GOING UNDER THE HAMMER

His superpowers have long deserted him, and even his legendary trousers have gone - now MC Hammer is on his uppers, and having to flog control of his back catalogue just to keep the wolf from the door. (The wolf, incidently, is only metaphorical; we wish to stress that MC Hammer is not at risk from being eaten by a real wolf.)

Hammer's finances have been rubbish for years, as protective bankruptcy, involuntary bankruptcy and myriad lawsuits have wiped out the profits from his music career, and now the last remnants of his dignity are also going. The team handling the sales reckons the complete set will come in at somewhere over the million mark - presumably on the basis that everytime MC Hammer is used for a cheap laugh, that's money in the back.

It's perhaps not quite so insane - people are demanding £45 for Hammerman, a two episode tape of his animated series. Let's just remind ourselves, shall we?

Hammer stars as Stanley Kirk Burrell, a worker at the community centre helping local children. Whenever the hammering beat of his rapping rhymes activates his magic dancing shoes, streetwise Stanley is transformed into Hammerman - the first musical superhero. Two episodes: 'Defeated Graffiti' and 'If The Shoe Fits'.

We're not quite sure he is the first musical superhero, but we're more concerned about his magic dancing shoes - do they activate if he's hammering away while not wearing them?

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