Music world happenings
McCartney admits drug use
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has revealed he once tried heroinat the height of the legendary band’s success.
“I didn’t realize I’d taken it – I was just handed something andsmoked it,” he told Uncut magazine, adding, “it didn’t do anythingfor me.”
In an interview published in this month’s Uncut, Sir Pauladmitted drugs “informed” much of the Beatles’ music.
He said the song “Got To Get You Into My Life” was “about pot -although everyone missed it at the time,” and “Day Tripper” was”about acid.” He added it was “pretty obvious” that “Lucy in theSky with Diamonds” was inspired by LSD and other songs made “subtlehints” about narcotics. But the singer said it was “easy tooverestimate” the influence of drugs on the Beatles’ material.
“I suppose I learned from an early age to do things inmoderation,” he said.
OutKast stay together for thekids
OutKast will make two albums and a movie in the next year accordingto NME, despite widespread rumours that they are on the verge ofsplitting.
When Andre 3000 and Big Boi worked separately on last year’sSpeakerboxx/The Love Below, and with Big Boi playing solo dates,many believed that the writing was on the wall for the hip-hoppioneers.
However, Big Boi told MTV about the duo’s plans for the nextOutKast album, as well as a soundtrack album for a film in whichthey will both star.
He said, “You gonna get two albums within the next 365 days. Thesoundtrack [to the movie] will be released in May [2005], it’sgonna be all brand-new songs, me and Dre on one CD together. Butbefore we put out the soundtrack, we’re going to put another albumout this November. It’s gonna be a hardcore album, me and Dreletting Organized Noize produce the whole album. I can’t give youthe title of it yet, but it’s coming together nicely.”
As previously reported, Andre is making his movie star debut ina project based on the “Love Below” song “Love Hater,” but the pairwill also star in a film together.
Big Boi added, “We will not be playing OutKast in the movie.It’s set during the Prohibition era. Dre is the son of a morticianand I own a club … it’s a devilish place. It’s going to be a lotof action, adventure, romance.”
Moore makes it
On June 25, U.S. audiences will finally get a chance to see thefilm that set the Cannes Film Festival abuzz and Disney’s boardroomablaze when Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” is releasednationwide.
Miramax Films’ Bob and Harvey Weinstein said on Tuesday that thecontroversial film will be released in theaters by Lions GateEntertainment Corp. and IFC Films. The deal was finalized last weekwhen the Weinsteins bought the rights to the film from the WaltDisney Co. for around $6 million, according to Reuters.
In early May, Disney refused to allow Miramax to release thefilm in theaters, claiming that Disney was not in a position totake sides in a political debate. IFC Films President JonathanSehring explained to Reuters the IFC’s decision to back the film,noting that “This film will cause debate, but that is also whatthis country is founded on.”
“Fahrenheit 9/11,” which examines the U.S. reaction to theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon,links the Bush family to the bin Laden family and other Saudigroups. The film won the Palm d’Or – the top prize – at this year’sCannes Film Festival.
That the documentary will hit theaters just over five monthsbefore the 2004 presidential election is no coincidence. In May,Moore told Reuters that he hoped his film would influence theoutcome of the election. “Everybody knows who I am and where Istand,” he said. “Oh no, I’m not trying to pretend I’m beingevenhanded with Bush.”
Sehring said “Fahrenheit 9/11” was originally going to bereleased on July 2 to 500 theaters, but that the company decided topush the date ahead. The number of theaters that will screen thefilm on June 25 has yet to be determined.
Reunited and it feels so good
Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward will take his rightfulplace behind the kit after all, reports MTV.
Ward will join his bandmates Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler andTony Iommi when the pioneering metal band reunites for thissummer’s Ozzfest.
The drummer’s enlistment comes after weeks of conjecture aboutthe state of his relationship with his old bandmates and Ozzfestorganizers. Last month, a day after it was announced that BlackSabbath would headline the annual metalfest with Ozzy’s solodrummer Mike Bordin in tow, Ward admitted in a post on his Web sitethat he declined the invitation to reunite because he wasn’t happywith the proposal submitted to him by organizers. He also allegedthat the Ozzfest camp may have made a hasty decision to write himoff completely, since he was willing to “compromise” and “beflexible.” A few days later, Ward eased Sabbath fans’ minds withanother post that claimed the door between him and organizerswasn’t fully closed.
The last Ozzfest trek that featured all the original members ofBlack Sabbath was in 1999. The band headlined again two years laterwith Bordin on drums.
