Just saw a Virgin Airlines commercial using Muse’s “Feeling Good.” Not sure how to feel about it. Wouldn’t like to witness Muse turning all CSI on the world, but this Muse song was used before by Nescafé for their advertising campaign. According to Wickipedia, without the band’s permission. Nescafé replaced it with the Nina Simone version. Muse were subsequently paid settlement money, which they donated to Oxfam.

Feeling Good” is a cover. A classic song  written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1964 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, and many artists have already covered it.

Maybe it is being used without Muse’s permission again. It being Virgin … I doubt it.

The Who Close TCT Shows With Performance Of Quadrophenia

The Who closed this year’s series of benefit concerts for the UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night (Tuesday, March 30th) with a full-length performance of their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. The Who’s usual touring band of Roger Daltrey (lead vocals), Pete Townshend (vocals and guitar), Zak Starkey (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), John “Rabbit” Bundrick (keyboards), and Simon Townshend (guitar and backing vocals) was augmented for the show by horn and string sections. They were also joined by special guests Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Tom Meighan of Kasabian. Vedder sang “The Punk and the Godfather” while Meighan sang Keith Moon’s part in “Bell Boy” and began the song seated on a scooter. 

There was no encore after the performance of Quadrophenia. Daltrey is the patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, and is believed to have attended all of the shows this year. He may have been too tired to do an encore last night. 

There have been rumors that last night’s show might have been the last gig ever by The Who. Pete Townshend’s tinnitus has been bothering him lately, and some scheduled shows by The Who in North America have already been cancelled. The reviews for last night’s show were positive. If last night’s performance of their best album was the last show that The Who perform, then they went out on a high note. 

For more about The Who ‘s Quadrophenia show last night, see the reviews from XFM London, NME.com, RollingStone.com, and the UK newspapers The Times of London, The Sun, and the Evening Standard. 

Matt Kent of TheWho.com took a bunch of great photos at the show, one of which is above. To view the photos, go to TheWho.com.

Liam Gallagher Gives In-Depth Interview To New York’s WRXP-FM

Former Oasis lead vocalist Liam Gallagher recently sat down for a lengthy, in-depth interview with Matt Pinfield and Leslie Fram of New York City rock radio station WRXP-FM. In the interview, Gallagher spoke about his upcoming album, his rift with brother Noel, his Pretty Green clothing line, and the lack of style displayed by Coldplay and U2. The interview is both funny and interesting. 

To watch the interview, go to the WXRP-FM Web site or watch it in three parts from You Tube below. 

Part 1: 

 

Part 2: 

 

Part 3: 

 

For more on Gallagher’s interview with WRXP-FM, see the article about it from NME.com.

Rock Photographer Jim Marshall Leaves Behind Great Portfolio Of Rock Photos

Legendary rock photographer Jim Marshall (pictured above) died at age 74 this past Wednesday, March 24th, in New York City. Marshall photographed many of rock’s legendary performers, including The Who, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones. A photo of The Who taken by Marshall for Teen Set magazine in 1967 is below. 

One of Marshall’s most famous photos is of Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his guitar at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The photo is pictured below. 

To view a gallery of Marshall’s photos, see NME.com. 

For more on Jim Marshall and his photography, go to his official Web site at http://www.marshallphoto.com/. 

Jim Marshall 1936-2010 R.I.P.

Absolute Radio Web Site Features Live Tracks From Them Crooked Vultures’ TCT Concert

Three songs from Them Crooked Vultures’ show for the benefit of the UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust this past Monday, March 22nd, at London’s Royal Albert Hall are now featured on the Web site of UK radio station Absolute Radio. (Absolute Radio is one of the sponsors of the concert series, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.) The songs that can be heard on the Absolute Radio Web site are “New Fang,” “Dead End Friends,” and “Gunman.” They sound fantastic. It’s too bad that they didn’t make more of the concert available for listening. 

To hear the live tracks from Them Crooked Vultures, go to the Absolute Radio Web site.

Florence And The Machine Perform “Dog Days Are Over” On UK Breakfast Show GMTV

Florence and the Machine appeared on the UK breakfast program GMTV earlier this week and performed their latest single “Dog Days Are Over.” Florence Welch was also interviewed by GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly and she talked about the upcoming American tour. 

To watch Florence and the Machine on GMTV, click below: 

 

For more on Florence and the Machine, go to:
http://www.florenceandthemachine.net
http://www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachine

Them Crooked Vultures Do Interview With Absolute Radio Before TCT Gig In London

Last night at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Them Crooked Vultures opened the 10th anniversary of the series of benefit concerts for the UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust. Prior to the concert, the members of Them Crooked Vultures—John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme—sat for an interview with Ben Jones of the UK radio station Absolute Radio. In the interview, the band discussed how Roger Daltrey, the Teenage Cancer Trust’s patron, got them to do the gig. To watch the interview, click below: 

BBC 6 Music’s Web site has a review of Them Crooked Vultures’ Teenage Cancer Trust show. It seems like it was a pretty impressive show.

Kate Nash Flies The Friendly Skies In “Do Wah Doo” Video

Kate Nash’s new single “Do Wah Doo” has a very 1960s sound to it. So it’s not surprising that the video for the song would have a retro look, featuring Nash clad in vintage-looking flight-attendant uniform. 

To watch the video for “Do Wah Doo” by Kate Nash, click below: 

 

“Do Wah Doo” sounds considerably different than the material on Nash’s debut album, Made of Bricks, such as the UK hit singles “Foundations” and “Mouthwash.” There is also a big contrast between “Do Wah Doo” and “I Just Love You More,” the punky-sounding song from Nash’s new album that was made available as a free download from Nash’s Web site last month. I’m quite curious to hear what the rest of the album sounds like. 

Nash’s new album, My Best Friend Is You, will be released on Monday, April 19th in the UK. 

For additional information on Kate Nash, go to:
http://www.katenash.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/katenashmusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/KateNashVEVO

Paul Weller Releases Video For New Single “Wake Up The Nation”

Paul Weller has released the second video from his forthcoming album, Wake Up The Nation. It’s for the new single, which is the title track of the new album. The video is a good showcase for the single, which is two-and-half minutes long. One of the lyrics in the song is “Get your face off the Facebook.” I guess that the Modfather isn’t much for social networking!

The “Wake Up The Nation” single will be released on Monday, April 12th in the UK, with the album following a week later, on Monday, April 19th.

 To watch the video for “Wake Up The Nation” by Paul Weller, click below: 

 

Weller will be playing a five-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall from May 24th through May 28th.

Hey, Pink Floyd, what’s wrong with just a song?

Thursday March 11th [AppleInsider] — Music legends Pink Floyd won a lawsuit with their label EMI Thursday, with the band successfully defending its right to block the sale of individual songs on digital download services like iTunes.

So Pink Floyd doesn’t like EMI selling individual songs off their albums via iTunes (the band is finally agreeing on something!). And their record contract does state that the label cannot sell individual songs without the band’s permission. But that was before the digital revolution, and EMI thought they were talking 45s not MP3s, right?

I understand where Pink Floyd’s coming from. A deal is a deal. Plus, they want to show off their artistic integrity by selling their product as full-length albums. You have to own the entire Dark Side of the Moon album, after all, if you want to enjoy the real Wizard of Oz experience.

But what if I — the consumer — only wants to own “Astronomy Domine” for 1.29, and not shelling out 16.99 at a place like Best Buy for the Piper album? Well, I guess that’s just tough shit for me, huh?

Again the music lover (aka, the consumer) is the one who is hardly taken into consideration in the equation. And they wonder why people download illegally.

Yep, well, we’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.