Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The head of an African aid organization has lashed out at Bono and Bob Geldof, berating their charity work for its insistence on foisting western values onto the troubled continent, and their failure to include more African entrepreneurs in their ongoing efforts. Speaking to the media last week, Jobs Selasie, of Africa Aids Action, claimed that far from helping the situation, the machinations of Geldof and Bono have actually exacerbated the problems crippling the continent by making Africans almost totally reliant on handouts. Selasie claims that charitable donations now make up an average of 70% of the budgets of African countries, as compared with 20% only a decade ago, while he also maintains that the amount of people relying directly on aid to live has risen by over 500% in the same period. He stated: "Aid has failed because campaigners, charities and governments do not have the right plan and excluded African entrepreneurs and grassroots organizations from being part of the solution. You can't impose change from without (outside). It has to come from within and we won't end poverty with handouts. Africans need to fight corruption and work hard."...

The Amy Winehouse saga continued to painfully play itself out in public last week, with the frazzled star seemingly stuck in a downward spiral that surely must be threatening her very existence at this point. Aside from the rumors of heroin addiction (as posited by her own parents), she was also photographed onstage last week with a curious white powder surrounding her nose, which probably was not there as the result of eating sugared donuts. Winehouse also attended a brief court appearance by her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who is up on charges of assault and perverting the course of justice. In front of a packed London courthouse, Fielder-Civil was told that he will have to spend the holiday season behind bars, as the result of his efforts to bribe and intimidate a man whom he is already accused of assaulting. Winehouse's mother, Janis, on the other hand claims that she is delighted to see her son-in-law locked up in prison saying: "Thank God he's gone inside. Everyone else can see it. Amy chooses not to. I was more worried when they were together. I think, while they are apart, she will wake up and thing: 'What have I done?'" Even Pete Doherty has begun to advise Amy to give up the drugs, saying that she should use her time apart from her husband to break her drug habit, which seems a little hypocritical given the fact that Pete has allegedly returned to his drug taking ways only weeks after announcing that he was dedicated to a life of sobriety. Anyway, you know things are bad when Pete Doherty is your drug counselor but there is definitely a lesson for Winehouse in the Doherty story, as evidenced by the fact that his band Babyshambles, are playing to mostly half empty venues on their current tour, despite the fact that Doherty is almost continually plastered on the pages of magazines and tabloids. Definitive proof that being a junkie might sell newspapers but it won't sell records, no matter how blitzed you get...

Paul McCartney has reportedly entered the studio to help his son James work on his upcoming debut album, which must offer some kind of respite for the former Beatle, given the increasingly nasty nature of his divorce from Heather Mills. While Macca continued his dignified approach to proceedings, Mills once again seemed a little off kilter at a speech given by her to students at Ireland's Trinity College last week. Speaking to a packed philosophical society meeting (I know, I don't get the link either) at the university campus in Dublin, Mills attacked the moneyed classes, among many other things, claiming: "Sadly, you have to mix at a certain level of people to raise the level of funds you need to bring about the greater good. Because people are very snobby - these people who have lots of money, they're either snobby or they're stingy. If you have lots of money you have to be stingy because why would you want that amount of money. But you have to be able to earn a certain living and be able to mix in that arena to influence those people and kind of drag that out of them to actually make a change and make them realize that's what's really exciting about life. I'm a woman who puts fear into men who want to control women. If you look at every single person in the history of the world who has tried to make a difference, you'll find a very long section of their lives where they were treated horrifically by the government or by the media. I don't think anything can prepare you for being treated worse than a murderer or a pedophile when all you have done in 17 years is charity work," If giving old super-rich men rubs and tugs for cash counts as charity work, then I can see where she is coming from (pardon the pun) but the fact that this money-grabbing cow is trying to portray herself as some kind of martyr is particularly galling. She had no problem with these people or their money when it was flowing in her direction and the charities she claims to support are on record as saying that they have no direct links with her. Even her own father says she was born a selfish gold-digger. If she hates money so much then why doesn't she just leave the public spotlight with what little that remains of her dignity, instead of trying to shake down a pensioner? And as for a woman that can't be controlled by men; all you'd have to do is hide her leg. I know it's mean but this is one malignant lady so it doesn't count...

For those of you out there that are huge Led Zeppelin fans - and there appear to be a few - don't be too distraught it you miss out on next month's reunion gig because the rumblings around the industry are pointing to something more substantial than a one-off gig. First Billboard recently reported that several venues throughout the US have been approached with a view to hosting a Zeppelin gig there next year. Also, last week, Cult lead-singer, Ian Astbury made somewhat of a slip when he told the audience at a gig in Cincinnati that the band would be back next year with a far bigger act in tow. According to MTV, the singer told the crowd: "We'll be back next year because we're opening for a band you may have heard of... The name starts with an 'L' and has a 'Z' in it." Spokespeople for Led Zeppelin were quick to pour cold water on the notion but it does look ever more likely that the band will play some kind of US tour next year. I just wouldn't count on the Cult being the opening act after making a booboo like that!