Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Politics may lead to strange bedfellows but the land of entertainment can't be far behind, with news emerging last week that Elvis Costello and Elton John are to collaborate on a new chat show. John's film company, Rockstar Pictures, will produce the show, which is to be titled, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... and the show will air on the Sundance channel in the US and Channel 4 in Europe. Costello (real name Declan McManus) claims "This is a wonderful opportunity to talk in complete thoughts about music, movies, art or even vaudeville, then frame it with unique and illustrative performances." In 2003 Costello stood in for David Letterman, who was unable to work for a period due to illness but I'm guessing that this new venture will be more camp than Paul Schafer at a jamboree...

The "will they or won't they" debate about Led Zeppelin's projected world tour looks to have come to a close, with virtually all in sundry agreed that that the legendary band will not take to the road for a blockbuster reunion tour. After mutterings that Robert Plant was happy with his current solo career, Velvet Revolver guitarist, Slash, recently told the media that his close friend, Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, has no ambition to go on stage again. So there you have it, kind of. Page also announced last week that there will be no DVD release of their one-off reunion gig in the UK last December, saying: "It was recorded - but we didn't go in with the express purpose of making a DVD to come out at Christmas, or whatever." I'm just guessing, but it sounds like there might be a few bum notes in there or possibly the performance wasn't quite good enough to make the cut. Or risk tarnishing a legacy...

While we're on the subject of reunions, Coventry act, The Specials have announced that they will reform this fall and go an extensive world tour, pleasing their legions of fans around the world. Singer with the seminal ska act, Terry Hall, told the BBC that he was inspired by other reunions, saying: "Because I saw Patti Smith do Horses, and I saw The Pixies reforming... you do it with dignity or don't do it at all. We need to spend the summer rehearsing, I think it's taken me 30 years to realize we could do it really well."...

Do you think you've got what it takes to remix Radiohead? Well now you can, thanks to a new website set up by the band called Radoiheadremix.com. On the site you can purchase strands of the band's upcoming single, Nude, then rearrange them into your own distinct mix of the song. Strands are effectively the different elements to the track, such as a bassline, beat, guitar melody etc. The best remix will be used as a b-side on the single and all entries must be sent in by May 1. Although this does provide another example of how Radiohead remain the preeminent purveyors of modern music technology, I think it's also great because they get a free remix and actually charge the fans for the pleasure of doing it. There's not many bands that would get away with that and still have their fans raving about how they really "understand them". Savvy...

Tom "Cuckoo" Cruise may be welcoming a new acolyte into the Scientology fold in the coming weeks if rumors that Pete Doherty has taken a shine to the self-proclaimed religion prove founded. Reports in the UK media last week claim that Doherty's latest girlfriend, DJ Nadine Ruddy, is a devoted Scientologist and has encouraged her troubled beau to investigate the possibility of becoming a member himself. The Babyshambles singer is reportedly in the midst of reading a host of books associated with Scientology and is said to be quite smitten with their propogan... excuse me, teachings. I think it is worth mentioning the fact that Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard was a second-rate pulp fiction writer who famously said: "If a man really wants to make a million dollars then the best way would be to start his own religion." That's exactly what he did and the fact that he convinced millions of people that we are descended from a group of aliens and the only way to save yourself is to hand over every penny you have, remains a puzzle to me. It takes all sorts I suppose, after all there are people out there that claims to have found humor in Everybody Loves Raymond. It's probably also worth noting that Pete Doherty has spent much of the past five years on the end of a needle or a crack pipe, so no wonder it makes sense to him...

Keith Richards was doing the rounds with the media last week, as part of the PR tour to promote the new Martin Scorcese's current biopic, Shine A Light , which chronicles the history of the Rolling Stones. Always a colorful interview, compared to Mick Jagger whose lips move without him actually saying anything, Keef told journalists: "I smoke my head off. I smoke weed all the damn time. There, you've got it. But that's my benign weed. That's all I take, that's all I do. But I do smoke and I've got some really good hash." Really, you'd never think it to look at him...

Lily Allen's BBC talk show has been renewed, despite the fact that the rather bland affair has thus far only managed to maintain a little under 2% of the potential television audience available. Rather than blame herself, Allen instead is claiming that the reason for the poor figures is the fact that the show is filmed outside London, in the county of Hertfordshire. The Smile singer claims that her audience would not travel outside the city to sit in a TV studio and says that the show would attract more people if it was filmed in London. Eh, perhaps someone should sit Lily down and explain to her that viewing figures are not related to how many people are in your studio audience... and then tell her that she's just not very good at the old TV lark, yet...

Given all the international outcry regarding its future, Dr Peter Van Ham of NATO thinks he has the perfect solution for upgrading the organization set up to defend Europe during the Cold War. Dr Van Ham posits that the organization should embrace a process that he terms the "Madonna-curve." According to the good doctor: "This curve is named after the legendary pop-diva who reinvented herself each time her style and stardom went into inevitable decline but whose audacity has lifted her up to ever-higher levels of relevance and fame." Dr Van Ham compared the current status of NATO to the Rolling Stones, saying it was like "a band who should have stopped earlier, but has failed to do so because of popular demand." Let me get this straight. This is one of the people that is in charge of some of the most sophisticated weaponry that the world has ever known? Whilst it is mildly touching to realize that there is a certain arty humanity to one of the people charged with protecting Western Civilization, I think Dr Van Ham should perhaps spend a bit more time swatting up on the latest defensive systems, rockets and global politics and a little less time on his mp3 player. He could have just said: "We need to do something about this because it's f**cked" and I'd have understood what he was talking about. "Madonna Curve"? What did this guy get his PhD, Sam Goody's?