Sometimes honesty may not be the best policy. Huddersfield-born poet Simon Armitage has recently landed himself a new job with Observer Music Monthly.
In an occasional series Armitage is given £33.33 to trawl record shops for gems, and his first instalment proved something of an eye-opener. After picking up a copy of Heaven 17's Penthouse and Pavement and Marriages by Marc Hellner, Armitage found h
imself trawling the shelves of Oxfam, and that was when the guilt set in. Seeing a copy of Travelogue by Sheffield's own Human League going for a very reasonable £3.99 he felt obliged to hand over the cash, admitting that he once stole a line from the album for a poem.
Today's music stars often get a bad press, so it comes as something of a surprise that Alex Turner is being lauded as a role model. Dizzee Rascal, real name Dylan Mills, has revealed that he takes great inspiration from the Arctic Monkeys' work ethic and is trying desperately to follow in their footsteps. "I haven't seen much of Alex recently because he's so busy," he said. "He's got his hands full doing Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets and loads of other stuff. I admire that, it's cool. He's getting it all out while he's young. You've got to. It's inspiring and I totally relate to it. I'm following the same path."
When McFly announced they were parting from their record company and going it alone, many began listening out for the sound of them crashing and burning. But the cynics may have to eat their words following their debut release on their own label Super Records and news they are about to embark on an arena tour this autumn, stopping off at Sheffield Arena in November. "Are we nervous? Not at all," said drummer Harry Judd, confident the band hasn't yet had its swansong. "These songs are by far the best we've ever done. We've never been happier. The joy and excitement you hear in One For The Radio sums up how McFly feel right now. We can't wait for our fans to hear it and we can't wait to play it to them live."
If there was an award for most pointless survey, who women would most like to bathe with would surely have to be a contender for first prize.
However, the efforts of researchers at bath product company Fenjal no doubt pleased at least one Yorkshireman. While celebrity gardener turned author Alan Titchmarsh has never put himself forward as a sex symbol, he was no doubt pleased to hear that more women would prefer to take a dip with him
than Jonathan Ross or X Factor judge Simon Cowell, who were
left propping up the bottom of
the table.
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