Streetlamp News 6
Created on: 14 December 2007
Jody Williams wins 2007 Idols. Photo: MNET
Pretty Idols, magic musicals and rowdy Peas as 2007 comes to an end.
Streetlamp News
Its amazing how time flies when you're having fun. As with all good things, this year is also speeding to an end and this will be the last newsletter for 2007.In the New Year we will add some really cool new features to the website, and also plan a line-up of live Streetlamp events.
This week Streetlamp boasts its first music videos. Check out Function x2ds’ self produced video, Mo Arivo.
Hendrik Meyer, aka DJ Heartbeat, also joined Streetlamp this week with two demo songs showcasing his production and mixing skills.
Local News
The new South African idol
After a total of 7 803 990 votes cast for this season, 17-Year-old Capetonian Jody Williams walked away with the Idols 2007 title, a recording contract with SonyBMG, R100 000 in cash from M-Net and a Citroen “Idols Edition” C2 1.6VTS.Jody describes herself as quiet but loud, talented, fun and good looking! Her main musical influences are Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.
Quite fittingly, Jody ended up singing “Run To You”, which the judges chose for her, and her own choice ”I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, both by Whitney Houston.
Canadian diva, Celine Dion, sent a videotaped message congratulating Jody on her victory and announcing that Jody would be the opening act at all the shows of the 2008 Celine Dion South African tour.
For ten rand, you can download Jody’s version of the brand winning idols song, "Love Is All Around" from the MNET website.
(Source: www.mnet.co.za)
Not to be missed!
Catch Seether frontman, Shaun Morgan Welgemoed, live in four unplugged shows this holidays. Shaun will be touring Durban (21 Dec), Cape Town (28 Dec & 6 Jan ) and Kenton on Sea (31 Dec).Whilst enjoying their international success, Seether always acknowledges their SA fans. Shaun proudly displays the South African flag in a tattoo on his left arm and even Conan O’Brien introduced them as “a band all the way from South Africa”.
Seether launched their US-debut album 'Disclaimer' in 2002 and went on to enjoy tremendous success with 'Broken' sung with Evanescence's Amy Lee. They have just released their third album 'Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces', which has entered the Billboard Top 200 albums chart at No.9 as well as the Top40 local sales charts. The hit single ‘Fake It’, has been dominating the airwaves, reaching the No.1 spot locally and internationally.
(Sources: www.powerzone.co.za, www.seether.co.za)
A must have book if you're in the music industry
The South African Music Business is a textbook on the inner workings of the music business, with a practical focus on the South African music industry and how to market within it. While many other textbooks are written by lawyers and focus on legal aspects, this book provides an overview of those areas - then takes the reader through in-depth and up-to-date research on the entire South African music industry, which until now has suffered from a paucity of available, consolidated music business information. Additionally, while most textbooks focus on the artist only, this book takes a holistic point-of-view which includes many other music industry entities.This title, containing over 400 pages, is also unique in that it was written for more than the interested reader; lecturers in music business courses will find questions and projects set out for them in the Portfolio of Evidence in Part 5 of the book, cutting down on preparation and research time. They can also contact the author for further support in terms of an Educator's Resource CD, which contains lesson guides, power point slides for each chapter, exam questions and author recommendations.
The South African Music Business was released July 2007. Suggested retail price is R300.00. Currently it is available from the following retail stores: Exclusive Books (Hyde Park, The Zone and The Mall) and Xarra Books in Newtown. It is also available online from Intersoft.
Some stats:
422 pages
Copyright 2007 Jonathan Shaw
Author: Jonathan Shaw
Printer: HotPaperBirnam
Publisher: ada enup cc
ISBN: 978-0-620-38880-1
(Source: www.adaenup.co.za)
International News
50 Cents Worth Music Industry
Rap superstar 50 Cent recently shared his views on the music industry during a rare interview with TorrentFreak.“What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists!” He feels that the industry along with the artists has to maximise the income they’re getting from concerts and merchandise. By doing that they’ll be able to handle the decline in CD sales. He says that fans, especially the younger generation, are very quick to adopt new ways of sharing music as technology advances. Sometimes a fan can be just as devout, even though he’s never actually bought a recording and only listens to downloads.
50 Cent says that a big challenge to artists in this ever-evolving industry is that they don’t have enough time or resources to develop their skills as artists. They are forced to spend more time trying to sell ringtones rather than create perfect pieces of art. He believes that record companies should allocate more of their resources in supporting artists through these rough waters and stop trying to fight a war against the digital and information revolution that they can’t win.
(Source: bub.blicio.us)
Sexy Al Gore honoured at Nobel Peace Prize Concert
Some really hotshot actors and musicians honoured Al Gore on Tuesday at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Norway. Among them were Kylie Minogue, KT Tunstall, Melissa Etheridge and Alicia Keys. Etheridge was chosen by Gore to perform at this glamorous event, as she’s equally passionate about protecting the environment.Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman hosted the evening. Thurman called Former Vice President of the United States and environmental activist Al Gore “sexy”. She said he “seems to be flourishing and following his calling. It’s just the most enviable thing in the world.”
The Peace Prize concerts started in 1994 and have grown huge ever since. More than 400 million people in 100 countries around the world witnesses this year’s event.
(Source: www.rollingstone.com)
Peas rudely interrupted
The Black Eyed Peas were 90 minutes into their outdoor concert when four police officers “pulled the plug”. Apparently, the locals were complaining about the noise.The Peas were there to officially open a suite they designed for the Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego. Proceeds from the room are being donated to the Peapod Foundation, a charity run by the Peas.
Fergie informed the crowd of about 1,200 that they would close the show with ‘Where Is the Love?’ She dedicated the song to their “friends—the police—in the lobby.”
(Source: www.eonline.com)
Ike Tuner passed away
Yesterday morning, 76-year-old Ike Turner passed away at his home. No information on the cause of his death has been released yet.In the early fifties, Ike and his band, The Kings of Rhythm, recorded “Rocket 88”, which has been debated as the first rock and roll record.
In 1958, he married Annie Mae Bullock, who later changed her name to Tina Turner. Ike and Tina had huge success with songs like River Deep, Mountain High and Proud Mary. After their divorce in the late seventies, Tina Turner made a huge comeback and publicly accused Ike of being an abusive partner. Suffering from a crippling drug addiction, Ike was sentenced to several years in a California state prison for drug-related charges. He also attributed his abusive behaviour to drug and alcohol addiction and intense use of cocaine. He was released from prison in 1993, after which he remained sober and continued playing music.
Tina Turner's representative said that Tina is aware that Ike passed away, she has not had any contact with him in 35 years and no further comment will be made.
(Sources: www.reuters.com, www.wikipedia.org)
More Led Zeppelin Mania
Rumours around exactly when and where Led Zeppelin will be touring is abound. According to Gigwise, who was informed by two “industry insiders”, Led Zeppelin is in talks to play two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. Other reports now indicate that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Tennessee fest as part of the Raising Sand tour.The biggest rumour of the moment is British newspaper The Sun’s claim that backstage jokes and chats between band members led to one admitting he wants to return to the States to play at New York’s Madison Square Garden,
Even if none of these rumours are true, it is clear that Led Zeppelin mania has returned! Their merchandise and record sales have seen a significant increase since the first mention of them touring again.
(Source: www.rollingstone.com)
Christmas sales
In line with the Christmas spirit, Josh Groban's “Noel” topped the American Billboard 200 charts. This follows after his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show last week. Noel is the first Christmas-themed set to reach number one since the popular Kenny G album "Miracles" in 1994.R&B diva Alicia Keys follows closely at number two with her fourth album, As I Am.
This week, the top 11 albums all retailed more than 100,000 copies. However, this week’s sales only totalled 13.94 million units as opposed to last years 17.02 million.
(Source: www.billboard.biz)
Best musicals of all time
According to a survey by 20th Century Fox, the 1965 Oscar winning musical, The Sound Of Music, has been voted as the greatest musical of all time.Based on a book by Maria von Trapp, the musical of a singing nun-nanny (Julie Andrews) and seven children immediately became a favourite with songs like “My favourite things” and “Do-Re-Mi”.
Grease, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton John as ‘50s teenagers, follows in second place. The 1975 Rocky Horror picture show came in at number three.
(Source: ukpress.google.com)