CMU
Daily - on the inside Friday
11th February
In
today's CMU Daily:
- Razorlight reschedule cancelled dates
- Jacko juror responses revealed
- Charlie didn't anticipate the Busted pop machine
- Congress pass fine increases for indecent broadcasting
- BBC likely to get at least ten more years of licence fees
- Another storming line up for Teenage Cancer Trust benefits
- Bands get all collaborative for NME Awards Tour finale
- Yourcodenameis:Milo album due
- Single Review: The House Of Love - Love You Too Much
- Former Sony man in talks with Outside
- Morrissey fans petition for him to return to Manchester
- Motley Crue man sued by ex-girlfriend
- Bids stack up for Manchester licence
- GWR launch kids station
- Punk mash ups album in the pipeline
- Album Review: Various - 12"/80s
- Stars perform for Tibet appeal
- SMG turn down second 3i offer for Virgin Radio
- New book to dish dirt on Whitney and Bobby
- Statue in Potteries town inspired Angels
- Elton painted onto AirTran planes
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THE
TOP BIT>>
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CMU
FRIDAY TIPS
VIGSY'S CLUB TIP: New Century Soul Club & Soulvation @ Victory
Services Club
A little bit different this week and a bit of diversity as North
meets South at the brand new soul night from Northern soul promoters
New Century Soul Club and the Soulvation people which promises
to deliver some rare and hopefully good soul music from Northern,
6 T's, Modern and Rare Soul domains, all hosted at this servicemen's
club. DJs on the bill include: Ady Croasdell, Modern Soul guru
Terry Jones, Soulvation's Neil Rushton (from Susu and old Network
Records boss), London DJ Marco Santucci and That Girl Lynn.
Visuals from Soulvation crew.
Friday
11 Feb, Victory Services Club, Carisbrooke Hall, 63-79 Seymour
Street, London, W2 (off Edgeware Road), 8pm till 1am, £10,
info 07989 415991 or http://www.newcenturysoul.co.uk/
Think
your club is good enough to take the tip?? Then email
vigsy@unlimitedmedia.co.uk with the date of your club event
in the header.
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RAZORLIGHT
RESCHEDULE CANCELLED DATES
Razorlight have denied rumours that they might split after frontman
Johnny Borrell's ill health caused them to cancel both US and
UK tour dates. Talking to the NME, the band's drummer Andy Burrows
admitted that the last few weeks had been "stressful"
but confirmed that Borrell, who has been suffering from a laryngitis
type infection, looks set to make a full recovery and that the
band will be back on tour soon.
Burrows:
"It's the best time ever. We've got a lot to look forward
to. It was just a stressful final week of the tour. And for
that reason alone it's good we've got some time off. It was
pretty heavy for that last week, mainly because Johnny was struggling
because he was losing his voice. It was stressful for everybody,
we were trying to support him on one hand but at the same time
we didn't know if we should continue with the gigs. We're so
sorry. We're all devastated that we had to postpone these gigs
and we hope that everyone who bought tickets can make it to
the rescheduled shows. We promise it will be worth it. But definitely,
definitely no, we're not splitting up. All of us are excited
about getting on with it."
Just
to prove those sentiments the band have announced replacement
dates for the UK gigs they had to cancel, and have even added
two extra dates to that tour for good measure. Tickets for cancelled
gigs will be valid for the replacement dates - anyone with tickets
now unable to attend are encouraged to approach their ticket
agents asap for a refund.
13
Mar: Manchester Apollo (replaces 4 Feb)
14 Mar: Manchester Apollo (replaces 5 Feb)
16 Mar: Glasgow Academy (replaces 6 Feb)
17 Mar: Glasgow Academy (replaces 7 Feb)
19 Mar: Blackpool Empress Ballroom
20 Mar: Wolverhampton Civic Centre
23 Mar: London Alexandra Palace (replaces 11 Feb)
24 Mar: London Alexandra Palace (replaces 12 Feb)
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JACKO
JUROR RESPONSES REVEALED
So, you pick 750 people at random as possible jurors in the
Michael Jackson case, and it transpires 1 in 7 of them have
friends or family who know Jackson personally? One possible
juror had a son who had worked at the Neverland ranch and another
who had visited to just "hang out". Another said
her disabled daughter had visited Neverland with her school.
And another said he was "personal friends" with
Jackson's uncle.
These
are some of the revelations that have come out after the judge
overseeing the Jacko trial agreed to allow media organisations
to see the completed questionnaires each possible juror had
to fill out as part of the vetting process. The questionnaire
included questions on any personal experience of sexual abuse,
connections with Jackson and his family and possible racial
bias. Potential jurors were also asked if they had seen "a
lot" of media coverage of the investigation into the latest
allegations against Jacko - to which 9 out of 10 potential jurors
said "yes".
Officials
and representatives and the prosecution and defence are expected
to meet again on Monday in an attempt to select a final jury
for Jacko's court case.
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CHARLIE
DIDN'T ANTICIPATE THE BUSTED POP MACHINE
Charlie Simpson has been talking a little more about his decision
to quit Busted to concentrate on his new band Fightstar. He
says the success of Busted came as a big surprise, and that
after three years he became tired of being part of Universal
Record's pop machine.
Simpson:
"I was in London and an opportunity came up. At the time,
when Blink 182 and Green Day broke and the whole pop-punk thing
went really big and I just thought, 'It's better than being
at school,' so I gave it a go. And it ended up being this massive
thing and I was like, 'Oh shit!' When I joined it was three
songwriters writing music for a laugh. And then it got put into
this machine that was Universal and came out as a big-branded
thing. It was a fun three years and it just came to the point
where I wanted something that my heart was in."
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CONGRESS
PASS FINE INCREASES FOR INDECENT BROADCASTING
The US Congress' House Energy and Commerce Committee have backed
those previously reported plans to increase the fines media
regulator the FCC is able to inflict on US TV networks who are
guilty of "indecency infractions". The committee
voted 46 to 2 to increase the maximum fine for such indecency
from $32,500 to a really rather hefty $500,000.
That
doesn't mean, however, that that increase will come into effect
straight away. Both Senate and the House of Representatives
have backed slightly different versions of this measure, meaning
the two versions will have to be merged into one before they
can get the final sign off from Georgie Boy Bush. The House's
version also gives the FCC the right to revoke a broadcasters
license if they are guilty of three indecency violations - whether
that makes it through to the final regulations remains to be
seen.
But
either way, increase in the powers of the FCC on this matter
is a foregone conclusion. Whatever happened to evil media moguls
exercising their sinister powers over politicians to stop this
kind of thing?
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BBC
LIKELY TO GET AT LEAST TEN MORE YEARS OF LICENCE FEES
Talking of politicians meddling with the media, and sources
at Whitehall have said the review of the BBC's Royal Charter
will safeguard the TV licence for at least ten years, although
a review of the level of the fee will be undertaken in five
years - a move that aims to appease the anti-licence fee lobby
who argue a compulsory licence will be untenable once we all
have multi-channel TV.
That
Charter review will also make a decision regarding the future
of the BBC's Board Of Governors, which one recent report said
should be scrapped to be replaced by an independent regulator.
The Culture Secretary and BBC Chairman are both against that
idea, arguing it will only lead to increased bureaucracy costs,
although there are still reportedly a number of key figures
in Whitehall still pushing for the Governors to be axed.
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ANOTHER
STORMING LINE UP FOR TEENAGE CANCER TRUST BENEFITS
The fifth year of the Roger Daltrey organised Teenage Cancer
Trust concerts will take place at the Royal Albert Hall from
4-8 Apr and once again there's a pretty damn fine line
up - as follows:
4
Apr: Gibson Guitar Night with Robert Plant and special guests
5 Apr: Franz Ferdinand, Graham Coxon and Kaiser Chiefs
6 Apr: Comedy Night hosted by Peter Kay with many special guests
7 Apr: Keane and special guests
8 Apr: UB40 and Guests including Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey
Announcing
this year's line up, Roger Daltrey told CMU: "Every
year we try to make these concerts a uniquely amazing experience
for the audiences and for the artists who give up their time
and energy for the Trust. But the true purpose of these shows
is to raise awareness of this very special charity which makes
a real difference to thousands of teenagers across the UK. We
all know that without teenagers, without their energy and their
passion for music, we wouldn't have rock and roll as we know
it.I'm really looking forward to seeing Franz Ferdinand, one
of the most exciting live bands in the country, fresh from their
triumph at the Brit Awards."
Fellow
organiser Harvey Goldsmith CBE added: "I am pleased to
present another amazing year of shows in aid of Teenage Cancer
Trust. We are incredibly grateful to the artists for giving
up their time to make the shows so successful. I am proud to
be associated to TCT and the work they do."
Tickets
are on sale now - press info from Anglo.
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BANDS
GET ALL COLLABORATIVE FOR NME AWARDS TOUR FINALE
There was a bit of inter-band harmony at the finale of the NME
Awards Tour on Wednesday night as all four bands - The
Killers, Bloc Party, The Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs - ploughed
on stage for a finale rendition of the former's track
'All These Things That I've Done'. According
to the NME the other three bands joined in, before all band
members walked to the front of the stage to take a bow.
Bloc
Party's Russell Lissack told the NME: "It was
mind-blowing, I'm really glad we all got up there and
did it together, although the bouncers did try to throw me out
of the venue after I stage-dived into the crowd. Fortunately
we got away and managed to run round the back and jump back
onstage with everyone else."
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YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO
ALBUM DUE
Having achieved critical acclaim via their single and EP releases
last year, Yourcodenameis:milo (never sure on where the capital
letters should be) will release their debut album 'Ignoto'
on 11 Apr via Fiction Records. The album was recorded at the
end of last year and was produced by Flood (U2, Nine Inch Nails,
Smashing Pumpkins, Yeah Yeah Yeah's) and the band. Press
info from Hermana.
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SINGLE
REVIEW: The House Of Love - Love You Too Much (Art And Industry
Records)
Back in the late 80s, The House Of Love were the next big indie
thing to captivate our minds in between The Smiths and The Stone
Roses. Also very much the Libertines of their day however, the
drugs, hype and money all conspired to engineer an acrimonious
fall-out between the two protagonists, singer Guy Chadwick and
guitarist Terry Bickers. It's often overlooked though
that, following the latter's departure, Chadwick still
intermittently managed to write fantastic songs (HOL's
lost classic 'Babe Review', remains their best album),
so this unlikely reunion is an intriguing prospect in many ways.
And guess what? 'LYTM' sounds exactly like the group
did on their seminal debut album for Creation. Bickers'
crunching guitars are practically beamed straight from that
record; the same goes for Chadwick's slightly sinister
lyrical take on unrequited love. They'll have no impact
on today's cultural climate whatsoever but, nonetheless,
this is one dignified comeback that thus far is very welcome
indeed. MS
Release date: 14 Feb
Press contact: Coalition [CP, RP, NP] Large PR [CR, RR, NR]
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FORMER
SONY MAN IN TALKS WITH OUTSIDE
Former Sony communications chief Gary Farrow, who left SonyBMG
last week, is reportedly in talks with the Outside Organisation
about some kind of business relationship, with some reports
that Farrow is considering buying the PR company off its founder
and his long-term friend Alan Edwards.
On
those rumours Edwards told the Guardian: "I'm not going
to say something like that might not happen, because we're friends.
Gary is a friend of mine and we're always talking about things,
but who knows? We've talked all our lives, we go back to when
I was the PR for Hall and Oates and he was the promo man."
On
the possibility of selling his company Edwards added: "Every
now and again someone comes along with a deal. I haven't got
a closed mind. But it's the sort of deal you only do once."
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MORRISSEY
FANS PETITION FOR HIM TO RETURN TO MANCHESTER
Fans of former Smiths front-man Morrissey have started an online
petition to try and persuade him to move back to hometown Manchester.
Morrissey has lived in LA since 1997 but, following his successful
comeback last year, the singer's Mancunian fans reckon
he should return home.
One
of the people behind the petition told the Manchester Evening
News: "We were talking about the wonderful changes in recent
times in Manchester and how the one thing missing from the city
is its most famous and most talented son. We discussed ways
of tempting him home, such as promising to force all butcher's
shops in a five mile radius of his home to close down. But we
settled on the internet petition idea so that fans from all
over the world could join in and help to end this terrible situation."
Organisers
want as many Morrissey fans as possible to sign the petition:
"There's no point in trying to hide from the truth. It
is up to the people of Manchester to get online to sign the
petition and let Morrissey know that we miss him and need him
to make the city complete."
No
comment as yet from the man himself regarding relocating back
to the North West of England, though the chances of Morrissey
taking any notice of anyone aren't all that high.
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MOTLEY
CRUE MAN SUED BY EX-GIRLFRIEND
Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars is being sued by his ex-girlfriend
for $10 million over allegations he broke a promise to provide
her with financial support should they ever break up.
Mars'
former girlfriend Robin Mantooth claims the guitarist made such
a promise when she gave up her career as a documentary film-maker
to spend more time with him back in the early nineties. However,
she claims, he went back on that promise when they split up
last Dec and she has as yet received nothing. To that end she
is asking the LA courts to award her half of the Motley Crue
man's property, a monthly allowance and damages.
Mars'
people are yet to comment on the lawsuit. Motley Crue are, of
course, back in the limelight following the news they will tour
again for the first time in five years.
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BIDS
STACK UP FOR MANCHESTER LICENCE
OfCom have confirmed they have received no less than 19 bids
for the new Manchester radio licence- the deadline for
bids to be submitted was yesterday. EMAP, Virgin Radio, the
Wireless Group, Capital, GWR, Saga and TV company Celador are
among the bidders. So now you know.
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GWR
LAUNCH KIDS STATION
GWR's bid for that licence is to get an analogue output
for its new kids' radio station. The radio company gave
more details about that project yesterday a joint venture with
HIT Entertainment it will launch on digital in London, Essex
and Bristol in Apr. Aimed at children under 10 it will feature
audio versions of popular kids TV shows Thomas the Tank Engine,
Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina and Barney the Dinosaur,
as well as kids aimed news, chat and Britney Spears-style pop.
GWR
hope to get around the tricky issue of carrying advertising
targeted at young children by stressing ads would be targeted
at parents and carers, or would be educational, eg government
information ads on road safety or healthy eating.
GWR's
merger buddies Capital already run a kids station on digital
- Capital Disney. It seems that Capital Disney and GWR's
new venture compliment each other in terms of what age groups
they target - so the pending merger shouldn't
affect either station.
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PUNK
MASH UPS ALBUM IN THE PIPELINE
American production team The Legion Of Doom are putting together
an album of punk 'mash-ups' for a compilation due
to be released on Antagonistic Records. Among the mash-ups set
to appear are 'I Know What You Buried Last Summer'
(Taking Back Sunday vs Senses Fail), 'Dottie In A Car Crash'
(The Get Up Kids vs Thursday), 'The Quiet Screaming'
(Dashboard Confessional vs Brand New) and 'A Threnody For
A Grand' (Atreyu vs It Dies Today). No word on the album's
title or US release date as yet, nor whether it will ever surface
over here - more when we get it.
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ALBUM
REVIEW: Various - 12"/80s (Family Recordings)
Back in the good old 1980s the single releases of the day did
not come with seventeen remixes reinventing the original to
suit the various musical fads of the day. However, the eighties
were the golden age for the forerunner of the remix -
the 12" mix. Record labels started to realise that if
they extended the beats of a track, perhaps dropping in snippets
of the vocals and the occasional guitar riff, they could turn
a three minute single into a much more club-friendly six minute
track - and so we entered the phase in musical history
when nearly every 7" single release came with an accompanying
12". A large number of the these longer mixes were pretty
rubbish - demonstrating that there was a reason why the
original cut off after three minutes. But some managed to create
a 12" mix that equalled, enhanced and superseded the originals
- and a stack of them appear on this triple CD which
celebrates the best 12"s of that decade. Mix names weren't
quite so vivid then, but the 'extended mix' of The
Cure's 'The Forest', the 'long version'
of Aztec Camera's 'Walk Out To Winter', the
'12" mix' of Human League's 'Love
Action' and the 'long mix' of The Passions'
'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' are
much much finer than their names probably suggest. More to the
point, by picking out the artists who excelled on the 12",
here we have an eighties compilation with some of the great
artists invariably missed off other albums dedicated to the
decade - Siouxsie And The Banshees, Curiosity Killed
The Cat, Talk Talk and the wonderful Blow Monkeys to name a
few (and even Simply Red sound good when 'Money's
Too Tight To Mention' gets its 'cutback mix').
And there's several tracks and artists here you'd
probably forgotten about - sounding just as fresh here
in 2005. Whether you have an impressive collection of 12"s
you just can't be bothered to play anymore, or if your
record collection is sadly lacking the mixes that rarely got
album releases, then this is the CD for you. Get a copy. CC
Release date: 7 Feb
Press contact: PPR [all]
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STARS
PERFORM FOR TIBET APPEAL
Ray Davis, Philip Glass and Lou Reed were all on stage at New
York's Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night for the fifteenth
annual Tibet House Benefit concert which aims to maintain awareness
of Tibet's occupation by China.
According
to Billboard, Davis jammed with the Black Keys, playing piano
and singing harmonies on their cover of the Kink's 'Act
Nice and Gentle'. Meanwhile Nellie McKay harmonized with
Trey Anastasio and Philip Glass played piano for Lou Reed's
performance of 'Perfect Day'.
Before
his solo set Davies told the audience: "Most people come
to this hall and play their big hits, but I'm going to play
some of my flops for you". Despite the modest introduction,
he wowed the crowd with a medley of tracks from his much maligned
1968 concept album 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation
Society'.
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SMG
TURN DOWN SECOND 3I OFFER FOR VIRGIN RADIO
Back to the wonderful world of radio, and an equity group led
by Lord Alli has made a bid for Virgin Radio - but current
owners, Scottish Media Group, have said they don't want
to sell it. This is the second time SMG have turned down an
offer to buy the national radio station by 3i and insiders reckon
the equity group will now approach SMG's shareholders
directly and try to force some kind of takeover on them.
This
will pose an interesting dilemma for ITV boss Charles Allen
- ITV is the biggest shareholder in SMG and will surely
be high up on 3i's list of targets. There has been some
talk that ITV would themselves try to buy SMG's broadcasting
assets. That deal would be primarily about bringing the Scottish
ITV franchises into the now unified ITV company, but some have
suggested ITV could benefit from owning a national radio station
too - ie Virgin Radio.
If
3i is successful it will be interesting to see what plans Alli
would have for the national rock station. He is, of course,
a former business partner of Virgin Radio's old friend
Chris Evans who, despite saying he has no interest in returning
to radio, might not be able to resist the temptation of having
the last laugh over his former Virgin Radio bosses if offered
a new show on the station.
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NEW
BOOK TO DISH DIRT ON WHITNEY AND BOBBY
A new tell-all book will reportedly reveal intimate details
about Whitney Houston and her husband Bobby Brown. According
to MTV the book, called 'The Rise and Fall of Daddy's Little
Girl -The Whitney Houston Story' has been written by
Kevin Skinner, a former associate of Houston's late father
John who had various run-ins with his daughter and son-in-law.
Apparently the book will be "shocking" -
so it's a good job FCC regulations don't cover
the written word.
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STATUE
IN POTTERIES TOWN INSPIRED ANGELS
The best song of the last 25 years was inspired by a gold-plated
statue above Burslem town hall - or at least that's
what Robbie Williams' mum reckons. Responding to those
who say Robbie's award-winning track 'Angels'
is about her and how she helped her son beat drugs and alcohol,
the singer's mother has said she's sure the song
is about the statue in the Staffordshire town, which was opposite
the house where he grew up. According to the Sun she said: "When
he went to bed he'd look at it and say his guardian angel was
looking after him. It was lovely. I'm sure it was on his mind
as he wrote the lyrics."
Meanwhile,
Robbie has somewhat stated the obvious about the song that won
him the Best Song Of The Last 25 Years title at the Brits on
Wednesday night. He told reporters: "Angels is what made
me who I am. It gave me a career. I was going nowhere until
that song came out."
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ELTON
PAINTED ONTO AIRTRAN PLANES
Now this is kinda scary. Florida based airline AirTran is planning
on putting Elton John's face on the side of twenty of
its Boeing 717 planes to promote the fact passengers can now
listen to satellite radio at their seats - presumably
a reference to Elton's song 'Satellite'.
Elton's website reports that "Elton's head is about
the same size as the one on the Statute of Liberty." Well,
I think we already knew that.