ThePensmith

Don't know if it's been mentioned already but someone on Popjustice met them at Salford Quays when they were on BBC Breakfast last week and Rachel confirmed is on the setlist 😍😍😍

They've added a second Cambridge date to their tour and also "Soundcheck Parties" as add ons to the dates already on sale. Judging by the comments on here, it's not just Busted who are pure having their fans by the short and curlies for VIP packages:

Good topic this 👍🏻 I'd say Blue and Busted are prime contenders for this thread. With the former, it's generally likely to be "All Rise", "Fly By II" or "One Love" you hear on the radio these days, rather than any of their actual number ones. Same with Busted, "Year 3000" is their signature song and it's none of their four number ones.

I don't even have M&G or VIP for The O2 on Sunday but I'm annoyed for you both! Glad you got a refund OK Slayer. All of a sudden, were it not for seeing Hanson I'd be binning this off. I don't admire the way they've conducted themselves on this at all.

An arena tour for next year in September will be going on sale later this month: So excited to hear this! Will definitely be going.

It's cyclical really. It's no different to when the charts of the 90s were littered with songs sampled from the 60s or 70s. Just slow news journalism.

The trouble is record companies - some more than others, it has to be said - are still expecting the same return on investments with an album like it's still 2003. It's not. I think the current BPI Award system doesn't help matters. When was the last time anyone outside of the quadrant of Ed Sheeran, Adele, Lewis Capaldi, Taylor Swift etc released an album that sold over 300k? The benchmarks for silver, gold and platinum need to be adjusted. Compared to the singles chart and how quickly they moved to incorporate streaming, how much effort has been put into the sanctity of a full body of work such as an album which has just dwindled and dwindled, to the point where you can get a number one album on as little as 10k sometimes? Sam's built up enough of a profile and fanbase and goodwill to see him through to a good career, regardless of what route he takes to get his music out there going forward, whether that's self releasing or with another label. But like Olly Murs did his most recent album with EMI last year, that went to number one true, but it didn't have anywhere near the impact of previous albums he did, and now he's gonna be looking for another deal now that's ended. If the music industry is serious about rejuvenating the album and making it make sense to all generations, including the streaming market, then they need to show it.

I was at the Rough Trade signing today as well. Honestly as lovely as I hoped she would be! If any of you ever get a chance to meet Dannii then do, she's such a sweetie!

Six more UK and Ireland dates - including The O2 next September - have been added. On sale next week: @1697611864375513474

Jesus Christ. It gets worse. Looking at the comments on this and Twitter, they're clearly not ones for reading the room 🙄

As I said. I reckon someone somewhere cocked up the contingency planning big time. It still doesn't excuse the fact they have basically not acknowledged the cancellation at all.

Lo and behold, they're doing an album signing in Newcastle:

I did wonder if it'd be weekly or not. But at least with S Club Party finally up we do know the reissue schedule is back on, however fast or slow it happens!

Already prefer this immensely to "Padam Padam". Love the deep 90s house feel to it!

The guys are on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday morning with Richie Anderson (standing in for Dermot O'Leary): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001pyg0 Aston has a new single "Right Here" out tomorrow and Oritsé also has a new single out next Friday called "Showdown"!

Mark Goodier for me. He was my host when I started listening to the top 40 way back in 1996, and for me, he still encapsulates what it is to be the perfect host for the show. Even when he ran down the top 10 with Greg James for Radio 1's 50th anniversary in 2017, he still had it. He had the tone just right; building excitement for running down the chart and unveiling the number one that week, but never selling himself at the expense of the records or mocking listener's tastes (something I feel particularly strongly about. It's a news show with music in essence and that's what you have to treat it as and why the editorial at Radio 1 has mostly got the style of the show catastrophically wrong since he left 20 years ago). After that I'd say Scott Mills, he's probably the closest in sound and style to Mark. Although I did have a soft spot for Jameela Jamil. Any lady who sings "All Of Me" by John Legend to a pizza with sincerity is my kinda girl.

Then that's just even worse. I wouldn't mind betting that this is a direct result of wanting to make time for album signings on release week before someone somewhere realised "Oh f*** but we can't". In which case, whoever did their contingency planning for this tour and album release needs a pay cut immediately!

Can I just interject and ask at this point - was the M&G sold with the ticket or separately? I just wondered cause when Blue did their tour last year, the M&Gs were sold as a seperate add on from the tickets from what I recall. Either way it's not looking like a good move on their part.

That's a massive con! So sorry to hear this Slayer. As Yobnedor has said if you paid via credit card absolutely go for a charge back. Looks especially bad when they've not even explained why!

Definitely got the right idea with support acts then, all from the same era which would make it a draw for casuals! I loved Chip (née Chipmunk) back in the day anyway so I'd be here for seeing him support them.

08.5 Rule The World 07.5 Colours 11.0 Glad You Came 09.0 All Time Low 08.0 Chasing The Sun 09.0 Heart Vacancy 10.0 Gold Forever 10.0 Lose My Mind 06.0 Lightning 06.0 We Own The Night 03.0 I Found You 01.0 Walks Like Rihanna 07.0 Warzone 04.5 Show Me Love (America) 07.0 Could This Be Love 06.5 Remember (Acoustic) 06.0 Glow In The Dark 05.0 Heartbreak Story

On balance, whilst "I Hate You When You're Drunk" absolutely wasn't single material (I genuinely don't see how that and "Die Of A Broken Heart" were even considered frontrunners when "Dancing On Cars" and "Go Ghost" were literally right there. It says it all that the latter in particular wasn't performed at the arenas or the summer shows), I cannot deny that on tour, "...Drunk" absolutely popped off. Especially at the "Na na na" bit. Idiot proof crowd interaction at its finest. Hopefully at least the crowd reaction to it has sweetened it for him because I do remember him being upset that people had taken it the wrong way when that wasn't the intention at all. With a year's distance, it's still an album of two halves for me. And again, I feel working with the same producer for the whole album is the reason for that. David Stewart and Jessica Agombar should have only been on board for a handful of tracks, not the whole album. Anyway, whenever we do get an album next I imagine it won't be until end of next year at the earliest. He seems pretty keen to start having a family with Amelia. That said, I'd be here for Murs Fest that he did on his wedding weekend as a thing, mind!

Oooh now this I'd actually be here for. I do recall from an interview JB did quite recently when he was promoting his kid's book that there's talk of possible summer shows next year so I wonder if it's this?

I saw the penultimate show of the summer tour dates in Colchester last night (it finishes tonight in Plymouth). Such a special night and he still absolutely kicks it: tEL1zC7dl6A J-9v_Idya7M xf0cofVYrRQ Meanwhile, in news that is not necessarily surprising, it would appear that he is no longer with EMI. If you search on their website under their artists, he's not listed there anymore. Given that they did the sum total of flap all once the album actually charted, picked the wrong singles and barely did any music videos from this era, this is sad but not surprising. That said, it was a joint release through his own ICYDK Ltd, which makes me wonder if it was just a licensing deal for distribution and retailing? I can say with a year's distance that I'm surprised he went with them. He should have gone with BMG. Hopefully it's where he goes on the next album whenever that might be. Also worth a look, this podcast he did with a good friend of mine talking about songwriting and how some of his biggest hits were crafted. So awesome to have an in depth interview like this just solely about the music: eznhFSpgzmc

What an absolutely idiotic ruling re: signed CD singles. Do the OCC have any idea what they're doing, when they're the ones who were trumpeting it's revival just shy of two years ago (https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/cd-single-sales-surge-in-the-uk-as-ed-sheeran-abba-coldplay-and-more-return-to-the-format__34089) and are basically killing off the incentive to do them stone dead? Why should other artists who were doing them - Leigh-Anne for one, Craig David for another as he did one for "Who You Are" with MNEK - suffer just because of Lewis Capaldi? It's just not fair.