| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 3rd April |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Weiland responds re Velvet Revolver
- The Word on Morrissey - not racist, OK?
- Jay-Z close to signing deal with Live Nation
- MySpace expected to announce download plans this week
- Troublestock to fit more breaks kings into one building than you can conceivably imagine
- Rainbow Bar memorial for Mengolas
- Sam Gesser dies
- Neu! founder dies
- Levert family ask feds to investigate singer's death
- TI's lawyer on that gun charge sentence
- Oasis men guest on Weller single
- Radiohead best of tracklisting
- Moldy Peach to write songs for Sesame Street
- Crimea headline Rage Into Spring
- Squarepusher show in Liverpool
- Primal Scream do the Hop
- Bands line up for Beachdown
- Wireless additions
- Ting Tings tour
- Serj Tankian postponements
- Deep Purple top riff chart
- Culture minister wants to do "a really big thing" for music industry
- EMI appoint Google exec to top digital post
- Jobs go at EMI Christian outpost
- Tesco deny attempts to push down wholesale prices further
- Woolies improve profits, though music sales down
- Live Later doubles audience
- Costello to front new TV interview show
- Mills threatens to bad mouth Macca to his new woman
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TOP BIT - INDY AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
So, the CMU Recommended Indy Awards, our very favourite celebration of unsigned music talent, announce their shortlists at an event in London last night, meaning we are now in the final stage of this exciting awards programme.
As much previously reported, the Indy Awards launched last year, and are a celebration of the very best unsigned talent. This particular celebration is unique in that it all starts with that much untapped bank of musical knowledge, independent club and gig promoters. The whole thing works like this: indie promoters nominate the new talent they have been most excited about in the last 12 months, a long list of nominations is then posted online where fans get to vote, and then, finally, a panel of industry and media types (including good old CMU) select overall winners from the most highly voted acts in each genre category. The winners are announced at an awards bash in London.
Last year stage one was London focused, with indie promoters based in the capital doing the initial nominating. This year the whole thing has been expanded out, and promoters from all over the country have made nominations.
We are now in the final phase of the 2008 awards - the promoters have made their nominations, the fans have voted, and now the industry judging panel will pick the overall winners from the shortlists announced last night. The final awards will be presented on 25 Apr at The Forum in Kentish Town in London, tickets for which are now on sale for a tenner - details at http://www.indyawards.co.uk
Meanwhile, we'll get typing in those nomination lists and include them in tomorrow's Daily.
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JOBS N STUFF
NEW MEDIA COORDINATOR
Cherry Red Records, a West London based independent record company founded 30 years ago, is looking for a New Media Coordinator to look after it's fast growing catalogue. The ideal candidate would be very organised, have good initiative, a decent level of new media knowledge, and a genuine affinity with, and enthusiasm for, the unique and very diverse Cherry Red catalogue. Please write with a detailed CV and name your favourite Cherry Red album to [email protected]
KUDOS RECORDS REQUIRES A SALES AND LABEL MANAGER
Based in our busy Kentish Town office, core responsibilities include developing our distribution roster, project managing releases for our distributed labels, and maintaining sales to a selection of UK and overseas accounts. The successful candidate will be scrupulously organised and an effective communicator. He or she will posses relevant industry experience, a genuine enthusiasm for the music we distribute, along with a passion for discovering new music. Salary will be based on experience. We also offer a generous performance related bonus scheme. Application by email only, attaching a copy of your CV to [email protected]
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CMU CLASSIFIEDS
ALIVE ADVERTISING - ACCESS ALL AUDIENCES
Reach the audience of Camden Crawl via advertising in the official programme or placing your swag in the official goodie bag. Deadline for this highly targeted opportunity is this Friday and we have just a few opportunities available starting at just £195. Call us now to find out about advertising opportunities in Plan B, Fact, Loud and Quiet, Disorder and Super Super, plus over 20 festival programmes this season starting with the Camden Crawl. Contact [email protected] 07966 555 857
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SNAP OF THE DAY: TOM HATRED AND THE ANGRYBAND
Sometimes I worry that we tip too many London-based acts in this column, and I generally make a concerted effort not to include them too much. Unfortunately, with artists like Tom Hatred And The Angryband it'sard not to start shouting from the rooftops, because, along with the likes of Noah and the Whale and Johnny Flynn, they're creating some of the best singles (and I mean generally, not just within a particular genre) around. Unlike his aforementioned pals, Tom Hatred hasn't quite hit the jackpot song yet, though he's close with the charming folk-rock of 'I Killed A Man', which sees him switch between Adam Green-esque baritone (y'know, the 'high and lonesome' kind), the rich sound of a harmonica and the warming admission that "I've done something that you couldn't understand, I've killed a man", which is sung so candidly you would've thought he'd just told you he was popping out to Tesco. The MySpace link below is your guide.
http://www.myspace.com/tomhatred
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WEILAND RESPONDS RE VELVET REVOLVER
Now this is what we want, full scale bitching as bands implode, hurrah. Scott Weiland has responded to a statement from fellow Velvet Revolver type Slash earlier this week in which the guitarist announced the former Stone Temple Pilot had been axed as frontman of the band because "his increasingly erratic onstage behaviour and personal problems have forced us to move on".
Weiland promptly issued his own statement to Billboard, denying he was to blame for tensions in the band, and claiming that Slash's accusations against him were designed to cover up the truth. He told the trade mag: "The truth of the matter is that the band had not gotten along on multiple levels for some time. On a musical level, there were moments of joy, inspiration, fun ... at times, but let's not forget the multiple trips to rehab every member of the band had taken (with the exception of one member, no need to mention his name)".
Weiland performed with Velvet Revolver for the last time in Amsterdam this week. He had already revealed plans to reunite the Stone Temple Pilots. Slash et al, meanwhile, are planning to continue as Velvet Revolver, presumably finding a new frontman before returning to the studio to record their third album.
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THE WORD ON MORRISSEY - NOT RACIST, OK?
In an aside to the much previously reported and, in case you wondered, still ongoing legal dispute between Morrissey and the NME over that interview last year in which the music weekly allegedly twisted the former Smiths man's words to make him sound a little bit racist, a statement has been read out in court in which Word magazine, who were accused of making similar implications of racism in their own Morrissey article, have formally stated they never meant to imply any such thing.
That fact was primarily outlined in a rather verbose statement delivered to the court by Morrissey's legal man John Reid. Outlining his client's problem with the Word article, he told the court: "In this libel action I represent the claimant, the singer and musician, Steven Patrick Morrissey, professionally known as Morrissey. My Friend, Caroline Kean, represents the defendants, Development Hell and [Word editor] Mark Ellen. The background to this claim is that the March 2008 edition of Word Magazine included an article by David Quantick concerning the claimant, Mr Morrissey. It has been drawn to the defendants' attention that the closing paragraphs of Mr Quantick's article could have been construed to suggest that Mr Morrissey was a racist, held racist opinions or that [as the child of migrant parents[ he was a hypocrite. The article suggested that Mr Morrissey has in the past paid lip service only to anti-racism".
Regarding Word's subsequent qualification of the article, he continued: "The defendants never intended the article to have the meanings suggested above and wish to make absolutely clear that they disassociate themselves entirely from any such inferences that might be drawn from the article. The defendants accept that it would be absurd to accuse Mr Morrissey of being a racist or of espousing racist views. They equally accept that Mr Morrissey is not a hypocrite, in relation in particular to the views he has expressed in the past in relation to British cultural identity. The defendants accept that Mr Morrissey is well known as a keen supporter of anti-racist groups and the defendants wish to make absolutely clear that they never intended the article to suggest that Mr Morrissey was anything other than a sincere supporter of anti-racism initiatives".
For those that want confirmation of all this from Word themselves, their legal rep, the aforementioned Kean, added: "On behalf of the defendants, I confirm everything my friend, the claimant's solicitor, has said. The defendants offer their sincere apologies to the claimant. They hope that by making this statement, the matter will be clarified once and for all and the record will have been set straight".
Responding to all this, Morrissey said in a statement this morning: "I am obviously delighted with this victory and the clearing of my name in public where it is loud and clear for all to hear. The NME have calculatedly tried to damage my integrity and to label me as a racist in order to boost their diminishing circulation. Word Magazine made the mistake of repeating those allegations, which they now accept are false and, as a result, have apologised in open court. I will now continue to pursue my legal action against the NME and its editor until they do the same".
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JAY-Z CLOSE TO SIGNING DEAL WITH LIVE NATION
So, the long expected new Jay-Z business partnership will be with Live Nation. Of course it will. Where else? Yes, the New York Times reports that the live music conglom is close to signing one of those multi-million 360 deals with the hip hop star, which might include the launch of a new record label jointly owned by the rapper and the live firm to be called Roc Nation.
As previously reported, there has been much speculation as to what business venture Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter would launch next after he stepped down from the President job at Universal's Def Jam Records. His original music company, Roc-a-Fella, was absorbed by Universal as part of the deal that led to him running Def Jam, and while Carter still has an interest in the Rocawear fashion enterprise and is involved in the expansion of his 40/40 club bars, while also dabbling in both the advertising and basketball industries, it has been assumed he would look to launch a new business in the music space too. Talk of a deal with Apple or Warner followed, though so did (albeit denied) gossip that both those firm's had balked when informed about how much money Carter wanted in any deal.
Anyway, the Times says that Carter is the latest high profile artist about to enter into a long term cross-career deal with Live Nation, a deal which could be worth up to $150 million. The deal would reportedly see the creation of Roc Nation, a recordings, publishing and management company, and would also cover Carter's own record and touring activity for a ten year period.
Sources have confirmed to Billboard that a 360 deal between Jay and Live Nation is indeed being negotiated as we speak, and could be announced anytime now. As also much previously reported, Live Nation are proactively expanding out of their original domains of tour promotion and venue management by signing big money deals with major artists that expand into merchandising, ticketing, fan liaison and recordings. Earlier this week it confirmed a touring, merchandising, fan management deal with U2, while last year it hit the headlines by signing a groundbreaking touring, merchandising, recordings deal with Madonna.
Elsewhere in Jay-Z news, People magazine has reported that he and long time girlfriend Beyonce Knowles have obtained a marriage licence that is valid for sixty days, leading to speculation that the power couple of US hip hop and R&B could be about to get married.
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MYSPACE EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE DOWNLOAD PLANS THIS WEEK
MySpace's much previously reported and highly anticipated (by someone, I'm sure) new download service will reportedly be officially announced soon - any minute now, in fact, though most likely tomorrow.
As previously reported, after the lacklustre response to its original download service, a JV with SnoCap that aimed to allow artists to sell music themselves via their MySpace pages, the News Corp owned social networking platform is planning a much more high profile entry into the download space by offering a full digital music service, most likely accessible via a central portal and artists' MySpace pages.
Billboard cite sources as saying that both Universal Music and Warner have now signed licensing deals to make music available to the new download store, and that MySpace are prepared to go ahead and launch their service with just those two majors on board. That said, it is thought that while MySpace will announce their store this week, it will take 2-3 months to actually launch, giving SonyBMG and EMI the chance to sign up before launch (though EMI are reportedly in no rush to sign to the MySpace download store, for reasons I don't really understand).
Billboard reckons that the MySpace Music store will sell DRM free downloads, make ad-supported preview streams available, and also sell tickets, merchandise and ringtones. A mobile version of the store is also reportedly in the pipleline.
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TROUBLESTOCK TO FIT MORE BREAKS KINGS INTO ONE BUILDING THAN YOU CAN CONCEIVABLY IMAGINE
If we had a 'clear your diary, this event is a must' section in the CMU Daily this event would be in it. We don't, of course, but let's pretend we do.
Everything that is brilliant about the world of breaks and quality dance music will come together at the London's The End club next week (9 Apr) for an event to be held in aid of Paul 'Trouble' Arnold, the boss of the Chew The Fat club and label mini-empire, and one of the true pioneers in the whole breaks scene. As previously reported, Arnold discovered he was suffering from leukaemia late last year, and has stepped back from his day to day job at Fat while he receives treatment.
Heading up the 'Troublestock' extravaganza will be some 'DJ offs' between the very finest record spinners, including the Plump DJs vs Stanton Warriors (for the first time ever), Krafty Kuts vs Freestylers, Evil Nine vs Elite Forc, James Zabellia vs Nic Fanciulli and Paul Woolford vs Yousef. Add to that Rob Da Bank, Speaker Junk, Count Of Monte Cristal, Sinden and the still-pretty-damn-buzzy-I-hear Kissy Sell Out, and I'm having to wonder how they'll fit it all into one night. Though it does go on till 4am - and if ever there was an excuse for staying up that late on a school night, this is surely it.
Go to this URL for more details, and if you're a press type email [email protected] so you can write about it.
http://www.endclub.com/node/23323
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RAINBOW BAR MEMORIAL FOR MENGOLAS
A memorial service has been held at the Sunset Strip rock venue The Rainbow in honour of its former manager, the US record label veteran Jerry Mangolas, who died at his LA home last month aged 57.
Mangolas began his record label career in the Casablanca Records mail room, before working his way up the hierarchy there to become PA to label boss Neil Bogart. When Bogart later set up Boardwalk Records he appointed Mangolas as his right hand man. After Bogart's death in 1982, Mangolas took his skills to Arista, where he worked as a Director Of Operations for some 19 years. When Arista closed its West Coast office Mangolas turned his hobby - the aforementioned The Rainbow Bar - into his job becoming manager of the rock joint.
Paying tribute to Magnolas, one of his closest friends, Carlos Cavazo, guitarist with Quiet Riot, told reporters: "He will truly be missed. He was good friends with everybody in the industry. He was such a gentleman and so cordial".
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SAM GESSER DIES
Montreal based concert producer Sam Gesser has died, aged 78, from cancer. Over a fifty year career Gesser worked in both radio and the recording industry, acting as Canadian rep for the US Folkways label, but it was for his concert promotion work in Canada that he enjoyed most success, work that led to actor musician Harry Belafonte calling him "the best impresario in North America". He was most notable for bringing the likes of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and even the Peking Opera to Montreal, as well as for staging Canadian tours of Broadway musicals like 'The King & I'. A funeral will be held for family and friends only, though some kind of public memorial is also thought to be in the pipeline.
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NEU! FOUNDER DIES
Klaus Dinger, a founding member of both Kraftwerk and Neu!, has died aged 61. The influential Krautrocker drummer died last month, but his death was formally announced by Neu!'s record label Gronland yesterday after a private funeral had taken place.
Paying tribute, Michael Rother, the other former Kraftwerker who formed Neu! with Dinger, said in a statement: "Together with many friends of his music I will remember Klaus for his creativity as an artist and I will think about him with gratitude for his wonderful contributions to our project Neu!"
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LEVERT FAMILY ASK FEDS TO INVESTIGATE SINGER'S DEATH
The family of US R&B star Sean Levert have asked the FBI to investigate his death.
As previously reported, Levert, a member of R&B outfit LeVert and son of O'Jays vocalist Eddie Levert, died last weekend, just days after being jailed over failure to make child support payments. He was rushed to hospital from the Cuyahoga County Jail in Ohio, seemingly after having some kind of fit at the prison which led to him being strapped down by prison officials. An autopsy did not reveal a certain cause of death, though foul play has been ruled out. It is hoped a pending toxicology report can throw some light on things.
Levert's cousin Michael Gibson has spoken to the Associated Press, and says the singer had never previously had an outburst like that described by prison bosses, hence their concerns over his death. Meanwhile, an FBI spokesman confirmed they had been approached by and agreed to meet with Levert's family.
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TI'S LAWYER ON THAT GUN CHARGE SENTENCE
As rapper TI begins that previously reported community service in relation to those illegal weapon possession charges, his lawyer Dwight Thomas has told AllHipHop.com about the legal negotiations that went on behind the scenes ahead of the plea bargain which will see TI do a substantial 1500 hours of community service, at least 1000 hours in the next year. A decision on jail time was suspended for a year, though some say he is still likely to have to serve a year inside, despite the plea deal and community work. However, over the next year he will be under much less restrictions in terms of his movements than after his initial arrest last year, plus any curfew time forced by those restrictions will be counted as part of any jail sentence.
Asked about the somewhat sudden and unusual plea bargain in relation to this case, Thomas told the hip hop website: "We'd been doing some good faith negotiations for some time. This didn't happen over a couple of days. We've been involved in some lengthy discussions, both the attorneys for the state and the defence attorneys. This was a reasonable outcome and it was in his best interest. He's expressed remorse for what he's done and accepted responsibility. He's committed, he's sincere, he has a passion about helping others. That was one of the factors even at his bond hearing: the fact that he's such a charitable person. So I think it's gonna work out for him".
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OASIS MEN GUEST ON WELLER SINGLE
Noel Gallagher and fellow Oasis type Gem Archer will feature on the first track to be released from Paul Weller's new album '22 Dreams'. The track, 'Echoes Around The Sun', will appear on a double a-side single alongside 'Have You Made Up Your Mind' in May. Commenting on the single, Weller told Uncut: "Noel came down to the studio with this loop he'd never been able to do anything with. He played the bass and the piano and then Gem played guitar on top".
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RADIOHEAD BEST OF TRACKLISTING
Good news for fans of EMI projects that piss off Radiohead, something we all love, yes? The major's Parlophone division, to which the band used to be signed, has announced details of the previously reported Radiohead best of release, something Thom Yorke et al are reportedly not so keen on, and which the major is said to be releasing in order to cash in on the band's continued popularity after losing out on the rights to release their most recent LP offering 'In Rainbows'. The best of is expected to be released on 2 Jun, will be a two CD effort, and will have the following track listing...
CD1
Just
Paranoid Android
Karma Police
Creep
No Surprises
High And Dry
My Iron Lung
There There
Lucky
Fake Plastic Trees
Idioteque
2+2=5
The Bends
Pyramid Song
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Everything In Its Right Place
CD2
Airbag
Might Be Wrong
Go To Sleep
Let Down
Planet Telex
Exit Music (For A Film)
The National Anthem
Knives Out
Talk Show Host
You
Anyone Can Play Guitar
How To Disappear Completely
True Love Waits
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MOLDY PEACH TO WRITE SONGS FOR SESAME STREET
Former Moldy Peaches girl Kimya Dawson is set to write music for 'Sesame Street', presumably without the more risqué lyrics the MPs and her MP collaborator Adam Green were/are prone to use. The kids TV project follows Dawson's recently acclaimed musical work on the movie 'Juno' as well as her own kids album 'Alphabutt' which is due to be released in August. Commenting on the Sesame Street gig, she told Billboard: "I'm a kid of the '70s, and I definitely grew up with 'Sesame Street' - the old 'Sesame Street.' I'm just a huge, huge fan".
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CRIMEA HEADLINE RAGE INTO SPRING
Live news galore for you now. First, those old CMU favourites The Crimea will play The Rage Into Spring event which takes place on 16 Apr at Cargo, with support from The Clik Clik, James Yuill and Tom Hatred And The AngryBand. As previously reported, the Rage people recently launched on online community thingy whatnot, so presumably members of that community get special access to this gig. More info on it all is at http://www.therage.tv. Press gubbins from Zest PR.
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SQUAREPUSHER SHOW IN LIVERPOOL
Tom Jenkinson, who you trendy types might know better as Warp signed Squarepusher, will put on a show with "French multi-instrumentalist and mechanical genius" Pierre Bastien at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 24 May. It's being staged by the people behind the Liverpool Music Week festival and I've no idea what the show will involve, but am sure it will be very interesting. You can get press info from the Cream people.
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PRIMAL SCREAM DO THE HOP
Primal Scream have been added to the bill for the Neil Young headlined Hop Farm festival which you all know about because we told you. It all takes place on 6 Jul, and is the latest festival project from Vince Power, who is returning to the UK festival market after being contractually banned from doing so after the sale of Mean Fiddler.
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BANDS LINE UP FOR BEACHDOWN
Gogol Bordello, De La Soul, Reverend & The Makers and Lightspeed Champion have all been confirmed for the new Sussex festival Beachdown which is being staged over that busy busy busy festival weekend, the August Bank Holiday, 22-25 Aug. Also on the bill are Infadels, The Hat and Roy Ayers - damn, I wish I wasn't going to be 400 miles away in Edinburgh.
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WIRELESS ADDITIONS
Dirty Pretty Things and New York Dolls have been added to the bill for the Morrissey date of the Wireless Festival. I'm lobbying for Mozza's legal guy John Reid to have a slot so he can deliver in full the legal argument against the NME. Perhaps followed by a public burning of copies of the NME, and maybe a lynching of a Conor McNicholas effigy. Oh, and maybe a line up of immigrants being welcomed to the UK by Mozza. Now that is an event I'd pay to go to. Morrissey headlines Wireless on 4 Jul.
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TING TINGS TOUR
I'm pretty sure we like The Ting Tings at CMU, so have some tour dates on us. These will coincide with the 19 May release of debut album, 'We Started Nothing'
15 May: Brighton - Club NME
16 May: Brighton - Concorde 2 (Great Escape)
17 May: Newcastle - Northumbria Uni
18 May: Manchester - Academy 2
19 May: Oxford - Academy
20 May: Birmingham - Irish Centre
22 May: London - Astoria
23 May: Sheffield - Leadmill
24 May: Glasgow - QMU
25 May: Leeds - Cockpit
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SERJ TANKIAN POSTPONEMENTS
Is it just me, or is every musician ill at the moment? More cranberry juice for all musical types, that's what I say. Though I think I said it this time last year, when every gig was also being cancelled due to ill health. Serj Tankian is the latest artist to cancel dates because of illness. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist type has had to pull out of five UK dates this week - they have been rescheduled for August and September, either side of his Reading/Leeds dates. Details as follows...
19 Aug: Oxford, Academy
20 Aug: Birmingham, Academy
22 Aug: Reading Festival
23 Aug: Leeds Festival
1 Sep: Glasgow, ABC
2 Sep: Liverpool, Carling Academy
3 Sep: London, Forum
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DEEP PURPLE TOP RIFF CHART
The guitar riff in Deep Purple's 'Smoke On The Water' has been voted the best ever written in a survey of guitar students in London (of which there are seemingly many). The riff from Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was second, while Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' was third. Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' was fourth, while Guns N Roses scored in both fifth and sixth place, for 'Sweet Child O Mine' and 'Paradise City'. Perhaps backing up former Guns N Roses man Slash's recent comments that there were no decent guitarists in the new generation of rock bands, except for Jack White, The White Stripes 2003 hit 'Seven Nation Army' was the only recent riff to come in the Top 20, albeit at 19.
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CULTURE MINISTER WANTS TO DO "A REALLY BIG THING" FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY
The government's culture chief Andy Burnham has said he is determined to do "one really big thing" for the music industry, ie to deliver on at least one major issue. Which sounds like quite a weak ambition to me, just one, but perhaps the music industry should be grateful for anything these days. Burnham made the commitment to Music Week at the launch of that previously reported Kickz youth programme which is offering the kids (well, not all of them, but some) free football or music training. He didn't say which of the current issues - making ISPs do more about P2P and an extension on the recording copyright term are the biggest I suppose - are most high on his agenda.
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EMI APPOINT GOOGLE EXEC TO TOP DIGITAL POST
EMI has recruited a Google exec to head up its digital music operations, presumably part of the major's attempts to bring in talent from outside the traditional music industry to help the music firm adapt to this here digital age. Former Google man Dougle Merrill will have a global, company-wide digital role reporting directly to EMI boss Guy Hands, albeit from the safe distance of the major's LA HQ.
Confirming the appointment, Hands told reporters: "He has been a key member of the management team at Google which has created more value than any other consumer internet company by focusing relentlessly on tools that enable consumers to do things more effectively. His experience, talents and his ability to drive innovation will be enormously valuable to EMI and to its artists".
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JOBS GO AT EMI CHRISTIAN OUTPOST
Making room for all these new digital specialists will be the old time EMIers who are all about to be fired by the major's new management. Perhaps in a bid to prove Hand's radical revamp of the major is backed by God, the first big cuts at the major have reportedly taken place at the Nashville-based EMI Christian Music Group. According to Billboard an unspecified number of employees have been already axed there.
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TESCO DENY ATTEMPTS TO PUSH DOWN WHOLESALE PRICES FURTHER
Tesco has denied those recent reports that they are trying to screw an even lower wholesale price for CDs out of the record companies, cutting their unit cost by up to three pounds. The report appeared in the Mail On Sunday, which claimed the supermarket giant was using the expiry of their current CD provision contract to push the price of music down even further.
But a Tesco spokesman told Billboard: "It's a load of nonsense. I don't know where they're getting it from" and the trade mag says its contacts in the labels are also unaware of any attempts to push wholesale prices down any further.
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WOOLIES IMPROVE PROITS, THOUGH MUSIC SALES DOWN
High street retailer and music seller Woolies has posted increased profits, which is good news, though not for the music industry really, because they say the biggest growth area for them is computer games (presumably because as gaming goes more mainstream more consumers are looking to the likes of Woolworths for new games), and that music sales continue to decline.
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LIVE LATER DOUBLES AUDIENCE
The all new Tuesday night live edition of Jools Holland's 'Later' show pulled in 1.2 million viewers, which I think is pretty good going, nearly double what would watch the show in it's late night Friday slot. Though almost double that audience watched Channel 4's 'Shameless' instead, though that does - as Channel 4's continuity announcer always tells me - contain "bad language, violence and scenes of a sexual nature", which some quality live music is always going to struggle to compete with.
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COSTELLO TO FRONT NEW TV INTERVIEW SHOW
Talking of music telly, Elvis Costello will front a new TV show for US based film and documentaries channel Sundance TV. The show, which is set to air over here on Channel 4, will see Costello interview all sorts of stars. He told Billboard: "I'd rather hear about a bright secret, a deep love or a curiosity that might be otherwise obscured by fame. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk in complete thoughts about music, movies, art or even vaudeville, then frame it with unique and illustrative performances"
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MILLS THREATENS TO BAD MOUTH MACCA TO HIS NEW WOMAN
Heather Mills is reportedly hoping to break up Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell, by tracking down her ex's new woman and bad mouthing the former Beatle to her. A source of some kind told The Mirror: "Heather's threatening to call and explain the dangers of dating a Beatle. She had hell with the public hating her and reckons Nancy could too. Heather genuinely thinks she's doing Nancy a good turn".
Yeah right. Talking of Macca and Mills, Holy Moly has posted a fun Macca/Mills mash up video for you all to waste your day watching...
http://www.holymoly.co.uk/news/28/paul-mccartney-and-
heather-mills-wearing-my-rolex-2889.html