It didn't take long for Chumbawamba's Danbert Nobacon to get his comeuppance for a watery attack on British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at Monday's Brit awards. Writer Christian Fraser of London's Daily Mirror exacted revenge for the attack, during which Nobacon dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on Prescott and shouted, "That's for the Liverpool [England] dockers!" The writer gave the singer a taste of his own medicine by dumping a pail of cold water over anarchist Nobacon's head Tuesday. Thinking he was posing for a photo, the be-skirted Nobacon stopped, was doused and began shouting invectives at the journalist and his photographer accomplice. "I'm going to give you such a good kicking," Nobacon yelled as he threw a few punches at the journalists. Chumba co-member Alice Nutter reacted to the incident by saying she'd only wished that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been at the awards show instead of Prescott. "We hate the Labour Party," Nutter told the Mirror, "because they've sold out. They're rubbish. We hoped Tony Blair would be [at the awards show] so we could all go up and spit in his bubbly" ...

Live From Planet Ska: The Best of British Ska Live (Music Club) is the name of a 16-track compilation of second-wave English ska due for release on Feb. 16. The album features four classic tracks each from ska pioneers the Specials, the Selecter and Special Beat, and three tracks from Bad Manners. The songs were recorded both in the bands' 1979 heyday and at 1991 and 1992 concerts ... The very busy off-beat hip-hop duo Hi Fi Killers will release an EP on March 10 entitled Stretch (Loosegroove), the follow-up to their excellent, funky 1997 debut, Loaded. The EP features "Family Stones," "The Weed" and two tracks from their still-untitled double-CD (May), as well as a remix of "Kojak Cries." Two tracks -- "Like a Lion" and "No Guts" -- also will be featured on an upcoming September release, Hi Fi Killers in Jamaica, which includes vocals from a number of up-and-coming island reggae vocalists ...

Pulp will release the title-track to their upcoming album, This is Hardcore, as their second British single on March 16. The U.K. single will be available as two separate CDs, one with two remixes of the song and the tracks "Ladies' Man" and "The Professional," the other with four remixes of "This is Hardcore," including one by San Francisco trip-hoppers Tipsy ... Rapper KRS-One revealed the name of his new album in a SonicNet (sister site of Addicted To Noise) chat earlier this week. "When I leave here, I am going to the studio to record a record called The Warning Shot," KRS-One said. He later added that he has just signed with Little Brown to work on a book in which "my life story will be the foundation ... But it will really be about the development of my philosophies and insights, to be completed some time in 1999" ... -- ATN staff report [Thurs., Feb. 12, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]

Sure, Madonna's on the cover of the new

Vanity Fair, but if you look closely at the magazine, you might notice

Hole's Courtney Love stealing a bit of the Material Girl's

thunder in an ad spread for Versace clothing. Looking awfully similar to a

look Madonna sported three looks ago, Love pouts her best for the racy

spread in which she bares nearly all ... Another rocker taking the

fashion-spread angle is Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea,

who can be seen modeling some chic threads in the latest issue of Esquire. The blonde Pepper scowls and poses alongside actors John Goodman and Jeff

Bridges in an advertorial boost for the upcoming Coen brothers ("Fargo")

film, "The Big Lebowski," in which Flea co-stars ...

Punk-rooted singer/songwriter Elliott Smith has been nominated for

an Oscar for his song "Miss Misery," one of five Smith compositions in the

film Good Will Hunting (itself nominated for Best Picture). Smith

is currently working with producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf on the

follow-up to last year's Either/Or (Kill Rock Stars), which will

mark his debut for the DreamWorks label. . .

Following their multiple "Brat Awards" just weeks before, The Verve

were big winners again at Monday's annual Brit awards. The group took home

Best Album honors for 1997's Urban Hymns, as well as Best Group and

Best Producer. The group accepted its awards via satellite from a crosstown

London gig for a homeless organization. Prodigy won the Best Dance

Act award, the Eels took home Best International Newcomers and

Bjork won Best International Female, with Jon Bon Jovi

winning the male award and U2 the International Group award ... New

York mayor Rudolph Giuliani lashed out at National Academy of Recording

Arts and Sciences president Michael Greene on Monday, saying that he didn't

care if NARAS' Grammy awards hightailed it back to L.A. "If they want to go

back to L.A., they can," Giuliani said, according to Reuters, at his

weekly press conference, bringing to a head a strained relationship between

himself and Greene that began with a January decision to bump Giuliani as

an announcer of this year's Grammy nominees. Giuliani said he felt Greene

was verbally abusive toward one of his City Hall staffers. The Grammys will

take place at New York City's Radio Music Hall on Feb. 25 ...

"Fritz The Cat" illustrator Ralph Bakshi's 1981 history of American popular

music, "American Pop," will be released on home video/laserdisc for the

first time on March 31. The lushly illustrated, psychedelic flick spanning

four generations of music as seen through the eyes of budding musicians

features classic music from Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the

Doors, Lou Reed and Sam Cooke ... The second album

from sometimes Beastie Boys member Money Mark, Push the

Button, will be released in May. The 18-track trippy keyboards and

patched-together funk album features the tracks "Monkey Dot," "Tomorrow

Will Be Like Today," "Rock in the Rain," "I Don't Play Piano," "Destroyer"

and "Harmonics of Life" ... Songwriter Pete Droge, who first gained

attention several years ago with the song "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill

Myself)" from his 1994 debut, Necktie Second, will release his third

album, Spacey and Shakin, in April. The 11-track effort is his first

for producer Brendan O'Brien's (Pearl Jam) 57 Records label.

O'Brien produced the album, which features the songs "Please the Ghost,"

"Eyes on the Ceiling," "Motorkid" and "Blink of a Kiss" ...

Idaho guitarist Dan Seta said the Southern California

slow-core combo are about to enter a studio to record an album for

Chicago-based Buzz Records. The album, which is set for release by late

summer, is the follow-up to last year's The Forbidden EP ... British

jungle king Goldie, who just released the double-CD

Saturnzreturn, is in the middle of shooting his feature-film

starring role in the action pic "Everybody Loves the Sunshine." The

gold-toothed studio rat plays a gay gangster in the film, which co-stars

fellow thespian/singer David Bowie ...

"Rock Me Amadeus" singer Falco died in a traffic accident in the

Dominican Republic on Friday night. The 40-year-old singer, who also had a

hit with the song "Der Kommissar," was killed when his sport utility

vehicle was struck by a bus, according to Associated Press reports

... Because too much is never enough, Interhit Records has announced plans

to release an album of dance remixes of the Celine Dion song "My

Heart Will Go On," the love theme from the mega-hit film "Titanic." U.K.

dance act Deja Vu are the guilty party and the CD maxi-single

entitled "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From TITANIC) -- The Dance Mixes"

will feature an electronic HiNRG "Definitive Mix" and a more

house-influenced "Fired-Up Mix" ... -- ATN staff report

Color="#720418">[Wed., Feb. 11, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]