My Best Tunes

Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has postponed an upcoming European tour by six months after hurting his lower back while exercising.

Longevity is rare in an industry of ready-made stars and one-hit-wonders, but Sade of “Smooth Operator” fame is back after a decade away with a new album out February 9.

Love or hate them, when it comes to charity singles, extensive radio play and a top-five chart spot are almost guaranteed. Today’s release of the Haiti relief single, a not-so-great version of REM’s “Everybody Hurts”, features performers ranging from Susan Boyle via Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney to Take That, produced by pop svengali Simon Cowell at the behest of the Prime Minister.

There’s always one. Every NME Awards Tour features one band, low on the bill, whose popularity will eclipse that of the headliners by the year’s end or even the tour’s end (past examples being Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs and Florence and The Machine) or in some cases (Arctic Monkeys) before a note has even been played.

Love or hate them, when it comes to charity singles, extensive radio play and a top-five chart spot are almost guaranteed. Today’s release of the Haiti relief single, a not-so-great version of REM’s “Everybody Hurts”, features performers ranging from Susan Boyle via Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney to Take That, produced by pop svengali Simon Cowell at the behest of the Prime Minister.

There’s always one. Every NME Awards Tour features one band, low on the bill, whose popularity will eclipse that of the headliners by the year’s end or even the tour’s end (past examples being Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs and Florence and The Machine) or in some cases (Arctic Monkeys) before a note has even been played.

Arguably the most famous line The Who’s Pete Townshend ever wrote was “Hope I die before I get old” on the angry young anthem of 1965, “My Generation”. Tonight, at the Beatle-esque age of 64, Townshend will – in his own words – “carry the flag for the boomer generation” during the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. The entertainment spotlight doesn’t burn much brighter. It may even remind the world just how great The Who once were.

It’s a rum do when a sultry soul diva like Sade arouses less passion than a venerable, bewhiskered hobo like Seasick Steve, but such is apparently the case.

This week’s Spotify is compiled by The Hush Now

It’s a rum do when a sultry soul diva like Sade arouses less passion than a venerable, bewhiskered hobo like Seasick Steve, but such is apparently the case.