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MORE RIHANNA AND CHRIS BROWN STUFF, TRAFFIC INCIDENTS, CRIMINAL THREATS, CHEWING GUM NEWS
A spokesperson for Rihanna has blamed the singer's no-show at the Grammys on Sunday on a traffic problem, although would not reveal if that 'traffic problem' was being punched in the face by her boyfriend, Chris Brown, while standing near a car.
As speculation grew as to Rihanna and Brown's no-shows at this weekend's Grammy Awards, and as police confirmed Brown had been arrested in relation to allegations he "made a criminal threat" against an unnamed woman, Rihanna's publicist, Amanda Silverman, told E! News that her client had been involved in an "unspecified traffic mishap", adding: "Rihanna is well. Thank you for concern and support".
Reports that the woman alleging Brown attacked her was, in fact, Rihanna grew in number as the day went by yesterday. The LA Times cited unnamed police officers as saying it was Rihanna who Brown had allegedly hit, while gossip mags/sites Us Weekly, People, TMZ.com and Radaronline.com all also cited unnamed sources saying there had been an altercation between the pop couple after a pre-Grammy party.
Life & Style magazine, meanwhile, ran a report that the couple had been seen arguing at another pre-Grammy party on Friday night. They quote one guest as saying: "I saw Chris Brown and Rihanna fighting at the Verizon party on Friday night. They were in this room and they were just screaming at each other, totally cussing each other out. They were right in each other's face. It was scary. They were surrounded by all these execs and they were all just ignoring it, as if it was something they saw every day. It was so shocking".
According to police reports, Brown was no longer present by the time they arrived at the alleged crime scene, but he later reported to a police station where he was charged with making a criminal threat rather than any actual assault charges. That said, insiders say the District Attorney may as yet choose to expand the charges against him.
Whatever the authorities decide, chewing gum makers Wrigley, who have a marketing partnership with the R&B star, said yesterday it was suspending all advertising campaigns he was involved in. The gum firm said it had not made any decision on their long term relationship with Brown, but that they had decided to suspend marketing activity involving him because of the "serious allegations" that had been made against him.
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SNOOP DROPS LABEL LIKE IT'S HOT
Snoop Dogg has quit his label, Universal's Interscope Records, almost a year after the release of his last album, 'Ego Trippin'.
Revealing the split to AllHipHop.com, the rapper would not give any specific reasons for parting ways with Interscope. He simply said: "We are pushing the envelope on getting everything finalised. But I will not be releasing any more projects under Interscope/Geffen".
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KAISER CHIEFS ARE NOT DEVASTATED, OKAY?
Kaiser Chiefs have responded to press reports that they are "devastated" about the chart performance of latest album 'Off With Their Heads', and are planning an indefinite hiatus following their upcoming live dates.
In a message to fans the band wrote: "Oh woe is us...NOT the case, what do we have to be devastated about? We're halfway though our most enjoyable & biggest tour of Europe, and couldn't be happier with the way it's going".
On the recently released album, they added: "It's sold over half a million albums and is still going, where's the doom and gloom in that? Not here. We thought we owed it to our fans to flag this one up, don't believe all you read!"
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SID DIDN'T MURDER NANCY, SAYS MCLAREN
Malcolm McLaren has said that he doesn't believe that the late Sid Vicious murdered girlfriend Nancy Spungen back in 1978. Spungen, as you may be aware, was found dead in the couple's New York hotel room on 12 Oct that year, having apparently bled to death from a single stab wound to her stomach. Vicious was, of course, subsequently arrested and charged with killing her, but claimed to have no memory of having done so. Within a few months Vicious himself had died from a heroin overdose.
Retreading old ground, McLaren disputes that the Sex Pistol had anything to do with Spungen's death, claiming that he just wasn't capable of that kind of act. In a new blog for The Daily Beast, McLaren writes: "I was stunned when I first heard this and I still can't believe it. Sid was capable of a wide range of self-destructive acts, but I didn't think that he could kill someone, especially his girlfriend, unless it was a botched double suicide".
He goes on to offer his own theory as to how Spungen met her end. He writes: "[Sid] passed out on the bed, having taken fistfuls of the barbiturate Tuinal. All around him, drug dealers, friends of Nancy came and went from Room 100. Money was stolen and Sid's knife was taken from the wall where it was hung and seemingly used by someone defending themselves in a struggle with Nancy. Nancy was no pushover. Probably, she caught this person stealing money from the bedroom drawer".
A number of writers, including Alan Parker in 'Too Fast To Live', have accused a drug dealer called Rocket Redglare of wielding the knife.
TICKETMASTER SUED OVER SECONDARY SALES SITE
Now, this could be interesting. A Canadian man is suing Ticketmaster over its previously reported TicketsNow secondary ticket sales site.
As previously reported, the growth of online ticket touting, where individuals buy tickets for in-demand events and then sell them for profit via an auction website like eBay, or one of the newer sites specifically established for ticket reselling, has not been without controversy, with a number of artists, artist managers and gig promoters expressing dislike for the phenomenon, partly out of concern for punters who end up paying hiked up prices, partly because the touts can often earn considerably more on a resold ticket than they do.
Despite those concerns, the so called secondary ticketing market has become big business, meaning an increasing number of promoters and ticket agents are adopting an "if you can't beat them join them" policy, and getting into the tickets resale game themselves. To that end, primary ticketing giant Ticketmaster last year bought two established secondary ticketing companies, TicketsNow in North America and Get Me In in the UK.
Ticketmaster's dabblings in secondary ticketing, while in part legitimising the sector, has also further pissed off those who object to the growth in touting, not least because, in the US, when they are unable to sell primary tickets to an event, either because they aren't an official seller or they have sold out their allocation, they point people instead to TicketsNow, where tickets are often available at a marked up price. Though the reseller earns most of the mark up, Ticketmaster does get a commission.
Some artists, promoters and consumer groups have criticised the link up between Ticketmaster and its sister company TicketsNow, because, they say, some fans, knowing the former to be a primary ticket seller, won't realise that the latter is a resale outfit where tickets for in-demand events are likely to be considerably marked up. In fact, The Consumers' Association Of Canada recently described the practice as "a conflict, a monopoly and unconscionable". And, of course, last week Bruce Springsteen hit out when he heard that his fans were being redirected from his official Ticketmaster tickets site to the resale service, seemingly simply because the main site hadn't the bandwidth to cope with the number of people going online to buy tickets (ie primary tickets were, in theory, still available). Once The Boss spoke, Ticketmaster chief Irving Azoff quickly issued an apology and pledged to review the way the company's primary tickets site promotes its secondary sister site.
Henry Krajewski's admittedly optimistic lawsuit against the ticketing giant says that TicketsNow, and Ticketmaster's promotion of it via their primary site, breaches Ontario rules that restrict ticket touting. He is suing after he was sold two tickets via TicketsNow for a Smashing Pumpkins gig that had a face value of C$133, and which were sold to him for C$533.65. He is suing for a massive C$500 million and wants the case to become a class action, so anyone sold marked up tickets via TicketsNow could sue for a refund of the difference between a ticket's face value and what they paid.
Ticketmaster have yet to comment on the lawsuit. My knowledge of Ontario's ticket touting rules isn't great, though Krajewski's case (and especially his damages claim) doesn't seem too strong to me. Nevertheless, with Ticketmaster likely to be keen to prove to the US authorities that its proposed merger with Live Nation will not give it an overly unfair advantage in the live entertainments sector, it could probably do without lawsuits, even in Canada, in which it is accused of already abusing a conflict of interest.
PS: No confirmation as yet regarding Ticketmaster and Live Nation's previously reported plans to merge, though the Wall Street Journal seems to think it'll come today.
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NICKELBACK MAN ABANDONS DUI APPEAL
Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger has abandoned his appeal against a previously reported drink-driving conviction brought against him in relation to an incident that took place in British Columbia back in June 2006. The singer was on that occasion found to have nearly double the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream when stopped by police after being seen driving his Lamborghini at 160kmph.
Kroeger, real name Chad Robert Turton, appealed the conviction, which saw him fined $600 and banned from driving for a year, claiming that the arresting officer had violated his rights by forcing the singer to blow in his face after smelling alcohol on his breath. The law has changed since the appeal was launched, however, forcing Kroeger to withdraw it.
Lawyer, Marvin Stern explained: "Just like anybody else his rights are protected by the charter and at the time of the trial we felt that his rights had been violated. The state of the law has now changed and we respect the current state of the law and are bound by it and in [current] law there's no ground of appeal left".
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JERMAINE JACKSON CLAIMS HE CAN'T AFFORD SUPPORT PAYMENTS
Jermaine Jackson has filed papers to the Los Angeles County Court claiming that he can't afford the child support payments he has been ordered to make to ex-wife Alejandra Jackson.
The documents say that the former Jackson 5 star only made £6,700 in 2008 so is not able to hand over the £2k a month he's been ordered to provide. They add that the only reason payments were set at £2k a month was because the figure was calculated based on his 2007 earnings, when he earned an unusually high amount - more than £300k - following his appearance on 'Celebrity Big Brother'.
Since then, claims Jackson, he's had a "significant change of circumstance", meaning he only makes £600 per month. As a result, he says, he's unable to provide for his improbably named offspring Jaafar and Jermajesty.
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ORIGINAL VILLAGE POLICEMAN SUING NEW GROUP
The original policeman in The Village People, Victor Willis, has launched a lawsuit attempting to prevent a new incarnation of the group from using his likeness and voice. Willis, who co-wrote the group's biggest hits, says that his voice and pictures of him are still being used to promote the band. He's seeking at least $1million in damages plus a judge's order to say the current Village People set up can no longer use his image or voice. The companies on the receiving end of the suit are New York based Sixuvus Ltd, who are promoting the new Village People, the William Morris Agency, Can't Stop Productions, and a number of venues who have hosted the group.
DEFTONES ANNOUNCE FIRST POST-CRASH GIG
Deftones have announced their first live show since bassist Chi Cheng was left in a coma after he was involved in a car crash in California in November last year. While Cheng remains in a coma and "has not made significant progress", the band will be joined by former Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega to play Bamboozle Left at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in California on 5 Apr.
Writing on their blog, the band said: "Our fallen comrade has not made significant progress as of late, but continues to fight on from his accident. Doctors are working feverishly to return our brother to us, and we continue to hold out hope and faith that Chi returns to the life he has waiting for him and can join us on stage once again. Everyone that knows Chi, knows that he never wanted down time. Chi always wanted to keep working and never slow down, which is why we feel confident in returning to the stage at Bamboozle in April. Chi would want it, and we want to make sure we're keeping his legacy alive".
Revealing Vega as the replacement bass player, they said: "Back in 1999, Chi had to leave the band for a brief moment and our close friend Sergio Vega filled in to keep the train moving. 10 years later, Sergio is going to step in once again while Chi is down. Sergio is family to us, and had received Chi's blessing before, so without a doubt we know that if Chi could tell us now, he would give us his blessing again".
BUENA VISTA BASSIST DIES
Buena Vista Social Club double bassist Orlando 'Cachaito' Lopez has died at the age of 76 in Havana as a result of complications arising from prostate surgery.
Lopez was born in Havana in 1933, to a musical family. His uncle was famous bassist and mambo innovator Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, and his grandfather Pedro insisted that he take up the bass as it was a family tradition. He began performing at the age of eleven, and had composed his first piece by the time he was thirteen. In the fifties he played with popular dance band Orquesta Riverside, but it was in later life that he came to international attention, as a member of Buena Vista Social Club, and as a star in his own right, winning a BBC Radio 3 Award for his ground breaking debut solo 'Word Music' back in 2002.
His death has been confirmed by fellow musician Manuel Galban, who said: "We have lost a great companion. I will remember him as marvellous, both in his music and as a person. He was extraordinary, affable, a great bassist".
RADIOHEAD'S GREENWOOD ON GRAMMYS, IMPORTANCE OF
Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood says he's not sure whether the Grammys are important or not. I would have thought a band like Radiohead should think they're a bit rubbish. But they did perform at them at the weekend, and picked up a couple of awards, of course, so there you go.
Anyway, Greenwood was indecisive about the issue before the big event so perhaps the band's attendance has cleared things up for him. He told reporters ahead of Sunday's ceremony: "I'm confused, because whenever I watch The Simpsons, they're very rude about the Grammys. It's hard to know how important they are!"
Asked what he thought about the possibility of the Grammy performance bringing them more exposure, Greenwood said: "It's a big paradox for us. We're sort of ambitious, but maybe not ambitious enough. You hear some bands saying they want to be the biggest they want to be the greatest. We do and we don't. We don't and then we see other bands doing really well, and then we say, 'We should be doing some of that, we should be a little bit like that'".
BLINK 182 ANNOUNCE FULL REUNION
So, after last week's announcement that the members of Blink 182 would share a stage again for the first time in four years when they presented an award together at the Grammys on Sunday, the band have now announced that they are working on a new album and preparing for a world tour.
While on stage at the Grammys, drummer Travis Barker said: "We used to play music together, and we decided we're going to play music together again".
Yesterday, a statement was published on the band's website, which reads: "Hi, we're Blink 182. This past week there've been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, we're back. We mean, we're really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in out legacy. Summer 2009. Thanks and get ready..."
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FAR WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL
Far frontman Jonah Matranga has revealed that the band are back together and working on a new album, following a brief UK reunion tour last year (which I missed, because I'm an idiot and forgot about it).
In a recent mail out to fans, Matranga said: "This band I used to be in called Far is playing again. Got a new recording too, working on more, who knows".
PERRY RENEWS SONY/ATV DEAL
Sony/ATV Music Publishing have renewed their worldwide publishing arrangement with songwriter, producer and former 4 Non Blonde Linda Perry, which, given she's been behind countless hits for the likes of James Blunt, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Faith Hill, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion and Pink, seems like good news for Sony. The renewed deal will also see Sony/ATV handle the administration of rights held by Perry's latest business venture, Coldwater Music Publishing.
Sony/ATV top man Marty Bandier said this: "Linda Perry is truly one of the best songwriting and producing talents in the world today. As one of Sony/ATV's premiere writers and producers, we are thrilled to extend our relationship with Linda and her publishing company for many years to come. Her incredible musical talent, as evidenced in her impressive track record of writing and producing hits, places her in a class by herself".
Perry responded thus: "I am thrilled to be a part of the Sony/ATV family and look forward to a successful union. Marty Bandier, [Sony/ATV co-President] Jody Gerson and their team's track record speaks for itself".
GREEN DAY ANNOUNCE BREAKDOWN
Green Day have revealed that their forthcoming eighth studio album will be called '21st Century Breakdown' and will be released in May.
According to the band's official website, the album will be split into three acts, entitled 'Heroes And Cons', 'Charlatans And Saints' and 'Horseshoes And Hand Grenades'.
You can pre-order the album now from www.greendaymusic.com
DOWNLOAD ANNOUNCES FIRST CONFIRMATIONS
Organisers of the Download Festival have announced a first set of confirmed acts for this year's event, and amongst those set to appear are the likes of Slipknot, The Prodigy, Motley Crue, Korn and Pendulum. More acts are expected to be announced soon for the festival, which takes place from 12 - 14 Jun at Donington Park. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am.
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NEW FESTIVAL LAUNCHES, ANIMALS TO BENEFIT
A new festival, Red List LIVE, is to take place at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park this year, and half of profits raised are to go to The Aspinall Foundation, a group which attempts to conserve endangered animals such as black rhinos, red pandas and barbary lions. Details of a line up for the event, which will take place from 19-21 Jun, has yet to be announced, but organisers said that a mix of performers, poets and visual artists will be appearing.
SINGLE REVIEW: Marmaduke Duke - Kid Gloves (14th Floor Records)
Marmaduke Duke is Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and JP Reid of Sucioperro, although in this band they prefer to be called The Atmosphere and The Dragon. 'Kid Gloves' is the first single from the second of a trilogy of Marmaduke Duke albums, 'Duke Pandemonium', the follow up to 'The Magnificent Duke'. Despite the pair being incredibly busy with their respective main bands, their side project does not suffer. 'Kid Gloves' is a great track with all the right parts in all the right places. There's nothing to throw you off or complicate things, which is also a fair description of the Duke in general. The single combines the guys' romantic vocals with sharp drumbeats, droning synths and twinkly keys. It's not really indie, it's not really pop but it could quite easily fit in both categories. AW
Release Date: 16 Feb
Press Contact: Partisan PR [all]
Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon
WAR OF WORDS OVER UK ROCK FESTS FOLLOWING NEW ARRIVAL
Now, this is what we want, festival promoters dissing each other's events. Yes, more of that please.
Former Live Nation UK boss Stuart Galbraith has been comparing his latest festival venture, the Europe-wide touring festival SONISPSHERE, which he announced yesterday, with Download, the heavier rock festival he headed up while with his former employer. He told Billboard: "Certainly in my latter-day period at Live Nation, I was dealing with increasing numbers of complaints from fans that the [Download] band quality was diminishing and that the scheduling of the festival meant that they couldn't get to see half of what they wanted to see. I think the market [will decide between Download and SONISPHERE] and the fans will vote with their feet. I have to say, I think Download last year had a few things that were not done as well as they should have been - both the layout and the booking policy I thought were bad".
Billboard quickly ran to Live Nation UK's current COO and Festival Director John Probyn for a quick response to Galbraith's comments. And he duly dissed his new rival's choice of headliners, Metallica. He told the trade mag: "There's only one group of people we pay attention to and that's the fans. They tell us [via our online forum that] they love the number of bands [that appear at Download], they feel that they get value for money, it's not just about the big headliners it's about finding new bands. Download is here to stay. Metallica have played Download four times I think. If you look on the forum, people are saying 'Metallica, so what? Seen it before'. They toured the year before last, they were out last year, they're out again this year".
Asked about having a new rival in the UK festival market, Probyn continued: "I don't really care. Last year we were up against Reading and Leeds [festivals] who had a very similar line-up to what we'd normally have, and we still did our numbers and we're happy. This year if we've got something else to compete with, then fine".
Brilliant. Tomorrow we're hoping for Michael Eavis v Rob da Bank.
PEOPLE'S MUSIC STORE GETS INVESTMENT, ADDS TO CATALOGUE
People's Music Store, which, in case you wondered, lets fans set up their own download stores and select, review and sell tracks from a 250,000 strong catalogue, earning points for sales they secure, has just announced both new funding and a deal with the lovely Beggars Group. The new investment in the venture comes from Paul Higgins, described here in this press release as a "serial media entrepreneur", whatever that means. The Beggars deal means the addition of a stack of songs released by the indie group's various labels to the People's Music Store catalogue.
Confirming both developments and explaining the logic behind the People's Music Store, its founder, Ged Day, told CMU: "I believe the collective knowledge of serious music fans is more compelling and can scale more effectively than any company can do on its own. That's the idea behind People's Music Store - giving fans the power to curate their own online stores, promote their favourite artists, and write about the music they love. We think this will create an authentic, new way for people to discover and purchase music online".
OFCOM RULE ON ALEX ZANE RAPE SONG
So, yesterday media regulator OfCom ruled on that song which got Alex Zane suspended from the Xfm Breakfast Show back in August last year.
For those of you who need your memories refreshed, Zane and his team had discussed a song called 'Code Of Love' by 60s singer-songwriter Mike Sarne, which had been considered acceptable when it was released on 1963, but would be frowned upon in the 21st century. To highlight his point, Zane played a sample of the song, which contained the line, "Number 1 you find someone, 2 you hold her hand, 3 you kiss her on the cheek. Number 4 you squeeze her, number 5 you tease her, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, too late to say when".
Zane then explained that the song had inspired him to write his own song that may have been considered acceptable in the 60s but wouldn't be now. Perhaps proving the point, one listener complained to say they thought the song, entitled 'Won't Take No For An Answer', was inappropriate. In particular, they took offence to the song's apparent rape theme and the male/female call and response lyrics, which included verses, such as: "[Man:] Do any of your friends know where you are? / [Woman:] 'Ere you've only gone and torn my new bra. [Man:] That's cause I ain't taking 'no' for an answer tonight".
OfCom didn't especially approve of the song, but said that Xfm had already dealt with the matter in a satisfactory way. The regulators report says that Global Radio's alternative station had told them that "the programme makers had not sought advice in advance from Xfm's management about the inclusion of the song. It considered the song to have been 'inappropriate for broadcast' and that its inclusion had been a 'serious misjudgement'. As a result, Xfm management had taken steps to remedy the situation, including disciplinary action and compliance training for the staff involved. Xfm also broadcast an on-air apology the following day".
Given its immediate response to the matter, OfCom ruled no further action was necessary.
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ASIAN NETWORK REVAMPS
The BBC Asian Network has announced some schedule rejigs. The recently launched Adil Ray hosted breakfast show will move into a slightly later time slot, from 7 to 10am, while mornings will go to current afternoon presenter Nikki Bedi and current morning presenter Nihal will move to lunchtimes. There will also be a new faith-inspired show for early risers, airing between 5 and 6am, and featuring music for Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. The revamp will also see an increase of news and discussion programming during daytime.
The Beeb's Andy Parfitt, who oversees the Asian Network, told reporters: "This is the second stage of the strategic development for Asian Network. All stations need to keep evolving and these changes will work well with our new breakfast show".
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MTV LAUNCH TWO NEW GLOBAL SHOWS
MTV have announced two new programmes which will air across its 'international network', meaning they'll appear on 62 main MTV channels around the world. The first, MTV World Stage, will feature gigs from major artists recorded in different locations around the world (Coldplay playing at a gig in Tokyo on the first episode), while the second, MTV Push, will concentrate on newer talent (White Lies will be first). Both will have online as well as on air elements.
Confirming the new shows, MTV Network International's Senior VP of Talent & Music, that'll be Bruce Gillmer, waffled thus: "The scale of MTV's international network is unmatched and makes us uniquely positioned to bring our audience some of their favourite artists and MTV World Stage and MTV Push are no exception. As a premiere producer of live concert events, only MTV can take full advantage of the networks' vast scale and creative resources to deliver audiences fresh musical content across any platform they are viewing".
MTV2/MYSPACE CHART
It's the MTV2/MySpace chart, based on votes by MTV2 viewers on MySpace. The top ten this week is as follows...
1. [3] The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
2. [4] Innerpartysystem - Don't Stop
3. [5] Little Comets - One Night In October
4. [NE] In Case Of Fire - The Cleansing
5. [7] The All American Rejects - Gives You Hell
6. [2] Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
7. [NE] Marmaduke Duke - Kid Gloves
8. [9] Glasvegas - Flowers and Football Tops
9. [1] Fighting With Wire - Sugar
10. [NE] Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy
Meanwhile, added to the list for viewer voting this week are...
Animal Collective - My Girls
The Prodigy - Omen
Funeral For A Friend - Rules And Games
Oasis - Falling Down
Dane Black - Alone
DEATH CAB LAUNCH ANTI-AUTOTUNE CAMPAIGN
Death Cab For Cutie arrived at the Grammys on Sunday sporting blue ribbons, which they revealed were worn to highlight their new campaign against "Auto-tune abuse in music".
Frontman Ben Gibbard told reporters: "Autotuning is a digital manipulation, a correction of a singer's voice that is affecting literally thousands of singers today and thousands of records that are coming out. So we just want to raise awareness while we're here and try to bring back the blue note... The note that's not so perfectly in pitch and just gives the recording some soul and some kind of real character. It's how people really sing".
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PET SHOP BOY SAYS THE X-FACTOR IS LIMITED
Neil Tennant has said that the 'X-Factor', and similar shows, are limited in what they do, only focusing on one or two genres of pop. The musician told the Radio Times that Simon Cowell's talent show was "basically people singing Whitney, Mariah and maybe Elton", and added: "Why don't they have, say, a new-wave week? Or 80s electro week?"
Explaining that he watched the programme because he had written a track for Girls Aloud and was interested in seeing what band member Cheryl Cole was like on the programme, he continued: "If it's not power ballads then it was a narrower version of disco. I remember on 'Pop Idol', Pete Waterman told someone, very sympathetically, 'The thing is, you're more of a Depeche Mode kind of artist'. In other words, 'What are you doing here, pet?'"
In Cowell and Waterman's defence, I suspect the sorts of people interested in diverse kinds of pop music - and Depeche Mode kind of artists - probably aren't interested in watching the 'X-Factor'. Perhaps someone could set up Pet Shop Idol or Depeche Factor for more balanced talent show viewing.
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