Pitchfork

Ah, our beloved pop stars can be a coquettish bunch, can't they? One minute they're throwing a tantrum about the lack of gold plated "3 Musketeers" chocolate bars on their back-stage food and drink riders, the next they are pontificating on all sorts of "grown up" matters. After the initial denouncing of the Live 8 shows by many for under-representing minority artists and the subsequent about face of adding more acts, organizer Bob Geldof has once again been getting it; this time from two barrels, as some artists are slamming his project in the press and others are thwarting his organized plans. For instance, noted gentleman and scholar Noel Gallagher was up to his old tricks in discussing the upcoming Live 8 shows. He sung to the media, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but they hoping that one of these guys from the G8 is on a quick 15-minute break at Gleneagles and sees Annie Lennox singing 'Sweet Dreams' and thinks, 'Fuck me, she might have a point there, you know'." And what's a Gallagher quote without mentioning another overblown British band not completely dissimilar to our Manchester heroes, but who of course, "are shite": "Keane doing 'Somewhere Only We Know' and some japanese businessman going, 'Aw, look at him...we should really fucking drop that debt, you know'. It's not going to happen, is it?" Nope, probably not Noel, you know.

It seems time out of the spotlight and a couple of rotten albums in a row hasn't diminished Gallagher's fighting spirit, as he has come out yapping since the release of Oasis' latest album Don't Believe the Truth. Just earlier this week the "quiet brother" (!) from Oasis threw caution to the wind (from many, many miles away) by calling out Eminem and 50 Cent and discussing the ins and outs of hip hop and it's socio-deviant consequences: "I despise hip-hop. I loathe it." Ok, fair enough Noel but you must...wait there's more! "Eminem is an idiot and I find 50 Cent the most distasteful character I have ever crossed in my life. It's so negative. I'm not saying they are directly responsible, but that's how you end up with these gangs of youths stabbing people. Kids are so thick these days. They're easily influenced." God bless his bountiful heart!

Liam then told Canadian Chart Magazine that were they not booked, they'd love to play Live 8. "I'd love to. Y'know why I'd love to do that gig?" he said. "First of all, it's fucking awareness and all that stuff. I just love to go on and do four fucking songs and really fucking rip it up. Come in and fucking bang it with fucking four of your classics. And then walk off, and fucking flick Robbie Williams in the eye and say: 'Follow that you dick!'"

Anyways, back to more crucial Live 8 news. It seems Geldof's task of assembling all the necessary members for the rumored Spice Girls reunion is proving tougher than Sporty Spice's abs after a prolonged pilates workout. While most of the pieces are in place to stage the strong Geldof-speculated reunion at Live 8 in London, the roadblock seems to rest on the seldom seen Mel B, aka Scary Spice, who's not sure if she wants to revisit the past quite yet. Speaking on UK TV show "Richard and Judy" this week, Sir Bob claimed that Mel B was working in California and was having "difficulty going back to something she did in the past." He added, "I'll call her during the week and if she can't do it, she can't do it...it's got to be all or nothing." Let's face facts; the man is right. The Spice Girls without Mel B would be, in the immortal words of Maestro Fresh Wes, "like Certs without the retsin." C'mon Mel B! With all the struggle and strife continually surrounding us, we need your "zig-a-zig-ah!" now more than ever!

However, it's not all doom and gloom on the musicians-aiding-charity front. It seems to be up to Coldplay to pick up the slack left by certain uni-browed guitarists and past-it pop divas, as Chris Martin and company have invited Oxfam America along on it's North American summer tour in hopes of promoting it's Make Trade Fair program. The band have been particularly vocal concerning this cause in the past and have worked with the organization since its inception in 2002. Oxfam is once again looking for volunteers to help them at all of Coldplay's shows to help with petitions and spread trade justice information to potential activist-hipsters. While this is certainly not the first partnership between the two parties, it looks like it will yield the most reward. X&Y has hit the number one album spot in close to 30 countries' charts, it sits atop the fickle US album charts for a second week in a row (not an easy task) and the ongoing tour looks to be one of the hottest tickets this summer. Click the first link below to find out more about this unique opportunity.

* Make Trade Fair: http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=coldplayvols01.htm
* Oxfam America: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/news_updates/archive2003...
* Coldplay: http://www.coldplay.com/index.php
* Live 8: http://www.live8live.com
* Oasis: http://www.oasisinet.com/site.php