| CMU Daily - on the inside 29 Jul 2002 |
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After the Cure's storming Hyde Park performance - how many Cure albums can you name (there's probably more than you think!)?
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OSBOURNE TAKES TIME OFF FROM FEST
Ozzy Osbourne has confirmed he will be taking three weeks off as headline of the Ozzfest tour of the US to be with his wife Sharon as she battles cancer. He is likely to be missing from his namesake tour until the Denver date on 22 Aug. "This is one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life, but I'm sure that everyone out there will understand," Ozzy told MTV at the end of last week. "I'm putting on a brave face here, guys, but I'm burning up inside. I have to go home." Sharon learned that
what began as cancer in her colon had spread last week, and announced that chemotherapy would be needed. During Ozzy's absence from the tour co-headliner System of a Down will assume the top spot on a main-stage lineup alongside Rob Zombie, POD, Drowning Pool, Adema and Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society. "The Ozzfest is my baby, and no one is going to take my baby away from me," Ozzy told his team. "Keep Ozzfest going. We're going to get over this hurdle. We've gotten over worse before. Stick it out with me. I need you now more than ever." He went on to say that Sharon had arranged for fans who come out to Ozzfest during his leave to receive a free treat from concession stands on site.
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REM SET TO RETURN
REM are due back in the studio in September to record a sequel to the 2001 album 'Reveal'. Guitarist Peter Buck announced the plans in an online chat on fan site murmurs.com. He also said the band are planning a world tour shortly after the album is wrapped up in mid-2003. mid-2003. REM toured sporadically after the release of 'Reveal' with a series of select dates and promotional appearances, but this time round the band are likely to embark on a full tour schedule.
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COMMONWEALTH BASH FOR G PERCUSSION
A free concert with a 50,000 capacity will be staged to coincide with the finale of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Taking over the new Castefield Stadium the gig, called 'G-Percussion', will be headlined by 808 State and feature Alpinestars and A Certain Ratio together with over 50 DJs including Mr Scruff, Dave Haslam, Greg Vickers, Rob Bright and James Holroyd. The concert is a stepped up version of a regular event originally staged in 1996 as a response to the IRA bomb that shook the city centre. More details at www.gpercussion.co.uk.
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POP IDOL GOES GLOBAL
Simon Fuller has been telling Billboard of his ambitions for a global pop idol contest. "The working title of the show is 'World Idol'" he said, "and we'll have the 'Pop Idol' winners from different countries around the world competing against each other. My intention is that the whole world will vote, and we'll work the voting system so that the population of the country will be fair and proportional to the votes the contestants receive." Following the success of Pop Idol the UK the series is now running in US, Poland and South Afirca with German and French versions planned. The US version which, like in the UK, is tied to BMG, reaches its finale on 4 Sep.
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WEB DEFEATS PRINT
Research suggests the internet is taking over as the third preferred media after TV and radio, a position normally held by newspapers and magazines. The research shows that in households with web access the internet is now the third source for news, views and entertainment - after TV and radio, beating newspapers and magazines into fourth and fifth place. And it seems
the change in media habits is not confined to the young or the affluent, or even to men. It applies across all demographic groups. "This is the biggest change and shows how significant the internet has become,' Faye Weeks, who commissioned the study for internet service provider Freeserve, told the Media Guardian. People spend three times longer surfing, emailing and shopping or banking than they do reading a newspaper - the figure rises to five times longer in the evening - and six times longer online than reading a magazine. The news will further worry the publishing industry who are still suffering from an advertising slump. Many fear that if advertisers start to turn to the web instead of print then cover prices will have to rise, and publications will have to accept smaller more dedicated readerships.
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PENKS PAY OFF
The latest radio goss (www.radiogoss.co.uk) is that Steve Penk has received a £600,000 pay off after his breakfast show contract was cancelled after just six months - even though Penk was quickly given a late show by his former employer Capital. Meanwhile word is that radio group GWR might be looking to dispose of 'non-core' stations (ie those that aren't so profitable). These could include the former Marcher stations in North Wales, Somerset's Orchard FM, Plymouth Sound and Bournemouth's 2CR.
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EDINBURGH HAS ADDED MUSIC
The music programme of the Edinburgh Festival is even bigger this year, with two music strands - T on the Fringe and Planet Pop - offering the likes of DJ Shadow, Sterophonics, Ugly Duckling, Badly Drawn Boy and Elvis Costello between them. Marsha Shandur, presenter of the indie show on Edinburgh's Forth One, previews the music programme at www.threeweeks.co.uk - the Edinburgh Festival newspaper.