Andy Tullock's Music Column February to March 06 (2/7)

(1/7), (2/7), (3/7), (4/7), (5/7), (6/7), (7/7).

However we knew that both the NME and Brit Awards would be forthcoming in the next 20 odd days, one hinting at a little more corporate fornication then the other. Oh well, either way it's a way to wind the hours and see some of the lands best bands do their half hearted best to impress whilst being tanked up on posh labeled vino. Or so we thought anyway.

I, for one, found that, having already discovered all the predicted winners of every award the morning before the broadcast, the 2 and a half hour coverage of the supposed highlight of music industry was as about as exciting as February is long.

Even performances from the Kaisers, Gorillaz and Tunstall all flattered to deceive and found myself begging for Texas' & Method Mans duet from years gone by (you know it was that bad). Speeches were surprisingly polite, lacking in attitude and even dull. This year had seen the reintroduction of alcohol after what can only be considered good behavior of years past. Maybe this was much to spice up the event after years of it following Smash Hits down the unsuccessful detour.

Maybe it would've been a better idea to ask Pete Doherty, Burns and Charles Kennedy to supply special party bags would've given us something more worthwhile of over 150 minutes of our lives. Certainly telling Prince to fuck off back to the US, and try and cure Bird flu by making Austrian ducks cry might have been all too obvious to those tits that make the schedule. I'd really like to sit here for the next 4 hours describing what I think of this over-rated, self-pleasing individual but, like I said, Februarys short enough.

The fact that the two coolest bands of the last year, the Arctics & Green Day, couldn't even be arsed to turn up, whilst Madonna preferred performing at the Grammys and Gorillaz might as well have, surely indicating at a programme that would honour its pre-watershed start. Certainly if anything of any incident would've happened we would no doubt have seen only reactions like BBC's coverage of pitch invaders (think back to Jarvis Cocker, circa 1995?). Anyway, like I said February pretty much sucks. And thank god for that virus as it has allowed us to move on through that crazy snow and into March and its...erm...well, more snow! (but eventually sunshine, as April knocked).

And with the confusing weather fronts came the equally shambolic, yet altogether less-manufactured brilliance of the charts. Yes, they have once again become interesting and are just beginning to reflect a fraction of modern music again, rather then just the CD collection of a pre-teen.

First of all we saw the appearance of Corrine Bailey Rae into new found glory, and breathing Spring into our ears. After last years disappointing efforts of her debut single, Like A Star (which is as brilliant I might add) the much-acclaimed friend of the Kaisers suddenly found it hard to escape cameras and microphones, with Put Your Record On peeking at number two. Okay so by now we all equally fed up of it as we are of the other new-comers, Orson, but both went some way to restoring our pride in a chart now priding itself with including downloads, and what it difference it has made.

Further evidence was provided with the story of the year so far, when Gnarls Barkley went straight to top spot with his contagious Crazy.

Continued..... Next Page (3/7).

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