Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The untimely death of Boyzone's Stephen Gately continued to dominate the music news in Ireland and Europe last week, with initial rumors putting his death down to a marathon drinking session proving to be well wide of the mark. A coroner's report released last week put the singer's demise down to a "pulmonary oedema" due to a build-up of fluid on his lungs, leading to congestive heart failure. The report completely vindicates family members who were appalled at some of the wild conjecture in the wake of the 33-year-old's death in the early hours of October 10, while staying at his holiday home on the Spanish island of Majorca. Gately was laid to rest in his hometown of Dublin last Saturday, in a service that was attended by his band mates, Elton John and a host of other fans and friends from across the globe. His parents specifically requested that mourners not bring flowers, but instead make a donation to Cauldwell Children, a charity with which Gately had become closely associated in recent times...

The other big story emanating from last week stemmed from an assault on award-winning singer, Leona Lewis, who was struck in the head while at a book signing in Piccadilly, central London, last Wednesday. Peter Kowalczyk allegedly purchased a copy of Lewis' autobiography, Dreams, then spent five hours standing on line, only to lash out at singer upon meeting her. He was quickly wrestled to the floor by security and arrested for common assault by police a short time later. It later emerged that Kowalczyk, who has since been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, was jealous of Lewis after he had unsuccessfully auditioned for a place on X-Factor, the Simon Cowell TV show that transformed Bleeding Love singer into an international star. Predictably, the incident left Lewis extremely shaken and she will no doubt have to travel with a phalanx of security guards from here on out. Sad really because she genuinely made an effort to stay true to her roots and avoid being one of those celebrities that travels around with an entourage whose main purpose is to spend their money and tell them how great they are, ala P-puff-diddy-daddy Combs...

A little bit of music history went to the great gig in the sky when 82-year-old singer, Al Martino passed away at his home in Pennsylvania last week. Martino topped the very first official music chart, when he scored a number one on the inaugural New Music Express singles chart in 1952, with his hit Here In My Heart. The crooner went on to achieve further hits with Spanish Eyes and Can't Help Falling In Love but he will probably be best remembered for playing Johnny Fontane in 1972 movie, The Godfather. For those of you that don't know, Fontane was the character who awakened to find a horse's head in his bed. He should think himself lucky, at least he was only playing a part. That's the sight that greets Celine Dion's husband every morning...

Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan was left with egg on his face, after an embarrassing slip-up during a gig in South America last week. The singer told 30,000 people at their concert that the band was delighted to be back in Chile, which would have been fine except for the fact that they were actually playing in Lima, Peru. It didn't help that Peru and Chile get on about as well as the Gallagher siblings. I remember being at a Bloc Party performance at a festival in Ireland a few years back when singer, Kele Okereke told the crowd: "We've been off traveling but it's great to be back in the UK once again!" You've never seen cheers turn into boos as quickly in your life. Talk about "Good night Springton, there will be no encore!"...

While I'm on the subject of Bloc Party, it appears that the celebrated indie act may be ready to call it quits, after drummer Matt Tong, told the BBC that he is unsure what the future holds for them. While it had been reported that the band was set for a long hiatus when their current tour ends, Tong may not return if, or when, they reconvene, telling an interviewer: "I definitely don't think this will be the last you'll hear of the people who make up Bloc Party. Kele is an insatiable workaholic and creating is something he is so connected to so you'll definitely hear from him again along with Russell (Lissack) and Gordon (Moakes) also. As for me I don't know, I wouldn't mind trying something else for a while." Those comments could be a case of the inside track, or a prime example of why most bands don't ever let the drummer near a microphone. Maybe the rest of them have something planned but just don't want to let Tong in on it...

Speaking of band splits, Spandau Ballet have offered Oasis advice on how to get back together, with guitarist/sax-player, Steve Norman claiming: "Oasis need to have a punch-up, take each other to court if that's what it takes to get it out of their system. But they are brothers like us and they love each other. Life's too short to hold a grudge." If I'm not mistaken, I think that punch-ups constituted a large part of Oasis' problem in the first place and anyway, what business has Spandau Ballet giving other acts on how to get along with each other? This is a band that spent almost 20 years fighting over royalties and now they're back together and they're handing out advice. Listening to them would be kind of like getting marriage-guidance counseling from Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee...

Tom Meighan claims that he isn't bothered about whether Kasabian manage to crack the US market, telling UK tabloid the Sun: "I'm not arsed about it. The record went straight to Number 98, which is s***. No one but Coldplay and U2 are breaking America. To break America, you have to tour, and that takes a lot of time." This is the same Tom Meighan who, upon hearing that their record had debuted at number 98 in the US album charts declared: "Americans are deluded - not all of them - they think they're ahead, but musically they're not. They're 30 years behind." Methinks he doth protest too much because for a man who isn't arsed about cracking America, he doesn't half bang on about it...

Nick Cave has issued something of an apology to Kylie Minogue and Avril Lavigne, due to some of the rather salacious passages alluding to them in his latest novel, The Death of Bunny Munro. In the book, protagonist, Bunny Munro has a rather unhealthy fixation on the two female singers, leading Cave to recently claim: "I would like to publicly apologize to both of them, especially Avril Lavigne, because the writing about her is darker and more invasive I guess. I know Kylie and at least, I hope, she will take it in the spirit it was written. At the time that the book was set, which was about eight years ago, or seven years ago, Kylie Minogue and her hot pants were all the tabloids wrote about in this country (Britain)." With the way Avril Lavigne's career has been going of late, I would have thought that she would be happy at any mention of her name in public, because that girl's career is sinking quicker than Fredo Corleone after a family fishing trip. Okay I'll stop with the Godfather references now...

Julian Lennon is set to record a song titled, Lucy, as a tribute to his recently deceased school friend, Lucy Vodden, who passed away last month after a long battle with Lupus. All proceeds from sales of the record will be donated to a charity dedicated to fighting the dreaded autoimmune disease. Vodden famously became the inspiration behind the song Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, when Julian painted a picture of her at school with diamonds in her eyes. Not to be bad or anything, because it is a really good cause, but why doesn't Julian just record one of his father's songs already? Even though he says otherwise, every step in his career has involved essentially saying: "Did you know that I am John Lennon's son?" It would be kind of like Leonardo Da Vinci's son painting a picture of a woman and calling it the Leona Lisa, and then trying to tell you that he was sick of being compared to his father. The guy probably walks around whistling Beatles tunes and wearing an "I'm John Lennon's lad" t-shirt. Still, it's better than being Ringo I suppose...

Queen's David May claims that he is honored that Muse are sometimes compared to his band, as he is such a big fan of the Devon act, who have just released their latest opus: The Resistance. The guitarist told an interviewer: "They said they liked us and that we've been an influence, which is obviously nice for someone like me to hear. They are extraordinary musicians... Real virtuosos - much more than I am. I like the way they let their madness show through, always a good thing in an artist." Not if you're Peter Kowalczyk it isn't.