Emo protest in London

My Chemical Romance fans march in capital

31 May 08 - Fans of My Chemical Romance took to the streets in London to protest about the negative image of the US band.

The fans have targeted the offices of the Daily Mail in west London, which is one of the newspapers to report on the band's young followers. A statement from the paper defended their coverage and said that others had pointed out that the event was "wonderful publicity" for the band's new album.

This month an inquest into the suicide of 13-year-old Hannah Bond from Kent last september found that she had become heavily involved in 'emo' music and My Chemical Romance. Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Richard Sykes said: "The Emo overtones concerning death and associating it with glamour I find very disturbing."

"Anti-suicide "

My Chemical Romance recently issued a statement offering their condolences and insisting they are "vocally anti-violence and anti-suicide", and the negative image of the band led to around 200 fans assembling at Marble Arch with around 40 at Kensington High Street.

Following an appearance on Radio 4's Today programme, organiser Anni Smith visited 6 Music and told us My Chemical Romance aren't harmful.

"I've learned a lot of how to deal with life, how to move on and how to keep myself up when I'm down from My Chemical Romance," said the 16-year-old. "I think that's an extremely valuable thing which can be very positive in your teenage years."

"I've learned a lot of how to deal with life from My Chemical Romance"
Fan and protest organiser Anni Smith

Speaking at the protest later, Anni told us: “The demo has been absolutely amazing. The support fans have shown, the unity and not only that, other people have turned up as well.

“It’s also been really cool because we’ve hung out with other My Chemical Romance fans.”

The Daily Mail issued a statement at the same time as the fans took to the streets.

The paper said: "The Daily Mail's coverage of the 'Emo' movement has been balanced, restrained and above all, in the public interest. Genuine concerns were raised at the inquest earlier this month on 13 year old emo follower Hannah Bond who had been self-harming and then tragically killed herself."

Tragedy

The Daily Mail added: "In common with other newspapers we ran an accurate news story recording the Coroner's remarks and the parents' comments. We also published two other articles, one of which explained the background to the Hannah tragedy in calm and un-sensational language.

"The other was a first person opinion piece by a well-known writer, written from the perspective of a mother concerned for her children.

"We have also run two prominent page lead letters from an Emo music fan and from a fan of My Chemical Romance defending their point of view. Our music critic admires the music of the band and publicised the band's UK tour last year.

"Since this protest was announced a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the internet, much of which confuses what the Daily Mail has actually published with the comments of web site readers and "blogs" over which we have no control and which have stirred up emotions."

"Wonderful publicity"

The statement continues: "We note it has been pointed out by others that all this provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance's latest album.

"The Daily Mail is a broad church and is always ready to listen to the views of readers. We do, however, suggest those who want to protest or comment read everything we have published and act on fact not rumour."

My Chemical Romance have been working on the follow-up to their 2006 album The Black Parade .

Jennifer Adae

No more Sunrise

South West's big music fest is cancelled

30 May 08 - Time has been called on the Sunrise Festival due to a sudden and heavy burst of rain.

About 20 thousand people were expected to go to the South West’s first big music festival, which is based at Bearly Inn farm near Yeovil, but organisers have had to cancel.

Police

Avon and Somerset police made this decision about the Festival on Thursday night (29 May) after the bad weather happened between 6.30pm and 7pm.

This year's headline acts included The Orb, The Beat, System 7 and Seize The Day.

Hundreds of homes in the area have been left with flood damage and further showers have been predicted.

Police said that around 5,000 fans had already arrived at the Sunrise Festival by the time it was called off.

Fire service

Andy Newland, a spokesman for the Devon and Somerset Fire Service said: “It was a typical flash flood gone almost as soon as quickly as it came. It has quietened down considerably overnight.

“It’s very different from what happened in Gloucestershire because that built up for many days. This was literally that a tremendous amount of water came down with very little warning and the surface water drainage couldn’t handle it.”



Kelly Stooke

McCartney + Wombats?

Sir Paul's BBC chat before Sunday show

30 May 08 - Sir Paul McCartney said he would be interested in producing the Wombats during an exclusive BBC interview ahead of his Liverpool Sound concert.

The Beatles legend will be hitting Anfield Football ground on Sunday (1 June) for a special gig which will also see performances from Kaiser Chiefs and The Zutons.

Wombats

Talking about the Wombats, Paul said: “I don’t do much production now but it might be very tempting. I’m not sure they would want me. I had one of the guys out the wombats in one of my classes. It was great. Now years later they’re doing great.”

Paul went on to talk about other bands that he rates: “I think there are a lot of good bands about. I like Radiohead – they’re really cool.

Zutons

“I think they’re on it. Innovative. Zutons, Killers, Wombats. There are a lot of good people around.”

The former Beatle also spoke about Sunday’s event itself. He said: “It’s the capital of culture year. It’s nice to do something for it and I was asked if they could do my choral piece so they did that at the cathedral.

“It’s a great building anyway – its one of the biggest in Europe and I had applied to be a choir boy there when I was 11 but got turned down so this was my revenge anyway. Come back with ‘this is my work and you choir boys are gonna sing it’.”

I definitely have more excitement and adrenalin playing with a live band, nothing beats that .
Joe - Hot Chip

When asked why he would be performing his show at Anfield, he said: “I support both the teams, I know you’re not allowed to really – I’m officially Everton because my dad was born there so our family team is really Everton.

“But quite a few years ago I was playing a concert at Wembley and there was a row of empty seats and I always say to our promoter if there are any empty seats just give them away about an hour before. I don’t wanna see empty seats.

Liverpool team

“So I opened up the show and there’s a row of empty seats and I’m thinking ‘I’ll kill him’ but after the next number, in walked the Liverpool team and they’ve all got light grey suits, white shirts, red ties. So I had to support them after that!”

Talking about what people can expect at the Sunday gig, Paul said: “If I go and see someone’s show I kind of want them to do the hits.

Prince

“Like Prince came and a few people saw the show on various nights and when he did the hits, people were like ‘this is a great show’.

“And when he didn’t, it was like ‘oh he didn’t do the hits’. You wanted to hear Purple Rain. So I kind of mix it. We’ve got a couple of surprises for Liverpool.”

And you can check out The Liverpool Sound concert which is on BBC 2 this Sunday (1 June) at 11pm.


Kelly Stooke

Stars out for War Child

Hot Chip DJ for kids

29 May 2008 - Stars of the music world are gathering in London to support the charity helping youngsters affected by war.

Hot Chip, Does It Offend You Yeah and Rumble Strips are doing their bit for the War Child Charity.

It’s the annual ‘Army of You’ event at Scala in London’s King’s Cross and the likes of Kid Harpoon and Edward J Hicks will be taking to the stage.   Plus – Filthy Dukes and Stop Making Me will be DJ-ing with headliners Hot Chip.

‘Army of You’ is War Child’s annual dance party – where music’s greats gather to raise money for children caught up in the horrors of war.   Last year the event sold out – with The Noisettes, These New Puritans, Friendly Fires and Simian Mobile Disco supporting the event.

I definitely have more excitement and adrenalin playing with a live band, nothing beats that .
Joe - Hot Chip

Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard says with the line up this year, he’s pleased to be involved:

“I’m a fan of quite a lot of the guys actually.   I’ve worked with the Adventures Close To Home guys before, and Punk Jump Up I’ve DJ’d with before.  The Rumble Strips are old friends of mine.   So it all looks pretty good”.

Joe also told 6 Music he’s looking forward to DJ-ing as opposed to playing with his bandmates:

“There’s really great things about both sides of it. I definitely have more excitement and adrenalin playing with a live band, nothing beats that, really.   DJ-ing is far more simple and as it’s a solo thing, generally, you can really just do what you want”.

Louise Hulland

Which? tackles tickets

Consumer mag wants clearer prices

29 May 08 - An investigation by consumer magazine Which? has discovered music fans pay 30% over and above the price of a seat.

Which? said that costs such as booking and postage may not become clear to those who buy them until they have almost finished buying the tickets.

Which? said fees should be clearer and nearly 90 per cent of people polled in their survey agreed.

Senior Researcher at Which, Sarah Dennis, told 6 Music these hidden charges for customers purchasing tickets is wrong.

"If you can, get to a box office and pay in cash because that is one way that you will avoid hidden extras"
Sarah Dennis - Which?

She said: “I think the main thing for music gigs is that you go online and you don’t actually see the full price that you pay for a ticket at the very first instance.

“It will come later on throughout the online buying process and we think that that’s actually wrong.”

Sarah also had this advice for gig-goers: “If you can, get to a box office and pay in cash because that is one way that you will avoid hidden extras.

“Also shop around because these extra fees do vary quite dramatically between sites.”

She went on to talk about the point of the survey: “We hope that it will go someway to getting a fairer deal for consumers.

“Mainly on transparent ticket prices upfront but also on the issue of refunds – a slightly more flexible policy on refunds for tickets and events.”

What do you think about this? Tell us.


Kelly Stooke

Blur reunion not off cards

Alex James speaks of band and solo work

28 May 08 - A Blur reunion could happen in the future, according to former member Alex James.

Alex spoke to 6 Music about the Brit Pop band and how they might work together one day again.

He said: “We’re all pretty busy but I’ll be surprised if it never happens – but I would be terrified if it was happening on Monday.”

Other musical projects

Alex talked about the subject whilst he was supporting the Cocaine Shared Responsibly initiative between Colombia and the UK, in the form of a photographic exhibition in Trafalgar Square on 21 May.

On the subject of his other musical projects, he said: “I’ve got a guy called Julian coming down next week. I’m looking forward to that.

“He has kind of mad afro hair, whipper snapper. Just writing a few songs. It will be nice.”


Kelly Stooke

Woolworths quit CD singles

Biggest music retailer stops singles

27 May 2008 - Woolworths have announced that they will no longer sell CD singles in their stores because of the "terminal decline" of the format.

It could signal the end of the CD single as Woolworths is one of the largest music retailers, selling one in three of the UK's CDs.

Woolworths spokesperson, Daniel Himsworth, told 6 Music:  "Well the CD single market is a rapidly declining market.  In 2000, 55 million CD singles were sold, that was only 8 million in 2007. 

"So, digital download really is the format of choice for single track buying customers which is why we've launched our new digital downloading site today and announced that we've pulled out of the CD single."

There will be certain exceptions, namely singles from reality TV winners that are successful in appealing to the mass market.

He continued:  "We would never want to deny our customers a product that many people want to buy, so naturally if there's a release such as the X-Factor, we will certainly still stock them in our stores."

When asked whether their new downloading initiative will pose a direct challenge to iTunes, he responded:

"Well, iTunes will definitely be a competitor but what we've done with the Woolworths site is try to make it simple, a very easy place to download music, videos and games.

"It's very much aimed at people that are looking for a simple solution, so new downloaders and people that are currently downloading but looking for something a little bit easier to use."

"Well the CD single market is a rapidly declining market.  In 2000, 55 million CD singles were sold, that was only 8 million in 2007."

While their new downloading site's homepage will remain chart focussed, they say it won't all be the teen pop Woolworths is usually known for:

"There are 1.2 million tracks to download so it doesn't matter what type of music you like, you'll be able to find something that suits your taste on the Woolies site."

Despite the negative news for CD Singles, Woolworths' decision does not reflect their physical album sales and Himsworth does not think albums will go in the same direction any time soon.

He said: "CD sales are certainly alive and well for album tracks, it's certainly the format of choice for people who would like to enjoy a whole album. Who knows? I mean there's certainly albums available on the Woolworths digital site and we'll see how it goes but as things stand, CD albums are certainly here to stay in our stores."

Georgie Rogers

Pigeons' 2nd album hope

Detectives say they are better musicians

27 May 08 - The Pigeon Detectives are hoping their second album will propel them into the mainstream.

Emergency, which was produced by Stephen Street, is out this week and this comes just a year after their debut record - Wait For Me.

The Leeds band told 6 Music that they have definitely grown up over the last 12 months: “We’ve probably played 200 gigs since we wrote the last album so in that 200 gigs time, you’ve become better musicians.

“And you have a different outlook on what a good song is or what a good tune is - so that all shows in the record hopefully.”

"There’s another 6 songs that are just kind of proving to people we’re not a one trick pony"
The Pigeon Detectives

The record has been released on Leeds indie label Dance to the Radio, which also kick started the careers of Forward Russia and iliketrains.

They went on to say that while some of the album was like the songs they had done before, some of it definitely represented a progression in their sound.

They said: “I would say it’s fifty fifty. Y’know there’s probably 6 or 7 songs on there that could easily have gone on Wait For Me and not been out of place.

“But there’s another 6 songs that are just kind of proving to people we’re not a one trick pony but y’know, without deliberately sounding kind of different or quirky – it’s an organic change.”

The Pigeon Detectives play at the Bristol Academy on Wednesday 28 May and come to London's Brixton Academy on 6 and 7 June.


Kelly Stooke

Coldplay UK Tour

Band announce ten dates in December

27 May 2008 - Coldplay have unveiled details of a UK tour to promote their new album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends .

The group will play ten arena shows across England and Scotland, kicking off with two shows at the Birmingham NIA on 1 and 2 December and culminating in two concerts at the O2 in East London.

Tickets for all the gigs will be going on sale at 9.30am on Friday 30 May.

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is released on June 12.

Coldplay’s full UK tour dates are:

Birmingham, NIA (1& 2 December)
Glasgow, SECC (5 & 6)
Sheffield, Arena (7)
Liverpool, Echo Arena (10)
Manchester, MEN Arena (11 & 12)
London, O2 Arena (14 & 15)

Matt Everitt

Spector trial round two

Murder trial scheduled for September

23 May 2008 - Phil Spector will go on trial for the second time this September.

It has been announced that the renowned producer's next murder trial will commence on the 29 September.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler declared his first trial in 2007 a mistrial due to the hung-jury of 10-2 in favour of convicting Spector.  They deliberated for twelve days but could not reach a concluding verdict.

The victim, actress Lana Clarkson, was killed at Spector's mansion on 3 February 2003 within hours of meeting him at her place of work, the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip.
 
Spector claims he is not guilty, his defence attorneys argued that Lana Clarkson was depressed and hence shot herself in the mouth.

If found guilty, the producer may have been convicted of at least 18 years in prison.

The producer was famed for pioneering 'girl groups' in the 1960s and for his work with the likes of The Beatles, The Ramones and Cher.

Georgie Rogers

Duffy for Joe Meek film

Butler and Duffy turn to film soundtrack

23 May 2008 - Bernard Butler is working on a cover with Duffy for a film about the pioneering English producer and songwriter Joe Meek.

The former Suede guitarist and producer of the female singer's successful debut album Rockferry , spoke to 6 Music at the Ivor Novello Awards about his forthcoming project with her.

He said:  "It's a Joe Meek production, it's a song called Please Stay and it's the last song that Joe Meek recorded and they got me to produce a version of it with Duffy singing it."

"The bigger she gets the better she gets, hand in glove, it suits her."
Bernard Butler

Butler had only positive praise for the Welsh star and their ongoing partnership.

He explained: "She's working hard for the cause, she's out there working, slogging her guts out and I'm in a studio. It's a perfect relationship."

He went on: "She's born for it, she gets better. The bigger she gets the better she gets, hand in glove, it suits her. She's great, she's a fantastic pop star and she's our best pop star.  You couldn't ask for anything more, she's a great singer, she's got great songs and she just makes you feel good when you see her on the telly."

Finally, as to whether she will have much artistic input on the track for the film, which is to be called Telstar, Butler joked:

"I just do everything, she comes in and just gets her picture taken.  I mean, this is a cover version we're doing but yeah, the other stuff we've done - she comes in with ideas and a little notebook and we just play records and talk and drink tea and then see what happens."

Georgie Rogers

Ronson On Kaisers

Next album shaping up

23 May 2008 - With their new album almost completed, The Kaisers Chiefs are on the verge of gracing the stage at one of their biggest stadium shows yet as they hit Elland Road, the home of Leeds United, tomorrow (24 May).

And all the signs are good as producer Mark Ronson confirms his completion of their new album.

6 Music caught up with Ronson, who’s also just started working on Lily Allen’s new material, at the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony on 22 May.

He said: “I’ve been helping with the arrangements and the songs and I guess being a sort of guru in the studio or something.”

"They've written some great songs so they don't really need me as much as I need them."
Mark Ronson

Ronson is seemingly pleased with the result and explained what he brought to the collaboration:

“I’m just a huge fan of theirs so hopefully bringing that energy of someone who’s just a giant fan, knowing what a Kaiser Chiefs fan would like. They’ve written some great songs so they don’t really need me as much as I need them.”

The Music Week team are going to be covering the sold out Kaisers homecoming gig in Leeds, where they will play to a 30,000 full stadium.

Tune in to Julie and Matt on Sunday from 1pm.

You can see the red carpet video from the Ivor Novello Awards here.

Georgie Rogers

Winehouse Exclusive

6 Music gets the only Ivors interview

22 May 08 - Amy Winehouse has scooped yet another award.  This time it's the Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically Award with her hit Love Is A Losing Game.

The singer made an appearance at the event, sitting at the table with her parents, after her father Mitch had collected the award on her behalf.

Speaking exclusively to 6 Music at the ceremony, Amy talked about her new material. 

She said:  "I really like it, it's pretty much the same. Very atmospheric and very lovelorn and all the rest."

With regards to her appearance at Glastonbury, she responded:  "I can't wait. Please God my Blake will be with me, that's all I'm looking forward to."

However, when asked about the prospect of potentially playing with Jay-Z she said: "Who knows, who gives a b*******."

Mark Ronson and Amy

On his arrival, Mark Ronson said: "I'm not actually nominated for anything but I'm really proud of Amy and I hope she wins something.

"It's just nice that the stuff I produced is associated with it."


Kelly Stooke

Ivor Novello winners

Awards handed out for this year's bash

22 May 08 - The winners of this year’s Ivor Novello awards, which took place in London, have been announced.

The event started at 2pm today (22 May) at the Grosvenor House Hotel and Amy Winehouse won the Best Song Musically and Lyrically Award with her hit Love Is A Losing Game.

Album award

The album Award went to Radiohead for their record In Rainbows.

The PRS Most Performed Work Award went to Take That for their song Shine and the International Achievement Award was for Phil Collins.

Jazzie B, who recently got an OBE, was awarded the Ivors Inspiration Award.

Songwriter

Songwriter of the Year went to Mika and the Outstanding Song Collection nod went in the direction of Gabrielle.

Ivor Novello was a British musician, songwriter, playwright and actor whose memory is honoured by these awards.

Composed

Novello composed some of the most popular and poignant songs of the first World War including Keep The Home Fires Burning - and We’ll Gather Lilacs.

The full winners list is as follows:



Best Song Musically & Lyrically

Song: Love Is A Losing Game
Writer/s: Amy Winehouse
Performed By: Amy Winehouse
UK Publisher: EMI Music Publishing


Best Contemporary Song

Song: People Help The People
Writer/s: Simon Aldred
Performed By: Cherry Ghost
UK Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing


Best Original Film Score

Film: Atonement
Composer: Dario Marianelli
UK Publisher: Universal Music Publishing


Best Television Soundtrack

Broadcast: Oliver Twist
Composer: Martin Phipps
UK Publisher: BDi Music Limited


Album Award

Album: In Rainbows
Writer/s: Colin Greenwood / Jonny Greenwood / Edward O’Brien / Philip Selway / Thom Yorke
Performed By: Radiohead
UK Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music


Best Selling British Song

Song: Beautiful Liar
Writer/s: Ian Dench / Mikkel Eriksen / Amanda Ghost / Tor Erik Hermansen / Beyonce Knowles
Performed By: Beyonce & Shakira
UK Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Bucks Music Group / EMI Music Publishing


PRS Most Performed Work

Song: Shine
Writer/s: Gary Barlow / Howard Donald / Jason Orange / Mark Owen /
Stephen Robson
Performed By: Take That
UK Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing / V2 Music Publishing


International Achievement

Phil Collins


Ivors Inspiration Award

Jazzie B


Ivors Classical Music Award

Jonathan Dove


Outstanding Song Collection

Gabrielle


PRS Outstanding Contribution to British Music

Chris Difford & Glenn Tilbrook


Songwriter of the Year

Mika


The Special International Award

Diane Warren


Lifetime Achievement

David Gilmour

Kelly Stooke

Artists: Fav songwriters

Moby + other acts talk ahead of Ivors

22 May 08 - Artists have been telling 6 Music who their favourite song writers are, ahead of The Ivor Novello awards.

The award bash starts at 2pm today (22 May) and is all about celebrating songwriters and composers in the music industry.

The likes of Amy Winehouse, Radiohead and Kaiser Chiefs are all up for gongs and the event is happening at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Moby

One star who has written a couple of gems in the past is Moby, and he told us Leonard Cohen is his own stand out song writer.

Moby said: “Some how he manages to write songs that are both personal and universal which I think really is the hall mark of a great song writer.

“Like his songs are very, very intimate but they seem sort of like they have an every man quality to them as well.

“So if I had to pick a favourite song writer – it would be Leonard Cohen.”

"Some how he manages to write songs that are both personal and universal"
Moby talking about Leonard Cohen

Santogold said Morrissey was the song writer for her as he really had an effect on her when she was growing up.

She said: “I would say that Morrissey is up there. I think that his lyrics are so honest and smart and sarcastic and thought provoking.

“As a child they like resonated with me so strongly and they still do.”

Nick Drake
 
Indie folk singer Bon Iver had this to say about his favourite songwriter: “For a long, long, long time - since I was in high school still - I’ve really been influenced by Nick Drake and his work.

“It still continues to astound me and surprise me and kind of bring me a new direction still.”

But not everyone had a positive word to say on the subject.

Songwriter Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy said: “I have never been a big fan of the singer songwriter, even in the sort of 70s.

“I find the kind of one man and an acoustic guitar pretty dull.”

Who is your favourite songwriter?



Kelly Stooke

The Ivor Novello awards

Winehouse and Radiohead up for gongs

22 May 08 - The prestigious Ivor Novello awards is about to get underway and the likes of Radiohead and Amy Winehouse are up for gongs.

The event is all about celebrating songwriters and composers in the music industry and big names will be taking to the red carpet later on today (22 May) which is at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Chairman

Gary Osborne, chairman of the Ivor Novello awards committee, told 6 Music that some big names will be handing out the awards as well as collecting them.

He said: “One of the awards - I won’t tell you who the recipient is - but it’s being given by Robert Plant. Those are the kind of people who love to be at this award.

“And the interesting thing is it’s low profile because we’re not on the telly. It’s just for the 1200 people in that room.”

Last year

One band who was nominated for a gong last year were Hot Chip. They were up for Best Contemporary Song with Over and Over but were beaten by Amy Winehouse.

Joe from the band said the event is an important one: “For the people writing songs that’s obviously….it’s what they love and what they work for so it’s very important yeah.

“And it gives you something to take home to show your gran as well which is nice.”

The nominations


BEST SONG MUSICALLY & LYRICALLY

Song: Let Me Out
Writer/s: Rosi Golan / Jamie Hartman
Performed By: Ben's Brother
UK Publisher/s: Reverb Music Ltd

Song: Love Is A Losing Game
Writer/s: Amy Winehouse
Performed By: Amy Winehouse
UK Publisher/s: EMI Music Publishing

Song: You Know I'm No Good
Writer/s: Amy Winehouse
Performed By: Amy Winehouse
UK Publisher/s: EMI Music Publishing


BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG

Song: Foundations
Writer/s: Paul Epworth / Kate Nash
Performed By: Kate Nash
UK Publisher/s: EMI Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing

Song: Golden Skans
Writer/s: Jamie Reynolds / James Righton / Simon Taylor-Davies
Performed By: Klaxons
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing

Song: People Help The People
Writer/s: Simon Aldred
Performed By: Cherry Ghost
UK Publisher/s: Sony/ATV Music Publishing


BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE

Film: Atonement
Composer: Dario Marianelli
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing

Film: Becoming Jane
Composer: Adrian Johnston
UK Publisher/s: Rights Worldwide Ltd / Universal Music Publishing

Film: La Vie en Rose
Composer: Christopher Gunning


BEST TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK

Broadcast: Oliver Twist
Composer: Martin Phipps
UK Publisher/s: BDi Music Limited

Broadcast: Primo
Composer: Jonathan Goldstein
UK Publisher/s: Bucks Music Group

Broadcast: Who Killed Mrs de Ropp?
Composer: Paul Moessl
UK Publisher/s: BBC Worldwide (administered by Universal Music Publishing)


PRS MOST PERFORMED WORK

Song: Ruby
Writer/s: Nicholas Baines / Nick Hodgson / James Rix / Andrew White / Ricky Wilson
Performed By: Kaiser Chiefs
UK Publisher/s: Imagem Music

Song: Shine
Writer/s: Gary Barlow / Howard Donald / Jason Orange / Mark Owen / Stephen Robson
Performed By: Take That
UK Publisher/s: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing / V2 Music Publishing

Song: Starz In Their Eyes
Writer/s: Jack Allsopp
Performed By: Just Jack
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing


BEST SELLING BRITISH SONG

Song: Beautiful Liar
Writer/s: Ian Dench / Mikkel Eriksen / Amanda Ghost / Tor Erik Hermansen / Beyonce Knowles
Performed By: Beyonce & Shakira
UK Publisher/s: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Bucks Music Group / EMI Music Publishing

Song: Grace Kelly
Writer/s: Jodi Marr / John Merchant / Mika / Dan Warner
Performed By: Mika
UK Publisher/s: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Rondor Music International / Universal Music Publishing

Song: Rehab
Writer/s: Amy Winehouse
Performed By: Amy Winehouse
UK Publisher/s: EMI Music Publishing


ALBUM AWARD

Album: In Rainbows
Writer/s: Colin Greenwood / Jonny Greenwood / Edward O'Brien / Philip Selway /
Thom Yorke
Performed By: Radiohead
UK Publisher/s: Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Album: Man On The Roof
Writer/s: Stephen Fretwell
Performed By: Stephen Fretwell
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing

Album: Thirst For Romance
Writer/s: Simon Aldred
Performed By: Cherry Ghost
UK Publisher/s: Sony/ATV Music Publishing
 
 

Kelly Stooke

Blur man's coke crusade

Alex James supports cocaine campaign

21 May 2008 - Former Blur bassist Alex James was supporting an eye-catching photographic exhibition in Trafalgar Square on 21 May, highlighting the environmental and social realities in Colombia of the cocaine trade.

James’ compelling documentary of the damage being done to the Colombian people’s livelihood as a result of the Western demand for cocaine was aired earlier this year on BBC One.

As someone who took the drug in the past, he admitted such steps will never stop people supplying and using the drug but he hopes the campaign will have some impact.

He said: "Cocaine particularly has an unassailable glamour - it’s associated with champagne lifestyle and is a very strong brand, but I think it’s possible to put a few dinks in the impenetrable sheen that it has. You know, you can’t tell people not to take drugs, they won’t listen."

James added: "When you show people pictures of monkeys having their houses destroyed so people can take some more drugs then that’s more engaging somehow, I don’t know why - so I think this is an excellent initiative by the Colombian government basically showing people big pictures of rainforests with holes in."

"This definitely will make people more aware, I never had a clue about this.  Now I'll go home and tell my girlfriend."
Anton

Vernon Coaker, Home Office Minister, is pleased to have the former Blur bassist on board.

He told 6 Music: "I think it’s great that Alex James has shown his support. He’s been to Colombia, he’s seen the environmental degradation, he’s seen the deforestation, he’s seen the forced involvement of children in the trade. He’s seen the way cocaine has taken over large parts of Colombia, the efforts the government has to make not only with the police but with the army to try and control it."

The initiative has united Colombian and UK forces in an attempt to increase awareness.  We also spoke to the Colombian Vice President, Francisco Santos Calderon.

He revealed:  "Every gram of cocaine that you inhale destroys four square metres of pristine rainforest with all the animals you have in there."

Calderon was also thrilled with the musician's backing of the cause.

He explained:  "Alex went to Colombia and saw the massive damage that’s being done personally, so he’s a validator. He’s someone who can tell it as it is. I can say whatever you want here but nothing will be more important to the ear of a British consumer or a kid who might consume in the future than Alex James saying it."

One member of the public we spoke to stumbled on the exhibition and went away enlightened.

Anton said:  "This definitely will make people way more aware, I never had a clue about this. Now I'll go home and tell my girlfriend and then she’ll tell her friends that we know where it actually comes from.  Films and music videos right now are the best thing for the youth, to show people the real deal and what's really happening."

Finally, it seems a Blur reunion is imminent but not just yet. 

James concluded: "We're all pretty busy but I'd be surprised if it never happens.  But I would be terrified if it was happening on Monday."

Georgie Rogers

The Kooks get intimate

Band does a tiny show in LA and plays new song

21 May 08 - The Kooks played a surprise intimate show in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (20 May).

The gig was in front of just 69 people at the Kibbitz Room club.

Kooks singer Luke Pritchard told 6 Music: "We went there and we didn't know what to expect. Literally, we woke up and got into a red Cadillac and they just took us to random places and we started playing music and we just turned up at this house.

"We didn't know what to expect and it was probably like 200 people there and they made a big banner for us saying 'Kooks are on'.

"It was weird, it was so surreal - it was like being in a movie y'know. Amazing though. It's crazy to come here and have that kind of like appreciation. Tonight was weird because we didn't have any mics - it was like a soap box thing."

It's crazy to come here and have that kind of like appreciation
Luke Pritchard

The band also previewed a brand new song, and singer Luke explained that he hasn't even finished the lyrics.

Luke said: "Maybe i'll call it Shelter - but then you have all the connotations with the charity. But maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe i'll do a song for Shelter. That would be quite good actually!"

The Kooks are at the Isle of Wight festival on 15 June.

Kelly Stooke

Kaisers warm up

Band plays intimate gig before Elland

20 May 08 - The Kaiser Chiefs have warmed up for their huge Elland Road gig in Leeds with the first of two intimate gigs at the Strathpeffer Spa Pavillion in Scotland on 19 May.

Keyboardist Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines revealed why they chose to play this Victorian spa resort that’s off the usual touring route - situated in a peaceful Highland village.

He said: “We’ve always had a very loyal fan base up here but now when you do arenas you kinda play either Aberdeen, Glasgow and that’s it.

"It’s a really good feeling when you do these little gigs especially when it's in far away places like this so we do it when we can."

The band’s drummer and songwriter Nick Hodgson added: "You can tell when you walk around, I’ve just been to the shops and it’s a quite place.

"I’m thinking we’re going to make a lot of noise and all these neighbours – I don’t know how they’re gonna enjoy it but they might be here."

"We’ve always had a very loyal fan base up here"
Keyboardist Nick Baines

The venue, which has recently been renovated, used to be a tea dance pavilion dating back to the Victorian era.

According to the venue’s manager, Andrea Muir, playing host to the band is significant of restoring the venue back to its old ways. It once hosted Freddy and the Dreamers and The Bay City Rollers back in the 1960s.

She said: “This is us just coming back into the next hayday of the pavilion. It’s becoming a real hot spot for this type of thing and I hope it continues to do so.”

Fans were delighted by the first night on 19 May. One gig-goer told the BBC: “(It was) absolutely out of this world. They should go back and tell all of their band mates to come here.”

Kaiser Chiefs are also set to play at the Oban Corran Halls in Argyll on 21 May - before the 30,000 full Elland Road stadium on 24 May.

Georgie Rogers

Wax: On Live no more

Festival cancelled due to credit crunch

20 May 08 - Wax:On Live, which was to include performances by Primal Scream and Reverend and the Makers, has been cancelled.

The festival fell victim to the credit crunch that is currently going on in the UK.

Ticket agents

Wax:On have instructed all ticket agents to give full refunds to all ticket holders. The Wax:On club nights will continue to happen in the cities of Leeds, Newcastle and Brighton.

The website reads: “It is with sincere regret that we must inform you, Wax:On Live, due to be staged at Lotherton Hall in Leeds on May 31st has been cancelled.

Website

“The festival fell victim not to poor ticket sales or lack of support and dedication, but to the credit crunch that has the UK in the grip of an economic stranglehold.

“On forming the company there were two streams of investment scheduled in order to ensure the event was viable in year one. This morning we have been informed that due to circumstances in the global financial market place and its knock on effect, the event has become unsustainable.

Apologies

“We send out most sincere apologies to all of you that have bought tickets. We threw everything we had at the event to try and make it go ahead and we¹re really disappointed we couldn't see it through.”


Kelly Stooke

Dizzee helps Calm

Rapper raises awareness and money for charity

19 May 08 - Rapper Dizzee Rascal is fronting a new campaign to encourage anyone who is feeling suicidal to get help.

Charity Calm, which stands for Campaign Against Living Miserably, is using a Dizzee track he wrote about his school friend Dean Munroe who took his own life in 2003. All profits from the song will go to the charity.

The rapper said the song Dean, which can be downloaded as a music video from iTunes, was about "not being closer to him, not seeing it".

The charity runs a hotline and website aimed at young men with worries and it says about three young men take their own lives each day in the UK.

Talking about his old friend Dean, Dizzee told the BBC: "He was one of the first people I'd ever known to have died and how he died was a bit of a shock.

"I didn't quite know how to feel."

"If it's a way I can give back then it's my duty"
Dizzee

He went on: "I wrote the song ages ago, but I only worked on it when I was making my Maths and English album.

"It didn't quite make the album but Calm picked up the song so we ended up doing a video on it.

"If it's a way I can give back then it's my duty."

Director of Calm, Jane Powell, said: "The key for us is putting out the message that strong isn't silent and having someone like Dizzee get this message out is just fantastic.

"Young men listen, for the most part, to other young men rather than charities or government spokespeople."


Kelly Stooke

The Ting Tings: No 1

Duo bumps Madonna off top slot

19 May 08 - The Ting Tings have knocked Madonna of the number one slot with their single That's Not My Name.

Their album We Changed Nothing is also now out and the band told 6 Music that record was made under certain restrictions.

One half of the duo, Jules De Martino, said: “We produced it ourselves. When we started recording we had this philosophy really about getting into the studio and if we didn’t get a fix within an hour or two max - we scrapped it.

“And so we ended up recording the whole album – ten songs finished – giving to everybody rather than trying to give people 20 songs and saying ‘what do you think, should it make the album or not?’.

“We just mastered the whole thing and there’s nothing else – that’s the album – and everyone was like ‘this is great’.”

"If we didn’t get a fix within an hour or two max - we scrapped it"
Jules De Martino

Singer Katie White went on to respond to accusations that their act is more style than content.

She said: “I find that the funny thing is when you get people like sniping at you going their a hyped band– hyped, hyped.

“And it was like ‘well, who hyped us? The people that are saying we are hyped – hyped us. We didn’t pay them you know.”


Kelly Stooke

The Rascals Great Escape

Liverpool three piece on Brighton and making an album

18 May 08 - 
The Rascals played a surprise show at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton last night. (17 May).

They were filling in for Santagold whose scheduled early evening set at the Digital venue was cancelled after the singer pulled out because of a sore throat.

We caught up with the Liverpool three-piece before their gig and they said fans could look forward to: "ferocious three-piece rock and roll and testosterone fuelled action."

This festival outing comes just ahead of the band's first big headline tour. It sounds like they've been keeping busy over that last few weeks though:

"This is a one off, and then the tour starts properly next week. We did a gig in Liverpool on Wednesday which was the best gig we've ever done. Then we go to London for a few days to do some press stuff, then  we go home to get a 45 minute set ready for the tour and then we can go and have it!"

And as for the preparations for their tour:

"We did a small headline tour last year but this is really getting going now. You can feel something’s coming. There's definitely something in the air."

They continued:

"We can do a bigger set on this tour. Its 45 minutes so we can put an extra 4 songs into a set. Being on the road so much, we've had no time off to sit in our bedrooms and write tunes. So, we're going to try and get a few more songs written next week then we’ve got a few extra set aside for the tour after this."

The Great escape is a very urban affair and has seen over 200 new, local and international artists showcased in 25 venues. The Rascals said there was definitely an advantage to a festival in a city:

"It’s nice because its something a bit different. It’s a bit like SXSW. We've been enjoying wandering around the city eating ice-cream.”

The boys also said they'd had chance to get a bit of writing done while they'd been travelling between gigs.

"The last couple of days we've been recording b-sides, three b-sides altogether. Shadow Dance, Sequels and Love by Gas Bite."

And as for whether these b-sides will make it on to a record, the band aren't entirely sure:

"The next single is Freakbeat Phantom which is out on the 9th of June," they said. "And we've already recorded the B sides for that. Then these new b-sides might be on the following single which is called, I'll Give You Sympathy."

"This album is scatty and there are loads of ideas in each tune but there was so much we wanted to get out of our system. And there are still loads of ideas we want to get out there."
Miles Kane

Amongst The Rascals’ tour dates over the next few months are a couple more festival appearances. The big one them though is Reading and Leeds. Front man Miles Kane told us why he was looking forward to it:

"Reading and Leeds will be a very big highlight because I'm playing with the Last Shadow Puppets and The Rascals. So, it’s going to be a huge ego trip," he joked before adding: "I'm very, very excited about it."


It’s been a bit of a whirlwind few months for The Rascals. Their debut album Rascalize is due for release on the 16th June. They told us how they got together and why it was important for them to put an album out as soon as possible:

"It’s only a year since our first gig, so it’s been pretty quick for us but in a way we've been waiting to do this since we were 15. We were in the Little Flames and we leant loads in that time, but the three of us always wanted to do our own thing.”

“This album is scatty and there are loads of ideas in each tune but there was so much we wanted to get out of our system. And, there are still loads of ideas we want to get out there."

So, Miles has already worked with Alex Turner on his Last Shadow Puppets side project, but is there anyone else he can see himself working with in the future?

"Jack White. We'd love to work with him. He's amazing. I could see it happening in a mad way."


Elizabeth Alker

Great Escape: Day 3

6 Music @ Brighton's massive music fest

17 May 08 - It's day three of The Great Escape festival, which takes place in Brighton until 17 May.

Hundreds of bands are playing at dozens of venues around the city and over 10,000 people are expected to check out the musical talent.

Vampire Weekend and Ida Maria are just some of the performers that have been at the festival.

6 Music's Jo Youle has been taking photos as well - and you can view the  gallery  here.

Industry talks, panel debates and celebrity interviews will also run alongside the performances from 200 new local and international artists, themed parties and club nights.

6 Music's reporter Jo Youle is there for the weekend and will be regularly blogging about the festival.....

4.15pm - 17/05/08

Just been on Brighton Pier with The Rascals - can see why they're called The Rascals, the cheekiest lads I've ever met. Managed to get them all in the Noddy car for a photo.

They're really looking forward to tonight and their debut album Rascalize (out 9 June) - and they can't wait to unleash it when they start their tour next week.

They have just been recording three tracks for the new single, so looking forward to hearing those at the Barfly later. And The Rascals are back there next month as part of their tour.

Ahead of tonight's gig, they told me they're off out for a pasta meal and then some rhubarb crumble which is their pre-gig regime. Definitely checking them out later... And also looking forward to Laura Marling. 

1pm - 17/05/08

Well the sun is finally threatening to come out, and it looks like the final day of The Great Escape could be the best. Big night on at Audio tonight, with Mystery Jets, and Erol Alkan who produced their last album, and with Laura Marling in town too, it looks like she may be a surprise guest.

Audio seems to be my second home right now though, I was there last night to see Beardy Man do battle with JFB, the UK scratching Champion, which seemed to just be the pair of them insulting each other to music! Pretty cool though and totally rammed -again!

Just off to interview The rascals at their Barfly soundcheck, and after that I am hooking up with the ever-so-hot-right-now Laura Marling.

8pm - 16/05/08

Well I can confirm Beardy Man does have a beard, though he told me he'd love to shave it off 'cos it's itchy, but feels he can't 'cos of the name he's grown for himself.

Sadly I didn't get a cooking demo, but he did do some beatboxing for me, which blew my socks off, and to make a change from having beer lobbed over me, and the skinny jeaned Indie crowd, I am going to go and check his set out at Audio later on, where he'll be doing a live set with The Southern Suspects.

Will try and grab some pictures for the gallery page tomorrow, as well as any other highlights….hopefully this will be a less sweaty affair….though I doubt it!

5pm - 16/05/08

Just been catching up with Collapsing Cities for a beer who are in the UK for the long haul this summer, with a huge UK tour in the diary. Tonight's show at Audio is just the start of their festival season, and they told me they're ready for it, though watching them crack into the vin rouge at 2.30pm looks a tad risky to me, usually ends in tears when I do it anyways! They are about to on tour with White Lies who I caught up with at Concorde 2, who they haven't met yet, so I passed on their regards. White Lies according to Sam Isaac who I hooked up with after are "that hugely hyped band, who got signed after just their first show, and are quite moody" (their music that is not them as people!).

Charlie from White Lies told me they're looking forward to playing tonight's gig, and he loves the concept of a city festival after recently playing the Camden Crawl. The West London outfit, also told me they're signed up to kick off the Lollapolooza festival in Chicago too which they're really excited about this summer, though before that they're off to record their debut album in Belgium. So may go check these guys out later, and as we wrapped up, we ran into Jolene of the Jing Jang Jong fame, he has the world's skinniest legs in the tightest jeans I have ever seen by the way, I think he must have sprayed them on, or had help. Definitely!

Next up was Sam Isaac, who after telling me he was playing this summers Z008 festival, and asked by me what animal he would compare himself to in a Zoo told me a big cuddly Ginger bear (see pic in gallery and tell me what you think!) I thought he was spot on! Lovely guy, and good mates with Sam Duckworth, after he just put out a single on Sam's label, Mannequin.

I am now off to interview Beardy Man, and am intrigued to see whether he does indeed have a beard, I am betting he doesn't though I am meeting him at the Red Roaster Café, and am hoping he'll give me a beat boxing demo as he cooks me some dinner like he does on his Youtube video…if I am lucky!

3pm - 16/05/08

Just caught up with Yeasayer, who played last night at Barfly and are going for the double tonight at the The Pressure point venue later. Chris from the band told me they're not a fan of city festivals though, as everyone spends hours waiting to get into the gigs, which was definitely the case last night. He reckons it's all about the fields for them this summer and they're playing a whole stack of dates including Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury, and he for one can't wait to see Jay-Z headline! Off to interview the Collapsing Cities now on the beach…skies still looking moody though…gutted!


9am - 16/05/08

Aching, slightly dry of mouth and oh….it's another white out!! Not a sniff of sun, just a pale grey powdery puff of clouds, but the footwear defiance had died, as my flip flopped toes got totally trampled last night! In fact it's only the start of day 2 and I feel like I have been beaten with a Great stick - how apt my first interview is with Collapsing Cities! Slightly worried about this queuing system here too, if your not at the venue to see the band you want to catch at least 2 hours before you can't get in..so much so I had to ring up Vampire weekend's tour manager I only met yesterday and ask him for 2 spaces on his guest list after witnessing the road block at the door of Concorde 2 last night…good job his 2 mates that couldn’t make it were called Fredric and Henrique - wish I'd brought my stick on tashe!


1am - 16/05/08

Well my my hair is stuck in beery tendrils to my cheeks, my jeans feel like they may be glued to my legs - always a sign of a good night. As Henry from Young Knives pointed out earlier, this was set to be a sweaty affair - he was right. Not only did Vampire Weekend have Hawaiian themed injections to their set, I wish I'd been wearing a grass skirt! Well worth every second of bouncing , dripping, joy filled stomp factor though, with full on crowd surfing, beer swilling, and feet blistered from pounding out their beats, as a monster grand finale. Ida Maria kicked off my night at Audio, with Stella providing, a husky chilled out break to what turned out to be a punked up pile up mid-dance floor, and plenty more. Then came Captain, who'd lost none of their Glorious 80's throw back Hat Club anthems, and The Futureheads slamming out their new album, grinning from ear to ear at Digital. Lets hope the sunshine comes back tomorrow, for a less grey moody sky Day two….. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
 
Day one of Jo Youle's blogs from Brighton.
 

Jo Youle / Kelly Stooke

Sparks review: first night

Morrissey on guest list for 21-night run

17 May 08 - Sparks kicked off 21 nights in London with a set of typically tuneful, eccentric songs.

The Mael brothers played their 1972 debut Halfnelson in full and will follow it with their 19 other albums at the Islington Academy. They will then perform new album Exotic Creatures Of The Deep at Shepherds Bush Empire on 13 June.

Sparks singer Russell Mael explained the full extent of the residency to 6 Music.

"We will be performing all 21 of our albums, which will mean a grand total of over 250 songs or 4,825,273 notes," he said.

"We counted twice just to make sure," added keyboard player Ron Mael.

Ron also told 6 Music that long-time fan Morrissey will be going along to the residency on the night they play a song he got hold of in demo form.

Morrissey

"One of the songs that we're going to be doing is a very obscure one called Arts and Crafts Spectacular and it never was actually even released," said Ron. "In any case, Morrissey found out about that track and he was playing it before one of his concerts. So he's sort of threatened to maybe come the night that we do that song."

At the first night, Russell Mael introduced the the gig saying "okay my friends, number one". In contrast to Russell, his brother Ron was a severe, slightly scary presence on keyboards who didn't react to the chants of "Ron, Ron" from the crowd. This is a man who was banned from French TV for a year because his moustache used to resemble a German dictator's.

"You want a strong reaction - but that wasn't the strong reaction I wanted," said Ron.

" It will mean a grand total of over 250 songs or 4,825,273 notes ."
Russell Mael

Halfnelson was never a hit but the duo's admirers at the first night sang along to Fa La Fa Lee and Big Bands. Their operatic synth-pop was filled out by a full band who provided rock grooves and churning rhythms.

As they prepared to launch into the high-pitched Biology 2, Russell said: "You didn't think I could do this one, did you?"

He added: "Most of these songs here have never been played live, it's a first not only for you but for us, too."

The final song from the album, (No More) Mr Nice Guys, was dedicated to their "good buddy" Todd Rundgren who produced the record and helped get it released. The band said the encore every night will feature one obscure song - and the opening show had an old b-side called England.

Halfnelson probably isn't a classic Sparks album - Russell thanked us for coming along to hear the "early obscure albums" - but over 50 minutes, the duo's well-rehearsed set suggested it's a record worth going back to. And Ron's awkward grimace during the loud cheering and applause at the end confirmed that he is the anti-Elton John.

A Sparks exhibition will also be staged at the Bodhi Gallery in London's Brick Lane from 19 May.

Andre Paine

Sparks' 21 nights

Mael brothers launch London residency

16 May 08 - Sparks 21-night residency is underway this weekend with the first night at Islington Academy (16 May).

The operatic synth-pop duo will play their previous 20 albums at the venue in the weeks ahead, followed by the world premiere of their new album Exotic Creatures Of The Deep at Shepherds Bush Empire on 13 June. Their 21st album is released on 12 May.

Brothers Ron and Russell Mael released their debut Halfneslson in 1971. Their biggest hit was This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us which reached number two in the UK in 1974.

Singer Russell Mael explained why they decided to do the residency.

He said: "This being the 21st album we thought, well what is it that we can do that perhaps other bands, if any, can do and that's to do all 21, all 20 albums that have preceded the new album live in concert one a night and all building up to the premiere of the new album."

Ron Mael admitted the four months of rehearsals has been tough.

"Half the songs I didn't even remember," he said. "It could have been by anybody else, it didn't even have to be a Sparks song, I just didn't remember them, and it's not completele senility, it's partially just that a lot of the things we recorded once and then that was it, the next day it was kind of on to something else so to kind of treat 250 songs as equals in that kind of way it was a really difficult, really difficult task."

"Half the songs I didn't even remember"
Ron Mael

Although they are from California, Sparks have had more hits in the UK and Europe so decided to play the shows over here.

"We've just found through the years that the fans here have been more devoted to what we've been doing than London," said Ron Mael.

A Sparks exhibition will also be staged at the Bodhi Gallery in London's Brick Lane from 19 May.

Andre Paine

Amy peace plea

Winehouse relative asks media to leave Amy

15 May 08 - A close relative of Amy Winehouse has been speaking to the BBC about wanting the singer to be left alone by the media.

Talking a day after the news that Amy was off the hook after a video surfaced of her allegedly taking drugs, Sue - who Amy calls aunt - spoke to 5 Live about the singer’s life.

She said: “Amy did not ask to be a teenage icon , this has never been in her thoughts – Amy just asked to write and sing. There are thousands of families going through the same tragic situation as us, all over England.

“They’re allowed to get on with it quietly and hopefully pull their children through this and this is all we ask for Amy.

“Amy has the press knocking on her door, 2 o clock in the morning, 3 o clock in the morning and some of the photos of Amy at her worst is when she’s gone down the stairs because she’s had no sleep and she’s just gone down there to say ‘leave me along’, ‘shut up, I want to go to sleep’.”

"Amy did not ask to be a teenage icon – Amy just asked to write and sing"
Sue - close relative

Sue went on: “She’s got herself into this mess we know – we are trying our up most, she’s being very good at the moment so y’know hopefully things will come through. But we’re just asking, give her a break. Stop printing all those nasty photos.”

She also said the record label are doing all they can to get her back on track: “I must give it to the record company, they are trying to help. She’s got people with her 24 /7.

“When you see her being rushed in and out of police stations and things like that, we can see the people around her and they’re from the record company. They really are trying for her – we’re all trying.

“And I think at this moment in time – Amy seems to be trying.”



Kelly Stooke

Great Escape Blog

6 Music @ Brighton's massive music fest

15 May 08 - The Great Escape festival in Brighton is about to get under way.

TGE takes place over three days and nights - running until 17 May - with a total attendance of over 10,000 people.

Artists this year include The Wombats, The Automatic, The Black Lips, Ida Maria and chart-topper Sam Sparro.

Industry talks, panel debates and celebrity interviews will also run alongside the performances from 200 new local and international artists, themed parties and club nights.

The whole event happens in over 25 different venues.

6 Music's reporter Jo Youle will be regularly  blogging about the festival.....


Blog number 1 - 15/05/08

9am - Waking up in London to grey drizzle, the kind of rain that looks harmless but after 4 hours soaks through to your smalls, is not welcome. Comfortable in the knowledge that the London to Brighton train takes an hour, I pray for sunshine, pack my brolly, check my line-up - which is thicker than a bible, and don my flip flops in defiance.
 


Kelly Stooke / Jo Youle

Review: Babyshambles

Pete storms prison comeback gig

14 May 2008 - Set in the theatrical auditorium of the Forum in Kentish Town, hoards of Pete Doherty lovers gathered to see their idol play with his fellow Babyshambles band-mates for his first gig since leaving prison on 6 May.

The crowd was a melting pot of indie kids, lads, admiring girls, a heap of general music fans with a smattering of middle-aged fans thrown in too.

With the usual buzz in the air of whether Doherty will actually turn up, when the band finally took to the stage they were greeted with a rapturous response from adoring fans.

Doherty’s opening words were a slightly slurred: “Thanks for all your support, especially those of you who wrote a little letter in the last month.”

Then straight into Pipedown to kick start and it went down a storm with the crowd surging and singing along with Pete’s every word.

Three songs in and a little rusty since being incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs prison, Doherty was vocal about momentarily forgetting Delivery’s starting chords.

In his trademark grey suit, white shirt teamed with skinny tie, braces and a trilby, Doherty looked healthier than his former self.

Throughout the set they tried out three new songs which went down well alongside hits like Kilimanjaro and Carry On Up The Morning.

Mid-set the band were joined by The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan. With drink in hand, MacGowan’s raspy voice complimented the collaboration on the Irish folk classic Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl.

Prison was the best thing for him, he came out and has just done the best gig he's ever done.
Fan

Other treats included a Ska inflected cover of Money In My Pocket by the reggae artist Dennis Brown, which Pete dedicated to his son.

They also cracked out a cover of the Squeeze track Cool For Cats which started well and then diminished into a somewhat shambolic effort but this did not matter as it fused with another hit, Side Of The Road.

Much to the security’s dismay Doherty continued to break laws, this time by lighting up a cigarette which was soon retrieved by a guard. With a chorus of boos resounding, he merely lit it up again.

For ten minutes of the encore the band seemed to lose their way, lacking focus, with some fans’ faces highlighting the sense of dissatisfaction that I was feeling.

But the finale F**k Forever was a frenzy of moshing, beer spillage, singing and stage invaders, including one fan who made it three times onto the stage over the course of the gig.

After the gig a fan said: "He was the best thing there and the best thing there ever will be. The prison was the best thing for him, he came out and has just done the best gig he's ever done."

Georgie Rogers

007 wants Amy song

Daniel Craig would like Winehouse Bond theme

12 May 2008 - Amy Winehouse's Bond theme may be on hold after Mark Ronson said she was not ready to record music at the moment - but 007 himself is hoping she will come up with the song.

It would be for the new movie Quantum of Solace and Daniel Craig, who plays the part of 007, is an Amy fan.

Amy fan

The actor said: “It would be fantastic. I’m a huge fan of hers and I don’t know what’s been going on because I’ve been busy doing other things.

“I mean it would be amazing if she could – she’s got an amazing voice and it think it would lend itself beautifully to this but we’ll see.”

Bailed

Amy was recently bailed after being arrested and questioned for 10 hours by police over alleged drug offences.


Kelly Stooke

Santogold praises Bjork

Long-awaited debut album released

12 May 2008 - Santogold has released her long-awaited debut album today (12 May) and she says she owes a lot to Bjork.

The self –titled record has been described as a mixture of electronic, dub and indie-rock and she says the Icelandic singer gave her a couple of slots on her tour recently and helped get her career right on track.

Santi White

The woman behind Santogold, Santi White from Philadelphia, told 6 Music: “I did three shows – I did a show in Montreal, a show in New York and a show in Atlanta with her and I just loved it.

“Just an amazing experience. She’s another artist who is so inspiring and I’m just so excited that she even took interest in what I was doing really early on.

“She heard some stuff on MySpace and was really, really supportive.”

MIA

Santi also spoke about working with other artists, including MIA, who she has actually been compared to: “She’s great, I mean I think that the best thing about working with her is that we’re actually friends and so it doesn’t really feel like work.

"She heard some stuff on MySpace and was really, really supportive"
Santogold

“It’s like girl time. Y’know when you’re just travelling all the time, when you’re working all the time you don’t get to hang out with your friends that much so when we work together it was just like hanging out with your friends.”

She went on about her respect for MIA: “We did one song together. It’s gonna be a b-side – but we weren’t even together. She did it when she was in the UK and I was in New York.

“It’s also nice to have other friends and specifically female friends who are artists and who are doing things that I think are really creative and interesting – and who are also sort of breaking the rules.”

Mark Ronson

Santi mentioned someone else she wants to work with - Mark Ronson: “Mark and I have been planning on working together for a really long time but both of our schedules have been insane.

“I did manage to do something with him for his record – the song Pretty Green – which was a cover of The Jam and it was just really fun, like sing-song version.

“And I did some touring with him supporting that.”

Santogold play the Ones to Watch night at Old Blue Last in London tonight (12 May).



Kelly Stooke

Industry 'Turmoil'

Hot Chip on freebie confusion

09 May 2008 - Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard speaks out on his bemusement of the free download revolution.

With a heap of bands now giving away their music for free - Coldplay the latest addition with over 2 million copies of their new single Violet Hill recently downloaded for free - Joe Goddard revealed to the BBC that he thinks the music industry is "in turmoil".

But it only really works if you're a massive act.
Joe Goddard

In light of such new methods of music distribution, Goddard explained:

"It's a strange one but I think at the moment no-one knows what's really going on and the record companies are really searching for a new way to do business."

"It's all kind of in turmoil and people are just trying things out. Probably in the next couple of years we'll see a new kind of business emerging."

Goddard also expressed his views on the likes of Radiohead, Coldplay and The Charlatans giving away freebies:

"People can get music for free on the net so to give it away to people and admit that is a sensible thing."

He continued: "Big artists like that can make their money in other ways and they can still have a great career. But it only really works if you're a massive act. If we turned around and offered our single for free I don't know how many people would bother."

Georgie Rogers

Madonna world tour dates

Sticky and Sweet tour starts in Cardiff

08 May 08 - The UK tour dates for Madonna's Sticky & Sweet world tour have been announced.

The jaunt will kick off at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 23 August with a date at London's Wembley Stadium on 11 September.

US

After playing gigs throughout Europe in September, she will then cross the pond and hit the US for more shows throughout October.

So far, Madge's eleventh studio album Hard Candy has debuted at number one in 27 countries.

Tickets

Tickets for the Cardiff and London gigs go on sale at 9am on Friday 16 May and can be purchased from the Live Nation website or by calling the 24 hour box office on 0844 576 5483.

Last tour

Last time Madonna was on tour, Pharrell Williams approached her about working together - which helped her decide the direction of the new album.

Talking to the BBC, Madonna said: “I know he’d worked with Gwen Stefani before and I’ve been a big fan of his for a while.”

She also had good things to say about Justin Timberlake: “Also, the record that I was listening to at the time - that I couldn’t stop playing - was Justin’s new album which I loved.

“That’s the music that I like right now, so I would like to sort of take that as a starting point and then make it my own.”

Nerves

Madonna went on to talk about how even big stars get nerves in this business: “Justin admitted to me the other day that he felt the same way. So every one goes through that because when you write music you’re really exposing something about yourself.

“And if you don’t know somebody, you feel a little bit embarrassed.”

Timbaland

Madonna also spoke about what it was like working with producer Timbaland: “He just would come in and just put his headphones on and not speak to anyone and you would think ‘ok well he’s in his own world’.

“So we would be working with other musicians and Justin and I would be writing words together and then I didn’t even think he’d be paying attention and then he’d take off the headphones and go ‘nope’ and then he’d put his headphones back on – he’s quite unique!”


The full European dates of Madonna's new tour:


23-Aug Cardiff Millennium Stadium

26-Aug Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann

28-Aug Berlin Olympic Stadium

02-Sept Amsterdam Arena

04-Sept Dusseldorf LTU Arena

06-Sept Rome Olympic Stadium

09-Sept Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena

11-Sept London Wembley Stadium

20-Sept Paris Stade de France

Kelly Stooke / Georgie Rogers

Amy bailed

Singer questioned over alleged drug offences

08 May 2008 - Amy Winehouse has been bailed after being arrested and questioned for 10 hours by police over alleged drug offences.

The singer was interviewed at an East London police station after attending by arrangement at 1pm on Wednesday 7 May.

Her spokesman said the arrest was in connection with a video of the star passed to them in January.

Winehouse's spokesman said in a statement: "Amy Winehouse voluntarily attended a London police station today by appointment. She was arrested in order to be interviewed and is co-operating fully with inquiries.

"The interview relates to a video handed to police earlier this year."

Photographers and television cameras gathered outside Limehouse police station where the singer is believed to be held.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Around 1pm today, a 24-year-old women from the Camden area attended a London police station by arrangement and was arrested in connection with the alleged possession of a controlled drug.

"She remains in custody. This is in connection with an investigation connected to footage passed to the Metropolitan Police on January 22."

The Sun newspaper published a front page story about Winehouse on 22 January and passed its footage to police.

Kelly Stooke / Andre Paine

Early Coldplay track

Band offer Viva La Vida earlier

07 May 2008 - Coldplay gave away their new single for free for a week and now they are offering a track early.

If you pre order the band’s new album now, you will get a gratification track - Viva La Vida - early.

Two million

This comes after two million people downloaded the new single Violet Hill since it was put on their website recently.

Initially, the website crashed under the demand of people wanting the single but it's now up and running.

The new album, Viva La Vida or Death and all his Friends, is due out on 12 June.

Dates

The band will play London's Brixton Academy on 16 June, and New York on 23 June.

They will also play Barcelona at some point.



Kelly Stooke