Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Lily Allen caused an uproar last week, with her candid comments on cocaine use, inferring that it is quite easy to live a normal life while using the drug regularly. In an interview with Word magazine, the outspoken singer claimed: "The only story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you - you will become a prostitute, a rapist or a dealer. But that's not true. I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work everyday, no problem at all. But we never hear that side of the story. I have no statement to make, I just wish people wouldn't sensationalize this thing that just exists." She didn't mention whether their jobs were as squeegee men. In the same interview, she also went on to berate her record label, Capitol Records, because she feels that they book her into hotel rooms that do not befit her level of stardom, saying that in the past acts were "booked in at the Ritz with five grams of cocaine on the table." Anti-drug advocates led the outcry over her comments with David Haynes, head of National Drug Prevention Alliance, stating: "When someone like Lily Allen makes these remarks she is only harming young people. We already have a major drug culture in the U.K. and she is affecting that." Cocaine has been proven to cause strokes, heart disease, heart attacks and respiratory problems, without even taking into account the amount of misery that it causes in the countries that produce it. Allen's label - the same people she was bashing for not taking care of her - were quick to jump to her defense, issuing a statement that read, in part: "In her answer she replied that she 'had no statement to make, I just wish people wouldn't sensationalize this thing that just exists'. At no point does she say that drugs are a good thing or that she condones drug use; in fact she says that 'I can spot the signs (of people on drugs) and it terrifies me'. Lily Allen would like to state unequivocally that she does not condone illegal drug use and has every sympathy with individuals and families whose lives have been blighted by drugs." Of course, the apology might have meant a little more had it actually come from Allen's mouth but she was evidently too busy to address the aftermath of her actions. She wasn't too busy, however, to give an interview later in the week on details her sex life, referring to the fact that she expects a certain amount of skill from her lovers, telling a reporter: "If they are no good at having sex then it really upsets me. I think, 'God, this is someone I'd like to spend the rest of my life with. But I cannot face having bad sex.'" Nor was she too busy to continue her feud with Kate Perry, who recently drew Allen's ire by referring to herself as "a fatter version of Amy Winehouse and a skinnier version of Lily Allen." After initially casting aspersions over Perry's talent, last week Allen claimed: "I have Katy Perry's number, someone did me a favor. I'm just waiting for her to open her mouth one more time then it hits Facebook." Admittedly, Kate Perry was a little out of order in what she said but I don't think anyone would have any problem if she referred to herself as "a quieter version of Lily Allen" or perhaps even "a classier version of Lily Allen." Someone should really tell Lily Allen that just because she thinks something, it doesn't mean that she has to say it to the media...

Peter Gabriel has dropped the strongest hint yet that a full Genesis reunion may be just around the corner, telling Mojo magazine: "In principle I have no real objection to playing with Genesis at some point in the future." Gabriel said that he was too busy with other projects for Genesis' 2007 tour, which took in 20 cities, and the singer has not officially played with the rest of the band since 1975. Hey, if it gets Phil Collins back behind the drum kit and away from a microphone, then it can only be a good thing...

Bono claimed that he changed his writing technique while working on the new U2 album, No Line On The Horizon. The singer says that he wrote most of the new songs through the eyes of fictional characters in an effort to get away from the same old same old. Talking to the media last week, Bono claimed: "I'm bored of Bono and I am him - I'm sick of me. I felt it was a little limiting to be in the first person." That sounds entirely reasonable because it must get tedious having to live with Bono all day every day. U2 also announced that they will debut their latest single, Get On Your Boots, at this year's Brit Awards, which take place on February 18...

Leona Lewis has just signed a lucrative deal with publishing house, Hodder and Stoughton last week, for the rights to her autobiography, despite the fact that she is only 23-years-old. The company claims that the book will chart her rise from "waitressing in Pizza Hut in Hackney to stardom on both sides of the Atlantic." If, as Frank Zappa claimed, most music journalism is "is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read", then I wonder how he would have describe books written by celebrities because at least we've evolved past using crayons. I can't imagine that Leona will be taking time out of her busy schedule to write this opus anyway, but how can you call something that is written by someone else an autobiography? ...

John Lennon's MBE medal was found in a dusty old box in St. James Palace last week, having been hidden away for the past 40 years. The Beatles were all honored by the Queen with the royal award in 1965, but Lennon returned his in 1969, to protest Britain's support for the Vietnam War. The medal was apparently found in a box with a letter penned by Lennon, which read: "Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon." The discovery has already caused some controversy, due to the fact that no one is quite sure who owns the award, although palace officials are leaning towards giving it to Yoko Ono. It could be worse, if it was Courtney Love, the medal would be up on eBay before you could say: "Mark Chapman is as mad as a bag of flying squirrels."...

American fans of UK hip hoppers, The Streets, will be disappointed to hear that the band will probably not be doing one last American tour before they call it quits on their career later on this year, due in large part to the fact that their latest album, Everything Is Borrowed, flopped like Dwayne Wade covering LeBron. According to front man, Mike Skinner: "I probably won't make it to America this time, though, as we can't afford it. Sorry all Stateside Streets fans. Not financially viable. Would have been nice, but we've had some great shows before. I guess that's the main thing." Ironically, their latest work was their best in some time but once you lose momentum, it can be nigh on impossible to get it back...

A growing number of musicians are adding their name to the group of people crying out for Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza, which is now entering its third, and surely bloodiest, week. Chris Martin became the latest musician to join a group of names that includes Brian Eno, Annie Lennox and Ed Harcourt, although many more are expected to join the list as the true extent of the horror begins to stir up anger in virtually every country in the world outside the US. In a speech to demonstrators in London last week, Eno claimed: "What we're seeing in Gaza is an experiment in provocation conducted by the Israeli government. You take one and a half million people, you stuff them into a small space, you deny them food, water, sanitation, medicine, and then act surprised when they get hostile. But you want that hostility, because that's the cue for you to act the victim. Israel is pretending to be a victim in a situation in which they are the oppressor." He also quoted the great Jewish writer Primo Levi, who once remarked "Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it's the Palestinians." According to the most reliable figures available at the time of going to press, 13 Israelis had been killed in the fighting (four of which died as a result of 'friendly fire') with 149 injured, while, at least 879 Palestinians had been killed, a figure that includes 275 children and 93 women. Over 3,700 Palestinians have been wounded, many of them seriously, including at least 1,080 children.