Journey help out with typhoon relief

Journey have announced a $350,000 donation to the food programme getting vital supplies out to the Philippines after the typhoon.

"Don't stop believing, help is on the way for the people of the Philippines," said [Manila native and Journey lead singer] Arnel Pineda, who is leading the efforts to mobilize the coalition of partners.

If it had been me, I might have chosen not to shoehorn the song title into the statement, but even so: generous work, Journey.

[You can be like Journey, and donate to the Philippines relief programme via the DEC]

Ke$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ha

The Associated Press has seen how much the artists playing the Illinois State Fair are getting.

Ke$ha? $200,000. Toby Keith gets $300,000.

Because we can (and because I fancied playing about with Datawrapper) here's a little visualisation of the payments:

Gordon in the morning: Silence in Church

For no apparent reason, Gordon decides to kick Charlotte Church around a bit this morning:

It will be a while before we hear an album from her as she is looking for a new record deal. But I hear she has been writing songs in LA and is touting them around.

Meanwhile, Channel 4 have shelved The Charlotte Church Show. It was last aired in 2008.

None of these three things really seem to be 'news' as such. Gordon only seems to be bringing them up now so he can share some his of his acute, insider's eye to explain this situation:

I reckon the problem can be summed up in two words... KATHERINE JENKINS, her sexy Welsh chart rival.

Yes. Yes, that would be it - you can picture the scene at Horseferry Road:

- Shall we recommission the Charlotte Church show?
- No, we'd better not, as there's another welsh female singer in existence

Elsewhere, Gordon reveals that Journey refused to let Simon Cowell give Don't Stop Believin' to whoever was going to win last year's X Factor.

(Pop quiz, hotshots - can you remember the name of the 2009 X Factor winner? That's showbusiness.)

Gordon sees this as the fatal flaw that cost Joe his number one:

The Geordie lad performed the 1981 ballad twice on The X Factor. And I'm not alone in thinking it could have got him the Christmas No1 if he'd released it.

Although Gordon doesn't say who it is who makes him feel unalone in this strange belief.

Journeyman

In a blog posting from the future (apparently October 2nd), Rolling Stone reports comments by Arnel Pineda. Pineda is currently the lead singer of Journey in the same way that Sarah Palin in a vice presidential candidate, and not enjoying the experience:

"It's very, very sad," he says. "There are days I just break down and cry. This is a job I'm doing for my family. That's all the consolation I'm getting." Traveling around America isn't what he expected. "It's all buses, stage, microphone," he says. "I never really get to go around and walk. They wake me up for soundcheck, then I wait until the show at nine. It's a fantastic job, but at the same time it's a curse. . . . I told Neal that the only thing that will make me quit this is if I get sick. I guess that's the same reason Steve Perry bailed out."

Oops. It seems someone has taken Pineda to one side, and pointed out that it's not for the hired hands to issue complaints to all and sundry. I don't know for a fact that there was a dressing down using the words "hundreds of people who could do the singing" or "and I could put you back down too", but you'd have to believe there was reading his retraction of said comments - apparently they were taken "out of context" and "exaggerated".

The United Nations is believed to be arranging an observer to check on conditions for lead singers in stadium bands.

This buggers the chances of REO Speedwagon being allowed into town

If you read this report of gig-related turmoil in the Patriot News, you might think it was Slipknot or Marilyn Manson who'd come to town:

Police said eight of the arrests were for underage drinking, and five were for disorderly conduct. Police said one person was charged with trespassing.

Township police were assisted by the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement and the Dauphin County sheriff's office.

But no: It was Journey who caused this crime.

How high must the drinking age be there if Journey fans are too young to drink?

Six weeks to live, but at least I'm not with Tony

As a nation came to terms with, yes, that was all the Sopranos was leading up to, they found their solace in the music. And just as those Britons who, ten years ago, felt like they really knew Diana, wound up walking home with Elton John's worst record of the last twenty years, Americans have been burying their loss in Journey:

The use of Journey's single "Don't Stop Believin' " in the June 10 finale of "The Sopranos" -- followed by oodles of media attention for the band and the show -- yields big returns on the charts this week. The 1981 track re-enters Hot Digital Songs at No. 21 with 41,000 paid downloads. It's up 371% in sales compared with the previous week. Concurrently, Journey's "Greatest Hits" album sold nearly 11,000 units this week -- a 111% gain -- pushing the set 17-2 with Greatest Gainer honors on the Top Pop Catalog albums chart.

The hope that soundtrack appearances can break a new band is going to take a bit of a hit; the pushers who are trying to persuade Grey's House to drop a sensitive unknown singer-songwriter onto an episode are now going to have to compete with the majors hoping to hook less-risky catalogue tunes into the same place.