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Pick at the pops: 30 July 2007

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

Celebrity. It’s a funny old game, isn’t it? Pocket-sized Scots rock chick KT Tunstall is so over it. Here’s KT: “I went to the Grammys, f***ing six in the morning! I was put in a photo line-up with Mary J Blige and Justin Timberlake. I just thought, ‘This is stupid.’” There are more stupid things, K, believe us. How about nabbing the leading role in a blockbuster film because you’ve pranced around on stage now and then with a cheeky expression forced onto your face? Yes, Robbie Williams – for it is he – is in final negotiations to play Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie. We can only hope that the production team hasn’t thrown away any of William Shatner’s corsets.

Still, as a celebrity, you get celebrity friends. Take young and throaty rock-soul growler James Morrison, who is blessed with the might of Joss Stone on his side. “Big love” Joss is plugging James mercilessly over in the States, using the full, terrible force of her transatlantic accent and Oprah phrasing to get people to buy his records. She’s taken to covering his ‘Wonderful World’, kicking off with the plea: “If you don’t have a copy of the album, please do yourself a favour and go and get it.” Hell, maybe it works over there.

The punks weren’t interested in celebrity. They wanted to overturn the established order, cause anarchy, kick over the statues. The Sex Pistols certainly wouldn’t do anything so crass and formulaic as commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of Never Mind The Bollocks with a series of vinyl reisssues, singles and album staggered carefully over a number of successive weeks. Oh, they are? Oh.

But celebrity has its extremes, of course: the least exciting headline of the year was seen across the northern hemisphere’s music press this week. It went something like, “Interpol bassist to star in movie”. You see? We’re not totally obsessed with celebs. There can’t be a person alive who wanted to read further.

Matthew Horton

Picture: PA Photos

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• 04/06/2007: Beth Ditto bares all >>
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• 21/05/2007: Lily vs Cheryl in catfight nirvana >>
• 14/05/2007: Eurovision carve-up shame >>
• 08/05/2007: How is Kurt Cobain still writing diaries? >>
• 30/04/2007: Bez and Mani? It's 1990 all over again >>
• 23/04/2007: MC Hammer inspires Arctic Monkeys >>
• 16/04/2007: Your planet is safe in Madonna's hands >>
• 10/04/2007: Kaiser Ricky fights for pop double standards >>
• 02/04/2007: Weller vs Sting in battle of the spittle >>
• 26/03/2007: Jagger and Trousersnake snubbed >>
• 19/03/2007: Ray Quinn and the death of pop >>
• 12/03/2007: The Jackson Five eye some filthy lucre >>
• 05/03/2007: George is on his way to Wembley >>
• 26/02/2007: Mel C holds up Spice reunion >>
• 19/02/2007: Joss Stone's big love >>
• 12/02/2007: Lily conquers America >>
• 05/02/2007: Oasis to meet Ringo at last >>
• 29/01/2007: Amy Winehouse wows the Savoy >>
• 22/01/2007: Chris Martin: the B-Boy >>
• 15/01/2007: Whitney auctions her belongings >>
• 08/01/2007: The Police to reform? >>
• 02/01/2007: James Brown RIP >>
• 2006 archive >>