| CMU Daily - on the inside 11 Dec 2002 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• 100 celebs sign anti-war letter,
• REM confirmed as Glastonbury headliners,
• ITV Digital demand cash from former customers,
• 45 second mixes,
• New urban magazine launches with Knight interview,
• Yoko and Mccartney feud rekindled,
• Midweek chart update,
• Review : Looptroop – Fly Away,
• Zane Lowe to take over Session slot ... eventually,
• Beckham denies she’s a pop idol judge,
• Shooting at Sean Paul shoot,
• Massive Attack announce dates,
• Kylie calendar repackaged
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Cryptic Christmas songs - which festive number is this clue referring too?
“Feeling unsteady around the decorations”
Answer tomorrow
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LAST CHANGE TO VOTE! WHAT'S THE BEST SINGLE AND ALBUM OF 2002
Vote now in the CMU chart of the year. Email your name, where you work / study and the name of your favourite single and album of 2002 to [email protected] Closing date for votes - Friday.
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100 CELEBS SIGN ANTI-WAR LETTER
With more American celebs expressing their concern’s over Bush’s foreign policy in the Middle East every day, now 100 actors and musicians have signed a formal letter to the President urging him not to take a military option in Iraq.
REM’s Michael Stipe, David Duchovny, Matt Damon, Kim Basinger, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Barbra Streisand and Martin Sheen are among those who have signed the letter which says: "War talk in Washington is alarming and unnecessary. We are patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction. We support rigorous United Nations weapons inspections to assure Iraq's effective disarmament."
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer reportedly responded: "the president agrees that violence is not the answer in Iraq, and that's why he hopes Saddam Hussein will disarm." Waits to be seen if that’s true.
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REM CONFIRMED AS GLASTONBURY HEADLINERS
REM have confirmed they will play Glastonbury as part of the 2003 European Tour – assuming the festival gets the go ahead from local licensing officials of course. The announcement is unusual because the Glastonbury line up is normally a closely guarded secret until very close to the event – well after all the tickets have been sold. Michael Eavis also revealed other headliners have been confirmed, though he remained tight lipped on who they might be. "It really is quite extraordinary to have all these headliners in place already," he told the BBC.
But just now Eavis is more concerned about a meeting of Mendip District Council this Thursday. Although the event went much more smoothly this year, with Mean Fiddler managed security keeping the usual fence hoppers out, the strict door policy pushed thousands of non-ticket holders into local towns and villages much to the distress of local residents. How Eavis can stop this no one’s sure making it a bit of a hurdle to cross - "I think we might have a problem on our hands," Eavis admits. That said, local police, fire, ambulance and highway authorities have all approved the plans for the 2003 event.
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ITV DIGITAL DEMAND CASH FROM FORMER CUSTOMERS
Liquidators of defunct digital TV operator ITV Digital caused more resentment yesterday when they asked former customers to shell out £40 for the set top boxes they are now using to access free to air digital platform Freeview. The boxes were provided for free as part of the ITV Digital package, and the small print on the contract stated that all technology was actually owned by the company. Liquidators Grant Thornton have decided to go with the small print, ignore the fact that gross mis-management by ITV deprived consumers of a service they’d paid for with no notice, and cash in.
It’s a mad decision because all it does is further damage the reputation of the network’s former owners ITV. Former subscribers have already started an online war against the liquidators, with one writing: "Do these idiots really expect us to keep obsolete technology on the understanding that a defunct company might try and reclaim it? If so, then I believe we have a right to charge storage costs and administration charges to remove the box from storage.”
Liquidators have put the letters demanding the £40 on On Digital headed paper. On Digital was the original name for ITV Digital and they hope the move will reduce the negative impact the move will have on the ITV brand. Deluded I tell you.
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45 SECOND MIXES
Dance label Simbal Records is planning a mix album where each track in the mix features for a maximum of 45 Seconds. The album - ‘45 Seconds of’ – will feature 99 tracks by 84 artists from over 20 countries. The likes of DJ Spooky, Sybarite, Si-cut db, Lali Puna, John Tejada, Joseph Nothing, Chicks On Speed and Martin Rev will appear.
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NEW URBAN MAGAZINE LAUNCHES WITH KNIGHT INTERVIEW
A new DVD magazine in the US has launched with an exclusive interview with Death Row/Tha Row Records boss Suge Knight. The new ‘magazine’ - Yellow Tape Magazine – comes on a DVD including text and video on all things r&b and hop hop.
Talking about the magazine the man in charge of Yellow Tape, Romel Mason, reckons his magazine will fill a hole in urban media. "I saw that all of these outlets really portray only a few stereotypical images of urban America. It's always the poor, drug using, bang-bang shoot 'em up imagery and that's it. It's very one-sided and sensationalistic, and to me, they never give it to us like it is like being a person in urban America. There are very intelligent people in this culture that are not catered to."
Talking about this exclusive interview, Mason continued: "With Suge, we felt that he was so often misrepresented in the media and that there must be a flip side. After all, he's a successful business man, a father, does a lot of other stuff - charity work - that rarely gets focused on, and the truth is that he probably wouldn't have gotten as far as he had, if he was just what the media portrayed him to be... Love him, like him, or hate him, everyone wants to hear what he has to say."
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YOKO AND MCCARTNEY FEUD REKINDLED
An old feud has been rekindled after Paul McCartney credited the Beatles tracks on his new live album as having been written by ‘Paul McCartney and John Lennon’. This has annoyed the ever diplomatic Yoko Ono who claims a previous agreement states Beatles songs will always be credited to ‘Lennon/McCartney’. Ono's lawyer, Peter Shukat, told Rolling Stone that McCartney’s actions is "absolutely inappropriate".
But Geoff Baker, speaking for McCartney, told reporters Lennon and McCartney agreed in the sixties they could switch the names whenever they felt like it. He claimed that McCartney has been crediting his name first on Beatles songs on his solo albums since ‘Wings Over America’ in 1976 and that it was only on records released via the Beatles' Apple label that all band members, or their estates, must agree changes.
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MIDWEEK CHART UPDATE
Another pop upset likely this weekend in the charts. Gareth Gates’ ‘What My Heart Wants To Say’ is likely to enter at number six. Blue and Elton are favourites for number one, with the current top four (Eminem, Cheeky Girls, Daniel Bedingfield and Robbie) all outselling Gates. Mark Radcliffe is hosting the Radio 1 chart show this week – so probably worth a listen.
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REVIEW: Looptroop – Fly Away (Burning Heart)
Although this soul jazz heavy hiphop cut features Swedish MCs Timbuktu and Kekke Kulcha – it doesn’t show. The track also features Freestyle from the Arsonists (who sounds uncannily like Eninem) and DJ Noise, and the result – as you might expect – is wicked. A great righteous hiphop number with jazz, soul, and solid beats. JG
Release date: 13 Jan
Press contact: Zzonked [all]
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ZANE LOWE TO TAKE OVER SESSION SLOT, EVENTUALLY
Radio 1 have announced their plans for the Evening Session when Steve Lamacq leaves the show at the end of the year. Colin Murray from the Session in Northern Ireland will present the show from 7 Jan, but he is only the fill in until Zane Lowe works out his contract with Xfm. Zane is expected to take over in late Spring.
Murray, who has just started the 'Born Sloppy' programme on Channel 4 with Sara Cox, told NME: “I've been three years on the Evening Session in Northern Ireland working towards this goal. The fundamentals of the slot will not change. Devotees of Steve's show will not turn on and then turn off again. But we want to broaden things. I want it to be a window to specialist shows. To say a person who likes one sort of music will not like another is nonsense. Just because a tune's on Pete Tong's show doesn't mean it can't be on our show. It will also open the way for a return for Showaddywaddy."
Talking about his ‘fill-in’ capacity on the slot he said: "My involvement with Radio 1 goes beyond this show. But I don't really care what comes next or what came before. I care about what we do during the time we're doing it and making it the best. We're not just there to make up the numbers. I'm so excited I may let the tyres down on Westwood's A-Team van. I want to show the nation what Belfast boys can do."
Zane Lowe has still to comment on the announcement.
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BECKHAM DENIES SHE’S A POP IDOL JUDGE
Victoria Beckham has denied yesterday’s reports that she was being lined up as a judge for the second series of Pop Idol, following Geri Halliwell’s lead as judge on Popstars.
On her official website site a statement read: "Contrary to reports in certain newspapers Victoria will not be on the judging panel for the next series of Pop Idol."
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SHOOTING AT SEAN PAUL SHOOT
A shooting during the filming of a video for Jamaican dance hall artist Sean Paul left one man dead yesterday. The video was for ‘Get Busy’, the follow up to ‘Gimme The Light’, a track currently at number eight in the US singles chart. According to local media reports the victim, 21-year-old Ramesh Christie, was shot in the abdomen at around 8.30pm in Vaughn, an area on the northern outskirts of Toronto. He was pronounced dead at Etobicoke General Hospital.
"We were all inside shooting the music video and we heard gunshots outside," a production crew member told reporters. "It was extras, apparently, who shot the guy."
In a statement Paul told reporters: "I was deeply saddened to hear that a shooting occurred last night in the vicinity of my video shoot. Although I did not witness the incident, my sympathy and prayers go out to the victim's family and to those who have been affected by this tragedy. We must overcome violence and hatred. All life is precious. Respect."
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MASSIVE ATTACK ANNOUNCE DATES
Massive Attack have confirmed the dates for their 2003 European tour to promote new album ‘100th Window’ – due for release on 10 Feb. Those UK dates:
8 & 9 Apr: Glasgow Academy
11 & 12 Apr: Manchester Apollo
16 & 17 Apr: London Brixton Academy
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KYLIE CALENDAR REPACKAGED
Word is Woolworths have been forced to repackage 250,000 Kylie Minogue advent calendars because teenage boys are tampering with them! The people behind advent calendar obviously haven’t read the bible because there are 31 doors, one for each day of December. The problem is door 27, which is right next to Kylie's bottom. A Woolworths spokeswoman told the Daily Express: "Young boys thought it amusing to lift up the window next to Kylie's bottom. We couldn't have Kylie's bottom pinched could we?" The calendars have now been sealed in plastic bags to avoid any more tampering.
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Answer to Tuesday's cryptic Christmas song:
Cryptic Christmas songs - which festive number is this clue referring too?
“December 25th 2001”
‘Last Christmas’ by Wham ... of course!