Torn off a Stripe

Chciago's Q101 treated its listeners to The White Stripes' Icky Thump, all the way through.

Jack White found out and was, apparently, livid. He took time out to place a call to the station from the Spanish leg of the Stripes tour to make his displeasure with the DJ, Electra, known.

It sounds like he might have gone a little far, to judge by Electra's blog:

At 4pm today, Jack White called Q101's main offices from Spain, where they're touring, looking specifically for me, to yell at me for leaking the album and, in part, being "messed up for the entire (music) business." (Edit - I listened to the call again today, and I apologize for initially misquoting Jack.) I felt like I was going to throw up. Weirdest, most surreal conversation of my life.

So Sherman and Tingle were on the air when Jack called. They took the call with me in the studio, off the air. Jack asked me to take responsibility for leaking the record, and asked if I was sorry for what I'd done. S&T both jumped into the call - I was clearly flustered - and backed me 100%. We tried to explain where we were coming from - someone gave us a copy of a record that we were really excited to play, and the whole experience was an hour-long lovefest for him and his band - but he wasn't having it. He hung up, very, very angry, and I thought I was going to cry.

It's hard to see exactly why White is so angry - it's not like the station stole the album, and it's not exactly embargoed; being played on a small, enthusiasts station in Chicago isn't going to harm the sales of the record and with the Stripes' quality variable at best, might actually help a little.

But even if he is upset, screeching at people so much they feel physically sick is hardly the best way to make your case.