John Lennon’s killer has parole hearing date postponed

Mark David Chapman, who killed John Lennon Photograph: NYSDOCS / HANDOUT/EPA The latest parole hearing for John Lennon’s killer has been postponed, delaying Mark David Chapman’s sixth bid for freedom. The 55-year-old was scheduled to appear before a parole hearing this week at the Attica correctional facility in New York, where he has served 29 [...]

Meet the bands whose names are made out of $¥ /\/\ ß 0 \ $

What the £~{± … ℑ⊇◊⊆ℜ from Mater Suspiria Vision. Photograph: YouTube Scan the array of recent blog buzz bands and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the middle of a migraine. †‡†,  Gr†ll Gr†ll, ℑ⊇◊⊆ℜ and GL▲SS †33†H all use dots, dashes and triangles in their names and on their flashy websites. Some [...]

Sly Stone sued for Coachella rant

Family affair … Sly Stone in 2007. Photograph: Zak Hussein/PA Poor Sly Stone. Less than a year after reports that he was homeless and living on the dole, the funk legend seemed set for a comeback at the Coachella festival in April. But Stone played an abysmal, confused set that was marked by a rant [...]

The Buggles reunite for one night only

The Buggles are back … still from Video Killed the Radio Star. Photograph: YouTube The Buggles, the English band that launched MTV with their one and only hit, are reuniting. Thirty-one years after Video Killed the Radio Star signalled the dawn of music television, the group will play their “first ever full live gig” in [...]

Re-formed Libertines announce first gig

How they looked last time … Pete Doherty and Carl Barat on stage in 2004. Photograph: J Quinton/WireImage The Libertines announced plans today for their first full gig since they revealed that they were re-forming. The band, which centres around the songwriting partnership of Pete Doherty and Carl Barât, will play a warm-up show in [...]


Film

Danny Leigh named Film 2010 co-host

Danny Leigh will share Film 2010 hosting duties with Claudia Winkleman. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian Guardian film blogger Danny Leigh was yesterday named as a presenter on the revamped Film 2010 programme, which returns to BBC1 this autumn.... 

Dance & Comedy

The Beauty Queen of Leenane | Theatre review

Susan Lynch (Maureen Folan) and Rosaleen Linehan (Mag Folan) in The Beauty Queen Of Leenane by Martin McDonagh at the Young Vic. Photograph: Tristram Kenton Martin McDonagh didn’t exactly lack an audience before he started associating with the... 

Radio

Radio review: Face the Facts

John Waite from Radio 4′s Face the Facts. Photograph: BBC/Martin Morrell/BBC “So here we are, four years later,” John Waite began in Face the Facts (Radio 4). He hovered over the word four for emphasis as he spoke to Elaine Hanson,... 

Television

TV review: The Hospital and Who Do You Think You Are?

Another excellent episode . . . The Hospital, Channel 4. Photograph: Channel 4 I have always agreed with Victoria Wood that I wouldn’t be an adolescent again if you bumped my pocket money up to three and six. After viewing the first episode of The... 


Best moments of The Word: from grunge to gross-out

A Hopeful eats a worm sandwich. Photograph: Channel 4 ▶ Nirvana gave their first live TV performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit in 1991, prefaced by Kurt Cobain declaring Courtney Love “the best fuck in the world”. ▶ Oasis made their TV debut performing Supersonic. ▶ First screening of Madonna’s Justify My Love video on [...]

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Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand? Please!

Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand Photograph: Mark Seliger/AP God alone knows why they do it. The only possible justification for going to the trouble of donning fancy dress is to escape your humdrum life for an evening. But what possesses celebrities to dress up as each other? Recently we’ve had Anthea Turner aping Madonna in [...]

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The Word: the presenters

Dani Behr and Terry Christian. Photograph: The Roland Grant Archive Terry Christian (1990-95) From Old Trafford, Manchester, Christian was already well-known as a local radio DJ who championed rising bands such as the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and the Charlatans when he became the gobby frontman for The Word, named after his column in the [...]

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Oh, Peter Crouch. Have you let us down too?

Peter Crouch: a fallen idol? Photograph: Back Page Images / Rex Features So Peter Crouch is the latest footballer to be the subject of allegations of infidelity, as published in the News of the World and elsewhere last weekend. These must not be proven to be true, because there was much emotional investment in Crouch, [...]

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