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Pick at the pops: 15 October 2007

Our weekly round-up of the weird and wonderful world of pop music...

Like her skimpy black bikini at the MTV VMAs, the pop newswires are overflowing with Britney Spears this week, so we here at the caring, sensitive Pick at the Pops are declaring a Britney amnesty. At least until next week, that is. It’s open season on her former paramour, though, with the delightful news that Justin Timberlake has become the first artist of the decade to rack up six US Top 40 hits off the same album. What do you think that actually says, Justin? “Wow, I’m so popular”? Or, “Sweet Jesus, I know how to fleece the fans with a tawdry combination of laziness and rank cynicism”? You decide.

Speaking of rip-offs, American West Coast rock legends The Eagles are currently making Led Zeppelin look like cub scouts on bob-a-job, with a bold pricing scheme for their 31 October gig at London’s IndigO2 venue. Yes, they’re charging £950 a pop. That’s Nine Hundred And Fifty Pounds per ticket. We’ve heard of Hallowe’en frights…

None come scarier than Sugababes’ resident Highlander (“There can be only one!”) Keisha Buchanan who, when she’s not culling colleagues at the merest whiff of weakness, displays a deft touch at the sly dig. Here she is in this weekend’s Guardian: “I’m not big, but I’m curvy, I’ve got a bum. Being famous, there’s pressure to stay thin, but thankfully I’m in a group where we sell records based on our music, not on what we look like. It’s much harder for Girls Aloud.” Subtle as Amy Winehouse’s breath, but awesome all the same.

All pop stars will need to live on their wits soon enough, if Radiohead have their way. The download-only, pay-what-you-like launch of In Rainbows apparently killed the record industry this week. And if it didn’t quite manage it, the news that Coldplay are putting the finishing touches to their new album should seal the deal.

Matthew Horton

Picture: PA Photos

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• 2006 archive >>