Taking care of Buisness

Rip It Up, Issue 244, 1 December 1997, Page 32

Taking care of Buisness

CHRIS BLACKWELL LEAVES ISLAND

Founder of the UK indie label Island the home of U2, Bob Marley, Marianne Faithfull, Traffic, Cranberries, Pulp, PJ Harvey etc, Chris Blackwell (60) has left the label he started 38 years ago, eight years after the label was purchased by Polygram. Comments Blackwell made to the LA Times a week before his departure may have forced him to leave. He said, “What I have come to realise is that it is not really possible for me to continue to grow creatively in the entertainment business with Polygram. I feel that Alain Levy [Polygram CEO] is restricting me and I don’t understand why.” ROGER GRIERSON LEAVES POLYGRAM MUSIC The head of Australia’s Polygram Music Publishing company has resigned. Earlier this year Grierson signed Shihad for a worldwide publishing deal. Grierson (40) will move to Festival Records in Sydney and become CEO. The prior Festival MD Bill Eeg resigned late November. Prior to his six years at Polygram, Grierson was active in the Australian indie scene as a concert promoter (Buzzcocks etc.) and a label owner. PARALLEL IMPORTS FOR OZ? There is active debate in Australia as to whether high CD prices are due to the major label copyright owners acting non-competitively or whether the high sales tax for recorded music is responsible. The Oz industry argues that parallel imports would undermine their ability to invest in Oz music. Phil Tripp publisher of the Australian Music Industry Directory writing in opposition to changing copyright law, wrote, “We’re looking at becoming the new New Zealand — a country that made its music an expatriate industry rather than an export one.” COALITION NO TO YOUTH RADIO Youth Affairs Minister Deborah Morris has withdrawn her support for the nationwide Youth Radio proposal. A ministerial and Treasury report found that the expensive network was likely to damage existing student, commercial, and Iwi radio stations. • ■

HITS & MYTHS: MUSIC VIDEO EXHIBIT At the Film Centre in Wellington there is a NZ music video show Hits And Myths, running from December to March. Innovative video directors including Mark Tierney, Chris Knox, Kerry Brown and Melanie Bridges will be highlighted. The Film Centre is on the Cnr of Jervois Quay and Cable St and admission is free. TOO MUCH STATIC A semi-weekly zine published by Peter McLennan aims to be “a sharp-tongued antidote to the pitiful excuses for television information.” Too Much Static deals in “the nation’s cathode depiction” and “web seen.” Peter is at (025) 715-229 or PC Box 1869, Auckland. FOREIGN MOVES The new Motown record label boss is movie producer George Jackson (Krush Groove, New Jack City, Houseparty). Jackson said, “Music today is a multi-media business. You have to have good visual, lyrical, and musical presence in order to have a measure of success”... Sting manager and former IRS label owner Miles Copeland has started a world music label, Mondo Melodia ... Epic label band Korn have their own label deal with Reprise to sign and produce artists ... L 7 have left the Slash label ... Janet Jackson has returned to Roger Davies Management (Tina Turner, Joe Cocker) after a stint elsewhere ... Clive Davis has signed Carlos Santana to Arista nearly 30 years after he signed Santana to Columbia in 1968 ... rock I alternative label Geffen have diversified and signed two pop acts she moves and Pure Sugar. MUSICAL CHAIRS

Delwyn Rees has resigned from her PR job at Mushroom ... Suzanne Wilson has been appointed Station Manager at 95bFM ... Chris Bourke is the new editor of Heal Groove magazine ... D.O.G. is now incorporated inside City Life ... Aaron Carson has left Max TV to start his own import business.

NZ ON AIR INDIE HIT DISC The acts selected for the last of four Indie Hits Discs are: Alpha Plan Make Believe Barnard’s Star Miasma Debris Rocket Liner Doris Days Pop Star Parka Boombells Paua Fritters Her Story Runt Happening Man Syke She Has Such A Way With Girls Puffins Lighthouse Tardis Nodge Love Consort I Want To Touch You Bryce International Airways Strange Days Brubeck Dustman Mink Look Like An Angel Sola Monday Swallow Apollo Deluxe Good Lord Jack Lord

OZ NEWS Iggy Pop headlines ’the Falls ‘97, a festival, Dec 30 to Jan 1, three hours from Melbourne. Other bands appearing include a reformed Hard-Ons, the Superjesus, Deadstar, and Front End Loader ... Underground Lovers have released a new album Ways t’Burn. Other new albums are Sidewinder Tangerine, Polyanna Hello Halo (Bark / Mushroom), Glovebox Umbrella (Half a Cow) ... albums are due in January from Died Pretty and the Killjoys. SYDNEY DATES Tom Jones Star City Nov 27-29 Natalie Cole Star City Nov 29-30 The Offspring Hordern Dec 1 Peter Paul & Mary Star City Dec 2-3 Silverchair Hordern Dec 6 Teenage Fanclub Metro Dec 9-10 INXS State Theatre Dec 9-11 k.d.lang Star City Dec 11,15-16 Kool & the Gang Hilton Dec 15-20 ? : ; Kenny G Star City Dec 22-23 Randy Crawford Star City Dec 26-27 Beck Enmore Jan 12-13 Homebake: You Am I, Spiderbait, Grinspoon, the Superjesus Domain Jan 24 The Corrs State Theatre Feb 11-12 U2 Football Stadium Feb 27 .