| CMU Daily - on the inside 22 Nov 2002 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• No police action over Jackson stunt,
• Bloodhound Gang half way through new album,
• Indian song leads world’s best tune poll,
• Poll topping DJ plays Radio 1 set,
• The Doors go back to the studio with Astbury,
• Jay Z knocks Eminem off us album top spot,
• Primal Scream best of,
• Vivendi stress commitment to entertainment assets,
• Tom gets Brit outstanding contribution award
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Which singer has Vanessa Paradis, Kylie Minogue and Natalie Imbruglia all been romantically linked to?
Answer on Monday
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NO POLICE ACTION OVER JACKSON STUNT
German police have told reporters it is "unlikely" they will launch an investigation into Michael Jackson's baby stunt where he dangled his young son over the fence of a third floor balcony at the Berlin hotel where he was staying. Jackson has since apologised for putting Prince Michael II in the dangerous position. Police confirmed they have reviewed whether Jackson's actions constitute an offence, but say they have concluded that, as no formal complaint was made, no further action is necessary. The media backlash against Jackson has been particularly strong since the incident. Fans of the star, keeping a vigil outside his Berlin hotel, have accused the press of blowing up the incident out of proportion. They made a poster bearing the slogan ‘Burn All The Tabloids’ which Jackson liked so much he sent an employee down to get it and the displayed it in his window!
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BLOODHOUND GANG HALF WAY THROUGH NEW ALBUM
Bloodhound Gang are busy working on the follow up to their 2000 album ‘Hooray For Boobies’ – and we can expect typically cheeky lyrics - "Hook me up with some of the shit that killed Elvis” is just one of the lyrics already penned by singer Jimmy Pop. Talking about the creative process in the world of the Bloodhound Gang guitarist Lupus Thunder told reporters that he gets final say on the cheeky lyrics: "Pop calls me from Philadelphia and reads me a line. If I laugh, he knows it's funny. If I don't, he changes it."
Talking about the band’s fourth album he continued: "I think there'll be more of the synth-pop stuff, because it was a big influence while we were touring. We were in Germany all the time and they're big on bad, what I call, techno. There's some good rock, some metal. Jim's working on trying to merge the two, like the way God Lives Underwater did it."
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INDIAN SONG LEADS WORLD’S BEST TUNE POLL
A Tamil song is currently leading a poll being conducted by the BBC World Service to find the most popular tune in the world. The song, Rakkama Kaiya Thattu, features in the 1991 Indian film ‘Thalapathi’ – its position in the poll probably tells us more about which countries have been voting though - two other songs popular with Indian audiences, ‘Vande Mataram’ by Bankim Chandra Chatarji, said to be the country's national song, and ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ by Sukhvinder, from the 1998 Bollywood movie ‘Dil Se’, are at number five and seven.
A bizarre mix of Western songs appear elsewhere in the chart. Cliff Richard's 1979 hit ‘We Don't Talk Anymore’ is currently in second place, with Cher's 1998 hit ‘Believe’ in third. More predictably John Lennon's ‘Imagine’ is fourth and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is at number six.
Listeners in 112 countries have cast their votes so far since the poll opened two weeks ago – with various world leaders among those who have picked a favourite tine. Former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, chose ,The Hallelujah Chorus, from Handel's Messiah, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi opted for the theme music from the Robert De Niro film ‘Once Upon A Time In America’ while the president of Mongolia, Natsagiin Bagabandi, went for The Beatles' ‘Let It Be’!
The results and final chart will be announced by Steve Wright in Wright Round the World on 21 Dec.
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POLL TOPPING DJ PLAYS RADIO 1 SET
DJ Tiesto, voted number 1 in DJ Magazine’s recent DJ poll, will be supplying an exclusive mix on Seb Fontaine’s Radio 1 show this weekend. The show airs at 7pm, and can be listened to any time during the following week at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.
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THE DOORS GO BACK TO THE STUDIO WITH ASTBURY
The surviving members of The Doors are set to record and tour next year with ex-Cult singer Ian Astbury, who performed with the band at some live dates this summer, on vocals. The reformed Doors will also feature The Police’s Stewart Copeland on drums.
Original Doors member Ray Manzarek told reporters: "The new music is different from the Doors, but decidedly Doors-like. We're going in various directions musically."
Will the band’s new work enthuse existing Doors fans? Jim Morrison still has something of an iconic status, of course, even among people who weren’t around when the Doors first hit the charts. Whether the Doors minus Morrison will take off remains to be seen.
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JAY Z KNOCKS EMINEM OFF US ALBUM TOP SPOT
Jay-Z has knocked Eminem off the top of the US album charts with his eight album ‘The Blueprint 2’ easily outselling the 8 Mile Soundtrack album. With 545,000 copies shifted in its first week the new album is selling faster than 2001’s ‘The Blueprint’, which sold 426,000 units in its first week.
Eminem can take heart though, not only is the soundtrack to his debut movie at number two, his own album ‘The Eminem Show’ is still at number nine!
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PRIMAL SCREAM BEST OF
NME yesterday revealed that Primal Scream are planning a Greatest Hits compilation next year. The album will be a retrospective of the band's career to date featuring the highlights from albums 'Screamadelica', 'Vanishing Point' and 'Xtrmntr'. A new single from the group's current album 'Evil Heat' is also planned to precede the album.
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VIVENDI STRESS COMMITMENT TO ENTERTAINMENT ASSETS
Shares in struggling media giant Vivendi Universal, the parent company of labels Polydor, Mercury and Island, jumped up yesterday after they announced they had rejected a £9.5bn bid for its entertainment assets. They confirmed they had received an offer from a group of investors led by billionaire oil man Marvin Davis to buy Vivendi’s entertainment outlets – including its record labels, film studios and the USA Networks cable unit. The offer was rejected, it has been said, because Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Rene Fourtou sees the entertainment assets as being at the heart of the group's new strategy. This strong commitment to a core part of the business was enough to send shares up 8.4% to 12.35 euros.
Meanwhile Vivendi’s music division has announced plans to offer 43,000 tracks from its music catalogue online. Individual tracks from across its roster will be available to download for $1, with albums available for $10. How the tracks will be accessed, and what copyright mechanics are in place, is as yet unclear, though Universal bosses indicate they see their entire back catalogue eventually being accessible via the web.
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TOM GETS BRIT OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD
Brit organisers have confirmed that Tom Jones will be given an outstanding contribution prize at the 2003 Awards next February. Brits chairman Tony Wadsworth told reporters: "Tom Jones is one of the truly great British recording artists who commands respect and admiration from artists in all genres of music."
Past recipients of the award include Sting, U2, David Bowie, Sir Elton John and The Who.
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Answer to Thursday's pop quiz:
Which singer rambled thus: "I think I used to be a butterfly. No, a bird! No, birds get chased by cats, and butterflies look like bugs when they don't have wings. I guess I was a dog, 'cos they're able to see what's going on in the world, but they can't express themselves. I think I could see what was going on around me, but I couldn't say or do anything about it"?
Mr Craig David