| CMU Daily - on the inside 17 Feb 2003 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• Millions protest against war,
• More Jacko news, oh yes,
• Review: Matchbox Twenty - Disease,
• Sky ready for fight with MTV over contract renewal,
• Big Dada launch club night,
• Grammy line up news,
• Clash best of track listing,
• Ozzfest line up rumours,
• Carter launches record label,
• IPC plan new titles, • Would-be Beckham kidnappers charged,
• Ketchup girls up for Latin Grammys,
• Review: Christian J - Off Axis Trax Volume 1,
• Lennon news galore,
• Student media conference update,
• Folk group out of competition because of anti-war song,
• Busted dates,
• Liam denies taxi hijack
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Brits trivia: which band is missing?
Kulashaker, Stereophonics, ***, S Club 7, A1
Answer tomorrow
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OUT TODAY: RECOMMENDED RELEASES
Singles: Psychio - Radio (DB Records); The Rainband - Easy Rider (Temptation); Moloko – Familiar Feeling (Echo); Matchbox Twenty - Disease (Warners/Atlantic); Adema – Insomniacs Dream (BMG); Dannii Minogue - I Begin To Wonder (Warner); FB V/S Acr; Katoi – Touch You (BMG); Kv5 - Large Foot (Prolifica); Layo & Bushwacka! - Deep South (Remixes); Leann Rimes – Suddenly (Warner); MC Paul Barman - Cock Mobster (Coup D Etat); Mull Historical Society - Final Arrears (Warner); Shy Fx & T-Power - Feelin U (Warner); Space Cowboy - Just Put Your Hand In Mine (Southern Fried); Zwan - Honestly (Warner); Turin Breaks - Pain Killer (Virgin/Source)
Albums: Bad Company UK Feat Rawhill Kru - Mo Fire (Bad Company UK); Clipse – Lord Willin (BMG); Loudbomb - The Fall Collection Ep (Cooking Vinyl); Moony – Lifestories (Warner); Various - Badmeaningood - Mixed By Peanut Butter Wolf (Whoa/Ultimate Dilemma); Mouse On Mars - The EP Collection (Too Pure)
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CHART REPORT
Well, it's a winning formula. Tatu are still at number one this week, keeping Fame Academy runner up Sinead Quinn at bay, here debut 'I Can't Break Down' going in at two.
Pretty poor top twenty this week (unless you're a Blazin Squad fan – new at 8) but some good new entries lower down the chart, including Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Don't Stop' in at 22, 2 Pac's 'Thugz Mansion' at 24, Idlewild's 'A Modern Way of Letting Go' at 28, The Datsuns' 'Harmonic Generator' at 33, Sum 41's 'The Hell Song' at 35 and The Polyphonic Spree's 'Light and Day' (perhaps performing less well than hoped) in at 40.
Albums wise very few new entries again this week – except for Massive Attack who go straight in at number one – pushing Kelly Rowland down to three, and leaving Justin Timberlake at number two. Kelly Osbourne’s 'Shut Up' goes in at 31 while Zwan's debut 'Mary Star Of The Sea' enters at 33.
Sony, meanwhile, gets two re-entries – Oasis' 'Heather Chemisty' is back in at 35, presumably on the back of the single success of 'Song Bird', while Big Brovaz 'Nu Flow' re-enters at 24 after a re-release last week.
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MILLIONS PROTEST AGAINST WAR
So, anywhere between 750,000 and 2 million anti-war protestors amassed on Hyde Park this weekend after a long march through London. Needless to say the music world was well represented with long-time anti-war protestors Damon Albarn and 3-D joined by Ms Dynamite, John Peel, Billy Bragg to mention but a few.
Getting quite dramatic Ms Dynamite, whose was one of the key acts in the rally's music finale, demanded of Tony Blair: "How long will you lie and deceive this country and speak so many words but very few truths? Don't underestimate or insult our intelligence. Let the truth be told. I believe war is not the answer. He who preaches war is the devil's chaplain, he is tarnished by the beast."
As similar protests took place across the world that other long time peace advocate Moby got optimistic on his website, urging the Iraqis to go for an early surrender if military action should begin. "Maybe someone in the Iraqi military will see the futility in wasting lives and resources trying to stand up to the American military, and will in turn surrender before a shot is fired. That would seem to be the sensible and compassionate thing to do, because any Iraqi resistance in the face of the American war machine will most likely be an exercise in bloody futility, at least based on any sort of objective assessment of the American military’s current capabilities as opposed to the Iraqi military’s current capabilities… which is why I hope that someone in the Iraqi military will have the compassionate sense to not needlessly waste the lives of Iraqi soldiers and civilians in fighting a war that they have no chance of winning."
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MORE JACKO NEWS, OH YES
Well, we really wanted to get through one day without mentioned Jacko – but then news broke that Mr Jackson's children's foundation is in jeopardy after it neglected to file the required financial disclosure forms in the state of New York, where it is based. Word is the Heal The Kids organisation has failed to report any of its basic spending, fund raising, activities and pay roll as required under New York state law. A spokesman for state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told reporters "That report would have been due in 2002. They have been given 30 days to comply and at that time penalties begin to accrue if they fail to comply."
Meanwhile there are reports that Jacko plans to travel to the Grammys later this month on Harry Potter's Hogwarts Express. A big fan of the wizard stories Jacko will travel from Miami to the New York awards ceremony in an eight-carriage train being made up to look like the Hogwarts Express from the movie. Bee Gee Barry Gibb, who hates flying, is likely to join Jacko as he goes to the Grammys to pick up a tribute award on behalf of brother Maurice.
It's perhaps just as well Jacko’s train doesn’t stop off at the Brits this week, because organisers have confirmed Martin Bashir will be in Earls Court on Thursday to present one of the awards. The Brits take place on the same night that Jacko's 'hit-back at Bashir documentary' airs in the US
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REVIEW: Matchbox Twenty - Disease (Warners/Atlantic)
Now if you're like me, you'll have been mixing this band up with The New Electrics or Semisonic, music of that ilk. Hence you'll also have been as absolutely appalled by this slimy dollop of effluvium that could easily have fallen off the back of the Ricky Martin lorry. If this band was to meet their demise in a bizarre and senseless potholing accident, it would be twenty million album sales too late (yes kids, there are that many tasteless people in the world). LA
Released date: 17 Feb
Press contact: Wild [CP, CR] Warners IH [RP, RR, NP, NR]
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SKY READY FOR FIGHT WITH MTV OVER CONTRACT RENEWAL
Well, we said there might be a fight looming, and BskyB's boss has thrown the first punch. Unlike most channels who broadcast via Sky, who have to pay to do so, the opposite is true when it comes to MTV. As one of the first quality channels available via satellite, MTV's parent company Viacom has a deal with the Sky network where it actually gets a share of Sky subscription income in return for supplying its MTV channels (as well as Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy). But contracts are now up for renewal, just as Sky is finalising the launch of its own network of music channels, and bosses at the satellite company are planning on using their own moves into music television to cut the fees they pay to MTV - some reckon they want to half what they currently pay.
BSkyB chief Tony Ball told reporters this weekend: "We're definitely prepared to stare them down if we can't get a sensible deal." Ball plans to use the recent boom in subscribers to rewrite past deals. "When these deals got cut four or five years ago the wisdom at the time was that Sky would have around 4.5 million customers by now. We're at 6.6 million and that means the channels have had a pretty good deal, coupled with greater ad revenue. So as we approach renegotiation we're keen to redress the balance.” He added that the channels covered by the deal take most of their content from American versions of their channels and as such they have been getting an "easy ride" while not delivering the required audiences
Sky's powers are limited. The licence they have from the government would force them to give MTV broadcast space, and would even force them to include those channels on their electronic programme guide. But they could relegate the stations services to the back of said guide, giving the EMAP and Sky music channels a higher profile. That, combined with a loss in their share of Sky subscriptions, could be disastrous for MTV's operations in the UK
No word yet on what Viacom's approach will be – though chairman Sumner Redstone said last November that BSkyB was in danger of becoming an all-powerful "digital gatekeeper".
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BIG DADA LAUNCH CLUB NIGHT
Ninja Tune's hip hop imprint Big Dada (home to Roots Manuva and cLOUDDEAD among others) is launching a club night. Called GOSH! the night will kick off at east London’s Plastic People on 27 Feb. Line up on the first night includes A La Fu, Roots Manuva collaborator Wayne Bennett, New Flesh MC, Juice Aleem and lyrical warrior, Infinite Livez. Tickets are £6 (£5 before 10pm).
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GRAMMY LINE UP NEWS
As we get ready for the Brits here on Thursday more on the Grammy’s line up. Eminem, Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz have been added to the list of performers, while Nsync will take part in a Bee Gees tribute in memory of Maurice Gibb. As mentioned above, the Bee Gees will pick up a Grammy Legend Award.
The Grammys show will also include a tribute to Joe Strummer with Elvis Costello, No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, and Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt all participating in a Clash tribute.
Latest additions join existing line up of Ashanti, Avril Lavigne and No Doubt.
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CLASH BEST OF TRACK LISTING
Talking of Joe Strummer, Sony have announced the track listing for the forthcoming Clash compilation - 'The Essential Clash' – out on 10 Mar:
CD1: 'White Riot', '1977', 'London's Burning', 'Complete Control', 'Clash City Rockers', 'I'm So Bored With The USA', 'Career Opportunities', 'Hate And War', 'Cheat', 'Police & Thieves', 'Janie Jones', 'Garageland', 'Capital Radio', '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais', 'English Civil War', 'Tommy Gun', 'Safe European Home', 'Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad', 'Stay Free', 'Groovy Times', 'I Fought The Law'
CD2: 'London Calling', 'Guns Of Brixton', 'Clampdown', 'Rudie Cant Fail', 'Lost In The Supermarket', 'Jimmy Jazz', 'Train In Vain', 'Bankrobber', 'Magnificent Seven', 'Ivan Meets GI Joe', 'Stop The World', 'Somebody Got Murdered', 'Street Parade', 'Broadway', 'Radio Clash', 'Ghetto Defendant', 'Rock The Casbah', 'Straight To Hell', 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go', 'This Is England'
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OZZFEST LINE UP RUMOURS
According to Billboard, Korn, Marilyn Manson and Disturbed are expected to be among the Ozzfest line up which will be announced by Ozzy and son Jack at his LA home tomorrow. Promoters have already confirmed that once again there will be a UK date for the rock fest.
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CARTER LAUNCHES RECORD LABEL
Jon Carter will officially launch his new record label – the neatly titled Saville Row Records – this week. The launch party will take place as part of Lottie's Missdemeanours club night at the AKA bar in London on 20 Feb with Carter and DJ business partners Tim Sheridan and Dave Chambers all Djing. The new label’s first release will be Carter's own 'Go Down', out at the end of the month.
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IPC PLAN NEW TITLES
IPC Editorial director, and former FHM editor, Mike Soutar has told reporters he has been given a multi-million pound budget by parent company Time Publishing to develop and launch new titles. "Our number one priority is to grow the business through launches," Soutar said on Friday. "Launches are the key driver of any magazine business. At IPC we will need to implement an active sustainable programme."
"For the last few years we have not been as active as we may have desired. This is not down to lack of talent or ambition," he continued. "However, we are now owned by Time, one of the world's most dynamic and successful magazine companies, which is fully committed to supporting our strategy of future launches. We want IPC to be seen as the most successful hub of innovation in UK publishing."
He wouldn't be drawn on the exact details of any new title, though he said development time would be needed so we shouldn’t expect any new titles to hit the stores in the short term. "We will take all the time we need to develop the right products into the right market at the right moment".
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WOULD BE BECKHAM KIDNAPPERS CHARGED
As you no doubt saw in the news on Friday, five men have been charged with conspiracy to kidnap Victoria Beckham last November. The plot was unearthed by the News of the World last Autumn who then tipped off police. According to the paper the gang intended to ambush Beckham in front of her North London home and use a chemical spray to sedate her and any companions. They would then have taken her to a location in South London and demanded a multi-million pound ransom. A police spokesman wouldn’t comment on the charges, accept to say: "Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service it has been decided that they will be charged with the offence of conspiracy to kidnap Victoria Beckham."
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KETCHUP GIRLS UP FOR LATIN GRAMMYS
Las Ketchup, who dominated the singles chart for a brief time at the end of last year, have received seven nominations at the Latin Grammys, which take place in May. The awards celebrate the best in Latin music from around the world, with winners chosen by sales and radio airplay from the Billboard weekly chart in the US.
Las Ketchup will compete with some lesser known (over here at least) Latin names for album of the year, including Juanes, Mana, and Los Temerarios.
Nominated for single of the year are Chayanne for 'Y Tu Te Vas', Pilar Montenegro for 'Quitame Ese Hombre', Jennifer Pena for 'El Dolor De Tu Presencia' and Sin Bandera for 'Entra En Mi Vida'.
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REVIEW: Christian J - Off Axis Trax Volume 1 (Distinct’ive Breaks)
Christian J (aka Chris Allen) produced Sonique's album and after that thought there might be a few bob in this old game, becoming a fairly respected nu-skool breaks guy in the process. Two tracks here. 'Understand' gets off to a good start with a shard of Aphex Twin's random sounds, but then out pop the average breaks into the main meat, making it sound a bit over produced – it's still a reasonable track but it lacks poise and the vocal becomes irritating. 'Nightfighter' has a bass line so distorted that yep, it does sound Off Axis with its warped power chords. Only fit for the hardest of breaks dance floors and a heavily monged crowd. Well out there. Both tracks will feature in a Distinct'ive compo due early April, along with some of Chris's stable mates. PV
Release date: 31 March
Press contact: Excess Press [all]
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LENNON NEWS GALORE
Loads of Lennon news today. Firstly the National Trust have announced the house where Lennon spent his childhood and wrote some of the Beatles' first hits will be open to the public next month. The house, which Lennon shared with his Aunt Mimi, was bought by Yoko Ono last year and immediately donated to the heritage organisation. The Trust, who have restored the house to how it would have looked when Lennon live there, will run a tour of both the Lennon home and of McCartney's childhood home down the road, which the Trust have owned for some time.
Secondly, more Beatles studio recordings have been found, this time in Sydney. Last month police found some lost Beatles tapes when raiding the offices of some music pirates in the Netherlands. In the latest raid tape recordings of the 'Abbey Road' and 'The Beatles' albums (the latter better known as 'The White Album') were found alongside some album artwork. Police reckon the tapes were probably stolen from the Abbey Road studios in the late sixties.
And finally Yoko Ono has teamed up with the Pet Shop Boys to make a dancey version of Lennon's last song 'Walking On Thin Ice'. She is expected to debut the remake in New York tonight, on the eve of her 70th birthday. She told reporters: "I'm very excited that people love the record. I've been asked to come over to Britain and play in some electro clubs and I think I will do that. I'm playing at 6 in the morning in New York, the day before my 70th birthday. Even my son thinks that's pretty good going for his mum."
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STUDENT MEDIA CONFERENCE UPDATE
The student media conference season is almost upon us. The Student Radio Association have announced that their Annual Spring Conference will be hosted by Fly FM at Nottingham Trent University from 10 – 12 Apr. The usual line up of talks, seminars and entertainments can be expected – more info as we have it, or from www.studentradio.org.uk
Meanwhile NUS Ents have announced they will be holding their annual Ents Convention in early July this year. With more and more universities opting for the semester season it is getting harder to find a week in April when all union ents teams are able to attend a three day conference. With this in mind the big event in student ents has been moved to the start of the summer vacation. Again, more info as we get it.
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FOLK GROUP OUT OF COMPETITION BECAUSE OF ANTI-WAR SONG
A folk group have been disqualified from the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music because judges fear their anti-war song will have an unfair advantage after anti-war groups started urged their supporters to vote for it.
Stephen Whittle, BBC head of editorial policy, told reporters that "It was clear from the voting process that the votes for Seize the Day were motivated and organised for political reasons. This is meant to be a musical not a political vote."
But the band, who say they haven't been actively lobbying anti-war groups for votes, say they have been disqualified because they are “too political”. The band's manager Louise Somerville-Williams told reporters: "We feel extremely wounded that they are damaging the band's reputation for integrity and honesty."
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BUSTED DATES
Our favourite boy band on the moment, the posh lads from Busted, have announced tour dates for May:
17 Mar: Newport Centre
18 May: Wolverhampton Civic Hall
19 May: Oxford Apollo
21 May: Sheffield City Hall
22 May: Nottingham Royal Centre
23 May: Newcastle City Hall
26 May: Manchester Apollo
29 May: Portsmouth Guildhall
30 May: Plymouth Pavilions
31 May: Bristol Colston Hall
2 Jun: Hammersmith Apollo
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LIAM DENIES TAXI HIJACK
Liam Gallagher has denied claims he kicked a passenger out of a taxi after a night out with girlfriend Nicole Appleton. Marketing executive Lennon Mortimore claimed he was abused when the pair clashed in London's West End. But Liam has told The Sun: "I got in a taxi, he jumps in, starts pulling things out of his pocket and I've gone, 'Hey, what are you doing?' And he started babbling on, pissed up and that, so I threw him out. I didn't beat him up, I didn't kick him in the face, I didn't do anything. I'd never drag anyone out of their taxi. I opened the door and politely guided him out. It's starting to do me head in. You know, I went out for a decent night. I don't go out much."
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Answer to Friday's pop quiz:
Claims to fame: In 2000 Bon Jovi achieved something only previously achieved by Abba, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Rod Stewart – what was it?
They had five consecutive number one albums.