Joe Kavanagh's Music News

If the old cop saying about going where the evidence takes you is true, then things are not looking good for John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, and his image as a defender of the downtrodden, voiceless and indigent. Lydon, and his band the Sex Pistols, had just finished their set at Spain's Summercase Festival in Barcelona on Saturday, July 19, when a particularly ugly scene broke out between Lydon, his entourage and Bloc Party singer, Kele Okereke. According to Okereke, who is a huge Sex Pistols fan, he approached Lydon to chat and asked him when he intended to reform PIL, another Lydon-fronted band that Okereke counts himself a fan of. At this point, Lydon's entourage became extremely belligerent with one of them (possibly even Lydon) calling out: "Your problem is your black attitude." Okereke was then violently set upon by Lydon's cohorts, who punched and kicked the singer, leaving him with severe bruising, cuts to his face and hands and a split lip. The Bloc Party frontman was only saved when Ricky Williams of the Kaiser Chiefs and members of fellow UK band, The Foals, stepped in on his behalf. An irate Okereke, who has reported the assault to Spanish and UK police, told reporters: "It's not an issue of the physical assault, even though it was an unprovoked attack, it is the fact that race was brought into the matter so readily. Someone as respected and as intelligent as Lydon should know better than to bring race into the equation, or socialize with and encourage those who hold such narrow-minded attitudes. I am disappointed that someone I held with such high regard turns out to be such a bigot." Lydon was quick to dismiss the allegation, announcing: "I feel very sorry for a man who needs to lie about what was a perfect evening. After the show John Rotten and management remained behind to sign autographs, which we did for four solid hours without incident and had a great time talking to other Spanish bands. This seems to have sparked jealousy in certain bands. The trouble was brought to us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security. We are in the middle of a wonderful tour, after 30 years we are achieving a true unity in our audience. They are multi-varied, all ages, all races, creeds and colors. When you are at a festival with bands who are jealous fools, lies and confusion usually follow. If they need publicity so badly this is the allegation universe they run into." The following day, however, The Foals played a gig in the UK, with frontman, Yanns Philippakis telling the crowd: "We were in Spain yesterday and we got in a fight with Johnny Rotten, I got handcuffed. This song is dedicated to Johnny Rotten and his meathead friends." Super Furry Animals singer, Gruff Rhys, also witnessed the incident and told MTV: "It was horrific. Kele is a very brave man and what he said is exactly what happened. The statements Kele has said are absolutely true. It did happen." If this is the case then Lydon's legacy is indeed tarnished and it might be time for him to find some white power skinhead band that could use his services. He, above most others, should know all about the pain of discrimination, particularly given the fact that his autobiography is titled: No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish. Maybe he wasn't being ironic after all...

UK newspaper, Daily Express, claimed that the Rolling Stones are ready to move on without Ron Wood, if he does not clean up his act, even though the troubled guitarist entered rehab recently, after embarking on a two week bender with a 19-year-old Russian cocktail waitress. The Express claims that Mick Jagger is eager to tour again next year, whether Woods is ready or not, which once again shows that Jagger has the loyalty of a s**thouse rat. A source close to the band is quoted as saying: "Mick officially becomes a pensioner when he turns 65 at the end of July and Keith Richards at the end of the year, and I think Mick wants to get another tour under his belt in case it gets to the point where he can't do any more." Personally, I think we're waaaaaaaay beyond that point because I believe it's time to pack it in when you can't write the songs anymore. The Stones now are just an expensive, arthritic karaoke act...

Bob Geldof's 19-year-old, anti-drug advocate daughter, Peaches was treated for suspected respiratory failure early last week as the result of - yes, you guessed it - a drug overdose. Although details are scant, a spokesperson for London Ambulance admitted that they had answered a call regarding a suspected drug overdose in the area, saying: "We were called shortly before 4:45pm on Sunday to an address in London N1, to reports of a female patient taken ill. We sent an ambulance, a bicycle responder and a fast response car to the scene. Following assessment, the patient did not need hospital treatment." Bob Geldof's ex-wife and mother of Peaches, Paula Yates, died of a drugs overdose in 2000, at only 40-years-old, so hopefully this is not a case of history repeating itself...

Noel Gallagher claims that Oasis pushed U2 out of Abbey Road studios, so that his band could get in first and begin work on their soon-to-be-released, seventh album. In an interview with Mojo, Gallagher claimed: "U2 were booked in there with (producer) Rick Rubin. I was like, 'U2? U2 have to have a f***ing six-hour meeting (to discuss) whether to get tea or coffee in the rehearsal room! They are not coming in here any time in the next five years.' The guy from Abbey Road was like, 'I've got it block-booked for the exact time you want it.' We actually went down to Abbey Road with a bag of money, and said, 'We can pay for the studio now'." I'm certainly no U2 fan but I get the impression that if U2 really wanted Abbey Road ahead of Oasis, then they would get it. Anyhow, if Oasis were stuck, they could always just re-release their last album and call it something new. It's worked for them for the last four albums...

Music is a funny game: Jolean and The Jing Jang Jong began the year as one of the most hyped bands in the game, as well as having the worst name this side of Limp Bizkit. From late in 2007, journalists have tipped them to become one of the biggest bands of 2008, just as soon as their debut album hit shelves. Well, now the album has been shelved alright, permanently, as word emerged last week that the band has decided to scrap their debut album entirely because they feel it no longer offers an accurate representation of their music. All of this just two weeks before its release date and promo copies had already been sent out to some journalists for review. I'm guessing that the real reason it's been scrapped is because it can be described by a word contained in the word 'scrapped', and that the people who said that the band only got press because their super-rich parents paid for it, have actually been correct all along. Smoke and mirrors.