| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 6th July |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Live Nation buy House Of Blues empire
- Rank may sell Hard Rock Cafe
- Banton gig cancelled after gay group protests
- Dallas Austin released
- Tom Petty quits interviews
- Doherty quizzed by Jonathan Ross
- New Walkmen album
- We Are Scientists pull re-issue
- Sparklehorse album upcoming
- Tony Bennett album tracks revealed
- Single review: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
- Trinity Rooms host night in Ibiza
- 747s cancel some live dates, confirm others
- The Spitz announced Folk Festival
- Common added to RISE bill
- Rocklands in Lewisham
- Michael Franti on tour
- Universal announce new packaging structure
- BB King plays final Montreux
- The Game DVD release
- Willie Nelson buys a church
- Lavigne and Whibley bring wedding forward
- DMX reality show gets going next week
- Kasabian have a go at other bands
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TOP BIT>>
We mentioned this a few weeks back and the deadline passed last week, but a couple of people have been in touch this week asking if they can still apply, so we are extending the deadline until the end of next week (14 Jul). Basically, we are looking for any college radio people, or people interested in radio journalism, to join our ThreeWeeks podcast team at the Edinburgh Festival in August. ThreeWeeks, as we have mentioned, oh, about 4000 times before, is CMU's sister title, providing the most comprehensive coverage of the Edinburgh Festival every August. We began podcasting from the Festival last year, and this August we will be really stepping up our podcast coverage, interviewing hundreds of bands, comedians, actors and directors, and making those audio interviews available via the web, mobile or, of course, podcast. If you are a college radio person, or are doing a broadcast journalism course, or you have always wanted to do some radio style interviewing and think you might just have the knack, then you should go to http://www.collegemedianetwork.co.uk/3weeksedinburgh where you will find full information on how to apply to join the podcast team plus an application form. These are voluntary posts, and you'll need to get yourself to Edinburgh in August, but it will be a fantastic experience to hone your radio journalism skills as part of the team behind one of the most respected media at the Festival. If you're interested in our Edinburgh podcasts more as a listener than an interviewer, needless to say, we'll be plugging them to death here in the Daily once they start going live in August - so watch this space.
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JOBS N STUFF>>
BigTime TV / RockChic(TM) - Channel Manager
To mark Fender(r)'s 60th anniversary, BigTime TV has invited 60 world-renowned creators to customise a Stratocaster(r). The exhibition 'RockChic' launched to huge acclaim in Paris, and is now set to move to Dublin and London, before the guitars are auctioned for charity. Contributing creators include: Bryan Adams (ft Kate Moss), Agnes B, Christopher Bailey, Bono, Sir Peter Blake, Anton Corbijn, Patrick Cox, Buddhist Punk, Diane Von Furstenberg, Jamie Hewlett , David LaChapelle, Peter Lindbergh (ft Keith Richards), Jennifer Lopez, Jean Baptiste Mondino, Rankin (ft Heidi Klum), Nick Rhodes, Johnny Rocket, Lord Richard Rogers, Hedi Slimane (Dior), Philippe Starck.
BigTime is looking to recruit a Channel Manager who will coordinate the logistics of staging the show in Dublin and London, providing a day to day link between our exhibition venues, production team, publicists and the 60 creators. In addition, the Channel Manager will play a key role in developing complimentary RockChic channels - including a book, a dynamic digital channel and possibly a TV documentary. The manager will also be responsible for identifying new commercial opportunities and partners for both the online and physical manifestation of RockChic. The Channel Manager should be a good organiser and people person, able to balance various concurrent projects. Editorial and web skills an advantage, ability to get on the phone and talk to potential partners a must. Applicants should send a CV to [email protected] - check http://www.rockchic.tv for more information on Rock Chic.
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HOT OFF THE PRESS>>
ALOUD FESTIVAL GUIDE IN ASSOCIATION WITH SONY ERICSSON
Can't be arsed to research festivals this summer? The Aloud Festival Guide has got the info on over 60 events taking place, written by music-lovers for music-lovers. As well as news and updates, we've got on-site blogging from the festivals, features, photos and advice from the illustrious Professor Portaloo – don't shag Anne Widdecombe scores quite highly. You can also win tickets to Lovebox, Belladrum and Bestival by sending in your photos, and feature in our summer podcast – brilliant!
www.aloud.com/festivals
www.myspace.com/aloudfestivals
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PRESS ROOM>>
KILL ALL HIPPIES JULY & LOVEBOX
Kill All Hippies returns this Friday – 7 Jul - at the 333 in Shoreditch. This month you'll find Komakino and Milk Teeth live on stage plus Jeff Automatic and DJ Frankie D on the decks in the basement, and the Fully Comprehensive guys doing their stuff on the ground floor - with Gavin Nugent, Mark Beaumont, Syrinx and the Cooper Temple Clause boys doing the DJ thing. Tickets are a tenner unless you guest list in advance, then it's just a fiver, you can do that at http://www.leylinepromotions.com
Not only that but on Sunday 23 Jul Kill All Hippies will be bringing some rock sensibilities to the Lovebox Weekender at London's Victoria Park by hosting its own big top arena featuring some great live bands and DJ action. On stage will be Battle, White Rose Movement, Longcut, Rumple Strips, The Delilahs and Little Barrie. Not only that, but the Kill All Hippies co-founders Eddy TM and Jagz Kooner will be hosting the day and taking to the decks - supported by Charlotte Hatherley and Gavin Nugent.
Full press releases for both KAH July and KAH at Lovebox at:
http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/killallhippies
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ON AIR>>
TODAY ON TOTALROCK
Wolfmother are playing the Astoria in London tomorrow (July 7). It's already sold out. But, if you listen to Chris Arnold, standing in for Karol, you might just get lucky. He's giving away two pairs of tickets. ('MetalLunchbox', noon to 3pm). Listen live at http://www.totalrock.com.
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RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
MySpace Of The Day: Kish Mauve
I'm not entirely sure why Kish Mauve haven't been MySpace Of The Day long before now, because we've been happily playing their stuff on the CMU Radio show for while. Don't examine that statement, by the way, because it rather implies that we play Kish Mauve tracks every week. Which we don't. But we have certainly played Kish Mauve tracks at least a few times. This is, of course, because we like them, and we like their new single, 'Modern Love', which we did, I guarantee you, play on the most recent CMU Radio show. This is upbeat electro-pop, with brilliantly effective vocals which are not too far removed from the kind of noise produced by the likes of Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and, at times, Tori Amos. On the MySpace page you can hear three tracks, one of which is the aforementioned single release, and there's info about upcoming live dates. As you might expect, it has a lovely purply background. And you know me. I love a good colour scheme.
http://www.myspace.com/kishmauve
This and more at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
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LIVE NATION BUY HOUSE OF BLUES EMPIRE
Live Nation has announced it is entering into a merger agreement with US based HOB Entertainment, who operate the ten House Of Blues venues in cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando, as well as eight arena venues in the likes of Atlanta, Toronto, San Diego and Dallas.
According to Billboard, Live Nation will acquire the HOB group for $350 million in the biggest deal for the global live entertainment group since it spun off from the rest of the Clear Channel empire last year.
It is not known how long this deal has been in the making, but it contradicts comments HOB boss Greg Trojan made to Billboard just a few weeks ago. Asked about a sale of his venue business, he told the trade magazine: "We truly are enthusiastic about how the business is performing and what we see as the future. I wouldn't rule out anything, but I don't see it happening."
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RANK MAY SELL HARD ROCK CAFE
Elsewhere in 'sale of iconic music related establishments' news, leisure conglom the Rank Group has said that it might sell the Hard Rock Cafe chain, so it can concentrate its energies on turning the UK population into a bunch of gambling addicts (having already sold its DVD business and split off its film production unit, if it sold HRC the Group would consist of just the Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino chains).
There are now 120 Hard Rock outlets around the world, 70 operated directly by Rank, the other 50 operated by franchisees. Rank told the London Stock Exchange yesterday that it was reviewing "potential strategic options" for the Hard Rock chain, an announcement which saw their share price rise by 2.5%.
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BANTON GIG CANCELLED AFTER GAY GROUP PROTESTS
This hasn't happened in a while - then again, if you're promoting a tour for a famously homophobic artist, you might want to scratch Brighton off your tour itinerary. A Buju Banton gig at Brighton's Concorde 2 has been called off after loud protests from the local gay community.
As previously reported, Banton is one of a number of artists from the dancehall community who has faced opposition from the gay community in the past because of lyrics in some of his earlier songs which incited violence against homosexuals. Numerous concerts involving such artists in Europe, Australia and parts of the US have been called off in recent years because of opposition from gay rights groups, although those protests have been less frequent of late after promises from the dance hall community to leave offending songs out of live sets.
However, despite assurances from Concorde 2 bosses that Banton would not perform his most controversial song, 'Boom Bye Bye', Brighton's particularly proactive gay community put increasing pressure on the venue to cancel the gig.
The venue initially resisted, but yesterday said in a statement: "Due to unprecedented pressure from the council, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community and the police, Concorde 2 have been left with no choice other than to cancel. Concorde 2 are concerned that by staging this event they will have their licence revoked and could have their premises closed down. This follows a letter and subsequent phone calls from the council outlining their licensing objectives."
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DALLAS AUSTIN RELEASED
Music producer Dallas Austin has been released from prison in Dubai, after being granted a pardon by the emirate's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. As previously reported, Austin was recently sentenced to four years in prison for being found in possession of 1.26 grammes of cocaine at Dubai Airport, after he 'forgot' to dispose of it before leaving the US. The producer's lawyer, Joel A Katz told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper: "He is on the plane and safely out of the country."
Mr Katz also disputed widespread reports that Austin visited Dubai to attend Naomi Campbell's birthday party, explaining that the producer had visited the state to take in some gigs.
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TOM PETTY QUITS INTERVIEWS
Tom Petty has told Rolling Stone that he will do no more interviews, despite the fact that his new album 'Highway Companion' is out on 24 Jul. I wonder how his label feel about that.
He told the publication: "This is the last interview I am doing, because I have to live life. I can't spend every day fulfilling the needs of the label or the media in order to promote the record. I love the record and I really care about it, but there is a point where you start to not like yourself [when doing interviews]."
He continued: "My mind is so delicate, and I am sure it comes from the life I have lived. But my mind is so delicate that I can't take being part of that [interviews]. It's just like hanging around after a show to meet people. I can't do that. I am not the best star for promoting himself. I think that's the whole problem with our career. We have never embraced the promotion machine. Maybe we should have."
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DOHERTY QUIZZED BY JONATHAN ROSS
Pete Doherty says he's stepping up his battle with drug addiction in a new interview with Jonathan Ross to air on Ross's Friday night show this week, saying: "Being skint, drunk, paranoid, no, I don't wish that for myself. For the first time in my life I'm upping the stakes in my battle against it".
The singer went on to explain to Ross about his twice-weekly drug tests, before describing the effect that rehabilitation is having on his creative output, saying: "Being clean means I can sit down and rediscover writing. My song-writing suffered, being on drugs."
Doherty also said that he still loves supermodel Kate Moss, hinted that their relationship is "up and down" rather than completely over, but doesn't seem to hold out much hope, saying: "She's had enough, I think. I love her bones, I always will."
Asked about his relationship with the members of his former band The Libertines, who, of course, asked him to leave because of his drug addiction, he said: "I just became persona non grata, I got booted out, it was just exile - I suppose because of the drugs but really because I didn't want to tour. None of them talk to me. Carl... we were best friends, we loved what we did, we took it right to the end."
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NEW WALKMEN ALBUM
The Walkmen are set to release their third album this year. 'A Hundred Miles Off' is out on 18 Sep, preceded by a single 'Louisiana' on 11 Sep. The album will feature a cover of Mazarin's 'Another One Goes By', which might interest you. Hey, what the heck. Have the full tracklisting:
Louisiana
Danny's At the Wedding
Good For You's Good For Me
Emma, Get Me A Lemon
All Hands And The Cook
Lost In Boston
Don't Get Me Down (Come On Over Here
Tenleytown
This Job Is Killing Me
Brandy Alexander
Always After You (Til' You Started After Me)
Another One Goes By
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WE ARE SCIENTISTS PULL RE-ISSUE
CMU favourites We Are Scientists have pulled their next single release, a re-issue of 'The Great Escape', first released last October. The band's Chris Cain wrote on the official website: "We were feeling more and more queazy about a second re-release (the 'Nobody Move' re-release having been our last single), cuz re-releases are dumb."
He also revealed that We Are Scientists will go on tour in the US in Autumn with those other CMU favourites Art Brut, and The Spinto band. No dates, as yet, but we'll let you know if we hear anything. For those of you planning a US trip in Sep/Oct.
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SPARKLEHORSE ALBUM UPCOMING
Sparklehorse (great name for an act, I always think) is set to release a new album, 'Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain' on 25 Sep, featuring guest appearances from the likes of Danger Mouse, Tom Waits and Steven Drodz from The Flaming Lips. Of course, it's been a long five years since Mark Linkous released a Sparklehorse long-player, 2001's 'It's A Wonderful Life'.
Oh, and it's a good day for tracklisting fans everywhere:
Don't Take My Sunshine Away
Getting It Wrong
Shade And Honey
See The Light
Return To Me
Some Sweet Day
Ghost In The Sky
Mountains
Morning Hollow
Knives Of Summertime
It's Not So Hard
Dreamt For Lights Years In The Belly Of A Mountain (aka Maxine)
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TONY BENNETT ALBUM TRACKS REVEALED
Boy, are you tracklisting fans in luck today. To be fair, this one is probably more interesting than your standard tracklisting due to the fact that it reveals the many music stars who have collaborated with the legendary Tony Bennett for that previously reported duets album. Ooohh, it makes me want to listen to 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco'. I might go and do that whilst you look at this list:
'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' with Sting
'Smile' with Barbra Streisand and Pinchas Zukerman
'Put On A Happy Face' with James Taylor
'The Shadow Of Your Smile' with Juanes
'Rags To Riches' with Elton John
'The Very Thought of You' with Paul McCartney
'Lullaby of Broadway' with Dixie Chicks
'Cold, Cold Heart' with Tim McGraw
'The Best Is Yet To Come' with Diana Krall
'For Once In My Life' with Stevie Wonder
'Are You Havin' Any Fun?' with Elvis Costello
'Because Of You' with K.D. Lang and Chris Botti
'Just In Time' with Michael Buble
'Sing You Sinners' with John Legend
'The Good Life' with Billy Joel
'I Wanna Be Around' with Bono
'How Do You Keep the Music Playing' with George Michael
'I Left My Heart In San Francisco' with Bill Charlap
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SINGLE REVIEW: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth (Wichita)
For some time, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (or CYHSY as they shall be henceforth known) have been hailed as the inheritors of the Arcade Fire's buzzy indie-post-rock crown. CYHSY's eponymous album last year was loved by many a blogger and fanzine, but didn't really make much of a splash on the public at large. Their new single is really good, but sadly I can't see it doing any better than they did before – it's just not terribly accessible. The vocals aren't clear, the song itself has a very loose structure and, coming it at nearly 6 minutes, is too long for most people's pop song attention spans. When/if the general public (or should that be the music programmers that dictate public opinion?) grow to accept something a little more oddball, then it'll be CYHSY who win out, but until that day, they'll most likely stay underground. DG
Release Date: Jul 10
Press contact: Wichita IH [all]
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TRINITY ROOMS HOST NIGHT IN IBIZA
Limerick's Trinity Rooms are to become the first Irish club to host their own night in Ibiza, an event which will take place at the white island's Es Paradis superclub. Trinity Rooms residents Paul Webb, Dan Sykes & Adrian De Cleir will appear, with special guest Ferg from Galway's GPO.
Webb told CMU: "It's a real honour to have been asked out to join the Pukka Up Residency at Es Paradis. It's a measure of how internationally recognised Trinity Rooms has become in just 3 years when you see that the other UK clubs asked to host a night are the likes of the Honey Club in Brighton and The Cross in London, each of whom have been on the global clubbing map for years. It's going to be quite a party!"
That all happens on Friday 14 Jul, and entry costs 35 of your earth euros. Info and (possible) guestlist from Joe Clarke, [email protected]
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747S CANCEL SOME LIVE DATES, CONFIRM OTHERS
I don't think we know 747s well enough to appoint them as CMU favourites, to be honest, but I know that I really enjoyed a recent single and played it at least twice on the CMU Radio Show. Sadly, they've had to cancel their live dates in July for fairly nasty reasons - Guitarist Freddie Stitz has had chicken pox, which developed into pneumonia. He is now recovering, which is good news. The other good news is that the band are to support The Kooks on that previously reported seaside tour, and will follow that with three festival appearances. Here are all the dates:
18 Aug: Hastings Pier Ballroom (supporting The Kooks)
18 Aug: Secret Garden Party Festival
19 Aug: Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall (supporting The Kooks)
22 Aug: Torquay Riviera (supporting The Kooks)
23 Aug: Blackpool Winter Gardens (supporting The Kooks)
24 Aug: Skegness The Farm (supporting The Kooks)
26 Aug: Reading Festival Carling Stage
27 Aug: Leeds Festival Carling Stage
1 Sep: St. Agnes, Cornwall Surfers Against Sewage Festival
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THE SPITZ ANNOUNCED FOLK FESTIVAL
The Spitz have announced details of their Festival of Folk 2006. The programme consists of ten gigs, all taking place in Sept, showcasing the likes of Beth Orton and Bert Jansch, Vetiver, Lupen Crook and Adem. All shows take place at the Spitz, of course, dates and line-ups as follows:
1 Sep: Show of Hands + Support £ 15.00/£ 17.50
3 Sep: Kroke + Sonver £ 12.50/£ 15.00
7 Sep: Vetiver + Mi & L'au £ 10/£ 12.50
8 Sep: Fence Collective Night featuring Pictish Trail + Gummi Bako + Barbarosa + Very Special Fence Collective Guests £ 8.00/£10.00
9 Sep: Davey Graham + Voice of The Seven Woods £ 12.50/£15.00
15 Sep: Eighteenth Day of May + The Human Beings £ 8/£10.00
20 Sep: Jim Moray + Lupen Crook £ 10/£12.50
21 Sep: Spiers and Boden + Los Destarrados £ 8.00/£ 10.00
28 Sep: John Renborn + Benjamin Wetherill £ 12.50/£15.00
29 Sep: Beth Orton & Bert Jansch + Very Special Guest £ 17.50/£ 20.00
30 Sep: Adem + The Memory Band + Aidan Smith £ 10.00/£12.50
Press info from [email protected]
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COMMON ADDED TO RISE BILL
US rapper Common has been added to the line up for the anti-racism Rise:London United festival, which takes place in London's Finsbury Park this weekend. Have we mentioned that already? I can't remember. Ah well, he joins a rather good line up at the free event - including Graham Coxon, Buzzcocks, The Wailers, Sway, The Duke Spirit and the legend that is Roy Ayers. It all takes place this Saturday, 8 Jul. So don't go saying we didn't tell you.
On the event that mayor bloke Ken told reporters: "London is built on the diversity of its population and this anti-racist festival, which is going from strength to strength, sends a very clear message that at every level racism is not welcome in this city. This is the broadest line-up that we've assembled for the festival to date, reflecting the commitment that there will be no let-up in celebrating London's real character as a diverse and open city".
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ROCKLANDS IN LEWISHAM
Of course, while the RISE festival is looking rather good, surely all the cool kids will be down there in South London for Lewisham People's Day? It takes place at Mountsfield Park just round the corner from my house, and music wise, you need to head to the Rocklands Bandstand for Chet, The Darling Reds, an hour long showcase from StreetVibes and festival favourites Indigo Moss. More info on the whole thing here: http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/peoplesday
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MICHAEL FRANTI ON TOUR
Michael Franti is on tour next month with Spearhead, to follow the release of his new album 'Yell Fire!' and DVD 'I Know I'm Not Alone', out on 24 Jul. Not surprisingly, he's calling in on the Edinburgh Festival. Well, it seems to me that he's there every year, so I would expect no less. Press info from Coalition.
12 Aug: London Brixton Carling Academy.
16 Aug: Edinburgh Corn Exchange – T On The Fringe.
30 Aug: Bristol Carling Academy
31 Aug: Birmingham Carling Academy 2.
3 Sep: Brighton Concorde 2.
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UNIVERSAL ANNOUNCE NEW PACKAGING STRUCTURE
You lucky lucky people - it's not every day we have CD packaging news. Universal Music Group International has announced it will launch a new 'three-tier CD packaging and pricing system' across Europe - hurrah!
The three tiers will be: a deluxe package coming with a bonus CD or DVD in addition to the main album, a standard package using a new 'super jewel box', rather than the standard CD box, and a basic no frills package using a streamlined slide-pack CD case, a format being compared by the record company to a paper back book.
Although Universal doesn't set the retail price of its album releases, it says it is recommending approximate pricing of €19.99 (about £14) for deluxe, €14.99 (about £10.50) for standard and €9.99 (about £7) for basic.
The major says the super jewel box packaging is stronger and more durable and that, while the boxes cost slightly more than traditional boxes, Universal will not pass that extra cost on to the customer.
Universal International boss Lucian Grainge told CMU: "As our digital business continues to accelerate, as we anticipated, this is also an exciting time to improve our physical CD offer – and at no extra cost to the fans. We've listened to their views about value and choice, and we're giving them more music-buying options than ever."
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BB KING PLAYS FINAL MONTREUX
'King Of Blues' BB King has given his last performance at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival, having made appearances there for the last twenty years. Joined on stage by Randy Crawford, Gladys Knight and Barbara Hendricks, the eighty year old legend joked "Maybe I should quit every night".
King, whose 2006 album '80' won a Grammy award, says he will still appear live in the US, but his days of touring in Europe are definitely over. He told his audience: "I'm going to cry again. This is the icing on the cake. I could never be sent off better," before explaining how his health is deteriorating, saying "My knees and back hurt and my head ain't much good either. I can remember, though, that I am now 80 years old so I sit down to make it feel better."
Festival founder Claude Nobs told him: "Nobody wants it to be your last year. You are an honorary citizen of Montreux. This is your second home."
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THE GAME DVD RELEASE
The Game is to release a documentary DVD, 'Stop Snitchin Stop Lyin', on 25 Sep, which promises an expose on what really went on with G-Unit. The press release says it will be "the most controversial DVD in hip-hop history", so good news for all you controversy fans out there. Press info from Noble PR.
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WILLIE NELSON BUYS A CHURCH
Country star Willie Nelson has bought a Texas church where he sang and played music when he was a boy. The church was closed in May because attendance was poor, and the congregation was merged with that of a neighbouring parish. Now Nelson, helped by a childhood friend, is organising monthly services to take place in the building, and marked the church's re-opening with a special service at which the singer performed hymns with his sister, and other guests.
Nelson told his audience: " [friend] Bobbie and I have been going to this church since we were born," Now you're all members of the Abbott Methodist Church, and you will be, forever and ever."
After the service, he added: "This has been quite an experience, all these people. We went to school together, played ball together, dated together."
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LAVIGNE AND WHIBLEY BRING WEDDING FORWARD
Avril Lavigne and Sum 41's Deryck Whibley, who, as previously reported, are engaged, have apparently brought forward their wedding plans, with sources reporting that friends and family have been notified of the earlier date and told to immediately book tickets for Santa Barbara, where the couple have a home together. The wedding was originally set to take place on 26 Aug, according to reports, and the new date is an attempt to minimise media scrutiny and speculation. Whoops.
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DMX REALITY SHOW GETS GOING NEXT WEEK
Surely this has to be the definition of car crash television? I suppose he might try and behave himself for the cameras, mightn't he? Whatever, if I were a camera man following him around, I wouldn't get in a car with him. So, this is the news that DMX, serial traffic police baiter, is to appear in a new reality show 'DMX: Soul of a Man' which will debuts on US cable network BET on 12 Jul. The six part series follows the hip-hop star's travels from New York to Arizona. I think I'm right to be a little worried.
He doesn't 'travel' well.
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KASABIAN HAVE A GO AT OTHER BANDS
Kasabian have been saying negative things about some of their fellow bands, mostly on account of their being a bit dull. Guitarist Serge Pizzorno had nothing good to say about Bloc Party, telling NME: "they'll get rumbled. That's their thing, innit, concentrating on what's shit about life. In 20 years' time nobody will give a fuck about those bands. What's the point in whingeing? That's not what a band's about. A band should be about having a good time. With your mates."
Singer Tom Meighan explained his distaste for the recently formed then disbanded Test Icicles: "What a bunch of wankers! Give it up, mate. King's Cross rent boys, we call 'em - all those bands."
The band also called Pete Doherty "a fucking tramp", and The Automatic "horrible". Which is lovely.