| CMU Daily - on the inside 12 Dec 2002 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• UK coroner confirms cause of Entwistle death,
• Stereolab singer dies in accident,
• Student DJ competition reaches climax at Ministry,• Napster assets up for auction,
• White Stripes release limited edition Christmas single,
• Strokes father accused in sex abuse case,
• ITV Digital won’t charge those it owes money to!,
• Streets and More Fire Crew collaboration likely,
• Mute release Van Dyk best of,
• Review: Truby Trio Ft Joseph Malik – High Jazz,
• Harrison tribute album out in February,
• Cream add wannabe DJs room to new years night,
• Industry step up anti-piracy measures in lead up to Christmas,
• Abba top VH1 dance floor fillers poll,
• Nirvana are Kerrang readers’ overall favourite,
• BBC take late night music and comedy show national,
• Ministry’s Nelson's column stunt
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Cryptic Christmas songs - which festive number is this clue referring too?
“Yesterday was 25th December, today is 25th December, tomorrow is 25th December – in your dreams”
Answer tomorrow
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LAST CHANCE 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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UK CORONER CONFIRMS CAUSE OF ENTWISTLE DEATH
A British coroner has confirmed the verdict of Nevada officials that Who bassist John Entwistle died when an existing heart condition was made worse by the consumption of cocaine. Entwistle was found dead in his room at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel in June at the outset of the band’s latest tour. Although US coroners investigated his death, his body was brought to Britain for burial, meaning a post-mortem had to be conducted here too. Coroner Lester Maddrell yesterday concluded: "The amount of cocaine found to be present was not a huge amount, but in someone with preexisting and naturally occurring heart disease, it could bring about a fatal stopping in the rhythm of the heart”.
Elsewhere in Who health news, Pete Townshend has told the Sun that his hearing has further deteriorated since the band’s summer tour. Townshend suffers from a hearing condition called tinnitus – a common condition for performers who are regularly in close proximity to loud music without ear-protection. "My right ear has suffered badly,” he told the paper. “I've no idea what I can do about this.”
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STEREOLAB SINGER DIES IN ACCIDENT
Mary Hansen, vocalist and guitar player with Stereolab, died in a cycling accident on Monday. The sad news was confirmed on the band’s website yesterday: “The suddenness of her death has shocked the band. Mary was a special person. Our thoughts are with her family and friends who will miss her greatly.” Tributes for Mary are being posted by fans on the band's website - www.stereolab.co.uk/forum
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STUDENT DJ COMPETITION REACHES CLIMAX AT MINISTRY
The final of Motorola’s MixitMoto student DJ competition took place at the Ministry of Sound last night. The final followed heats at students’ unions around the UK and Ireland. In the end it was Paul Carrol – a drum ‘n’ bass and hip hop DJ from Keele University - who impressed the judges most to win the event. He wins representation from DJ agency Coda, the chance to remix a Cornershop track, the chance to mix a covermount CD for MixMag, £500 cash for DJ equipment and the chance to appear in 'It's All Gone Pete Tong' the forthcoming film by the producers of 'Human Traffic'.
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NAPSTER ASSETS UP FOR AUCTION
The remnants of Napster went up for auction in San Francisco last night. Computers, lap tops and Napster branded t-shirts were among the goods under the hammer. Santa Clara-based software maker Roxio bought the brand name and intellectual property last month following the legendary website’s bankruptcy earlier this year. Now the remainder of the company’s assets are being sold off.
Still no word on what Roxio will do with the Napster brand, though rumour has it they may launch some sort of online music service with the name. It will be a tough challenge if they do though, with the major labels already operating legitimate music download sites (Pressplay and Musicnet) and a plethora of non-legit Napster clones already dominating the market - Kazaa and Gnutella et al.
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WHITE STRIPES RELEASE LIMITED EDITION CHRISTMAS SINGLE
The White Stripes will release a Christmas single this Monday – on 7” vinyl only. The single, called ‘Merry Christmas From The White Stripes’, features track 'Candy Cane Children', a biblical reading from Jack and rendition of ‘Silent Night’ from Meg! But don’t expect it to be Christmas number one. Only 1000 copies will be released by XL in the UK. That said, some import copies (V2 have already released the single in the US) have already surfaced in independent record shops.
An XL spokesperson told the NME: "It's a very limited seven-inch Christmas single –The White Stripes just wanted to put it out as a present to the fans."
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STROKES FATHER ACCUSED IN SEX ABUSE CASE
John Casablancas, founder of leading model agency Elite and the father of Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, has been named in a sex abuse lawsuit by a model who claims he made her pregnant at the age of 15, and then arranged an abortion. Lawyers for Casablancas claim all the allegations, which are meant to have happened fifteen years ago, are untrue and said that they were confident the case would be dismissed.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the LA Superior Court, alleges that Casablancas began sexually abusing the girl in 1988 when she was a finalist in Elite's prestigious ‘Look of the Year’ competition for fresh new faces. The former model said she traveled with Casablancas to New York later that year when it was discovered she was pregnant by him. She alleges she was driven to a doctor's office and an abortion was arranged for her at the behest of Casablancas.
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ITV DIGITAL WON’T CHARGE THOSE IT OWES MONEY TO!
Liquidators of ITV Digital have promised that they won’t be charging pre-pay subscribers who are still owed money by the defunct service for their set top boxes. The company yesterday announced it would be asking former consumers who are using ITV boxes to access the Freeview service to pay £40 for the technology. It has started a backlash among former ITV Digital customers who claim they are due at least £40 compensation for the inconvenience caused when ITV Digital nose-dived due to mismanagement.
In a bid to control the backlash, and the damage it will have on the general ITV brand, the company have stressed that those consumers awaiting a refund on the £129 twelve month subscription they paid upfront will not have to pay for their set top box – although some have already received letters asking for the payment.
As for those who were paying for the service by direct debit, the liquidators are still chasing for the cash, though the liquidator has yet to decide whether to involve a debt collection agency in recovering the boxes. In a bid to scare former customers into paying up or returning their boxes they are telling consumers their credit rating may be affected if they don’t comply.
Bosses of ITV, whose brand is being further damaged by the debacle, are yet to comment.
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STREETS AND MORE FIRE CREW COLLABORATION LIKELY
Mike Skinner is likely to collaborate with South London’s More Fire Crew next year. The garage collective have been touring with The Streets and the two have committed to work together when time is available. Lethal from More Fire Crew has told NME: "Yeah, we talked about working together, but because Mike's so busy at the minute, nothing will happen for a while. We're looking to 2003. That would be wicked."
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MUTE RELEASE VAN DYK BEST OF
Mute will release a Paul Van Dyk ‘best of’ in February featuring eleven re-worked hits from his ten year career plus two previously unreleased tracks: ‘My World’ and ‘Animacion’. The CD will come with a DVD featuring live footage, music videos, interview snippets, and more. A fourth artist album is also expected to hit stores later in the year.
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REVIEW : Truby Trio ft Joseph Malik – High Jazz (Compost)
I’ve always been a great fan of that jazz-house sound: wonderful clattering high hats and cymbals with rhythmic pounding 4/4. And the Nicola Conte remix of the Truby Trio’s classic ‘High Jazz’ is a fantastic jazz house cut to match the electro-acoustic dexterity of Llorca or Saint Germain. Laden with piano and horn solos this is an absolute delight. The flip side is the Rainer Truby remix, and is a journey forward into the increasingly Detrit sounding world of future soul, broken beats and the forward-thinking edge of the leftfield dance scene. This track is a brilliant electronic soul cut, with all the essentials: warm electronic bass, downtempo 4/4 and the ruminations of the great Scotsman, Joseph Malik. This will be ripping up boho dancefloors across the continent very soon. JG
Release date: 6 Jan
Press contact: Zzonked [all]
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HARRISON TRIBUTE ALBUM OUT IN FEBRUARY
Also out next February will be 'Songs From The Material World : A Tribute To George Harrison’ where friends and admirers of the former Beatle will perform his tracks.
The album will feature:
Todd Rundgren - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Masters Of Reality - Devil's Radio
Marc Ford - I, Me, Mine
Dave Davies - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
Wayne Kramer - It's All Too Much
John Entwistle - Here Comes The Sun
Jay Bennet/Edward Burch - Isn't It A Pity
Big Head Todd and The Monsters - Within You, Without You
The Smithereens - I Want To Tell You
Roger McGuinn - If I Needed Someone
Bill Wyman - Taxman
Talking about his involvement Todd Rundgren told reporters: "Although I was a young guitar player before I'd heard of the Beatles, I'd never heard the term 'lead guitarist'. George created the job description for my first paying gig, the vocation that I'm still lucky enough to practice today and that kind of enthusiasm is shared by the artists who are featured on the album, many of whom were influenced by Harrison to take up music in the first place."
Dave Davies of The Kinks added: "I'm not a great lover of covers. I wouldn't normally do one. George Harrison, because of his Shinning Spirituality is an exception. I pay tribute to George as a great musical talent but primarily as an advanced soul who was unafraid to share his spiritual vision and journey with us."
The album will be released on 25 Feb to coincide with what would have been Harrison's 60th birthday.
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CREAM ADD WANNABE DJS ROOM TO NEW YEARS NIGHT
Cream have added a new DJs arena to their New Year’s gig in Blackpool where wannabe DJs can have a go at spinning some disks. Each DJ can play up to three records in the ‘You’re On’ Room – providing they don’t clear the dance floor, in which case they may be ‘gonged off’ before hand. Anyone interested in performing, and competing with the likes of Mauro Picotto, Sonique, Stanton Warriors, Justin Robertson, Scott Bond, Tom Wainwright and John Kelly who will be playing in the other three arenas, should contact Ric Porteus on 07775 902 762 or email [email protected]
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INDUSTRY STEP UP ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES IN LEAD UP TO CHRISTMAS
As the Christmas shopping rush reaches a peak record industry bosses are encouraging shoppers to not buy counterfeit CDs, and to avoid sellers they suspect may sell pirated goods. The BPI’s Anti-Piracy Unit is planning to step up its work with Trading Standards Departments and the police in raiding markets, boot sales and computer fairs where it believes pirated CDs are on sale in the least up to Christmas.
Talking about the campaign Andrew Yeates, BPI Director General, told reporters: “Our consumers need to understand that the success of Robbie Williams or Coldplay today helps fund the new acts of tomorrow. It is sometimes overlooked that piracy in the music business is theft. Last year levels of commercial piracy increased in the UK by a third and the global pirate music market exceeded 1.9 billion units. This means that 40% of all CDs and cassettes sold around the world are pirated copies. No industry can afford to lose this level of business whilst continuing to carry the responsibility for investment and development in new talent.”
Nick Kounoupias of the MCPS Anti-Piracy Unit added: “What people so easily forget when they are tempted to buy a fake CD is that there are a lot of people working very hard behind-the-scenes in the creation of legitimate CDs. Counterfeiters invest no time, effort or talent whatsoever, yet happily steal the hard work of others to make big profits for themselves. These aren’t modern day Robin Hoods - they’re criminals who very often use the money they make from counterfeiting to fund other criminal activity in local neighbourhoods. Consumers have a responsibility not to let that happen. If you’re offered cheap CDs down the pub, at work or at any of the many markets and boot sales around the country – think before you buy.”
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ABBA TOP VH1 DANCE FLOOR FILLERS POLL
VH1’s latest Top 100 survey sees Abba's Dancing Queen being named the greatest ever dance floor filler, with Kylie’s ‘Can't Get You Out Of My Head’ at two and Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ at three.
Talking about the poll, in which 400,000 votes were cast, Abba’s Benny Anderson commented: "It's rather fantastic that our music is still around and that they didn't kill us for being so corny at the time."
VH1 will count down the top 100 from 16 – 20 Dec.
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NIRVANA ARE KERRANG READERS’ OVERALL FAVOURITE
Meanwhile over at Kerrang a readers’ poll for the best single ever puts Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit’ at number one. Korn's Freak On A Leash came second with Chop Suey by System Of A Down third.
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BBC TAKE LATE NIGHT MUSIC AND COMEDY SHOW NATIONAL
A Scottish TV show which follows the format of the legendary Saturday Night Live is due to get a national airing in the New Year. The Live Floor Show, which has been running in Scotland for two years, will be shown on BBC2 next year, broadcast at 11pm on Saturdays to catch the post-pub audience. It features a mix of stand-up, music and comedy sketches.
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MINISTRY’S NELSON COLUMN STUNT
They may be struggling financially, but Ministry of Sound can still pull off a good PR stunt. Following the decision by the Greater London Authority to close off access to much of Trafalgar Square this New Year due to ongoing roadworks Ministry bosses proposed moving Nelson’s column to their New Years party at the Dome. They even put in an application to Ken Livingstone at the Greater London Authority and Roger Bright, the Chief Executive and Commissioner of The Crown Estate.
Needless to say the GLA declined: "Nelson's Column is part of Trafalgar Square, they go hand in hand, and it would not be the same if it's in the Dome for New Year's Eve. That's why Trafalgar Square is Trafalgar Square."
But Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly, Mike Tuffrey, was sold on the idea, saying: "Trafalgar Square is now the responsibility of the Mayor who's failed to organise a decent New Year's Eve celebration for Londoners. The fact the Ministry of Sound has to resort to moving Nelson's Column is really a criticism of the Mayor. If it can be done without any damage then why not?"
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Answer to Wednesday's cryptic Christmas song:
Cryptic Christmas songs - which festive number is this clue referring too?
“Feeling unsteady around the decorations”
‘Rockin Around The Christmas Tree’ by Brenda Lee (or Mel Smith and Kim Wilde)