| CMU Daily - on the inside 7 Mar 2003 |
|
In today's CMU Daily:
• Tony Blair on MTV, George Michael on TOTP – more war shenanigans,
• Def Jam sued over gang shooting,
• Rhode Island investigations continue,
• Jacko fires attorney,
• Music Week awards,
• Lookout Pretty Girls sign to Matador,
• Vivendi may sell some entertainment bits to Viacom,
• Mika Bomb not to play Metro,
• Macca tops people celeb rich list,
• Spector theories,
• D’arby slags off universal,
• Celador join another rock radio bid for West Midlands,
• Interscope plan Eminem retail promotion,
• Darius signs autobiography deal,
• Mellor bookies fave on celeb Fame Academy
------------------------------------------------
TONY BLAIR ON MTV, GEORGE MICHAEL ON TOTP – MORE WAR SHENANIGANS
Well it was a brave move, and he still looks like a genius when he stands next to George Bush, but few of the anti-war kids in the audience at the MTV war debate yesterday seemed convinced when Tony Blair said "I oppose war unless its the last resort." The hour long debate, fronted by Trevor Nelson, was filmed in a secret location in Wembley – press were bussed there from a central London meeting point after MTV bosses feared some sort of security violation if they publicised the exact place the high profile debate was being filmed.
An audience of forty 16-24-year-olds from across Europe, the Middle East and Iraq questioned the prime minister who covered familiar ground: "War is not the answer, not in the first place. Human rights have to be top of the agenda. I oppose war unless it's the last resort. But Saddam's record of abuse against his own people and the possibility of him passing weapons onto to terrorists means he has to be removed". It remains to be seen how the public respond when the debate is screened on MTV tonight – but Imran Saithna of Young Muslims UK was typical of those in the audience: "I don't think this will make a blind bit of difference to people. I think it might help raise awareness, but that's it. I came in with the opinion that war is not justified even with a second UN resolution and to be honest, I left with exactly the same opinion."
Elsewhere in the world of anti-war, George Michael will perform his rendition of the Don McLean anti-war song 'The Grave' on Top of the Pops tonight. Michael performed the song for MTV earlier this week, and, although he is not planning on releasing the track as a single, he says he hopes to include it on a forthcoming anti-war album containing tracks from various artists. Tonight's performance will be his first TOTP appearance since his Wham days back in 1986. The latest word is that, despite booking Michael for an anti-war performance, BBC bosses complained when he and his band showed up wearing t-shirts with anti-war statements!
------------------------------------------------
DEF JAM SUED OVER GANG SHOOTING
Def Jam Records and LA venue Conga Room are both being sued over the murder of Jerry Bonds, a member of the Southside Crips, the gang suspected of being behind the killing of Tupac Shukar. Bonds was shot at an event at the club showcasing the work of various Def Jam artists. Reports say a fistfight in an upstairs hallways involving Bonds (an associate of Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, the man some actually accuse of the Tupac shooting) got out of hand and guns were drawn. The case for making Def Jam responsible for the incident is unclear, though a spokesperson for the label simply said: "While we have not seen any complaint, the event was not sponsored by Def Jam."
------------------------------------------------
RHODE ISLAND INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE
Talking to the investigators working on the Rhode Island fire, Dan Biechele, Great White's tour manager, has said the paperwork that he supplied the venue which detailed the planned use of pyros in their show were destroyed in the fire. The investigations into the fire that killed 96 people centre on whether or not the venue gave the band permission to use the pyrotechnics that started the blaze.
Ed McPherson, representing the band, has told reporters Great White had never used the special effects before this latest tour. "They decided that they were going to spruce it up a little bit. So they said, 'Why don't we try this?'. Biechele made sure that he carefully explained all about the pyrotechnics to every club prior to the performance and received explicit permission to use it".
Meanwhile more on the packaging foam used by the venue as sound proofing, the flammable nature of which helped the fire spread so tragically quickly. Word is the venue's owners bought the foam from a neighbour – Barry Warner – who had complained about the noise at the venue, and who worked for a foam company. Police reports say: "Warner informed the Derderians that they could purchase the foam and use it as a form of sound-absorbing material." Representatives of the club's owners have implied they believed Warner to be an expert in the area and followed his advice on using the foam for sound proofing. But Warner himself told reporters he was being unfairly represented in reports on the case: "There's a lot of inaccuracies."
-----------------------------------------------
JACKO FIRES ATTORNEY
Fox News has reported that Michael Jackson has fired his long timed legal advisor and attorney John Branca, his legal representative on and off since the early eighties. Word is he will be replaced by a group of lawyers, including Las Vegas attorney David LeGrande who represents Jacko's controversial friend, gay porn director F Marc Schaffel.
-----------------------------------------------
MUSIC WEEK AWARDS
It was the Music Week awards last night – yep, another awards ceremony, but this time from an industry perspective. Among the highlights – EMI won an international breakthrough prize for breaking Kylie in the US, Sugababes and Island Records picked up the best marketing campaign for the girl group's successful comeback after being dumped by previous label London, Ken Nelson won producer of the year for his work on Coldplay's 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head', BMG won top singles company, Polydor top artist albums label, Positiva top dance label, and Xfm was awarded radio station of the year.
-----------------------------------------------
LOOKOUT PRETTY GIRLS SIGN TO MATADOR
Seattle based Pretty Girls Make Graves, whose mini-album for independent label Lookout! Records was a favourite with some of the CMU review team last year, have signed to Matador and will release their second full-length album this Autumn. Those unfamiliar with the band who are going to the Texas’ cattle-market-cum-festival SXSW can check out their riot-grrrl and post-rock at the Lookout! showcase on 13 Mar.
-----------------------------------------------
VIVENDI MAY SELL SOME ENTERTAINMENT BITS TO VIACOM
Jean-Rene Fourtou, chief executive of Vivendi Universal, has confirmed he is in talks with bosses at MTV owners Viacom with regards selling them Universal's film studios and theme parks. He wouldn't be drawn on specifics, saying simply: "As concerns our US assets, we have been approached by several potential partners. Keeping in mind the twofold aim of creating value for shareholders and lowering our debt, we are examining all possible options in both industrial and financial terms. Any disposals or partnerships, and the consequent strategy, will only be made public as and when they are concluded."
As previously reported it is likely the company will hold on to its music operations, perhaps looking for companies to forger joint ventures with. Though, that said, if a good offer came along for complete acquisition Fourtou might not be able to afford to turn it down.
-----------------------------------------------
MIKA BOMB NOT TO PLAY METRO
London-based Japanese garage punk band Mika Bomb are not playing at London's Metro club tonight despite extensive promotion to the contrary. The band's manager is blaming the venue for the confusion. He explains: "Mika Bomb wanted to play a show in early March. We thought the Metro show was probably the best show last year so we asked the promoter for potential Friday dates around March. He came back in December with 7 Mar. I told the promoter that I would confirm when I came back from Australia after 20 Jan; it seems in this time he decided it was happening anyway and posted the tickets up without confirmation. I don’t want to really hammer the promoter at The Metro, who always does a great night and a good deal; he just jumped the gun a bit this time, which is disappointing."
Meanwhile our man was at the video shoot for forthcoming single 'Osaka' last weekend, which he described at "terrifyingly mental". He explains: "The girls in the band, dressed as super-sexy space-chicks, descended upon Earth and hijacked a souped-up red mini, driven by drummer Ergi. There followed a series of near-misses as Ergi drove his way around London - edge of seat stuff."
The single, produced by one of the men from UNKLE, will be out in the next few months. Meanwhile the following dates in Ireland have been double checked and are going ahead:
27 Mar: Half Moon Theatre, Cork
28 Mar: Dolans Warehouse, Limerick
29 Mar: Spiritstore, Dundalk
30 Mar: Whelans, Dublin
31 Mar: Waterford
-----------------------------------------------
MACCA TOPS PEOPLE CELEB RICH LIST
US magazine people have named Sir Paul McCartney as the richest celebrity in terms of 2002 income. They reckon he made some £120 million - £65 from album sales and tour receipts, and £55 million through the publishing royalties for his solo and Wings material, plus other rights he owns, including the Buddy Holly catalogue. McCartney, who topped a similar poll of UK celebs in Heat recently, should do well this year too with a European tour and a DVD release of Beatles rarities. Elswhere in the People survey Oprah Winfrey made £94m in 2002, while lower down were were Britney Spears with £24m and Eminem grossing £9m.
-----------------------------------------------
SPECTOR THEORIES
A report by veteran Vanity Fair investigative reporter Robert Sam Anson into what happened at Phil Spector's house that night is expected to suggest that b-movie actor Lana Clarkson left the producer's Alhambra castle with his driver, but returned when she realised she’d left something their. It was then that the legendary producer, half asleep and disoriented, shot her through the door, thinking she was an intruder. Police are still investigating the case and are yet to make any formal charges.
------------------------------------------------
D'ARBY SLAGS OFF UNIVERSAL
Terence Trent D'Arby (remember him?), who recently re-released his most recent album 'Wildcard' on his own independent label, has spoken out against Universal Germany who released the original, claiming they are ripping him off. Writing on his website he says: "The old version is still being illegally exploited by Universal-Germany who are selling surplus copies to unlicensed territories at mark-down prices and they have also been less than honest with regards to the number of CDs sold in order to avoid paying money's due. I guess it's all in a day's work for these cold hearted corporate thieves. It's also shameful".
-----------------------------------------------
CELADOR JOIN ANOTHER ROCK RADIO BID FOR WEST MIDLANDS
While ITV continues to dispute that bloke's million pound victory in 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', the TV show's creators Celador are teaming up with radio production company UBC and former ITV CEO Richard Eyre to put in a bid to run a rock radio station in the West Midlands.
Talking about his bid for the new commercial radio licence former Capital executive Eyre told Media Guardian: "This is a rock format that is different to anything else that's out there at the moment. We're confident that it's distinctive and will also deliver a service that will connect with the local community. We're going to offer a different approach to rock music that doesn't just have a play list of the Top 40."
As previously reported competition for the new Birmingham based licence (which has a potential listenership of 2.3 million) is tight – nearly all the major radio players are bidding, and many are proposing a rock format (Emap are pitching a local version of its digital Kerrang! station, GWR of its digital rock channel The Storm and Virgin a local version of its national rock station).
The deadline for applications is 13 May - a decision should be made in September.
----------------------------------------------
INTERSCOPE PLAN EMINEM RETAIL PROMOTION
Universal label Interscope is planning a special promotion across US retailers to coincide with the DVD release of '8 Mile' next week. Consumers who buy two records from the Eminem catalogue – which includes 'Shady', 'Marshall Mathers', 'The Eminem Show', the '8 Mile soundtrack' and 'E-Video' – will receive a free copy of Slim Shady's 'All Access Europe' live DVD. The promotion is presumably targeted at newer Eminem fans – hard core Slim Shady followers will all ready own much of the rapper’s back catalogue.
------------------------------------------------
DARIUS SIGNS AUTOBIOGRAPHY DEAL
Well, he has had such a long life and extensive career – auditioned for Popstars, became a laughing stock, auditioned for Pop Idol, didn't win, got a record deal, wrote some records, got very smug about songwriter royalties and, erm, that's it. Yep, Darius Danesh has signed a £100,000 deal to tell his life story in a new autobiography. Talking about the deal he told the Daily Record: "I can promise this book will genuinely reflect my feelings and thoughts over these amazing two years, with a few surprises as well."
------------------------------------------------
MELLOR BOOKIES FAVE ON CELEB FAME ACADEMY
As if a Gareth Gates charity single wasn't enough, a celebrity version of Fame Academy begins on BBC 1 tonight raising money for Comic Relief. Bookies favourite to win out of the bunch of celebs is Casualty (and former Hollyoaks) star Will Mellor – they reckon the actor (who, if we remember rightly, once dabbled with a pop career) will beat other contestants Fearne Cotton, Jo Brand, Ulrika Jonsson, John Thomson, Ruby Wax, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Paul Ross and Doon Mackichan. The show will run for a week with the worst performing students being put up for eviction each night.