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Horrible news tucked into the Mail today about Janice Long being mugged for her Echo And The Bunnymen backstage pass outside the BBC.
It happened at the end of September; a 51 year-old woman is due to appear in court in December.
Echo and The Bunnymen - well, you don't really need to be introduced, do you? RCRDLBL is offering Proxy as a download.
Echo And The Bunnymen had been due to tour America this month.
But now they're not.
The IRS apparently wanted some money. They feel that there's been a few too many Bunnymen tours in a short period of time, and are demanding "a fee" (i.e. tax that isn't called a tax) and the Bunnymen won't cough up. The next tour will now be in April. The next tax year, then.
I yield to nobody in my admiration for Ian McCulloch - god alive, I even bought the Electrafixion album - but if he comes round here having a pop at Lauren Laverne, there's going to be trouble:
Do you like the Culture Show? "It's about time they had us on it. The Bunnymen are culture. Can they not see it? But where the fuck does that Lauren Laverne get off? Where does she get off presenting a programme about 'culture' when she was in that fucking abysmal band Kenickie! And there is another Northern imbecile too ... can't remember her name but she's starting to resemble a pterodactyl."
"Don't give a damn. I hate that Melvyn Bragg! What a divvy. He's just one of those Northern imbeciles, isn't he? Did you see that South Bank Show about Morrissey? It was just rubbish. And when he referred to the Velvet Underground as the Velvets. Fuck off, they're called the Velvet Underground not the Velvets, how dare he! And besides, they never had the Bunnymen on the South Bank Show."
Hatcham Social Club are about to support Echo and The Bunnymen off on a US tour - these dates, to be precise:
11/15 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
11/17 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
11/18 - State College, PA - State Theatre
11/20 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
11/21 - Fairfield, CT - Fairfield Theatre Company's Stage One
11/22 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11/23 - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
11/25 - Chicago, IL - Metro
To give the audience something to sing along with, they're giving away an mp3 of Crocodile.
In an eerie echo of the way his former Bunnymen bandmate Pete DeFreitas died, Jake Brockman, keyboard player, has been killed in a motorcycle crash.
Jake was also a founder of BOM and worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Although a long-term live member during the 1980s, he became a full-time member of the band during the flag-of-convenience post-Mac era. At the time, the band seemed to be chasing a Flowered Up bandwagon, and it was all psychedelic colour schemes and swirls). His work can be heard on the Reverberation album.
Brockman, who was 53, was riding on the Isle Of Man when he was in a collision with a converted ambulance.
Off over on the Bunnymen website, a stream (QuickTime, would you believe?) of a new track, Do You Know Who I Am?
[ta an' all to YANP]
Well, that's going to piss off Julian Cope - Ian McCulloch is getting to space before him:
Echo & The Bunnymen are set to launch a copy of their 1984 album Ocean Rain into space.
NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra is set to take a copy of the classic album, his favorite record, with him when he blasts off to the International Space Station on June 13.
The mission ties in with a boxed-set reissue of the album, set for release on May 30. The set will include a live version of the album recorded in the Liverpool Arena last November, plus a DVD documentary and booklet.
Ian Mac is busily writing his autobiography. Well, we say "writing"; he's signing a deal and talking it up, anyway:
We're sure the Daily Record's Razz column doesn't actually mean what it seems to be implying here... does it?:
Only, of course, the Secret Garden Party is about as secret as we are. Still, the promised line-up for the event is pretty delicious:
Das Pop
The Noisettes
New Young Pony Club
Drive By Argument
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis
Little Barrie
Echo And The Bunnymen
The New York Fund
Fujiya & Miyagi
Of Montreal
Rinocerose
The Sunshine Underground
Horsebox
Radio LXMBRG
Moonbabies
Rilo Kiley
Prince Buster
I'm From Barcelona
Terry Reid
Hafdis Huld
Rock Kills Kid
Ali Love
Passenger
Goose
The Whip
Wall Of Sound
South Central
Keren Ann
The whole thing takes place between July 26 and 29th, in John Major's old constituency of Huntingdon. Does anyone know if Huntingdon station still has its beautiful independent newsagents/coffee shop?
It's being pitched as a Stone Roses reunion, but it falls a little way short of that. Even so, gentlemen and ladies of a certain age will be interested, if a little scared, to hear that Ian Brown and Mani are going to join Echo and The Bunnymen on stage at this week's Manchester cancer charity gig:
An interesting, almost heartbreaking interview with Ian McCulloch in the Independent sees him lurching between overblown Scouse pride and, well, just stupidity. Or, as James McCabe put it, he's "morphing into a cross between Victor Meldrew & that bloke who mutters to himself in the corner of the pub":
I believe in anti-Darwinism - otherwise why are there still monkeys?
I believe I should be in charge of what gets made and what doesn't in the film and music industries. About 90 per cent of music and films - by which I mean the money spent on making them - should be given to charity, because about 90 per cent is rubbish. We could be building a lot of hospitals with that money.
I believe Liverpool Football Club will win a major trophy this season because we usually do.
I believe David Dimbleby should be prime minister. He seems to know what he's on about and he looks more suave than most.
His views on policemen aren't recorded, but by the time he grumbles that you can never tell when shower gel bottles are running out (no, really) you can be pretty sure he's thinking they're looking younger these days.
Creative Review salutes the work of Malcolm Garrett, designer to the Buzzcocks for thirty years: Garrett has also designed a thirtieth anniversary logo for the tour: “it’s a witty take on the original and the fact that the music, the band, the logo itself and much of the artwork, have been around for so long,” he says.
Shemia Miller editorialises in All Hip Hop on sexism in hip-hop and an apparent rolling backwards: Turn on the television and you have Flavor Flav, a man that was in one of the most socially conscious rap groups of all times, Public Enemy. He now flaunts Black women as if they were pieces of meat to fight over his affection.
Ari Gold recalls the trials of being a Gay Pop Star (more gay than star) in The Advocate: At the next meeting, with another gay label, the exec told me that while I was “a pioneer” and I should be “really proud” of myself, he thought I was too niche for their label. Too niche for a gay label? Kind of ironic, since I had just been told by an indie label that my music was too mainstream for their indie sensibilities.
(Bunnymen not included) in Beatbox3's only slightly over enthusiastic history of the drum machine: The finest feature being the cancel buttons. This allowed you to modify each beat somewhat to give greater flexibility. The tones generated by this unit tend to go from muddy to raspy. The best tones are the cowbell, which is convincing in a mix, and the clave, which really cuts through. All tones but the cymbal are adjustable to the users liking.
As a way of wishing you a Merry Christmas, here's our annual round-up of the year on No Rock and Roll Fun:
Our review of the year
Other people's best-of lists
Some of the music we've liked this year
The year in musical obituaries
A week-by-week trail through the year:
01 January 2006
08 January 2006
15 January 2006
22 January 2006
29 January 2006
05 February 2006
12 February 2006
19 February 2006
26 February 2006
05 March 2006
12 March 2006
19 March 2006
26 March 2006
02 April 2006
09 April 2006
16 April 2006
23 April 2006
30 April 2006
07 May 2006
14 May 2006
21 May 2006
28 May 2006
04 June 2006
11 June 2006
18 June 2006
25 June 2006
02 July 2006
09 July 2006
16 July 2006
23 July 2006
30 July 2006
06 August 2006
13 August 2006
20 August 2006
27 August 2006
03 September 2006
10 September 2006
17 September 2006
24 September 2006
01 October 2006
08 October 2006
15 October 2006
22 October 2006
29 October 2006
05 November 2006
12 November 2006
19 November 2006
26 November 2006
03 December 2006
10 December 2006
17 December 2006
24 December 2006 (after it happens, of course)
The year in awards and events:
ITV Greatest Hits
Grammy nomimnations
NME cool list
Children in Need
Radio 1's new late-night line-up
Jackson at the World Music Awards
MOBOs
AMA nominations
MTV European Music Awards
Q awards
Mercury Prize 2006
Reading-Leeds and Creamfields
MTV VMAs
Last TOTP
V Festival
Oxjam
T in the Park
Kerrang awards
BET US awards
Ivor Novello
Eurovision
Robbie Williams first night
Morrissey first night
Madonna first night
Manchester Passion
MTV Australia
SXSW
NME Awards
Brits
Grammys
Winter Olympics opening ceremony
French NPR
Take That partial reunion in full
For those of you who like charts, these are the twenty-most read individual news pages from No Rock over the last twelve months:
1. Heather Mills McCartney's educational porn shoot returns to haunt her
2. ... and haunt her some more
3. What does KT Tunstall's braces tell us about her sexuality? (Nothing, actually)
4. McFly go to GAY, get naked
5. Rumours of a more recent Heather Mills nude photoshoot
6. RIAA ask for more time to find the evidence it claimed to have against one of its victims
7. Paul Walters, Terry Wogan's producer, dies
8. News of the World predicts its picture of Pete Doherty shooting up will persuade Kate to drop him
9. Britney Spears offers to take off clothes for Hollywood role
10. Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne's 2004 spat
11. Purplemelon seek publicity by asking Heather Mills to flash them
12. Celebrity Big Brother: Preston who and Pete Burns what?
13. Anti-aboritionists unveil statue of Britney giving birth
14. When Heather Mills tried for a soft porn career
15. Vince Welnick - no longer grateful, but actually dead
16. SXSW line-up in full
17. Peel memorial round-up
18. Martin Gilks of the Wonderstuff dies
19. The Levellers turn property tycoons
20. Chris Martin insults a fat woman
The stories we highlight on the top left are pretty randomly chosen - sometimes they're things we're especially interested in, sometimes they're not, and sometimes they remain unchanged for weeks on end while we actually write stuff. But, for the record, these have been the 2006 left hand highlights:
Madonna: Jesus loves me
Arctic Monkeys not on MySpace
Coming soon: K-Fed the movie
Madonna gets shop job
CIA to track MySpace
Pete chooses Portugal not court
JJ72 give it up
Corgan moves in with Love
Geldof unimpressed with G8
Noel gay "in a manner of speaking"
The end of Penny Lane
Rivers: Weezer no more
Tom R defends Bob G
Lance Bass comes out
Murdoch's beach blanket Bono
Arthur Lee dies
Mansun prepare best of
Ashlee Simpson's nose runs
U2 turn Dutch
RIAA to dead: 60 days to pay
Jarvis podcasts
Robbie reckons Louis would
Kevin Shields plans a trip out
Guy turns Madonna off
Sandi Thom collapses
Heather Mills - naked in 2006
Doherty v the middle class
Not that Brian May
Mos Def beats Bush
Be Your Own Pet split
Brix Smith's house
Bunnyman on trial
Arab Strap split
Green Day support Bono
Noel banks cheques, sobs
Lily Allen swears for kids
Preston drug zombies
MTV: give us content, trust
Embrace disengage
Liam ends DPT gig
Embrace tightens
Robbie: No hug for Moyles
Fatboy says no to Dave
Kate kills Babyshambles tour
Kate kills Babyshambles?
Madonna: Jesus loves me
Arctic Monkeys not on MySpace
Coming soon: K-Fed the movie
Madonna gets shop job
CIA to track MySpace
Pete chooses Portugal not court
JJ72 give it up
Corgan moves in with Love
Geldof unimpressed with G8
Noel gay "in a manner of speaking"
The end of Penny Lane
Rivers: Weezer no more
Tom R defends Bob G
Lance Bass comes out
Murdoch's beach blanket Bono
Arthur Lee dies
Mansun prepare best of
Ashlee Simpson's nose runs
U2 turn Dutch
RIAA to dead: 60 days to pay
Jarvis podcasts
Robbie reckons Louis would
Kevin Shields plans a trip out
Guy turns Madonna off
Sandi Thom collapses
Heather Mills - naked in 2006
Doherty v the middle class
Not that Brian May
Mos Def beats Bush
Be Your Own Pet split
Brix Smith's house
Bunnyman on trial
Arab Strap split
Green Day support Bono
Noel banks cheques, sobs
Lily Allen swears for kids
Preston drug zombies
MTV: give us content, trust
Embrace disengage
Liam ends DPT gig
Embrace tightens
Robbie: No hug for Moyles
Fatboy says no to Dave
Kate kills Babyshambles tour
Kate kills Babyshambles?
Bono "hates" U2
The iPod thriller
Mick Hucknall hails "socialist" BPI
Britney dumps Federline
Madonna's shoot kills lights
Don't look at Mozzer
Borrell unsure - Razorlight or solo
McFly make rubbish girls
Timberlake quits music
Lest we forget: 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
Some call it No Rock, and this was the week:
Ten most-ordered individual pages:
1. KT Tunstall wears rainbow braces... does that mean something?
2. Purplemelon want Heather Mills nude
3. ... but calendar makers get there first
4. McFly remove their boxers
5. Heather Mills old porn pics
6. Robbie Williams has sex with lady, claims lady
7. Madonna buys African baby
8. Justin Timberlake quits music
9. Lily Allen gets naked on the way to France
10. Yo La Tengo announce tour dates
Good lord, that one at number ten is probably more typical of No Rock than the rest of the chart put together. How did that get in?
You can read the whole week on one page, or
browse the week before in a single post.
The big event this week - although 'big' is pushing it - was the live music awards, or possibly the Malawian adoption charity objecting to authorities rolling over and replacing the usual two-year residency rule with an "or a couple of days if you're Madonna" rider.
Looking for a gift for to say "congratulations on a successful nuclear test"? Look no further:
He used to want to plant bombs at the Last Night of the Proms/ but now, you'll find him, in the Tescos, with a box set/ mopping up half his career...
Canadian folk playing Canadian folk
After Galaxie 500, there was Luna, and this was them
John Peel's memory seems to have become the 'Shine' compilation brand for the 21st century
Bunnymen go live in Shepherds Bush - only it's from 2005 and not 1986
30 years of misery: Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby hits another decade
Electric Six - like the Scissor Sisters without the one joke - are still going...
The assault charge levelled at Ian McCulloch has been found not proven at Glasgow Central Court.
McCulloch told the court that Gary Duncan and Juliet Sebley had made him feel "uncomfortable" by being in his changing room toilet at the Barrowlands gig "giggling"; he claimed Sebley was injured accidently by the door. Earlier, the court had heard Mr Duncan say that McCulloch had threatened them; McCulloch countered that he'd politely asked them to leave.
The assault charges were not proven, said the court, but McCulloch was found guilty of causing a breach of the peace.
Stipendiary magistrate Robert Hamilton admonished McCulloch on the breach of the peace charge saying: "I'm going to take a very lenient view. This took place in an area where there were very few members of the public."
Yes, "admonishment" is an official punishment in the Scottish courts.
Oh, alright, Ian McCulloch isn't being tried by jury. But the court hearing into the alleged assault at Glasgow Barrowlands has opened.
McCulloch denies two charges relating to an incident backstage after the Bunnymen's October 2005 gig. Gary Duncan and Juliet Sebley claim that he attacked them in a toilet:
[Mr Duncan] said he and his girlfriend had gone into separate cubicles and were only there a few minutes when they heard "fierce roaring and threatening language" from outside.
Mr Duncan said of Mr McCulloch: "He [McCulloch] was threatening to kick the doors in of the toilets if we didn't 'get the fuck out'. He said he was going to kick the fucking doors in. He said he didn't care who was in there. 'Get the fuck out or I'm kicking the door in.'"
After leaving the cubicle, Mr Duncan said the singer began leaning into him, grabbed his jacket lapels and "pushed and pulled him in a threatening manner".
[...]
[He said] was in a state of "disbelief" when he saw his girlfriend running past him.
"She was in a state of stress and in fear and was clutching her head at her right temple," he said.
He said he spoke to his girlfriend, who was "hysterical" by this point, and when he realised her head was bleeding they decided to call the police.
The case continues.
There's a small flurry of excitement in Liverpool over the news that, while the plans for City of Culture year are looking more than a little flaky with just 18 months to go, at least they've signed Matt Willis up as an "ambassador" for the year.
We're not quite sure what that means - presumably he'll visit other years, maybe in a time machine, and represent 2008. It's obviously a wonderful honour for Matt, who loves his home city of Liverpool (he was born in the Tooting area, just a short, three-hour train ride and a fairly expensive taxi ride from the shadow of the Liver Birds), and the honour is in no way diminished by being shared with Herbert the Hairdresser and, indeed, anyone who wants to fill in an online form.
Of course, the ambassadorship conferred on Willis gives us an early glimpse of what defintion of "culture" the Liverpool Culture Company has in mind. We're sure what swung the post for Matt was his guide to the V festival in last week's NME:
I hate people who pretend to be something they're not "(although presumably not if they're pretending to come from Merseyside) "Girls Aloud are what they are. Plus [Cheryl Tweedy] beats up toilet attendants. I fucking hate toilet attendants."
What a charming man. Unfortunately, Willis didn't have the space to explain if he hates all people who do really shit jobs for pisspoor wages and would celebrate someone who launched unprovoked physical attacks on them - would he want to see roadsweepers happy slapped, for example, or fast food servers pelted with rotting fruit? Maybe the Liverpool Culture Company could give him a platform.
Later in the piece, though, Willis shows he knows he knows his Liverpool music scene, talking about a meeting with Ian McCulloch:
He came down with some shades on and never took them off. I read up on him, and Echo was in fact the name of the drum machine. I always thought 'what a weird name'."
He read up on him enough to discover the fact that even my dead grandmother knows about Echo & The Bunnymen - good lord, he'll be popping up to tell us that actually, Bono's real name is Paul next - but not enough to discover the reason why Mac always wears darkglasses.
Perfect.
Genesis' plans to have Liverpool's Parr Street Studios turned into luxury flats for people as rich as they are will go ahead, after a consortium looking to buy the business had their bid rejected:
Last night Thomas Lang, a member of the consortium, said: "I'm heartbroken and completely disillusioned. We were promised that if we could come up with the money we could have the studios. "That has not happened and I do not know what the motivation for the decision is."
Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch, whose management is based at the centre, said: "I'm extremely disappointed that one of the city's most successful cultural assets is being closed to line the pockets of corporate property developers.
The studios, which have been used by Coldplay, New Order and countless local bands, are said to have been losing money; a figure of £1.35 million had apparently been agreed to transfer them to the consortium but it seems like Hit and Run, Genesis' property company, wants more money:
Hit and Run is owned by three members of Genesis, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks. A spokesman for Hit and Run said: "I have been instructed to sell the property. It is the first time we have put this property on the market. We are looking for offers in the region of £1.6m and if the consortium wish to come back with a new offer, they are welcome to."
Well, you wouldn't want to think of Phil Collins starving to death in his old age because he missed out on a few thousand quid, would you?
Naturally, if Liverpool City Council actually cared about its local culture - rather than only embracing it as a marketing opportunity - they would by now have made it perfectly clear that no planning consent would be given to change the building into flats, but they seem reluctant to actually do anything that might upset property developers.
