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Magazine |
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Robbie
raises piracy storm Robbie Williams
was in Cannes attending a music trade fair when he told reporters
music piracy is "great" and that nothing can be done about
it. When he made
the comment, he knew he would disturb a hornets' nest. Robbie knew
the record label's bigwigs would be furious. No doubt, his
record label, manager and financial controller will be upset. Robbie
signed a massive £80 million record deal with EMI last year.
It is believed he took a very serious look at the piracy aspect
before signing his deal. Robbie's album
Escaplogy has sold over five million copies. So far only one single,
Feel has been released from the album. He is trying hard to break
into the US market. Meanwhile,
the BPI estimates music piracy has risen by 36% in 2000 reportedly
costing £27 million. Beverly Knight,
the UK- R'n'B singer and Mercury Prize winning artiste MS Dynamite
attacked the gun culture in the Afro-Caribbean community. The two
artistes were speaking at a tribute to murdered Birmingham teenagers,
Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis. Beverly Knight
attacked the British government for addressing the issue in an irresponsible
and misguided fashion. Some of Knight's remarks were aimed at Home
Secretary David Blunkett for picking up a soft target - music. Rap
music was the centre of the attack by some sections of the government.
The teenage
girls were killed in a shoot out on January 2. The tribute was held
before a large gathering on Sunday, January 19. The crown changed
hands this week as the UK singles chart welcomed a new No:1 song. Stop Living
The Lie by David Sneddon is the first new No:1 hit in the UK in
2003. The Popstars: The Rivals - Girls Aloud Sound of the Underground
has been replaced by another reality TV show act. All this time
it was the ITV shows that dominated the chart. But the good old
BBC did not want to be left out. So they set up The Fame Academy
where contestants were brought under one roof. They were filmed
throughout being taught songwriting etc. During the
show, big stars like Shania Twain dropped by. The contestants were
eliminated every Friday as they were expected to perform their own
material. The ultimate
winner on the show was David Sneddon. The Scotsman will be a celebrity
for a year and will be able to release his own records. The release
of Stop Living The Lie was held back from December for January to
give the song a chance during the dull month of sales. The ballad
has not been given a good rating either. Neverthless, the record
buyers have bought enough copies to help the track to become the
No:1 song in the UK. True by Jameson
was a huge underground instrumental hit last year. It was picked
up by Sir Richard Branson's V2 label and polished with the vocals
of Angel Blu. The song was transformed from a hardcore garage track
into a radio friendly club hit. The track True
crossed over and entered the chart this week at No:4. A song with
an Asian flavour came into the chart at No:5. Mundian to Bach Ke
by Panjabi MC finally hit the UK chart after it hit East Europe
and then Germany late last year in just almost every pub. The attraction
is in the backing track which is a bhangra version (not again) of
the old Knight Rider theme tune. The lyrics are something else.
Panjabi MC
has been around for nearly 10 years fusing desi music with hip-hop.
He has been rather big in this part of the world. A drop-out
from the Pop Idol show Zoe Birkett hits the chart at No:12 with
Treat Me Like A Lady. As a 16-year-old, she was the youngest in
the final 10. But now as a 17-year-old with a mature look, Zoe has
struck with a song oddly written by another Pop Idol reject - Sarah
Whatmore. Also joining
the chart this week at No:19 is another Pop Idol contestant, Rosie
Ribbons. Her track A Little Bit is an original track and a follow
up to her debut hit Blink which peaked at No:12 last October. The man who
crashed Missy Elliot's Lamborghini Diablo sports car in October
2001 was sentenced to three years imprisonment last week in the
US. The joy rider
took Missy Elliot's car which was in storage in Richmond, Virginia
for a test drive. Joseph Thomas Henry tried to recall the stunt
scene from the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off - but lost control
and crashed through a road sign and a tree. Henry was also asked to pay $170,000 in compensation and $1975 for public damage. UK top 20 |
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