| CMU Daily - on the inside 26 Sep 2002 |
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When Paul McCartney was fined £100 in 1973 for growing cannabis on his farm in Scotland – what was his excuse (and how many other times has McCartney had a brush with the law over the drug)?
Answer tomorrow
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LENNON ASSISTANT DENIES BREAKING CONTRACT
John Lennon's former personal assistant has denied breaking a confidentiality agreement he had with the former Beatle. He is in court facing litigation from Yoko Ono who claims Frederic Seaman broke the agreement by publishing a tell-all book and previously unseen photos. She also accuses him of stealing Lennon’s belongings and selling them to fans.
In court yesterday Seaman admitted signing a confidentiality agreement but denied violating it. Evidence presented by the Ono’s lawyer Paul LiCalsi suggested he had intended to cash in with a book on Lennon all along – they showed an extract from Seaman’s own journal which recounted a 1980 conversation in which he told Lennon he wanted a career in the music industry. "I'm glad I managed to throw him off track, and apparently convinced him I have no interest in writing," the entry read. But Seaman said the comment was innocent: "It occurred to me that I was an eyewitness to history, and at some point I would like to publish a book about Mr. Lennon.”
Ono dismissed Seaman in 1981, unaware he looted files following Lennon's shooting outside their Central Park West apartment building, her suit says. In 1983, Seaman pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny for stealing Lennon's diaries; he was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to return the property. Seaman said he has returned all the items; but Ono claims he returned only some of them. The latest lawsuit demands that Seaman surrender the rights to 374 photos he took of Lennon, turn over about $75,000 US from the sale of the rock legend's papers and pay unspecified damages.
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TRADING FAIRLY … APPARENTLY
An Office of Fair Trading report has cleared the record labels of price fixing in the UK, confirming trading activities it previously deemed ‘unfair’ have ceased. The labels have been accused of blocking imports from elsewhere in Europe where CDs were made available to retailers much cheaper. The result was that records were much more expensive in the UK than abroad. However the latest report, comparing prices across Europe, found that while the UK was more expensive overall, costs were only slightly higher and some albums were cheaper here.
This is the third year the OFT has undertaken this research and they have found CD prices in the UK have in fact fallen in the last two years, from an average price of £11.22 to £10.65. Previous reports had found price fixing activities – principally forcing retailers into anti-competitive agreements in which shops promised not to sell cheap imports. The government agency had told the labels this activity must stop or they risked being fined.
"The major record companies - an international showcase for British talent - must not create barriers to international competition that harm British consumers," the OFT’s John Vickers told the BBC. "Free competition is the way forward, and the industry is on notice that the OFT will act if anti-competitive agreements are found in the future."
The BPI welcomed the latest results - but described the investigation as "time-consuming, costly and ultimately unproductive”. They told reporters: "We can only hope that the regulatory authorities will now allow British record companies to concentrate on producing great British music for our own and the international market."
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ANYONE FOR TECHNO?
Moby has been talking to Radio 1 about the comments Eminem has been making about him and his music: "I was just really surprised,” Moby said, “because when he dissed me in the song, and dressed up like me in the video, and killed me in effigy on stage, I thought it was all supposed to be funny. I certainly wasn’t offended. And then at the MTV music video awards he kind of attacked me. I find some of his more misogynist and homophobic lyrics to be distasteful and offensive, but I have nothing against him. It seems like it's sort of winding down a little bit. Apparently he's found some new people to hate."
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DROWNING POOL SINGER DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES
The death of Dave Williams, the vocalist with rock outfit Drowning Pool, was due to natural causes a coroner has confirmed, after much speculation drugs or alcohol were involved. Williams was found dead on this tour bus in August as they toured with the US Ozzfest. "The news is in. The toxicology report came back negative," the band's tour manager writes on the Drowning Pool website, "'Nothing found' and this is the truth my friends." Word is the singer died of a heart problem. Further tests were ordered after the initial autopsy conducted soon after Williams' death proved inconclusive.
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MURDOCH COURTING FULLER FOR HIS NEW MUSIC CHANNELS
Spice-Girls-come-Pop-Idol supremo is being sounded out by Sky TV with regards the launch of the network’s three music channels next year. The US version of Pop Idol won Murdoch’s Fox Network record ratings, so Fuller is likely to be a popular choice at the top of the Sky empire. The new channels are part of Sky’s move into in house content creation. Aimed to challenge the MTV and EMAP music channels the exact nature of the new channels is unclear, though both Capital and Ministry have been rumoured to have expressed an interest to get involved. Word is Sky want to keep as much control as possible over the channels, so it is unlikely they will hand them over to a radio or music brand, or even Fuller’s 19TV company. This may mean Fuller will demand a share in the channels to get involved. A BSKyB wouldn’t comment on talks with Fuller telling the Guardian: "We continue to talk to a wide range of people across all areas of the music industry and no deals have yet been struck."
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AMERCIAN IDOL STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE
Talking of American Idol, winner Kelly Clarkson's debut single will, unsurprisingly, easily top the Billboard Chart this week. Sales for double a-side ‘Before Your Love/ A Moment Like This’ are currently standing at 236,000. Put this next to 4,955 sales of the number two track - Nivea's ‘Don't Mess With My Man’ – and the fact the combined sales of the rest of the Top 20 is just 34,331, then this is quite an achievement! "It's fantastic," Aaron Borns of RCA told reporters: "The sales were so strong early in the week that we expected to see very big numbers, but this is one of the biggest singles anyone has had in years."
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HENDRIX GUITAR NOT HOT ENOUGH
Hendrix’s famous torched guitar failed to reach its reserve price at an auction yesterday. Bidding for the Fender Stratocaster Sunburst, thought to be the instrument scorched at the London Astoria in 1967, attracted a top bid of £300,000, £40,000 short of the minimum set by current owner Dweezil Zappa - son of Frank. The top London bid was in fact £21,000 lower than a bid made at a Las Vegas auction earlier this year. What Zappa will do with the guitar next remains to be seen.
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GWR SELL NEWS STATION
Radio major GWR sold its London new station LNR to rival group Chrysalis yesterday in a £23.5 million deal. This and other cost cutting measures has brought the companies debts down from £164 million to £100 million. The deal was popular with the city - Simon Mays-Smith, an analyst at JP Morgan, told the Guardian: "What they are effectively doing is selling a loss-making business and gaining cash to pay off some debt... It will go some way to making people comfortable, and they are not going to breach their banking covenants. They have to have some way of gaining financial flexibility to take part in radio sector consolidation.” The sale leaves the group with only digital stations in the London, though it’s national station Classic FM remains one of the most successful stations in the UK.
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‘WESTLIFE TO SPLIT’ RUMOURS NOT TRUE - SORRY
Westlife have reportedly signed a new £20 million record deal with BMG. The new contract should help quash rumours that the band was to split after their Greatest Hits tour next year. "We're not going away, we've hardly started yet" Shane Filan told The Sun. "We've literally just signed after negotiating for six months. There's plenty to celebrate but we're not going to go mad. I'll save some money for a rainy day, when I'm really old, like 35 or something!"
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WHITE NEEDS NEW KIDNEYS
Barry White, who has been ill for some time, has been diagnosed with hypertension and will need new kidneys to overcome the illness. Doctors have confirmed White has had a history of high blood pressure which has led to "a decline of kidney function". His record company told reporters: "Barry has started a course of maintenance dialysis therapy. Once stabilized, he will be a candidate for a kidney transplant".
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TIMBERLAKE LENDS SUPPORT TO ANTI-DRINK DRIVING CAMPAIGN
Following the death of one of his female fans outside LA radio station KIIS-FM, caused by an alleged drunk driver, earlier this month, Nsync’s Justin Timberlake has announced a partnership with RADD - Recording Artists, Actors, and Athletes Against Drunk Driving. Timberlake will write and direct 30-second public service radio and television ads for the group. "The senseless death of Anna White yet again demonstrates the horrors of drunk driving," Timberlake in a statement on Tuesday. "I can only hope that partnering with RADD will raise awareness and convince others never to drive after they've had even a few drinks."
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Answer to Wednesday’s pop quiz:
Who said “My rule has always been not to have a clue about what I was doing”?
Bjork!