Joe flipped Sting off and Sting hit Joe with a baseball bat and laid him out. Sharmell put Booker's arm on Joe and counted three and gave Booker the title belt to leave. Very weird how this was played. Joe was the complete heel. Fans booed Sting after he hit Joe with the belt shot. The announcers actually played it like all three were heels.
---
rofl at the end. I wonder who came up with that one.

The Verve slam Guardian writers at concert

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:56:22 +0000

The Verve played an epic headline slot at the T In The Park festival tonight (July 11), bringing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' to the masses in Scotland.

During the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft slammed critics of the band, referring to an article in a newspaper published earlier today that had criticised them.

The show included old favourites such as 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'History' as well as two new songs.

Shortly into the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft declared the T In The Park crowd to be the greatest audience on earth.

Ashcroft was wearing blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a leather jacket. He sank to his knees and gestured to the crowd as he took to the stage at 10.15pm (BST), leading his band through opener 'This Is Music'.

The singer then donned a semi-acoustic guitar to play 'Sonnet' with the band, making a hugging gesture as the song ended.

"Thank you, greatest live audience in the world," he said before playing 'Space And Time'. "That's something Guardian writers don't understand."

He was referring to an opinion column that appeared in the newspaper today, in which the band's relevance was questioned.

Later in the set, Ashcroft mysteriously asked the crowd: "Which lead singer of a '90s band told me he was now a mod? 'I've been baggy but now I'm a mod.' Any guesses?"

The band then played 'Sit And Wonder', a the opening track from the band's forthcoming album, 'Forth'.

Ashcroft later dedicated 'The Rolling People' to "['Scarface' character] Tony Montana, ['The Sopranos' character] Tony Soprano and all the haters."

He then shouted, "it's Friday night at T In The Park, let's have it!" before leading into the song and upping the ante of the set.

A large cheer erupted from the crowd as the singer later announced 'The Drugs Don't Work', while similar applause was heard for 'Lucky Man', which Ashcroft dedicated to his wife, Kate Radley.

"Do you know what it's like to write a classic?" he then said, triggering screams from the crowd as they guessed which song was coming next.

"Some of you in this crowd are going to write a classic tune," he added, before playing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', which had fans in hysterics as they waved their hands in the air and sang along.

The song bled straight into new single 'Love Is Noise', which saw Ashcroft dancing down the wings of the stage then dropping to his knees and roaring, before heading off backstage.

The Verve played:

'This Is Music'
'Sonnet'
'Space And Time'
'Sit And Wonder'
'History'
'Come On'
'Life's An Ocean'
'The Rolling People'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Lucky Man'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'
'Love Is Noise'

French President's wife ready

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:34:18 +0000

Carla Bruni – the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy – is set to release her third album, 'Comme Si De Rien N'Etait', tomorrow (July 11) in France, and is already preparing for the backlash.

Bruni has indicating that she is bracing herself for the album to be slammed by the public because of her profile, but has said she will "understand" if this is indeed the case.

"If people don't listen because I married the president of the republic, I understand," she told [pb]France Inter[/b] radio, adding, "And if people especially like it, that is what counts for me."

Bruni went on to say that because of her husband's busy lifestyle she would not be likely to have time to record her fourth album before 2012, the end of her husband's mandate.

"If I manage to, I would be lucky," she said.

- She's looks like she's got talent to me.

Canadians save life of David Lee Roth

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:54:53 +0000

Police in Canada saved the life of David Lee Roth when they pulled his car over after they noticed him driving erratically.

The former Van Halen front man was behind the wheel of a car in Ontario, Canada in May, when he apparently suffered an allergic reaction to nuts, affecting his ability to drive.

Constable Chris Thompson was one of the officers on the scene who helped Roth, and did not immediately recognise him from his rock ‘n roll past.

“At the time, I wasn’t star struck,” Thompson told the Toronto Sun. “I was just trying to help him. The guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a little silk scarf and flashy clothing – it’s not something you see in Oakland too often.”

Thompson and a colleague stayed with Roth until an ambulance arrived.

The story was reported yesterday. Canadian police have said they do not know how the story of the incident leaked and say they do not generally comment on a medical emergency such as this one.

Dizzee Rascal scores chart topper

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:45:04 +0000

Rapper Dizzee Rascal has captured his first UK number single, which has gone straight in at the top of the chart.

Dance Wiv Me won its battle with dance act Basshunter's song All I Ever Wanted, which came in at number three behind Ne-Yo, last week's chart topper.

Dizzee's previous high in the singles chart was 11 with Stand Up Tall.

Coldplay retained their number one position in the album chart for a fourth week with Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends.

Glastonbury effect

The only new entry in the album chart top 10 was Poor Man's Heaven from Devon-based pop folk star Seth Lakeman.

In the wake of their performances at the Glastonbury festival last weekend, both Amy Winehouse and Neil Diamond saw their current albums climb back up the chart and into the top 10.

Reggae star Eddy Grant's best of album made an appearance at number 14 after he gave his first live performance in the UK for more than a decade at Glastonbury.

In the singles chart, the music event's headliner Jay-Z saw his 2004 song 99 Problems make a return to the rundown.

Twenty-year-old DJ Ironik climbed five places to number six with his song Stay With Me.

I'm pleased for Dizzee.

Abba will 'never' perform again

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:35:25 +0000

Swedish supergroup Abba will "never" perform on stage again, two of the band's members have said.

Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson told The Sunday Telegraph there was "simply no motivation to regroup".

"We would like people to remember us as we were, young, exuberant and full of ambition," Ulvaeus told the newspaper.

The band enjoyed a string of hits in the 1970s and 80s, later spawning the musical Mamma Mia! which has been adapted for the big screen.

Ulvaeus added: "I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a covers band now because they cover all their own stuff.

"I think that hit the nail on the head."

Andersson said that he is surprised that the group's hit songs have lived on for so long.

"You know what pop music is. It is there for the time it actually happens. We were absolutely dead sure it would be the same for us."

Abba celebrate their Eurovision victory in 1974

The musicians said they exercised some control over the use of their songs in the stage musical and subsequent film version, which they were closely involved with.

"You don't just give songs away to anyone to do with what they want. It would have been a disaster," said Andersson.

"We had the power of veto which meant we could have stopped it at any time."

The Swedish band came to prominence after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, and went on to score a string of chart-topping records around the world.

Their UK number ones included Knowing Me, Knowing You, Take A Chance On Me and The Winner Takes It All.

The band disbanded in 1982, but never officially announced a split.

KISS blast Radiohead

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:24:44 +0000

http://music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?H=Radiohead-blasted-by-KISS&nItemID=19726

Radiohead have been blasted by veteran rockers KISS for giving their music away for free.

Bassist Gene Simmons says the British rockers – who gave fans the choice to download last year’s album ‘In Rainbows’ for free or pay a sum of their choosing - says their decision is contributing to the demise of the record industry and insists his band would never follow suit.

Gene - who starred in reality TV show ‘School of Rock’ - said: “The record industry is dead. It’s six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this. They’ve decided to download and file share.

There is no record industry around so we’re going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilised.

“As soon as the record industry pops its head up we’ll record new material.”

Meanwhile, Radiohead were left with a row of empty seats at a recent French concert after a ticket giveaway backfired.

The eco-friendly group announced 50 passes were available for their show at Paris’ Bercy Arena but fans could only get by cycling to their record label’s offices in the French city.

However, Parisians were not prepared to get on their bikes so 35 tickets went unclaimed.

A source said: “Radiohead are using their current world tour to highlight their commitment to green issues.

“They advise all concertgoers to use public transport and are doing all they can to make their carbon footprint as small as possible.

“Unfortunately the French didn’t appear to share their noble intentions and roundly ignored the free ticket tactic.”

The Sex Pistols threaten to kill crowd

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:22:23 +0000

http://nme.com/news/sex-pistols/37367

The Sex Pistols played a headline slot at the Isle Of Wight Festival tonight (June 14), during which singer John Lyden threatened to murder audience members, called tomorrow's (June 15) headliners The Police "bumholes", downed liquor from the bottle, paid tribute to Iggy Pop and footballer Paul Gascoigne then complained about the lack of "fanny" in the crowd.

The raucous show, which began at 10:40pm (BST) and ended just after midnight, saw the band play classics including 'God Save The Queen', ''Anarchy In The UK' and 'Pretty Vacant'.

"Good evening Isle Of Wight," Lydon said as he took the stage wearing a baggy stripy top and clutching a black book. "Tonight we will be singing songs from the book of Sod's law. Sing along or fucking die."

The band then played a cheesy pop version of 'Pretty Vacant', before launching into the full rock version. Guitarist Steve Jones was sporting a t-shirt emblazoned with the 'God Save The Queen' logo, while drummer Paul Cook wore the logo on his black hoodie.

"Reserve that for Gazza," Lydon said before leading his band through 'New York', referring to applause from the crowd. "He's back in. He's done a lot of good things for England – apart from signing for Tottenham. He's one of us, don't let the posh bastards grind you down."

Later in the set the outspoken singer complained about the quality of bands on the festival bill, saying there were "still fucking homo bands coming up here."

He then berated the crowd for not cheering loud enough. "You really are fucking quiet," he said. "You're killing the buzz. Are you getting revved up for The Police or something? And I do mean both those bumholes in blue."

Lydon went on to dedicate the band's cover of Iggy Pop's 'No Fun' to the man who sang the original. Pop had played the song on the main stage earlier in the day with his own band, The Stooges.

"There's not much fanny here," Lydon moaned after finishing the song. "It's all blokes. Put your tits away – I'm in trouble with the courts of law for that sort of thing."

After playing 'EMI' The Sex Pistols walked off stage, then returned for an extended version of 'Anarchy In The UK'. The crowd (including Ian Brown, who cheered from the guest area) sang along loudly to the death, continuing to do so as the band members apart from the singer left the stage again, leaving only Lydon and the audience bellowing out the song together.

The Sex Pistols then returned for a brief second encore, covering Hawkwind's 'Silver Machine'.

The Sex Pistols played:

'Pretty Vacant (alternative version)'
'Pretty Vacant'
'Bodies'
'Baghdad Was A Blast'
'I'm A Lazy Sod'
'New York'
'No Feeling'
'Liar'
'Holidays In The Sun'
'Submission'
'(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone'
'No Fun'
'Problems'
'God Save The Queen'
'EMI'
'Anarchy In The UK'
'Silver Machine'

TV winner's dance mix tops chart

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:28:18 +0000

A remix of Singin' in the Rain that was used by Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson has shot to number one in the UK singles chart.

The song, best known as the title track in Gene Kelly's 1952 film, was reworked by Manchester dance act Mint Royale. Sampson won the ITV talent show after performing his dance routine to the mix, which was at number 28 last week. It has knocked Rihanna's Take A Bow off the top spot after two weeks, with The Ting Tings following at number three.

Duffy's Warwick Avenue also dropped one place from three to four, with the top five completed by Ne-Yo's Closer. Singers Sara Bareilles and Gabriella Cilmi were both climbers into the top 10, at number six and seven respectively. New entries in the top 40 came from Morrissey at 24, Alex Gaudino at 25 and Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna at 29.

Radiohead's Creep - originally a top 10 hit 15 years ago - has crept back into the chart at number 37 after the song's back catalogue was made available on iTunes for the first time last week. That tied in with the release of their Best Of album, which is a new entry this week at number four. Paul Weller's new double CD 22 Dreams has gone straight to number one, with Duffy and Neil Diamond staying at two and three respectively.

Last week's number one, Usher's Here I Stand, has dropped to number five. It is followed by another new entry, You Can Do Anything, the third album by The Zutons, at number six.

TOP FIVE
1. Mint Royale - Singin' in the Rain
2. Rihanna - Take A Bow
3. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
4. Duffy - Warwick Avenue
5. Ne-Yo - Closer
Source: Official UK Charts Company

Led Zep join Foo Fighters at Wembley

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:21:27 +0000

Foo Fighters were joined onstage by members of Led Zeppelin as they wrapped up their second night at Wembley Stadium.

Guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones teamed up with Dave Grohl and his band for Zeppelin classics Rock and Roll and Ramble On. The collaboration was Zeppelin's first appearance since the band played a one-off gig in December 2007. It also came eight months after Queen joined Foo Fighters onstage in London. Introducing the pair onstage Grohl said: "Tonight playing here at Wembley Stadium is an honour and if we didn't take advantage of this opportunity we'd be crazy.

He went on: "We knew from the beginning this wasn't going to be another outdoor show, we have been planning this for six months so we would like to welcome Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones onstage." The Foo Fighters frontman took over stick duties while drummer Taylor Hawkins sang vocals on Rock And Roll for Zeppelin's first appearance since their London 02 Arena gig in December 2007. Grohl then swapped places with Hawkins for a crowd pleasing rendition of Ramble On.

Bob Dylan: 'the music industry is hypocritical rubbish'

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:20:34 +0000

http://nme.com/news/bob-dylan/37147

Bob Dylan has slammed the music industry, calling it "hypocritical rubbish".

The singer/songwriter said he preferred the art and book industries, which he described as more "dignified."

Speaking to The Times, Dylan said: "The music world's a made-up bunch of hypocritical rubbish. I know that the book people are a whole lot saner. And the art world? From the small steps I've taken in it, I'd say, yeah, the people are honest, upfront and deliver what they say.

"Basically, they are who they say they are. They don't pretend. And having been in the music world most of my life I can tell you it's not that way. Let's just say it's less dignified."

'Planet Rock' To Be Saved From Closure

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:49:47 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7437482.stm

Nathan likes this, so...yeah, here ya go!

Ronnie Wood hires dwarves for daughter

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:38:34 +0000

http://music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?H=Ronnie-Wood-hires-dwarves-for-daughter&nItemID=19538

Ronnie Wood is hiring dwarves to perform at his daughter's wedding.

The Rolling Stones guitarist wants a gang of cheeky diminutive people to play tricks on unsuspecting guests at 29-year-old daughter Leah's wedding on June 21.

Wedding planners are looking for male and female dwarves, under four feet high, to dress as "mischievous, giggling little imps".

A source is quoted by Britain's The Sun newspaper as saying: "The idea is to have little people in costume popping up. They're working on a theme based on the character of Puck - the cheeky sprite from Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream'."

Some of the stunts may involve the performers stealing hats and leaping out of bushes. Any dwarves appearing will have to sign confidentiality agreements to stop them giving away star guests' secrets.

Speaking of his dwarf plans, Ronnie coyly said: "It's one of the ideas that's been discussed. We want to keep a few surprises back for the guests."

Stevie Wonder supports Obama

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:30:57 +0000

http://nme.com/news/stevie-wonder/37126

Stevie Wonder had words of praise for Barack Obama and Amy Winehouse as he launched his European tour in London today with an intimate show (June 5).

The superstar, who who will be performing in Europe for the first time in over a decade, took part in a question and answer session with journalists at the Hard Rock Caf� in central London's Piccadilly before playing a short set of hits.

Asked what he thought of Democratic US presidential nominee Obama, Wonder said: "He's a combination of JFK [John F Kennedy, former US President, assassinated in 1963], and Martin Luther King. With that he can't lose."

Later, when asked what he thought about Winehouse, Wonder admitted: "She reminds me of a young Etta James. 'Rehab' is a very good song. The CD ['Back To Black'] was good, my daughter turned me onto it."

The star then went on to play a short set, although the opening 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' ground to a halt due to technical problems.

Wonder took requests, the majority of which were for 'Superstition', which he closed the eight-song set with.

Stevie Wonder played:

'Signed, Sealed, Delivered'
'It Ain't No Use'
'Bird Of Beauty'
'Higher Ground'
'Happy Birthday'
'All I Do'
'Masterblaster (Jammin')'
'Superstition'

Ozzy wins case

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:54:33 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7437592.stm

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne has accepted libel damages from the Daily Star over allegations he suffered a health scare which jeopardised the Brit Awards. The star, who co-hosted the ceremony with wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack in February, was not at London's High Court for the settlement.

The 59-year-old will donate the undisclosed award to his wife's colon cancer charity. The article claimed Osbourne collapsed twice before the ceremony.

The story - entitled Ozzy's freak show - also alleged the show's organisers went into emergency talks to decide whether he should be withdrawn at the last minute. It implied that he was in such poor health that he was incapable of presenting the awards ceremony.

It also claimed the musician used an electric buggy to move around the set and had a place to sit in case he got tired. Osbourne's lawyer John Kelly said the article had caused "considerable embarrassment and distress".

He added that the newspaper now accepted that Osbourne was fit enough to present the awards and had not suffered health problems. Kate Wilson, representing Express Newspapers, apologised sincerely, accepting the allegations were untrue and never should have been published.

EMI signs deal with QTrax

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:16:44 +0000

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/04/emi-signs-with-ad-supported-download-sites-qtrax-spiralfrog/

More than five months after its faulty launch, legal peer-to-peer download site QTrax is finally making strides toward getting up and running after inking a deal with EMI Music. The deal allows users of the ad-supported music service to have unlimited streams and downloads of the EMI catalogue.

EMI is the second major label to align with the service after Universal Music signed a contract with QTrax last month.

QTrax was supposed to launch in January, but then they realized the deals they thought they had with the four major labels didn’t exist. Yesterday was a busy day for EMI, as the label also agreed on terms with Spiralfrog, another ad-supported music download site.

Bo Diddley passes away

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:20:08 +0000

Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.

Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn't put no figures in my checkbook."

"If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey," he quipped.

The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview.

"I don't know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name," he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley's Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century."

Diddley's other major songs included, "Say Man," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover," "Shave and a Haircut," "Uncle John," "Who Do You Love?" and "The Mule."

Diddley's influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song "Not Fade Away."

The Rolling Stones' bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their first chart single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another British band, the Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with their version of "I'm a Man."

Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.

"He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley's style.

Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn't entirely pleased that others drew on his innovations.

"I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it," he said. "I don't have any idols I copied after."

"They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there," he said.

Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north Florida.

"Seventy ain't nothing but a damn number," he told The Associated Press in 1999. "I'm writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different things. Trying to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain't quit yet."

Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.

"I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock 'n' roll."

Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took part in the "Bo Knows" ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star Bo Jackson. Commenting on Jackson's guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and said, "He don't know Diddley."

"I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it worked," Diddley said. "I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube."

Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him.

When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners.

By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's Maxwell Street.

"I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don't have the same impact that I had," he said.

Kurt Cobain's ashes stolen

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:38:30 +0000

Kurt Cobain's ashes have apparently been stolen.

According to the News Of The World, the Nirvana frontman's remains – the location of which has previously been kept secret – were taken from the Los Angeles home of his widow Courtney Love.

The ashes were said to have been kept in a "pink teddy bear-shaped bag along with a lock of his hair" and were taken with some jewellery and clothes.

Love is quoted by the paper as saying: "I can't believe anyone would take Kurt's ashes from me. I find it disgusting and right now I'm suicidal. If I don't get them back I don't know what I'll do."

Some of the Nirvana frontman's ashes were previously scattered near his home in Washington State and some at a New York Buddhist temple, with his widow retaining the rest.

She added: "They were all I had left of my husband. I used to take them everywhere with me just so I could feel Kurt was still with me. Now it feels like I have lost him all over again."

Phil Collins Retires

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:14:57 +0000

Veteran singer Phil Collins is to retire after over 30 years in the music industry.

The star, who recently completed a reunion tour with his former band Genesis, announced on Friday (25Apr08) that he will not be releasing any more albums or do another tour.
Instead, Collins wants to take on a more behind-the-scenes role so he can enjoy a more leisurely life - although he will still continue to write songs.

And the 57-year-old hopes he will now have more time to indulge in his favourite hobby - collecting memorabilia from the Battle Of The Alamo, the historical 1836 clash between the Republic of Mexico and the rebel Texan forces in San Antonio, Texas. He says, "It's not that unusual for a man of my age who grew up reading (books about American hero) Davy Crockett."

My Chemical Romance speak about 'emo' suicide

Mon, 26 May 2008 05:52:26 +0000

Source: http://nme.com/news/my-chemical-romance/36873

My Chemical Romance have spoken out about the suicide of Hannah Bond, the 13 year-old fan of the band from Kent who recently hung herself.

At a hearing about her death coroner Roger Sykes suggested that Hannah Bond’s suicide was linked in with her apparent obsession with emo music, saying that he found the overtones of the genre "disturbing".

Writing on the My Chemical Romance website, the band offered their condolences to Bond's family. They went on to say that as a band they were "anti-suicide", and that one of their aims was to provide "comfort, support and solace" to their fans.

The message read: "We have recently learned of the suicide and tragic loss of Hannah Bond. We'd like to send our condolences to her family during this time of mourning. Our hearts and thoughts are with them.

"My Chemical Romance are and always have been vocally anti-violence and anti-suicide. As a band, we have always made it one of our missions through our actions to provide comfort, support, and solace to our fans.

"The message and theme of our album 'The Black Parade' is hope and courage. Our lyrics are about finding the strength to keep living through pain and hard times. The last song on our album states: 'I am not afraid to keep on living' – a sentiment that embodies the band's position on hardships we all face as human beings.

"If you or anyone that you know have feelings of depression or suicide, we urge you to find your way and your voice to deal with these feelings positively."

The statement comes roughly a week before My Chemical Romance fans plan to march in protest against the media's depiction of the band.

The march will begin in Hyde Park in London on Saturday (May 31) and end outside the offices of the Daily Mail newspaper. Organisers are hoping that the My Chemical Romance protest march will attract around 1,000 supporters.

Russia win Eurovision

Sun, 25 May 2008 04:33:20 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7417527.stm

Russian singer Dima Bilan has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Bilan is one of Russia's biggest pop stars and his heartfelt ballad Believe, produced by US R&B star Timbaland, gave Russia its first ever Eurovision win.

Ukraine's Ani Lorak came second with her energetic disco track Shady Lady, followed by Greece with upbeat pop song Secret Combination by Kalomira.

But British talent show runner-up Andy Abraham came last with his song Even If, gaining just 14 points.

Top 5
1. Russia: 272 points
2. Ukraine (above): 230
3. Greece: 218
4. Armenia: 199
5. Norway: 182

Kanye West sued over jazz samples

Fri, 23 May 2008 23:58:31 +0000

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7416823.stm

Rapper Kanye West and his record label are being sued by the daughter of a jazz musician who says he sampled her late father's music without permission.

Kathleen Firrantello says that, in his track Gone, West used a sample of Joe Farrell's 1974 song Upon This Rock. Firrantello, who is also suing rappers Method Man, Redman and Common for using portions from the same song, is seeking damages of at least $1m (�505,000).

None of the rappers or their record companies were available for comment. The lawsuit, filed in New York, says Method Man and Redman used a sample from Farrell's song in their duet Run 4 Cover.

Common also uses a sample in his song Chi City, the lawsuit adds. As well as damages of $1m, Firrantello is also demanding that no more copies of the songs be made, sold or performed.

Amy Winehouse to enter rehab in Israel

Fri, 23 May 2008 23:53:28 +0000

Source: http://nme.com/news/amy-winehouse/36847

Amy Winehouse is set to fly to Israel for drug rehabilitation treatment.

The singer, who won an Ivor Novello songwriting award yesterday (May 22), is set to go back into rehab under the supervision of expert Andre Waismann.

Eliezer Cohen, the Chairman of Israel's Anti-Drug Authority, told The Sun: "Amy's people spoke to a renowned Israeli institution and an Israeli professor who conducts a very special and effective method.

"She has requested to come to him to do this method, since it's a method that is suitable for her."

Professor Waismann is optimistic about the 'Rehab' star's chances, saying: "There is a misunderstanding about drug addiction. People think it is a social and psychological problem, but it's a neurological problem.

"Whether it's Amy Winehouse or anyone else, it is a privilege to be able to treat anyone who is opiate-dependent, and allow them to live a normal life."

My Thoughts: She seems to have the world at her feet but keeps taking these drugs for some reason. Maybe its some mental issue she has to deal with. Maybe she get those problems sorted out now. Otherwise she's going to end up dead.

Led Zeppelin To Tour The World!

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:50:03 +0000

http://www.gigwise.com/news/43060/led-zeppelin-to-announce-250million-pound-world-tour

I just hope they release a DVD of it...me love Zep!

NIN Free Album

Wed, 07 May 2008 03:11:51 +0000

Nine Inch Nails have promised a big announcement today.

The band is to offer an absolutely free download of their new album entitled "the slip".

All you have to do is submit your email and it's all yours.

This is what they had to say about it:

"as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

"for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon."

Download it here - http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup

Music News Update 05.03.08

Sat, 03 May 2008 11:22:07 +0000

Robert Plant More Or Less Tells Liam Gallagher To Fuck Off
http://www.gigwise.com/news/42883/news.asp?contentid=42883

Pearl Jam Working On New Album
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=684354&spid=783

New Boston Album To Be Released Early Next Year
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798064

Music News Update 04.30.08

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:29:57 +0000

Rolling Stones Guitarist Keith Richards Slams David Bowie
http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=42820

Roger Waters' Giant Inflatable Pig Found...Slaughtered
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_en_mu/music_lost_flying_pig

New Motley Crue Album Bumped?
http://www.bravewords.com/news/88502

Radiohead Interview; No More Free Releases
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080430/music_nm/yorke_dc;_ylt=AhS6XAt4AOYXoC6rpPqMk0OXExkF

Uma Thurman Reveals The Animated Future of �Kill Bill�

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:05:23 +0000

Two year ago Quentin Tarantino piqued the interest of film fans everywhere when he promised two new anime companion films to �Kill Bill,� one supposedly about the origin of The Bride and the other about Bill himself.

We don�t know what�s happened to the story of The Bride, but the other animated film is going to blow you away, insisted star Uma Thurman.

�His anime stuff is strong,� she smiled.

We say we don�t know what happened to the story of the Bride, by the way, because Thurman claims to have never recorded a voice-over for the anticipated project.

�It has nothing to do with me,� she said. �It has to do with another character. You�ll have to see.�

That screams Bill to us. But the best part? It looks as if we�ll get to �see� real soon, perhaps as part of an expanded DVD release, Thurman teased, indicating that the short will be part of a larger re-release for �Kill Bill.�

�Right now he�s putting the two films together with an intermission with an added anime sequence he had already written,� she said of the ongoing saga of Beatrix Kiddo. �So additional stories are in there, in animation.�

Sounds pretty groovy to us? What about you? Would you plunk down some coin to buy an expanded �Kill Bill� set? Looking forward to more animation from Tarantino? Sound off below.

Serj Tankian explores virtual tour

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:12:22 +0000

Serj Tankian has a "crazy" idea to help save the planet. He told Billboard that he would like to skip touring and provide fans with virtual concerts instead.

"I've had an idea for a long time, which might sound a little crazy, but I really want to look into holographic touring," Tankian told Billboard.

"I think we could reduce our need to travel if we could project ourselves into meetings and concerts. We have the technology, and we're not using it right now."

My Thoughts: The music industry is all about making profit and the likes of Madonna, Dolly Parton and The Rolling Stones will definitely not go for it. And small bands rely on concert revenue to keep them from falling apart.

Mark Speight discovered dead

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:21:53 +0000

The body of missing TV presenter Mark Speight has been found at a railway station in central London.

A British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed they were advised that the body of a man was discovered at Paddington Railway Station at 10am on Sunday morning.

Officers were called to a remote area of the station, away from public view, following the discovery of the body.

In a statement, BTP said: "The circumstances surrounding his death are subject to an ongoing investigation, but we can confirm the deceased was not struck by a train. At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained."

Investigating officers believe the deceased to be that of reported missing person, 42-year-old Mr Speight.

A formal identification is yet to take place but will be confirmed on Monday.

The body has been removed from the scene and CCTV from the station has been seized as part of the ongoing investigation.

Mr Speight was said to be in a "vulnerable" state following the death of his fianc�e, Natasha Collins, in January.

Miss Collins was found dead on January 3 from boiling water burns and a drugs overdose in the bath of the north-west London flat she shared with Speight.

The presenter told police the couple had been "partying" and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills as well as drinking wine and vodka.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs, but last month Scotland Yard said he would not face any charges over the death.

Speight looked drawn and gaunt when he attended her inquest just six days before he went missing.

Speight was reported missing after failing to keep an appointment to meet his dead fiancee's mother for coffee in Covent Garden at 3.30pm the same day.

Sad news really. Its not the best way to go but hes another victim of drugs in celebrity culture. When will people learn?

Paul McCartny Interview

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:39:21 +0000

Here's a Paul McCartney interview conducted by Playboy in 1984 (long before Paul's now famed MFF massacre period). Its a great interview and is worth reading all the way through if you ask me. Enjoy!

PLAYBOY: Although we hope to cover a lot of ground, let's start with
the
reason you're in the limelight again. You've just finished a movie, Give
My Regards to Broad Street. You wrote it and play a leading role. Why
this movie now?

Paul: I guess the ultimate luxury professionally is to be able to change
your direction, to work in another medium. It's what a lot of people
would like to be able to do. It has also given me a change to see
professional actors at work, and now I can tell the acting profession,
"Nobody need worry about me; there's no danger from me." Laughs Still,
it's been great fun and I've learned a lot. It's a good little film, a
nice evening out. I only regret I didn't write a completely new score.

LINDA: But he's written a great theme song for it. The music is all live,
and Paul's had a chance to work with great musicians again. He's started
coming home happy again, fulfilled. Paul is a perfectionist. He hasn't
been happy, he hasn't had a chance to work with the best since the old days.

PLAYBOY: Since the Beatles.

LINDA: Yes.

Paul nods.

PLAYBOY: Paul, it's been nearly four years since John Lennon died and you
haven't really talked about your partnership and what his death meant to
you. Can you talk about it now?

PAUL: It's . . . it's just too difficult . . . very feel that if I said
anything about John, I would have to sit here for five days and say it
all. Or I don't want to say anything.

LINDA: I'm like that.

PAUL: I know George and Ringo can't really talk about it.

PLAYBOY: How did you hear of John's death? What was your first reaction?

PAUL: My manager rang me early in the morning. Linda was taking the kids
to school.

LINDA: I had driven the kids to school and I'd just come back in. Paul's
face, ugh, it was horrible--even now, when I think of it. . . .

PAUL: A bit grotty.

LINDA: I knew something had happened. . . .

PAUL: It was just too crazy. We just said what everyone said; it was all
blurred. It was the same as the Kennedy thing. The same horrific moment,
you know. You couldn't take it in. I Can't.

LINDA: It put everybody in a daze for the rest of their life. It'll never
make sense.

PAUL: I still haven't taken it in. I don't want to.

PLAYBOY: Yet the only thing you were quoted as saying after John's
assassination was, "Well, it's a drag."

PAUL: What happened was we heard the news that morning and, strangely
enough, all of us--the three Beatles, friends of John's--all of us
reacted in the same way. Separately. Everyone just went to work that day.
All of us. Nobody could stay home with that news. We all had to go to
work and be with people we knew. Couldn't bear it. We just had to keep
going. So I went in and did a day's work in a kind of shock. And as I was
coming out of the studio later, there was a reporter, and as we were
driving away, he just stuck the microphone in the window and shouted,
"What do you think about John's death?" I had just finished a whole day
in shock and I said, "It's a drag." I meant drag in the heaviest sense of
the word, you know: "It's a--drag." But, you know, when you look at that
in print, it says, "Yes, it's a drag." Matter of fact.

PLAYBOY: You tend to give a lot of flip answers to questions, don't you?

PAUL: I know what you mean. When my mum died, I said, "What are we going
to do for money?"

LINDA: She brought in extra money for the family.

PAUL: And I've never forgiven myself for that. Really, deep down, you
know, I never have quite forgiven myself for that. But that's all I could
say then. It's like a lot of kids; when you tell them someone's died,
they laugh.

PLAYBOY: Because they can't cope with the emotion?

PAUL: Yes. Exactly.

LINDA: With John's thing, what could you say?

PAUL: What could you say?

LINDA: The pain is beyond words. You can never describe it, I don't care
how articulate you are.

PAUL: We just went home, we just looked at all the news on the telly, and
we sat there with all the kids, just crying all evening. Just couldn't
handle it, really.

LINDA: To this day, we just cry on hearing John's songs; you can't help
it. You just cry. There aren't words. . . . I'm going to cry now.

PLAYBOY: Do you remember your last conversation with John?

PAUL: Yes. That is a nice thing, a consoling factor for me, because I do
feel it was sad that we never actually sat down and straightened our
differences out. But fortunately for me, the last phone conversation I
ever had with him was really great, and we didn't have any kind of
blowup. It could have easily been one of the other phone calls, when we
blew up at each other and slammed the phone down.

PLAYBOY: Do you remember what you talked about?

PAUL: It was just a very happy conversation about his family, my family.
Enjoying his life very much; Sean was a very big part of it. And thining
about getting on with his career. I remember he said, "Oh, God, I'm like
Aunt Mimi, padding round here in me dressing gown"--robe, as he called
it, 'cause he was picking up the American vernacular--"feeding the cats
in me robe and cooking and putting a cup of tea on. This housewife wants
a career!" It was that time for him. He was about to launch Double Fantasy.

PLAYBOY: But getting back to you and your flipness over John's death,
isn't that characteristic of you--to show little emotion on the outside,
to keep it all internalized?

LINDA: You're right. That's true.

PAUL: True. My mum died when I was 14. That is a kind of strange age to
lose a mother. "Cause, you know, you're dealing with puberty--

LINDA: Gosh, we've got a 14-year-old right now!

PAUL: Yes, and for a boy to lose a mother--

LINDA: To have been through so many other growing pains, how can a body
take all that and still continue?

PAUL: It's not easy. You're starting to be a man, to be macho. Actually,
that was one of the things that brought John and me very close together:
He lost his mum when he was 17. Our way of facing it at that age was to
laugh at it--not in our hearts but on the surface. It was sort of a wink
thing between us. When someone would say, "And how's your mother?" John
would say, "She died." We'd know that that person would become incredibly
embarrassed and we'd almost have a joke with it. After a few years, the
pain subsided a bit. It was a bond between us, actually; quite a big one,
as I recall. We came together professionally afterward. And as we became
a writing team, I think it helped our intimacy and our trust in each
other. Eventually, we were pretty good mates--until the Beatles started
to split up and Yoko came into it.

PLAYBOY: And that's when all the feuding and name-calling began. What
started it? Did you feel hurt by John?

PAUL: You conldn't think of it as hurt. it was more like old army
buddies' splitting up on account of wedding bells. You know sings ,
"These wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine." He'd fallen
in love, and none of us was stupid enough to say, Oh, you shouldn't love
her." We could recognize that, but that didn't diminish the hurt we were
feeling by being pushed aside. Later on, I remember saying, "Clear the
decks, give him his time with Yoko." I wanted him to have his child and
more to New York, to do all the things he'd wantedis child and
more to New York, to do all the things he'd wanted to do, to learn
Japanese, to expand himself.

PLAYBOY: But you didn't understand it at the time?

PAUL: No, at the time, we tried to understand. but what should happen
was, if we were the least bit bitchy, that would be very hurtful to them
in this--wild thing they were in. I was looking at my second solo album,
Ram, the other day and I remember there was one tiny little reference to
John in the whole thing. He'd been doing a lot of preaching, and it got
up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, "Too many people preaching
practices," I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John
and Yoko. There wasn't anything else on it that was about them. Oh, there
was "You took your lucky break and broke it in two."

LINDA: Same song. They got the message.

PAUL: But I think they took it further--

LINDA: They thought the whole album was about them. And then they got
very
upset.

PAUL: Yeah, that was the kind of thing that would happen. They'd take one
small dig out of proportion and then come back at us in their next album.
Then we'd say, "Hey, we only did two percent. they did 200 percent"--and
we'd go through all of that insanity.

PLAYBOY: In most of his interviews, John said he never missed the
Beatles. Did you believe him?

PAUL: I don't know. My theory is that he didn't. Someone like John would
want to end the Beatle period and start the Yoko period. And he wouldn't
like either to interfere with the other. As he was with Yoko, anything
about the Beatles tended inevitably to be an intrusion. So I think he was
interested enough in his new life to genuinely not miss us.

PLAYBOY: Did you ever try to find out how he felt about it, about you?

PAUL: I knew there was the kind of support that I'd though he felt for
me. But obviously, when you're getting slagged off in public, it shakes
that faith. Nah, it's just John mouthing off. I know him. But, well, the
name-calling coupled with the hurt--it became a bit of a number, you know?

PLAYBOY: Was the way you two went at each other good for the music?

PAUL: Yeah. This was one of the best things about Lennon and McCartney,
the competitive element within the team. It was great. But hard to live
with. It was hard to live with. It was probably one of the reasons why
teams almost have to burn out. And, of course, in finding a strong woman
like Yoko, John changed.

LINDA: But that way, you lose yourself.

PAUL: Yeah, I think that probably is the biggest criticism, that John
stopped being himself. I used to bitch at him for that. On the phone with
me in the later years, he'd get very New York if we were arguing. New
York accnt "Awright, goddamn it!" I called him Kojak once, because he was
really laying New York street hip on me. Oh, come off it! But, through
all of that, I do think he was always a man for fresh horizons. When he
wanted to learn Japanese for Yoko, he went to the Biarritz.

LINDA: I like that! Biarritz! You mean Berlitz.

PAUL: Yeah, he wanted fresh challenges all the time. So it was nice of
Yoko to fulfill that role. She gave him a direction.

Paul leaves to take a telephone call.

LINDA: I was just going to say that I think if John had lived, he might
still be saying, "OH, I'm much happier now. . . ."

PLAYBOY: And you don't believe it?

LINDA: The sad thing is that John and Paul both had problems and they
loved each other and, boy, could they have helped each other! If they had
only communicated! It frustrates me no end, because I was just some chick
from New York when I walked into all of that. God, if I'd known what I
know now. . . . All I could do was sit there watching them play these
games. . . .

PLAYBOY: But wasn't it clear that John wanted only to work with Yoko?

LINDA: No. I know that Paul was desperate to write with John again. And I
know John was desperate to write . . . desperate. People thought, Well,
he's taking care of Sean, he's a househusband and all that, but he wasn't
happy. He couldn't write and it drove him crazy. And Paul could have
helped him--easily.

Paul returns.

PLAYBOY: Has the McCartneys' relationship with Yoko changed since John's
death?

LINDA: No comment! Only kidding. That's what she said.

PAUL: When someone asked Yoko if the Beatles had supported her after
John's death, she said, "No comment."

LINDA: Even though Ringo flew over to see her and all of us called her.

PAUL: The thing is, in truth, I never really got on that well with Yoko
anyway. It was John who got on well with her--that was John who got on
well with her--that was the whole point. Strangely enough, I only started
to get to know her after John's death. I began wanting to know if I could
be of any help, because of my old friend. And at first, I was a bit put
off by her attitude of "I don't want to be widow of the year." That's
what she said. At first, I felt rebuffed and though, OH, well, great!
Well, sod you! But then I thought, Wait a minute, come on. She's had the
tragedy of a lifetime here, and I'm being crazy and insensitive to say,
"Well, if you're not going to be nice to me, I'm not going to be nice to
you." I feel I started to get to know her then, to understand what she
was going through instead of only my point of view all the time--which I
think is part of growing up anyway. And I think then I was able to find
quite a lot of things in common with Yoko.

PLAYBOY: Such as?

PLAYBOY: We're in similar positions--our fame and the people we know. . . .

LINDA: Yoko said to me when John was still alive, "We are the only people
going through the same problems." But our differences are still there,
too. Being her business partner is a real problem.

PLAYBOY: Once you began to understand Yoko, Paul, did you two talk about
John?

PAUL: Yes. We did. In fact, after he died, the thing that helped me the
most, really, was talking to Yoko about it. She volunteered the
information that he had . . . really liked me. She said that once or
twice, they had sat down to listen to my records and he had said, "There
you are." So an awful lot went on in the privacy of their own place. So,
yes, it was very important.

PLAYBOY: How much did John's praise mean to you when he was alive?

PAUL: a lot, but I hardly ever remember it, actually. There wasn't a lot
of it flying about! I remember one time when we were making Help! in
Austria. We'd been out skiing all day for the film and so we were all
tired. I usually shared a room with George. But on this particular
occasion, I was in with John. We were taking our huge skiing boots off
and getting ready for the evening and stuff, and we had one of our
cassettes. it was one of the albums, probably Revolver or Rubber
Soul--I'm a bit hazy about which one. It may have been the one that had
my song Here, There and Everywhere. There were three of my songs and
three of John's songs on the side we were listening to. And for the first
time ever, he just tossed it off, without saying anything definite, "Oh,
I probably like your songs better than mine." And that was it! That was
the height of praise I ever got off him. Mumbles "I probably like your
songs better than mine." Whoops! There was no one looking, so he could
say it.

But, yeah, I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He
was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and
the smartest and all that kind of thing. So whenever he did praise any of
us, it was great praise, indded, because he didn't dish it out much. If
ever you got a speck of it, a crumb of it, you were quite gratefull. With
Come Together, for instance, he wanted a piano lick to be very swampy and
smoky, and I played it that way and he liked that a lot. I was quite
pleased with that. He also liked it when I sang like Little
Richard--Tutti-Frutti and all that. All my screaming songs, the early
Beatles screaming stuff--that's me doing Little Richard. It requires a
great deal of nerve to just jump up and scream like an . .. idiot, you
know? Anyway, I would often fall alittle bit short, not have that little
kick, that soul, and it would be John who would go, "Come on! You can
sing it better than that, man! Come on, come on! Really throw it!" All
right, John, OK. . .. He was certainly the one I looked up to
most--definitely.

PLAYBOY: Do you remember your first meeting with him? A picture in the
Beatles biography The Long and Winding Road is supposed to be the
earliest of you two together.

Paul looks at photo in book.

PAUL: That's my mate Len Garry and Pete Shotton. Haven't seen him for
years. This was the original Quarrymen. John was playing ukulele chords
taught to him by his mum and he was singing Come Go with Me, by the Del
Vikings, but he was making up his own words, because nobody knew the
words in those days; nobody had the record: We'd only heard it on the
radio and loved it. I met John that day. I knew the words to 25 rock
songs, so I got in the group. Long Tall Sally and Tutti-Frutti, that got
me in. That was my audition.

PLAYBOY: Did you know you were auditioning?

PAUL: No. I was just meeting them. I happened to sing a couple of songs
backstage with them. I had a friend called Ivan Vaughn, who was my
contact with all these guys; he was my schoolmate. A big, daft guy, like
we all were. We all used to talk a lot of nonsense. I mean, our catch
phrase is still Chrome Rock Navel.

PLAYBOY: What does that mean?

PAUL: I dunno. Sounds good, doesn't it? Scottish accent Chrome Rock
Navel. Aye, all right, laddie! All our old letters say "From Chrome Rock
Navel." John and all of us used to do all that stuff.

PLAYBOY: So you played with words from an early age?

PAUL: Yeah, you might call it sarcastic literary, because now everything
is so much more important and serious, you know? but as kids on the
streets, we just called it wisecracks. Sure, it was an ability with
words. It became one of the Beatles' specialties. You know, where
producer George Martin would say, "Anything you don't like." and we'd
say, "We don't like your tie." That was George who actually said that.
All those little famous Beatle wisecracks; we were all into the humor of
the time--Peter Sellers and the Goons and forecasts: "Tomorrow will be
muggy, followed by tuggy, wuggy and thuggy!" He was about 12, a smart
little kid. Another one was, "Yes, your Worship; yes, your battleship!" I
remeber that in a courtroom scene.

PLAYBOY: Did you ever envy his cleverness when you wrote together?

PAUL: No, not really. Just his repartee. I envied his repartee. But it
wasn't a question of envying each other. Each of us was as good as the
other. We used to sag off school Play hooky. . We'd go to my house and
try to learn to play songs. He had these banjo chords, I had half a
guitar chord--and don't forget, we started from exactly the same spot,
Liverpool. Almost the same street, only a mile or two between us. Only a
year and a half of age difference, knowledge of guitar, knowledge of
music. Pretty similar. I had a little bit more knowledge of harmony
through my dad. I actually knew what the word harmony meant. Laughter
So, you know, we started from the same place and then went on the same
railway journey together.

LINDA: It's just the critics who say, "Well, John was the biting tongue;
Paul's the sentimental one." John was biting, but he was also
sentimental. Paul was sentimental, but he could be very biting. They were
more similar than they were different.

PAUL: With me, how I wrote depended on my mood. The only way I would be
sort of biting and witty like that was if I was in a bad mood! Laughter
I was very good at sarcasm myself. I could really keep up with John then.
If I was in a bad enough mood, I was right up there with him. We were
terrific then. He could be as wicked as he wanted, and I could be as
wicked, too.

LINDA: But it is funny. I've often thought about how you two got your
images. You're sort of the cute, soft one, and John was supposedly hard.
But in truth, you could write Helter Skelter and he could write Goodnight
and the songs on Abbey Road.

PAUL: Yes.

LINDA: A lot of songs that people thought you wrote, he probably wrote;
and I'm sure there are a lot of songs people thought John wrote that were
really written by you.

PAUL: That's right. It was more gray than anyone knew.

LINDA: Oh, absolutely!

PAUL: I mean, I saw a recent account that put George down for his
contributions to the Beatles. But the real point is, there are only four
people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway. Nobody else was in
that car with us. The chauffeur's window was closed, and there were just
four of us in the back of that car, laughing hysterically. We knew what
we were laughing at; nobody else can ever know what it was about . . . I
doubt if even we know, in truth.

PLAYBOY: Even now, do you feel defensive if someone attacks one of the
four of you?

PAUL: Sure. I mean, you don't just dismiss George like that! There's a
hell of a lot more to him than that! And Ringo. The truth of this kind of
question depends on where you're looking: on the surface or below the
surface. On the surface, Ringo was just some drummer. But there was a
hell of a lot more to him than that. For instance, there wouldn't have
been A Hard Day's Night without him. He had this kind of thing where he
moved phrases around. My daughters have it, too. They just make up better
phrases. Some of my kids have got some brains. "First of a ball," the
girls say, instead of "First of all." I like that, because lyricists play
with words.

LINDA: Ringo also said, "Eight days a week."

PAUL: Yeah, he said it as though he were an overworked chauffeur. In
heavy accent "Eight days a week." Laughter When we heard it, we said,
"Really? Bing! Got it!" Laughs Another of his was "Tomorrow never knows."
He used to say, "Well, tomorrow never knows." And he'd say it for real.
He meant it. But all that sounds a bit trivial there. That wasn't all he
did. That was just the tip of the iceberg.

LINDA: But you said it. If only the four of you know, everybody else just
makes theories. Just as people theorize about life. Who knows about life?

PLAYBOY: Then you agree that your whole was greater than the sum of its
parts?

PAUL: Yeah. Yes. Definitely. Oh, yeah.

PLAYBOY: Most performers who have been part of a team continue to insist
that their solo work is equal to their teamwork.

PAUL: When the four of us got together, we were definitely better than
the four of us individually. One of the things we had going for us was
that we'd been together a long time. It made us very tight, like family,
almost, so we were able to read one another. That made us good. It was
only really toward the very end, when business started to interfere. . . .

PLAYBOY: But to stay with the early days for a bit, did your father
object to your joining the group?

PAUL: He wanted me to have a career more than anything. "It's all very
well to play in a group," he'd say, "but you have to have a trade to fall
back on." That's what he used to say. He was just an average Jim, a
cotton salesman, no great shakes; left school at 13 but was very
intelligent. He used to do crosswords to increase his word power. He
taught us an appreciation of common sense, which is what you found a lot
of in Liverpool. I've been right around the world a few times, to all its
little pockets; and, in truth, I'd swear to God I've never met any people
more soulful, more intelligent, more kind, more filled with common sense
than the people I came from in Liverpool. I'm not putting Linda's people
down or anything like that
LINDA: No, of course not!

PAUL: But the type of people that I came from, I never saw better! In the
whole of the world! I mean, the Presidents, the prime minister, I never
met anyone half as nice as some of the people I know from Liverpool who
are nothing, who do nothing. They're not important or famous. But they
are smart, like my dad was smart. I mean, people who can just cut through
problems like a hot knife through butter. The kind of people you need in
life. Salt of the earth.

PLAYBOY: When you say something like that, people wonder if you're being
insincere. You're a multimillionaire and world-famous, yet you work so
hard at being ordinary, at preaching normalcy.

PAUL: No, I don't work at being ordinary People do say that: "Oh, he's
down to earth, he's too good to be true. It can't be true!" And yet the
fact is that being ordinary is very important to me. I see it in millions
of other people. There's a new motorcycle champion who was just on the
telly. He's the same. He's not ordinary, he's a champion; but he has
ordinary values, he keeps those values. There's an appreciation of common
sense. It's really quite rational, my ordinariness. It's not contrived at
all. It is actually my answer to the question, What is the best way to
be? I think ordinary.

LINDA: Well, it's fun.

PAUL: We can be really flash and have a Rolls-Royce for each finger, but
I just don't get anything off that! There's nothing for me at all! It
leaves me cold. Occasionally, I get a suit or some nice jacket or
something, but I just cannot get into this stuff.

PLAYBOY: Surely, you wealth has had some impact on those ordinary values.

PAUL: Well, when you first get money, you buy all these things so no one
thinks you're mean, and you spread it around. You get a chauffeur and you
find yourself thrown around the back of this car and you think Goddamn
it, I was happier when I had my own little car! I could drive myself!
This is stupid! You find yourself trying to tune in a television in the
back of this bloody thing, balancing a glass of champagne, and you think,
This is hell! I hate this! You know, I've had more headaches off those
tellies in the back of limousines. I just decided to give up all of that
crap. I mean, it is just insane! I can't stand chauffeurs, people who
live in. They take over your lives. I can't live like that.

PLAYBOY: Do you feel like that, too, Linda?

LINDA: I'm worse. I'm horrible. I cannot get happy from material things.
They just upset me. When we were touring America, we stayed in a very
lavish house that we rented, and I felt very empty and very lonely.

PAUL: Linda's naturally ordinary. It doesn't always come over when she's
talking to someone, being interviewed, but Linda's at her best when she's
doing you a meal at home. That's when you see Linda. She cooks, she looks
after the kids and she's there. We've got one cleaning lady; that's all
we've got. If the kids are sick, there won't be a nurse looking after
them; it will be Linda who is there. It's funny, actually, because I'm
known as being stingy. When I take my kids to the seaside and they come
up and say, "Dad, can we have some money to play on the machines?" I'll
give them a reasonable amount of money, but I won't give them a lot.
Linda's got tales of parents she knew in the States who used to pay their
kids off--"Anything you want, kid." You know, $ 50 or anything. But the
parents never looked after them. The money was their surrogate. It all
makes me think, Sod it, I'll be the parent. I'll give them only as much
as I figure they can handle.

PLAYBOY: That brings up an interesting question: Does too much emphasis
on day-to-day life, on domesticity, dull the edge in a composer? It's
commonly felt that your earlier stuff had more bite--and meat--than your
more recent music.

PAUL: I can see that argument. I can see that if you have a domestic
situation, let's say, it's less likely that you're going to hear a lot of
new music throughout an evening--as apposed to when you're young and
single and music is all you fill your time with. In my case, maybe the
kids want to watch a TV show or I want to just sit or whatever. So I
think a domestic situation can change you and your attitudes. I suppose
if you did get a bit content, then you might not write savage lyrics and
stuff. But I don't know. I don't really believe all that. I hate formulas
of any kind.

PLAYBOY: Despite your own father's advice about getting a trade, it was
he who encouraged you to play music. Did he ever write music or lyrics
himself?

PAUL: He wrote one song. He was in a band for quite a few years. It
wasn't a very successful band. They used to have to change their name
from gig to gig. They weren't invited back otherwise. But eventually, he
became a bit of a pop star in his own right. . . . Strange we should be
talking about it, because my brother's researched our early family
history and asked all the aunties about what went on. He found a letter
from a fella who said he used to be in love with my mum. It's a long
story, but--to cut it short--he said that he had really fancied my mum,
and he took her out for a long time. Then he suddenly twigged that she'd
been getting him to take her around to dances, and he wondered why. They
were going to joints, and she wasn't that kind of a girl. It turned out
that that was where my father was playing! She was following him round,
as a fan. It made me think, God, that's where I get it all from.

LINDA: You know, I didn't realize until now that he was as involved with
music as he was.

PAUL: Which brings us back to your question. Did my dad ever write
anything? Well, he used to have this one song, which he'd play over and
over on the piano. It was just a tune; there were no words to it. I
actually remember him, when I was a real little kid, saying, "Can anyone
think of any words to this?" We all did try for a while; it was like a
challenge. Well, years later, I recorded it with Chet Atkins and Floyd
Cramer in Nashville. We called ourselves the Country Hams, and it was a
song called Walking in the Park with Eloise. I told my dad, "You're going
to get all the royalties. You wrote it and we're going to publish it for
you and record it, so you'll get the checks." And he said, "I didn't
write it, son." I thought, Oh, God, what? He said, "I made it up, but I
didn't write it." He meant he couldn't notate; he couldn't actually write
the tune down. And, of course, that's like me. I can't write music. I
just make 'em up, too.

PLAYBOY: Is "just making up" a song the thing that fulfills you most?

PAUL: Yes, nothing pleases me more than to go into a room and come out
with a piece of music.

Paul leaves Linda and the interviewer alone.

LINDA: I'd love for Paul to compose more. All these business problems
taking up his time! If he were only left to write great songs and play
with good musicians! I think he has such soul for writing and is such a
great singer . . . I don't think people realize what a great musician
Paul is.

PLAYBOY: Most people probably do.

LINDA: You think so? I think they feel he's just a cute face. He's so
good that I would really like to see him expand musically. That's what I
see. It's this business stuff. . . . I hate business. Give me a lump of
bread and a bit of lettuce in the garden, and forget the rest.

Paul returns.

PLAYBOY: Paul, when you and John were still hungry, you'd say to
yourselves before composing a song, "Let's write a car. Let's write a house."

PAUL: Yeah. "Let's write a swimming pool."

PLAYBOY: What do you say now? Is there anything left for you to want?
Isn't sommething important gone?

PAUL: Yes. I think greed is gone. You know, the hunger. You're right: It
probably is good for a greyhound to be lean and toughened up. It will
probably run faster.

LINDA: But Picasso wasn't hungry.

PAUL: Exactly. That's what I was saying about formulas. It's not always
that important to be hungry, actually. I think it's just one of those
artistic theories, as Linda says. Picasso wasn't hungry, and there are a
lot of artists who haven't lost anything to domesticity. In my case, it
probably did happen. When I was not at all domestic, and clubbing it and
knocking around and boozing a lot and whatever in the Sixties, it
probably did expose me to more and leave me with more needs to be
fulfilled which you use songwriting for. Songwriting's like the thumb in
the mouth. The more crises you have, the more material you have to work
on, I suppose.

But then again, I don't know if it's true! I mean, we'd really have to
decide which song we're going to pick on. If we're going to pick on
Yesterday, well, let's see, I can't remember any crisis surrounding that
one. So it may not be true at all. I think that I could easily turn
around and be more content and have less edge and write something really
great.

PLAYBOY: You're obviously ambivalent about the subject.

PAUL: For me, the truth of this domesticity thing is confused. In my
case, it wasn't just domesticity that changed me. It was domesticity,
plus the end of the Beatles. So you can see why I would begin to believe
that domesticity equals lack of bite. I think it's actually lack of
Beatles that equals lack of bite, rather than just domesticity. The lack
of great sounding boards like John, Ringo, George to actually talk to
about the music. Having three other major talents around . . . I think
that had quite a bit to do with it.

PLAYBOY: You seem to be in a remarkably frank frame of mind. Even though
it's the most thoroughly discussed breakup in musical history, we don't
think we've heard it straight from you, Paul: Did you or didn't you want
the Beatles to continue?

PAUL: As far as I was concerned, yeah, I would have liked the Beatles
never to have broken up. I wanted to get us back on the road doing small
places, then move up to our previous form and then go and play. Just make
music, and whatever else there was would be secondary. But it was John
who didn't want to. He had told Allen Klein the new manager he and Yoko
had picked late one night that he didn't want to continue.

LINDA: And Allen said to John, "Don't tell the others." . . . I don't
know if we dare tell this.

PAUL: Yeah, I don't know how much of this we're allowed to say--but
Allen said, "Don't tell them until after we sign your new Capitol
Records deal." LINDA: I don't know if we're allowed...

PAUL: It's the truth, folks.

LINDA: It's the truth.

PAUL: Even if it can't be said, we'll say it. It's the truth. So it was
the very next morning that I was trying to say, "Let's get back together,
guys, and play the small clubs and. .. ." That's when John said

LINDA: His exact words were "I think you're daft."

PAUL: And he said, "I wasn't going to tell you until after I signed the
Capitol thinkg, but I'm leaving the group." And that was really it. The
cat amongst the pigeons.

LINDA: But what also happened, after the shock wore off, was that
everybody agreed to keep the decision to break up quiet.

PAUL: We weren't going to say anything about it for months, for business
reasons. But the really hurtful thing to me was that John was really not
going to tell us. I think he was heavily under the influence of Allen
Klein. And Klein, so I heard, had said to John--the first time anyone had
said it--"What does Yoko want?" So since Yoko liked Klein because he was
for giving Yoko anything she wanted, he was the man for John. That's my
theory on how it happened.

PLAYBOY: But it's also been said that you got your revenge by giving out
the news first, even though you'd all decided to sit on it for a while.

PAUL: Two or three months later, when I was about to release the solo
album I'd been working on, one of my guys said to me, "What about the
press?" All of us were still in shock over John's news, and I said, "I
can't deal with the press; I hate all those Beatles questions." So he
said, "Then why don't you just answer some questions from me and we'll do
a handout for the press." I said fine. So he asked some stilted questions
and I gave some stilted answers that included an announcement that we'd
split up.

PLAYBOY: It still seems a bit calculated and cold on your part.

PAUL: It was going to be an insert in the album. But when it was printed
as news, it looked very cold, yes, even crazy. Because it was just me
answering a questionnaire. A bit weird. And, yes, John was hurt by that.

LINDA: Let me just say that John had made it clear that he wanted to be
the one to announce the split, since it was his idea.

PAUL: He wanted to be first. But I didn't realize it would hurt him that
much or that it mattered who was first.

PLAYBOY: What John said later was that he found it hard to forgive you
for using the split as a publicity stunt for your first solo record.

PAUL: I figured it was about time we told the truth. It was stupid, OK,
but I thought someone ought to say something. I didn't like to keep lying
to people. It was a conscience thing with me.

LINDA: It's madness, when you think of it--who got to tell first.

PLAYBOY: Aside from who did what, how did the breakup affect you emotionally?

PAUL: Truth is, I couldn't handle it for a while.

PLAYBOY: Why? Didn't you see it coming?

PAUL: I'd never actually gone that far in my own mind. Our manager, Neil
Aspinall , had to read the official wording dissolving the partnership.
He was supposed to say it aloud to us in a deadly serious voice and he
couldn't do it. He did a Nixon wobble. His voice went. And we were all
suddenly aware of a sort of physical consequence of what had been going
on. I thought, Oh, God, we really have broken up the Beatles. Oh, shit.

PLAYBOY: What happened then?

PAUL: Linda really had a tough time. I didn't make it easy for her.

LINDA: I was dreaming through the whole thing.

PAUL: I was impossible. I don't know how anyone could have lived with me.
For the first time in my life, I was on the scrap heap, in my own eyes.
An unemployed worker might have said, "Hey, you still have the money.
That's not as bad as we have it." But to me, it didn't have anything to
do with money. It was just the feeling, the terrible disappointment of
not being of any use to anyone anymore. It was a barreling, empty feeling
that just rolled across my soul, and it was . . . I'd never experienced
it before. Drugs had shown me little bits here and there--they had rolled
across the carpet once or twice, but I had been able to get them out of
my mind. In this case, the end of the Beatles, I really was done in for
the first time in my life. Until then, I really was a kind of cocky sod.
It was the first time I'd had a major blow to my confidence. When my
mother died, I don't think my confidence suffered. It had been a terrible
blow, but I didn't feel it was my fault. It was bad on Linda. She had to
deal with this guy who didn't particularly want to get out of bed and, if
he did, wanted to go back to bed pretty soon after. He wanted to drink
earlier and earlier each day and didn't really see the point in shaving,
because where was he going? And I was generally pretty morbid.

LINDA: Confidence is the word. It really shattered your confidence.

PAUL: There was no danger of suicide or anything; it wasn't that bad. . .
. Let's say I wouldn't have liked to live with me. So I don't know how
Linda stuck it out.

PLAYBOY: How did you cope with him, Linda?

PAUL: Own up, now; come on, own up.

LINDA: It was frightening beyond belief. But I'm not a person who would
give up. I wouldn't think, Oh, well, this is it. But it surprised me,
because--

PAUL: Mind you, a lot of things were surprising you around that time.

LINDA: Oh, God! I was the most surprised person!

PAUL: She'd come over in the early days and see a photo of me up on my
wall--a magazine cover or something--and she'd say, "Oh, God, I didn't
think you'd even seen that."

LINDA: I thought the Beatles were above all that. They wouldn't look at
their own press clippings, because they were such a buzz. I was surprised.

PAUL: But we were real. I, unfortunately, had to break that news to her.

LINDA: The image we Americans had of the Beatles and their music was so
positive and cheery, pointing out that life is so ridiculous that we
might as well laugh about it. But I never actually thought there were any
problems that could happen to these people, these Beatles. So for me, the
whole thing after the breakup was unreal. I was doing my little trip
through life, you know: Here I am in England and oh, really? It was all
happening so fast that I just kept going.

PLAYBOY: What made you pull yourself together, Paul, and form Wings?

PAUL: Just time, healing things. The shock of losing the Beatles as a
band. . .. One of the main shocks was that I wouldn't have a band. I
remember John's reaction was that, too. You know, "How am I going to get
my songs out now?"

PLAYBOY: And Wings was the first step to recovery?

PAUL: Yeah. The answer to losing your job is, "Well, let's try to get
another job." It's not a very satisfactory answer, but it's the only
answer you've got. So we just started off thinking, We'll take any job;
we'll do anything just to get going, to do something.

LINDA: Considering that you asked me to be in the group, you really were
willing to take anything.

PLAYBOY: Did you want to be in the group, Linda?

LINDA: Again, I didn't think about it. I never planned to be a
photographer, either. I always thought I could do anything I liked doing.
I'm not the type of person who thinks of the consequences beforehand.

PAUL: Which was a saving grace, really, because if she had thought about
what would happen
LINDA: It would have made me too afraid.

PAUL: Anyway, it worked out fine, and eventually, bit by bit, we managed
to put songs together. Those are the songs that some people thought were
not as good as my earlier stuff, or too commercial. I know people from
time to time used to say that, but my attitude was, "Sorry, folks, it's
about the best I can do right now. Sorry! You know, this is me trying to
do it. I'm trying to do it honestly and genuinely; if some of it's not
working to your taste, what can I say?" But it helped us claw our way back.

PLAYBOY: What do you think of the Wings material, looking back on it? Is
it music you're proud of?

PAUL: I used to think that all my Wings stuff was second-rate stuff, but
I began to meet younger kids, not kids from my Beatle generation, who
would seriously say, "No, wait a minute; can't have you say that about
your work. We really love this song or that song."

LINDA: A lot of people come up to Paul and say, "Oh, my favorite song is
such and such"--and it's one of the more recent ones.

PAUL: Yeah, there'll be people who mention My Love or Band on the Run,
and for us that's a big thing. Or Mull of Kintyre or Ebony and Ivory. No
matter what I may think about them--I can view them cynically, even
ruthlessly--even I have to admit there definitely was something there
with some of the Wings songs. In fact, the more I bother looking at it
again, the more I discover what I was trying to do. I think there'll be a
lot of that Wings stuff sort of rediscovered in years to come.

PLAYBOY: Some of the criticism of the Wings material undoubtedly stemmed
from the fact that you had Linda in the band. How did you react to the
criticism of her?

PAUL: Well, we laid ourselves open to that kind of criticism. But it was
out of complete innocence that I got Wings together and naively said,
"Come on, Lin, do you want to be in it?" I showed her middle C, told her
I'd teach her a few chords and have a few laughs. It was very much in
that vein. But then people began to say, "My God! He's got his wife up
there onstage--he's got to be kidding!" And so forth. I think she came to
handle it amazingly well. She has fabulous showbiz instincts, and by the
time it came to the 1976 tour of the States, she was handling an audience
better than any of us. But looking back on it, I can understand the
criticism. It was as if we were putting her up there to top the Beatles
or something. There was never any thought of that. If we were doing it
again, we just might be more thoughtful. But I'm proud of her; I really
threw her in the deep end.

Paul is called away.

PLAYBOY: Linda, what was the Wings period really like for Paul?

LINDA: I think Paul felt very frustrated. He wanted it to work with
Wings, but we just picked the wrong people. He needed the best to work
with, but he had to carry almost all the weight.

PLAYBOY: Former members of Wings have written some pretty nasty stuff
about both of you--in particular, that Paul was dictatorial to work with.

LINDA: It's part of the same problem. Paul is such a good musician, and
none of the Wings were good enough to play with him--including me, for
sure. They were good, not great. But on this film Give My Regards to
Broad Street , he's had a chance to work with the best.

As for all the other stuff that's been written about the two of us, so
much of it is rubbish. Former Wings guitar player Denny Laine wrote two
articles: One said I led Paul around totally, the other that Paul totally
dominated me. I thought Denny came off badly. I could see some girlfriend
or an ex-chauffeur writing such rubbish, but a musician?

PLAYBOY: He was less then charitable about your musical contributions to
the group.

LINDA: Look, this acting-and-singing thing is not--I'm not really a
talent in those fields. I was just telling Paul again that I don't quite
know how I had the nerve to join him, looking back on it now. I mean, how
do you go out with Beethoven and say, "Sure, I'll sing harmong with you"
when you've never sung a note? Or "Sure I'll play piano with you" when
you've nev er played? It was mad. But I'm . . . enthusiastic about
things. Isn't it funny? People write that I'm cold and pushy. I hop I'm
not, but I have that kind of face--I don't smile a lot. The truth is, I'm
an old softy. I don't say to a kid, "No, you mustn't do that!" I'm the
person who puts her arm around him. I'm easy. I go along with things.

I think my problem is that I Married Paul and to this day, nobody knows
what or who I am. I don't even know what or who I am. Being married to
Paul makes me a personality, I guess, but if I weren't, I would have
meandered through life. I quite like meandering. I'm curious and I like
to try things I haven't tried before, like music. I was that way before I
married Paul. I get excited about a stained glass I've never seen before,
or a great sunset--very physically excited!

PLAYBOY: Why do you think you have the reputation you do? You share that
with Yoko Ono--somehow being the cause of the Beatles' breakup.

LINDA: If only I'd known that you have to explain things to people! When
I married Paul, I knew I'd never had these problems . . . except maybe
when I was at school . . . but then it was all right because you just
listened to the radio and you'd forget it. But God knows, people got on
my back, and for things I wasn't really doing. But I'm just not the type
who'll get up and explain herself. It'll just go down that I'm that
woman. . . .

People I used to know say I'm a snob now--you know, "She didn't speak to
me." And people say--as they did on Good Morning America once--that if I
weren't married to Paul McCartney, I wouldn't be a photographer. Well,
maybe I wouldn't be a famous photographer, but I'd be a photographer. I'd
make a living. . . . All those things get to you, but I can handle it. .
. . I can just wipe it out. I don't dwell on what people say about me. I
actually dwell more on what people say about Paul, for some reason. Maybe
it's because he can't handle it.

PLAYBOY: How do you handle it when a book portrays you as a groupie and
describes intimate scenes of Paul's escapades and John's so-called
homosexual encounter with Beatles manager Brain Epstein? That was what
Peter Brown, who ran Apple the Beatles' record company , wrote about in
The Love You Make.

LINDA: (Pauses) He was a friend. He was the one who introduced Paul and
me.
A man I trusted. When I was going to the hospital to have Stella, I
handed him my baby, Mary, to hold. I wouldn't trust my baby to anyone but
a friend. Now it's like he doesn't exist. And his book--well, it doesn't
matter what he wrote, because he betrayed a trust. We decided not ot read
it, but we heard things. We put the copy he sent us in the fire and I
photographed it as it burned, page by page. As to what he wrote about
Paul or about John's experiences, ask Paul himself. He's coming back.

Paul rejoins the conversation.

PLAYBOY: We were talking about what Peter Brown wrote in his book.

PAUL: Yeah, he told us he was going to write about the music of the
Sixties, not a book about the Beatles. I took him into my house,
something we don't do; we had lunch, showed him the kids, showed him
around our village. I actually thought he was a friend. so to find out
that he isn't is no big deal. But I--I mean, I hear he said John Lennon
had a gay thing with Brian Epstein when they went to Spain together once.
That's been rumored for years. I mean, was he in the room with them? It's
probably just wishful thinking on his part. But I'll tell you what's
naughty about it--that John's not here to answer it, and neither is
Brian. All that stuff that's written about us, I just hope that people
who've sort of heard of our music, vaguely, know what the Beatles, or the
ex-Beatles, were--and it wasn't what's been written. I mean, John's time
and effort were, in the main, spent on pretty honorable stuff. As for the
other side, well, nobody's perfect, nobody's Jesus. And look what they
did to him.

PLAYBOY: John apparently coped with the craziness of that period by
experimenting with heroin. Did you know anything about that?

PAUL: No, not at the time. It's strange; that was all in private.

LINDA: I don't think we really knew what they were up to.

PAUL: We certainly never saw them on heroin. Never, ever.

LINDA: It must have been when Yoko was around.

PAUL: Yeah. My theory is that John and Yoko were so much in love that
they began adding wildness to ordinary love, going for it in a big way.
From what they told us--from what we found out--it did include crazy
things like heroin. It appeared to include everything and anything. I
mean, if the dare was to go naked, they would go naked. If the dare was
to try heroin--nothing was too much. To think of yourself as Jesus Christ
was not blasphemous, it was all just larger than life. All sorts of stuff
was going on. Everybody was talking about expanding your mind.

PLAYBOY: And you never took heroin yourself?

PAUL: No.

PLAYBOY: But, to say the least, you're no stranger to other drugs?

Paul: I've never wanted to be seen talking about marijuana for
publication. Why? Because I've got four kids and it looks like I'm
advocating it. I'm not. But after this last bust in Barbados, with people
saying, "Naughty boy, shouldn't do that!" as a 42-year-old man, I feel I
now have the right to reply. IF anyone had told me in the Sixties that 20
years later we'd still be talking about whether pot was worse than this
or that, I'd have said, "Oh, come off it, boys." If you start the
most-dangerous list with heroin or morphine--we know there's no way out
of that; you've got to be suicidal to get into that in any form--then I
think marijuana comes toward the bottom of the list. Cocaine is above
marijuana in harmfulness. I used to do coke mincing his words , but it
got too fashionable, to fashionable, darling, amongst the record execs. I
couldn't handle all that, being in the bogs bathrooms with all those
creeps! And I do genuinely believe that Librium and Valium would both be
above marijuana. For me, pot is milder than Scotch. That doesn't mean
I've turned around and advocated marijuana. I haven't. I'm really only
saying this is true for me. I mean, in Barbados, where I was on holiday,
I was in a room miles away from anyone. It never interfered with anyone.
No one was watching me except one manservant at the place.

I also want to say that there are things that marijuana is more harmful
than: air, for instance. I advocate air every day. Water, orange
juice--I'd advocate that and a good vegetarian diet any day of the week.
But as I say, in print, you're put in a corner; they make you sound like
the bloody high priest of pot. It's stupid, you know. I can take pot or
leave it. I got busted in Japan for it. I was nine days without it and
there wasn't a hint of withdrawal, nothing.

PLAYBOY: You haven't discussed your imprisonment in Japan for pot
possession. What was it like?

PAUL: It was hell. But I only remember the good bits. Like a bad holiday.
The ting is, my arrest was on every bloody TV set. The other prisoners
all knew who I was and asked me to sing. I didn't have any instruments,
but the world's press would have loved to have had cameras rolling as I
was going drums with hands . Well, I'd seen Bridge on the River Kwai; I
knew what you had to do when you were a prisoner of war! You had to laugh
a lot and keep cheery and keep yourself up, 'cause that's all you had. So
I did a lot of that.

PLAYBOY: Didn't you write a 20,000-word account of your stay in prison?

PAUL: After it, yeah. I wrote it in case anybody ever asked, "What was
that like?" because, like I say, all the good bits have surfaced. But if
I think hard, I can remember that the first thing I expected was rape.
That was my big fear. Right? Wouldn't that be yours? So I slept with me
back to the wall. I didn't know what was going to happen, you know?
Japanese accent "Hello, is you friendly jailer. I'd like a favor,
please." "No! Not even for a bowl of rice!" I slept for about a week in
the green suit I was arrested in; I didn't know you could ask for fresh
clothes.

PLAYBOY: What was that period like for you, Linda?

LINDA: Total misery. The kids and I were in a Japanese hotel, not knowing
what was going to happen. I was so frightened for Paul I can't even
describe it. Your imagination takes off. I didn't know that they would be
doing to him. And for what? A bit of nothing. Marijuana isn't like bombs
or murder or the Mafia. I don't think pot is a sin, but I didn't want us
to be a martyr for it.

PLAYBOY: Your legal problems with pot are one thing, but the legal
affairs surrounding Apple, to wind up the Beatles' financial affairs, are
in another dimension. Will your former business ever be settled?

LINDA: What do you want? It's only been 15 years. Laughter

PAUL: To most clear-minded people, it's obvious we should have settled
the Beatles' affairs by now--for our own sanity. But there have been many
stumbling blocks over the years. There was the occasion when John came to
a meeting and asked for a 1,000,000 pounds loan. That made us stumble!
Everyone went, "Say what?!" and jaws dropped and the meeting was
canceled. Then there was the time when we had all arrived for the big
dissolution meeting in the Plaza Hotel in New York. There were
green-baize tables--like the Geneva Conference it was--with millions of
documents laid out for us to sign. George had just come off tour, I'd
flown in specially from England, Ringo had flown in specially, too, I
think, and. . . John wouldn't show up! He wouldn't come from across the
park! George got on the phone, yelled, "Take those fucking shades off and
come over here, you!" John still wouldn't come over. He had a balloon
delivered with a sign saying, LISTEN TO THIS BALLOON. It was all quite
far out.

LINDA: The numbers weren't right, the planets weren't right, and John
wasn't coming. Well! And it's never happened since. It's never happened.
He said he was not coming and that was it. Had we known there was some
guy flipping cards on his bed to help him make his decision, we would
have all gone over there. George blew his top, but it didn't change
anything. It's beyond words. It's mind-boggling.

PAUL: There were many stumbling blocks, and to keep the record straight,
it wasn't always John and Yoko. Obviously, they accused my side of doing
plenty of stumbling, too. We've all accused one another of various
business things; we tend to be pretty paranoid by now, as you can
imagine. There's a lot of money involved.

PLAYBOY: With all these stories about numbers and cards, you seem to be
saying it's Yoko who has kept this from being settled.

LINDA: I don't know abot that. It is true she settled with Klein for
5,000,000. It wasn't her money, really. Each Beatle gave a share, Paul
included, and he never wanted that man as manager in the first place.
Five or six million! When you think that they were pulling bloody cards
to see what they would do! If only we had known what they were doing back
there! We tried reason and reason didn't exist. All I know is, with all
the advisors and lawyers and parasites, we're putting a lot of kids
through prep school and buying a lot of swimming pools. And all Paul has
been saying all this time is, "Divide it four ways, please." Instead of
it staying in one kitty, where only the lawyers make money, divide it
four ways and let's get on with life! I said to Paul I wouldn't mind if
we didn't get anything, as long as it gets divided, just to get rid of
the aggro. Just so the lawyers will stop making money. I don't care if we
don't get any. But I hate being the fool.

PLAYBOY: Fortunately for you, most of your income comes not from Apple
but, actually, from your music-publishing company, right?

PAUL: That and my recording. About equal. The music publishing I own is
fabulous recording. About equal. The music publishing I own is
fabulous. Beautiful. I owe it all to Linda's dad Lee Eastman and her
brother John. Linda's dad is a great business brain. He said originally,
"If you are going to invest, do it in something you know. If you invest
in building computers or something, you can lose a fortune. Wouldn't you
rather be in music? Stay in music." I said, "Yeah, I'd much rather do
that." So he asked me what kind of music I liked. And the first name I
said was Buddy Holly. Lee got on to the man who owned Buddy Holly's stuff
and bought that for me. So I was into publishing now. The strange thing
is, we never owned our own publishing; it was always getting bought and
sold. Someone else owns Yesterday, not me. So it is a kind of
compensation, really, for that.

Lee found this company called Edwin H. Morris, in New York, which owned
everything, including the kitchen sink--it's just the most wonderful
company ever. It has some of the best music ever written, songs that my
dad would play, like Tenderly, After You've Gone, Stormy Weather. And our
luck! There's a thing in the business they call "Eastman luck," or maybe
a little McCartney luck thrown in, too, but we just suddenly got very,
very lucky. There was a show that needed investors and Lee said, "Do you
want to let the show run or should we can it? We have the power to can
it." I said, "No, keep it going--it's an artistic venture, we don't want
to can that." It was Annie. It was at a small theater before it got to
Broadway, a little show, and we published the music. A Chorus Line
happened, too, and we published that. La Cage aux Folles has happened
since, and that's been lunatic, insane. Many, many more. Grease, too.
John Travolta was looking for something to do, and we owned the
publishing rights to that.

PLAYBOY: It had nothing to do with your understanding of popular music?

PAUL: A bit. I was vibing it heavily. And very in love with it, and that
helps. Anyway, now it's become the largest independently owned publishing
company, so it's a big dip.

PLAYBOY: It's also made you one of the richest men in the world, hasn't it?

LINDA: There aren't all those millions that you read about in the paper.
How much Paul earns is one of those constant topics in the gossip
columns, and it's all exaggerated.

PLAYBOY: The figure we've heard most often is that you're worth about
500,000,000.

PAUL: And the other one is that I earn 20,000,000 a year.

LINDA: Can you imagine the taxes you'd have to pay on that?

PAUL: The money stories actually arose because some fellow somewhere
wrote a book called World Paychecks: Who Makes What, Where and Why--a
rubbishy book from which the newspapers quoted a reference to me. That
is the entire source this wealth has come from.

LINDA: And it doubles every time you look at the paper.

PAUL: It's all based on that one published item, and it actually isn't
true. I didn't earn that much in record royalties. You've only got to
look at my sales in 1980 to figure that one out. In the here-and-now
stage, the figure is wildly exaggerated.

Linda: That's it. That's all you need to say.

PLAYBOY: All right, but when you say "in the here-and-now stage," you
seem to be hedging; does that mean that iths possible you might be
earning that much in the future?

PAUL: No, I'm not talking figures. Where I come from, you don't really
talk about how much you're earning. Those things are private. Like a lot
of people, my dad never told my mum how much he was earning. I'm
certainly not going to tell the world. I'm doing well.

PLAYBOY: Does Linda Know?

PAUL: Linda knows.

LINDA: I'm not really interested. I want to have enough to live on, and
if I can help a few other people, that's what I care about.

PLAYBOY: One other rumor: Is it true, as published, that you are the
single largest depositor in the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York?

PAUL, UNDA: We don't even use Chase Manhattan Bank!

PLAYBOY: Whatever else you say, people have always felt you are
commercially minded, that you are motivated by money--

PAUL: No, it isn't money. It's doing well. I saw that Meryl Streep said,
"I just want to do my job well." And really, that's all I'm ever trying
to do. I still like writing songs. It still gives me a thrill. If I had
been asked at 15 why I wrote, I would have answered, "Money." But after a
while, you realize that's not really your driving motive. When you get
the money, you still need to keep going; you don't stop. There has to be
something else. I think it's the freedom to do what you want and to live
your dreams.

PLAYBOY: One of the last things John Lennon agreed to do for PLAYBOY was
to run through his songs and share his memories of them. Even if we don't
have the time to go through all your music, Paul, would you tell us what
you remember about some of your Beatles songs?

PAUL: OK, but it'll just be off the top of my head.

PLAYBOY: Understood. What do you remember about one of your earliest
songs, Love Me Do?

PAUL: Love Me Do--the first song we recorded, like, for real. First
serious audition. I was very nervous, I remember. John was supposed to
sing the lead, but they changed their minds and asked me to sing lead at
the last minute, because they wanted John to play harmonica. Until then,
we hadn't rehearsed with a harmonica; George Martin started arranging it
on the spot. It was very nerve-racking.

PLAYBOY: Do You Want to Know a Secret?

PAUL: Nothing much; a song we really wrote for George to sing. Before he
wrote his own stuff, John and I wrote things for him and Ringo to do.

PLAYBOY: All My Loving.

PAUL: Yeah, I wrote that one. It was the first song I ever wrote where I
had the words before the music. I wrote the words on a bus on tour, then
we got the tune when I arrived there. The first time I've ever worked
upside down.

PLAYBOY: I Wanna Be Your Man.

PAUL: I wrote it for Ringo to do on one of the early albums. But we ended
up giving it to the Stones. We met Mick and Keith in a taxi one day in
Charing Cross Road and Mick said, "Have you got any songs?" So we said,
"Well, we just happen to have one with us!" I think Georg

Pulitzer Prize for Bob Dylan's 'poetic power'

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:42:41 +0000

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan added a new title to his impressive r�sum� Monday: Pulitzer Prize winner.

Dylan was granted an honorary Pulitzer "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

Other winners included Tracy Letts, whose play "August: Osage County," was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer for Drama.

"I didn't want to hear I was the front-runner, but it was inescapable," said Letts, 42, who was at home in Chicago when he got word of his win.

The three-act, three-hour comedy-drama now running on Broadway is about an emotionally damaged Oklahoma family.

A small committee of theater critics and artists determines nominated finalists, and the Pulitzer board picks a winner. Finalists included "Yellow Face" by David Henry Hwang and "Dying City" by Christopher Shinn.

In the Fiction category, the prize went to "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," by Junot Diaz, a tragic but humorous story of desire, politics and violence among Dominicans at home and in the U.S.

Diaz, 39, worked for more than a decade on his first novel. Diaz's fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and "The Best American Short Stories."

The Pulitzer includes a cash prize of $10,000.

Pete Doherty jailed for 14 weeks

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:54:57 +0000

Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty has been jailed for 14 weeks for failing to turn up to probation hearings on time and drug use.

Doherty attended West London Magistrates Court today (April 8.), where Judge Davinder Lachar handed the singer/guitarist the sentence.

A spokesperson for the court said that Doherty had been jailed for "breach of time keeping, non-compliance of his order and using different drugs".

Doherty had been given a suspended jail sentence for possession of drugs and driving illegally in October last year. His supervision order required him to make regular visits to court for progress reports, as well as take part in a drug rehabilitation programme. He was threatened with up to four months in jail if he broke the law during this period.

A spokesperson for Doherty told NME.COM that he was looking into grounds for appeal.

Doherty is expected to serve one month under current rules but should he complete the full three and half months of his sentence he will not only miss a solo show at the Royal Albert Hall in London (April 26), but the Glastonbury (June 27-29) festival, which he is due to headline the Park Stage.

His label, Parlophone, explained the solo show will be postponed but it "is due to be rescheduled and all tickets will be valid for the new date once it has been announced. Peter was very much looking forward to the show and would like to offer his sincerest apologies to all his fans and all those concerned".

My Thoughts: About time. He has been left off so many times. Hopefully this will teach his ass a lesson.

MFF Movie & TV News - 9/3/08

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:19:12 +0000

MFF Movie & TV News - 9/3/08

Atonement bags three Empire gongs
Atonement has been named best British film at the Empire Awards in London.

The wartime epic's stars, James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, were named best actor and actress at the ceremony.

Action thriller The Bourne Ultimatum won best film, while Scottish film star Ewan McGregor received an icon award to mark his career on the big screen.

Another British film, Control, won two awards, including best newcomer for Sam Riley, who played Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the rock biopic.

'10,000 BC' a mammoth at worldwide box office
LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) - "10,OOO BC," a widely ridiculed prehistoric action movie boasting a menagerie of exotic beasts, trampled the competition at box offices around the world.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the Warner Bros. Pictures release sold $61 million worth of tickets during its first weekend.

The North American contribution was $35.7 million from 3,410 theaters, an easy No. 1 ahead of fellow rookie "College Road Trip" with $14 million.

The North American opening was "right on target," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic theatrical distribution at the Time Warner Inc (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research)-owned studio. Pundits had expected an opening in the $30 million to $40 million range.

The film, which Fellman said cost "slightly north" of $100 million to make, was almost unanimously ripped by critics. USA Today described it as a "bombastic bore" and The New York Times as "sublimely dunderheaded."

Lohan sister bids for TV stardom
Lindsay Lohan's mother Dina and sister Ali are to star in a fly-on-the-wall TV show, it has been announced.

Living Lohan will follow Dina as she works to manage Lindsay's schedule and help 14-year-old Ali try to follow in her older sister's famous footsteps.

Dina came under scrutiny managing Lindsay's rise to stardom, after allowing her to live a late-night life of Hollywood club-hopping.

The show will hit US TV screens in the summer on cable network E!

Heath Ledger Will Leaves Out Michelle Williams, Matilda
Late actor Heath Ledger had a will and it has been found and the document does not leave anything to his one time fianc�e Michelle Williams or their daughter Matilda. The will was written before he fell in love with Michelle on the set of the gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain.

So what happened, why didn't Heath update his will when Matilda was born to provide for her? That question remains unanswered but he was only twenty-eight years old and likely believed that he had a lot of time to update his last will and testament and set up a trust for his daughter.

A report also is a bit stunning on how little of an estate was left. He had less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) and that included a $25,000 Toyota Prius and another twenty grand or so in furniture. It is unknown how much the young man had amassed in real estate and properties in both the United Sates and in Australia.

But according to a report from Us Weekly magazine the entire estate was left to his parents and his sister. The bulk of the estate will be doled out and divided up in his native Australia, a report from the New York Daily news reveals.

Walliams completes swim to Africa

Little Britain star David Walliams and Olympic rower James Cracknell have completed their "swim to Africa" to raise money for the BBC's Sport Relief.

They swam 12 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in just over four-and-a-half hours.

Walliams was sick in the water and the pair saw dolphins and whales.

The swim was the last leg of Cracknell's 10-day trip from the UK to Africa in which he rowed the Channel and cycled through France and Spain.

Walliams famously swam the English Channel and raised �1m for Sport Relief in 2006.

Fewer than 10% of people who have attempted to swim the Channel have succeeded but Walliams told BBC News 24 that this challenge was more difficult.

"Swimming and throwing up... it shouldn't really go together," he said.

In Conversation With Viggo Mortenson

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:52:54 +0000

Similar to Dean's great musical interviews I'll be tracking down some film-related conversations from now on. Hopefully you'll enjoy this recent interview by Empire Magazine with one of the silver screen's current best actors: Viggo Mortenson.

In Conversation With Viggo Mortenson
Viggo Mortensen arrives at Empire's Boston hotel bearing gifts: his latest CD (he makes music, as well as art and photography), a campaign badge supporting longshot Democratic Presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, and a copy of the US Constitution, with a passage about impeaching the President decisively circled.

Politics are very much on the 49 year-old actor�s mind. He is in Boston, along with the likes of David Strathairn, Josh Brolin and Danny Glover, to read passages for a televised stage production, The People Speak, conceived by revered US historian Howard Zinn. He flew up early so that he could drive back and forth to New Hampshire to drum up support for Kucinich in that state�s important primary. �The idea was getting a little bit more media attention, even if they say, �Well, Oprah Winfrey's out there for Obama, and that weird actor�s there for Kucinich,� Mortensen says, smiling through his thick beard.

Such activity is an example of why �that weird actor� is far from your typical Hollywood star. Since entering the big league as Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy at the relatively late age of 42, he has exercised rare discretion and imagination in his choices: Spanish-language historical drama Alatriste, Ed Harris� forthcoming Western Appaloosa, and Good, an imminent adaptation of C. P Taylor�s play about the rise of Hitler.

Most prominently, he�s formed one of the decade�s great director-star alliances with David Cronenberg on A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises. And even cutting the fingers off a corpse, as he does in the latter, hasn�t dented his status as the thinking woman�s heartthrob.

Born in New York to a Danish father and American mother, he spent his childhood in South America, his adolescence in the US and his early 20s in Denmark. His movie career began ominously, when his first two roles (in Woody Allen�s Purple Rose Of Cairo and Jonathan Demme�s Swing Shift) both hit the edit-suite floor. During the next 15 years he took what jobs he could find, some good (Witness, The Portrait Of A Lady) and some not so good (Young Guns II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre III). He turned in great work, but not the kind that makes you a leading man -- until Peter Jackson came calling.

Mortensen�s thoughtful, heavily researched performances have earned him many admirers. David Cronenberg says he has �the charisma of a leading man, and the eccentricity and naturalistic presence of a character actor�. Elijah Wood reflects, �The more I got to know him, the more I realised how insanely brilliant and crazy he is.�

Over black coffee and bacon (�a big bunch of it�) in the hotel restaurant, he seems tired but focused, fuelled by sheer enthusiasm. After this, he starts work on John Hillcoat�s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy�s novel The Road. As usual, he says, he�s overstretched and underslept. �It�s like when you�ve got to go to Boston and talk to this idiot in some fucking hotel,� he tells Empire with a wry smile.

Viggo likes to talk,� says Empire�s Dorian Lynskey. �He's articulate, intense and unusually self-effacing. Of all the subjects that animate him � politics, history, travel - I suspect that the least interesting thing to him is his own CV. I felt almost guilty having to pull him back to movies when there was clearly so much else on his mind...�

David Cronenberg said that when he first met you to talk about A History Of Violence, his goal was �to seduce Viggo�. How did he go about it?

He was honest. I think the most seductive or interesting thing is when people are honest. The relationships that I remember are the ones where people were honest with me, especially when they might need to say something that isn�t pleasant to hear. That�s why I like Dennis Kucinich, because that�s what he does. Honesty is the best way to make a relationship grow or a democracy. And that's what Cronenberg did. 1 said, �This .script, I don�t know. I gotta say I don�t know why you�re doing it. it�s an exploitation [movie]. I�m concerned about this and that. I�m just being honest with you.� And he said, �Well, I�m glad. This is how I feel about it.� And I realised right away that he was concerned about the same things, and a .script that was 115 pages ended up being, like ,75 pages long. I started calling him and talking every day, and asking him about the story. At one point, a week or so in, he said, �So Viggo, I just need to ask you: are we doing this movie together or not?� And I said, �Yeah!� Which was funny, because he thought I was testing him.

Are you willing to do things for Cronenberg that you wouldn�t do for other directors? Like the scene in Eastern Promises where you battle Chechen gangsters in the nude, or the sex scenes in A History Of Violence?

Would I feel more willing to take a chance? Yeah. I trusted him more than I would other directors. I�ve had experiences where I�ve played scenes or moments - they can be subtle things, like how much you give away of yourself - and I�ve felt more cautious, and therefore self-censored. My gut feeling was I didn�t trust that these people had the intelligence, or the good taste, or the decency to be direct and honest with me. It was easier to do it with David because we were just talking about what needed to be done.

And is that rare?

I�ve mostly worked for people who don�t know how to talk to actors. [They] may or may not be nice people, but you�re kind of on your own, and hopefully you�re working on scenes with actors who are like you and want to collaborate. If you�re not, then you�re even more on your own. You get used to that as an actor �- it�s just the way it is. You have to create the illusion of a real moment. If you have a director who is shepherding that well and watching every detail and making you feel like your opinion matters, it�s just easier and more fun. You make better movies that way.

Researching Eastern Promises, you spent two weeks travelling alone around Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Urals...

I know the production would have been a little more comfortable if I�d gone with someone else. But it forces you to deal with the immediate surroundings, and to pay them a lot of attention. That�s what I wanted to do. I realised I would have to be on my toes. Certainly if you�ve travelled a lot, it�s not a big deal to drop down in some city where you don�t understand the language and you have to figure out the subway map or how to get to the airport. If I hadn�t travelled, I don�t know if it would have occurred to me to go there. But I�ve always been curious about going to places. If I�m in New Zealand shooting The Lord Of The Rings I want to learn about the countryside, so rather than fly I�m going to drive around and see as much as I can. Maybe you�re driving down a road and it says, �This is where Jesse James took a bath and someone took a shot at him.� If you think, �I�ll go there next time I come through here,� you may never come through there again. Turn left.

Is that what you do? Take that left turn, see what happens?

If possible. (Greek tragedian) Aeschylus said something to the effect that, �Fortunate is the man who knows the causes of things.� And the only way you can find out about the causes of things is to go and look: ask yourself questions and ask other people questions by travelling, mentally and physically.

By your early 20s, you�d lived in Argentina, Venezuela, Denmark and the US, and you spoke four languages fluently. Does that kind of upbringing give you a certain fearlessness about entering new environments?

Yeah, maybe so. I don�t think it�s uncommon for actors to have had that kind of background where you move a lot. Maybe it allows you to jump into someone else�s skin a little more readily, or be inclined to want to see the world from other points of view. Also, if you learn a second language when you�re young, it�s easier to learn a third, and learn a different sound, a different rhythm, a different cultural background to the way you�re communicating. 1 don�t know what it would be otherwise. Maybe it would be my nature to be curious about the world even if I only spoke English and had never left the United States. There are people like that.

You had a lot of different jobs before you started acting: waiter, dock worker, translator... Which did you enjoy most?

A little about each of them, and about the friends I made in them. I like being outdoors, so driving around the Danish countryside, delivering sacks of flour to remote village bakeries for a mill, and another job selling roses on the streets of Copenhagen, were particularly enjoyable.

Do you feel American?

Probably as much as anything. 1 feel like just a person in the world. I have US citzenship, so I can vote here, and I do. I�m also a citizen of Denmark, and I have opinions about that. I try to stay informed, not just about what�s going on here, but about what�s going on anywhere. I�m curious about what goes on in life. Certainly as a US citizen if I were not to take an interest, inform myself and vote, it would be hypocritical of me to go around saying my President sucks.

Your next film, Good, follows Germany�s slide into Nazism. Why did you want to do it?

One of the things that�s really different from the hundreds of movies made about that period is that it�s told from the point of view of people then, knowing what they knew, learning what they were learning, as things were rapidly changing - it happened in this country, it happened in England under Blair. You�re intelligent and you�re following the news, and you�re talking about it and yet it�s all happening so fast the destruction of civil liberties � that you can�t quite keep up. You�re selling out but you don�t realise it until later. Little by little you�re permitting this thing to happen as a citizen, as a people, and it�s very interesting to look at how that happens, rather than in hindsight. I think it will be unsettling for people. What I like about Good is that, without making any obvious parallels, you draw them. As I did doing the Spanish movie Alatriste, which is about the decline of the Spanish Empire. I thought a lot about the George W Bush era [while making Alatriste]. I was playing a character who could have been an American sergeant in Iraq, who�s been around long enough that he knows it�s kind of bullshit, but he�s looking after his mates. There are parallels.

Do you sometimes take on films because they have a political message?

No, generally it�s the story. I think of those things as I go along. I mean, with Alatriste I thought it was a great story first of all, and I knew that the cast would be made up of the best theatre and movie actors in Spain. But I also felt, because the Spanish weren�t as good as the British at promoting themselves, even people in Spain are somewhat ignorant of their own history. The English told the story of what the Spanish Empire was: cruel, untrustworthy, scheming, torturing � all of which happened, but it�s a very simplistic picture. Even in great movies like Elizabeth, the representation of the Spanish is that same old clich�. I thought that it would be great to right that wrong. I wish it had been seen more outside of Spain, where it was a huge hit, but, y�know..

A lot of stars have a one-for-me, one-for-them policy...

Do a big cheesy movie, make lots of money, and then do an independent so I can be legitimate as an artist?

Right. But you�ve not done that since The Lord Of The Rings made you a marquee name...

I�ve tried not to. You know, I�ve been doing this for 25 years and I�ve done a lot of movies that weren�t very good, but I�ve always done the best I could with them. There are some actors where everything they�ve done has been chosen carefully, and whether it worked or not, at least the intent was quality. I�d say Sean Penn, with a few exceptions, has had a remarkable record from the beginning �til now for being in things he wanted to be in, rather than, �I gotta make a living.� I may be wrong, but that�s what it looks like to me, and I haven�t had that. After The Lord Of The Rings I had the chance to do more things, but I�ve always tried to do things that would be challenging and that I would learn from.

Presumably you could have cashed in...

Certainly I could have made more money if I�d done what you�re talking about, but I mean, how much money does a person need? I can help my family; I can give money to certain organisations; I can travel on my own. I don�t need more than I have. I�ve been really fortunate. I don�t judge people who do that, but I don�t have a need to. [When you think], �This movie�s only paying me two per cent of what this other one would, and this other one would take half the time and I wouldn�t have to research as hard, I could just be myself and make a killing,� it�s easy to be tempted by that. But I�m just not interested.

So what kind of .scripts came your way after Rings?

Mostly they�re bad. People want to see a repeat of what works.

You were asked to wave a sword about?

Yeah, bastardisations. That�s what happens. A certain kind of movie is popular and then they make a whole bunch of them until they run that genre into the ground temporarily, and then ten, 20 years later that genre resurfaces.

Is typecasting something you constantly have to fight against?

When I first started out in my early 20s, I looked younger than I was. I wouldn�t get offered the bad guy or someone psychologically complex � just the nice boy. And then, the first time I played a bad guy, people wanted to see it. Say with The Indian Runner, suddenly I�m getting all these .scripts for playing snarling, tattooed psychopaths. Because that�s what people do - they go, �Oh, that works. He can probably do that.� But that�s all they�re thinking. Then, you do Lord Of The Rings and they go, �Oh, so you want to be this heroic, epic movie character.�

How do you think people perceive you now?

I have no idea. It doesn�t matter. When I did A History Of Violence people said, �Are you concerned that people can only see you as Aragorn?� And I said, �No, I don�t see myself that way, and if I was concerned there�s nothing I could do about it. People are going to see what they want to see, or what they�re told to see.� I�m not going to be able to shape that, nor am I interested in shaping it. I can understand why you want to project a certain image of yourself as an actor or a human being, but don�t think it�s possible to manage it, no matter how much money and how many handlers you have. Eventually people, on some gut level, will know that it�s not real, the presentation, so I think the best thing you can do is just mind your own business, show up on time, be prepared, and, if you�re lucky, it turns out to be a good piece of work, and maybe people go see it and you get a chance to do another.

So a lot of what happens in your career is out of your hands?

There�s a lot of luck involved. The thing is that when luck comes your way, as in the success of Lord Of The Rings, it was like, �Well, okay, now I have a chance to do something else. I can either broaden what I know and what I want to attempt, or I can just make a killing.� That�s luck, but then you have to know what to do with it. Sidney Lumet said something I really like about making movies, but you can look at it as a way of living your life. He said something like, �The work consists in making the best possible preparation for accidents to happen. Because they will.� I would say a piece of good luck is an accident. You never know where it�s going to come from. There are plenty of movies and performances that were great that never got the credit they were due.

Let�s talk some more about The Lord Of The Rings. You came on board at the last minute when Stuart Townsend was deemed too young to play Aragorn. None of your prior roles made you the obvious choice for a mythological warrior. Did Jackson ever tell you why he chose you?

Not that I remember in any direct way. It wasn�t necessary. We clearly seemed to be on the same page from the start in terms of what sort of man I was playing, and he seemed to approve of the manner in which I was building the character. He was particularly gracious with me and the other actors, especially on the occasion of completing our final scenes in that long and winding shoot. It was a very emotional family journey and send-off for each one of us.

Was it a wrench saying goodbye to The Lord Of The Rings cast and crew at the end of the trilogy, or were you very much ready to move on?

It�s always a wrench. You get to know each other really well and quickly � if you want to. You can isolate yourself as well, and just prepare your role and show up on set. A lot of people do it that way, and they�re technically gifted enough to just do their job and not get emotionally invested in it, but I always get involved, and I think most people do. You make friends, and you fall in love with the landscapes, and the people, and the world you�re creating. So it�s always a wrench. That was just a longer experience, but not that different. What I learned there was I re-read things with more attentiveness, and then read a lot more � history and mythology, Celtic and Nordic literature, all kinds of stuff. I thought a lot more in terms of mythology, and the idea of compassion, and the double-edged sword of violence and war. So it was like an Open University in all those subjects that I got a lot out of, so I kept going with it.

Five years after it finished, how do you feel about the trilogy?

I don�t feel like I have this pang of loss. And I don�t reject it like, �Oh, that was some big cheeseball thing, and I want to make sure people don�t think of me as that.� No. I�m not working with Cronenberg because I�m rejecting Lord Of The Rings at all. It�s just something different. I just do what�s interesting to me, and I�ve been lucky to do a lot of interesting things and work with a lot of interesting people. I can�t complain about that. I have had frustrations and will continue to do so as long as I remain open to being hurt and frustrated and learning. Being open to learn means you�re open to, y�know, suffering in some way. And that�s life.

Are you surprised Peter Jackson wants to do The Hobbit � to go over old ground, in a sense?

Hmm, no. I didn�t think he would do King Kong. [After Rings] he was thinking about doing a movie about New Zealanders and World War I, a subject he�s very interested in. He�s a collector of memorabilia about that period � has been for years. And he didn�t do that movie. He went and did another big huge thing, maybe so he could finance other ventures. Now he�s doing The Lovely Bones, something which on paper is more of an intimate drama but it�s still a huge budget and it�s going to be, to some extent, a special-effects-driven movie. So it�s not really Heavenly Creatures. I�m not surprised he wants to do The Hobbit. Businesswise it�s a bonanza, but artistically I think he wants his signature to remain somewhat intact. I would hope that he�d direct, but if he�s producing it hopefully he�ll be hands-on enough that the look and the feel will be true to what he did.

You often talk of thinking hard about each character�s back-story before you start filming. Did you do that even with your smaller roles over the years?

Oh yeah. It�s funny because people talk about �Method acting� as if it�s something in particular, and I don�t think it is. A method is whatever works. [While doing Good] I ended up playing a lot of music at night. Instead of looking at the .script I would play the piano. It was the first time I�d prepared for a role that way. If you like your work, even if you�re dealing with people who are frustrating, as you do in this business more often than not � people who are beneath the material or have the wrong reasons for doing what they do it�s still something I enjoy and I learn from, and if you like your work it�s easier to do your job and you get more out of it.

You�re famous for immersing yourself in a character � sleeping outside in costume for nights on end during Rings, or learning to paint your own murals in A Perfect Murder...

The thing I always do [when preparing for a role] is ask myself the question: what happened between the cradle and page one of the .script? And there you�ve got an entire life of study if you want. You could spend the rest of your life learning about Nikolai�s background in Russia, and making all that up. That�s always enjoyable and satisfying. Obviously it helps me and the director because if I believe it, there�s a better chance you�re going to believe that I am this person, as much as I can be. That�s always valuable. Most of the movies I�ve been in, on some level, it�s been not as satisfying as that research, but you take what you can from that experience. You learn things even on bad shoots. I�ve always done that. I�ve probably refined it. I�ve got piles of books and ideas on the table and I know how to more quickly go, �That�s good, I don�t need that...� I can cut to the chase quicker, but it�s the same idea.

Do you do that kind of research at the audition stage?

Yeah. The problem with that is it�s an ongoing process. I mean, I never stopped working on Nikolai during Eastern Promises until the end. Even in looping there was fine-tuning to make it as perfect as you can. But when you go into an audition, more often than not what they want to see is a finished, smooth [performance], not somebody who�s still working on something. They�re like, �That�s interesting, but I�m not quite sure what he�s doing.� One of my first auditions was for Greystoke and I was told, �Okay, you�re going to go to London to do film tests in a studio, go do some monkey training. It�s down to you and Christopher Lambert and maybe one other guy.� After that, at least two dozen times in the first couple of years I tested for the lead role in a movie and it always got down to me and another guy, and I never got one of those. I think it was because I was still processing and working.

In G. I. Jane, you made your Master Chief character more interesting by having him quote D. H. Lawrence. As a supporting actor, did you often get that kind of chance to change a character?

Although it is not always allowed, and is not always appropriate or necessary for an actor to contribute or even suggest changes of any kind, it is good if a director remains open to his actors and crew, that he seriously consider their ideas to be of potential interest. Open lines of communication are helpful and productive in the team effort that is moviemaking. In my own experience, there has usually been something, a feeling, a shared approach. Objects that have been presented and sometimes accepted, the odd word changed as necessary, or removed, an adjustment in tone of voice or detail of characterisation, costume ideas, bits of set-dressing, music � any number of potential small contributions that various directors have been kind enough to consider when they seemed useful to the overall effort to tell movie stories. I have been quite fortunate to nearly always get to a place with directors and their teams where some sort of understanding is reached, based on mutual trust that we are in fact telling the same story.

Is it true you were originally chosen for the Willem Dafoe role in Platoon?

Yeah, well, at that time Oliver Stone wasn�t such a big deal, and it was going to be a smaller budget. He was going around raising the money using my videotaped audition. Then he was able to raise more money with the requirement that he had someone known, and I was completely unknown. I can totally understand on a business level why it didn�t happen. It�s just that I laboured for a year or more under the illusion that I had the part, and so I spent a year reading every paper, every book, every essay, watching every film, every documentary about Vietnam. I don�t regret it because I learned a lot, but I was so ready to play that part. I prepared for that as rigorously as anything I�ve ever worked on and it didn�t happen. It was frustrating. I even called Oliver Stone and said, �What happened?�

It must be strange being in demand now after almost two decades of facing knockbacks...

It�s opening yourself to pretty much regular rejection, being an actor. It�s a difficult thing. And I can understand why people get so hardened that they become almost callous. They get this Teflon coating to their personal presentation, and even, finally, their acting. Because it is, in some ways, psychologically injurious as an occupation. I understand that, but I don�t think it�s good for the work. You have to leave yourself open to be hurt, just as you do in life. You have to be willing in life to suffer, even if it�s in subtle ways, if you want to grow as a person. You have to be willing in personal relationships to sit there and take it, or get upset when someone tells you something you don�t want to hear. You can close yourself to it, but then you�re going to stop growing, and you see that a lot in acting and directing.

How do you mean?

Most directors, especially ones that have a niche as an artist � and you can talk about Scorsese or Coppola or certain famous European directors � they become, if not stale, then repetitive and self-referencing, and it�s just not as good anymore. Whether it�s conscious or not, they stop taking chances instinctively. They start trying to be who they think they�re supposed to be. My personality changes all the time. I�m in flux all the time, like the world is in flux, and I want to ride the wave and see what happens. One thing I respect about Cronenberg is that he�s been doing this for 35 years and he seems to improve as he goes along, in part because he doesn�t reference himself. He�s like a kid out of film school, and he�s probably the brightest kid just graduated from film school, and he has that excitement now. Making Eastern Promises in London, every day on set, even if he was tired, he was excited: �Look what we get to do today!� That�s unusual.

But he doesn�t attract the same degree of reverence as, say, Scorsese...

He once again was left off the Directors Guild nominations list, ridiculously, and I knew that would happen. For A History Of Violence he was totally invisible, as the movie generally was. And the same with Eastern Promises. I know that Eastern Promises and A History Of Violence will be studied in film schools much more than � I don�t want to name names � some other directors and movies that are quite mediocre and on these top lists. He never really gets the credit. He'll get credit historically.

Would you do a third film with Cronenberg?

Yeah, probably. We�ve talked about it, just as we did after A History Of Violence. We have an unusually strong connection, personally and artistically. I get along with him, he gets along with me. I make him laugh, he makes me laugh. We talk about all kinds of things that have nothing to do with the movies current events, politics, history, tasteless jokes. We move in our own worlds, but he�s someone I count as a good friend, and someone I might ask about something that has nothing to do with our work together. Yeah, we�ve talked about doing something else.

Do you have any long-cherished projects that you�d like to see materialise?

The only thing, and that would be a way off, is there�s one story in particular that I would like to direct. I don�t want to talk about it specifically because I don�t want to jinx it. Then there�s the books I�m publishing with Perceval Press. That�s something I have to plan ahead, but otherwise I try not to plan too much.

And you�re about to start work on The Road...

Yeah. That�s the thing that happens when you say, �I finally have to stop.� I mean, I shouldn�t even be doing that, but it�s kind of too tempting not to. It�s a hard story, but interesting in what it says about compassion and human nature.

Why do you want to stop?

Because I need to get some sleep and I need to attend to my family and lots of other things. I�m really stretched thin and I�ve been wanting to take a considerable break for quite some time. It�s like trying to turn a big ocean-going liner. You have to decide miles in advance because it takes that long to slow down and make that turn. It�s the same with a movie career that involves pre-production, production, post-production, doing PR months and months after the fact. So I�ve had to say, �No,� but right when you say, �No, I can�t consider anything for a while,� you get offered the best things you�ve ever been offered. When you don�t want to work it�s there, and when you desperately need it you can�t find anything. That�s the way it is.

------------------------------------------------------

The Top 5 Viggo Mortensen Performances

5: Carlito's Way [1993] Less than two years after Mortensen's turn in Sean Penn's directorial debut, he and Penn wer eboth scooped by Brian De Palma for his other rise-and-fall crime story. He burns brightly as a paraplegic snitch who's reduced to a sobbing wreck by a shouty and histrionic Al Pacino.

4: The Indian Runner [1991] Aged 33 and after six years of supporting work, Mortensen finally landed his first leading role. He didn't squander it. As Frank Roberts, the restless destructive brother to David Morse's smalltown lawman, he projects an unnervingly dark side, gaining gleaming notices for his trouble.

3: A History of Violence [2005] Even with post-Rings status, Mortensen chose Canadian auteur David Cronenberg's revisionist neo-Western as his next project. The result is a character whose true nature you're never sure of: is he a killing machine hiding his past, or a loving man trying to escape what he does better than anyone?

2: The Lord of the Rings [2001-2003] One of movie history's serendipitous moments, Mortensen initially didn't want the role of Aragorn, but was convinced by his son to join Jackson's fellowship two weeks into shooting. The role fits like a mail glove, appealing to his outdoor nature and allowing his previously unseen sensitive side to shine through.

1: Eastern Promises [2007] The second collaboration between Cronenberg and Mortensen provided the actor with more meat. Promises' Nikolai occupies less screen time than History's Tom, but the Russian gangster is a more complex character. The directors trust enables Mortensen to enrich and texturise what would, otherwise, have been a solid but straightforward role.

Link: http://www.viggophile.net/empmar08.html

MFF Movie & TV News - 7/3/08

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:17:31 +0000

Without objection I'll be doing movie and TV news updates as often as I can for the site. Hope its worth it.

Credit: www.imdb.com

Goldberg Offers Support to Swayze
Whoopi Goldberg has offered her support to cancer-suffering pal Patrick Swayze - and is desperate for her Ghost co-star to get better. Reports that the Dirty Dancing star was suffering from pancreatic cancer surfaced on Wednesday, and were later confirmed by his publicist. Speaking on TV show The View on Thursday, Goldberg spoke of the actor as "a man I adore." And Goldberg admitted she had a special place in her heart for the 55-year-old after he insisted she be cast in the 1990 movie, for which she won an Oscar. She told viewers, "When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick � because (of how) he said, 'I'm not making this movie unless you put Whoopi Goldberg in it.' He knew I was right for this part." Goldberg then delivered a message of support to her pal. Looking directly into the camera, she said, "Baby, as always � we want you to know, we want you to feel better. We'll talk soon, I hope."

Ling Pleads Guilty To Disturbing the Peace
Chinese actress Bai Ling has been fined $200 after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace in relation to her recent arrest on suspicion of shoplifting. The Crow star was picked up by police on February 13 after walking into a terminal gift shop at Los Angeles International Airport and leaving with two magazines and a pack of batteries without paying for the goods, worth just $16.22. The 37-year-old has since insisted the episode was just part of a "crazy day," blaming the incident on the pressures caused by the "huge problem" of breaking up with her boyfriend just before Valentine's Day. Ling was also ordered on Wednesday by a Los Angeles judge to pay several hundred dollars in fees, including court costs.

Costner Settles Unmade Film Lawsuit
Actor/director Kevin Costner has settled a breach of contract lawsuit he filed in 2005 against a production company over the film Taming Ben Taylor. The Oscar winner sued Ascendant Pictures after the firm pulled out of their contract to make the film with Costner in the lead role. The 53-year-old Waterworld star argued the lost project had cost him about $8 million in earnings and the case was due to be heard in court on Wednesday. However, the two parties came to an out-of-court agreement on Monday, according to Costner's lawyer William Bossen. Details of the settlement have not been released.

Former 'NYPD Blue' Star Cleared of Rape Charges
Actor Esai Morales has been cleared of rape accusations by his ex-girlfriend, after a district attorney found no grounds on which to convict him. Elizabeth Mazzocchi, 33, initially accused the former NYPD Blue star of sexual misconduct in August and re-accused him of rape during a press conference in December, claiming other women had approached her with similar charges against Morales. But authorities were skeptical of her claims because she had lived with Morales for 15 months following the alleged assault, reports New York gossip column PageSix. Richard Charnley, Morales' lawyer, says, "There were never any charges filed against Mr. Morales due to insufficient evidence. There was an inquiry because the DA (district attorney) has to look at every claim, but my client was never charged with a crime, never arrested, never interviewed by police." Mazzocchi's current lawyer, Nader Pakfar, says, "A civil case will continue in order to gather more evidence. Just because he's not being charged at this point doesn't mean if an admission comes tomorrow, they won't charge him." In the state of California, it is illegal to file a false police report, but it is unclear yet if Mazzocchi will be charged with a crime.

Schneider Brothers Sued by Longtime Collaborator
Actor Rob Schneider and his producer brother John have been hit with a breach of contract lawsuit by their former collaborator Bob Rubin. The Schneider siblings are alleged to have reneged on a verbal agreement with Rubin over his fee for helping them find an investor for the as-yet-unreleased movie The Chosen One. In court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, Rubin claims he secured finances of $9.5 million for the comedy in early 2007, for which John had promised him a three per cent take for raising the funds. But Rubin alleges his take was then reduced to just one per cent of the film's $8 million budget, meaning payment of $80,000, instead of the $240,000 he was promised. His lawsuit states: "Having known John Schneider and Robert Schneider for over 23 years, (Rubin) trusted John Schneider's word." The Schneiders' longtime collaborator finally agreed to the pay cut, but he allegedly encountered further trouble when he tried to collect the money. He claims he is still owed $60,000 by the brothers, an amount which has been outstanding since October. He is suing the Schneiders for at least $350,000 in damages, citing breach of contract, fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The Schneiders have yet to comment on the allegations.

Rowland Confirms Breast Implants
Former Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland has confirmed reports she's had breast implants. Rowland fueled speculation she'd had a boob job when photographers caught the now-busty singer on the beach in Miami, Florida last month, wearing the same purple bikini that made her look flat-chested in August 2007. And now Rowland has admitted she decided to go under the knife because she was fed up with her clothes not fitting her properly. She explains, "I was sick of not fitting into my tops. There was this one House Of Dereon top - I just wanted to fill that out. I simply went from an A-cup to a B-cup. I didn't want to have double-Ds and be little bitty size two - that would look nuts! It is a decision I made for myself. I like it, and that's all that counts."

Oscar Results 2008

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:27:39 +0000

Best Motion Picture
WINNER: "No Country for Old Men"
� "Atonement"
� "Juno"
� "Michael Clayton"
� "There Will Be Blood"

Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
� George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
� Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
� Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
� Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
WINNER: Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
� Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
� Julie Christie in "Away From Her"
� Laura Linney in "The Savages"
� Ellen Page in "Juno"

Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
WINNER: Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
� Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
� Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"
� Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"
� Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"

Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
WINNER: Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"
� Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"
� Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
� Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement"
� Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"

Achievement In Directing
WINNER: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for "No Country for Old Men"
� Julian Schnabel for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
� Jason Reitman for "Juno"
� Tony Gilroy for "Michael Clayton"
� Paul Thomas Anderson for "There Will Be Blood"

Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: "No Country for Old Men" by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
� "Atonement" by Christopher Hampton
� "Away From Her" by Sarah Polley
� "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by Ronald Harwood
� "There Will Be Blood" by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original Screenplay
WINNER: "Juno" by Diablo Cody
� "Lars and the Real Girl" by Nancy Oliver
� "Michael Clayton" by Tony Gilroy
� "Ratatouille" by Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco
� "The Savages" by Tamara Jenkins

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)
WINNER: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for "Falling Slowly" from "Once"
� Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for "Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
� Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas for "Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
� Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for "So Close" from "Enchanted"
� Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score)
WINNER: Dario Marianelli for "Atonement"
� Alberto Iglesias for "The Kite Runner"
� James Newton Howard for "Michael Clayton"
� Michael Giacchino for "Ratatouille"
� Marco Beltrami for "3:10 to Yuma"

Achievement In Cinematography
WINNER: Robert Elswit for "There Will Be Blood"
� Roger Deakins for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
� Seamus McGarvey for "Atonement"
� Janusz Kaminski for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
� Roger Deakins for "No Country for Old Men"

Achievement In Film Editing
WINNER: Christopher Rouse for "The Bourne Ultimatum"
� Juliette Welfling for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
� Jay Cassidy for "Into the Wild"
� Roderick Jaynes for "No Country for Old Men"
� Dylan Tichenor for "There Will Be Blood"

Achievement In Costume Design
WINNER: Alexandra Byrne for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
� Albert Wolsky for "Across the Universe"
� Jacqueline Durran for "Atonement"
� Marit Allen for "La Vie en Rose"
� Colleen Atwood for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Achievement In Art Direction
WINNER: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
� Arthur Max and Beth A. Rubino for "American Gangster"
� Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer for "Atonement"
� Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock for "The Golden Compass"
� Jack Fisk and Jim Erickson for "There Will Be Blood"

Best Animated Feature Film
WINNER: "Ratatouille"
� "Persepolis"
� "Surf's Up"

Best Animated Short Film
WINNER: "Peter & the Wolf"
� "I Met the Walrus"
� "Madame Tutli-Putli"
� "M�me les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
� "My Love (Moya Lyubov)"

Best Live Action Short Film
WINNER: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)"
� "At Night"
� "Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
� "Tanghi Argentini"
� "The Tonto Woman"

Best Documentary Feature
WINNER: "Taxi to the Dark Side"
� "No End in Sight"
� "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
� "Sicko"
� "War/Dance"

Best Documentary Short Subject
WINNER: "Freeheld"
� "La Corona (The Crown)"
� "Salim Baba"
� "Sari's Mother"

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: "The Counterfeiters" (Austria)
� "Beaufort" (Israel)
� "Katyn" (Poland)
� "Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
� "12" (Russia)

Achievement In Visual Effects
WINNER: Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for "The Golden Compass"
� John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
� Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier for "Transformers"

Achievement In Makeup
WINNER: Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for "La Vie en Rose"
� Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji for "Norbit"
� Ve Neill and Martin Samuel for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Achievement In Sound Editing
WINNER: Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg for "The Bourne Ultimatum"
� Skip Lievsay for "No Country for Old Men"
� Randy Thom and Michael Silvers for "Ratatouille"
� Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood for "There Will Be Blood"
� Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins for "Transformers"

Achievement In Sound Mixing
WINNER: Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis for "The Bourne Ultimatum"
� Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland for "No Country for Old Men"
� Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kanefor "Ratatouille"
� Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe for "3:10 to Yuma"
� Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin for "Transformers"

Thoughts?

Orton Pwning HBK Backstage? + Cena Note

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:55:58 +0000

Source: ProWrestling.net
It�s been well established in recent weeks that WWE Champion Randy Orton isn�t afraid to rock the boat. He�s formed something of a clique with wrestlers such as MVP, Umaga, Rey Mysterio, Carlito, and one or two others. One of the ways he flexes his power in front of the group is to needle Shawn Michaels. For instance, one of the running gags that Orton has played is to wait for Michaels walks by and then say something like, �What an f---in� bum,� just loud enough so that Michaels would hear him, yet not know for sure whether the comment is directed at him. These verbal ribs have drawn a lot of laughs from Orton's pals.

Note: Please check out my latest blog entry for my thoughts on the friction between Orton and Michaels, and the bad rap that John Cena gets.

I don't know if this is true or not and I think it was already reported in less detail but I just found this website ProWrestling.net that is affiliated with and promoted by PWTorch.com who I consider a reliable source so I think it's quite possible it's true and certain that it's hilarious! Orton pwns!

Music News Update 02.20.08

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:50:49 +0000

SleazeRoxx.com - New AC/DC Album Update
Australian hard rock icons AC/DC are getting closer to ending an eight-year drought of new music. "God, I'm ready," bassist Cliff Williams, who was in L.A. to participate at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, tells Spinner.com. To that end, the group will hit the studio March 1.

Almost as long as the wait for new music is the band's absence from the stage. Tour plans, however, aren't as firm. "If we go out again or when we go out again," Williams said. "You just never know. We've been around a long time, so we're going to get together and get in the studio and I fully expect we will [tour.]. I don't mean to be so negative about that. [When] the last tour ended in early '01, you'd see kids on their dads' shoulders. And these kids were like 10, 12 years old. It will be tremendous to see that again. And it's very cool -- younger kids getting into older music."

Williams admits that he doesn't listen to his own stuff very often, but on hand at the Rock Camp, the bassist did get a new perspective on some of the band's classics. And what's standing out for him lately? "'Down Payment Blues,' 'Live Wire' -- I dig a lot of the old stuff," he says. "It's amazing. We look back on old albums -- look at tracks -- and I don't remember the tracks from the title. But those two songs I would love to play."

HecklerSpray.com - The Osbournes Threaten Heather Mills
The Brits are tomorrow, and only one thing can save us from the slow carbon monoxide poisoning of Mika, Kaiser Chiefs and Leona Lewis performances.

And that's Ozzy Osbourne violently attacking Heather Mills.

It'll happen, too, if Heather Mills decides to show her face at the Brits. Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne have more or less said so themselves. And forget watching Take That mumbling a gracious acceptance speech - who wouldn't want to see a confused, shaking old drug addict having a punch-up with a terrified amputee? Nobody, that's who.

As essentially rational human beings, we'd have trouble leaving Ozzy Osbourne in charge of a tin opener in case he ended up concussing himself with it somehow. However, some people aren't as obviously clever as us, and they've put Ozzy Osbourne in charge of Britain's biggest live-televised music awards show.

Ozzy Osbourne's hosting the Brits tomorrow night, alongside members of his family who have variously been rejected by Joss Stone and almost died in a house fire and called Mother Teresa a cunt. It sounds like a should be a total shambles, but let's not forget that Ozzy Osbourne is a respectable older gentleman now, and he'll have been primped and prepared to within an inch of his life to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

What's that? Ozzy Osbourne is going to call the Brits short and launch a violent attack on Heather Mills if she manages to turn up to the Brits and present an award tomorrow? Fair enough. Female First reports:

Speaking about the rumours Heather is planning to attend the prestigious bash, Sharon said: "I would boot her off. I think she's a miserable old cow." Ozzy - who will present Paul with the BRITs Lifetime Achievement Award - added: "I'm looking forward to seeing Paul McCartney - he's my hero. The body of work he's got is just unbelievable. But I really don't want to be there if Heather shows up. Never mind McCartney having a go - I think the audience will string her up. Sharon and I have met them both her on a few occasions but if Paul doesn't know her, I'm fucked if I do. She's fucking nuts."

Let's hope this warning is enough to stop Heather Mills from attending the Brits. After all, it isn't just Ozzy Osbourne out to get her. Rod Stewart has also made his dislike of Heather Mills clear, and don't forget that Paul McCartney will be performing at the Brits, and we all know how tasty he is with a sawn-off wineglass. If she's not careful, Heather Mills could stumble into a bloodbath.

So if she's sensible, Heather Mills will steer clear of the Brits and let it pass without incident. Well, apart from the incident when Ozzy Osbourne inevitably trips over a power cable onstage, spears a Brit through his eye and sets fire to Kylie Minogue's hair on live TV. But that was always going to happen.

SleazeRoxx.com - Alleged Gene Simmons Sex Tape Released
A sex video allegedly featuring Gene Simmons was released Tuesday at GenesSecret.com.

The site's video still show a man who appears to be Simmons - bassist for the rock band KISS and star of the reality TV show "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels" - having sex with a woman identified as an Austrian babe named "Elsa," a spokesmodel for Frank's Energy Drink. Simmons reportedly endorses the drink.

Photos on the site promoting the sex video show the couple going at it in several positions, with Simmons keeping his shirt on and Elsa wearing lingerie.

The video is available for a $9.95 one-day trial; a monthly sub.scription costs $29.95.

Additional content on the site, none of which features Simmons, is provided exclusively by Webmaster Central. A Webmaster Central spokesperson said the company was not connected to the sex video and only provided additional content for the site.

GenesSecret.com is an offshore site operated in Panama. The site's owner has not been identified.

Simmons made a name for himself in the flashy, makeup-covered band KISS, not only for his musical talents, but also for his long tongue and sexual conquests. Simmons claims to have slept with more than 4,600 women.

Simmons' popularity soared again with the hit reality TV show "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels," which airs on the cable channel A&E and documents the rocker's business exploits and interactions with his son Nick, daughter Sophie and longtime live-in girlfriend and former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed.

Simmons was a presenter at the 2007 AVN Adult Movie Awards in Las Vegas, and also received a special Golden Tongue award for his physical attributes.

Kaisers 'annoyed' at Brit snub

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:53:07 +0000

Ricky Wilson says he is "annoyed" by the news that the Kaiser Chiefs' "Ruby" has been overlooked for a Brit Award.

The band were on the final shortlist for the Best Single prize, until being omitted by a vote amongst the British public yesterday.

The gong will now either go to The Hoosiers, Leona Lewis, Take That, Mika or Mark Ronson, prompting Wilson's outburst.

"Everyone knows 'Ruby' is the best single, if you are gonna whittle them down to five, you'd think 'Ruby' would be in there wouldn't you?", he told the BBC.

"They have all got their merits, but I am just a bit annoyed. There is no point making enemies with these people because they will all be there."

The 2008 Brits takes place at London's Earl's Court this Wednesday.

Radio One DJ jailed for four years

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:49:43 +0000

Grooverider – real name Raymond Bingham – has been jailed for four years in Dubai for cannabis possession.

The BBC Radio 1 DJ was found with 2.16 grams of cannabis in his possession at Dubai airport on November 23 last year. He claimed the drugs were in a pocket of a pair of trousers, and he had forgotten about them, reports BBC News.

Four years is the minimum sentence for drug possession in the United Arab Emirates. Bingham’s agents have indicated that they will attempt to get him released early.

Bingham presented a drum'n'bass radio show on BBC Radio 1 at the weekends. A spokesperson for the station said: “Grooverider has paid a very high price for a serious mistake.”

R Kelly crosses the line with a kid...again

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:46:09 +0000

George Daniels, husband of Regina Daniels, the former publicist for R&B star R Kelly says his wife quit last year after Kelly became inappropriate with her daughter.

Daniels spoke to Los Angeles radio station KJLH and said "He crossed the line with my daughter. It didn't get to the extreme of that video or else I wouldn't be here, if you know what I'm talking about," reports sohh.com.

The video that Daniels is referring to is the sex tape that allegedly shows Kelly having sex with a young teenager.

Regina Daniels released a statement announcing that she was quitting in November.

Madonna wants to be a gypsy

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:51:56 +0000

Madonna secretly dreams of being a gypsy.

She said: "I think, secretly, I want to be a gypsy. I love the idea of travelling round and playing music and letting life unfold in a spontaneous way." Madonna, who also worked as co-writer and executive producer on the project, explained she is still trying to find a balance in her life just like the characters in the romantic musical comedy.

The singer said: "In spite of what appears to be my material success, I still feel like I'm struggling with the contradictions of life, the duality of life. I'm still struggling to find my way to understand the difference between right and wrong. To see things for what they are, to not be tricked by illusions, and I think I vacillate between light and dark."

What an annoying cunt she is.

'Major Labels will soon be finished'

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:54:04 +0000

The Futureheads believe the era of major labels will soon be coming to an end, and that bands should do everything they can to avoid them.

They have also heaped praise on Radiohead for showing an alternative to the traditional way of releasing music, but criticised them for not taking things even further.

Speaking to Gigwise, songwriter Barry Hyde said: “The infrastructure for indie labels to be successful is still being built up, but once it is, major labels are finished.

“Every time a band signs with a major label they’re putting themselves into a really bad position. But they don’t realise it because of the smokescreen, the false smile and the bottle of champagne.”

With regards to the innovative release of ‘In Rainbows’ by Radiohead, Barry said: “They are in a league of their own. But what disappointed us was that they released it physically after. That was kind of hypocritical.”

The Sunderland band were dropped by Warners in 2006, but have since set up their own independent label, Nul Records. They think this will be increasingly common, as groups become disillusioned with majors.

“People are fed up with the way major labels work,” said Barry. “We’re embracing the revolution that is happening in the business. We’re hoping bands will realise they can do it, take our lead.”

Illegal music downloaders to face internet ban?

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:47:38 +0000

People who illegally download music or films may have their internet access cut off under a new plan drawn up by the government in the UK.

A new Green Paper says that ISPs (Internet Service Providers) should be required to take action against those who use the internet to acquire pirated material.

Users would first be sent an email warning them followed by a suspension if they carry on and finally the termination of their contract under the ‘three strikes’ rule.

The paper is due to be published next week but have been reported by the Times who say that ISPs who fail to enforce the rules could be prosecuted.

The consultation documentation reportedly says: "We will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file sharing."

A spokesman for A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Early drafts of our creative economy programme document were circulated to stakeholders for comment.

"The content and proposals for the strategy have been significantly developed since then and a comprehensive plan to bolster the UK's creative industries will be published shortly.

"We will not comment on the content of the leaked document."

An estimated six million people are year download files illegally in the UK while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result.

According to the BBC ISPs such as Virgin, Tiscali and BT have already been in talks with the entertainment industry about introducing a voluntary piracy policing scheme.

However, several stumbling blocks exist including the fact that ISPs claim that people are “piggybacking” their service in order to download files.

Keith Richards tells Winehouse 'Get your act together'

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:26:00 +0000

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has offered some friendly advice to fellow musician Amy Winehouse.

Asked at the Berlin International Film Festival - where he’s promoting new Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones documentary ‘Shine A Light’ – whether he had advice for Amy and her battle with drugs, Richards answered, "She should get her act together.”

The veteran rocker – no stranger to addictive substances himself – then helpfully added, “Apart from that, I have got nothing to say to the bitch."

I love this man, he should do one of those Doctor Phil like shows.

CDs to stay say UK survey

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:06:37 +0000

~ PlusNet research reveals UK consumers still want to keep their pop music physical ~

UK consumers believe CDs will be around for at least another decade, despite record demand for downloads and falling CD sales.

A survey of 648 people by ISP PlusNet revealed almost half of those questioned (48 per cent) believe it will be at least ten years before the CD becomes obsolete. A further 28 per cent reckon CDs still have a good five years to go and 10 per cent think the medium will be around forever.

Music downloads in the UK hit a record 2.94m in the last week of 2007, double the level of 2006, according to BPI figures. At the same time, CD album sales plummeted 10 per cent over 2007, although sales remain 26 per cent higher than a decade ago.

PlusNet predicts a rapid growth in traffic to download sites following the recent high profile cuts in download charges to bring the UK back in line with the rest of Europe, combined with the growing popularity of MP3 players and digital music.

'Downloading music from the internet has become a huge activity in the UK – however, our research proves that people still love their CD collection,' said Neil Armstrong, products director, PlusNet. 'Music fans are rapidly embracing the on-demand nature of downloads, and this will continue to increase as prices drop and competition between download sites grows. Clearly, though, there’s still life in the CD yet.'

Scorsese to make movie on Bob Marley

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:03:39 +0000

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is lining up another documentary about a music legend - the Oscar winner has announced plans to make a movie about Bob Marley.

Scorsese has previously explored the '60s heyday of Bob Dylan's career in No Direction Home and his new Rolling Stones concert film Shine A Light premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany on Thursday.

Now the director has signed up to shoot a documentary on reggae legend Marley, who died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36.

Marley's son Ziggy Marley will act as executive producer on the currently-untitled film, which is set for release on 6 February 2010, the 65th anniversary of the Exodus star's birth.

Amon Amarth sign new record deal

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:09:17 +0000

Official press release from Metal Blade:

Amon Amarth, the Swedish metal band that has taken the world by storm with their brand of intense and melodic Viking influenced music, has just renewed their contract with Metal Blade Records. The 3 album, worldwide deal, will kick off with the band’s follow up release to 2006’s highly praised With Oden on Our Side, which the band is currently hard at work writing. “The plan is to return to Fascination Street Studios in May to record the new album, once again working with Jens Bogren as engineer and producer” states the band. There will be more details to come in the following weeks & months so stay tuned for more updates from the band.

Here is what the band has to say in regards to extending their contact with Metal Blade Records:

“After 11 years with the same label we have grown into a relationship that easily could go by the term ‘Family’. We had their support, confidence and commitment from the start and it has only got stronger for each year that passed. We are proud and happy to continue this amazing journey together with Metal Blade for many years to come, this has just begun.”

Metal Blade Records Owner and CEO Brian Slagel comments:

“We are very happy to continue our great relationship with Amon Amarth. They have been part of the Metal Blade family for a long time and we look forward to many more years with them.”

Amon Amarth has recently returned home from an extensive world tour including their first ever headlining US tour, where the band played several shows to sell out crowds. Amon Amarth also achieved gold record sales awards in both the US and Canada for their 3 disc DVD Wrath of the Norsemen, which features footage from a show in Cologne from 2005 filmed with 11 cameras, professionally filmed shows from Summer Breeze 2005, the Metal Blade Rrroooaaarrr 2005, Wacken Open Air 2004 and the release show for Fates Of Norns in Ludwigsburg (Germany) in 2004!

Yay!

Mick Jagger 'tight as a nats arse'

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:05:01 +0000

Sir Mick Jagger is too mean to buy a painting from Rolling Stones bandmate Ronnie Wood.

Wood has revealed the singer - who is believed to be worth in excess of �500 million - placed a bid for one of his artworks, but backed out after its �70,000 price tag "scared him off".

The 61-year-old guitarist said: "Mick once put in an offer for one of my landscapes. But nothing came of it. I think the price might have scared him away a bit. It was �70,000 or something."

Jagger has a reputation for being frugal with his cash. Last year, his supermodel ex-wife Jerry Hall - with who he has four children, Elizabeth, 23, James, 21, Georgia May, 16, and Gabriel, 11 - said: "He wanted me to pay for everything to do with the house and children, which I didn't mind, I guess, because I had the money. But yeah, he's pretty tight with the day-to-day stuff."

Jagger hit back branding her claims "absurd", adding: "I have always paid all expenses for the children as well as the lion's share of the costs relating to her lifestyle."

A trusted source also claimed 'Mick's tight as a nats arse'.

Last night (07.02.0, Jagger, Wood and bandmates Charlie Watts and Keith Richards attended the Berlin Film Festival for the world premiere of 'Shine a Light', Martin Scorsese's documentary which was filmed over two days at New York's Beacon Theater when the band played there in autumn 2006.

'Shine a Light' also features footage from the British rockers' remarkable 46-year career

Girls Aloud Take A Swipe At 'Indie Clones'

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:30:28 +0000

Girls Aloud are set to take aim at indie kids on the B-side to their next single ‘Can’t Speak French’ which is out next Month.

The track, ‘Hoxton Heroes’, sees the all girl five piece hit out at the residents of the trendy London area.

At one point they sing “don't kid yourself you're an indie clone, we've seen it before get a sound of your own".

You can listen to a preview of the track, which is released on March 17, by going to Girls Aloud’s myspace page.

Seems like they’ll no longer be the girl band its ok for indie kids to like anymore.

You have problems even when Girls Aloud can mock your work.

P Diddy finally fucking off...

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:24:41 +0000

Great news, rapper SEAN COMBS is planning to quit music to pursue a full-time career in acting. The star has scaled down his hip-hop projects in recent years, so he can expand an acting resume that includes a Broadway
stint in A Raisin in the Sun and a critically-acclaimed role in 2001 Oscar-winning movie Monster's Ball.

Combs recently revealed he would be reprising his Broadway role in a TV version of A Raisin in the Sun - and he hopes it will help him make a move to acting full-time.

He says, "Right now I'm transitioning from a recording artist to acting. Having an opportunity to play this role, it really changed my life.

50 Cent is a gay little pussy

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:30:11 +0000

50 Cent has been labelled a "coward" by rapper Fat Joe.

The 'Candy Shop' star - who famously survived being shot nine times at close range in 2000 - is a "punk a** motherf***er" who is too scared to leave his home, according to his hip-hop rival.

Fat Joe, real name Joseph Cartagena, ranted to website Complex.com: "He got shot by people who he knows and he doesn't do nothing about it.

He gets criticised by people like Ja Rule, little Ja Rule, and he never even fought him one on one. He's going to come f**k with Fat Joe? Are you serious? He still don't leave his house. "He's looking for attention, I'm gonna diss him. I'm gonna tell him to suck my d**k, everything you can think. I'm gonna tell him that. What does he want out of me? He's gonna tell me, 'Oh, Fat Joe, you're a sucka', and I'm gonna be like, 'Suck my d**k you punk a** motherf***er."

The two rap stars have been engaged in a war of words since the video for 50's 2005 hit 'Piggy Bank' featured an animated boxing match between the pair which ended with a cartoon Fat Joe being badly beaten. Joe responded with the song 'F**k 50' in which he dubbed him "the fakest gangster around".

Their feud was reignited last month when 50 said he would like to "eliminate" Joe from the "rap game" on US TV show 'Rap City'. The 'Lean Back' rapper responded by branding 50 a "clown", on the same programme the following week. On his new song 'Southside Nigga (I'm Leavin')' 50 threatens to put Joe's "brains on the floor"

Sir Cliff Richard slams The Beatles

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:26:22 +0000

Cliff Richard has again proved his rock’n’roll credentials by slamming The Beatles for recording with out of tune guitars.

The veteran popstar says in a new interview with Q Magazine that he’s mystified as to why the Fab Four released music featuring “horrific” guitar solos.

"Some of the guitar is so out of tune it's unbelievable,” he muses “I couldn't believe that here they were in this hi-tech age and they couldn't go back and do it with a tuned guitar."

Don’t scoff kids – Sir Cliff knows what he’s talking about. Well, he must do because, as he explains, “I’ve sold more singles than...everybody."

Beatles hit to be played in space

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:28:53 +0000

Across the Universe by the Beatles will become the first song ever to be beamed directly into space next week, US space agency Nasa has announced.

The track will be transmitted through the Deep Space Network - a network of antennas - on the 40th anniversary of the song being recorded.

It will be aimed at North Star, Polaris, 431 light years from Earth.

In a message to Nasa, the former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney said the project was an "amazing" feat.

"Well done, Nasa," he added. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

Meanwhile John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said: "I see this as the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe."

Fans have been asked to get involved by playing the song at midnight GMT on Monday night, the same time as the space transmission.

The event will also mark 50 years of Nasa.

Damon Albarn: 'The Rest Of Blur Hate Me'

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:24:57 +0000

Damon Albarn has dismissed any chance of a Blur reunion, insisting that the other members of the band hate him.

Speaking to the Sun, Albarn confirmed � as Gigwise reported exclusively last year � that the four had met for a meal but ruled out any future recording plans.

�I had dinner with the guys recently and it was a laugh but there�s no way they want to work with me again - they all hate me. A reunion is not going to happen,� he said.

�The only reason people would do it is for the money - but I don�t need the money,� he added.

Albarn�s comments come at the end of a week which has once again been dominated by talks of a reunion between the band�s original line up.

Yesterday, the band�s former guitarist said it was �na�ve� to expect them to reunite �after years of not really communicating really well�.

Speaking in today�s Sun, Albarn also questioned whether the group�s other members could commit themselves to making music once again.

�Alex is writing books and making cheese and Dave�s moving into politics,� he said. I�ve always said if you want to be a musician you have to dedicate yourself to it and do it every day.�

Ringo Starr condemned by Liverpool residents

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:42:37 +0000

Over 1,500 Liverpool residents have complained about Ringo Starr’s recent comments about the city.

According to the Daily Star, the residents complained via council phone lines and websites after Starr made comments about the city on the Jonathan Ross show.

On the show, aired last Friday (January 1, Starr said he didn’t miss anything about Liverpool since he left, and joked that he was “this close to coming back”, holding his finger and thumb close together.

Liverpool resident Gemma Dunn was quoted in the paper as saying: "He was just self-indulgent and arrogant."

lmao

Last.fm to offer free music

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:19:22 +0000

The social music platform Last.Fm is to launch what it has called the biggest free music service in the world.

Registered users will be able to stream and listen to tracks up to three times, as opposed to downloading them onto their computer.

They will then be given the opportunity to download the track via digital download stores such as iTunes

The service, which has won the support of the world’s four biggest record labels – EMI, SonyBMG, Universal and Warner Music – as well as independent labels, will be funded by advertising and subsequent record sales.

Richard Jones, one of the company’s founders, told the BBC that they “want to make music available free and legally to whoever wants it, while rewarding the artists at the same time."

He denied that people were more inclined to download music, rather than stream it. "The way people consume music is changing,” he said.

Wnehouse caught doing crack

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:29:44 +0000

Amy Winehouse has been caught on camera smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

The shocking images, reportedly taken at the singer's east London home at 5am last Friday (18.01.0, show Amy standing in front of her wedding photograph as she lights up a glass pipe - commonly used to smoke 'rocks' of the class A drug, a crystallised form of cocaine - and inhales deeply several times.

During the drug-fuelled party in her squalid flat, Amy also allegedly snorted "highly concentrated" powdered ecstasy and cocaine.

When friends beg her to carry on partying, Amy replies: "I would be useless to you because I have had about six Valium to bring myself down."

Valium is a prescribed sedative which is used to treat anxiety and depression. When taken with alcohol, its effects are multiplied and users often feel drowsy.

At one point, a painfully-thin looking Amy staggers around her living room barefoot looking for her kitten while friends warn her to be careful of broken glass scattered all over the floor.

The 24-year-old 'Rehab' singer then accuses a pal of stealing her pet, mumbling: "If I was that cat I would leave on my own accord - I would call a cab. It isn't right. This isn't Toys R Us. They took my cat."

Now friends and family are terrified she will die before she kicks her drug habit.

One pal told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Amy is locked in a nosedive towards oblivion - she is killing herself. The video shows a woman completely out of control. Family and a few real friends have begged her to pull herself from the brink many times. This is proof she has pressed the self-destruction button.

"We can only pray she gets a wake up call soon. She is looking so thin and dirty."

The footage was taken just hours before Amy arrived in a London court last Saturday (19.01.0 to support her husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who is being held on remand for grievous bodily harm and conspiracy the pervert the course of justice.

Amy was rushed to hospital last August after collapsing following a three-day binge of alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine and the horse tranquiliser ketamine.

She briefly entered the Causeway clinic in Essex last year, but left after a series of heated rows with Blake.

Stupid bitch.

Robert Plant calls Radiohead crap

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:15:53 +0000

Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant labelled Radiohead “crap” while out drinking in north London at the weekend, according to The Sun’s Buzarre column.

According to the paper, Plant was drinking with a woman and demanded that the music playing in the pub was changed.

Apparently Plant described Radiohead as “rhyming crap”, and also rubbished Red Hot Chili Peppers (whose music he likened to a nursery rhyme) before settling on Captain Beefheart.

Considering this came from The Sun newspaper, I filed this one as rumor.

'Drug overdose' killed soul legend

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:38:21 +0000

Soul legend Ike Turner, who died last month at the age of 76, was killed by a cocaine overdose, Californian coroners have established.

"We are listing that he abused cocaine and that's what resulted in the cocaine toxicity," said an official at the San Diego County medical examiner's office.

Cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema were also given as "significant" factors in the death.

Turner's daughter Mia said she was shocked by the report.

Maximo Park singer slams money making bands

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:15:27 +0000

Maximo Park singer Paul Smith has had a good old fashioned rant about how crap other bands are.

The singer has eulogised his own pure musical motivations, whilst lamenting the penchant for others to whore themselves to the corporate beast - although he's disappointingly failed to name any names.

He fumes at the Daily Record, “There's too many people trying to be like something else to fit in and make money. I was never in a band to make money, I was in it to do the best for myself and to play alongside other people who have the same ideas.

The Sex Pistols To Record New Material

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:08:25 +0000

The Sex Pistols are planning to record their first new material together for thirty years.

The punk rockers reformed for another reunion tour late last year, in what was expected to be the usual run of money-spinning gigs before the four members retired to their slightly bigger homes.

However, according to drummer Paul Cook, the Pistols are actually considering stepping back into the recording studio together - if they can coordinate their schedules that is.

He says, “There's talk of new material. The only problem is that it's a bit hard to work on anything as John (Lydon) and Steve (Jones) are in America and Glen (Matlock) and I are in the U.K.. so it's a case of finding the time to get together.

"We might not pull together an album but hopefully there will be some new stuff in time for the summer."

The band will be playing the Isle of Wight Festival in June.

Lupe Fiasco to quit music?

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:32:41 +0000

Rap star Lupe Fiasco has vowed to quit music in a bid to become a successful novelist.

The Food + Liquor hitmaker is convinced he will be able to produce one more album before he will be forced to take up a new profession - and writing a book is top of his list.

Fiasco - real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco - released his last LP, The Cool, in December and plans on recording one more, which he has provisionally titled LupEND, to conclude his musical career.

He says, "I have one more album in me and then I'm out. I've been doing this music hustle for eights years and have more things I still want to do.

"There are other ways besides putting out an album that allow me to channel my creative energy and I'm writing a book about a window washer. I will have more than enough to keep me busy."

Music News Update 01.18.08

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:56:14 +0000

PR-Inside.com - Motorhead's Lemmy Slams Label Bosses
Motorhead frontman Lemmy has hit out at record industry bosses for taking so long to adapt to the idea of selling music online. The Ace Of Spades rocker insists the music business deserves its current sales slump because executives have had years to figure out how to best promote music on the internet.

He tells Metal Edge magazine: "It's killing itself, isn't it? I mean, they (record companies) are too dumb to realise. I mean, it was f**king years ago that this started, and they just carried on doing what they were doing, blind to any advice, blind to any sort of evidence.

"They just kept on overcharging and kept on f**king people over, and now the chickens are coming home, you know? I think they're all gonna be out of business in 10 years."

ContactMusic.com - Depp Wants To Play Michael Jackson
Hollywood actor JOHNNY DEPP is hoping to play troubled pop star MICHAEL JACKSON in a movie of the singer's life. The Sweeney Todd star was rumoured to have modelled himself on Jackson for his role as Willy Wonka in 2005 movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But although Depp believes any similarities to the pop superstar in his portrayal are purely coincidental, he would love to take on the role of the Thriller hitmaker, insisting, "There is still time to play him."

ROHWrestling.com - ROH and Smashing Pumpkins Form Partnership

Ring Of Honor is pleased to announced that it has reached a partnership with Grammy award winning artists The Smashing Pumpkins for a cross promotion.

"Doomsday Clock" off The Smashing Pumpkins' latest album "Zeitgeist" will be prominently featured on the ROH "Undeniable" pay-per-view. "Undeniable" will debut on January 18th with replays throughout the rest of January on iN DEMAND, The DISH Network and TVN cable systems.

In addition, the melodic tones of "Doomsday Clock" provide the backdrop for an exclusive ROH video released by The Smashing Pumpkins. Check out the action of ROH at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmp1HaBcRws

You can also read the news piece at SmashingPumpkins.com and access the video at: http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/news_2924

"As a long time fan of Ring of Honor, I am thrilled that our song 'Doomsday Clock' has been chosen to be the theme music for the newest PPV," Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan said. "To me, the highlight video captures the intensity, passion, and stark ambition that is at the core of this groundbreaking promotion, as they continue to set new standards of what is still possible in the impossible."

The Smashing Pumpkins and ROH will also giveaway a signed discography worth $299.00 at ROHwrestling.com. There will be news on the giveaway soon in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire at ROHwrestling.com.

"Doomsday Clock" provides the perfect song for the hard-hitting, high-flying, intense action of ROH. Check it out now on The Smashing Pumpkins' latest album "Zeitgeist" now available in stores everywhere and on Itunes.

Amy Winehouse's husband threatens to divorce her

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:41:27 +0000

Amy Winehouse’s incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil has threatened to divorce the troubled singer.

According to Grazia, Fielder-Civil made the threat after the couple recently had a row.

Winehouse’s father Mitch said: “Blake threatened to issue divorce proceedings when they were having a row.

“Unfortunately, Blake is influenced by things his mother has said. I think [his mother] Georgette wants them to divorce, but it's up to them.

“From Amy's point of view, she would stick by him not matter what. But he has said things like, 'I want a divorce'.”

What a pair of losers.

Artists may boycott Grammy Awards

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:27:37 +0000

White Stripes, Beyonce, 50 Cent and Jon Bon Jovi are considering boycotting this year's Grammy Awards ceremony in support of the Hollywood writer's strikes.

The annual ceremony is under threat of cancellation after celebrities from the music industry pledged their allegiance to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) union members.

Prince, Alicia Keys, Fantasia, Nelly Furtado, Tim MCGraw, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Fergie and Usher are also threatening to boycott the event, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on 10 February.

When are these faggots going to end this shit and start writing more episodes of Lost and Heroes? Please somebody tell me! They better fucking sort something out quick.

Arctic Monkeys Scoop Three BRIT Award Nominations

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:19:38 +0000

Arctic Monkeys have picked up three nominations for this years BRIT Awards, which were announced tonight (January 14th) in London.

The Sheffield band are in the running for British Group, British Album – for ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ - and British Live Act.

Editors and Kaiser Chiefs also appear in the British Group category, with the latter going head-to-head with Muse, Take That and Arctic Monkeys for British Live Act.

Kate Nash also landed nominations in the Best British Female – where she is joined KT Tunstell and PJ Harvey – British Single and British Breakthrough categories.

Klaxons and Bat For Lashes also received nods in the British Breakthrough category, with Bat For Lashes star Natasha Khan also nominated for British Female.

In what is a pop dominated list of nominees, Take That, Leona Lewis and Mika each scored four nominations.

Despite having the biggest selling album of 2007, Amy Winehouse received just one nomination for ‘Valerie’, her collaboration with producer Mark Ronson. Her album, ‘Back To Black’, which was released at the end of 2006, did not qualify for this years awards.

In the international categories, Kanye West and Bjork are the notable appearances in the International Male and Female Solo Artist lists respectively.

Meanwhile, Arcade Fire, the Eagles, Kings Of Leon and the Foo Fighters are nominated in both the International Group and Album categories.

As previously reported, Adele has been handed the new Critics Choice award, while Sir Paul McCartney will be awarded with the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award at the ceremony on February 20th at Earls Court.

50 Cent, Timbaland Named In Drugs Investigation

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:22:10 +0000

50 Cent, Timbaland and Mary J. Blige’s names have all appeared in relation to an investigation into steroid trafficking, it’s been claimed.

The artists, who also include Wyclef Jean, may have either used or received performance enhancing drugs in recent years.

It’s understood that none of the artists, who were named by The Times Union of Albany newspaper on Sunday (January 13th), will face criminal investigation.

Officials are instead expected to focus on the doctors and clinics who supply the drugs.

Karynne Tencer, a spokeswoman for Mary J. Blige, denied that her client had any association with performance enhancing drugs.

"Mary J. Blige has never taken any performance-enhancing illegal steroids," she told the New York Daily News.

The artists’ names appeared as part of a long running investigation by Albany District Attorney P. David Soares which has so far convicted ten people.

A spokesperson for Soares said he would not be "confirming, denying or discussing any of the names" involved, reports AP.

Not just wrestlers getting busted.

Also, I bet that Victor from Big Brother is on them too, that guy is way too big for his size.

Nikki Sixx too cool to shower

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:13:58 +0000

Nikki Sixx writes in his book "The Heroin Diaries" that at the height of his drug use, he didn't bother to shower.

Sixx says that's not just a junkie thing, it's a rock-and-roll thing, and it's very much a Motley Crue thing. He says artists in general don't think about keeping up appearances. In his case, he had more on his mind than just his hygiene.

He says balancing being a single father -- or, before he had kids, what he calls "a single rock star" -- and being a creative person was very difficult, so showering often went by the wayside. He says musicians are wanderers and are probably not the best examples of how to live anyway. As he puts it, "Showering is not a priority. Being on time is not a priority. Acting like an adult is not a priority." He says great music is made out of that, but musicians are "definitely not boyfriend/husband material."

Ronnie Wood recovering from hernia surgery

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:10:03 +0000

Ronnie Wood is recovering at home from an operation after he gave himself a hernia on the Rolling Stones' current tour.

The 60-year-old guitarist underwent surgery last week after suffering the injury on the Stones' 'Bigger Bang' tour.

A spokesperson says, "He doesn't know exactly the moment it happened, just that it happened while he was on tour and that it got progressively more uncomfortable.

"He waited until after Christmas to have the operation last week and is now resting. He's meant to be taking two months off but, knowing Ronnie, he'll be back on his feet sooner rather than later."

Rock'n'roll, eh?

Manson on rape spree

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:05:54 +0000

Marilyn Manson has announced details of the opening leg of his "Rape The World" tour, which will see him reunited with Twiggy Ramirez.

The North American leg of the charmingly-titled global jaunt kicks-off with a date in Florida later this month and follows a series of European dates in 2007.

The shock-rocker has also confirmed that estranged bass player Ramirez has rejoined his touring group, following their acrimonious split in 2002.

In a statement, Marilyn Manson commented: "The duo that started it all, are back together to finish where they left off.

"The two who co-wrote 'Antichrist Superstar', 'Mechanical Animals' and 'Holy Wood' will be sharing the stage once again."

The tour, which supports last year's "Eat Me, Drink Me" album, calls at the following venues:

January 2008

19 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock
20 Miami Beach, FL - Jackie Gleason Theater
22 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle
24 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!
26 Boston, MA - The Orpheum
27 Philadelphia, PA - The Electric Factory
29+30 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom

February

01 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
02 Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
04 Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
05 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
07 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
08 Maplewood, MN - Myth
10 Saint Louis, MO - Pageant
11 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
13 Denver, CO - The Fillmore
14 Magna, UT - The Great Saltair
17 Vancouver, British Columbia - QE Theatre
18 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
20 San Francisco, CA - Warfield
22+23 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
25 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
27 Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre
29 Dallas, TX - House of Blues

March

01 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
02 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater

James Brown Auction 'Could Include Music Rights'

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:36:26 +0000

James Brown’s private possessions are to go to auction to help pay taxes owed by his estate.

The value of the items, which could include the rights to his music, have not been specified. It’s also not clear how much his estate owes.

Since the soul singer died in December 2006, his estate has become the centre of attention to people claiming to have rights to its contents.

Brown originally stated in his will that his possessions should be divided between his six children, however, a woman has since come forward claiming to be the father to another of his children.

Tomi Rae Hynie, a former backing singer for Brown, says that she is entitled to half of his estate, reports AP.

It’s reported that the estate’s trustees will consult Brown’s children and Hynie as to what possessions can be auctioned.

Metallica Talk About 'Nutty' New Album

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:52:25 +0000

[

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has spoken about the band’s forthcoming album, which is expected later this year.

The band’s ninth studio album, which is currently untitled, will be their first since 2003’s ‘St. Anger’.

"This stuff is certainly a lot more dynamic and a lot more varied than the last couple of go-rounds," Ulrich explained.

"There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes.”

Ulrich said that the current line-up of songs were “pretty different” from the last two albums and more reminiscent of “those couple of albums back there in the decade that begins with an '8.'"

The drummer, who was speaking to Revolver Magazine, failed to be drawn as to whether the album was a complete return to the band’s past, however.

"I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, 'What the fuck? Lars lied to us!' But it feels that way to me.

“It's been no secret that Rick [Rubin, the record’s producer] suggested to us that we use a couple of those records as reference points — that we spend some time kind of accessing that headspace.

“So when we would come to forks in the road, sometimes the exercise became, 'What would we have done at this point in 1985?'"

Kelly Osbourne poisoned

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:58:30 +0000

Kelly Osbourne claims pal Paris Hilton poisoned her while partying.

The 23-year-old star - the daughter of former drug addict and alcoholic Ozzy Osbourne - claims she suffered her first case of alcohol poisoning during a night out with 'The Simple Life' star.

Kelly told friends while partying with Paris at Las Vegas nightclub Noir last week: "Paris gave me my first alcohol poisoning!"

According to the New York Daily News newspaper, Paris was then overheard laughing: "I did?! That's hot!"

Kelly checked into rehab in 2004 to be treated for an addiction to
painkillers.

Her 22-year-old brother Jack has also been treated in rehab for alcoholism, class A drug addiction and abuse of pre.scription drugs.

Their mother Sharon Osbourne has previously accused singer Courtney Love of introducing Jack to drugs when he was just 15. The former Hole singer has vehemently denied the allegations.

She looks poisoned in the above pic. *has nightmares*

I know you all hate it but..

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:15:53 +0000

Might as well post it anyway.

Festivalgoers hoping for a ticket to Glastonbury Festival this year will have to register their interest next month (February) if they are to succeed in getting one, organiser Michael Eavis revealed today (January .

The 2008 registration will be similar to last year’s system, which involved supplying contact details and a photo in a bid to combat ticket touting.

Speaking of the plan, Eavis said "I want to keep up the momentum we gathered last year by stopping ticket touting altogether."

"Thank you for being so supportive of our registration process, which is, after all, quite tedious. I appreciate it so much," he added.

Walshy: Bastard.

Slash searches for missing brother-in-law

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Former Guns 'N' Roses star Slash has launched a heartfelt appeal to help find his missing brother-in-law.

The guitarist is hoping to help his wife, Perla Hudson, locate her brother, Ivan Pablo Padilla, who disappeared in Hollywood in December 2001.

Padilla is now 43 years old and was known to wear a gold chain with a medal bearing an Indian head - and Slash is urging anyone who knows of his whereabouts to email searchforivan@yahoo.com.

Slash and Hudson were married in 2001, and they have two children together.

NIN's Trent Reznor Reveals Download Details

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:15:49 +0000

Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor has revealed only one in five downloaders voluntarily paid for a new album he produced.

Rapper Saul Williams’ ‘The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust’ was made available on the internet on a voluntary contribution scheme in the same way as Radiohead’s last album ‘In Rainbows’.

However, unlike the received success of Radiohead’s efforts, Reznor - who has previously slammed record company’s for charging too much for CDs - reveals only one in five customers paid the $5 for the download.

He says, “Perhaps by revealing of all our data - our 'dirty laundry' - we can contribute to a better solution."

Hotel Employees Arrested Over Alice Cooper Theft

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 09:19:08 +0000

Three hotel workers in Canada have been arrested following the theft of a guitar signed by Alice Cooper. The kind-hearted rocker had donated the $3,000 Les Paul in December to be sold at a forthcoming charity auction.

The guitar was then left at the hotel's front desk for safekeeping prior to the fund raiser.

Police were contacted when CCTV footage of staff members at the Ontario Hilton showed a 23-year-old woman stealing the instrument on December 27.

Two other employees were arrested in connection with the incident, all three employees face charges of burglary, theft, and possession of stolen property.

Leon looks for �25K for 3 songs

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:46:01 +0000

Leon Jackson is asking for �25,000 to sing just three songs at club appearances.

X Factor winner Leon, who recently had to cancel gigs over Christmas because of tonsilitis, has got one Glasgow club boss fuming after asking for galactic fees in order to play a tiny set.

Carlo Citti, manager of Glasgow club Campus told the Daily Star: "Leon's agents have greedy-itis."

He explained: "I couldn't believe it when they asked me to fork out �25,000 for him to play my club on December 27 or Hogmanay."

Livid Carlo was even told the fee would be the same over the coming months and was not higher than normal because of the festive period.

He added: "I think it's ridiculous when I can get David Hasselhoff for �15,000, Peter Andre and Jordan for �7,000, rapper Coolio for �3,000 and the MacDonald Brothers for �2,500.

"Only Girls Aloud charge �25,000 and there's five of them."

LOL

The Police rake in cash

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:30:40 +0000

Veteran performers The Police produced the biggest-selling concert tour in the US last year.

The band, with Sting as lead singer, led the list of top-grossing acts, ahead of stars including Justin Timberlake, Celine Dion and Bruce Springsteen.

According to figures released by music industry magazine Pollstar, The Police - who reunited to tour last year for the first time in more than two decades - generated 133.2 million dollars (�67.5 million) in gross ticket sales.

The band also sold the most tickets, 1.2 million, at an average price of 111.99 dollars (�56.76), Pollstar said.

Successful concert tours helped drive ticket revenue industrywide to a record 3.9 billion dollars (�2 billion).

The figures represent about an 8% increase over 2006, when North American concert ticket sales totalled 3.6 billion dollars (�1.8 billion), and the ninth consecutive year the industry posts record gross revenues, the magazine said.

The top 20 tours combined saw a 15% decline in ticket revenues compared to the top 20 tours from 2006, which included outings by the Rolling Stones, Madonna and Barbra Streisand.

The total number of tickets sold for the top 20 tours combined also slipped, declining 18%.

Still, overall concert receipts were up because smaller tours did better business than last year, said Gary Bongiovanni, Pollstar's editor-in-chief.

One example was a tour by veteran metal rockers The Scorpions which hauled in 2.8 million dollars (�1.4 million) last years, up from 2.2 million dollars (�1.1 million) in 2006.

Sting: "Money money, yeah yeah!"

Britney rushed to hospital

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:19:17 +0000

Pop starlet and troubled tabloid favorite Britney Spears was taken from her home by paramedics Friday, celebrity
website TMZ reported, after police had been called to resolve a custody dispute.

TMZ said Spears had been taken to a hospital for a "medical hold," which it described as a mental evaluation.

Police "found her earlier this evening at her home under the influence of an 'unknown substance'," the celebrity news site reported. They had been called after she refused to return her two young sons to their father.

Spears's on-going custody battle with her former husband, Kevin Federline, has been the source of lurid headlines, spiking after a judge limited her access to her children in October.

Just when you think a person can't go any lower, they go and prove you wrong.

Kooks nearly broke up

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:53:30 +0000

British rockers The Kooks almost broke up following the shock departure of their bassist earlier this year. The band were stunned when founding member Max Rafferty walked out due to illness in October.

And although he soon recovered and rejoined the group, frontman Luke Pritchard insists they couldn't have continued without him.

He says, "I don't think any of us knew what planet we were on. No one knew what was going on. If Max had decided to leave or hadn't come back we'd all have said, 'Max hasn't been there and that's it, we want to go our separate ways'. Definitely.

"When Max first left we all thought, 'Right, we'll stop it,' that was the first thing we thought. But at the end of the day it makes you stronger. We've been through one of the hardest things that any band goes through, ever."

Shame he came back then.

Jamie Lynn Spears gets the chop

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:44:50 +0000

Jamie Lynn Spears' TV show has been "canned".

The 16-year-old star has already filmed the fourth and final season of kids' show 'Zoey 101' but now Jamie has announced she is pregnant TV bosses are concerned they will send out the wrong message to the young audience if the series is aired.

A show source said: "Nickelodeon bosses are still undecided whether to air season four or not. For now, it looks like it has been canned."

Jamie - who revealed she is expecting her first child with long-term boyfriend Casey Aldridge last month - initially received the full support of the network.

A spokesman said at the time: "We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's wellbeing."

Nickelodeon also announced they were considering a 'Zoey 101' TV special about sex and love.

Meanwhile, it has been reported Jamie's former brother-in-law Kevin
Federline - who is currently embroiled in a custody battle with Jamie's sister Britney Spears - has been offering his support to the teenager in her time of need.

A source said: "Kevin has long thought of Jamie Lynn as a little sister.

"He was heartbroken because he was concerned about what it would mean for Jamie Lynn's future. He just wants to be part of the support system."

Jon Bon Jovi tired of being snubbed

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:58:49 +0000

Jon Bon Jovi claims he is the Tom Cruise of the music industry.

The 45-year-old singer, who has sold more than 120 million albums with his band Bon Jovi, admits he is tired of being snubbed by award ceremonies - just like Hollywood star Tom.

Jon said: "I am the Elvis Costello of movies and Tom Cruise in my music. I've been critically acclaimed in most of my TV and film work, but I didn't sell any movie tickets, and with the band, it's like Tom Cruise - I've had all the commercial success you could dream of, but hey, the guy still doesn't have an Oscar. What you gonna do?"

Jon also revealed he and his bandmates - guitarist Richie Sambora, 48, keyboard player Dave Bryan, 45, and drummer Tico Torres, 54 - plan to keep on rocking into their 60s, just like their idols The Rolling Stones.

Jon said: "I look at Mick Jagger, who I idolise, performing, and he still looks good, not just for a 64-year-old but as a performer.

We're musicians, it's what we're built to do, and while we still sound good, then why not?"

I think someone needs a hug.

Music News Update 01.02.08

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:42:04 +0000

GigWise.com - Dave Grohl Wants To Drum For Led Zeppelin On Reunion Tour
Dave Grohl is reportedly waiting on a very important phone call, an invitation to go drum on the rumoured Led Zeppelin reunion tour.

Apparently the Foo Fighters man is desperate to take control of the skins for anymore shows the band might play despite the fact that he praised Jason Bonham’s performance at the O2 Arena show.

According to one of those people that seem to know everything – the insider – Grohl was also in the running to take Bonham’s role at the London gig.

The source told the Daily Star: Dave flew in especially for the shows and played air guitar and air drums throughout the gig.

“He was in the running to take over from John Bonham a few years ago and he’s still gagging to get on stage with the Zep.

“While he loves playing with Foo Fighters, Dave would drop anything to be part of Zep’s shows.”

GigWise.com - Paul McCartney To Duet With Ozzy Osbourne At Brit Awards
Sir Paul McCartney is set to team up with a strange choice of singing partner the 2008 Brit Awards – he’s to duet with Ozzy Osbourne.

The former Beatle is to receive the Outstanding Contribution To Music award, and plans are being finalised for him to give the show a fitting conclusion by performing Bond theme classic ‘Live And Let Die’ with the ex-Black Sabbath frontman.

Why Macca needs someone to duet with on the song, and why that someone would be Ozzy, is beyond us – but, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s all Sharon Osbourne’s idea.

She tells The Sun, “They go together really well. It will be amazing.”

Ozzy is a self-confessed McCartney fanatic though, after voting ‘Memory Almost Full’ his album of 2007.

“McCartney’s a genius. The Beatles were the greatest band ever,” he says.

Reports Macca will dedicate 'Live And Let Die' to Heather Mills are as yet unconfirmed...

GigWise.com - Doherty Accused Of Plagiarism
Pete Doherty has been accused of a double dose of plagiarism over Babyshambles’ song ‘Baddie’s Boogie’.

Wayne Kenyon, a former friend of Babyshambles guitarist Mik Whitnall, claims the tune is the same one he wrote in the nineties whilst in The Ferrymen.

He tells The Sun. “Baddie’s Boogie is a tune that I wrote for The Ferrymen.

“I have footage of me playing it at three gigs in Germany in 1997.

“I have written to Babyshambles' record company and they said they were passing it on to their lawyers. But I have heard nothing since.”

That’s not the only problem with the song.

The lyric, “A lousy life for a washed-up wife of a permanently plastered, pissed up bastard,” bears a remarkable similarity to one penned by Nick Toczeks in his Britanarchists’ tune ‘Stiff With A Quiff’ in the eighties.

GigWise.com - Radiohead's Thom Yorke Fires Back At EMI's Claims
Thom Yorke has gone on the offensive over stories that Radiohead demanded at �10 million record deal from their former label EMI.

A spokesperson for the label reportedly told the Times last week that the reason that Radiohead had moved on for the release of ‘In Rainbows’ was because of a stalemate caused by the demands.

However, Radiohead’s management have vehemently denied the accusations saying that they were only looking for more control of the bands back catalogue and its future use.

Now Yorke has joined the argument with a post on Radiohead’s Dead Air Space section of their official site.

He wrote: “We did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re-sign. That is a LIE. The Times in the UK should check its facts before it prints such dirt.

What we WANTED WAS some control over OUR WORK and how it was used in the future by them - that seemed REASONABLE to us, as we cared about it a great deal.

“Mr Hands was not interested. So neither were we. We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly. We are extremely upset that this crap is being spread about.”

Yorke further attacked the label by adding: “To be digging up such bullshit, or more politely airing yer (sic) dirty laundry in public, seems a very strange way for the head of an international record label to be proceeding.

“On a happier note we took no 'BRead-HEAd' advances at all from both independent labels XL and TBD for our new record. So judge for yourself.

“AND we are really excited to be working with them. SHock! AT least they do not behave like confused bulls in a china shop.”

Michelle Pfeiffer Wants Grease Remake Featuring Herself And Jessica Simpson As Sandy
MICHELLE PFEIFFER is desperate to star in a remake of seventies movie musical GREASE - and she wants JESSICA SIMPSON to play SANDY. The actress is desperately embarrassed about her performance in the ill-fated Grease 2, and wants to erase all memory of it by making a new version of the original film. Pfieffer is thrilled by reports Simpson is being touted to play prom queen Sandy Dumbrowski - and has her eye on the role of the comical Principal MCGee. She says, "It's a great idea, and I hear they would like to get Jessica Simpson for the role of Sandy. She would be good." Pfeiffer adds of her own Grease experience, "I hated that film (Grease 2) with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was. At the time, was young and didn't know better... I hear it's a cult movie now."

Led Zeppelin to headline Bonnaroo

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:37:31 +0000

Led Zeppelin will headline a US rock festival next year.

The legendary band are set to perform at Tennessee's Bonnaroo festival inJune 2008 after lead singer Robert Plant had a "change of heart" over thedecision to follow up their comeback concert at London's O2 arena earlierthis month with further dates.

A source said: "They are going to play the Bonnaroo festival, which runs from June 12 to 15. This news will drive their fans absolutely wild.

"They have been bombarding their website to get back together for good but only lead singer Robert Plant wasn't keen to commit.

"Now he's had a change of heart and if it all goes well they are also
talking about touring."

It has been rumoured that 2008 will see the band - which also includes bassist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page, with late drummer John Bonham' s son Jason on drums - embark on a world tour that could net them in the region of �1 billion.

The source added to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "All ticket sellers have been told a world tour will take place, there's just some ironing out of contracts to be done. They are already talking about playing venues like Knebworth, Glastonbury and even returning to Madison Square Garden in New York where they played their legendary shows in 1973.

"They were looking to do it in March but now it will most likely be May.

With ticket sales combined with merchandising it could make them as much as �1 billion."

Britney photographer talks after one night stand

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 06:10:57 +0000

The British paparazzo who allegedly bedded Britney Spears last weekend has wasted no time in talking about his intimate encounter - he revealed all about his "awesome" one night stand on U.S. news show 20/20 on Friday.

The Toxic pop star reportedly hunted down the snapper, Adnan Ghalib, after a wild night out in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The couple went back to Spears' new home from home, the Peninsula hotel, after the pop star literally picked the pap up from the 40-plus snappers following her around town.

And now Ghalib has become one of Spears' fiercest supporters.

Speaking on 20/20, the snapper said, "She is the way she is because of the people she surrounds herself with. On a single level, I think she's awesome."

Children challenge Brown's will

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:24:56 +0000

Five of James Brown's children are challenging their late father's will, according to court documents.

Most of Brown's estate was left to trusts set up to educate disadvantaged young people and his grandchildren.

But some of his children claim three of Brown's former advisors convinced the singer to create the trusts so they could profit from managing them.

One advisor, Buddy Dallas, described the attempts to challenge the will as "an act of desperation".

He denied the allegations.

"No-one told James Brown what to do," said Mr Dallas, adding that if he had wanted to use his influence for financial gain, "I would have just influenced him to give me something."

Brown died from pneumonia on Christmas Day 2006.

Wow, its been a year since his death already. Time flies. Shame that his will is causing so much trouble.

Plant named 'beard of the year'

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:37:39 +0000

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has been named the “beard of the year” by the Beard Liberation Front.

The singer has granted the 2007 award by the informal network of British beard wearers, beating Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benitez into second place.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson shared third place with last year’s winner, England cricketer Monty Panesar.

Beard Liberation Front organiser Keith Flett told BBC News: "The winners this year have stylish beards and are promoting a new 21st Century image of the hirsute."

Russell Brand and author Michael Rosen were also recognised in this year’s poll.

Megadeth frontman parasite scare

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:36:41 +0000

Megadeth frontman never realized when he hit the road, how much of it he brought back with him.

Mustaine says he went to see a health practitioner who did an analysis of his body. She told him he found 51 parasites in his body, many of which were varieties of worms. He couldn't believe it.

He says he's sure he picked all that up staying in less-than-clean hotel rooms and other hazards of being on tour. It doesn't stop him from freaking out that he's going to catch germs from fans.

Mustaine says he has fans cough into their hands and then shake his, or they give him hugs. He says part of the hazard of his being so outgoing and affectionate is that he's sick a lot.

Fucking hell.

Ozzy biography delayed

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:33:53 +0000

Despite acknowledging that, "it takes me 18 months to read a fucking pamphlet", OZZY OSBOURNE last year agreed to join the ranks of CS Forester, Evelyn Waugh, PG Wodehouse and JD Salinger at publisher Little, Brown, by signing a lucrative deal to write his memoirs. It was to be released in time for our stockings this week.

Unsurprisingly, for a man who has slow-cooked his cortex in adventurous chemicals, there were hitches in collecting the rocker's thoughts. Seven months ago, Pandora reported that Ozzy (busy touring) had missed his deadline, requiring wife Sharon to pen an emergency follow-up to her own autobiography.

The publisher rescheduled his bingeing, bat-biting extravaganza for release on May 1st, 2008

Radiohead 'wanted �10m record deal'

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:14:39 +0000

Radiohead left original record label EMI because the company would not pay agree to a deal worth �10 million.

According to The Times newspaper the band – who release all their previous albums through EMI imprint Parlophone – were offered �3m to resign with the label which they found unacceptable.

A spokesperson for the label told the paper “Radiohead were demanding an extraordinary amount of money and we did not believe that our other artists should have to subsidise their gains.”

However the band’s management have responded saying that the label did not take their negotiations seriously and it could loose other high profile artists in future.

As part of an agreement, Radiohead asked for the copyright back on part of their back catalogue, which the label would not consider. It is also claimed the group wanted a global marketing budget of �3m, although their management dispute this figure.

One of Radiohead’s managers, Bryce Edge, told the paper: “We couldn’t move ahead with EMI because (label boss) Guy Hands irrevocably refused to discuss the catalogue in any meaningful way. We sold 25 million records and we have the moral rights over those six albums. We wanted a say in how they are exploited in the future. We were not seeking a big advance payment, or a guaranteed marketing spend as discussions never got that far.”

When discussions between and the label and the band stalled, the group decided to release latest album ’In Rainbows’ themselves, initially allowing fans to name their own price for the record, before agreeing a CD release with XL which is due out on Monday (December 31).

Edge added that Radiohead might not be the only big name who will leaving the label, hinting that acts were upset that record companies still deduct “packaging costs” from royalty payments on digital downloads, which require no packaging.

Additionally, Radiohead's original EMI contract also had no facility for digital sales, with Edge explaining, “It’s no surprise that artists are throwing their arms up in the air.”

Who's the Daddy of Zoey101's baby?

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:49:53 +0000

Casey Aldridge is reportedly not the father of Jamie Lynn Spears' baby.

It has been alleged the 16-year-old actress - who announced she is expecting her first child with long-term boyfriend Casey earlier this month - was having an affair with an older man on the set of her Nickelodeon TV show 'Zoey 101'.

The Spears family are allegedly desperate to keep the man's identity a secret, and have paid Casey to pretend to be the father instead.

A source told America's Star magazine: "Casey is being paid off to be the family's fall guy while the real father remains unidentified.

"The man many suspect is the father, however, would face rape charges and probably prison time if he were to come forward and admit he had sex with Jamie Lynn."

A family insider added: "Some of us have doubts as to the legitimacy of the claim that Casey is the father. Before the news of the pregnancy, how often did you see them together?

"Jamie Lynn has dated Casey on-and-off over the past two years. But it was not steady. Jamie Lynn went through a time of partying, and Casey was just a part of that."

While Jamie Lynn - the sister of troubled pop star Britney Spears - has admitted being "shocked and scared" about becoming a mother at such a young age, she hasn't commented on rumours Nickelodeon will be dropping her from 'Zoey 101.'

PR expert Michael Levine said: "I cant think of any way that Nickelodeon could keep Jamie Lynn's show on the air.

"If they do, advertisers will drop it like crazy. No advertiser wants to be associated with a minor getting pregnant."

At the time of the pregnancy announcement, Nickelodeon released a statement saying: "We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation.

"We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being."

ALRIGHT, I ADMIT IT! I'M THE FATHER!

Please don't arrest me.

My Chemical Romance are dead?

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:17:54 +0000

My Chemical Romance have sent out a oblique message on their website, prompting fans to speculate on their future.

On TheBlackParade.com there is a repeated image of a hospital monitor’s flatline and the message “00 BPM” on the bottom right hand side of the screen.

The band played as fictional group The Black Parade during their world tour earlier this year with singer Gerard Way telling the crowd on the opening night of a show in Plymouth : “We are The Black Parade.”

Fans have suggested that the message does not indicate the end of the band but the end of the ’Black Parade’ era.

On fansite Unleash The Bats, user Differentmind wrote: “I actually think that is pretty clever if they are referring to the fact that The Black Parade is supposedly dead.”

Meanwhile Jennasie wrote: “It’s because they will never play as The Black Parade ever again so they are like..dead. Flat lining.”

Sorry to get everyone's hopes up with the title.

X Factor winners nabs Christmas Number One

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:09:22 +0000

X Factor winner Leon Jackson has scored the Christmas Number One tonight (December 23).

His track ’When You Believe’, a cover of the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet, has knocked Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy’s version of ’What A Wonderful World’ off the top spot.

Other new entries on the chart included Malcom Middleton’s Christmas effort ’We’re All Going To Die’ at Number 31, Kylie Minogue at Number 32 with 'Wow' and The Killers at Number 34 with 'Don't Shoot Me Santa'

Meanwhile on the album’s front: (Leona) has kept the top spot with ’Spirit’.

The Christmas Top Ten is:

1. Leon Jackson – ‘When You Believe’
2. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy – ‘What A Wonderful World’
3. Leona Lewis – ‘Bleeding Love’
4. Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl – ‘A Fairytale Of New York’
5. Soulja Boy Tell’ Em – ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’
6. Mariah Carey – ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
7. Take That - 'Rule The World
8. Mark Ronson – ‘Valerie’
9. Girls Aloud – ‘Call The Shots’
10. Timbaland presents One Republic- 'Apologize'

Coldplay say no more Christmas songs

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:08:00 +0000

Coldplay love writing Christmas songs, but have given up because they are so bad at it.

The Yellow hitmakers have decided to stick to recording cover versions of classic festive hits instead.

Frontman Chris Martin writes on the band's website, "We love Christmas songs, but every time we try and write one it's awful. So we cover them. Well, once or twice actually.

"The one song I would most liked to have written is 'Fairytale of New York' by de bloody (sic) Pogues of Ireland."

The group have posted their version of The Pretenders' 1984 hit 2000 Miles on the Internet as a Christmas present for fans.

Simon Cowell to sue iTunes

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:58:36 +0000

Music manager Simon Cowell is considering launching legal proceedings against iTunes - after fans were prevented from downloading one of his top client's singles.

Massive demand for X Factor winner Leon Jackson's debut single caused the music firm's servers to crash shortly after it went on sale on Saturday.

As a result thousands of fans were unable to purchase the single, When You Believe, which logged a disappointing 36,669 sales in three days - and record label bosses are reportedly fuming.

An insider at the Cowell-owned SonyBMG tells The Sun, "Everybody here is up in arms.

"There's been a monumental cock up. Simon is hugely disappointed about the situation and is considering launching legal proceedings.

"Everybody is really upset for Leon and don't want technical malfunctions to mar his big week."

A spokesperson for iTunes declined to comment.

Yes! Fuck you Leon! You fucking boring Frank Sinatra wannabe cunt!