Fish* comes to aid of Gary McKinnon

Gary McKinnon - the poor sod who's currently looking at being heavily-handed over to the US so that he might have his life ruined as a riposte to getting inside the American military computer system - is having a benefit gig thrown for him in a bid to try and stop his extradition.

There are lots of names being thrown around - Madonna, George Michael, Kaiser Chiefs - and it would be to their credit if some got involved. First to sign up, though, is the somewhat more lowly but no less admirable Marillion:

Mark Kelly, keyboardist for Marillion, told Broadway: "I've been following Gary's story for a while. I took an interest in it because I'm a bit of a computer geek myself.

"Being a keyboard player, it goes with the territory.

"I thought he seemed quite harmless. He was only looking for UFOs.

His story struck a chord with me. When I heard he was being extradited, it seemed so unjust. He shouldn't be made an example of just because of American incompetence."

The event organiser, Ross Hemsworth, is hoping for Live Aid style event in Wembley or at the Millennium Dome, which seems no less likely than the US government's claims that McKinnon did three quarter of a million dollars' worth of damage to their computers.

UPDATE: *Not Fish, it turns out. Apparently his reunion in 2007 was only a one-off and he is once again not a member of the band.

Marillion do nicely giving away their album

When Radiohead tried the 'pay what you want strategy', figuring they could make up the cash on the physical sales, many observers shrugged and said "fine for Radiohead, with their trendy fans who like fine wines and understand the rules of croquet, but it wouldn't work for everyone".

So, you might be wondering, how have Marillion done with their "free for download, pay for the CD" model?

They've tripled sales, compared with the last album.

Now, the Bittorrent release was a bit botched - it wasn't a straight "here's the tracks" deal and involved harvesting email addresses. But even with a little extra annoyance factor, it worked as a way of building interest in a band who, it's fair to say, might be a little bit hobbled trying to generate publicity through more traditional routes.

Marillion to give away their new album

Marillion have decided that the market value of the digital version of their next album is one email address. They're going to be releasing Happiness Is The Road for free onto the torrents; first play of the official tracks will generate a pop-up box into which you stick your email address, which will then be collected by the band.

The thinking is that most people who like Marillion would rather pay for the finished CD and live in anonymity than to let the band know who they are. Or something.

Fish returns to spawning grounds

The Hobble on the Cobbles might not be the grandest of the UK summer festivals, but Aylesbury did manage to claim a tiny piece of history: a one-off, one-song reunion of Fish out of Marillion, and Marillion.

Aylesbury being where the band formed, and so appropriate for what Fish makes sound like a last hurrah:

"It was great. It was just a load of fun. But nothing should be read into it. I think it just proves that we're actually friends.

"There's always been these rumours that there's some sort of animosity between us but that went a long, long time ago."

He is, however, still trying to write that love song. He says it'll be finished by Friday.