STUPID FLANDERS' LABEL

You might not expect Ned Flanders to be launching his own record label, but since he shares an alterego with Derek Smalls, Spinal Tap's bassist, perhaps it's not so hi-diddly-highly unlikely. Harry Shearer and his wife, musician Judith Owen have cooked up a deal to release their own music in response to frustrations with the major labels:

"It came from me already being on major (labels) and having less than a joyful experience," Owen told Billboard.com.

"One of the situations where 'new prez' comes in, the whole thing falls apart. After a situation like that, when you've lost your main guy, and you spend your life jumping through hoops trying to please people, it leaves you with the sensation of, 'God, wouldn't it be amazing just to be an artist?' It was a sense of Harry and I both being 'outside of the box artists' in our own fields."

Having said all of which, the stuff released on their label, Courgette Records, will still rely on Warner Group's distribution skills. But then, when you're just being an artist, you don't want to be a van driver as well.

music the simpsons harry shearer judith owens