Music News

The Who plan to record a new album this summer.
The 'My Generation' rockers - who haven't released new material since 2006 album 'Endless Wire' - already have three demos written and plan to do more work on them ahead of their 50th anniversary tour later this year.
Speaking at a press conference at London's Ronnie Scott's yesterday (30.06.14), guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend said: "I gave Roger [Daltrey] three demos of three rough songs that I've knocked up.
"I've been doing a lot of recording work and writing recently with a whole wide variety of people and quite a lot of collaborations, I've done some TV music and I've collaborated with a lot of other writers which is not something I've done a lot in the past.
"I came up with three songs so I thought I just send them Roger before we do this particular thing and happily he likes them. So now we're considering getting into the studio in the summer and do a couple of things that might trigger something further down the road. So the answer is yes we're hoping to record."
Pete wants to work on the album in a "more basic" way than usual, though he warned the music could be "prog rock".
He added: "I just mentioned to Roger before we came on that I really liked the basic pub rock sound of the album that he did with Wilko Johnson and we may try and make the record in a slightly more basic way than we usually work, although my writing these days is pretty complicated. It's more prog rock than pub rock."
Tickets for the nine-date 'The Who Hits 50' tour - which begins in Glasgow on November 30 and ends at London's The O2 on December 17 - go on sale at 9am on July 4 from www.aeglive.co.uk.

'The Who Hits 50' UK tour dates:
November 30 - Glasgow, SSE Hydro
December 2 - Leeds, First Direct Arena
December 5 - Nottingham, Capital FM Arena
December 7 - Birmingham, NIA
December 9 - Newcastle, Metro
December 11 - Liverpool, Echo Arena
December 13 - Manchester, Phones 4U Arena
December 15 - Cardiff, Motorpoint
December 17 - London, O2 Arena

The Who will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a new tour.
The 'My Generation' rockers have announced a string of UK dates for later this year in what will be the "beginning of a long goodbye", though they admit they still don't know when they will call a halt to performing live.
Speaking at a press conference at Ronnie Scott's in London today (30.06.14), singer Roger Daltrey said: "We can't go on touring forever, we don't know how long we will go on touring, it's an open-ended thing at the moment but there will be a finality to it.
"We'll stop touring before we stop playing as a band. It's like Eric Clapton just said it's the grind of the road that is incredibly tough on the body. The singing is free ...
"As a singer I don't know how long my voice will last like this so I just want to go out and make the most of it. It's the one thing I get the most out of, other than my family life.
"To me singing on stage is just the most natural thing in the world, it's where I like to be and it's not going to be there forever and my voice will go."
Meanwhile, his bandmate Pete Townshend admitted that, while he isn't always keen on life on the road, he "really wants" to mark the band's milestone.
He said: "I really want to do it, I often don't want to do it.
"I'm good at it and I find it fulfilling but it's not something I enjoy as much as sitting at home in the studio writing songs. But this one I really want to do because it's a significant anniversary ... To me it's all about going out and playing and celebrating the 50th anniversary."
At the press conference, the duo also performed a short acoustic set which included 'Substitute' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again'.
Tickets for the nine-date tour - which begins in Glasgow on November 30 and ends at London's The O2 on December 17 - go on sale at 9am on July 4 from www.aeglive.co.uk.

The Who Hits 50 UK tour dates:
November 30 - Glasgow, SSE Hydro
December 2 - Leeds, First Direct Arena
December 5 - Nottingham, Capital FM Arena
December 7 - Birmingham, NIA
December 9 - Newcastle, Metro
December 11 - Liverpool, Echo Arena
December 13 - Manchester, Phones 4U Arena
December 15 - Cardiff, Motorpoint
December 17 - London, O2 Arena

Sam Smith's favourite thing about Glastonbury is "mud on sexy bodies".
The 'Stay With Me' singer performed on The Other Stage on Sunday (29.06.14) and also joined Disclosure in the evening for a rendition of their track 'Latch'.
Sam spent Saturday (28.06.14) taking in the atmosphere of the festival held on Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England, and he loved seeing lots of revellers getting stuck into the mud.
Speaking backstage on Sunday, he told BANG Showbiz: "What do I love about Glastonbury? Mud on sexy bodies! I've been good though, I'm only just having my first drink and I got here yesterday morning."
Sam did suffer some disappointment at Glastonbury though as he couldn't go and watch Dolly Parton's performance on the Pyramid Stage because it clashed with his own show.
He said: "It's been absolutely amazing but I've not seen that many people play, I was performing while Dolly was playing. It would have been great to go and watch her sing."
Ellie Goulding watched Dolly's set on a big screen in the hospitality tent and admitted she'd be delighted if she can have a career that lasts as long as Dolly's.
Ellie said: "I'd love to be able to perform live for as long as Dolly. She's amazing!"
Dolly's performance drew one of the biggest crowds of the weekend and her set included several of her greatest hits, including 'Islands in the Stream', '9 to 5' and 'Jolene'.
The 68-year-old country legend was also joined on stage by Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora for 'Lay Your Hands On Me'.

Paolo Nutini has dismissed Metallica's Glastonbury set insisting the metal band just play the "same song over and over again".
The 27-year-old musician didn't bother to go and watch the 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' rockers' headline set on Saturday evening (28.06.14) because he thinks their music is boring.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz backstage, he said: "Metallica just play one song. "It's just the same song over and over again with Metallica. I wasn't interested in their set."
Paolo drew a large crowd for his set on The Other Stage on Friday (27.06.14) with a set packed with tracks from his latest album 'Caustic Love'
The Scottish singer stuck around at the festival to party and was spotted kissing a stunning brunette backstage on Saturday night.
Paolo spotted the mystery brunette and immediately went over to talk to her, after chatting to her for just a short time they started smooching.
An onlooker said: "Paolo and the girl were kissing very intensely. When they weren't kissing the girl kept staring into his eyes and was touching Paolo's chest."
Despite Paolo's lack of interest in Metallica, the band were watched by the biggest crowd of the weekend when they took to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night and their performance was acclaimed as one of the highlights of the weekend.
Drummer Lars Ulrich described the experience as "sensational" and insisted he and his bandmates, frontman James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammet and bassist Robert Trujillo, felt honoured to be given the chance to perform at the world famous event.
Lars said: "That was sensational (for us). I don't remember much of it ... the energy was fantastic. It was other-worldly.

Ed Sheeran says he "shouldn't bother" having girlfriends.
The 'Burn' singer opened up about the difficulties of keeping up a long distance relationship and insists it's not worth the trouble if a girl isn't "OK" with him putting his career and family first.
He told Spotify: "You put your family and your friends first, always, and then your career second. But when you date someone, they kind of fall in between the family and friends and career, and you don't really know whether they're more important than the career or whether they're more important than family. You just need to find someone that's OK with it.
"My family understands I had to go away for 12 months last year, but until you find a partner who's happy with that, you shouldn't even bother. Well, you shouldn't bother committing."
Ed, 23, even penned a song for his latest album 'x' entitled 'Nina' to express the difficulty he faced when trying to find a balance between his career and relationship with his ex-girlfriend singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt.
He said: "That's about my ex-girlfriend [Nina Nesbitt], we dated for a year.
"When you're a musician and you date someone, there's always an in-between... so this is a song about that."
However, the Brit Award-winner - who played at this year's Glastonbury festival over the weekend and will embark on a UK tour later this year - is hoping to settle down in the future and thinks having children will change his priorities.
He explained: "I think by the time you have kids, that's when your family comes first, and that's where the woman comes, because she's your family now. I think kids change everything, but up until then it's different. "

Kasabian closed Glastonbury festival with a bang on Sunday night (29.06.14).
The rockers brought the festival held at Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England, to an epic crescendo with a fast-paced set bursting with classic tunes including 'Underdog', 'Fire' and 'Empire'.
The Leicester band began with 'Bumblebee' from their new album '48:13', while a series of random words including 'Voucher', 'Canister' and 'Dhalsim' were displayed on a pink screen behind them.
Frontman Tom Meighan, clad in a white tuxedo and bow tie, addressed the crowd by shouting, "Hello Glastonbury, how are you!"
The band launched into fan favourites like 'Shoot The Runner', which featured a sample of Kanye West's 'Black Skinhead' and 'Processed Beats', interspersed with new album songs including 'Stevie'.
At one point, guitarist Serge Pizzorno performed a bluesy cover of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' with just a guitar and a trumpet, while Tom left the stage for a break.
The 50,000-strong crowd were treated to a surprise appearance from 'Mighty Boosh' joker Noel Fielding during 'Vlad The Impaler'.
Dressed in a turban with blood streaked across his face, Noel bounded across the stage in a cape as Tom chanted "Bobby Womack see you on the other side", a tribute to the legendary soul singer who passed away on Friday (27.06.14).
Kasabian finished their stellar set with a cover of Fatboy Slim's 'Praise You' and 'L.S.F'.
A visibly emotional Tom said: "Ten years ago we opened The Other Stage - we'd been up all night of course. Seriously, thank you for this."

Michael Eavis has already booked next year's Glastonbury headliners.
The 78-year-old festival promoter has closed deals with three big acts for next year's event, including a non-British band whose manager signed a contract while watching Metallica headline this year's Glastonbury on Saturday night (28.06.14).
However, Michael denied the foreign act is music icon Prince, but he is eager to have the 56-year-old star headline in future.
He said: "We're always having a go at Prince. Most of the people in the world want to play here, so I did ask him to hop on the train and come down to Castle Cary station and I'll show him around the farm some time. It hasn't been taken up yet though."
Michael, who organises the festival with his daughter Emily Eavis, thinks the music event has "still got a few years in it" but admits he may bow out of running it in 2020 - which marks Glastonbury's 50th anniversary.
He is quoted by The Guardian newspaper as saying: "I think I can run on another six years, which would take me up to 50 years, then [I'll] see what happens after that."
This year's Glastonbury festival drew more than 100,000 revellers who flocked to see headliners Metallica, Kasabian and Arcade Fire, as well as other big acts such as Dolly Parton, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey.

Stevie Wonder paid tribute to the late Bobby Womack as he closed the Calling Festival in London on Sunday night (29.06.14).
The soul legend sent his "condolences" to Bobby's grieving family following his passing last Friday (27.06.14) at the age of 70 and then covered his track 'If You Think You're Lonely Now' at the music event held on Clapham Common.
Speaking to the crowd, Stevie said: "It's always a painful thing when we lose someone in this industry, but each time we lose someone, we can say we are left with their musical history ... I want to give my condolences to his family and hope that he is in the best place spiritually. Please give a hand to Bobby Womack.
"We picked out a song we thought was appropriate."
At the beginning of his set, Stevie came on stage playing his signature keytar and as he stepped out the dark clouds and showers which had been threatening to dampen spirits cleared and the sun shone on him and his thousands of fans, a sign of "God's love" according to the musician.
The 64-year-old star performed a hit-filled set with highlights including 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours', 'Sir Duke', 'Master Blaster' and 'Sunshine of My Life'.
At one stage Stevie led the crowd in an A cappella version of 'Ebony and Ivory' - the track about racial harmony he recorded with Sir Paul McCartney in 1982 - and a sing-along to 'My Cherie Amour'.
He later joked with the crowd by claiming he was actually British and just looked like Stevie Wonder.
Speaking in an English accent, he said: "I'm English actually, I'm from Brixton ... Most people think I'm Stevie Wonder ... People say, 'Why don't you sing like Stevie Wonder? So I learnt his accent."
Stevie closed his set with fan favourite 'Superstition' and before he exited the stage he told the cheering crowd "remember I love you, thank you" and then took a bow with his band and backing singers.
Other performers at the festival included Paloma Faith and Jack Johnson, while Aerosmith headlined the event on Saturday (28.06.14).

Dolly Parton has denied miming at Glastonbury.
The 68-year-old singer - who made her festival debut on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night (29.06.14) - has been forced to defend herself over claims she failed to sing live during the set.
A spokesperson for Dolly told The Sunday Mirror: "She sings live. Some people don't know an amazing singer when they hear one."
The '9 To 5' hitmaker's vocals became the subject of debate following her performance of her hits including 'Islands in the Stream', 'Baby I'm Burning' and 'Jolene' prompting actor Stephen Fry to speak out in her defence.
The 56-year-old wrote on Twitter: "I think I know quite a lot about how TV is made. Why are people saying @DollyParton is miming? She's fooling me."
He added: "Believe me, that is not miming. If it appears not always to lip-sync that's an HD live processor issue. You see it with news reporters."
Meanwhile, Dolly - who performed her energetic set in front of over 200,000 adoring fans clad in a white suit covered in rhinestones - had received a surprise award prior to her set at the iconic Worthy Farm.
She was presented with a congratulatory plaque by Glastonbury organizer Michael Eavis and her manager Danny Nozell at the Somerset event in honor of selling 100 million albums worldwide.
She said after receiving her award: "I've been so busy making records for the past several decades, I didn't realize I had racked up so many sales. What a great honor to know that I have so many fans that have supported me through the years.
"Thanks to the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] for the acknowledgment and the plaque. I feel very honored and proud."