With a rumoured second Martin-Paltrow bun in the oven and sales of last year's X&Y album not quite as staggering as EMI had hoped, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin clearly has to start planning for his family's fiscal future.

The Toronto return of Martin and his mates March 22 should help shore up little Apple's college fund, especially since like-minded purveyor of epic power ballads Richard Ashcroft has stepped in as Coldplay's running – oops! – tourmate.

Fans at their Air Canada Centre show might just be lucky enough to witness a repeat of the double-band Bittersweet Symphony duet that was a high point of the Live 8 debacle. $49.50-$89.50.40 Bay. 416-870-8000.

Source: http://www.nowtoronto.com

For him, Indian culture - be it classical music or Bollywood, has been an influence. “I would like to teach Aishwarya Rai to play the flute,” laughs Ian Anderson, singer, flautist of the band Jethro Tull which is performing at Shanmukhananda Hall on January 31 and February 1.

Last time around we saw them collaborating with Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia; this time Indian rock band Alms For Shanti will have a jam session with Jethro Tull. “It’s more of collaboration. I’m looking forward to it. We will have a rehearsal and it will be fun,” says Anderson.

Anderson has faced a lot of flak for his quirky musical sense as well as appearance, and though Jethro Tull was labeled one of the oldest bands, they still draw the crowds. “The critics said we should retire, like they said Coldplay is coming to an end,” quips Anderson.

Read the full article here

Stones and U2 help industry rebound after terrible 2004

With U2 and the Rolling Stones selling out arenas all across America, the concert business rebounded this past year after a rocky 2004. North American ticket revenue jumped from $2.8 billion in 2004 to $3.1 billion last year, according to the concert-industry trade magazine Pollstar — with the Stones selling $162 million worth of tickets (smashing their own 1994 North American record of $121 million) and U2 selling $139 million. “For bands with a brand name — the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney — it’s been really good,” says Irving Azoff, the Eagles’ manager. “I didn’t see anybody suffer.”

While the top veteran acts charged higher-than-ever prices, many second-tier stars took advantage of industry reforms instituted after 2004’s dismal summer concert season. That year, Lollapalooza was canceled, many other major tours sold poorly and Clear Channel Entertainment, the world’s biggest promoter, promised to reduce facility fees, cap many lawn-seat prices at twenty dollars and pressure artists to reduce their upfront payments. The company came through with the reforms, allowing big shows such as Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Green Day and Coldplay to keep their prices in the thirty-eight-to-forty-seven-dollar range. “It was a better year than 2004,” says Alex Hodges, executive vice president for House of Blues Concerts. “The improvement wasn’t necessarily related to two or three superstars being out — it was more related to the midlevel, the top 100 acts after you take off the top two or three. The core business was improved.”But the numbers show troubling long-term signs: The total number of tickets sold dropped from 37.6 million in 2004 to 36.1 million last year, and average prices were the highest ever: fifty-seven dollars a ticket, up 8.8 percent from 2004. The price increases were largely due to the superstars’ top prices, which included a record-setting $450 for the Stones and $250 for McCartney. “[Clear Channel concert head] Michael Rapino tried very hard, but he only had partial success,” says Tony Dimitriades, Petty’s manager. “He’s always up against acts that are touring that want to make a certain amount of money. I don’t see it as a rebound. The jury’s still out about how the concert business is doing.”

The big test may come this year, when the Stones and U2 won’t be around to bail out promoters. Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, the Who, Coldplay and Radiohead will hit the road, and Mariah Carey, Madonna, Prince, Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are all maybes. “If you don’t have the Rolling Stones, U2 and Paul McCartney, you’re missing the three biggest concert attractions in the world,” says Dennis Arfa of Artist Group International, agent for Metallica and Joel. “But there will be other superstars.”

Top ten tours of 2005 (in millions):

1. The Rolling Stones, $162

2. U2, $138.9

3. Paul McCartney, $77.3

4. The Eagles, $76.8

5. Elton John, $65.8

6. Kenny Chesney, $61.8

7. Dave Matthews Band, $57

8. Neil Diamond, $47.3

9. Jimmy Buffett, $41

10. Motley Crue, $39.9

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com

Gwyneth Paltrow has accidentally revealed the due date of her new baby - during a conversation with British actor Anthony Hopkins.

The screen beauty - who is pregnant with her second child with Coldplay star husband Chris Martin - had been closely guarding the date her new arrival enters the world but let it slip during a cosy chat with the legendary actor after the Golden Globe awards.

After telling Hopkins the due date, Paltrow, who already has a daughter, Apple, then gushed about how much she is enjoying being pregnant.

She reportedly told the 'Silence of the Lambs' star: "I feel great. I am enjoying being pregnant again."

Meanwhile, Paltrow is reportedly planning to give birth to the baby underwater.

The blonde actress and her husband are said to have splashed out on birthing pools for their homes in London and New York.

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth is believed to have planned an underwater delivery when having daughter Apple but changed her mind at the last minute.

A friend of the star said: "It's something Gwyneth really wanted to do for her first birth but she didn't feel confident enough.

"This time she's more than ready for an underwater birth - she's done loads of research. It will be very special and spiritual."

Source: http://www.lse.co.uk

They've taken over Oasis' mantle as Britain's biggest band. Approaching their 10th Anniversary, Tim Jones charts the rise and rise of Coldplay, with a complete discography compiled by Sal Mohammed

Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin, has become part of a celebrated movie/rock star couple with his other half, Gwyneth Paltrow. Not bad for the leader of a band that few had heard of before the millennium, and who Alan McGee once panned as 'bed-wetters'. In reality, Coldplay - more than any other British group - caught the noughties zeitgeist. They've become the introspective, articulate favourites of the in crowd, their celeb fans including Hollywood A-listers Jack Nicholson and Minnie Driver. But they've also achieved eight-figure sales and latterly been compared to the likes of U2 and even Pink Floyd. So how did their irresistible rise come about?

The band - comprising Guy Berryman [bass], Jonny Buckland [guitar], Will Champion [percussion] and Chris Martin [vocals/keyboards/guitar[ - started life, briefly, as Stepney Green, then Starfish, in September 1996, when Buckland and Martin met as busking student at University College London's Ramsey Hall of residence. They were accosted in its bar at the end of fresher's week by Berryman, who demanded to join them, and after a couple of false starts with sundry tub-thumpers, Champion took on the drum role. They lifted the name Coldplay from a recently-defunct outfit formed by a fellow hallmate, who'd taken it from a book of poetry, but decided it was 'too depressing', and they started jamming Sting and Simon & Garfunkel. Coldplay were born.

Read the full article and view the scans here

[thanks Nettie]

To coincide with the forthcoming awards ceremony, the Grammy Nominees 2006 album is due for release on Monday, January 23rd.

Coldplay have been nominated for three awards:

Best Rock Album - X&Y

Best Rock Song - Speed Of Sound

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group WIth Vocal - Speed Of Sound

The full tracklisting:

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc

Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Mariah Carey - It’s Like That

Paul McCartney - Fine Line

U2 - City Of Blinding Lights

Rascal Flatts - Bless The Broken Road

Bruce Springsteen - Devils And Dust

John Legend - Ordinary People

Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Seal - Walk On By

Rob Thomas - Lonely No More

Stevie Wonder - From The Bottom Of My Heart

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

Sheryl Crow - Good Is Good

Coldplay - Speed Of Sound

Foo Fighters - Best Of You

The Rolling Stones - Rain Fall Down

Neil Young - The Painter

Beck - E-Pro

Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body

Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To

The Anaheim ticket auction is now closed.

There is still a limited number of tickets available. For more info click here

The UK-based music magazine 'Record Collector' features Coldplay on the cover of their new issue.

Their '21st Century Collectables' special includes illustrations of worldwide rarities and there's also a feature on the Top 100 millennium collectables. There is a large feature on Coldplay, plus a full discography of every type of release across the world.

The issue goes on sale on Thursday 19 January.

Babysitters across the metro area found plenty of work on Saturday, as everyone’s mom piled into the Ford Center to swoon over the man whose face was plastered upon their walls when they were 16. They revitalized the old fan club (defunct since Erma went to beautician school and Janet got pregnant in ‘89), custom-made some “Fans Since 1984” shirts, and fought over who would get to be closest to the stage. It’s these little moments that make rock and roll worthwhile.

The cynics can, and have, said that Bon Jovi is guilty of numerous crimes against rock, paving the way for countless hair bands and the perpetuation of style over substance. But it’s hard to be cynical when the still-svelte Jon Bon Jovi steps to the mic and belts out that instantly recognizable opening line, “Shot through the heart/And you’re to blame,” which is the ultimate in arena rock excess. It’s those jolts of electricity that are exactly what rock has always been about, hairstyles and music videos aside.

I’d love to do some comparative calculations on the scowl-to-smile ratio between the crowd after the Bon Jovi show and after the upcoming Coldplay performance. It’d probably be a telling statistic.

Read the full review here

Mention the double live album and a host of ’70s-era images flash to mind, none very pleasant: prog-rock bands with 20-minute drum solos, side-length instrumentals, ‘’Frampton Comes Alive.” Following such indiscretions, the double live album became a symbol of the era’s overindulgence, the untrammeled will to absurdity that represented pre-punk rock music’s fatal bloat.

After a very long hiatus, though, the spirit of the double live album has made a resurgence, appearing in a variety of new guises.

Wilco, Slipknot, Green Day, and the Dave Matthews Band are just some of the groups to drop double live albums in recent months. In some instances, the traditional double CD has been replaced by a CD/DVD hybrid — one live audio disc and one DVD of concert footage — while others embrace the double-live form as a means of capturing an onstage concert experience.

In fact, ‘’double live” has taken on entirely new meaning with the rise of CD/DVD live combinations, comprising one disc of audio and one of video (or sometimes both fused onto one disc). Coldplay [Live 2003 pictured], Maroon 5, Shakira, and Nickelback are just some of the performers who’ve released CD/DVD double live albums, their live albums joined by bonus DVDs of live material. Their efforts have recently been joined by Green Day’s ‘’Bullet in a Bible,” released in November.

For all Coldplay and Coldplaying.com fans, Ode to Deodorant, that long-elusive rarity, is now available for listening.

After many months of waiting and over 120 pages of discussion by fans on the Coldplaying.com messageboard, the elusive and -- until now -- rarely heard demo tape of Ode to Deodorant has at last been uploaded!

Accompanied by the earliest version of Brothers and Sisters, "Ode" has until now been unavailable to most fans for listening. The amusing lyrics are accompanied by what can only be described as early Coldplay, but clearly foreshadow the music fans have come to love.

The songs can be found at the multimedia forum on the messageboard under the "Ode to Deodorant, First Coldplay Recording, Anyone?" thread, here

Click here for the lyrics...

Coldplay will perform at NRJ Music Awards after being nominated in the two categories of Best international Album (X&Y) and Best International Band.

French first television channel TF1 will broadcast this event on Saturday January 21st at 20:50.

Guests include: Ingrid Chauvin, Aure Atika, Claire Keim, Jamel Debbouze, Michaël Youn, Tony Jaa, Mélanie Doutey, Natasha St Pier, K-Maro, Johnny Hallyday, Stomy Bugsy, Doc Gyneco, Passi, Robbie Williams, 50 Cent, Coldplay, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Black Eyed Peas, Craig David, James Blunt, Raphael, Gérald de Palmas, Emmanuel Moire, Lââm, M Pokora, Madonna.

More on this here

Coldplay have been nominated for German music award 'Echo'. The band are nominated in the category 'Group of the year (international)' along with fellow nominees:

- Bon Jovi

- Coldplay

- Depeche Mode

- Rolling Stones

- The Black Eyed Peas

A jury will decide on the winner and the basis for the decision is the question of the band with the most successful album in Germany between the 01.03.2005 - 15.02.2006, that means, best chart position (media control).

More on this here

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft introduced his upcoming album, "Keys to the World," Wednesday night with a performance at London's Mermaid Theater, supported both by his own band and by the BBC Concert Orchestra. As previously reported, the set is due Jan. 23 via Parlophone in the United Kingdom. No North American release date has been announced.

As previously reported, the artist will support the second half of Coldplay's upcoming North American tour from March 20-April 6."Keys" is Ashcroft's first set since transferring within the EMI stable from Hut/Virgin. His first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," released in July 2000, was a U.K. No. 1 and included the top three singles hit "A Song for the Lovers." But he had more fleeting success with the 2002 follow-up "Human Conditions," despite its No. 3 debut on the album chart.

Wednesday's performance was recorded for national AC broadcaster BBC Radio 2, which will cybercast it Jan. 21. Ashcroft was in powerful form throughout, singing a selection of material from "Keys to the World," including the new single "Break the Night With Color," already a substantial U.K. airplay hit. Released earlier this week, it is set to debut in the top 5 on Sunday's new sales chart.

Ashcroft also performed many songs from both his and the Verve's catalog, such as the band's well-remembered hits "The Drugs Don't Work," "Lucky Man" and the 1997 U.K. chart-topper "Bitter Sweet Symphony." With particularly stellar accompaniment by the BBC Concert Orchestra, he also sang "Lonely Soul," his contribution to UNKLE's 1998 album, "Psyence Fiction."

Source: http://www.billboard.com

OK. 2005 sucked ass, huh? Not for us.

In 2005, the Smoking Section caught Neil Young's historic gigs at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, polished off a bottle of Crown Royal with Dave Grohl on a private jet, sang drunken karaoke with Coldplay in Tokyo, saw Bob Dylan eight times, was mistaken for a male porn star by Perry Farrell, drank Scotch at Roger Waters' ridiculous Manhattan apartment, sat poolside at the L.A. Four Seasons with Al Green, surfed with Jack Johnson and late on the night of June 25 ultimately overwhelmed Lars Ulrich in a marathon pingpong match at his Bay Area mansion.

But of all our thrills, nothing compared to time spent with two bands: the Strokes, with whom we played poker in the wee hours (and listened to the earliest versions of First Impressions of Earth), and Kings of Leon, with whom we capped a year of mind-bending debauchery by slamming icy shots of Patron to ring in '06. To all, love from the SS.

Read more here

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has apparently been invited to the Brit Awards in an attempt to cause some controversy.

It has been reported Brit bosses want to cause a stir with their ceremony, but with mellow and polite acts such as Coldplay and James Blunt attending, it looks as though any cock-up's and mishaps will be very low key. The hotel heiress is apparently being lined up to present an award and it is hoped she will cause a stir with the serious rock 'n' roll stars.

Paris is hoping to take the music world by storm when she releases her debut album in April, with record company bosses confident she will be next Britney Spears. The pop star wannabe is constantly getting into scuffles back home in LA and Brit officials are hoping she will bring some chaos to the UK.

British party girl Charlotte Church is up for an award at the ceremony, so no doubt organisers will try and seat the girls together and ply them with champagne so they can cause some true Brit-style fireworks.

Source: http://www.channel4.com

A host of bands and celebs turned up at London's Riverside Studios to celebrate the launch of the Brits 2006. Coldplay, who picked up the Group and Album awards in both 2001 and 2003, are up for Best British Album, British Group, British Live Act and British Single.

Rounding off a good year for the new boys, Canadian indie rockers the Arcade Fire, who had their first UK hit last April, dominated the international categories with three nominations.

Another newcomer, Scottish singer-songwriter, KT Tunstall, is this year's most nominated lady with three; British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act and British Live Act. Speaking about her nominations KT, who will also be performing at the Awards show, said: "I can go to my grave happy saying I was in the same category as Kate Bush!"

Brit veteran Robbie Williams is nominated once again in the category of British Male Solo Artist alongside Will Young James Blunt, Antony and the Johnsons and Ian Brown. Gorillaz will compete for Best British Album alongside Kate Bush and Coldplpay and for Best British Group where they are up against the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs.

But as the Kaiser Chief's Ricky Wilson said, "Nominations are great, but it's winning that counts!" We'll have to wait until the awards show itself on February 15th to find out who will be taking home those all important statuettes…

The show will be hosted by Chris Evans and broadcast on ITV on February 16th. Acts confirmed to perform include Coldplay as well as newcomers Kaiser Chiefs, KT Tunstall and James Blunt who will be joined by two of America’s biggest acts, Kanye West and Kelly Clarkson.2006 Brits Nominees

British Male Solo Artist

Antony and the Johnsons

Ian Brown

James Blunt

Robbie Williams

Will Young

British Female Solo Artist

Charlotte Church

Kate Bush

Katie Melua

KT Tunstall

Natasha Bedingfield

British Group

Coldplay

Franz Ferdinand

Gorillaz

Hard-Fi

Kaiser Chiefs

MasterCard British Album

Coldplay X & Y

Gorillaz Demon Days

James Blunt Back To Bedlam

Kaiser Chiefs Employment

Kate Bush Aerial

British Single

Winner chosen by UK Commercial Radio listeners

Coldplay Speed Of Sound

James Blunt You’re Beautiful

Shayne Ward That’s My Goal

Sugababes Push The Button

Tony Christie ft Peter Kay (Is This The Way To) Amarillo

British Breakthrough Act

Winner chosen by Radio 1 listeners

Arctic Monkeys

James Blunt

Kaiser Chiefs

KT Tunstall

Magic Numbers

British Urban Act

Winner chosen by MTV:Base viewers

Craig David

Dizzee Rascal

Kano

Lemar

Ms Dynamite

British Rock Act

Winner chosen by Kerrang! TV viewers

Franz Ferdinand

Hard-Fi

Kaiser Chiefs

Kasabian

Oasis

British Live Act

Nominees chosen by a panel of experts in association with The Live Music Forum. Winner chosen by Radio 2 listeners

Coldplay

Kaiser Chiefs

Franz Ferdinand

KT Tunstall

Oasis

Pop Act

Winner chosen by CD:UK viewers, readers of The Sun Bizarre column, and customers of O2 and Motorola

James Blunt

Katie Melua

Kelly Clarkson

Madonna

Westlife

International Male Solo Artist

Beck

Bruce Springsteen

Jack Johnson

John Legend

Kanye West

International Female Solo Artist

Björk

Kelly Clarkson

Madonna

Mariah Carey

Missy Elliot

International Group

Arcade Fire

Black Eyed Peas

Green Day

U2

White Stripes

International Album

Arcade Fire Funeral

Green Day American Idiot

Kanye West Late Registration

Madonna Confessions On A Dancefloor

U2 How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

International Breakthrough Act

Arcade Fire

Daniel Powter

Jack Johnson

John Legend

Pussycat Dolls

Outstanding Contribution to music

Paul Weller

Source: http://the-raft.com

Omaha Qwest Center has just been recognized in a trade magazine, Meetings Midamerica as the nation's best, as the arena prepares for more big name acts.

George Strait, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay are all scheduled in the weeks ahead.

Conventions and big name entertainers like those at Qwest draw huge crowds, which make Old Market restaurant manager Brandon Henery happy. "With the Qwest Center being within walking distance of the Old Market, we have found a substantial increase in our business any time the Qwest Center has an event," said Henery. "Whether it be a sporting event, concert, convention or whatever."

Read the full article here

HMV chief executive Alan Giles today said he was stepping down as the music and books store reported disappointing sales over Christmas.

Mr Giles, 51, has been chief executive since 1998 but will retire from HMV in December this year. The shock announcement came as the company reported a 5.5% fall in like-for-like sales at its HMV stores in the five weeks to 7 January, while like-for-like sales at Waterstone's were down 2.4%.

HMV was boosted by sales of Eminem and Robbie Williams CDs, while the Lee Evans XL Tour 2005 Live DVD also performed well. Earlier in the year, new albums by Coldplay and Gorillaz were popular with shoppers.Margins were also hit in the UK following increased levels of discounting compared with the previous Christmas.

HMV fared much better in Canada and Asia Pacific over the festive season, but like-for-like sales for the whole group fell 2.7%. The decline in Christmas sales followed tough trading conditions throughout the autumn, which saw HMV's operating profits slump to £2.8 million in the six months to October 29 from £15.7 million a year earlier. Like-for-like sales dived 6.1% in the period, although growth from new stores ensured that total revenues were only £500,000 down at £759.7 million.

Mr Giles said: "The competitive pressures faced by our UK businesses made trading very difficult during the autumn period. Despite the improving trend at Christmas, the group retains a cautious view of the outlook, and we remain very focused on maintaining tight control of our costs and on maximising our performance over the remainder of the year."

HMV makes about 90% of its profits in the second half of its financial year, which includes the key Christmas period. Mr Giles' decision to retire could throw into doubt HMV's controversial takeover bid of smaller independent bookstore Ottakar's. The deal has already faced ferocious opposition from publishers and authors and has been referred to the Competition Commission.

On the subject of his retirement, Mr Giles said: "I will miss the excitement and camaraderie of working with such a talented team, but after more than 30 years in retailing I feel it is time to move on to the next stage of my career."

He said he wanted to develop "a portfolio of non-executive roles". HMV also announced that former IBM UK chairman and chief executive Carl Symon will succeed David Kappler as chairman.

Today's half-year results and Christmas trading update was the first September when HMV reported a sharp dip in summer sales and warned of a gloomy outlook for the rest of the year.

The company said today: "Both HMV and Waterstone's delivered a marked improvement in trading over Christmas following very difficult conditions in the autumn."

At Waterstone's, best-selling books included Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver, Sharon Osbourne's autobiography and Untold Stories by Alan Bennett. But Christmas offers at both stores meant margins fell.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk

The Changing Faces of Coldplay --> The Box

13 January 2006 Friday 4pm

15 January 2006 Sunday 12am

17 January 2006 Tuesday 4pm

18 January 2006 Wednesday 9.30pm

The Brits are Coming --> ITV1

21 January 2006 Saturday 12:30am

There is also a TV-broadcast about the NRJ Music Awards 2006 in Cannes, France:

NRJ Music Awards 2006 --> TF1

21 January 2006 Saturday 20:50 (French time)

More on the schedules here

[Thanks Larry]

A U2 concert is more like a rally these days and Bono will whip up the crowd further by prancing around a circular catwalk on the band's March/April Australian tour.

If that's not enough arena-friendly rock for you, Coldplay tour in June and July.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au

The online social community MySpace is a two-year-old wunderkind, boasting 40 million plus members and 11 billion monthly visits. What's made it so sexy is that its influence on the music biz rivals the pre-legalized version of Napster. A half-million musicians have MySpace homepages with streaming music clips, but it's not just crappy cover bands and derivative strivers--it's also Madonna, R.E.M., Beck, and Coldplay, sometimes previewing their new albums. Even the whole iPod/iTunes juggernaut doesn't have as much industry juice.

So when MySpace inked a deal to start its own label in partnership with Interscope, expectations were high, despite the irony of MySpace, model of the new music-biz realities, moving offline for the quaint pleasures of the allegedly nearly extinct CD.Though it's not being packaged as such, MySpace Records, Vol. 1 is basically a so-so emo sampler, which fits in well with the teen- and college market the mega-site cultivates. Interscope provides name recognition with known entities under the Universal Records umbrella, resulting in good recent offerings from Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, and Weezer, all cunningly sandwiched in the middle of the record. It can't be a good sign when a Fall Out Boy outtake is one of an album's highlights, but so it goes.

The established bands here at least know the formula: desperate lyrics with sweet vocals on the verses, chanted/shouted choruses done over heavy riffing. In contrast, the surrounding bands are still finding a sound for themselves that isn't linked to Blink-182. As such, a little formula deviation and extra tunefulness goes a long way: Waking Ashland's Elton John worship, Socratic's self-deprecating goofiness, Hollywood Undead's new wave-meets-white rap.

But in the end, the O.C. franchise provides much of the same and in a more interesting mix, and purevolume.com capped its comp with dozens of extra MP3 files. If this is the best CD MySpace has to offer, their 'net competitors may have less to worry about than they think.

Source: http://www.citypages.com

What have top-selling international rock bands like Coldplay, the Foo Fighters and REM got in common? They are all doing their bit to help save cash-strapped Oldham Rugby Leage Club.

The driving force behind the extraordinary fundraising venture is 41-year-old Graham Lambert. The former Inspiral Carpets’ guitarist read about the Roughyeds’ financial woes in the Advertiser last year and decided to use his new job to help out.

Now working as an events manager for SJM Concerts, Graham is regularly on the road ensuring top bands’ needs are met when they tour the UK. After getting his hands on some replica shirts through friend and club stalwart Gareth Barber, he delivered handwritten notes pleading with some of music’s biggest names for help.

The resulting collection of four unique shirts has gone on internet auction website ‘eBay’ this week to raise cash for the National League One club’s survival fund – which is still £35,000 short of its target.Scouthead-based Graham, a keen Latics’ fan, said: "I don’t have much of a rugby background but always look for Oldham’s results, and my dad was a big fan.

"The owner of SJM is Simon Moran, who also happens to own Warrington RL, so I’m sure the boss will approve. He has put his hands in his pockets to make a big difference to that town, which is similar to what Chris Hamilton has had to do here in Oldham.

"It’s taken some time – you can’t just barge into Coldplay’s dressing room before a gig – so I wrote letters explaining the situation and they accompany each shirt to authenticate it."

Three shirts are individually signed by Coldplay, REM and the Kaiser Chiefs, while the fourth is signed by The La’s, The Zutons and the Foo Fighters.

All have a reserve price of £100 and fans can view them and submit bids online at www.ebay.com until next Thursday, January 19.

Chris Hamilton, Roughyeds’ chairman, said: "When Gareth Barber mentioned this I wondered if it would really come off, but it has. We always do pretty well with shirt sales but these are something else and we’re hoping there’ll be lots of interest."

And Lambert also revealed that the Inspirals – who last toured in 2003, showcasing hits like ‘This Is How It Feels’ and ‘Saturn 5’ for the first time since 1994 – could reform for more gigs this year.

"Never say never," he said. "We’re due to have a band meeting later this month, which we do annually to look ahead. We might very well do something again this year, so watch this space!"

Source: http://www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk

Hollywood's Gwyneth Paltrowhas hinted she would like to have a boob job after suffering the effects of breast feeding.

The 33-year-old mother of daughter Apple, nearly two, and wife of Coldplay star Chris Martin, claims she will have to find some way of perking things up again, especially after giving birth to her second child, expected in May 2006.

She says, "I think women who have breast-fed will understand what I'm saying - that if you get a boob-job, it's more reconstructive surgery. If you can eat in a healthy way and keep exercising and get a little something done here and there, why not? I'm sure when the time comes, I'll be in there doing something."

Source: contactmusic.com

During his long managerial career, Sam Allardyce of Bolton must have spent countless evenings hurtling up and down the highways and byways of Britain, heading from Premiership snooker-table pitches to non-League mudheaps, in search of the next big thing.

He probably counts his annual mileage in tens of thousands. And all the while he's probably tuned in to Radio 5 Live, and listened to hundreds of commentaries by Alan Green. I bet he's laughed on occasions. I bet he's smiled. And scowled. And banged the steering wheel at some inanity or opinion that is palpably wide of the mark. But I doubt that too often he's turned off, or opted instead for his Celine Dion CD to help pass those long endless stretches of the M6.

For the worst offence that any broadcaster can commit is to be boring - to be bland - to give you and me as listeners, an excuse to switch off, or change channels, or rummage around in the glove compartment for Coldplay.

Read the full article here