VICTORY FOR ZONKER

It probably helped that he had the piss ripped out of him by Doonesbury - Zonker Harris tried to walk across "his" beach - but label boss David Geffen has finally given up trying to keep people off the sand in front of one of his houses.

Unlike his friend and former employee Madonna, who somehow managed to keep us proles off what she claimed was her land by wittering away about how her privacy was more important than historical access, Geffen has found the courts in California have been reluctant to allow him to claim rights to keep messy and noisy public off a footpath across his grounds.

There's a curious little detail here: Back in 1983, Geffen cut a deal with local authorities in which he promised to allow access to the land in return for being allowed to expand his Xanadu-esque estate. We wouldn't suggest anyone take this as the standard value of a music industry chief's promises: good only if you're prepared to spend twenty-two years fighting the bastards through the courts.

music access david geffen california