| CMU Daily - on the inside 13 Dec 2002 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• Glastonbury refused licence,
• Moby attacked after Boston show,
• Nelson gets MBE for millennium volunteers work,
• Girls move up in Christmas number one race,
• Missy joins PETA campaign,
• Queen remix due for release,
• Fame Academy latest,
• Review : Pest – Jefferson Shuffle,
• More artists added to AMA line up,
• Guardian buy into radio production group,
• Escape back in the park,
• All star collaboration on Chicago soundtrack
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Cryptic Christmas songs - which festive number is this clue referring too?
“No one else around on the 25th?”
Answer on Monday
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VOTE TODAY FOR YOUR BEST RECORDS 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] Today is the last chance to vote!
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GLASTONBURY REFUSED LICENCE
Michael Eavis has been talking about his local council’s decision to refuse the Glastonbury Festival an entertainments licence for 2003. Local resident groups frequently object to the event. Ironically this year’s complaints were caused because Eavis responded too well to last time’s problems. After being told he must stop the fence hoppers who gain unofficial access to the festival, Eavis brought in promoters Mean Fiddler to look after security. The move was so successful thousands of potential fence hoppers were sent away – filling local villages with disgruntled festival-goers – much to the concern of said local villages.
In a statement the licensing committee for Mendip District Council told reporters: "There were three main issues that dissuaded the board from granting the licence. The board didn't accept that Glastonbury Festival Limited would deliver security for the village of Pilton and surrounding villages. Secondly, the environmental damage on the area and finally the unsuitability of the site as villagers said the festival had outgrown it. There were several vociferous villagers at the meeting who spoke very strongly against the festival."
Eavis responded: "We lost by one vote and the unfortunate thing was that the members weren't all there and it was a poorly attended meeting. We will go to magistrates court and appeal. The council, police and fire service have been very supportive. We are not too bothered and I think it's all going to be fine. I am fairly confident the festival will go ahead."
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MOBY ATTACKED AFTER BOSTON SHOW
Moby has written on his website about an attack against the techno star that took place in Boston on Wednesday. "After the show I went outside to get into my car. And there were a few people waiting for autographs, so as usual I stopped to sign a few things. And then all of a sudden I was attacked by (I believe) three men with mace. They punched me from behind and I really had no idea what was going on. After being punched in the head from behind a few times I turned around to see what was going on and one of them punched me in the face a couple of times and then they all ran away. So now I'm sitting here bloody and beaten up and waiting to file a police report." We wish him a speedy recovery.
Elsewhere in the world of Moby, the star’s ‘Area’ tour, which took a plethora of top acts around the US this summer, is unlikely to be repeated next year. Speaking at the Billboard Awards earlier this week, and before the Boston attack, he told reporters: "As much as I want to do it, I don't think we're going to be doing it this year. Area: One and Area 2 were successful and they were fun, but I think they ended up being a lot more work than everyone involved had anticipated."
"For me, it's easy,” he continued, “I do a few interviews and I play concerts, and it's not the most difficult job in the world. But everybody who's involved with the logistics of planning the tour, it's a lot of hard work. So I think that we've decided to maybe take the year off."
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NELSON GETS MBE FOR MILLENNIUM VOLUNTEERS WORK
Radio 1 and MTV Base presenter Trevor Nelson will receive an MBE today for his work with Millennium Volunteers, a Department for Education and Skills initiative encouraging young people to volunteer in their local communities. Nelson has worked as a Millennium Volunteers Ambassador for three years, encouraging young people to get involved.
Paying tribute to Nelson’s work Education Minister Ivan Lewis told reporters: "Trevor Nelson has become an inspirational figurehead for many MVs, encouraging thousands of young people to volunteer in their communities. We would like to congratulate Trevor on receiving his MBE and thank him for his continuing support of Millennium Volunteers."
Talking about the award, Trevor himself said: "I am delighted and honoured to be given this award. I have lots of respect for every Millennium Volunteer out there, trying to make a difference to their community. I would encourage any young person to think about becoming an MV - not only does it help others but it also helps towards achieving your own dreams."
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GIRLS MOVE UP IN CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE RACE
Things are a-changing in the stakes for Christmas number one as the pre-Christmas release date approaches. Bookmakers have slashed the odds on the Popstars girl band Girls Aloud being the Christmas number one after a mixed response to favourite, the Popstars boy band ‘One True Voice’. Odds on the girls being number one have gone down from 13/2 to 9/4, although One True Voice are still just ahead at 4/6.
Ever optimistic (deluded?) we’re still hoping luck will fall on the side of third favourites Death in Vegas.
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MISSY JOINS PETA CAMPAIGN
Missy Elliott is the latest star to support a campaign by PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Last month Sophie Ellis Bextor fronted the group’s anti-fur campaign. Now Missy is supporting the campaign to encourage pet owners to have their animals neutered in a bid to bring down the number of unwanted pets being born and, often, later destroyed.
Missy has written to the Vice-Mayor of her hometown of Portsmouth in Virginia asking him to take action to ensure all pets adopted from animal homes are neutered. According to the PETA website Missy was so outraged when she learned that 2,300 stray dogs were put to sleep in the town last year, that she joined their campaign to put a stop to the number of strays on the streets, and subsequently being dumped in animal shelters.
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QUEEN REMIX DUE FOR RELEASE
A remix of the 1980 Queen track ‘Flash’, from the soundtrack to the cult Flash Gordon film, is set to be released next year. The remix, credited to Queen+Vanguard, was originally an underground club hit in Germany and other European countries. It will get an official release on 27 Jan.
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FAME ACADEMY LATEST
In case you care, Scottish singer David Sneddon is the hot favourite to win BBC’s reality talent contest Fame Academy when the viewer voted final takes place tonight. Coral bookmakers has him at 4-6 on to win while he is the 4-5 favourite for Sporting Odds. Despite the good news for Sneddon, the bookies are less optimistic of his success post-show, even though the winner gets an automatic million pound record deal. They are offering odds of 13-8 against him achieving a number one single in 2003.
"The viewing public favoured Popstars over Fame Academy," Coral spokesman Simon Clare told reporters. "The odds suggest the Popstars bands will outperform the Fame Academy winner in the charts as well."
The final of Fame Academy is broadcast at 8.30pm tonight on BBC1, with the overall winner announced after the Ten O’clock News.
Despite the critical and ratings disappointments for the show, audience figures are rising as the final approaches – 6.3 million tuning in to the penultimate live showdown last Friday. BBC 1 controller Lorraine Heggessey told reporters: “There are lots of different ways to measure success. We have to please all of the people some of the time and it has brought in a much younger audience than we normally get for BBC 1."
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REVIEW: Pest – Jefferson Shuffle (Ninja Tune)
After a number of more obscure 7” and 12”s Ninja Tune returns to original form with this great ‘Pest’ 10”. This a more accessible track comprised of massive funky breaks, cinematic string loops from some 50’s film noir movie, dirty twisted bass lines and the usual odd sample shapes that litter the beat runway. The flip is a down tempo head-nodder with a very US mid-nineties swing-beat/R&B feel to it. This is a very refreshing release from the house of the weird – catchy beats that you can’t help but ride. JG
Release date: 13 Jan
Press contact: Ninja IH [all]
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MORE ARTISTS ADDED TO AMA LINE UP
More acts have been confirmed to play at the American Music Awards – which take place in LA on 13 Jan with the Osbournes as hosts. Shania Twain, Christina Aguilera, and Matchbox Twenty join Willie Nelson, Kelly Osbourne and Elton John on the bill.
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GUARDIAN BUY INTO RADIO PRODUCTION GROUP
The Guardian Media Group, owners of the Guardian, Observer, Jazz FM and the Real Radio franchises, have taken a shareholding in UBC Media Group, the UK's largest independent radio producer.
Announcing the deal UBC CEO Simon Cole told Media Guardian: "We are delighted to welcome Guardian Media Group as a shareholder in UBC, as it further cements a long-standing commercial relationship between the two companies."
UBC's packaged radio programmes include Entertainment News and Bloomberg Business News.
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ESCAPE BACK IN THE PARK
Welsh club promoters Escape have confirmed they will hold another ‘Escape Into The Park’ event at Singleton Park in Swansea on Saturday 12 Jul. This year’s event was attended by 25,000, with the likes of Sasha, Sonique and Ian Van Dahl among the 60 DJs playing across the 5 arenas and main stage. Line up for the 2003 event will be announced in the Spring.
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ALL STAR COLLABORATION ON CHICAGO SOUNDTRACK
Macy Gray, Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim have recorded a version of the ‘Cell Block Tango (He Had It Coming)’ for the soundtrack of the new film version of the musical Chicago. The song comes from the West End hit show. The soundtrack will also include a new song from Anastacia, called ‘Love Is A Crime’, plus original cast recordings from the film featuring the vocals of Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger. No word yet on whether the Gray/Latifah/Kim track will get a single release.
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Answer to Wednesday's cryptic Christmas song:
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”
‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ by Roy Wood and Wizzard