Re: our gig at Deptford Abyss - who the hell does Matt Groening think it is?

Amusingly, in amidst the first wave of Simpsons movie promotion comes the gem that Danny Elfman nearly refused to write the theme tune for the series because - in his rock critic past - Matt Groening had taken the piss out of Oingo Boingo:

"I used to be a rock critic many years ago. I once saw Oingo Boingo and I gave them a bad review. I outraged Danny Elfman so much that he actually wrote a letter to the editor of the paper.

"But when I did The Simpsons I wanted Elfman to do the score. And I thought 'He will never remember' - and he remembered. He has forgiven me now."

To be fair, if Elfman turned down work from everyone who had snickered at Oingo Boingo, he'd be left with a very small pool of potential employment.

Music composed by: Danny Elfman

Travis are straining at their collective leashes, keen to work with movie and TV composer genius-man Danny Elfman. What's interesting, though, is in explaining why, Fran Healy reveals how he views his band:

Healy loves composing "cinematic" music - and believes teaming up with Elfman could be the band's next step.

"I'd love to work with him," Fran told the Daily Record, "I think all Travis records are cinematic and feel we've got a widescreen sound almost by accident.

"We'd like to give him a song he can embellish."

You have to offer the band some respect for not merely joining the throng outside Timbaland's office - although maybe they've already been rebuffed - but Travis "cinematic"? In the sense of "hot dogs and popcorn are available in the lobby", perhaps, or "an old cinema which has been replaced by bingo hall, providing carefully policed excitement for people who don't have much to look forward to."