Scans: Chumbawamba, The Specials, Hi Fi Killers, Pulp, Tipsy...
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]