| CMU Daily - on the inside Monday 3rd April |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Courtney sells Nirvana assets
- Coldplay have best selling records of 2005
- Mario's former manager countersues
- Knight misses latest court hearing
- Britney sued by bodyguards
- Apples in court
- Man fined over fake V Festival passes
- Dead Or Alive man arrested over assault allegations
- Buble wins big at Junos
- Stevens wins Pantheon award
- Single review: F.O. Machete - What's The Signal?
- Pet Sounds cover tribute on its way
- James on new Blur album
- Souxsie classics get reissue
- Hutchence film in the works
- Test Icicle forms new act
- Fresh Fest comes to London
- Sounds From The Other City stuff
- Hi Fi south update
- Bif Naked at the Garage
- Biosphere cinema tour
- This Et Al tour
- Arctic Monkeys, single, tour
- Bono bugged by Berlusconi
- Chart update
- CMU radio show playlist
- Single review: Mocky - Fighting Away The Tears
- Lennon risked electrocution, says engineer
- Blige prays for Whitney
- Kaisers v angry with label, allegedly
- Juno Award winners in full...
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TOP BIT>>
TOP BIT: NEW CMU RADIO SHOW LIVE TODAY>>
So, another top edition of the CMU Radio Show goes live later today, as it does every Monday. Two hours of music world chatter and great tunes, as always, taking in along the way Beatles smoking and auctions, Whitney's drugs, downloads topping the charts, music on mobile phones, the ongoing shenanigans at Death Row Records, the future of Popworld and the Sony Awards nominations. Music wise, plenty of great music (check the playlist lower down in the Daily) plus a special 30 minute mix - CMU's Kings Of Mash Up part one, eight top bootlegs squeezed into half an hour featuring the talents of eight of CMU's very favourite mash up makers (it's part one because we've more than eight favourites, so if you're not featured, don't worry, we've got you lined up for part two!). As always, all this goes live later today, and once live you can listen to the show at anytime via http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk/cmuradio courtesy of your Windows Media Player and our friends at totallyradio.com will handle the rest. Enjoy.
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PRESS ROOM>>
KILL ALL HIPPIES APRIL... The next edition of London's best rock night is this Friday, 7 Apr, at the 333 Club in London and, as always, it features a proper good mix of live bands and DJs. Live wise we've got The Maccabees and Jackson Analogue, taking to the basement stage, while Jeff Automatic and guest DJ Frankie D will be keeping things going on the decks down there. The Fully Comprehensive guys will be keeping the ground floor going with resident DJ Gavin Nugent, plus guests Mark Beaumont (NME), Syrinx and Simon Jones (Hope Of The States). Tickets are £5 before 10.30pm, £10 after (or £5 all night if you guest list in advance at http://www.leylinepromotions.com).
Press info: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/killallhippies
THE INSOMNIACS BALL... Kill All Hippies and Stylish Riots present London's first ever all-night indoor festival, kicking off the Easter Weekend on Thursday April 13th, with three live stages and dozens of live bands and DJs underneath the arches at London Bridge in the seOne club. Line up so far includes no less than British Sea Power, White Rose Movement, Mando Diao, Battle, New Rhodes, The Pipettes, Art Brut, Dogs, The Rifles, Komakino, Good Shoes, Cooper Temple Clause (DJ set) and The Rakes (DJ set). How good is this? Doors will open at 8pm, when the live music begins, and the entertainment will continue until 6am the following morning - Good Friday. Full details at http://www.insomniacsball.co.uk - for details of a special student discount check http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk.
Press info: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/insomniacsball
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RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
MySpace Of The Day: Barefoot
We love Barefoot. You may already have sussed this if you've read the interview on CMU Beats, and noted the frequent radio-show-play we've given tracks from the Barefoot album. Just in case you were sleeping through all of that, though, I suppose I ought to explain that this long player is a collection of covers of what we here at CMU like to call 'thumping club classics'. Listen to my favourite 'Born Slippy' at the MySpace page, which also has a live track not present on the album - a cover of 'Ebeneezer Goode', (yes, it works) and there are details of upcoming live dates, which brings me to the reason for featuring Barefoot today: there's a gig in Shoreditch on Wednesday, so if you like what you hear you might want to be there.
http://www.myspace.com/barefootuk
More on our MySpace Of The Day, plus acts appearing at next week's Insomniacs Ball answer the same six questions - today it's Captain Black - all online at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
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COURTNEY SELLS NIRVANA ASSETS
Courtney Love has confirmed she has sold a 25% share of her 98% stake in Nirvana's publishing catalogue to Larry Mestel of Primary Wave Music Publishing. The confirmation follows a previous announcement that she was seeking a business partner to co-manage the publishing assets she inherited from Kurt Cobain.
Talking about the move, she told reporters: "I took on a strategic partner, Larry Mestel, to help me co-manage the estate because it was overwhelming. The affairs of Nirvana are so massive and so huge, and they've all fallen on my lap. I own almost all of it and it proved to be too much for me. I needed a partner to take Kurt Cobain's songs and bring them into the future and into the next generation. And this guy's the guy to do it."
Mestel, meanwhile, told Rolling Stone: "The appeal to me is that Kurt was one of the most important songwriters of his time. Kurt was an incredible songwriter, and Courtney is an exceptionally talented person herself. So I felt the combination of Courtney's creativity and the things I can add can really help in creating more value for these copyrights."
Love assured Nirvana fans that while the new partnership would take the band where they'd "never been before", any future ventures would be true to "the spirit" of the group.
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COLDPLAY HAVE BEST SELLING RECORDS OF 2005
Presumably thanks in the main to CMU's unwavering support, Coldplay had the best selling album in the world in 2005, with 'X&Y' selling a total of 8.3 million copies (and that's before you count all the bootleg copies that were probably sold in Eastern Europe and China). We might question the musical merits of Chris Martin et al from time to time, but you can't question those figures in terms of commercial success - and I guess it's nice to have a British act topping a US dominated list of top world sellers.
'X&Y' was some 600,000 units ahead of the second best seller, which came from Ms Mariah Carey, who sold 7.7 million copies of her career revitalising long player 'The Emancipation of Mimi'.
The other albums to appear in the world sales chart for 2005 ran thus: 50 Cent's 'The Massacre' (7.5m), Black Eyed Peas' 'Monkey Business' (6.8m), Green Day's 'American Idiot' (6.4m), Madonna's 'Confessions On A Dance Floor' (6.3m), Kelly Clarkson's 'Breakaway' (6.1m), Eminem's 'Curtain Call' (5.5m), James Blunt's 'Back to Bedlam' (5.5m) and Robbie Williams' 'Intensive Care' (5.4m).
Those stats come courtesy of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry as part of a wider report on music industry sales in 2005. That report revealed that the value of digital music sales jumped to $1.1 billion last year, over double what they had been in 2004 ($400 million). But, the trade body added, that boom did not fully compensate for a 6% drop in global CD sales or the 4% drop in music DVD sales, meaning overall music revenues were down some 3%.
Various reasons were given to explain the overall decline, though obviously it had nothing to do with senior executives failing to respond with suitable speed to a changing market - oh no.
IFPI chairman John Kennedy told reporters: "Physical music sales declined again for a combination of reasons, including digital and physical piracy, competition from other entertainment products and the shift in consumer spending to online and mobile. In 2006, we expect to see continued growth online and more innovative mobile services attracting music fans into the legal digital market. All our member record companies are now aggressively licensing and marketing music in digital formats."
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MARIO'S FORMER MANAGER COUNTERSUES
Well, it's been a busy few days in the pop courts. First up, the former manager of Mario has launched a countersuit to a lawsuit launched by the R&B star back in February.
Mario is suing Troy Patterson and his company Third Street over allegations the manager abused the singer's youth and his mother's ignorance to force them into a management partnership that cheated them out of much of the profits made by Mario's subsequent successes. The singer claims he only received $50,000 for the sale of more than 3 million records under his deal with Patterson, which ended in 2004. Patterson denies those allegations, and is countersuing accordingly.
Although Patterson was involved in Mario's initial relationship with SonyBMG's J Records, the legal wranglings between Mario and his former manager do not seem to have had any affect on the singer's ongoing relationship with his label.
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KNIGHT MISSES LATEST COURT HEARING
More Suge Knight news. As you'll remember, Knight faces the possibility of losing Deathrow Records as the ongoing legal dispute between the hip hop mogul and former business associates Michael and Lydia Harris rumbles on. Lydia Harris claims she helped found the hip hop label and is due a cut of the profits - a claim that was backed by the courts last year. However, Knight is yet to pay her the share the courts said she was due - meanwhile Lydia's estranged and imprisoned husband Michael Harris claims he is due half of whatever she gets, when she gets it, should she get it.
The courts, who froze Knight's assets last year as Michael Harris issued divorce proceedings against Lydia, have become increasingly angry with the hip hop mogul after he repeatedly failed to attend hearings to discuss the court ordered payment he has so far failed to make to his former business partner. He was due back in court on Saturday, with judges threatening to seize and sell off his assets, including Deathrow Records, if he failed to attend. According to AllHipHop.com Knight failed to make that hearing - which means the courts could act on their bankruptcy threats this week.
But the good news is Knight has hired a new publicist to negotiate the PR challenges of his current legal problems. Independent PR Jonathan Wolfson, who worked with Knight for five years until parting company with the hip hop boss last year, is reportedly back on the team.
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BRITNEY SUED BY BODYGUARDS
Three of Britney Spears' former bodyguards are suing the singer over alleged unpaid wages. The men - Lonnie Jones, Randy Jones and Silas Dukes - have filed a joint action seeking compensation of $25,000 each, claiming that they were fired without receiving their final salaries. They also say that they worked up to sixteen hours a day, and were required to be on call 24 hours in case Spears required their services, but were not paid overtime.
Elsewhere in Britney news, it's been reported that the popstrel is keen to play Janis Joplin in an upcoming movie about the legendary singer's life, to be called 'The Gospel According To Janis', though apparently she's second on a shortlist behind fellow popstar, Pink. Director Penelope Spheeris says: "Pink would be my first choice, but she may have scheduling conflicts."
On Britney, Spheeris said: "Her agent asked if I could meet with her. Music ability is important, but most of all, the actress must have the spirit of Janis."
Some real actresses, who could pretty much definitely handle the role better than Britney regardless of vocal ability, are also thought to be in the running, namely the ubiquitous Scarlett Johansson, Zooey Deschanel and Lindsay Lohan (who does, in fact, have a pop career, in case you missed it).
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APPLES IN COURT
Back to the courts, and the Apple v Apple court case is ongoing. As previously reported, the Beatles music company Apple Corps is suing Apple Computers over allegations that the IT firm is breaking a previous agreement governing the use of the Apple brand in the music sector.
Speaking for Apple Corps, barrister Geoffrey Vos told the High Court in London last week: "Apple Computer can go into the recorded music business in any way they want. What they cannot do is use the Apple mark to do it". Vos rejected Apple Computers' defence that iTunes is actually a digital distribution system that just happens to be used for music. He said that by entering into agreements with record companies to offer their customers exclusive promotions and box sets, the computer firm was very much in the music business and, crucially, their music operations were trading under the Apple name.
During the first few days of the case it was also revealed that Apple Computers offered the Beatles firm $1 million for permission to use the Apple logo on the iTunes Music Store - an offer Apple Corps knocked back. The Beatles firm is seeking considerably more than a million in compensation over the alleged breach of contract.
The case continues.
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MAN FINED OVER FAKE V FESTIVAL PASSES
Into the pop courts' criminal division, and promoters of the V Festival this weekend welcomed the fining of a man who was found in possession of eight fake wristbands for their 2005 event.
Spencer Cottol pleaded guilty to possessing the fake wristbands at Chelmsford Crown Court last week and was ordered to pay a £2000 fine as well as to undertake 100 hours of unpaid community service work. He will also be placed under the supervision of a probation officer for 12 months.
Promoters of both the V Festival and other major music events will hope the sentence will deter some of the touts planning to sell fake tickets to this year's festivals, while boosting the police's power in stop them.
V Festival Director Bob Angus told reporters: "We are delighted with today's ruling as it is a significant step to stamp out the people that spoil the festival for everyone else. We do not approve of the production of fake wristbands and fully support the police with any plans to clamp down on people that produce them. This year's V Festival has sold out but as ever, we urge people not to buy from unofficial outlets as it may well lead to disappointment."
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DEAD OR ALIVE MAN ARRESTED OVER ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS
More pop prosecutions, and Pete Burns has been reportedly arrested on suspicion of assault after a row at his Notting Hill home. Apparently neighbours called the police after an argument between Burns and another man got out of hand. A locksmith seemingly working at Burns home at the time told reporters: "At one stage his friend was trying to jump out of a window - then all hell broke loose". Meanwhile a Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A man was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault after we were called to an address in Notting Hill". As far as we know, no gorillas were injured in the incident.
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BUBLE WINS BIG AT JUNOS
Singer Michael Buble was the biggest winner at Canada's Juno Awards yesterday, walking away with four awards, including Best Singer, Album Of The Year and Artist Of The Year. Nickelback, who had led the field with six nominations, managed to win only two of those, Best Group and Best Rock Album, whilst Daniel Powter had a good day for once, taking the Best Newcomer gong. Neil Young - absent from last year's ceremony due to an aneurysm - garnered two awards, whilst Bryan Adams was admitted to Juno's Hall Of Fame. The Best International Album category was a tie between Coldplay's 'X&Y' and Black Eyed Peas' 'Monkey Business'.
Host Pamela Anderson also grabbed some extra attention by criticising Canada's previously reported policies on seal hunting. "I don't mind a little blood on the ice when it's a hockey rink, but I hate seeing blood on the ice when it's from baby seals," she said.
Full list of winners at the bottom.
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STEVENS WINS PANTHEON AWARD
I had it in my head that the winner of this award had been announced ages ago, and I have a sneaky feeling it was meant to have been.
Anyway, Sufjan Stevens has won the New Pantheon Award, the new US based Mercury Music Prize type award that kind of replaces the short lived Shortlist Music Prize (sort of, in that the New Pantheon was set up by one of the two Shortlist co-founders, the other co-founder claiming that the Shortlist Music Prize would return - it's all a bit confusing really).
Stevens' album 'Illinois' beat nine others to win the prize, which aims to promote and celebrate recent long players that sold less than 500,000 copies in the US. There was no ceremony to mark the winner announcement because of "logistical problems", but the singer does get five grand prize money.
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SINGLE REVIEW: F.O. Machete - What's The Signal? (Simbiotic)
Glaswegian 3-piece F.O. Machete were once called Fuck-Off Machete. I'm guessing they switched their name once they realised that radio play would be impossible if they didn't. 'What's The Signal?' borrows heavily from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but where Karen O and friends seem to switch between their two modes (the scratchy, screechy punk of 'Date With The Night' and 'Pin', and the more laid back melancholy pop of 'Maps'), F.O. Machete walk a clever tightrope between the two. The group's sound is very bare, but this just concentrates your ear to the songwriting itself, which is top notch. Certainly F.O. Machete deserve a horde of art-school fan-girls, though it is hard to see them going much further than that unless their forthcoming album 'Blaze Of Flashes' reveals a greater diversity in sound than this single and the b-sides would suggest. DG
Release Date: 3 Apr
Press Contact: Work Hard [all]
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PET SOUNDS COVER TRIBUTE ON ITS WAY
A new tribute album featuring covers of Beach Boys songs from seminal long player 'Pet Sounds' is to be released, according to Pitchfork. The songs will appear in the same track order as the original album, to be called 'Do It Again: A Tribute To Pet Sounds' - the 'Do It Again' bit being a reference to Brian Wilson's repeated requests to his session musicians on the project. The track listing is as follows:
Oldham Brothers - Wouldn't It Be Nice
Vic Chesnutt - You Still Believe in Me
Nobody and the Mystic Chords of Memory with Farmer Dave - That's Not Me
Centro-Matic - Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
Micah P. Hinson - I'm Waiting for the Day
Raygun - Let's Go Away for a While
Dayna Kurtz - Sloop John B
Daniel Johnston - God Only Knows
Mazarin - I Know There's an Answer
Jody Wildgoose - Here Today
Patrick Wolf - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
Architecture in Helsinki - Pet Sounds
The Wedding Present - Caroline No
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JAMES ON NEW BLUR ALBUM
Alex James has been talking to Xfm about how the new Blur album is shaping up, despite the fact that all three members have been working hard on other projects. The bassist said: "We all got together before Christmas. Damon, Dave and I and were making the most nasty, dirty, filthy rock music I think we've ever made... it was great. And then Damon's been making his records, I've been busy with Wigwam and Dave's got this multi-media empire going on, but I think there's plans to reconvene really soon, I think probably towards the end of the year."
Discussing the album's potentially rocky theme, he added: "It seems to be going like that. I mean, you never know what a record's gonna sound like till you've finished recording it, but it was sounding that way. Foo Fighters are gonna wet their pants when they hear it."
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SOUXSIE CLASSICS GET REISSUE
Remastered versions of three Siouxsie And The Banshees albums are to be released next month. 'Join Hands', 'Kaleidoscope' and 'Juju' are all out on 29 May each featuring previously unreleased and rare tracks.
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HUTCHENCE FILM IN THE WORKS
A biopic of INXS star Michael Hutchence is in the works, according to Hollywood News. The producers are apparently working on the film with director Nick Egan, a friend of Hutchence who designed one of the band's album covers and directed INXS videos throughout the nineties.
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TEST ICICLE FORMS NEW ACT
Test Icicle Dev Hynez, whose band are, as previously reported, set to play their final gigs later this year, has teamed up with CMU favourite Tom Vek to form a new band, Naked Babes, who are apparently to play a first live set at the White Heat night in London tomorrow. So there you go.
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FRESH FEST COMES TO LONDON
US hip hop tour Fresh Fest, originally founded back in 1984, comes to London next month with a date at Brixton Academy. The UK date, taking place on 29 Apr, will celebrate the genre's history with rare appearances from acts such as Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante, Kurtis Blow, MC Shan and Lords Of The Underground. The night, which will also feature DJs, Graffiti artists and breakdancers, is set to become a regular UK event. Tickets are £25, press info from [email protected]
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SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY STUFF
Right, let's get this clear now - Sounds From The Other City is a new music festival. Not a new festival - this is its second year, if I'm not mistaken - but a festival of new music. That clear? Good?
Okay, well, it's taking place at the end of next month across six club venues, all on or near Salford's Chapel Street - Club Brenda at Rovers Return, High Voltage at The Black Lion, Golden Lab at The Salford Arms, Rain or Shine at The K ings Arms, The Red Deer Club at Sacred Trinity Church and Blowout! at the Mark Addy.
Acts appearing include My Side Of The Mountain, Beats For Beginners, The KBC, Dead Disco, Sparkles, The Good Anna, Cherry Ghost, Gideon Conn, Ed Cottam, Little Pebble, Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe, Shut Your Eyes & You'll Burst Into Flames, The Nightjars, Sundowner and Day For Airstrikes.
So, that's 30 Apr, then, 3pm until late, tickets £7 advance, info from [email protected] / http://www.soundsfromtheothercity.co.uk
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HI FI SOUTH UPDATE
Lemon Jelly, My Robot Friend and Kharma 45 have all been added to the line up for Hi Fi South. They join the likes of The Go! Team, 2 Many DJs, Carl Cox, Super Furry Animals and Ian Brown on the bill for the event, which takes place, as previously reported, on 27 and 28 May at the Matterley Bowl Estate in Hampshire.
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BIF NAKED AT THE GARAGE
Date for your diaries. Interestingly monikered rocker Bif Naked appears at The Garage on 10 Apr, to coincide with the release of a single 'Let Down' on the same day, and ahead of the release of her new album, 'Superbeautifulmonster' on 20 Apr. I've never seen her perform live, but with a CV that includes an appearance on Buffy and support slots for Foo Fighters and Green Day, how bad can she be? Press info from Smash Press.
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BIOSPHERE CINEMA TOUR
Norwegian electronic legend Geir Jenssen, aka Biosphere, releases a new album 'Dropsonde' via Touch Recordings on 20 Apr. Around the same time, he's staging a tour of cinemas in London, Liverpool and Brighton, and will be accompanied by visuals from award winning video artist Egbert Mittelstaedt. One of the dates, luckily for us, is in Greenwich, beloved of CMU, which is why we're running this item. Only kidding, Biosphere is great, and if you're any kind of electronica fan, you ought to make a point of trying to get along to one of these lovely audio/visual events. Here are the dates, press info from Seb & Fiona.
19 Apr: GATE Cinema, Notting Hill
20 Apr: Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool
21 Apr: Greenwich Picturehouse (7.30pm)
22 Apr: Ritzy Cinema, Brixton (9.15pm)
23 Apr: Duke of York Cinema, Brighton
More at http://www.picturehouses.co.uk or www.biosphere.no
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THIS ET AL TOUR
This Et Al, who've been quietly fizzing for a while now, have announced a UK tour to coincide with the release of new single 'Sabbatical' on 22 May. Dates are as follows:
5 May: Sunderland, Bar Pure
11 May: Manchester, Music Box
12 May: Newcastle, Cosmic Ballroom
13 May: Leeds, Faversham
16 May: Nottingham, Social
17 May: Bath, Moles Club
19 May: Brighton, The Great Escape
20 May: Coventry, Coliseum
23 May: Exeter, The Cavern
24 May: Bristol, Louisiana
25 May: Derby, Victoria Inn
26 May: Hertford, Marquee
31 May: Glasgow, Barfly
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ARCTIC MONKEYS, SINGLE, TOUR
Don't get too excited (well, we're avoiding too much hype), but Arctic Monkeys have confirmed that they'll release that previously reported single/EP 'Who The Fuck Are The Arctic Monkeys?' on 24 Apr. Also, that previously reported short film 'Scummy Man' will be released on 10 Apr, with a screening to take place at Sheffield's Showrooms on 7 Apr. Also, as previously reported, the band are to tour this month, limited guest list for regional dates only, as follows.
13 Apr: Nottingham Rock City
14 Apr: Glasgow Carling Academy
15 Apr: Newcastle Carling Academy
17 Apr: Bournemouth BIC
18 Apr: Plymouth Pavillions
19 Apr: Wolverhampton Civic
21 Apr: Newport Centre
22 Apr: Rotherham Magna Centre
23 Apr: Blackpool Empress Ballroom
25 Apr: Hull Ice Rink
26 Apr: Cambridge corn exchange
27 Apr: London Brixton Carling Academy
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BONO BUGGED BY BERLUSCONI
Bono has spoken out against Silvio Berlusconi after the pop star's image was used in a brochure for the Italian prime minister's political party Forza Italia, sent to millions of Italian households. The magazine focuses on the U2 frontman's campaign to highlight the issues faced by African countries and captions his photo with the words: "The Irish star is grateful to the prime minister for the actions promoted by the Italian government towards poor countries".
Bono wrote in a letter: "Mr Berlusconi, as flattered as I can be of appearing in your brochure, I also feel a bit exploited."
Referring to a conversation he had with the Italian PM during the G8 in Gleneagles last year, Bono asked Berlusconi to honour his promise to fulfill the commitments laid down by him and other world leaders at last year's summit, and suggested that Italy would need to more than double its handouts by 2010 in order to do so. "If your commitment is real and your signature is trustworthy, then the world wants to know how Italy intends to reach this target. I would be honoured to have my name in a leader's manifesto which keeps promises to poorer nations".
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CHART UPDATE
Now, I maybe no Gennaro Castaldo (you know, HMV's PR man), but I do know a thing or two about the fun-packed world of music charts. I must do - you can hear me talking about them on this week's The Beat programme on the BBC World Service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/the_beat.shtml). So surely when I say that Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' getting to number one in the UK singles chart based on download sales alone is a piece of chart history, that's all you need to know.
What? You want to hear what Gennaro's got to say anyway? Damn you. Ah well, go for it, Castaldo: "This not only represents a watershed in how the charts are compiled, but shows that legal downloads have come of age. Though it is an outstanding single so I don't think we are going to see this happening with a song every week". Ha, I could have said all of that. Really. I could.
Anyway, chart history aside, what else is happening in the old singles chart this week? Well, Ne*Yo continues to sell well with 'So Sick' slipping just one place to number two, after which you get the next new entry - Morrissey's 'You Have Killed Me' - going in at 3.
Other new entries run thus: The Streets typically infectious 'When You Wasn't Famous' at 8, Depeche Mode's 'Suffer Well' at 12, the Michael Jackson 'The Way You Make Me Feel' re-release at 17, Mary J Blige & U2's reworking of 'One' at 19, Editors' 'All Sparks' at 21, Milburn's 'Send In The Boys' at 22, Automatic's 'Raoul' at 32 and Pipettes' 'Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me' at 35.
Then, just to prove that we're living in slightly weird times chart wise, you'll find a tribute record to the late Jimmy Johnstone of Celtic football club at 28, while that sneaky release of the UK Theme that Radio 4 are somewhat controversially taking off the airwaves is at 29 (although I hear Radio 4 have said they are going to continue broadcasting it online as a compromise, though quite how that'll work I've no idea).
Albums wise, and the Embrace boys are seemingly in a very happy place just now, having gone straight in at number one with their new long player 'This New Day', just before heading into the studio to record that previously reported official World Cup song for the England team. Massive Attack come in second with their hits album, while the Yeah Yeah Yeah's go in at 7 with 'Show Your Bones'. Then there's a load of re-entries, some of which are easily explained way - 'The Back Room' from Iditors (as Zane might say) presumably back in at 39 on the back of all the promotion surrounding new single 'All Sparks'. Quite why Green Day's 'American Idiot' and Gorillaz's 'Gorillaz' are back in the album Top 40 I've know idea. Damn, seems I'm not a great chart commentator after all.
PS: I'm wondering if Ricky Wilson's stint hosting Buzzcocks helped the Chiefs move back into the Top 40 - he really was rather good at it.
PPS: No Student Radio Chart or Subshot playlist this week - the Easter vacation is upon us don't you know.
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CMU RADIO SHOW PLAYLIST
The songs played for your audio pleasure on this week's CMU radio show, available later today at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk/cmuradio
Curiosity Killed The Cat - Misfit (Universal/Mercury) (from 12" 80s Dance)
Lucky Soul - Give Me Love (Ruffa Lane Records)
The Perishers - Trouble Sleeping (Red Ink)
The Feeling - Never Be Lonely(Universal/Island)
Cosmic Rough Riders - In Time (Warner/Korova)
The Loose Cannons - Raw (Fat Fox)
Warren Suicide - Signal (Fume Recordings)
Akala - The Edge (Illastate)
Daedelus - Sundown (Ninja Tune)
Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley feat Bobby Brown - Beautiful (Universal)
CMU KINGS OF MASH UP Part One
Go Home Productions - Robbie (Over) Jacko (Under) Pressure
Q Unit - Crazy Little Pimp Called Love
Dean Gray - Novocainerhapsody
Loo & Placido - Black Beatles
IDC - Hey Mug
Lionel Vinyl - Just A Reptilian
Team 9 - Belinda's Freakin Out
DJ Riko - Whistlers Delight
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SINGLE REVIEW: Mocky - Fighting Away The Tears (Four Music)
Rather than singing about a hypothetical battle between Mocky and Brett Anderson & Bernard Butler, this single focuses on heartbreak, regret, and hope (what a missed opportunity). Canada's Mocky, now on his third album, is joined on this track by Feist, who once supported Peaches on her debut album. Not that you'd tell, as this languid, soulful record is about a million miles away from Ms. Peaches, probably relaxing on a beach somewhere on the west coast of the USA. It's nice enough, sure, and it's listenable (apart from the slightly cringeworthy rap in the middle), but it doesn't really excel in any field. Mocky's apparently heading out on the road soon. I probably won't go and see him, but who knows - on a warm summer evening it might be just the ticket. DG
Release Date: 3 Apr
Press Contact: The Outpost [all]
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LENNON RISKED ELECTROCUTION, SAYS ENGINEER
Sound engineer Geoff Emerick says that John Lennon came close to risking electrocution during the recording of Beatles track 'Yellow Submarine', because he wanted to sound as though his vocals were being sung underwater, and planned to sing through a mike submerged in a bottle of water. Which definitely sounds like the suggestion of someone on a suicide mission, yes. Anyway, a handy condom saved the day. And you thought they were just an eighties trend.
Emerick says: "John wanted to be recorded underwater to simulate being in a submarine. He was like that. He didn't realise the implications of that. I thought to get a bottle of water and put a microphone in the water and get him to sing to that and then I realised there was a huge amount of electrical current going through the microphone. So to protect the mic, Mal Evans (Beatles road manager) had a condom in his bag and I put the mic in the condom and put it in the bottle. John could've blown up because there was 240 volts running through this thing. It was part of some lead vocal but they never used it. I'm sure it's somewhere."
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BLIGE PRAYS FOR WHITNEY
Mary J Blige has said that she's praying for Whitney Houston following those previously reported revelations by sister in law Tina Brown that Houston's crack addiction is destroying her. Blige apparently The Sun: "I'm saddened by the whole thing. Whitney is technically the best vocalist in the business. Whitney will come through. I have every faith that she will make a breakthrough. I'm just praying for her now."
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KAISERS V ANGRY WITH LABEL, ALLEGEDLY
According to the Daily Star, the members of Kaiser Chiefs are very angry with their label, because there's no space for their families and friends to attend their homecoming gigs in Leeds next month. 14,000 tickets have been sold for the two concerts to be held at Millenium Square in Leeds on 29 and 30 Apr, and the gigs were apparently sold out before the label got around to reserving any guest tickets.
A source told the tabloid: "No-one realised just how much demand there would be for the shows. The lads have been looking forward to playing their home town for months now. They want to thank the city that's been so kind to them. But the label were really caught on the hop."
All that said, I'm a bit dubious about this story because I'm not sure why it would be the label's job to book those tickets - isn't that what management are for?
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JUNO AWARD WINNERS IN FULL...
Artist of the Year: Michael Buble
Group of the Year: Nickelback
New Artist of the Year: Daniel Powter
New Group of the Year: Bedouin Soundclash
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year: Neil Young: 'The Painter' by Neil Young
Recording Engineer of the Year: Vic Florencia: 'Everyday is a Holiday' and 'Melancholy Melody' by Esthero
Songwriter of the Year: Winner: Arcade Fire: 'Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)' (with Josh Deu), 'Rebellion (Lies)', 'Wake Up'
Fan Choice Award: Simple Plan
Album of the Year: 'It's Time', Michael Bublé
Aboriginal Recording of the Year: 'Hometown', Burnt Project 1
Adult Alternative Album of the Year: 'Prairie Wind', Neil Young
Alternative Album of the Year: 'Broken Social Scene', Broken Social Scene
Blues Album of the Year: 'Let It Loose', Kenny 'Blues Boss' Wayne
CD/DVD Artwork Design of the Year: 'Hipeponymous' by The Tragically Hip: Garnet Armstrong, Rob Baker, Susan Michalek, Will Ruocco
Children's Album of the Year: 'Baroque Adventure: The Quest for Arundo Donax', Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: 'Amanda Falk', Amanda Falk
Classical Album of the Year (large ensemble): 'Beethoven: Symphonies nos. 5 et 6', Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Bruno Weil
Classical Album of the Year (solo or chamber ensemble): 'Albéniz: Iberia', Marc-André Hamelin
Classical Album of the Year (vocal or choral performance): 'Viardot-Garcia: Lieder Chansons Canzoni Mazurkas', Isabel Bayrakdarian, Serouj Kradjian
Francophone Album of the Year: 'Pages blanches', Jim Corcoran
International Album of the Year: 'Monkey Business', Black Eyed Peas and 'X&Y', Coldplay
Instrumental Album of the Year: 'Belladonna', Daniel Lanois
Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year: 'Radio Guantánamo (Guantánamo Blues Project Vol. 1)', Jane Bunnett
Traditional Jazz Album of the Year: 'Ask Me Later', Don Thompson Quartet
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year: 'Christmas Songs', Diana Krall
Pop Album of the Year: 'It's Time', Michael Bublé
Rock Album of the Year: 'All The Right Reasons', Nickelback
Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Solo): 'Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer', Corb Lund
Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group): 'The Duhks', The Duhks
World Music Album of the Year: 'Humo De Tabaco', Alex Cuba Band
Single of the Year: 'Home', Michael Bublé
Classical Composition of the Year: 'String Quartet No. 1 (The Awakening)', Christos Hatzis
Country Recording of the Year: 'The Road Hammers', The Road Hammers
Dance Recording of the Year: 'Spanish Fly', Hatiras & Macca featuring Shawna B.
Music DVD of the Year: 'Hipeponymous', The Tragically Hip
R&B/Soul Recording of the Year: 'Back For More', Shawn Desman
Rap Recording of the Year: 'The Dusty Foot Philosopher', K'Naan
Reggae Recording of the Year: 'Reggae Time', Blessed
Video of the Year: 'Devil's Eyes' by Buck 65 - producer: Micah Meisner, Rich Terfry