He’s collaborated with Bono, Mick Jagger, and Destiny’s Child, hung out with Bill Clinton and co-wrote the biggest selling rap album of all time. but that’s only the beginning. The multi-talented Wyclef Jean here discusses George W. Bush, the death of his father and why Michael Jackson might not be such a strange guy after all
Yes, it's the long-awaited return of the world's greatest politically incorrect headline. Michael Hutchence of Féile headliners INXS explains why he's flying a flag for the old-fashioned values and going back to his musical roots. All this plus: condoms, Mick Jagger at 50 and the best-hung member of INXS. Interview: Neil McCormick.
Actress, singer, chat show host, Vogue model and girlfriend to Mick Jagger and Marc Bolan – Marsha Hunt was all of these things and more, and survived to tell the tale. And then she became an acclaimed best-selling author. Interview: Olaf Tyaransen.
Pix: Mick Quinn
. . . Or not, as the case may be. In this extremely revealing interview with peter murphy, henry rollins speaks frankly about relationships, violence, depression, squaring up to Al Pacino and the problems that come with a life lived on the road
For close to a decade, Lillie’s Bordello has been the nightclub of choice for the famous and not-so-famous of Dublin cultural life. But with the passing of the Celtic Tiger era and the current uncertainty over the club’s future, can Lillie’s retain its position as the capital’s number one celebrity haunt?
It's Christmas, 1997 is drawing to a close and Noel Gallagher is in suitably reflective mood. "I can't be bothered writing music anymore", says the Oasis mainman before telling Stuart Clark precisely what he thinks of Liam, Meg, Sinéad O'Connor, that cunt Mick Jagger and England's chances of lifting the World Cup.
MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER talks to JOE JACKSON about Party Doll And Other Favourites, a Greatest Hits collection which she hopes will breathe new life into a tired format.
Slash can go boil his silly hat, but Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones and Kraftwerk are welcome to come and stay in Fagersta any time they want. Howlin’ Pelle and the boys talk heroes and zeros with Stuart Clark
While Johnny Cash held what Nick Tosches called the “imprimatur of ageless cool” among the young punks, his repertoire, like that of Hank Williams, provided staples for the country ‘n’ Irish and showband canon, from the slickest old pros down to the most inept of part-time bar bands.
Their Live 8 appearance has elevated Razorlight to rock's top table, and Johnny Borrell is loving every minute of it. Steve Cummins meets the outspoken frontman
Having already triumphed at this year's National Student Music Awards, ambitious Waterford quartet Floyd Soul & The Wolf are determined to go on to even greater success.
With a major role in the new Ned Kelly biopic, dubliner Laurence Kinlan is being widely tipped as the next big thing. Just don’t mention ‘The Northsider Colin Farrell’, is all.
Hard-drinking cinematographer Christopher Doyle's latest film, Gus Van Sant's dark drama Paranoid Park, saw him make a rare excursion Stateside, but he certainly hasn't curbed any of his excesses
Following a potentially fatal bout of auto-immune deficiency, Airborne Toxic Event’s Mikel Jollett gave up a damned promising writing career to play music.
MAZZY STAR are still going strong, but HOPE SANDOVAL has also got a side project up and running. She tells NICK KELLY all about
HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS and her collaborations with everyone from The Chemical Brothers to Bert Jansch
On the release of a double CD retrospective of his forty years as a performer-songwriter, Johnny McEvoy talks to Jackie Hayden about his early days as Ireland’s answer to Bob Dylan, meeting the great man himself, supporting and introducing The Rolling Stones, defending The Wolfe Tones, not apologising for the troubles in the North, U2 and the key albums that have inspired him.
When Martin Scorsese made Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis an offer he couldn’t refuse, the result was the British component of an unprecedented film history of the blues.
From First Cuts to Latest Cuts, from the First Lady Of Immediate , recording with Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix and the Small Faces, to the First Lady of Techno, scoring Top Ten hits with Altern-8 and the Beatmasters, to today with Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene
P.P. ARNOLD has always been there, wherever the beat is hottest.
Interview: andy darlington.
As Stereophonics release their sixth abum, frontman Kelly Jones talks about his friendship with Oasis and reveals that he’s buried the hatchet with Muse.
They may be novices in the beer-swilling, coke-snorting and babe-pulling stakes but if it's killer tunes you're after, THE JAYHAWKS leave the competition standing.
STUART CLARK gets a crash-course in country living from MARK OLSON.
He’s jammed with Bob Dylan, partied with Keith Moon, sued The Byrds, traded spiky tops with Rod Stewart, had close encounters with Presleys Reg and Elvis and played "name that key" with John Lee Hooker, but arguably the best moment in his life was when he was named small breeder of the year. RON WOOD, the man who would be the queen mum of rock 'n' roll, tells a mean tale.
Words: STUART CLARK. Pictures ROGER WOOLMAN
He’s the PT Barnum of Rock, with Irish blood coursing through his veins and a penchant for encasing himself in translucent space bubbles. Ahead of THE FLAMING LIPS’ much-anticipated visit to Portlaoise, true believer Peter Murphy gets the gospel according to Wayne Coyne.
In a rare interview, Simpsons writer Mike Scully talks about the show’s A-list musical guests, his love for Ned Flanders and upsetting the entire population of Brazil. He also tells us what to expect from The Simpsons Movie, which blockbusters its way onto the big screen in the summer.
Not since the death of Elvis has the passing of a music legend so gripped the world. As fans and detractors alike struggle to come to grips with the sad, strange end of Michael Jackson we assess his legacy – as musician, celebrity and enduring icon and talk to some of the people who knew and understood him best.
Are they Madchester tribute band charlatans, an even more half-baked Kula Shaker, or swaggering rock monsters from Leicester? The jury is still out in the case of The People vs Kasabian.
The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, Sinéad o' Connor... The Chieftains are on first-name terms with all of them and as they pocket another Grammy for Celtic Harp Paddy Moloney tells Siobhán Long how the band retain their freshness after over twenty years together.
The Junk yard: Voices From An Irish Prison is the title of a powerful new collection of writings by inmates of Mountjoy Prison. ADRIENNE MURPHY hears how the pen has replaced the spike for one former inmate, PENNER, and also talks to the anthology s editor, MARSHA HUNT.
Music journalist-turned-publicist KEITH ALTHAM has spent more than 35 years behind the scenes with the likes of The Who, Rolling Stones, Small Faces and Van Morrison. His new book reveals (almost) all. Interview: GEORGE BYRNE.
There is no smoke without fire, they say. Well there is a lot of smoke hanging over Hollywood today. A pall of thick, black, lung-choking smoke from the fires engulfing the East Coast.
He wasn’t going to sing and then he sang. He wasn’t going to talk to the press and then he talked. And, finally, when he was good and ready, Paul McCartney wowed an audience with his greatest hits. Stuart Clark sees Macca in Manchester warming up for Dublin
Gigs with Mick ’n’ Keef and Angus ’n’ Malcolm, and a potential ding-dong with The Strokes – it’s only rock’n’roll but Jet like it as does Stuart Clark.
WILLIAM GIBSON is no ordinary science-fiction writer. Aside from coining such essential nineties' terms as Cyberspace and Cyberpunk, his work has also influenced everyone from computer hackers to scientists developing virtual reality technology. In the rock world, he's regarded as a visionary and artists as diverse as U2, Billy Idol and The Rolling Stones have all claimed inspiration from his novels. Interview: Liam Fay. Cyberpics: Cathal Dawson.
He’s been at the helm with U2 since 1979. In the intervening time he’s been involved in every aspect of the career of the biggest rock band in the world. In a rare in-depth interview, Paul McGuinness talks about the highs and lows of managing the fab four and reflects on the State of the Nation and the implosion of the Irish economy.
Can you see the Forrest for the Gump? Can you explain the cultural phenomenon of Steven Seagal in English plain enough for Seagal himself to understand? Did you recognise any of the actors hiding beneath moustaches in Wyatt Earp, Tombstone and Gettysburg? Are you ready for the fourth annual X-mas rated Blow Up Movie Quiz?
Oh, well, give it a go anyway. Now we separate the movie buffs from the people who have got something more interesting to do than spend all day hanging around cinemas and reading Hot Press. Answers can be found on page 99 but anyone caught peeking will have to live with the knowledge that they are a dirty, rotten, good for nothing, low down cheat. Good luck. And remember, this quiz is just like a box of chocolates . . . you’ll feel sick when you’ve finished.
A new album, an exclusive gig and opinions on Velvet Goldmine, the Internet and life, love and happiness. STUART CLARK meets the legendary DAVID BOWIE.
During their 11-year lifespan, New Zealand popsters Crowded House racked up four hugely successful albums and umpteen hit singles.
It was, therefore, all the more of a shock to their legions of fans when they called it a day in 1996. Here, erstwhile mainman NEIL FINN explains the reasons for the split in typically candid fashion to NEIL McCORMICK, as well as discussing the anticipated reaction to his new solo album, Try Whistling This.
With a new tribute album to Gram Parsons on release, PETER MURPHY enlists the help of co-executive producer EMMYLOU HARRIS to recreate the tale of Southern Gothic that was the late singer s life.
You'd have thought that 12 consecutive top 40 hits would have earned them the key to the executive bathroom but, nope, before the ink was even dry on their Guinness Book Of Records entry, THE WEDDING PRESENT were shown the door by their record company. Unperturbed, everyone's favourite indie popsters found a new label, a new bass player and a new studio accomplice who's helped them produce their best album since the classic George Best. A slightly battered and bruised DAVE GEDGE gives a blow-by-blow account of the events to our ringside reporter STUART CLARK.
Ireland's most hyped event of the year, the MTV EUROPE AWARDS may have had as many gossip columnists as winners thanking God, but after hours it was IGGY POP and heavy friends who made the real headlines on a night when rock'n'roll bit back. Report: OLAF TYARANSEN and PETER MURPHY. Awards Pics: PETER MATTHEWS. Iggy Pics: Cathal Dawson
There’s no argument. The Rolling Stones new record Voodoo Lounge finds the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world of yore back in fighting trim, stomping out that distinctive blend of musical mayhem we know and love in positively swaggering style – good enough, some would say, to see off any contenders to their coveted throne. At the centre of this triumphant return to form is one Michael Philip Jagger, who sounds lean, mean, hungry and ready for the fray. Here he raps with Don Was – producer of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Was Not Was, Bonnie Raitt and of course The Rolling Stones – about the primeval power of music and how to keep on doing it even at the grand old age of twenty (Sorry! I’ll read that again) . . .
One by one, the members of CHILL Ireland s answer to the Spice Girls occupy the Hot Press hot seat. Popping the questions: JOE JACKSON. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
...quoth Drew Carey, master of ceremonies, when the glitterati gathered in Los Angeles last week to pay tribute to the many humanitarian endeavours of Bono, lead singer of popular Irish beat combo U2
In a Hot Press exclusive brian kennedy is interviewed by his friend Pat McCABE. On the agenda: Belfast, religion, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and the current state of popular music. Pics: Cathal Dawson
After more than 15 years in the business, Aslan are still able to command massive, devoted audiences in music venue and record shop alike. John Walshe joins the Lions' club on the road
...or was it? U2's recent Irish dates were greeted with everything from wide-eyed adoration to open hostility. BILL GRAHAM was in the crowd at Pairc Uí Caoimh and the RDS and puts the Zoo TV experience into perspective. Pix: COLM HENRY
Heineken/Hot Press Awards presenter ULRIKA JONSSON offers her thoughts on fame, comedy, motherhood, relationships, loyalty and the media A? as well as a very final word on Stan Collymore. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING.
Fame has come remarkably quickly for Lily Allen, with her sensational debut album Alright, Still hitting the No.1 spot in the week of its release. But, with babysitting for Bez on her CV, anything is a breeze – and the bolshie young singer is taking it all in her stride. Plus, having lived in Ireland for a number of years, she has more than a few interesting tales to tell. Just don’t ask her about Bob Geldof...
Chris Robinson of Southern American rock giants The Black Crowes talks to Graham Nellan about his “total fuckin’ Shangri-La” lifestyle of sex ’n’ drugs ’n’ MTV . . . while looking for a bottle of vinegar.
Frank Black is something of the Paul McCartney of the alternative set - one quarter of a hugely influential band but struggling to recapture that muse throughout a patchy solo career.
From Sting to Frank Zappa, Derek Bell has been literally instrumental in establishing The Chieftains as your average rock legend’s favourite group. Liam Fay hears the full story about his ice cream binges with Van Morrison and his special liking for rosewood oboes!
From small-time ramshackle punk'n'Irish troubadours to 'international touring act' in the space of six incident-packed years, The Pogues have not only produced music to consistently surprise and delight - they've put it in the charts too! With the help of band members Phil Chevron and Jem Finer, Bill Graham examines The Pogues' enigma in advance of the outfit's impending Christmas single 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah' (phew!) and their seasonal show at The Point Depot in Dublin.
Sex? Yep. Drugs? Uh-huh. Rock 'n' Roll? Yesireebob! Aerosmith were no strangers to the unholy trinity of debauchery during the '70's and early '80's but find that having cleaned up ten years ago they're now cleaning up with the punters. Not that they're beyond having fun, fun and, er, more fun as our resident boogiemeister Stuart Clark finds out.
It’s off to the most Northerly gig in the country with the island angels of ALTAN as BILL GRAHAM spends a weekend in Donegal with our most dynamic traditional outfit and posits the theory that by looking to the past for inspiration Altan may hold a significant key to the future.
The rise and fall of chef CONRAD GALLAGHER was Icarus-like – one moment the toast of Dublin’s glitterati, the next a virtual pariah.
but unlike Icarus, Gallagher has fought his way back, bloodied but unbowed and determined to pay off all his debts
Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN
Don’t let her steal your heart away!
sheryl crow: Hot Press Readers’ Love Of The Year and Bob Dylan’s favourite singer-songwriter is the hottest new star in rock'n'roll. Helena Mulkerns charts the singular rise of Kennet, Missouri’s most celebrated slacker country queen.
The author and former Conservative MP on clashing with Ian Paisley, shaking hands with Gerry Adams, sex and drugs in the house of commons, what Margaret Thatcher did and didn’t know about her closest aides and why kissing and telling on John Major is justified
This is THE CHIEFTAINS as you've never encountered them before - more like mad, trad and dangerous to know than the grand-daddies of Irish traditional music. Smoking dope with Philip Lynott! Busting muscles through wild sex! Yes, it's the bits that aren't in the official biography. But, soft, not a word to Paddy, OK? Part One of an exclusive two-part interview. By JOE JACKSON.
When the offer came to produce the new Rolling Stones album in Dublin what answer could Don Was give but a resounding ‘Yes’. Mick, Keef & Co. are the latest in a long and impressive list of the man’s studio credits which includes Bob Dylan, The B-52’s, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and Paula Abdu. But throw in the small matter of the career of Was (Not Was) and the musical rehabilitation of errant Beach Boys’ genius Brian Wilson and we’re talking major industry player here. Bill Graham takes up the story . . .
U2 manager Paul McGuinness is among the most powerful players in the music industry. To coincide with the DVD release of U2’s classic ZOO TV Live From Sydney, he talks candidly about his relationship with the band and their controversial decision to move part of their business empire to the Netherlands in order to lower their tax burden.
Long before boomtime Ireland there was boomtown Ireland, a country where the national symbol was not a tiger but a rat. to coincide with the release of the best of the boomtown rats, Bob Geldof looks back to the tepid Irish scene of the mid-’70s from which the rats emerged, biting, snarling and laughing, to take on the establishment, Britain and, almost, the world.
Now, there's a sentence you don't see every day. But when Hot Press hooks up with Ronnie Wood, there's always more where that came from. Read on to learn why the Stones won't be playing the "Party In The Palace", why Ronnie can be found in Arizona before tours and about the new DVD that captures Andrea and Slash's special relationship
DEREK BELL on art, spirituality and porn! MARTIN FAY on Sean O'Riada, Carnegie Hall and drink! And PADDY MOLONEY on superstar friends, Bono's problematic vocals and his critics, inside and outside the group. Yes, it's the second and final part of JOE JACKSON'S extraordinary interview with THE CHIEFTAINS.
It’s the second night of The Pixies’ three-gig run in the Olympia, and like the other two shows, this date is completely sold out. It’s not hard to fathom the level of interest, as the pitch is pretty irresistible – the legendary quartet performing Doolittle, one of the greatest ever alternative albums, in its entirety.
Those who loved the Pumpkins circa the sublime Siamese Dream should rejoice: although Zwan exhibit a far more poppy, straight-ahead musical approach, Corgan and his one remaining Pumpkins bandmate Jimmy Chamberlin seem to have rediscovered the freshness and liveliness that characterised that album.
24-inch, 'raging hard', double-ended dildos ahoy - this is the full, behind the counter account of the shelf gratificaton to be found in your friendly, local Dublin sex emporium
They go together like a horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other - or words to that effect. In fact, however, even rock 'n' roll has yet to invent an erotic language that does justice to the breadth and complexity of human desire. In pushing out the boundaries, madonna has taken on the role of sexual pioneer, and done it with courage and no little success. Niall Stokes weighs up the evidence . . .
WITH THIS album, recorded live in one night at the Bottom Line Club in New York, the irrepressible LW3 celebrates a quarter of a century of, as he puts it, "earning a damn good living on the periphery of the music business".
A dreamlike film, it takes the ethereal Robert Drewe novel My Sunshine as its source rather than Peter Carey’s excellent True History Of The Kelly Gang, and truncates or skips many episodes of the Kelly saga.
The penultimate heat of this increasingly tense battle for a coveted place in next month's grand final saw five more contenders fight it out at this fine venue on the banks of the Shannon
With their southern drawl vocals, jangling guitars, big hair and their mightily tight denim jeans, the crowd are captivated from the start as the Kings of Leon take us on a journey of life on the dusty roads of Oklahoma and Memphis.
Charlie Watts once famously said of the first 25 years with the Rolling Stones that it was five years of music and twenty years of waiting around. What a pity that those twenty idle years were not used for such splendid projects as this rewarding adventure with that equally decent skinsman Jim Keltner.
YOU KNOW, Sam Snort was beginning to run out of hope that the true spirit of rock 'n' roll could ever be redeemed in these scabrous times. But now it has. It has indeed.
With Bono and Simon Carmody orchestrating it, and Kila minding the gap, the recording of a tribute to one of the most important and widely loved figures in the history of Irish music turned into a very special occasion indeed.
It was the year Annie Kelly posthumously made her mark on the Northern Prison system and Janet Jackson caused uproar with her mammary moment at the Super Bowl. All in all, 2004 was a weird but not always wonderful 12 months.
It was the year Annie Kelly posthumously made her mark on the Northern Prison system and Janet Jackson caused uproar with her mammary moment at the Super Bowl. All in all, 2004 was a weird but not always wonderful 12 months.
THE INTERNET has already been utilised to flog every kind of consumer good imaginable, from cut-glass cutlery to left-handed monkey wrenches. Now, even portable commodes have got their own homepage, in the shape of the Bumper Dumper website.
The Bumper Dumper is a stand-alone toilet which can be taken on field trips such as hunting and fishing expeditions, or even on off-roading excursions.
"No more searching for the perfect bush to squat behind," says the on-site blurb. "No more squatting and finding out later it was poison ivy! No more falling off the unstable porta potty! No more concern for germs from public facilities!
"When you have to go . . . you CAN! And with the privacy curtain, you might forget that you are miles from home."
http://www.myfreeoffice.com/rsenterprises/ n
There was a time when being shortsighted was regarded as a major handicap. However with the popularisation of contact lenses the necessity of wearing specs has diminished. Meanwhile the design of frames has improved so dramatically that prescription glasses and shades alike have become a hot fashion item. Report: Colm O’Hare.
Travel back in time, say, to twenty years ago. At that time few people would have believed that at a time not far into the future we would be able to watch virtually every major film that was ever made in the comfort of our own home on our television screens.
Over the past 12 months, The Mighty Boosh have made the transition from cult favourites to arena-filling icons. Noel Fielding chats to Ed Power about playing huge venues, his friend Russell Brand's recent difficulties, and borrowing clothes from Courtney Love.
Annual article: From the strange to the mundane, from poetic champions to pornographic novels, from maverick auteurs to great lost crime novels: it was a hell of a year to be a reader.
To make it in the rock 'n' roll business you need a dream, a vision, a sparkle in your eye . . . and tons and tons of equipment. STUART CAROLAN guides you to the best bargains and damnedest deals in this Hot Press Equipment Special.
The relationship between drugs and creativity has always been a hotly debated subject. But narcotic indulgence has proven to be the downfall of many a gifted artist.
