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Pick at the pops: 26 March 2007

Mick Jagger and Justin Timberlake

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

We’re overcome by mirth this week, as Comic Relief snaps up the top two chart positions, although – surreally – there’s no actual mirth involved in either record. Girls Aloud and Sugababes have sucked all the wit out of the original ‘Walk This Way’ and replaced it with stilettoed menace, while Peter Kay has delivered his “unique” take on The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’, a cover version so free of fun, so unacquainted with original thought that it feels as if it’s been No.1 for a decade already. Still, it’s for a good cause, right? Right? Hey, come back…

The milk of human kindness is also flowing in Eurovisionland, where our proud and worthy representatives... oh, no, sorry - where Scooch are hitting back at Charlotte Church for some unkind comments the Princess of Wales made about them this week. Lady Church declared that they were “really s***” and made her “itch with embarrassment”, but Scooch aren’t ones to take this lying down: apparently, Charlotte has the “mouth of a sewer”. Come on, you can do better than that. That’s practically her motto.

Good news for the lowly record buyer, or “downloader”, as they’re probably known these days: Sir Elton John is releasing his back catalogue online this week. It raises the spectre of a chart full of Reg Dwight classics, which appears to be what the Scissor Sisters have been trying to achieve anyway. Sir Elt is reportedly “pleased for the fans’ sake”. In a staggering coincidence, his new greatest hits compilation is out this week as well.

Sadly, we must end this week’s column with news of snubs to two of this planet’s greatest philanderers: Sir Mick Jagger and Justin Timberlake. No, they’ve not been knocked back by any ladies, silly. Sir Mick is lamenting The Rolling Stones’ lack of Glastonbury invitation this year – you can queue up on the site next Sunday like the rest of us, Michael – and Justers is not being honoured by his home state of Tennessee after all, despite backing from a senator. Objections were supposedly raised about Janet Jackson’s breast, but the less said about that, the better.

Matthew Horton

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