RIP...

Bob Hoskins has passed away at the age of 71. RIP

BBC article

Below: Bob dresses up as Cher, whom he starred with in the 1990 film Mermaids.

Should She Have Cancelled?...

Kylie Minogue has done the very first live performance of her new single "I Was Gonna Cancel". She appeared at the Australian Logies Award yesterday to perform the track.

The singer’s performance, having returned to the Logies after 25 years, was dubbed a disaster by critics. In fact, Kylie has been forced to defend herself this morning after copping a barrage of abuse about her performance. Viewers and celebrities mocked the pop princess’ performance with many people suggesting Minogue was miming, an allegation she has denied.

“We did something different and YES, I was singing live,” Minogue said on Twitter this morning. Considering how often artists appear on TV and at award shows and mime, I fail to see the big deal. There were parts of the song where she sang live and parts where she didn't. Let's all run online to bash her, shall we?

“Kylie’s presence at the 2014 Logies was a highlight of the event this year and the live performance of her new single was a great moment in the room and on the broadcast. We were privileged to have her with us and have the world premiere of her new release,” a Channel Nine spokeswoman said.

But Minogue’s appearance prompted an embarrassing backlash on social media, with some fans questioning whether she had been miming. After performing the track Minogue appeared to say “thank you” at the end of the song but her microphone was switched off.

Dancing With the Stars judge Todd McKenney led the chorus on Twitter last night writing: “not sure that was a great idea for her. #mimingbadly”. The Block contestants Dale and Sophie joined in with accusations of lip-synching, while former Spicks and Specks panellist Myf Warhurst mocked Minogue’s dancing likening it to a 1980s school camp dance routine.

My two cents: these so-called "celebs" are hardly in a position to criticize anyone, let alone the princess of pop. But Australians seem to be very fickle when it comes to Kylie, and apparently it is "in" at the moment to bash her. It may not have been her best performance (or best song), but it is just another case of people bashing everything and everyone on bloody social media (this year's Grammy's being a very good example). 

Also, I was watching a performance by One Direction at the Logies in 2012, where some of the audience seemed to be mocking the group - on live television. Like or dislike an act, but I find that kind of behavior disgusting!

Kylie's performance comes in the midst of some silly controversy surrounding the filming of the music video for the single, since ads were put out for dancers/extras in the video - for no pay. Given the times we live in, there was the typical internet outrage - although this is certainly not the first time the makers of music videos do this. If people want to take part, fine (it's a great opportunity for fans to be a part of something special, and for dancers it can be a nice little bonus on the resume).



According to Kylie however, in the end (and probably because of all this silly hoopla), people ended up actually getting paid - although, apparently not enough. The are still some voices out there bitching about the whole thing - typical.



Moving on: here is a remix of the new single - with no dancers in sight. Maybe she should have kept it this way - and cancelled her trip to Australia!

WTF?...

BuzzFeed asked Madonna to write down the first word or thing that came to mind for ten completely random things - from Crocs to guacamole and from Putin to Hillary Clinton.

Click here

Shame!...

The 2014 Record Store Day has come and gone. And as per usual, there were quite a lot of interesting releases. Getting them, however, was quite a different story.

I don't live in the UK, but a fantastic local record store over here put in an order for loads of titles - including a special order of the exclusive 7" release of "Golden Boy" by Kylie Minogue. The supplier told them that it was available to order, so all I had to do was to go to the store last Saturday to pick it up. Well, no such luck! Instead, the whole order for the store was fucked up, with loads of missing titles they were supposed to get.



Besides Kylie, I had my eye on several other releases - including Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones. Going to e-bay, I found that the Pet Shop Boys release was going for as high as 100 pounds with the Kylie 7" going for about 50 pounds. I am still trying to get the Kylie one for a decent price!

Obviously, fans (and at least some of the artists) are not very happy about this. Paul Weller has released an excellent statement on the whole thing:

Paul Weller has posted a statement on his website explaining that he won't be taking part in any further Record Store Days.

Weller's fans were left disheartened when they were unable to purchase his specially released, limited edition single on 2014's Record Store Day (April 19). The record, which included Weller tracks 'Brand New Toy' and 'Landslide', sold out, with touts then listing copies for sale on eBay at inflated prices.

Weller's statement reads: "This is a message to all the fans who couldn't get the new vinyl single on Record Store Day and/or paid a lot of money for a copy on eBay. I agree with all of you who have sent messages expressing your anger and disappointment at the exploitation of these "limited editions" by touts.

Apart from making the record, the rest has very little to do with me but I am disheartened by the whole thing and unfortunately I won't be taking part in Record Store Day again. It's such a shame because as you know I am a big supporter of independent record stores but the greedy touts making a fast buck off genuine fans is disgusting and goes against the whole philosophy of RSD.

There were copies of my single on eBay the day before Record Store Day and I've heard stories of people queuing outside their local record shop only to be told there were none left at opening time! It only takes a few to spoil a wonderful concept for everyone else. Shame on those touts.

Don't support their trade and don't let them use Record Store Day to ruin the very thing it's designed to support."

Clearly, it has not only become nearly impossible to get concert tickets these day because of bloody scalpers and touts. As if the music business needed any more attempts to try and suck the life out of it!

UPDATE:

Record Store Day's organisers have responded, stating: 

"We share Paul Weller's frustration at evidence that 'Brand New Toy' has been offered for sale on eBay, and we are disappointed that despite our best efforts to drive out the touts, once again some people are seeking to exploit the goodwill of artists and labels by selling RSD exclusives at vastly-inflated prices on eBay.

At just 500 copies, Paul Weller's 'Brand New Toy' was one of the most limited editions available on RSD and so some re-selling was expected. However, thanks to the measures we have taken on re-sales, overall the number of complaints about unauthorised sales this year is well down on previous years, though we continue to monitor eBay on an hour-by-hour basis.

We clearly cannot control the activities of members of the public, but the Record Store Day Code of Conduct makes it clear that any store found to be complicit in unauthorised sales on eBay faces being banned from future events.

Record Store Day would not exist without the support and commitment of artists and labels and we take our responsibility to them very seriously."

Tracks...

Time for some songs that have captured my ears (and eyes) recently. There are a few more that don't have official videos yet, so they will be posted at a later time.

Hope there is something in there for everyone to enjoy...

SOTD...

It is always nice to see a diva throw a bit of a hissy fit, isn't it? While the term "diva" might no be completely appropriate to describe Italian boobie gal Sabrina, here is a footage of her from French TV around 25 years ago. She's there on a very hot day to promote her Euro hit "Gringo", but things don't get off to a great start...

The song itself was a non-album single, released in 1989 (after previous hits like "Boys", "All Of Me" and "My Chico"). It peaked inside the Top 10 in some European countries, including Finland and Italy. But I digress - here is poor Sabrina having a bad day, bless her...

How Unexpected...

Prince has signed a landmark record deal with Warner Bros.

The singer's contract is expected to include an album of new material, and it comes 18 years after he left the label amid much controversy. He famously rushed the release of five albums in a span of two years beginning in 1994 in order to be free of his contractual obligation to Warner Bros. He also went by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince for a time as a form of protest.

Prince's new deal with Warner Bros will also see his influential album Purple Rain receive a deluxe edition in honour of its 30th anniversary this year.

He also regains control of his back catalogue of LPs that were originally recorded for Warner Bros.

"A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship," the musician said in a statement to Billboard. Prince has increased his public profile over the last several months, holding a string of concerts in London and making a special appearance at the Brit Awards.

He also took part in a one-night takeover of The Arsenio Hall Show earlier in the spring.

Always In Vogue...

New Kylie Minogue photoshoot for Vogue Australia:









Bigger pics and the article can be found here

Live...

Pet Shop Boys played a full concert at the Coachella Festival a few days ago. And here it is:

SOTD...

My love for pop princess Sandra has been well documented over the years. Her early work in girl group Arabesque has been less featured however.

Sandra joined the group in 1979 at the age of 17. Arabesque was a disco group also consisting of Michaela Rose and Jasmine Vetter and they had previously released one hit album when Sandra became the band's lead singer. At the same time Sandra met a keyboardist named Michael Cretu who would later become her husband and produce most of her solo material, as well as creating the hugely successful musical project Engima.



Arabesque became successful with their cheerful music and flamboyant, sometimes daring costumes, winning a massive following in Japan and Eastern Europe and scoring a top 10 hit in Germany in 1981 with "Marigot Bay". After nine albums, emerging differences in musical interests of group members and decreasing popularity of disco music signaled the group's break-up. Sandra and Michael, at that point romantically involved, moved to Munich and started work on her solo career.



Sandra was not entirely comfortable with the "silly", naive sounds of Arabesque and she left the group in 1983 (although a couple of singles featuring her vocals were released in the following years). The other two girls continued under a new name, Rouge, but found limited success. Sandra later said that she was left with huge bills for the whole group after she left, which took her some time top pay off.



The sugar coated sounds of Arabesque may not be very noteworthy compared to Sandra's solo material. But I am a sucker for tacky music, and the girls certainly fit the the bill. I recently bought several of their Japanese 7" singles for my Sandra collection - including this perky little number:


And a cover by Russian group Serebro:



Have a great Easter everyone!

Dame...

Angela Lansbury has been made a Dame by the Queen of Britain. Lansbury was joined by her niece, her son and his wife when she collected the honour for services to drama, charitable work and philanthropy.

The 88-year-old actress spoke of her "proud" day after being recognised for her successful showbusiness career at a ceremony in Windsor Castle yesterday.

Lansbury - who was born in London but moved to the US during World War II - said of her honour: "It is a very proud day for me to be recognised by the country of my birth, and to meet the Queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion."

Perhaps best known for playing Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury has starred in many TV shows and films during her long career, including Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Manchurian Candidate.

Lansbury is also a veteran stage actress, and is currently appearing in the West End's production of Blithe Spirit, a role which won her a Tony Award on Broadway. Last year, she was handed an honorary Oscar, having been nominated three times for an Academy Award in the past.

Comparing her Oscar to her latest honour, she said: "One [the Oscar] is for my work in motion pictures and this is for the overall accomplishments of my life as an actress. It has afforded me the joy of working in America and also in England a great deal."

Timeless...

The photos from the new Cher tourbook!

























Girlfriend is truly TIMELESS!