| CMU Daily - on the inside 16 Jul 2002 |
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With David Bowie everywhere in the media at the moment – can you name eight films he has been in?
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MORE CELEBRITY REALITY LIKELY
VH1 have confirmed they are in talks to develop a reality show about Liza Minnelli. The proposed weekly series would follow the 56-year-old star and her new husband, producer David Gest. As US celebrity-dom jumps on to the Osbournes band wagon Time magazine has reported Sean ‘P Diddy Combs’ is set to get an MTV reality show, while Cybill Shepherd and Gene Simmons are both rumoured to have expressed an interest in having cameras follow their lives.
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GUARDIAN GET JAZZ FM GREEN LIGHT
The Radio Authority has announced the outcome of its public interest test into the proposed acquisition of the Northwest Jazz FM By the Guardian Media Group. There were concerns because the company owns the main local newspaper – the Manchester Evening News – and some felt the deal would put local media ownership into too few hands. The Authority said they considered whether or not the deal would reduce plurality of media ownership in the North-West, whether there would be a reduction in diversity in the sources of opinions expressed or information available to the public, and whether GMG ownership would bring any benefits to the local community. The Authority decided the deal should be allowed to go ahead, providing GMG agree to maintain a separate news facility with independent editorial control within Jazz FM 100.4's measured coverage area.
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RADIOHEAD MAKE NOISE FOR FRIENDS OF THE EARTH
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke – who last month led a lobby at Westminster calling for fairer world trade - is supporting a Friends of the Earth scheme ahead of the Earth Summit next month. The green group have set up an audio website and are asking people who have been affected by a large corporation to record and send a noise over the internet. They plan to use any noise submitted as part of an art installation to tell world leaders, including Tony Blair, that action is needed to protect the environment. People can choose from a list of noises that they feel best described their feelings about they way corporations have treated them, or they can record their own noise. The noises will be used to provide a ‘soundscale’ as part of the charity’s art installation which will be displayed outside the Earth Summit at the end of August. Yorke had already posted a message on the website - www.radioearthsummit.org - and Radiohead have given a rarely seen short film and an audio stream of 'Mountion Picture Soundtrack' from Kid A to the campaign.
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WHITE STRIPES WORK ON SOUNDTRACK
White Stripes’ Jack White is set to appear in a new US civil war movie called ‘Cold Mountain’. The singer will take a small role alongside Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Renee Zellweger and will also write music for the film's soundtrack. The film has begun shooting in Romonai and is set for a US cinema release next Spring. Meanwhile, the White Stripes have been in London recently completing their fourth LP, which has a working title of ‘Elephant’.
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BOUTIQUE TOO BIG
Unsurprisingly rumours are rife that local authorities are considering what conditions they should set should Fatboy Slim plan another Brighton beach party event next year. More than three times as many people as expected turned up to the Big Beach Boutique last weekend making the event a nightmare for emergency services. Six people had to be rescued from the sea by lifeboat and around 90 other injuries were caused by fights, excessive alcohol and crushing in the crowd. The crowds were so big emergency services were reported to have had to transport injured people off the beach by lifeboat, and the local road and public transport system collapsed as the thousands of party-goers left the city. There’s been no word on whether Norman Cook has even thought about a third year for the event. He reportedly forked out £100,000 of his own money for this year’s event after a sponsor pulled out.
CMU’s editor foolishly decided to drive down from North London: a journey that usually takes 2 1/2 hours took 5 1/2. 80,000 cars were reputed to have been Brighton bound, and this was totally believable with the standstill traffic on most of the North Circular, M25 and M23 to Brighton. “Although the beach and most of the city was a heaving throng of revellers, and although there were a couple of music stoppages due to lamp-post-climbers, I saw no sea-rescues – although a helicopter did hover over head and obscure the music for a large proportion of the time! There were ambulances trying to drive through the crowds at the end, though none seemed to be in any hurry. Last year’s event was packed, and they didn’t publicise it, so how can they expect the same turn out with loads of advertising and marketing? They need a bigger venue.”
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FOLDS LIVE RELEASE
Ben Folds, who has recording 50 dates on his recent world tour, will release a live album in October. The album will feature tracks from his recent solo LP ‘Rockin' The Suburbs’ and a number of Ben Folds Five classics. Folds’ world tour is about to arrive in the UK where he will co-headline a tour with The Divine Comedy. As well as solo sets from Folds and Hannon some duets are expected.
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MORE GALLAGHER GOSSIP
Oasis and Starsailor were reportedly involved in a backstage fight at T in the Park over the weekend. Word is Starsailor’s James Walsh asked Noel Gallagher about a remark he made about him recently in the NME where Gallagher called him “a cock”. Noel is meant to have replied: "I don’t know what you’re talking about. But you must be a cock then and by the way, you’re wearing my T-shirt." Liam apparently butted in to defend his brother and the encounter got very heated. Talking about the scuffle Walsh told NME.com "I was a huge fan of Oasis," he added, "We’re a band who were inspired by them. It tarnishes the spirit of it."
Meanwhile Noel has been talking to the American media about the state of British record sales in the US. "I think when we first started coming to America, the radio was saturated with British music," he told reporters. "Whether it be Depeche Mode, the Police, or the Smiths. But I think America has reclaimed its own airwaves. I don't know why that is, but these things come in cycles. In England now, the American bands are the bands that are en vogue. So it's funny that there are no English bands on American radio, and when you got over to England, all the people are talking about is American music." Heathen Chemistry entered the Billboard Album Chart at number 23 last week lacking the media hype of old. However the album has received a more positive reaction in the US music press to 2000’s Standing on the Shoulder of Giants so Oasis’ position in the US music world may not yet be dead.
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Answer to Monday's CMU pop quiz:
What did the following have in common before they were famous?
Belinda Carlisle, Shane Lynch (Boyzone), Keavy Lynch (B*Witched), Paul Young
All of them worked with cars - Belinda Carlisle and Shane Lynch were petrol pump attendants or Keavy Lynch and Paul Young were trainee mechanics.