Joe Kavanagh's Music News

To paraphrase a line from Godfather III, just when we thought he was out, they pull him back in. After the longest period of his life spent clean since he was running around in short pants, it now appears that the wheels have well and truly fallen off of Pete Doherty's troubled wagon, with word of a pair of drug arrests in two separate countries last week. The first incident occurred when staff on a British Airways flight bound for Geneva found the troubled singer slumped on the toilet with a syringe nearby, and subsequently alerted ground staff who contacted the local police. After paying a fine he was released and went on to perform at a local festival before returning to the UK. He careened ever closer to the edge later in the week, when reports surfaced that he had been arrested by police in Gloucester, who pulled over his vehicle and found drugs on both Doherty and a 30-year-old female passenger. According to a spokesperson for Gloucester police: "At approximately 12:30 a.m. on June 11, officers on patrol in Eastgate Street, Gloucester saw a car being driven erratically. The man who is 30 and from the Marlborough area of Wiltshire was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving, possession of drugs and failing to stop for police." It increasingly looks like this is going to end in the obituary column for Pete, or in a long stint in prison at the very least, a place he will be familiar with after the time he spent there last year, having been charged with drug possession on multiple occasions. An undoubtedly likeable character, it is a shame that his talent is being destroyed by his demons because when the name Pete Doherty is mentioned in years to come, most people will remember him as a junkie, instead of as a songwriter. Sad but true...

Speaking of troubled rockers, Adam Ant has declared that he is ready to put his troubles behind him and make a return to touring in the coming months. The singer, real name Stuart Goddard, made headlines in 2002 when he arrived at a pub in Camden dressed in a cowboy suit only to be mocked by patrons for the way he was dressed, which is hardly surprising as the Camden Cowboy is a rare breed indeed. An infuriated Goddard was arrested after he consequently threw a car alternator through the pub window. He followed up this stunt a year later by smashing up a neighbor's patio door with a shovel before running to a local restaurant and pulling down his pants, then lying on the floor and attempting to go asleep. The 80s icon was then sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and spent the next year in a psychiatric clinic, but now claims to be fully recovered and ready to resume his career. A source close to the singer was quoted on website Music-Nation.com as saying: "He has been through so much but gradually he's been getting back on his feet, thanks to the support he's been given in his personal life and by his devoted army of fans. Nothing's been set in stone in terms of dates but there are meetings going on at present to plan shows. It's undeniable he's looking amazing at the moment if you think about where he was only as few years ago." Just as long as that last quote wasn't given by one of the voices in his head or one of his multiple personalities...

Madonna has won her adoption appeal in a Malawi court, after a judge overturned the original ruling, which was handed down in April of this year. The Material Girl singer will now be allowed to take four-year-old Mercy James out of the country, despite the local law which compels prospective adoptive parents to live in the country for 18-24 months before being allowed to leave with an adopted child. Whoever said that money can't buy you everything just did not have enough money. In other Madonna news, the 50-year-old is allegedly so taken with her new 22-year-old Brazilian lover, Jesus Luz ,that she has traveled to his native country to meet his parents, possibly to find out what kind of bedtime stories are his very favorite. Some around Madonna claim that she is so smitten with her new man that she is already talking marriage, but in a recent interview with Brazilian TV, Luz sounded somewhat more guarded on the issue. When asked about his relationship with Madge, he allegedly answered: "Madonna is a friend who has entered my life. I don't have plans of marrying her. I can't say if she is the girl of my life. She is a marvelous and nice person." If I didn't know better I could swear that sounded like the 'I really like you as a friend' speech. A really, super duper rich friend who I'll stick around with until I see what I can milk out of it. What? You think young Jesus Luz would be with Madonna if she was a half-century-old waitress from Toad Suck, Arkansas ? Yes, there is such a place and yes, I do spend far too much time on the internet...

I'm kidding, but while we are on the subject of Def Leppard (most forced segue of all time), I read where 51-year-old guitarist, Phil Collen, claimed in a recent interview that he is now fitter than he has been in three decades, saying: "I haven't had a drink in 22 years, and I've been a vegetarian for 25. I can box for 12 rounds and I couldn't do that at age 20." Box what for 12 rounds, a balloon on a stick? You'll notice that he doesn't mention how long those rounds actually are. Puh-lease, you're getting old Phil, just like the rest of us, but as the saying goes: it sure beats the alternative...

Speaking of stroking one's own ego, I saw where Kasabian guitarist, Serge Pizzorno, told an interviewer on radio station XFM last week, that the band's latest album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, is "the most important record of the decade. I mean, what else have we got to look forward to or be amazed by?" Aside from being amazed by Pizzorno's gall, hyper-inflated opinion of himself and ability to say that with a straight face? I'm not sure really, but those lads need to get down off their high horse, stay off the drugs and indulge in a serious session of getting over themselves. And I'm saying that as a fan of the band...

Finally, we've worried for her, had some fun at her expense and urged her out of her troubles but it was heartening to see that Amy Winehouse has now decided to turn her back on her musical career for a while, in order to work with sick children in St Lucia. According to a spokesperson for the singer, she will be working in a maternity clinic on the Caribbean island, where she will assist nurses and doctors. I for one would like to congratulate her on such an altruistic act and it might be just what she needs to clear her head. Just as long as they don't see her hanging around the medicine cabinet every ten minutes...