Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The decision makers behind the Mercury Music Prize defied the bookies odds once again by choosing a relatively unknown rapper from south London as this year's award winner. Speech Debelle's debut album, Speech Therapy, beat out rigorous competition from acts such as Kasabian, Florence and the Machine and Irish singer Lisa Hannigan, for the prestigious prize, which included a cheque for $30,000. The 25-year-old wrote much of the album upon being thrown out of the family home by her mother and spending the next several years living in friends' houses and a series of hostels for the homeless...

Staying with the Mercury Music Prize for a moment, much of the buzz on the night surrounded the no-show of Glasvegas front man, James Allan, whose band were consequently unable to perform live, having received a nomination for their eponymous debut album. It later transpired that Allan had been missing for the previous week, sparking concerns for his safety, but - thankfully - he subsequently contacted band manager, Dean Cunning, to inform him that he just needed a break from their heavy schedule and was spending time in New York. Upon being asked whether he expected Allan to show up when Glasvegas take to the road this week, as the opening act on the Kings Of Leon US tour, Cunning replied: "I f***ing hope so!" ...

While we're on the subject of the Kings Of Leon, the American band has come in for much criticism after their headlining performance at the recent Reading music festival proved to be somewhat unpopular with gig goers. Festival organizer, Melvin Benn was quoted in the NME as blaming "connectivity" with the audience, wind and sound problems for a gig that reportedly drew boos from many in the crowd. Poor sound or not, it certainly did not help when singer, Caleb Followill launched the following tirade at the audience: "We know you're sick of Kings of Leon. We're f***ing sick of Kings of Leon too. But we get up here every night and I thank God for everything I've had. So for all those who don't give a f*** about us, I understand. But we've worked hard to be here. We're the goddamn Kings of Leon, so f*** you." I'd say that's more a problem of ass****ivity than connectivity...

Ron Wood's daughter Leah has denied newspaper reports that claim she has banned her famous father from spending time with her daughter, in the wake of the well publicized collapse of his marriage. The 62-year-old Rolling Stone guitarist raised a few eyebrows last year when he walked out on wife of 23 years, Jo, in favor of 20-year-old Russian cocktail waitress, Ekaterina Ivanova, but his daughter claims that he is still involved in the life of his granddaughter Maggie Dylan, stating: "Dad saw Maggie when she was born and he is a very proud grandfather. He sees her when he can but he is off traveling most of the time or busy painting. When it's the right time for both of us, we join forces. A father and daughter always have a special bond and when I was pregnant I was like: 'Where is my dad, I need to see him.' I love his company. He is a wonderful man and, whatever has happened, he is my dad at the end of the day." He should definitely stay on good terms with her because some time in the future young Maggie might have a friend that he can date...

Speaking of Rolling Stones guitarists, Keith Richards recently revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he is finding it "very difficult" to recall the details of his life for an autobiography, which is due to hit shelves next year. Hardly surprising really given his notorious intake of drugs over the past four-plus decades but at least he's honest about it. Ozzie Osbourne is currently working on an autobiography and that guy can't even remember where he put the remote control to the TV...

David Bowie has become immortalized in the arachnid community after German spider expert, Peter Jaeger named one of the eight-legged creatures in honor of the former front man for Zigg Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The large yellow spider from Malaysia has been given the name Heteropoda Davidbowie as a tribute to the legendary singer. No word yet on whether Chris de Burgh will get a maggot named in his honor...

The two remaining members of the Beatles will reportedly share a staggering $1.6 billion in profits from the recent issuing of a re-mastered box set of their albums and the release of video game, Beatles: Rock Band. Maybe Ringo can use some of that money to get his head extracted from his behind...

On the subject of the Beatles drummer, Simon Cowell claimed in an interview with US television last week that he would have thrown Ringo out of the band if they had appeared on one of his TV talent shows. Speaking to Amanda Holden, Cowell maintained: "If The Beatles came on the show we would have said, 'We'll take those three - Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison - but probably lose the drummer.' With Ringo, I'm afraid, we would have said 'bad news'."...

Paul McCartney was also in the news last week for an interview he gave to US television show, Entertainment Tonight, in which he declared that the Beatles took too many drugs during the course of their career. Macca stated: "(We were) overdoing substances and really getting crazy, as we all were... (We'd be) falling asleep - the kinda thing when you can hardly get your head off the pillow. You go, 'Woah, I'd better get my head off this pillow.'" The ex-husband of Heather Mills also revealed that one such drug binge resulted in one of the band's most celebrated tunes, declaring: "I had a dream, where my mother, who had been dead, by then, 10 years came to me in the dream and was very sort of helpful and very calming, and it was lovely just to see her... and she said, 'Don't worry about it... Let it be.' I went, 'OK', and I felt so good... and I woke up and wrote Let It Be. I thought, 'That's a good idea for a song.'" I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds might have been inspired by chemicals too...

Talking to UK tabloid, the Daily Mirror, last week, Phil Collins disclosed that he can never play drums again due to a choric back problem he developed from all his years spent bashing skins. The former Genesis stick man told an interviewer: "I've got a condition that means I can't play any more. After playing drums for 50 years, I've had to stop. Obviously, I'm very sad about it. My vertebrae has been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in. It comes from years of playing. I can't even hold the sticks properly without it being painful." I would say that it's karma but that would have involved a condition that doesn't allow him to speak anymore... Or send faxes...

UK indie band Keane are so deathly afraid of flying that they used a train to travel around Russia on a recent tour of the country, and intend to do the same on their upcoming Canadian tour. Talking of their jaunt around Russia, singer Tom Chaplin stated: "As soon as I get on a plane, I'm completely out of breath and very fearful. The more I've flown, the more I've come to hate it. We decided to get on the train, which is something we've done quite a bit in recent times. They tacked on a carriage to some rickety old train that runs from St. Petersburg to Moscow and we had a jolly time just hanging out and seeing the world go by." Not to be picky but if Chaplin really wants to dispel all of those charges about his band being a bunch of posh boys then he might want to drop the word 'jolly' from his vocabulary. I pictured him giving that interview decked out with a monocle, cummerbund and a cravat, then turning to his band mates and saying: "Jolly good show chaps, that interview was rather spiffing, what-what!" Maybe it's just me...

Roger Daltrey recently told an interviewer for Uncut magazine that he wants to die on stage, preferably after one of the Who's most iconic songs. The singer claims: "To me, a musical note is the meaning of life. We're not giving up. I mean, as well as being a backdrop for people living, we might as well be a backdrop for people dying. We've all got to go at some point. I'd like to go to the scream of Won't Get Fooled Again! And I suppose a lot of people would say: 'Yeah, and I'd like to f***ing be there when it happens!'" For his sake, I hope there's not some Mark Chapman-type fruitcake out there that picks up on those words because Roger just gave him a built-in case for an assisted suicide defense.