Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Although Bono at least gives off the vestige of charity, there are some bands that can't even apparently do that with alleged snubs to charities by two musical acts last week... First up was UK ska-mod act, The Ordinary Boys who allegedly turned down an African Arts Charity after the organization refused to pay them thousands of pounds in appearance money. African charity, Aduna claims that they had asked Sam Preston and his band to play at their function only to be told by the band's agent that they would require a huge appearance fee. When the charity told the agent that they would be unable to meet the fee, he called back saying that Preston had 'come down with an illness' and would be unable to perform. As soon as the story hit the newspapers over here and the backlash began, Preston was indignantly claiming that it was simply not true but Aduna are sticking to their story and say they are ready to defend themselves in court. Who would you believe, an African charitable organization or an increasingly petulant rock star? Incidentally, Fat Boy Slim and Damon Albarn performed at the event, and the latter is a member of three different bands (at last count). To be honest with you, if Preston and company keep fading at the rate they are going then they will be lucky if they are asked to do a charity show at their local supermarket in the next couple of years. Karma always gets you eventually...

Next up in the misery stakes was Billy Joel who purportedly refused UK charity, Children In Need, permission to use one of his songs for an upcoming event. Any of you that began your life on the right side of the pond will be familiar with this annual event that brings celebrities from all walks of life together in order to raise money for children who most need it. One of the features of the show in recent times has been a skit that features the normally stern BBC newsreaders dressing up and doing a playful cover version of a well-known song. This year, the group wanted to make a video for Joel's hit, We Didn't Start The Fire, only to be refused permission. Joel has since come out and claimed that he knew nothing about it and does not appreciate the BBC making him look 'like a jerk.' (In fairness I think he's done a pretty good job at that all by himself in recent years). Again, the BBC are sticking by their version of events...

George Michael will allegedly appear on UK television institution Coronation Street for a walk on part in the New Year, after meeting members of the cast backstage at a recent gig in Manchester. By the way, in case you think that I am just a plain celebrity hater from the tone of this column, it's actually quite the contrary and I happen to have a lot of time for Mr. Michael in particular. For one thing, he held a free concert for tens of thousands of UK nurses last week simply because he wanted to say thank you to the profession because they looked after his mother during her time in hospital recently and he is well known for his charitable streak. He is also that rarest of celebrity that when he gets caught doing something stupid (which can be quite frequently in his case), that insists on holding his hand up and saying loudly: 'It was my own damn fault. I did it, I'm an idiot and I deserve what I get.' Very refreshing...

Lastly, a boy's soccer team in the UK just got a lot more fearsome thanks to their new sponsors. Lincoln under-10's strip will now feature the Motorhead logo on their shirts as they run out to face opposing teams to the strains of Ace Of Spades. Their coach, Gary Weight, is a longtime fan of the heavy metal legends and wrote to frontman Lemmy on the off chance that the band might help them out. He could not believe it when the singer got in contact and agreed to give the team full sponsorship, so you see, there are some good 'uns out there. Quite often in the most unexpected places.