It is a measure of how far Bill Clinton has dragged the US down that so much of the media remained paralysed for months over the Juanita Broaddrick story.
Bill Clinton has written to the organisers of the Good Vibrations Records anniversary concert to commend the label, along with boss Terri Hooley, for their support
Best known as the author of the modern noir classic LA Confidential, JAMES ELLROY is back in the spotlight with his new book The Cold 6000, a factional encounter with late 20th century America.
Here, the straight-talking Ellroy tells why JFK was second-rate and J. Edgar Hoover a fiend, why Bill Clinton is a horrible human being and George W. Bush not as bad as we think, and why Martin Luther King was the greatest American man of the last century
Words: DANNY ILEGEMS
When she learned that she had a fatal illness, the British feminist writer Jill Tweedie was much comforted by her friend Jon Snow, the Channel Four television news presenter.
Despite sub-standard displays against Israel and the Faroes, Tony Cascarino remains confident that the Republic of Ireland will qualify for Germany 2006. Even if Clinton Morrison can't get to grips with the offside rule!
With the 2008 battle for the White House turning into the most gripping saga in years, the best-selling novel The Race, by Richard North Patterson, could hardly be more timely.
Cornershop have re-opened for business with a little help from Noel Gallagher and none at all from the BBC. Stuart Clark finds Tjinder Singh is less than miffed
Don't tread on us, said Buffalo Bill Clinton, and the Cruise missiles shot off at Baghdad. Hitting this and missing that, amassing what the Americans presumably see as acceptable "collateral damage", including six civilians.
Philip Watt, director of the National Consultative Committee On Racism and Interculturalism, outlines the urgent and necessary response to racism in ireland
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
Currently riding the crest of a wave following the unexpected chart success of ‘Danger! High Voltage’, Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine here puts paid to those rumoured Jack White/Bill Clinton collaborations.
Cracking 4-tracker from this new Belfast label – our favourites are Scoper and Bubba’s hip electro-funker and New Aluminists and Phil Kieran’s techy ‘Clinton Bleeps’. Excellent.
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
He may have an image as a political bruiser, but even if he is prepared to engage Bertie in a head-butting contest, Michael Noonan would rather win over the electorate by the more gentle art of persuasion. Joe Jackson meets the Fine Gael leader to discuss public issues and personal traumas, and discovers why he's partial to drink and Bill Clinton but opposed to Sinn Fein, the Bertie bowl and tax breaks for sports stars.
Maureen Bolger's son Darren committed suicide in 2003, at the age of 16. This tragedy inspired her to create Teen-Line Ireland to assist other young people at risk.
The ace bass in the STONE ROSES and PRIMAL SCREAM, MANI is the living embodiment of the concept of largin it . In Ireland to dee-jay and hang out, he sinks a few beers and offers his uniquely colourful thoughts on music, Man U, drugs, Thatcher, Reagan, Blair and Bill Clinton s blow-jobs. Interview: EAMON SWEENEY.
The year began with contrasting and contradictory alignments. On the one hand, the United States were about to invest a new president, a young, rock’n’roll-loving sax-playing boyo from the south called Bill Clinton, offering the possibility of America as the last great hope again.
After a lengthy period spent "feeding my brain" CERYS MATTHEWS insists she’s really "up for it" again. Although our stop press news suggests her optimism may be slightly premature. Meantime, OLAF TYARANSEN hears about love, politics, presidents, boy bands and CATATONIA's best album yet
It was one of rock's most bizarre and impressive spectacles - the MANIC STREET PREACHERS live in Cuba, in front of an audience including Fidel Castro! STUART CLARK was there, and spoke to JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD about Bill Clinton, Top Of The Pops, Bono, Elian Gonzales and the band's new album
It's been a long strange trip and no mistake, one that describes a discernible line from
Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music through to the Handsome Family.
But there's even more going on beneath the surface. GREIL MARCUS, the music critic's music critic,
is PETER MURPHY's guide on a mystery train whose other passengers include Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Mark Twain, Nick Cave, The Blair Witch, Bill Clinton, The Band, Siniad O'Connor, Beck, William Burroughs, William Faulkner and Bob Dylan. And that's just the first class carriage. All aboard
U2 have hit out at former first lady Hilary Clinton after it was revealed that she is using their Washington concert as an opportunity to fundraise for the Democrat Party.
Born in Washington DC, Lily Neill took up the harp at age nine; five years later she was performing for then-president Bill Clinton and appearing as featured soloist in the premiere of John Cameron’s ‘Missa Celtica’.
From Bill Clinton’s infidelity to his country’s version of foreign policy, the concept of “moral indefensibility” makes a twisted kind of sense in the United States
The Hype are one of countless brave bands struggling to make headway with no money to spend on recording and saddled with a manager in a similar plight
With The Panel set to return for a series of election specials, show regular Mairead Farrell discusses the state of the body politic, doorstep meetings with Bertie Ahern and her encounter with Bill Clinton.
Day two, and Franz Ferdinand provide pure entertainment, That Petrol Emotion win the attention of a new generation and the Body And Soul area hosts the mother of all night parties.
The Sex Pistols are back! In what has the look of a major coup for the event, punk’s great trailblazers are among this year’s headliners at Electric Picnic 2008, which takes place in Stradbally over the final weekend in August.
Though the tendency of western governments towards corruption and warmongering can induce despair in even the most optimistic of people, it is important to remember that change can be achieved – albeit incrementally.
Sex terrorist and cultural magus Mark Simpson dives lad-first into the world of sex through a lends in his uncompromisingly candid new collection of essays, sex terror - erotic misadventures in pop culture
It’s August. Dog days. Holiday time. Offices of state close down and decisionmakers cut and run. It’s a time when a good family man ought to be taking to the countryside, or the sun and sand. Buckets and spades.
Will the election of Barack Obama to the White House usher in a new era of peace and global harmony? Or is there a danger we are pinning too much hope on the shoulders of one man?
It’s time for the tobacco industry to pay the price for the damage caused by cigarette smoking. Solicitor PETER McDONNELL explains why he’s leading the campaign in Ireland and why the Government “needs to push the button now”.
Report: COLM O'HARE
While U.S. voters went to the polls in key states like California, Arizona, New York and New Jersey on "Super Tuesday" to decide on party nominations for President, expatriate Democrats living in Ireland also got their chance to vote.
Why do people read magazines? An interesting poser in view of the last decade: the era that brought us multimedia and the Internet, the cultural idea of “dumbing down”, and that saw “content” production in the media – what we read, what we listen to, what we even hear about – fall conclusively into the hands of the profit-or-die multinationals. The question is in the news pages this month following reports that landmark American music and youth culture magazine Rolling Stone is breaking with its 35-year tradition of intelligent cultural and political journalism to move into the racy male-lifestyle-mag arena, under the stewardship of British editor Ed Needham, famous for giving the world “lad” magazine FHM.
For a city so often celebrated in song, it was inevitable that the horrific events in new york would be felt as keenly in the music world as in any other section of society. STUART CLARK reports on the industry response and compiles a broad selection of individual reactions to the attack
There is nothing more odious, to paraphrase a famous quip, than the British press in one of its fits of moral outrage. And it’s true. Nothing can compare. And I’m not just referring to the tabloids . . .
Why do people read magazines? An interesting poser in view of the last decade: the era that brought us multimedia and the Internet, the cultural idea of “dumbing down”, and that saw “content” production in the media – what we read, what we listen to, what we even hear about – fall conclusively into the hands of the profit-or-die multinationals. The question is in the news pages this month following reports that landmark American music and youth culture magazine Rolling Stone is breaking with its 35-year tradition of intelligent cultural and political journalism to move into the racy male-lifestyle-mag arena, under the stewardship of British editor Ed Needham, famous for giving the world “lad” magazine FHM. …
In the middle of the present rather straitened times, it may seem a bit previous, as they say in Cavan, to be talking about the recession bottoming out. well, actually, in its own rather weary wary piddly way, it is.
In domestic politics, there was a curious sense throughout the year of everything and nothing staying the same. The tribunals progress continued apace, but the effect on Fianna Fail was not easily quantifiable.
Colm O'Hare meets radio DJ and presenter Ryan Tubridy who has forsaken the hallowed halls of RTE Radio 1 for the rough and tumble that is 2FM's Breakfast Show
At a time when the British hip-hop scene is again witnessing extreme violence, COLM WALSH meets MC HARVEY of SO SOLID CREW and discovers how the problem is affecting the UK garage scene
CHRIS BARRY's attempts to free himself from his FM104 contract have resulted in one of the messiest and most ill-tempered court battles seen in Ireland for a long time. STUART CLARK analyses the proceedings so far and profiles some of Barry's shock-jock contemporaries across the water.
There is no doubting that politics is a dirty game. Everywhere. People here may sniff their superiority over the sleazebags in England and America, and how we don’t dump on a cabinet minister for bonking five secretaries and getting caught. But in truth it’s just as dirty on this island as anywhere else.
Irish football fans had plenty to cheer in 2004 as The Boys In Green marched to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, and Shelbourne went stud to stud with some of Europe’s finest.
ANI Di FRANCO has confirmed her position as one of the 90s most compelling performers with her new album Up, Up, Up, Up, Up Up. But there has always been more to Di Franco than her music. Here she talks to SIOBHAN LONG about her hard-won independence, corporate America and the stupidity of conservativism.
As U2 gear up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they meet HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane all impressed as Steve Staunton’s reign as Ireland manager got off to the perfect start. Tony Cascarino examines how Euro 2008 qualification could be a little trickier though…
If you’re gonna be a one hit wonder, you might as well invent the dominant form of music for the ensuing decades. Released in 1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first hip-hop single to go gold, putting the group on American Bandstand and Soul Train long before Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.
After a gap of half a lifetime, Steve Wall is back living in the house he grew up in and learning to love DIY. He also recalls his days as a greyhound. Photography by Cathal Dawson
When Patti Smith came up with Rock N Roll Nigger in the 70s, she marked herself out as one of the most articulate and confrontational performers of her generation. On the eve of her visit to Ireland, the High Priestess of American Punk Poetry talks to Peter Murphy about art, music, the people she s lost and why she ll never give in to political correctness
Sybil Mulcahy might put on the glam as an entertainment reporter for TV3, but when it comes to house buying and furnishing, she’s the picture of prudence.
Together for only a year, MR NORTH are causing more polarisation on the Dublin rock circuit of than any band since the legendary Muff Divers.
Within the past six months they've been tipped for world domination by some and written off by others as nothing but ground up Chili Peppers. Which side will you be on when lines are drawn? Interview: TARA MC CARTHY
If having your music featured on every TV programme from TFI Friday to England v Morocco is a measure of success, then CORNERSHOP are now one of the biggest bands in the world. Multi-instrumentalist BEN AYRES talks to STUART CLARK about Noel Gallagher collaborations, festivals, royalties, The Blind Boys Of Alabama and that Fatboy Slim remix.
Having spent decades trying to cast off the legacy of colonialism are we now in danger of being sucked into the anglosphere at the cost of our European identity?
Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill man Richard Curtis is back with another film that has heartstrings and funnybones in its sights. But is Love Actually any good? Craig Fitzsimons and Tara Brady endeavour to find out
As the Bush-Gore election night morphed into pure strung-out political farce, a footloose hotpress writer found himself hunkered down in Amherst, Massachusetts, the place Emily Dickinson and Dinosaur Jnr have both called home. With smalltown American as his window on the world, this is the view that Peter Murphy got
jasper carrott's days as a director of Birmingham City FC may be long gone, but despite having some 20 successful years in the comedy business behind him, there are still some people out there who haven't forgiven the Brummie for his 1975 single 'Funky Moped'/'Magic Roundabout'.
Interview: Barry Glendenning.
When liam fay went along to interview comedienne and chat show host ruby wax, he expected a garrulous, loud, flashy American who would brook no argument as to the sheer wondrous fabulousness of her televisual output. What he got was a garrulous, loud, flashy American who was almost touchingly keen to disown most of the programmes she has starred in during her career, and eager to proclaim herself a serious artiste . . . not to mention her burning ambition to interview Yasser Arafat.
Peter Murphy takes a train to the wild west (Galway that is) with the original Texas Jewboy, crime writer and legendary stardust cowboy Kinky Friedman. Peter Matthews has the negatives.
Part two of our glance back over the year that was, complete with clickable quotes so you can read each and every article in full, if you like. And you know you like! So don't just sit there. Get reading...
It was the day the world stood still to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office and start his historic Presidency. Millions gathered on Washington’s mall to see him sworn in – including campaign staffer Patrick Reilly, who'd travelled all the way from Ireland to bear witness.
The bombing of Serbia is not about the fate of Kosovar Albanians. Rather, the colossal NATO military machine has been unleashed to establish the right of the United States, as the sole remaining superpower, to impose its will on the world.
By EAMONN McCANN. Pics Courtesy: The Star
That’s ICE T, mind, and make sure you use capitals. The rapper turned TV star is coming to a stage near you, and still has plenty to say about hip hop/rock, Michael Moore, George Bush, acting, porno and, of course, ho’s.
In the wake of the IRA’s complete cessation of violence, the Unionist community must engage in a process of re-defintion – because while they have been clinging to the last vestiges of the British Empire, the world around them has been transformed. By Bill Graham.
Ahead of the release of his new movie, Irish boxing melodrama Strength And Honour, Michael Madsen reflects on a career that been sometimes troubled but never boring.
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
David Baldacci‘s unsavoury contacts within the vast American military-industrial complex have lent authenticity to his tangled tales of insider dealings in the corridors of power
Having covered two of his songs on her Throw Down Your Arms album, Sinéad O’Connor duets with Lee “Scratch” Perry on the American version of his Panic In Babylon set.
As the General Election looms, many polls suggest Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is the next Taoiseach in waiting. So what is he really like? And where does he stand on the issues that matter to Hot Press readers?
“I hate these questions,” cries David Holmes, DJ, re-mixer, producer, free associate, film-scorer and friend to the stars. Yet he gamely faces the pan-ish inquisition that is the hotpress mixed grill
With Cameron Crowe s Almost Famous putting rock hackery on the silver screen, no less, Peter Murphy wonders if Seventies rock journalism is the new rock n roll. Helping him with his enquiries: PAUL MORLEY and GREIL MARCUS
Hot Press' answer to Russell Grant, Jackie Hayden, slips into his chunky-knit jumper, gazes at his crystal ball and comes up with more predictions that probably won't come true. Like last year.
There’s no pipe of peace – in fact no pipe at all from the non-smoking sinn féin leader – as Olaf Tyaransen asks if, given Osama Bin Laden’s use of terror as a political weapon, Gerry Adams might not have some sympathy for the world’s most wanted man. that question and other contentious queries relating to the IRA, Jean McConville and the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe are dealt with in an interview which also takes in Eoghan Harris, George Bush and Bono, and ends with the interviewee humming a familiar Monty Python tune.
Californian-born JIM PAGE is no ordinary protest singer. Best known on this side of the Atlantic as the writer of such classics as 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette', his music has continued to move hearts and minds well into the corporate nineties. Here, he traces his roots from Bob Dylan to Public Enemy, and explains why he wrote a special song in tribute to Sinead O'Connor. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN
GER PHILPOTT examines the terrible ordeal of American writer Robert drake who was savagely attacked in Sligo earlier this year against the wider backdrop of continuing violence against gays in Ireland.
Well it’s one for the money Two for the show
US3 GET READY . . .
. . . Now go cats go! When a critic talks about awarding his favourite gig, album and band of the year accolades to the same outfit then we gotta be talking about something special. In this case it’s transatlantic Jazz Rappers US3. And the, er, critic in question: MR. STUART CLARK
He wrote speeches for Bertie and then criticised him in the press using a pseudonym. He turned down an offer to party with Bono. And Richard Boyd Barrett once nicked one of his crass albums. All this plus the importance of economics, the threat posed by the Bush administration and the truth about power are on the agenda, as Paul Nolan meets David McWilliams.
Bobby Gillespie's still staying up all night but now it's because there's a baby in the house. Otherwise, it's all systems go for Primal Scream at their bunker hq - Witnness cometh, Mani's back and Kate Moss, Kevin Shields, Robert Plant and AndrewWeatherall all feature on the groundbreaking evil high
An icon of the radical left, Noam Chomsky has long been one of the fiercest critics of US foreign policy. During a rare visit to Ireland, he explains why the Bush Presidency might be the most dangerous yet.
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, a growing number, including respected foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, are starting to ask uncomfortable questions about September 11 and the War on Terror it provoked.
Two major London newspapers recently ran large advertisements which contained the most extraordinary injunctions to world leaders - and proposed the direst of consequences should they fail to comply. Under the dramatic headline World News Flash, it was confidently predicted that the world would end on July 25th 1994.But will it? And who is behind this incredible attempt to save us all from imminent extinction? LIAM FAY reports
As Secretary Of State in Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam [pic left by Mick Quinn] played a crucial role in formulation and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It helped that she is no conventional politician but rather a warm, down-to-earth and decent individual with a genuine commitment to positive action. in both the UK and Ireland, she became by far the most popular British figure in the history of Northern politics - which may explain why, in the end, she was shafted.
whinging, yak-herding and masturbating over the sunday dinner are just three of the tenuously-related subjects that come up for discussion as stuart clark gets completely wireless with radiohead plankspanker from hell colin greenwood.
History is likely to remember FW de KLERK as the man whose most significant political accomplishment ensured his own political downfall. Peter Murphy meets the last South African President to hold power in the era of apartheid. Pic: COLM HENRY.
With the focus of world attention increasingly on Unionism and its capacity to respond positively to the IRA ceasefire, IAN PAISLEY JNR. – the son of Dr Ian Paisley – talks about culture and the Protestant identity, about his father’s emotive brand of politics, about secret deals and about ‘that petty little Fuehrer’ Albert Reynolds. Interview: Joe Jackson. Pix: COLM HENRY
The wild rise and fall of the coke-snorting, heavy boozing, rampantly horny music biz mogul who knew Dylan, Jagger, Jackson, Springsteen and Streisand better than most. And now he’s ready to tell all.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers visited Lansdowne Road, Dublin on July 8 but we caught up with the band in Paris recently and heard why the west coast warriors of funk-rock have never been hotter
ned o'hanlon and maurice linnane, the men behind media company dreamchaser productions, aren't given to false modesty. And why should they be, given that their recent list of clients includes Garth Brooks, U2 and the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame? siobhÁN LONG meets the men who once adopted Gary Oldman for an all-night bender in America.
As Barack Obama gets ready to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Bob Geldof, Josh Ritter and Laura Izibor offer their views on his presidency. Plus what the rest of the rock ‘n’ roll community including Bruce Springsteen and Ani DiFranco are saying about the new man in the White House.
How Bubba Sparxxx went from being nose-down in a bowl of coke to becoming hip-hop's greatest white hope since Eminem. Peter Murphy hears how the southerner fell and rose
In the second part of the Hot Press interview, An Taoiseach Brain Cowen talks about his political influences, the fall out from the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and more...
A former member of the UVF, David Ervine was jailed in 1974 on explosives charges. His paramilitary past notwithstanding, he has emerged in recent years as one of the most impressive politicians in Northern Ireland. The subject of a new biography by Henry Sinnerton, here he talks about Johnny Adair, drink, drugs, his family and the crisis facing Unionism that threatens to derail the peace process
Sci-fi revolutionary and reluctant cyberpunk, William Gibson marks the publication of his new novel pattern recognition by offering Peter Murphy a peek into the present and a brief history of the future.
While Zinedine Zidane's return makes the task considerably more difficult, Ireland have both the players and mental strength to beat France in next week's crucial World Cup qualifier. That's the verdict of our panel of celebrity fans who tell Killian Murphy why they're looking forward to another night of international footballing glory.
As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, MO MOWLAM M.P. has one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in British and Irish politics. The task facing her is an unenviable one: to bring together the two extremes of both traditions, however briefly, for the purposes of all-party talks. In this exclusive interview, she talks about the difficult journey to date, and the immense challenges which lie ahead of her. Our man who went to Mo:
JOE JACKSON.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
DAVE FANNING meets the inimitable ROBBIE WILLIAMS to talk about his latest album, his battles with the booze, the Take That legacy, his desire to play a politically incorrect James Bond, a vaguely remembered visit to Bono s loo and why he loves and hates The Beatles
But try finding someone who doesn’t like it. The album Monster is yet another glittering addition to arguably the most astonishing canon in pop music, ever. Here, in a historic summit, the world’s greatest fortnightly rock paper gets together with the world’s greatest rock band for an intimate chat about the big issues: sex, death, drinking and, of course, rrrrrock’n’roll. What else is there? Interview: Liam Fay
With the launch of a commemorative series of Irish postage stamps celebrating four of the nation's most important rock legends, we revisit some of the seminal moments in the careers of Phil Lynott, Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison and - first - U2
Jackie hayden meetsjournalist turned PR guru, Tony O Brien and speaks to him about his rock n roll adventures with the likes of U2, Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen.
As Albert Reynolds basks in the post-ceasefire glow and Dick Spring’s Labour party strives to assert its
independence in government, BILL GRAHAM believes that the real losers in the new political landscape are the Progressive Democrats.
Leaving behind his desk job, Paul Oakenfold has enlisted a galaxy of stars to perform vocal duties on hs new album Bunkka including Tricky, Nelly Furtado and, uh,
Hunter S. Thompson
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, Sharon Shannon has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: Gerry McGovern.
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, SHARON SHANNON has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN.
Opening our U2 special, DERMOD MOORE catches up with ADAM CLAYTON during the UK leg of the Elevation tour, and delves deep into the physics of music celebrity, politics and, er, penises
In a candid interview, Sylvester Stallone talks about his lost years and explains why he’s happy that America’s Christian right has embraced the new Rocky movie as a ‘spiritual’ film.
Irish legend, Arsenal loyalist and now manager of Champions League surprise package Leeds United, DAVID O'LEARY knows the game of football inside out. Here he talks to STUART CLARK about money, agents, Après Match, Eircom Park, Man Utd., Robbie Keane, Mick McCarthy, his rows with Jack Charlton and Brian Kerr, and why he definitely wants to manage Ireland - at 50!
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.
FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINAL Huey Morgan offers stuart clark a guided tour of the rotten apple, detouring occasionally to take in topics such as California Mist, London gangsters, Tricky, Ian McCulloch and Tony Bennett, as well as his high-profile relationship with Jerry Hall’s daughter. And, let’s see now, there was one thing . . . oh yes “every American’s inalienable right to have nails hammered through their scrotum if they want”.
Blow me down, it’s that chirpy Counting Crow adam duritz again, flapping his vocal chords on everything from bunking off the MTV awards, why the Rolling Stones are still “fucking great” and why he won’t be emigrating to Utah just yet. Witness for the defence: Niall Crumlish.
Ian Hunter, the former voice of MOTT THE HOOPLE, is back with a 38-track Greatest Hits & Rarities double-CD, plus an all-new album, From The Knees Of My Heart, to follow later this year. Now, from where past and present collide, he explains how he once broke into Elvis Presley s Gracelands, how he produced hits for Billy Idol and what it was like to tour with Queen as your support act. He even finds time to tell tales about Marc Bolan, Mick Ronson, and, incidentally, Mott The Hoople too Andy Darlington listens in.
Spike Lee is a firebrand film-maker and not one to mince his words. So what is the spiritual father of African-American cinema doing making an old fashioned heist flick?
25 years after the publicaton of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, doctor hunter s. thompson remains the originator and unequalled exponent of Gonzo journalism, an author as famous for his own high-octane, outlaw lifestyle as he is for the remarkable series of books and articles which made him a rock star of the written word.
Tracked down to his lair in the Colorado mountains, Thompson lives up to all expectations in this exclusive interview and story by daniel senstius and jurrien dekker. Photography: chris van houts.
. . . and listening too. GERRY McGOVERN discusses the distressing implications of the latest surveillance and state security technology with TOM COONEY of the Irish Council of Civil Liberties.
phish
are a bone-fide American underground phenomenon who have gone overground in a very big way. Word of mouth rather than record company hype, initially made their reputation Stateside and now they can boast of chart success,
mega-audience attendance and their very own devoted following of Phisheads. But is Europe ready for the 90s equivalent of The Grateful Dead extended jams, waccy baccy, patented ice-cream flavours and all?
peter murphy
investigates.
A top American psychologist claims she has unearthed disturbing evidence of CIA involvement with British Intelligence in Northern Ireland.
Olaf Tyaransen reports.
Paul McCartney talks of life after linda, September 11th and the memories of his firefighter father, being 'lucky enough' to write with John Lennon and his new solo album, Driving Rain
The still vibrant 64-year-old on why Morrissey’s like Father Frank, why Iraq is like Vietnam, and on her meetings with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Bono, Phil Spector and a whole Oval Office full of presidents.
Republic Of Loose are that rarest of beasts – an Irish rock band who can get their groove on. Ahead of the release of their new album, they talk about standing out from the crowd.
He was a midwife to grunge and has worked with artists as diverse as Marilyn Manson, Hole and Ozzy Osbourne. Far from being a studio boffin, though, Michael Beinhorn believes modern music is too often reliant on technology.
Ireland’s biggest transatlantic TV star, Graham Norton has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Bandon. In his new tell-all autobiography, So Me, Norton writes about his tumultuous rise to the top, living in the media spotlight, keeping A-list company and coping with emotional upheaval. “It’s an uncertain time in my life,” he tells Olaf Tyaransen.
from reagan to bush; from radio free europe to clear channel; from green to reveal; from the sfx to marlay park. REM call time out and Peter Buck fills in the gaps from 1983 to 2003. interview Peter Murphy
The legendary GRACE JONES is coming to Dublin.
OLAF TYARANSEN caught up with her in New York to talk about drugs, stalkers, her recent marriage and period pains.
Journalist NEIL McCORMICK was a schoolmate of BONO when U2 were taking baby steps. Over the past 25 years their paths have frequently crossed, inevitably in rather more exotic circumstances than a classroom. As another year draws to a close, they meet up again: the result is an unusually intimate portrait of a man who came not to save the world but to serenade it. Plus: a close-up look at some of the most striking songs on All That You Can t Leave Behind
Masturbating for charity – it was a new one on us. So whose idea was it? What was the purpose? Who would turn up? And what would happen in real life, when the doors to the Wank-a-thon were finally declared open? There was only one way to get the real SP on what promised to be one of the most bizarre events ever mounted in London. Send for our man Tyaransen: he wouldn’t make his excuses and leave! Or would he?
With the new publication in book form of a collection of his newspaper columns, the Sinn Féin president addresses matters both personal and political. Here he offers further thoughts on Omagh, death threats and the peace process as well as on music, his late mother, his own family and his vision of a private life beyond politics.
No problem! Eamon Gilmore has just taken over at the helm of the Labour Party. Here, in a wide-ranging interview, he talks about Bertie Ahern, the future of Labour, Gay marriage, God, abortion, bias in the media – and a whole lot more besides.
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden? It doesn t get much
better than this. JOE JACKSON goes
backstage for a brief but revealing encounter with Joni and, from a vantage point to die for, finds two 60s legends who can still send shivers up the spine at the end of the millennium.
Ahead of his 50th birthday, Morrissey talks exclusively to Hot Press about the sexual nature of singing, letting go in the studio, being blacklisted by the UK's Radio One and how he approaches songwriting.
With the general election approaching, the leader of the Labour Party offers his views on Bob Dylan, Bono, Ali Hewson, Sile De Valera, RTE, Sellafield, The Abbey Theatre, marital breakdown, the decline in power of the Catholic Church, the rise of Sinn Fein, the irrelevance of the PDs, his ambitions for Labour, and the perception of him as a smoked salmon socialist. All this, and the enduring appeal of a certain song
He has strong views on Republicanism, Israel, George Bush and Steve Staunton. But, as a TD for Dublin South Central, Michael Mulcahy also reveals how much he loves Fianna Fáil – and how he wouldn’t mind a coalition with the Greens.
An ex-con, a foe of The Krays and a man capable of such acts of violence that he once sliced off a prison guard s ear, Mad Frankie Fraser now makes quite a nice living for himself spinning yarns about his gangster years. Stuart Clark interrogates him about prison, drugs, the IRA, Arsenal and a novel theory on Veronica Guerin s murder which, Fraser insists, the Irish media haven t had the bottle to print. Mugshots: Cathal Dawson
Anti-capitalism, political fundamentalism, life after September 11 and what to tell the kid who has only two stripes on his tracksuit - the celebrated no logo author tells Hotpress about how best to beat the brand.
You thought Noel V Ginnity was a bland cabaret funnyman, peddling lite entertainment to American tourists and OAPs at the Burlington Hotel. But you were wrong! Wince as the 59-year-old Meathman unleashes an unstoppable torrent of vitroilic bile at virtually every other stand-up comedian in Ireland and a whole lot more besides. Interview: liam fay. Pix: mick quinn.
Dublin's unlikely new Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, gets a lot off his chest on subjects as diverse as pomp and ceremony, government discrimination against Dublin, the re-zoning scandal, violence and prostitution on the streets of the capital, conspiracies to undermine the Workers Party and, inevitably, his palpable bitterness towards Democratic Left. Interview: Liam Fay. Pics: Colm Henry.
With ‘Yellow’, Coldplay captured the imagination of even the most resistant of hard-boiled rock’n’roll cynics. Now, as A Rush Of Blood To The Head achieves lift-off in the U.S., even the sky is no longer the limit.
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.
DENIS LEARY, sultan of sneer, is en route to Dublin to star in the Murphy s Ungagged Comedy Festival. By way of a little limbering up, and proving that there s no smoke without fire, here he lets rip on Noraid, The Kennedys, The Royals, Bill Hicks, Dean Martin, Oasis, Father Ted, drugs in Kerry and, oh yes, why he d like to go to Riverdance with a sniper s rifle . Interview: LIAM FAY.
After being a magnet for A&R men during the 80s, Dublin has recently developed into something of an underachiever. The city may have the second biggest growth-rate in Europe but there are a hell of a lot of gigs and records that simply aren t selling. peter murphy casts a critical ear over the capital s music scene and decides that what s required is a full-scale artistic enema.
It is five years since rapper TUPAC SHAKUR was gunned down on the streets of las vegas in a gangland-style shooting that took place on September 7, 1996. Since then he has become the subject of one of modern music’s most bizarre death cults, as he continues to sell millions of records and to top charts all over the world. but behind his death lies a story of hip-hop babylon – a sordid tale of intrigue, egos, drugs, sex, intimidation, violence – and, almost by the way, some great and enduring music.
By PETER MURPHY
And so, unbelievably another year has bitten the dust. Here, continuing a tradition as Christmassy as the eating of turkey and the consumption of way too much alcohol, The Hog reflects on a turbulent year, when we all grew older and much, much wiser.
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 . . .
Well, there s another Paddy s Day gone, and good riddance. What an embarrassment. Even a stroll around town with a hand-spray of weed-killer for squirting on shamrock didn t ease my sense of mortification.
Considerable as the controvery has been over the decision of Judge Kevin Haugh to send questionnaires to the 1,100 potential jurors in Charles Haughey case, one significant factor has been missed.
Having done such a bang up job last year with Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese is turning his attentions to those other rock ‘n’ roll behemoths, The Rolling Stones.
It’s a no-brainer, right? Everygirl’s favourite everygirl, Jennifer Aniston, returns to Pasadena with her dishy lawyer fiancé (Ruffalo) for her sister’s wedding. There, she stumbles upon a sordid piece of family history – that her late mom and wearingly irrepressible grandma (Shirley MacLaine) inspired the book and film of The Graduate. Intrigued, Jen sets off to find the ‘Benjamin Braddock’ of the piece and determine her real paternity.
...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
Establishment rules O.K.! That’s the message to be drawn from ’85s long playing output!
In a year which has been yawn-inducing rather than epoch-making, it speaks volumes about the state of the art that the year’s best buys were reissues of one sort or another by Echo And The Bunnymen, Velvet Underground and The Doors.
Respected as one of the stalwarts of P-funk in his Parliament and Funkadelic days, Bootsy’s still keen to come up with fresh sounds and this collaborative effort sees him teaming up with a host of guests with fairly mixed results
The Earlies have corralled an army of musicians, almost 15 in total, to create an unquestionably ambitious, unbearably ominous album, one that stalks the listener from start to finish.
Even before the opening credit sequence, the zaniness of the presumptuously entitled Fun With Dick And Jane has become truly wearisome. And it’s all downhill from there.
I’m dandering down the Strand Road the other night wondering whether Jacky is on in Mullen’s and, if he is, whether the chances of him advancing me another sub to see me through to the weekend are good, bad or indifferent to the circumstances I find myself in following the inexplicable failure of Queen’s Consul to do the business at Southwell, when who do I encounter but three citizens by the names of Robbo Terry, Barricade Joe and Rosemount Tom and all of them with expressions upon their faces suggesting that they are anticipating this very evening an occasion of passionate joy.
Afro Strut sees this Detroit native work from a clean slate, building up a fresh batch of multi-layered, 21st century wah-wah workouts and nu-soul smoochers from skeletal piano demos.
IT was one of those newsflashes that immediately registers, with a rare piquancy. Eoin Ryan was being promoted to the cabinet, as a junior minister. With responsibility for drugs.
Stop the presses. Ed Zwick, director of such dreary though lavish efforts as Glory and The Last Samurai, has made a reasonably exciting film. No, really. At its best, there are shades of the shackled escapee movie about Blood Diamond.
The six-piece outfit are undeniably exciting, with Holmes’ trademark infectious breakneck apocalyptic voodoo grooves, fleshed out with pulsating bass, pounding drums, stabbed jagged shards of guitar and equal-parts-scary-and-beautiful vocals from rapper Sean Reveron and chanteuse Petra Jean Phillipson.
HAVING DECIDED that smooth career paths are for wimps, Primal Scream have embarked on a flight of musical fancy that's wildly oscillated between brilliance (Screamadelica) and sub-Black Crowes retro cack (Give Out, But Don't Give Up).
Look, like most blokes - and not a few women - of my acquaintance, I have absolutely no problem with Jennifer Lopez taking her clothes off in her videos. To invoke John B. Keane, there's no greater vista in all creation than that of a woman's posterior, and forsooth, the last year has been a decidedly ripe time for connoisseurs of derriere dicolletage.
No expense has been spared here. Stages lift and fall, lasers cut through plumes of dry ice, diaphanous movie screens give the impression of 20ft tall gospel singers towering over the crowd.
Under the X-Press 2, Ballistic Brothers, Black Jazz Chronicles and Black Science Orchestra guises, Ashley Beedle has been responsible for all manner of funky, soulful dance music. Now he s gone and put together Influences, an album that documents his twenty-year-long obsession with music. Words: Richard Brophy.
On the back of five years’ worth of movies that either overtly or covertly address Iraq and the War On Terror, Rendition feels a little late coming out of the starting gates.
Alan Smith’s equalizer against Man Utd. looks to have put paid to the title hopes of Alex Ferguson’s charges. Plus Foul Play’s view on Ireland’s unexpectedly encouraging performance against Brazil.
The Mix-Up is billed as the Beastie Boys’ “first ever album of all-new instrumental material,” although the NYC trio have been playing around with wordless funk and jazz pieces throughout their career.
“And now we havf ze results of ze ‘elseekni jooury” … burble, squeal, zeekzrrzzsngtum … oops, we’re sorry, we’ll write that again … the result of the Hot Press jury, who wish to profusely thank David Byrne for all those pints he bought us in the International Bar last week – even if he did rather endanger his chances with all those neo-structuralist musings about The Bogmen.
In the new Hot Press (published Thursday, May 17th), Minister for Finance Brian Cowen talks about his about his dalliance with dope and the Rainbow coalition’s ”con job”.
The gospel according to Engels: when the capitalist shit hits the ecological fan, the goats shall inherit the earth. Also, the unpleasantly Gore-y details.
The return of Zidane, Thuram and Makelele may have given France a boost - but it is all to play for at Lansdowne Road. So let's make it hot for the visitors...
One of the problems of working for a fortnightly publication is that events can so easily overtake you. Right now, on Monday 9th October, the stark reality is that the Middle East is on the brink of all-out war. By the time you read this, Israel may have forced the region over that brink, potentially plunging Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya and the Lebanon, as well as Palestine, into a full-scale conflict.
A Bob Dylan harmonica, a Slash guitar, a Prince bass and a saxophone signed by former US President Bill Clinton are among the items on offer in a pre-Grammy Awards charity auction.
STUDENTS of religion will no doubt have been struck by the recent spate of articles concerning the relationship between the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and his partner Celia Larkin.
THE UGLY scenes concerning Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne over the transfer of players and bad vibes all round, are symbolic of a recurring syndrome in League of Ireland football.
The 2007 general election is set to be a close-run thing. Which makes it all the more important for people to get to the polls. Because if you don’t vote, you don’t count…
There s a school of thought that says it s not the damage that s done when a child is hurt that causes problems later in life; it s the failure to repair it. Mistakes are made by parents all the time; after all, they are only human.
I VE been in Vivienne Westwood s shop in the King s Road in London a few times. There s a very striking architectural feature to the place. It s a simple idea but genuinely original and somewhat startling. The floor is pitched at an angle, as if you re on board a ship that s about to go down, or the building you re in is beginning to implode. The shop is called World s End.
A note dropped through the letter-box last week from the British Home Secretary Michael Howard, telling me that I’m not welcome at his place any more, which was a surprise and a sore disappointment, since not only has there been a cease-fire in the meantime but I was welcomed in by kind strangers the last time I called.
The stars, dealers, limos and choppers are already gathering for the high point of the social calendar the annual Christmas/New Year party of parties at Snort Towers
There's no middle ground with Prince - you either love him or you loathe him. And so it is with his music; he either touches the skies or plummets the depths.
30th Anniversary Retrospective: Thirty years ago, the USA was engaged in a bloody and illegal war, and led by a discredited President with no compunction about breaking domestic or international law. Sound familiar?
Our columnist recalls the elegant prose of literary craftsmen and footballer Percy M. Young. Plus: The unlamented resignation of EU commissioner Rocco Butiglione and why the American public is perhaps more radical than the recent election results indicated.
From the nun on the bun to Allah on a training shoe, blessed eamonn mccann says 'Amen' to the unholy year of 1997 with all the news that fits through the eye of a needle.
Peer through the murk keenly and you can see the general shape of the settlement promised by the “peace process” that nobody, on pain of being perceived as a bigoted violent bastard, is permitted to oppose. You can even, I think, plot the rough course of the negotiations which might bring it about.
That would certainly seem to be the policy in RTE, where the hugely successful Scrap Saturday was ditched and Extra Extra promoted as A GREAT IDEA. Widely considered Ireland's most talented and controversial comedian, Dermot Morgan has suffered more than most in a climate where safety remains the bottom line. Here he talks about Teasey and Haughey, Bishop Casey's bedroom habits, Chris de Burgh's ladies in bed, the loves Labour have lost in government and what makes a legitimate target – along the way excoriating RTE for their unwillingness to take even the slightest risk in the cause of decent comedy.
Interview: Joe Jackson.
It reads like a scene from Twin Peaks but turns out to be far stranger than any fiction. Bill Graham dons his best John Travolta strides and eavesdrops on the American slants being given to Irish traditions at the Green Linnet Folk Weekender.
Pix: DAVID NEWTON.
