Universal gets a little Buzz

Interesting little snippet: Universal has thrown some cash in the direction of Buzznet, although through its Interscope label - which suggests it's a smart move by someone away from the centre of the company rather than a strategy devised by the lumbering giant itself.

It also appears that Buzznet have, through some share-shuffling, taken full ownership of Stereogum. Naturally, the 'gum will declare the link with Universal when writing about Universal artists... won't they?

50 Cent blames clock for flop

The very real possibility that 50 Cent's Curtis album sold underwhelmingly because he's lost whatever the it was that he once had doesn't seem to have occured to him, although he does admit he delivered a pup:

"It was a blockbuster that I lit, and it didn't explode,” the rapper said. “I felt like it should have went a lot further than the results I received.”

We're not quite sure why one would light a blockbuster, or, indeed, if something can be a blockbuster that doesn't explode, and it's clear that Cent is still trying to puzzle out why it didn't work.

“I feel that 50 Cent fans don't believe it was a dud,” he told MTV. “It did have 'I Get Money’, it did have 'Ayo Technology’, 'I'll Still Kill’, 'Follow My Lead' with Robin Thicke.

“These records were hit records, but the timing they came out was wrong.”

Aha. Timing. The record was a blockbuster, it just didn't sell because of time and not because it wasn't very good. And probably because of other people's faults, too:

The rapper admitted that had the record been marketed differently by his record label before its release it would have sold “more millions in sales.”

Yes. If, for example, they'd wrapped it in a sleeve with a picture of Kanye West on, it;d have sold many, many more millions.

Dave Grohl's political corner

So, it turns out that Dave Grohl's support for John Kerry at the last US elections wasn't entirely wholehearted:

During the last election I supported John Kerry on the campaign trail not as the guy from the Foo Fighters but as a citizen concerned about the future of this country. I did it because the Bush campaign was using some of our music at their rallies, and I didn't feel like the songs they were using made sense in the context of the message he was delivering. I couldn't stop them from using them; there's legally nothing really you can do. So I thought, Well, I'll go out and sing those songs at Kerry rallies, where they seem to make more sense -- songs about love and hope and compassion.

Oddly, he doesn't then go on to explain about his motivation behind playing gis in support of campaigners who claimed that HIV and AIDs were unrelated. Perhaps he'd heard some people with actual medical knowledge playing his songs and wanted to counterweigh against that.

Hustler: Laughing in the face of teen pregnancy

We suppose, to be fair, the idea of superimposing Jamie Lynn Spears' face on a promo poster for Juno is mildly diverting, but it's not as funny as Hustler seem to think:

Hustler's Editorial Director Bruce David says, "We just couldn't let this one slip by us! The pregnant 16-year-old sister of Britney Spears, it's too perfect! You can't make this stuff up!"

You can't make this stuff up? Yes you can - look:

Kevin Federline is going to have a baby with Lindsay Lohan

See? You can make this stuff up. It's very easy.

Although the general level of inventiveness at the magazine suggests that maybe they can't. This is the sort of thing they've done:

Kevin Federline, who is accredited as saying, "Even I wouldn't have fucked Jamie Lynn... unless there was some cash in it."

Yeah, she might be Britney Spears' sister, but she's still a sixteen year old girl. Is that really a fair thing to be publishing?

Gahan insists: it was an accidental OD

Apparently Dave Gahan is annoyed that people still put his drugs OD down to a suicide attempt when, really, he just was rubbish at measuring out his drugs:

"I'm painfully aware that was not what I was trying to do. All I was trying to do was disappear for a while, and that became a lost weekend."

Yeah, it must really irritate that people think you took a speedball to kill yourself rather than just because there was nothing on HBO that evening.

Darkness at 3AM: Worst. Headline. Ever. Again.

The Mirror really needs to think about how it publishes the 3AM content online, doesn't it? Somehow, it's managed to generate an article with the headline (and, indeed, only linking material) "Radio 1 DJ Reggie Yates".

The team are also pushing the Becks not invited to Rooney wedding story that everyone else had a couple of days ago, and the ratings for Britney's How I Met Your Mother ratings, which were published on Thursday. Presumably the idea is that if you read the Mirror these days, you're not exactly going to be in the loop.

They even end the Britney piece:

Well Brit, you did it again.

Which besides being a lazy reference for a Britney Spears article, doesn't even sound like the song title and doesn't really make sense. When did she last add a couple of million viewers to sitcom audience?

Gordon in the morning: The wedding planner

Some hefty backpedaling this morning as Gordon attempts to explain why the French wedding of Coleen and Wayne might not happen, despite having told us it was all planned. It turns out there's rules in France:

[T]he biggest stumbling block is the fact they would need to prove they had been residents in the town where they marry for at least 40 days.

Just in case it does happen, Gordon allows there's a workaround:

The source added: “There are ways round this, like renting a flat in their names for a month or so before the marriage."

And then Gordon's source gives another get out in case it doesn't happen:

“But that can get complicated and, of course, expensive."

This, remember, is a wedding that Gordon was confidently predicting will cost three million quid. Now he's telling us it might be scuppered because Rooney wouldn't spend a couple of hours' wages hiring a one-bedroom flat above a suburban bakery to keep it all on track?

Elsewhere, Gordon has a picture of a young Lily Allen wearing some headphones. It's interest, such as it is, is that it's a picture of a young Lily Allen wearing headphones. In other words, the sort of thing that Keith might find in a shoebox, have a little smile, and then put back in the shoebox. For some reason, though (that reason being 'not actually having very much stuff to put in his column') Gordon decides to run it, and then has to try and think of a reason for publishing it:

Lily Allen's fame was inevitable

LOOKING at this vintage LILY ALLEN snap, it seems she was always going to be famous.

It shows the Smile singer as a child on stage at posh Millfield School in 1996.

The second pic is the star out and about in North London yesterday.

Not much has changed if you ask me...

A snapshot of a child wearing headphones shows "fame was inevitable", does it Gordon? In what way, exactly?

Talking of free downloads

Spaceage heartbreakers Ladytron are punting a free download of Black Cat as a way of drawing you attention to the rather hefty line-up of US dates they've got planned:

May
20 - Edmonton, A.B. @ The Starlite Room
21 - Calgary, A.B. @ The Warehouse
23 - Vancouver, B.C. @ Commodore Ballroom
24 - Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox
25 - Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom
27 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Fillmore
29 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Henry Fonda
30 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Henry Fonda
31 - San Diego, Calif. @ The Belly Up

June
2 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ In The Venue
3 - Denver, Colo. @ The Gothic
5 - Dallas, Texas @ Palladium Ballroom
6 - Austin, Texas @ Stubbs
7 - Houston, Texas @ Meridian
8 - New Orleans, La. @ House Of Blues
10 - Orlando, Fla. @ Club Firestone
11 - Tampa, Fla. @ Czar
12 - Miami, Fla. @ Studio A
13 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse
15 - Manchester, Tenn. @ Bonnaroo Festival *
16 - St. Louis, Mo. @ The Pageant
17 - Chicago, Ill. @ Vic Theater
18 - Detroit, Mich. @ St. Andrews Hall
25 - New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5
26 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ Theater of Living Arts
27 - Baltimore, Md. @ Sonar
28 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
30 - Boston, Mass. @ Paradise

July
2 - Montreal, Q.C. @ Metropolis (Jazz Fest)
3 - Quebec City, Q.C. @ Theatre Imperial de Quebec (Summer Fest)
4 - Toronto, O.N. @ Harbourfront Centre

New Old things

The Old 97s have been quiet for a while. Stone quiet for four years, in fact. They're back now, though: there's a new album, Blame It On Gravity, and as part of the run-up, a free mp3. We say free: they want your details in return for a free download; sign up for mailings, and you'll get a video for free in a couple of weeks, too.

Lambs, to no slaughter

Having pulled off the trick of being almost universally despised by his station's key audience, 6Music are doing their best to shore up George Lamb's show. They've made a TV trailer which actually manages, in thirty sections, to encompass everything that's wrong with him. It even ends with him bellowing "Shabba".

Now, let's be generous and assume that Lesley Douglas is serious in her desire to attract more women to her network by employing Lamb (and, erm, a man in a fake badger head). And she believes her target female audience were put off by 6Music being a blokey, music-fact strewn network. Is running a tv shot of two blokey blokes flinging CDs into car players and doing that stupid touching-fists greeting is going to attract them where Gideon Coe couldn't?

An internet diversion

Have you ever wondered what Conor McNicholas carries in his handbag?

Camel stubs out South

Good on South, who took up the offer of a Camel-sponsored slot at SXSW but - to not sell out the The Man (or, in this case, the Emphysemic Camel) told the audience to not smoke. As a joke. Because it's bad for you.

Camel - who, let's not forget, are obliged by law to put a statement on their fag packets that says 'don't smoke, it's bad for you' - didn't see the funny side, and decided to withhold payment.

It turns out that the gag cost South quite a lot - they were meant to be recompensed for traveling from London to Texas. Ten grand's worth.

Legal action is now being considered.

Soulja Boy pulls tour

Latter-day Wordsworth Soulja Boy has canned his forthcoming US tour as he needs to work on his album, he says.

Although, of course, what sort of idiot cancels a cash-making tour to concentrate on a loss-chasing album in these times?

All the parents of America expressed disappointment that their children will miss the opportunity to hear about Boy's enormous penis and his indiscriminate use of rape; many are now looking for other ways to desensitise their kids.

Swinging the Led

Has, as the headline on NME.com suggests, John Paul Jones really hinted a possible new Led Zeppelin album?

Let's see:

Asked specifically about the possibility of a new album, he said, "I'm not sure. I'm not too certain about anything right at the moment. I've got no idea what's going to happen. But I'd certainly like to play with Jimmy [Page] again."

This doesn't make the headline false:

Led Zeppelin may release new album

But it's not entirely accurate - on a par with 'leopards may one day learn to talk', isn't it?

Warners attempt to force ISP tax

The increasing push for a television licence fee style taxation on broadband accounts in US has just got itself a paid evangelist: Warners have hired Jim Griffin to think ideas about how it could work, how the money would be collected, and how Warners Music Group can keep getting its beaks wet from this one.

Of course, it's a terrible idea - it would take an almost unimaginable bureaucracy to organise the payments required. Yes, with a few thousand radio stations, you can track which songs are being played and who made them. But with billions of tracks swooshing about the net, and with seeders and downloaders living in different territories, and some tracks being provided for free and some not: how would anyone make sense out of it?

It's also ridiculous for the record labels to be seen as an important part of this process. We know that they wish to - for good reason - but if the idea is to stimulate and reward artists, then why build in a role for record labels based on their expertise at a different sort of media? Sure, they should be rewarded for the share of stuff they own, but not given any more importance in the negotiations than anyone else.

Most importantly, do the labels realise what a Faustian pact they're offering? The moment such a deal is in place, their catalogue instantly becomes worthless. People who don't download now will have no qualms about slurping anything and everything and - while the labels might think they're proposing some centrally mandated subscription service - people will see it as an open door to download and retain and do with as they please. No more locks of any sort. Is that what they really want?

It should never happen, anyway. Why should people who use their broadband for other purposes - not everyone downloads peer-to-peer music - have to pay a tax to prop up private corporations who failed to reorganise their businesses in time? If record companies get a five bucks tax, will film companies? TV broadcasters? Producers of books that have been scanned online? Porn companies?

Porn companies. This will be the sticky point: if anyone signs into law a mandate obliging ISPs to collect cash to recompense record labels for their material leaking about the net, they would also have to do the same thing for porn companies who make legal-but-sexual product. There's no justification for not doing so. And which politician really wants to become known as the man who created a flat-rate porn tax to be levied on every man, woman, child, vicar and virgin who has a broadband connection?

First recording unearthed

Michael M asks us if we reckong the RIAA will sue the New York Times for uploading the first track ever recorded.

This, of course, is the recording of a French woman singing Au Clair de la Lune that got Charlotte Green giggling on Today this morning; unfortunately during an obituary item.

The recording dates from 1860, when it was made by Edouard Leon Scott de Martinville. It had been reviewed by Maxim in 1859, who gave it two stars.

Madonna off the rails

Back at the end of the 80s, the now-very-defunct Blitz magazine ran a picture where Madonna's head was cut in half and one side of Thatcher's stuck in its place.

It looks a little like this might have been an actual photograph rather than a photomanipulation, as Madonna really does seem to be turning into Thatcher. She even now shares a boogerman with Thatch, in the shape of Ken Livingstone:

"Will Ken Livingstone get my vote? No. The traffic in London is worse than ever now. All Red Ken wants is roadworks going on everywhere."

Yes. She called him Red Ken. Like it was 1983. I was half-expecting to hear some praise for the work of the London Residuary Body.

She doesn't say if she'd vote for the casually racist and homophobic human lampoon Boris Johnson, although we know she wouldn't. Nor would she vote for Red Ken, even if she agreed with him. What with being an American citizen and all.

The reason for all her ire at Red Ken? Besides Red Robbo and Scargill being off the scene when she needs some good socialist-kicking? Apparently it's London transport policy:

The singer, who has a London home, said traffic was worse than ever in an interview with Q magazine.

Ah. It's because transport is bad, and not because Madge has to fork out for the congestion charge, then. She also claims that the Tube isn't usable - as if she'd really love to be hopping on the underground but simply can't stand the delays. When did anyone ever see Madonna on the Tube? How would she know it's so bad?

Madonna then outlines her big idea:

"I would make it so that young musicians, aspiring musicians wouldn't have to pay the congestion charge or pay taxes."

Yes, that'd work. Never mind the fact that musicians at the start of their career will be broke, travelling by public transport and not earning and not paying taxes anyway, let's create a system where people claiming they're following one form of career path. Why should musicians be exempt and not, say, potential doctors, or nurses, or bus drivers?

And if aspiring musicians are to be left out of the taxation pot, would successful musicians therefore pay a higher rate of taxation to acknowledge the support the state has provided for them in helping them achieve success? Is Madonna happy to have her tax rate increased to pay for the plans?

Fired, without a UB40

There's a beautiful piece in today's Times on the UB40 split. Pete Paphides (when did he drop the 'r'?) talks to Ali Campbell and tries to cut through the distrust and bitterness of the split to get to the truth. And for all Campbell's openness, it's a quote from UB40 drummer James Brown which sounds the most convincing:

“The truth is UB40 were no longer prepared to fund the extravagant lifestyles of two band members. After being given an ultimatum by both Ali and Michael [Virtue] to sack our staff, some of whom have worked with us for nearly 30 years, we chose to ignore their ultimatum and they chose to leave.”

Campbell, impressively, manages to combine name-dropping with bitterness:

On [Campbell's solo album] Running Free’s arrival in the UK Top Ten last October, he said that Paul McCartney was quicker to offer his congratulations than any of UB40. “All I got was a text off Norman [Hassan, the trombonist] that said, ‘Well done Piggy.’” Campbell’s nickname, presumably? “Yes. Well, it used to be.”

Sadly, no further light is allowed to fall on Macca's congratulations - did he call? Was it a chance meeting in a bistro somewhere? Was there a counterstrike, with James Brown rushing to get a telegram to Heather Mills applauding her progress through Dancing With The Stars?

The highlight of the encounter, though, is Campbell pretty much dropping his old chum Chrissie Hynde in it:

Just as telling, though, is the sense of a man keen to reassure himself that he has made the right decision. He points across the corridor to a studio where Chrissie Hynde – who duetted with UB40 on their version of I Got You Babe – recently rehearsed.

“She saw my band and said how brilliant they sounded. Then she says: ‘I’ve almost had it with my band as well. We went into the studio and it just sounded like the Pretenders . . . and who wants to hear that apart from four fat lesbians in Ohio? I wanna do what you’re doing.’ ”

We're sure Hynde will be delighted to be recorded as suggesting the Pretenders fanbase is restricted to the obese Sapphics of Akron. As, indeed, will her fanbase. Having done his bit to shake UB40 to pieces, it looks like Campbell is keen to destroy some other bands.

Mail has trouble making up mind, decides on "burn the witch"

You'd have to feel sorry for Myleene Klass this morning: the Daily Mail has decided to launch a war on her body shape, but can't even decide what's wrong with it.

At first, it snickers because Marks and Spencer have airbrushed out some "lovehandles" from her Bikini photo shoot - although it tries to make it sound like the paper is disappointed at the treatment:

And although she looked in pretty amazing shape for a new mother, as these pictures show, the 29-year-old television presenter was given the Photoshop treatment to trim her curvy love handles.

Having printed pictures of her with these offensive handles and had a bit of a chuckle at them, the paper then decides she's also too thin:

[S]he appears to have lost even more weight, as she showed off a very slim figure at the Mayfair Personality of the Year Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel earlier this month.

Myleene's ultra-slim appearance prompted onlookers to wonder where her famous curves had disappeared to.
[...]
But her shrinking frame is likely to disappoint admirers - including fiancé Graham 'Gray' Quinn - who have celebrated her shapely physique.

There is, presumably, a magical weight where Myleene could satisfy the Mail's demands. Or, possibly, someone who could decide if they're outraged by the airbrushing, or by the presence of "lovehandles".

Gordon in the morning: The late Amy Winehouse

There's nothing much in the speculation-stuffed tale of Amy Winehouse turning up late at the prison where Blake is currently languishing Gordon brings us this morning. He notices - although, to be fair a man on the moon with a naked eye would notice - Amy wearing a giant badge with Blake's name on it. Or possibly the other Blake's name on it. Being late, she couldn't go in to see him.

In the paper and on the front of the Bizarre site, the headline is

Heart Blake Hotel

Which makes sense, apart from the hotel bit - which isn't really needed anyway, is it? But if you wanted to use Elvis headlines, given that Amy was refused entry, wouldn't Jailhouse Block have been better?

Lynsey Haywood contributes the surprising news that Pete Doherty has turned to Scientology. Well, not quite, she admits deeper into the story - he's hanging around with a scientologist, Nadine Ruddy and:

has bought a pile of books on the subject since meeting Scientologist DJ NADINE RUDDY.

And he has been leaving his Wiltshire mansion to stay at her home in Reading, Berks, at least once a week.

Which isn't quite the same thing as starting to work your way towards becoming a level three thetan or whatever it is. Still, let's keep a close eye to see if the next album is called Down In Xenu or something.

Eleswhere in The Sun, the paper calls for something to be done about heavy drinking:

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith promised last month to punish the parents of kids caught boozing.

Excellent. Let’s see a flood of prosecutions without delay. You could haul culprits from their beds every night in every town in Britain.

Or, like the heralded binge-drinking crackdown mysteriously overlooked in the Budget, is it all just talk?

Youngsters getting drunk, it turns out, is the fault of "liberal attitudes". And not, say, the attitude fostered by articles in a certain newspaper column we could mention which glorifies the idea of getting incapable and treats drunkeness as a big giggle, like, for example:

Pop babes are the No1 caners

last Friday, or when Gordon gives an award to the most-frequently drunk:

KATE MOSS and KELLY OSBOURNE have launched a commendable double-pronged attack to land my Caner Of The Year award.

Or when Gordon praises Adele for necking as much free booze as she can:

I think Adele is a cracker. And she’s bound to be up for a right tear-up at the UK’s biggest music awards.

At the bash on Tuesday loads of perfectly groomed fashion people strutted their funky stuff around the chocolate treat-laden table.

But Adele was more interested in finding somewhere to line up her free beverages. Good girl.

With a bit of chocolate stuck to her forehead, she cheerily added: “I’ve been loving all of the parties recently – so much free booze.”

Forget Chasing Pavements Adele, you could start chasing after my Caner Of The Year gong at this rate.

It's fine for the Sun to call for young people to be set a good example. They might want to start by putting their own house in order first.

Madonna: The past is past, and cannot be revisited. Except for a price.

We're sure she was almost half joking when Madonna ruled out playing her decent songs unless there was a big cheque in the offing:

"I'm not sure I can sing Holiday or Like A Virgin ever again.

"I just can't - unless somebody paid me like $30 million or something. (Like if) some Russian guy wants me to come to the wedding he's going to have to a 17-year-old."

Half joking. But she's set up a PayPal account, just in case.

Stones allowed rock

For 44 years, The Rolling Stones have been banned from Blackpool, a result of a riot at a 1964 gig at the Empress Ballroom.

Now, though, Blackpool has decided it can cope with the band, and Peter Callow, council leader, is writing a letter telling them they're free to play:

"We are writing to the group to say the ban has been lifted and they are welcome to play here again."

Presumably the council has become aware of its foolishness by seeing the band always calling at Royal Lytham St Annes on their world tours over the last four decades. Think of the lost revenue...

Duffy not Dusty

Duffy 'Not Stephen TinTin' NottheoneoffCasualty is baffled that people compare her to Dusty Springfield:

"I only got around to owning the Dusty Springfield box-set about a year ago. I just don’t relate to it. I don’t see how there’s a thread."

No, nor do we. Nor do we.

Capital of Culture update

There's much, much more to Liverpool than The Beatles, you know.

There's, um, hedges. Admittedly, they are hedges in the shape of the Beatles.

Yes, it's grudging, but it's still respect

We're a little surprised, but if Leona Lewis manages to hit the US number one today, it'll be the first record by a British solo female artist to do it since... this:



Kim Wilde in 1987. Blimey.

Daily Mail follows Geri to Washington

The Daily Mail offers a lot of coverage - well, pictures - of Geri Halliwell's trip to Capitol Hill to have her photo taken ("raise the issues about women's reproductive rights in the developing world").

You might have thought it would be hard to make a story about a Spice Girl in politics even more lowbrow, but the Mail manages to pull it off, by drawing comparisons with Legally Blonde. Sorry, Legally Blonde 2.

(We've always had a problem with that movie, by the way. Clearly, by the end of Legally Blonde one the Reese Witherspoon character - if character doesn't over-estimate the number of dimensions the scripty stereotype comes with - has grown into the role of lawyer, understands the system and has shed the bulk of the valley girl tics. So how come she backslides at the start of the second film? And, also: why did they make it?)

Still, while Geri is in Washington [something here about what she's doing there, really, if we ever work it out], Victoria is also doing her bit by, erm, wearing skin tightpvc trousers.

Gordon in the morning: Fuller story and pics

We're sure that Gordon will be delighted to know that it's hard to find fault with his big, splashy interview this morning - he's got an exclusive with Amelle Berrabah and Freddie Fuller, doing a big, clearing-his-name session. The money for the interview is going to Rape Crisis. And, thankfully, there's enough in their statements that Gordon has to do little more than transcribe their words.

One thing, though: Amelle explains why they're doing the interview:

People need to know the truth about what really happened and that Freddie is completely innocent.

And why do people need to know that? Perhaps because everyone was told what the allegations were in the first place. By, erm, a front page splash on the Sun which yelled '"Sugababe 'rape' hell: Star's love 'attacked her sister'". It's probably lucky for the paper that they're running a feature about the horror of everyone thinking you're a rapist, rather than having to explain to m'learned friends their role in everyone thinking that in the first place.

One other thing. Freddie observes:

People were quick to judge me because of my background.

The Sun? Finding space to let a traveller suggest they get a rougher ride in reporting because of the way they live?

After all this, though, it's back to business as normal: here's Cheryl Cole holding a chocolate bar.

Potty-mouthed Amstell turning kids into foul-mouthed rudesters

Why are kids today so bloody rude? You might think of putting the blame on the people who are paid money to teach them, but teachers have decided that they don't fancy carrying the can for this one. Instead, they put the blame on, erm, Never Mind The Buzzcocks:

Pupils are increasingly using sexist and offensive language, making comments about classmates' sizes or the perceived sexuality of a teacher, Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, told the union's annual conference in Manchester yesterday.

He said that quiz shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks and They Think It's All Over fuelled the casual use of bad language. "Programme makers and celebrities need to reflect on what's taking place," he said. "Too much cruel behaviour can be seen on television programmes."

Well, perhaps.

Although singling out Buzzcocks rather than, say, Heat magazine or the Daily Mail seems a little strange.

Although you might wonder if - since Buzzcocks sits on the watershed-side of the schedule - the problem is less about what is happening on television programmes aimed at adults, and more at why parents are allowing their kids to watch such programmes. And if older children are watching the shows, then surely by then they should be able to understand the rules whereby 'real life' isn't like 'a game show presented by Simon Amstell' - and if they can't... well, that would be back to the people who should be teaching them the skills to tell the difference, wouldn't it?

This is why they want to keep children from computers

We suppose, at least, the current fascination with the 'Rickroll' (whereby one links something random to Never Gonna Give You Up on YouTube) isn't being driven by a marketing company trying to flog deodorant or training shoes.

What is rickrolling?

As far as we can tell. It's a bit like a slightly less infernal version of that 2inches.com stunt you used to see all the time on Popbitch, back when you used to read Popbitch all the time. A link promising one thing, but delivering something else.

Rick himself is being good natured about this blast of kind of fame:

“I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it,” Astley said. “But that’s what brilliant about the Internet.”

Rickrolling is being co-opted into direct action, too, reports the New York Times:

Former Scientologists protesting against the church, for example, have been playing and singing the song this year outside Scientology offices in London, Washington, Seattle and other cities.

Although singing 'Never gonna give you up' outside a cult office is surely the wrong message, isn't it?

It will all help ticket sales for this summer's Here And Now tour, where he shares billing with Bananarama, ABC, Paul Young, Curiosity Killed The Cat, Johnny Hates Jazz and the Cutting Crew. (Since H&N promises 'only the hits', surely those last two won't be on stage very long?) It'll help with sales, that is, providing that someone links to the actual ticketshop and doesn't just rickroll the curious.

Batting for Radiohead

Good news for people planning to see Radiohead in their only-places-where-you-can-get-easily-on-the-bus tour of UK and Europe: Bat For Lashes are going to be in support.

To 'celebrate', here's Moon and Moon from The Culture Show in 2007: