Debate, Theft, Beef, Death and the Sniffles.

You wanna know the best thing about rock stars? No it’s not the music! Don’t be daft.
It’s that they think they should force their political beliefs down our throats!

Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket, R.E.M., Trent Reznor and several others, signed a petition asking US Presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain to have a debate in the flood-ravaged city of New Orleans. The petition was then sent to Obama and McCain via the U.S. Senate, but neither has responded.

Sure, Obama pretended to be cool by saying that his iPod is chocka-block with pretty cool bands – but I highly doubt he’s about to start taking advice from them.

Personally, I could care less what musicians think about politics. If I wanna make an informed decision, I’m gonna watch the news – not MTV. It’s good that musicians are passionate about politics and may get some kids interested in decision making – but for goodness sake kids – don’t blindly vote one way or another just cause your favourite band says so!

 

It seems that musical thievery is running rampant!
Iggy and the Stooges have had a truckload of equipment stolen from outside their Montreal hotel. The Canadian bacon found the truck a few blocks away, but all the gear was gone. All the equipment has serial numbers and such and probably isn’t gonna be on eBay anytime soon.

Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith has had to resort to playing air-guitar in concerts after his Stratocaster was pinched in Athens, Greece. It’s a one of a kind axe and its gonna be pretty tough to sell as well. The band is offering a signed tour jacket as reward for its safe return.

 

It’s not unusual for rappers to have a beef, but it’s probably rare for a beef to transcend genres. Jay-Z has recently appeared on stage at a Kanye West show and has had a dig at Oasis’ Noel Gallagher. Previewing part of a track from his in-the-works Blueprint 3 album, Hova raps “That bloke from Oasis said I couldn’t play guitar/Somebody should have told him I’m a fuckin’ rock star/Today is gonna be the day that I’m gonna throw it back to you”.

The rap is in response to the statement Gallagher made, saying it was “wrong” that Jay-Z headlined the Glastonbury festival. However Jay-Z has also said that “I don’t bear any grudge, it’s all good” referring to Noley-Boy. So it just seems that the media is just trying to push both artists into a slinging match, and Hove is being a bit of a smart-ass cashing in on a hot topic. Can’t wait to hear what the rest of the Blueprint 3 is gonna sound like.

 

Rollingstone.com posted this piece of news:
Robert Hazard, the writer of Cyndi Lauper’s hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and his own “Elevator of Life,” died unexpectedly after surgery on August 5th. He was 59.

The terrible thing about this news (other than Hazard’s actual death) is that the one thing he is going to be remembered for is writing that nonsensical gem for Lauper. “Girls….” is cheesy enough that you can’t hate it too much, but it’s certainly nothing you’d wanna be remembered for! Ironically, Rolling Stone fucked up the title of the man’s only other hit, “Escalator of Life.”

 

NIN’s Trent Reznor cancelled a show last night in Massachusetts due to a throat infection. He wrote on the bands website:
 “Just want to personally say how sorry I am to have to do this. I never take postponing a show lightly and if there were any possible way I could pull this off I would. This is a very frustrating and maddening situation for me and I appreciate your understanding. I’ll make it up to you.”
Throat infection my arse! Old mate Trent probably just wanted to watch the Olympic opening ceremony!

 

More Cowbell!