Music News

Johnny Marr insists The Smiths would have only signed to Factory Records over his "dead body".
The guitarist claims rumours they were refused a deal by Tony Wilson's famous label in the 1980s were a "crock of sh*t" and the band preferred being signed to London's Rough Trade.
He told the NME: "If you were a musician in Manchester at that time, it was almost the law that you went on your hands and knees and begged Tony Wilson for his papal blessing to stick you in the studio, and I wasn't about to do that.
"So much has been made of Factory apparently turning The Smiths down, but that's a crock of sh*t.
"The Smiths would have signed to Factory over my dead body ... I didn't want to be assimilated into the Factory aesthetic. Before we knew it, we would've had side-partings and khaki shorts, with bongos round our necks ... No disrespect to A Certain Ratio."
The musician also said The Smiths - including Morrissey, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce - looked like a band "all the f***ing time" and their jeans were specially manufactured by their manager, Joe Moss.
Johnny, 50, said: "Literally no-one else on the planet had those jeans. Mine had little V's in the side, as a tribute to the Perry Boys and Stuart Sutcliffe.
"Morrissey had his made with the big baggy seams at the back, so they were almost falling off him.
"But we didn't have to dress up for Top Of The Pops, because we lived offstage what we lived onstage."

Bastille have joked they're ready to "retire and work in McDonalds".
The 'Pompeii' hitmakers admit they're so happy to be honoured with the Best British Breakthrough prize at the BRIT Awards, held at London's O2 Arena, tonight (19.02.14) that they could now just give up their careers to work in a fast food restaurant.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, frontman Dan Smith joked: "It's completely unexpected to win Best British Breakthrough. We can now give up music, retire and all go and work in McDonalds like we always dreamed."
The quartet - consisting of Dan, Chris Woody, Kyle Simmons and Will Farquarson - fought off stiff competition from the likes of London Grammar, Disclosure, Laura Mvula and Tom Odell for the prize.
However, the band - who released their debut album 'Bad Blood' in March 2013 - admit they never expected to achieve so much success in just a year and they're really grateful for being able to travel the world and meet their fans.
Dan explained: "It's been a wicked year, it's a year no-one, apart from a couple of people, could have predicted. We've been able to go all over the world, it's been ridiculous."
Bastille had also been nominated for Best British Group, Best British Single for their track 'Pompeii' and Best British Album, but narrowly missed out on the gongs.

Harry Styles almost missed One Direction receiving a BRIT Award.
The 'Little Things' hitmakers were honoured with the Global Success prize tonight (19.02.14), but the 19-year-old hunk left his bandmates hanging on-stage while he dashed off to the toilet.
Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were forced to stall time as they waited for the heartthrob to join them.
Quick-thinking Liam, 20, asked the crowd: "Has anyone seen the curly lad? Right, there's four of us now."
He added: "I want to say thank you to our international team, management, the fans."
Then Harry sprinted on stage, snatched the microphone, and said: "I'm really sorry I was having a wee, the toilets are ages away!"
He then whispered to Liam, "what did we win?"
Before adding quickly: "A massive thank you to all our incredible fans. Thank you."
The boyband - who narrowly missed out on British Group and British Single trophies - were presented the award by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley at the glamorous event, held at London's O2 Arena.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Liam said: "It's absolutely amazing to win the award, I can't believe we're here again, third time we've been to the BRITs now, our fourth award, it's absolutely incredible. Getting nominated for the first award was amazing, now we're receiving a Global Success Award."
Niall then did an impromptu rap about winning the gongs as Liam became a human beat-box.

Rudimental aim to "outdo" other performers at the BRITs tonight (19.02.14).
The band - made up of Amir Amor, Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden and DJ Locksmith - are up for three awards and will also take to the stage at London's O2 Arena, joining the likes of Katy Perry, Beyonce, Ellie Goulding, Lorde and Arctic Monkeys.
Amir told The Sun newspaper: "It's a massive line-up. We're going to try to outdo everyone else. We're going to play live and play to our strengths ... we're not gonna have pole dancers or whatever."
Band mate Piers added: "We're playing 'Waiting All Night' and there'll be a 'wow factor'. We'll push the music and the fact that we play everything live."
'Waiting All Night' is up for Best Single at the ceremony, while they are also nominated for Best Group and Best Album for their successful debut, 'Home'.
But they realise they have some stiff competition, going up against One Direction for Best Group, along with Disclosure, Arctic Monkeys and Bastille.
Rudimental are still hopeful and say they are taking the ceremony seriously this year and intend to leave the drinking until the after party.
Amir admits: "At these kind of things the nerves kick in and you have one glass of champagne, then two, three, four, five. We're gonna be doing a little after party, like us and Disclosure. A mash-up boat party.
"We've done so many gigs together and we've seen each other grow, and we play their tunes in our DJ sets."
Later this year, the band will be working on their second album and heading out on the road, touring in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Piers added: "We've been jamming and there are some ideas that we're excited about. There's a funk feel so far - so Amir's got to learn some slap bass."

John Newman wants to take on Jake Bugg in a game of table tennis.
The 'Love Me Again' hitmaker, who will go up against the musician in the Best Male Solo Artist category at the BRITs tonight (19.02.14), claims he only wants to compete with him when it comes to ping-pong.
He told the Metro newspaper: "I've heard Jake's really good at table tennis and I want to play him. I don't want to smack him or fight him. I'd just quite like to play against him. I can hold my own. I could smash his a**e around the table!"
John, 23, feels "fortunate" to be nominated along with Jake, Tom Odell, James Blake and David Bowie, and insists Jake is the only BRIT rival he would dare confront.
He continued: "I wouldn't want to take on James Blake. He is a quiet guy. Or Tom Odell - I love Tom Odell, he's lovely. And David Bowie! Imagine punching Bowie. It would be the most surreal moment of your life and the biggest regret ever."
John insists he wouldn't be bitter if Jake, 19, won the award at London's O2 Arena because he feels he hasn't yet had the recognition he deserves.
He said: "Jake hasn't been credited for the brilliant work he has done yet.
"It is a tough category. I just see it as I am new blood and I feel fortunate to be nominated."
John is also up for Best Single for 'Love Me Again' and Best Video for the same song and said he never stops writing new songs.
He added: "I don't like to stop song-writing or expressing myself and being creative - that's why I do what I do.
"I don't understand how people say, 'I'm writing a new album' - because surely you should write all the time? That way, you'll have more practice, and can make an album with better material."

Kylie Minogue interrupted a fan's gym session to perform her new single.
The 'Spinning Around' hitmaker left fan Adam Milner stunned when she arrived unannounced during his workout at The Factory Gym and Dance Centre in London to perform her song 'Into the Blue' for the first time, after she heard he listens to her music whilst exercising.
Adam - who was busy doing sit-ups - gasped as Kylie, 45, sashayed into the room accompanied by glitter cannons, before hunky dancers disguised as fellow gym members joined the star for the performance of her new single.
Speaking of the performance, Kylie said: "I've never performed in a gym before, so it was a crazy and exciting experience for both me and my fan, Adam.
"I loved Adam's reaction when I walked in and even in his shocked state he still managed to sing along to all the word."
Kylie's performance comes as part of a string of surprises in conjunction with Mastercard's #PricelessSurprises campaign which sees a host of stars such as Pharrell Williams and 'Green Garden' singer Laura Mvula surprise their biggest fans.
All of the videos will be interspersed between the ad breaks during the BRIT Awards tonight (19.02.14) which airs on ITV at 8pm.

Spotify has predicted Bastille will walk away with three Brit awards.
The music streaming service believes the band - which has been nominated for British Group, British Breakthrough, British Single and Album of the Year - will dominate the ceremony tonight (19.02.14) by picking up accolades in almost every category it's nominated in.
Spotify is confident the four-piece - consisting of Dan Smith, Kyle Simmons, Chris Wood and William Farquarson - will walk away with British Breakthrough Act, Best British Single for their track 'Pompeii', and Album of the Year for 'Bad Blood' under their belts.
Will Hope, Director of Label Relations at Spotify, said: "Since their debut in 2010 Bastille has consistently wowed the world with their music and this year's BRIT Awards should reflect their global acclaim."
Spotify also believes Ellie Goulding will win Best Female, Jake Bugg will be honoured for Best Male, Daft Punk will get Best International Group, and Pink will be recognised for Best International Female.
Spotify has predicted the winners of this year's event based on analysis of streams over the past 12 months.
Will added: "We're very excited to see whether the winners shape up to what we've predicted based on the popularity of tracks and artists being streamed on Spotify."
The Brit Awards 2014, hosted by James Corden, will take place tonight at London's O2 Arena.

Pharrell Williams is set to release his new album 'G I R L' next month.
The 'Happy' singer, who is preparing for his performance at the BRITs tonight (19.02.14), will release his new record on Monday, March 3 through Columbia Records.
He said: "When Columbia Records presented me with the opportunity to make an album, three things came to mind. "One was the sense of overwhelming honor that I felt when I realised that they were interested in partnering with me on the album that I had always dreamt of making.
"Two, it would have to feel festive and urgent. And three, I instantly knew it would be called G I R L", adding: "I hope you like it."
'G I R L' is Pharrell's first record in eight years and is set to be released earlier than planned after the success of his single 'Happy', and insiders have described it as "incredible".
The 40-year-old singer was spotted at London restaurant Ping Pong on Monday (17.02.14) with four friends ahead of his BRITs rehearsals with Nile Rodgers.
The star, who won big at the Grammy Awards last month for his collaboration with Daft Punk on hit song 'Get Lucky', also picked up the International Recording Artist award at last night's Style Awards.
He will join the likes of Ellie Goulding, Katy Perry and Lorde at London's O2 Arena for the BRITs.

Tom Odell feels the past 12 months have been a "whirlwind".
The 'Another Love' singer, who is up for two BRIT awards tonight (19.02.14) for Best Male and Best Breakthrough at London's O2 Arena, has barely stopped working since winning last year's Critics' Choice award but insists he couldn't be happier.
He told The Sun newspaper: "It's a whirlwind - just madness. Nothing can prepare you for the attention that comes with it."
Talking about this year's Critics' Choice winner, Sam Smith, he said: "Sam is already doing so well. He already has his record out and album made, which is such a help.
"The past year has been really mad, it has all gone by in the blink of an eye.
"We have been around the world four times - it's hard to take it all in.
"Recently, I found myself doing a show on this remote island in Tanzania and I was like, 'What's going on here?' It has been quite a journey."
The 23-year-old singer, whose album 'Long Way Down' conquered the charts, is currently based in New York where he's recording his second record.
He continued: "I'm always working on new stuff and writing things down in my phone as I go along.
"Everyone asks if the new material will be about lost loves but I honestly don't think about that. I have no theme. It's just what I feel at a particular moment."
Tom is focusing on trying to stay grounded and insists he still takes the tube.
He said: "For me, the most important thing in all of this is to stay normal - to get on the Tube and read books and just be a normal person. I don't know how these people go to red carpet events all the time. Frankly, I would just go insane."