Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Rumors continued to surround U2's upcoming Broadway musical extravaganza, Spiderman, with stories emerging in the press last week alleging that star, Evan Rachel Wood had decided to quit the show, after production ground to a halt recently, due to a reported cash-flow problem. Reports claimed that Woods had instructed her manager to try and get back movie roles that she had turned down in order to star in the musical, but a spokesperson for the actress issued a statement denying any such move, saying that she was excited to be involved in the U2 production. Meanwhile Bono and the Edge revealed further details regarding the show, which is due to kick off on Broadway this coming February. The U2 singer claimed that their production represents a departure from the original plot, saying: "Our Peter Parker is much more...not Kurt Cobain, but a kind of slacker, a more kind of shy sort of guy. (And) we've got a new villain, it's a girl. It's a very extraordinary role. We've taken it to a much more dizzy place than you'd expect. We've got big tunes. We're very proud of it." The Edge offered further details regarding the highly-publicized venture, claiming: "It is a new challenge. The thing is we don't really like musicals. Most musicals are really pants (awful). They're really not very cool. It is much more like opera than a straight musical. We're actually not calling it a musical for that reason because we don't want to put people off. We just thought, 'Well if we're going to do this we should do something that knocks it out of the park and hits on every level with great tunes.'" By my count, they've managed to alienate comic fans and musical lovers in those two statements, so if they manage to alienate their own fans they'll be lucky if anyone shows up for the event if, or when it does kick off. The Edge also took time last week to address environmentalists and celebrities alike who claim that the band's current 360 Tour is leaving a monstrous carbon footprint. Speaking to the BBC, the guitarist stated: "I think anybody that's touring is going to have a carbon footprint. I think it's probably unfair to single out rock 'n' roll. There's many other things that are in the same category but as it happens we have a program to offset whatever carbon footprint we have." Talk about disingenuous, of course most rock bands leave some sort of carbon footprint but most rock bands don't have a self-mythologizing singer whose mantra appears to be 'do what I say while I do something else'. And I would have liked to hear him elaborate on just what program they have actually entails, instead of him just throwing it out there. That sounds suspiciously like the line, 'Trust me, I know what I'm doing', that blundering cop, Sledge Hammer used to use in the series of the name back in the 80s. Moments before he would screw everything up beyond belief...

The disintegration of Amy Winehouse appears to be back on track, as she was snapped by photographers practically falling out of a London bar last week. According to reports in the UK tabloids, the troubled soul singer is desperate to rekindle her romance with Blake Fielder-Civil, as in the same Blake Fielder-Civil that she divorced last month. Not only that but sources close to Winehouse have been quoted as saying that she is feeling broody and wants to have a child with her ex-husband. Yeah, that's always a good thing; introduce a poor innocent kid to an equation which includes two ex-junky, alcoholics. Maybe they are looking to create someone that is even more messed up in the head than themselves. Meanwhile, her father, Mitch, is still banging on in the tabloids - for a fee of course - about how Blake Fielder-Civil is to blame for all of his daughter's woes, despite the fact that Fielder-Civil is currently in a rehab in Sheffield, and was in prison for almost a year before that. When does this finger of blame get pointed at his soon-to-be 27-year-old daughter? Better yet, when will he point it at himself and his wife because they seem to be making a killing from her foibles, what with all the interviews and such. What ever happened to discussing things as a family, instead of as an international gossip-shop selling to the highest bidder? ...

Speaking of dysfunctional relationships, the Gallagher boys are at it again, pulling out of last weekend's V Festival, with Liam Gallagher telling NME last week, that he and brother Noel no longer talk to each other, except when they are onstage. The Oasis vocalist told an interviewer: "He doesn't like me and I don't like him, that's it. He hasn't told me what he thinks of anything this year. We've got nothing to say to each other at the moment... The only time I see him is onstage and we're a little bit busy (at) that time to be fucking scratching each other." According to the younger Gallagher, their current falling out happened after a recent argument regarding a support band, which allegedly left Noel in tears. Janie mac, that support act must have been bloody awful - like James Blunt bad...

One of the most unusual stories to have surfaced in the music world is the ongoing rumors that Lady Ga Ga is a hermaphrodite. The story has gained enough momentum that betting shops in the UK are now giving odds on the Poker Face singer announcing that she has both male and female equipment, so to speak. Like most crazy tales, this one originated on the internet and was readily dismissed until the singer's recent appearance at Glastonbury, where she appeared to adjust her, eh, package, while climbing onto a motorcycle prop, in footage that has since been posted on Youtube. She was then widely quoted as declaring: "It's not something that I'm ashamed of, just isn't something that I go around telling everyone. Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself a female. It's just a little bit of a penis and really doesn't interfere much with my life." Spokespeople for the singer have adamantly denied both the story and the quotation, but such reports surely have to take their toll on the singer's ego. Imagine being her stylist if she put on a new pair of jeans and asked you: "Does my bum look big in this?" Only for you to reply: "No love, but your penis looks massive!" We're talking years of therapy for her and probably a hospital visit for you...

UK singer, songwriter and producer VV Brown claims that she was recently approached by Playboy and offered a large sum of money to pose naked for the men's magazine. Brown claims that she turned down the offer, but might be open to a more artistic version, saying: "We've actually had an offer from Playboy. I turned it down. I am an exhibitionist, I think nakedness is hot but it has to be done in a really classy arty way, so if it was French Playboy, that's different. French Playboy is a lot more fashion driven and there's a real sort of almost 50s pin-up sexy fashion thing to it but not like showing all my boobs and stuff, it would be like side profiles and silhouettes and very classy sort of nakedness." It's unusual to find a pop singer who doesn't jump at the first chance to get them out for the lads because they are a dying breed these days. As a matter of fact, these days most budding pop stars appear willing to 'get them out for the lads' for a Hershey bar and a bag of busted coat hangers, if they think it will get them in the papers...

Beatles fans are set for a treat next month - well, those of you with cable - when the BBC runs a series of specially shot programs as part of a tribute week to the legendary Liverpool act, which kicks off on September 8. The shows will include live gigs, documentaries and a series of never before seen interviews with the Fab Four, taken from footage that was only recently discovered after decades of gathering dust. I sincerely hope that Ringo sits down and watches those interviews in their entirety because it might remind him of just who he was before his head disappeared up his own... well, gotta go, that's my word count filled for the week.