Daily radioshow

Just wanted to let you all know that today I have started doing a daily radioshow on Cool FM, called 'Angel in the morning'.

So instead of doing my Saturday afternoon show for the station, I now broadcast every mon-fri, 10.30 am- 12.00 pm, Aruban time (-4 GMT) You can watch and listen to me live on the Cool FM website: http://www.coolaruba.com/

I have to admit though, watching a radio DJ at work is generally bit boring (definitely not the same as watching a VJ ; ) but still....

And you can chat with me whilst I'm on-air. Either by Messenger (angelmorning@live.com ) or just send me a text on Aruba phone number: (297)-747 3562

Looking forward to hearing from you

My predictions were right (this time)

When I blogged about that BBC shortlist for 2009, I wrote about which artists I had the highest hopes for. My top 3 was Frankmusik with '3 little words', Lady Gaga with 'Just dance' & Kid Cudi with 'Day 'n Night'.

It turns out that I picked the most succesful ones off that list as Lady Gaga's 'Just dance' is currently holding the UK number 1 spot and Kid Cudi is right behind her at number 2 with 'Day 'n Night'. I'm not quite sure how Frankmusik is doing, but I still stick to my guns on that one too. I think it's a great track. Maybe it will pop up again in the future (becoming part of a commercial, movie or something along those lines)

The official winner of the BBC's list was Little boots. Who, I think, is not bad, but not the best of that list.

Anyway, I already told you before...I also do miss the mark sometimes. But it feels good when you get it right : )

Daniel Merriweather, Change

Daniel Merriweather...you may be more familiar with this man's voice than with his name as he has been doing backing vocals on tracks by Mark Ronson and others in the past, but now he's ready to show himself to the world with his own album, which will be out in April 2009. To give us all a taster of what's to come, here's the first single off the album; 'Change' (and a mighty fine taster it is too ; )

My only criticism to Daniel is the fact that he flaps his hands around like he is some kind of player or black rap star. To me that always looks silly on white boys (unless your name is Eminem, then you are forgiven) Great voice though!

Follow this blog

For my regular blog readers...I've just put on this new add-on, so we can see who's all 'part of the family'. Sign in on the right-hand side at 'follow this blog'.

2009 remix of Storm's 'Time to burn'

Big up to the power and interconnectedness of the Internet! I blogged about the 2009 remake of ‘King of my castle’ and got a personal ‘thank you’ note through MySpace from the man responsible for the remix, Rowald Styen.

And now he has contacted me again to tell me about his latest adventure, a 2009 remix of Storm’s ‘Time to burn’.

As I watched the Utube clip, I got so bloody excited. I try not to swear these days (all part of becoming a mum, I guess ; ) but throughout hearing the tune, I couldn’t stop myself from saying: ‘F*****g hell...F*****g hell’, whilst grinning from ear to ear.

This is the kind of track that can always re-ignite my passion for dance music. As I hear it, I am transported back into a club, hands in the air, shaking my head in disbelieve at the giganticness of this tune. Big up! Of course, the original was already fantastic and gigantic, but I always found that there were a few moments where the track crossed from being accessible to being a bit cheesy and even other mixes that have come out since have not been able to remove that occassionally cheesy feel. Rowald Steyn, in my opinion, is the first person who’s managed to do that.

I am also happy to hear Mark Spoon’s legacy carried forward. I always worried for him and his wild partying ways and, sadly enough, it was a fear that turned out not to be unfounded. He died of a suspected heart attack in 2006. Rest in my peace, my friend!

Mark Spoon, by the way, was at the heart of my infamous ‘wandering around the streets of Berlin in a dressing gown’ incident. I’m not sure if I have ever shared that story yet. It’s a bit of a mad one.

Anyway, check out this 2009 mix of ‘Time to burn’...

A sucker for your sound, I Monster

What an original promo! Done by New York-based director Mike Ritchie. The single 'Sucker for your sound' has just been released (17th of Jan) and is available on 7" vinyl and download format through the Twins of Evil label.

The I Monster website is brilliant too. Go check it out!

Alex James from Blur: Coldplay were 'ordinary'

This is quite a funny article that I just found on the BBC's Newsbeat page. It shows how easy it is to misjudge a new act. Personally, I've been right about some artists in the past, but made some major misjudgements too. For instance, I was totally wrong about the Spicegirls back in the days (I was convinced they'd never make it) and I also am starting to take back my earlier judgement on Katy Perry. I expected her to be a one-hit wonder, but 'Hot 'n cold' ended up growing on me & 'Thinking of you' definitely shows that she is way more talented than I ever gave her credit for.


Anyway, this is that Newsbeat article:

Blur's Alex James has said that he passed on signing Coldplay to his record label in the 90s. The bassist went to see them with his fellow label heads, artist Damien Hirst and late Clash frontman Joe Strummer, but thought they were "ordinary".

"Then again, I still think Coldplay are a fairly ordinary band, although the singer is good," he wrote in The Spectator magazine.

James compared them to The Beatles and Blur - all found it hard to get a deal.
"We all thought they were ordinary and passed on them," he wrote. "I think everybody did, except Parlophone, just like [what] happened with The Beatles - and Blur."

Decca Records rejected The Beatles in 1962 before they signed to Parlophone, famously declaring "guitar groups are on the way out".

James, who will again play with Blur when they reform for a series of gigs this summer, explained that he, Hirst and Strummer preferred forgotten indie band Murry The Hump to Coldplay.

Trying to upload clips...

I am starting to get so frustrated. Been trying to upload some clips that I digitized ages ago (my Tina Turner interview, plus Harald Schmidt show from spring 2001)

I found these clips again on an old external hard-drive and I have been trying the upload them onto Dropshots, straight on to Blogger and I have even tried to burn them onto a DVD (just to see if that was possible). But none of it worked. I think the problem is that the clips start with a menu, I then have to click onto the chapter and that's when the clips play. So how do I now get these clips out of the hard-drive and on to my blog? Any suggestions anyone?

My final days at MTV...

I guess it’s time for me to share this story now. It’s not that I want to revisit that time particularly- as it was such a painful period in my life- but you guys have asked me about it & I am not one for keeping secrets. So, here goes...

As I said many times before, MTV is an amazing company to work for. But sadly enough, it is a terrible company to get fired from. Each one of us, former MTV employees, have our own painful story of ‘being dumped by the one we loved so much’.

To be honest though, my ‘ending’ was much to my own doing. I had tried to leave MTV for years. Every time when MTV was letting people off (something that would hang over the offices for months and caused a horrible nervous atmosphere), I would go into the boss’s office and offer my resignation. Yet every time I was told that they didn’t want me to go and would offer me more money. So each time I stayed.

The reason why I had wanted to leave was that I had been there for so long. There was nothing new for me to learn & I saw no new challenges in my daily work. The ‘feel’ of the company had also changed over the years and had become very ‘corporate’. I craved a new challenge. Plus, I had having freaky nightmares about me being an old lady who was still hanging around the MTV dressing rooms (I looked like that crazy old woman from the movie ‘Whatever happened to baby Jane’). So anyway, I felt that I needed to move on.

But I never had the guts to actually leave (apart from those feeble attempts whenever they were laying off staff). The main reason for this was that I felt safe and accepted at MTV. It was my home away from home, as I had left my mother’s house at the age of 18 and moved straight to London. So MTV had become my new family in this foreign land. I grew up at MTV and in front of the MTV cameras.

The perks of being a VJ was also something that I had grown accustomed to. MTV would give me hefty clothing allowances every month, plus a personal stylist to shop with. Like most other VJs, I used the MTV taxi service all over town, I sent my parcels through the MTV postal service & used the MTV phones to call my family in Holland. I had also grown accustomed to travelling non-stop (my average was 2 foreign countries a week). Plus I was more than used to my ‘access all areas’ lifestyle.

But in the lead-up to being fired I had done something that I had never done before. On the Harald Schmidt show (a big German talk show) I announced that I was leaving MTV at the end of that year. But when that date came nearer and nearer I got cold feet and hoped that everyone would forget about my big announcement. I did say ‘no’ to more and more mainstream shoots and projects on MTV and started to spend more time away from the company. But I didn’t expect to actually leave.

Then, one day, I was called into the office of a new boss. I had no idea why she wanted to see me. She just said ‘Simone, we’re taking the Partyzone off air. You are fired’. It was so unexpected and such a shock that I started to cry. And I hated myself for that. If I had known what she was going to say, I’m sure that I would have been fine. I felt so stupid for crying, especially as her office had big windows and everyone could see me. I walked out of her office humiliated & that was not the way I had intended to leave after all those beautiful years.

It was all made worse though when my dear friends and colleagues came straight up to me and said ‘Simone, we’re so sorry for you’. It turned out that everyone had known, apart from me. And no one told me. Not even James or Tania, my two best friends at the company. They said ‘We were told not to tell you’.

James and I had always had a ‘suicide pact’. We promised each other that we would leave the company together. But I was leaving alone. He also didn’t have the guts to follow through (as you know, we are still very close friends, so I have obviously forgiven him for this).

The rest of my period at MTV (the final days) was all a haze. There were no goodbyes, apart from a short tape that my colleagues made, with lots of ‘Good luck Simone’ and ‘We love you’. They also collected some money amongst themselves and gave me a bracelet that I still wear to this day.

My last shoot was with a crew that I never worked with. It was on top of a snowy mountain and at the end of the shoot, they forgot about me and left. So there I was, stranded on top of an Austrian mountain, feeling more lonely and betrayed than I had ever been.

No one had actually told me if my other show, the German version of the Dancefloor chart, was ending too. So I came back to the studio, filmed my show and asked afterwards ‘So what happens now? Are we still filming next week?’ No one seemed to know. And that was the last I ever heard of my German crew. No goodbye at all.

And obviously, it was not true that Partyzone or the Dancefloor chart had ended. It was only me that had been taken off air.

So there you go. It may not seem like such hurtful or shocking a story to you, but it was an awful period in my life. My main feeling was that of being betrayed by my own ‘family’. I just wished that it had been done differently. I was fine about the leaving part, but it’s the way that it was done that was so horrible. Still, others were fired in even worse ways than that at MTV. I’ll say it again ‘MTV is a great company to work for, but an awful company to be fired from’.

By the way, I still am good friends with many old MTV colleagues, including the big, big boss Bill Roedy. He is the sweetest man and is the best boss I have ever had. So it’s not the people that I ended up angry with, but the corporate monster that is now MTV.

Free download: Colin Munroe is the unsung hero

Just found this on the ever fabulous OnSmash. It's from the Canadian artist Colin Munroe, who you may know from his 'I want those flashing lights' (the Kanye West remix). After checking out Colin Munroe's MySpace page I have started to see what a great talent he is.

You can download Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero mix-tape on OnSmash too.

This is the video for his track "Piano Lessons" featuring Joell Ortiz & produced by Black Milk. Directed by Philip Sportel.




One thing I don't understand though...why is he giving all his album tracks away like that? Can someone explain to me how this all works? I'm confused (though happy with the wonderful freebie : )

Happy 2009, my dear blog readers!

Yes, I think it's going to be a good year. Let's make 2009 a year that is filled with music, fun and adventure!

And thank you all for your birthday wishes and for staying in touch whilst I was busy hanging out with my family over the holiday season. The kids are back in school now, so I can finally start digging around the Internet again for music news stories, great new tunes and vids.

As a comment on my Christmas posting, Fil asked me about my last days at MTV. It's funny how reading those questions still made me feel emotional. They certainly aren't the kind of questions that can be answered quickly. I need to look at what I can and cannot say without getting into big trouble with MTV/Viacom. Which is something that needs to be done soon anyway as I've been asked to write down my complete MTV story for a book. I will let you know if that plan become a reality in the near future or not.

There are some other- rather exciting- plans for 2009, but I'd rather wait with sharing details until I have more certainty that they are really going to happen (you never know in this industry)

Even so, I am thrilled that this new year has started and I have total faith that it is going to be a great one!

Happy New Year everybody!!!!!

Hallelujah! Christmas number 1 and 2

In the UK there is always this big hooha about who will be 'the Christmas number one'. This year it is the beautiful Leonard Cohen track of the very appropriate name 'Hallelujah' (which some people will know as 'the Shrek song', strangely enough)

Not only is it number one though, but also number two. The version that is topping the charts is the version from Alexandra Burke, the winner of this year's X-Factor. Whilst the number two spot is held by the 1994 Jeff Buckley version of the song. I have always been a fan of the Jeff Buckley version. It's like the raw emotion is dripping off that one. So haunting and so beautiful.

I once had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Buckley at Glastonbury festival and- like everyone else- his strange and untimely death came as a huge shock to me. He drowned in 1997 at the age of 30. The world lost a great and honest talent on that sad day. But I'm thrilled to see that a new generation of music lovers is discovering Jeff Buckley's music again.

Alexandra's version of the track is good too & with a performance like that, how could she not win the competition?




Sadly enough, they wouldn't let me embed the Jeff Buckley version. You actually will have to go to Utube to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnxmkOAj88

Merry Christmas everyone!

No internet connection...

Hi all,

Well, we've moved house, but the internet connection there is not working yet. We are waiting for it to be fixed, but God knows how long it will take. We've been told 2 to 3 weeks, with no definate date (in Aruba...you never know)

So, my extremely slack blogging of late will continue for a while longer. My appologies.

I will be blogging properly again in 2009.

Love, Simone

Is Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida' a rip-off?

Thanks to James Hyman for forwarding me this Utube link. Pretty convincing stuff, I'm afraid. So my bet is that this will cost Coldplay a lot of money as Viva la Vida does sound almost exactly like Joe Satriani's 'If I could fly'.



On the other hand, alternative band Creaky board also accused Coldplay of ripping off parts of Viva la vida from their track 'Songs I didn't write' (that title sounds almost like a piss-take of the situation, doesn't it?)

Creaky Boards later retracted the accusations and now speculate that both songs may have been inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda (do you think they were given something to retract their claim?)

Click here to hear the comparison between those & more 'songs that sound like other songs'.

I actually believe that people do this stuff by accident. They start humming a melody they have heard somewhere, somehow & they think it's their own idea. It just has this 'familiar feel' to it (which is normally a good thing when you write a song). And- even when they aren't 100% sure that is an original idea- when they run it by other people and ask them if they've ever heard it before, those people all say no. Because the original is quite obscure. So, before you know it, you've ripped someone off. When you rip someone off knowingly, you make enough little changes to your song so no one can sue you (something Noel Galagher, for instance, is a star at ; )

Please tell me your verdict. Guilty or not?

BBC's Best of 2009 list is out. And it is brilliant!

Fifteen of the best rising music stars have been announced as the longlist for the BBC's Sound of 2009.

The list is designed to find the best up-and-coming acts for the coming year, with the winner to be named in January.

More than 130 of the UK's leading music critics and broadcasters named their favourite new acts, and the 15 with the most votes have made the longlist.

Adele triumphed at number one in Sound of 2008, followed by Duffy, The Ting Tings and Glasvegas.

To see and hear the 2009 list, click here

I've checked out all the acts and think most of them are really good. Still, let me pick my favorite three & share them with you here. They are the most pop and the most catchy of the list, I think. It is possible that after several listens, I may start to prefer others that simply take longer to grow on you. But this is my list as it stands. Please let me know which of the list are your personal favorits. I'm curious to know.



Frankmusik: Dance singer, remixer and all-round whizz-kid Vincent Frank creates high-energy robopop in which fast neon beats jump out of '80s-tinged tunes.

Frank has remixed tracks for the likes of Mika, Radiohead and CSS. His debut album, Complete Me, has been co-produced by Stuart Price, who has worked with The Killers, Madonna and Keane.




Currently the hottest new hip-hop artist in the US, Kid Cudi has signed to Kanye West's label, features on the star's new album and has been supporting him on tour.



New York party princess Lady GaGa is making waves in the US, where her infectious top 10 single Just Dance has just been nominated for a Grammy for best dance recording. She has also written songs for Britney Spears, Pussycat Dolls and New Kids on the Block.

So, that's my (pop) list. Do also check out Temper Trap, La Roux, Passion Pit, Florence & the machine, and Master Shortie. As I said, the whole list is great. The BBC rocks yet again!

Still available as free download: the new Prodigy single!

Invaders must die is the name of the new album from the Prodigy and the title track will be available as a free download from their site for a few more days. Don't miss it!

I have to admit, for a while I felt like Liam had 'lost himself' somehow and I wasn't as crazy about the stuff he had done in the last few years (I also have to admit that I haven't heard everything he has done in these last years. Maybe I missed a gem somewhere)

But anyway, if he did lose himself for while, he's back now! And so are the Prodigy! What a top tune. Can't wait to hear to hear the whole album. This is what they are all about. Gritty, dark, intense dance music that just blows your head off. And I can already imagine them onstage with this track.

Having seen thousands of live performances over the years, I think that Prodigy are the best live act ever!!!!! And- of course- also the best dance act ever!!! (anyone disagree with me on that one?)

Good to have you back, old Braintree posse.



Obviously, I have many good memories of the Prodigy as I used to spend a lot of time with them. I'll share some of my favorites in the coming days.

Will.i.am.'s new video: It's a new day

I'm having such a wonderful time in Holland. Always good to spend time with family and enjoy the snow (My little boy and I seem to be the only people who are enjoying it, after all these years in the tropics ; )

By the way, it's been crazy to see how many nineties parties there are all over Holland. I had thought that people were getting nostalgic, but had no idea to what level.

Well, I'm keeping it short today. Too busy enjoying my time back in this cold little country.

Enjoy this one. The ultimate feel-good tune and video: It's a new day!

Gym Class Heroes feat. Estelle, Guilty as charged

Gym Class Heroes and Estelle, you almost can't go wrong there. They are both great acts and together they are also great. No surprises.

The vid is a bit of a 'Sabotage' throw-back, but fitting to the style of the tune. Still, when you put both the videos together I think that 'Sabotage' is the better one. Hands down! Not only because it was the first video of its kind, but also because it has a natural sense of humour that this Gym Class one lacks. The Beasty Boys are just naturally funny.

But what do you think?

Regardless of which vid is the better one though, it's a good tune.

Grace Jones

Steve Blame was the one who introduced me to Grace Jones. He has always surrounded himself with all these odd-ball people. When he used to throw these crazy birthday parties (turning 37 1/2, etc.) in Greece, we would hang out with Nina Haagen and her fake dog, La Camilla- the woman with the big lips from 'Army of lovers'- who would take about 6 hours getting her make-up done, Adamski- who broke his leg on one of the trips and hobbled along for the rest of it- plus many others. It was always pure insanity.

So I was used to meeting strange people through Steve and I had heard his stories about Grace Jones. Still, when I met her, she was even more weird and scary than I ever could have imagined.

She walked up to Steve, myself and my mother (I used to take my mum along to everything) through this dark nightclub. She kissed Steve and then turned to me. Steve said: 'Grace, this is Simone Angel'. I held my hand out to shake hers, but she just stared at me and- instead of shaking my hand- squeezed both my boobs. It was the weirdest thing. It wasn't a joke, she remained dead serious. It just seemed to be the way she greeted new people. My mum was shocked too. Yet neither of us had the guts to react to her. She really was frightening. I just pretended that I found the way she greeted me totally normal, I didn't know what else to do.

Later on that evening, she followed me into the toilets & handed me a little plastic flashing love heart. She smiled at me and then just walked away. And that was that. Very odd.

Anyway, I find it funny how she has managed to make such a come-back. Good on her, that strange, ageless, alien woman.

Here's her clip for Corporate Cannibal.

MTV Europe Music Award 2008, Pink's live performance

I love Pink. Great perfomance and another wonderful MTV Europe Music Awards stage show. If only MTV would be 'all about the music' year round and not only at the award shows.

And how funny that Rick Astley actually won an award. He should have been there! It may have been his last ever chance of attending an MTV Europe Music Award. I doubt he will be nominated again in the future.

Latest BPA release: Seattle ft.Emmy the Great

I want to love this track, but I don't. I have always been a huge fan of Norman Cook's work and love some of the stuff that Emmy the Great has done, but this track just doesn't do it for me. Maybe I should say 'yet'. Maybe it will grow on me.

Of course, with the US election going on right now (no results in yet whilst I am writing this), the song is well-timed. And if Obama wins and the world feels optimistic again about the future of America, it will be even more fitting. We will have to wait and see.

Personally, I am looking forward to the general release of the track 'He's Frank' from BPA, featuring Iggy Pop. Now that's a good tune. I wonder if it will ever be released as a single.

Nineties hits in the Dutch chart

I've just found out that 'King of my castle 2009' has entered the Dutch chart at number 29. 'Infinity 2008' is at number 2 and 'Show me love' is still number 1. Bring back the nineties!

Wamdue project, King of my castle 2009

Another club classic gets the remake. This time it's the old Stricly Rythm smash, 'King of my castle' by 'Wamdue project'.

DJ/Producer Rowald Steyn has done his magic on the track this time. It was, of course, brilliant to begin with and sounds great in it's 2009 jacket. Could it follow in the footsteps of Robin S. and become another number one hit?

Some silly trivia for you...King of my castle was in the UK charts in 1999 and- in that year- was the track with the longest name in which none of the letters were repeated (unbelievable what people keep track off)

Thanks to Eurodance blog for pointing me towards the Armada Music site. I looked it up after seeing the clip of Dobenbeck on there (nice summery tune...fits my tropical lifestyle)

Anyway, here's 'King of my castle 2009'

Take That starting a fight with Oasis?

Clever boys! Take That have said that 'Oasis just stand around and sing', telling people that their gigs will be way more exciting than those of the old rockers. Regardless of whether they mean it or not, it's a good tactic of the old boyband.

It shouldn't be too hard to ruffle Noel and Liam's feathers, so let's wait for the retaliation. It should give Take That tons of press right before the release of their new album 'Circus' (1/12/08). And I assume press coverage is exactly what they were after when they made those comments.

Howard Donald said: 'There’s a totally different energy to the two shows. We’re all about the spectacle, putting on an amazing show for the fans, with lots of high energy and dancing. 'Oasis are great - if you just want to see a band stand still and sing. They have a different kind of energy.'

Mark Owen added that, if finances were an issue for people and if they had to pick one gig over the other, they should go and see Take that play live and not Oasis.

Of course, these are silly comments. If Oasis did a dance routine the crowd would die laughing & if Take That stood onstage looking moody and playing guitar, there would be a lot of angy punters as well.

It's just provocation, isn't it? And who better to provoke then the Oasis boys.

I can just imagine the brainstorming session of their press department: 'We need to get the guys a ton of press for their new album, how shall we go about it? Are there any saucy secrets we can spill? Any of the Take that boys breaking up with their partner? Any of them sleeping with someone else famous? Are they in a fight with anyone? What can we do?'

After some silence in the room, a genius shouts: 'Just let them insult Oasis and we will have an instant celebrity deathmatch with some great moronic soundbites from Noel and Liam'

Brilliant idea!

So, let's wait and see what Noel will say about Take that now. It should be entertaining! Watch this space....

Robin S, number 1

Unbelievable! Robin S is at the top of the charts again in Holland with 'Show me love', the track that topped the UK dance charts in '93.

She re-released it '97, when it got to number 9 in the UK's pop chart. She then released it again in '99 & once more in 2002, without much luck (It only reached number 61 in the UK)

But Robin S has proven that perseverence pays off in the end. Because now there is the 2008 version of the track and she has finally reached a number 1 spot again. And this time not even in the dance chart, but in the general (pop) charts. Good on her!

And it just seems to show again that people are getting nostalgic about the nineties and nineties dance music. In the Dutch top 10 right now there is also the the track 'Infinity (2008)' of the Guru Josh Project. A track that was a huge hit at the end of the eighties/early nineties.

I am, of course, all for this. All these old tunes bring back so many great memories. And it's good to see that people are still appreciating the (dance) music from those days.

The fake 'hotel names' of superstars.

Ever wondered what fake names the stars use when they check into hotels? These, apparently, are some of them (keep in mind that these get updated regularly)

• Britney Spears: Alotta Warmheart


• Jennifer Aniston: Mrs. Smith


• Johnny Depp: Mr. Donkey Ass


• Brad & Angelina: Bruce and Jasminde Pilaf


• Angelina (when traveling alone): Mrs. Lollipop

Doing this may be handy, but sometimes it can cause problems too.

Like what happened to me after another MTV Award show. As usual I had ended up partying in a hotel room with the Prodigy and 3D from Massive Attack. The sun was starting to come up and I really needed to sleep. I was done!

So I asked John, the Prodigy's tour manager, to get me a cab and get me back to my hotel. When he asked me which hotel I was in I realized that I had no idea whatsoever. He named every hotel in town to me, but still I had no idea. He then started to call every hotel and found out that everybody at the Award show had been checked in under fake names, including myself & I just didn't know what my fake name was. He must have tried for about an hour (bless him) before he gave up. I had no mobile on me and no other numbers to call, so I was stranded.

As usual, the Prodigy crew rescued me (they saved me once before when I was lost in some lava fields in Iceland. Back then, the boys all bumped up rooms and gave me one of theirs. They even bought me a new flight ticket back to the UK)

Anyway, this time their manager, Mike Champion, gave me his suite and he shared a room with John.

Later on that day when I walked out of the hotel I was lucky enough to bump into some other MTV people who brought me back to my own hotel.

So there you go. It's good if people can't figure out where you are, but when you can't even figure out where you are, this fake name business gets rather annoying.

Guy Ritchie & Madonna, this divorce is getting nasty now

I do feel for Guy Ritchie. Who wants want to fight a dominating control freak like Madonna? Guy's mum was right though in saying that he knew what he got into when he married her. It's not like she became an impossible person overnight. Still, it's all so sad. For him and for their kids.

I'm not surprised by how she is using the kids in their fights either. Again, this is something she has done from day one. Early on in their relationship they went through a short break-up and Madonna was getting her little girl Lourdes to phone him and saying stuff like 'You have to come back. You made my mommy cry'. I happen to know this as Guy was hanging out at a friend of mine at that time.

Now she is using their son Rocco as a pawn in their fight. She got him wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan of the New York Yankees baseball team, who Madonna’s rumoured lover Alex 'A-Rod’ Rodriguez plays for.

A real kick in the teeth for Guy obviously and a friend of his has said 'He has actually been crying over it. He's in a terrible state but is doing his best to be on form at work (filming Sherlock Holmes) 'He said she is the 'lowest of the low' for letting Rocco wear that top and is even more determined to fight for his side now.'

It has been claimed that Madonna has offered Guy an extra £5 million in their divorce settlement if he lets her have control over his access rights to their eight-year-old son Rocco, two-year-old adopted son David Banda and Madonna’s 12-year-old daughter Lourdes.

But Guy Ritchie has said recently that he doesn't want her money & that all he cares about is the welfare of the children.

Oh boy, it's all getting ugly. Good luck to Guy fighting this one out, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now.

Chase & Status ft. plan B, Pieces

I know I am late with this one as it is number one in the UK dance chart. But I gathered that many readers of this blog are from outside of the UK, so I'd like to share it anyhow. This track already blows my mind when I listen to it at home, so I can imagine the impact it would have when you hear it booming out in a club. F*****g brilliant!

Eminem's new album

Eminem has confirmed that title of his sixth album will be `Relapse’ and that it may be out before the end of the year.

The rapper announced this on Sirius radio and debuted the title track 'I’m Having A Relapse’.

According to 50 Cent- who has already heard several tracks- Eminem's latest material is 'his best yet'.

I can't wait, as I think that Eminem is a true genius. I love the way he plays around with the English language & I love his sense of humor (as long as you can take it with a pinch of salt)

So, bring it on! Give us the relapse!

Katy Perry slipping, sliding, falling

I didn't bother posting the clips of Madonna or Beyonce falling onstage recently (we all make a tumble sometimes), but this slipping, sliding mess of Katy Perry is too funny to keep from you.

Unbelievable!

What a week for pop news. Madonna getting divorced after all, Britney being back on top (for the time being), Sugababes splitting up (also for the time being), Leona Lewis being boo-ed at the Mobo Awards, Michael Jackson and his migraines...

Wow! That would have been a lot to cover. And have I blogged about any of it? No. Instead, we have been battling extreme weather here in Aruba (the tail-end of tropical storm Omar), with roads turned into rivers, power outages and other chaos.

I'll try and catch up in the coming week.

Peace, love & sunshine (finally),
Simone

Katy Perry to host the MTV Europe Music Awards

She was invited to snog Lindsey Lohan at the (US) MTV Awards recently, which she declined. But now she has accepted something much better (for her). Hosting the MTV Europe Music Award.

A huge honour for someone who has only had one hit. And, I think, quite a risk for MTV Europe. But there you go. This is what MTV does nowadays. Unpredictable, crazy stunts around the Award Shows. Like getting the unknown (in the US) British comedian Russell Brand to host the (US) MTV Awards. Rick Astley being nominated 17 years after his last hit, Britney making a 'comeback' without even doing anything...

And now this, getting the girl who 'kissed a girl' to host one of the biggest Award shows of the year.

Will she do a good job? That's anyone's guess. Will she still be famous in two years time? Again...anyone's guess. My personal guess is no. I don't think Katy Perry will enjoy a long-lasting career, because starting out with a novelty record is normally the best way to begining and ending a career faster than you can say 'one-hit wonder'. I mean, does anyone expect that -in a few years time- she will be remembered for anything more than kissing a girl? Judging by her follow-up, the odds of her becoming a one-hit wonder are even greater.

So, would I choose a possible one-hit wonder to host the Awards? No. But then, I disagree with many of the decisions that MTV makes these days. Does it get them good press coverage? You bet. So in that way, MTV has already won. Who cares what people say after the Awards? As long as you wet the audience's appetites before each up-coming show, they will watch. And in the end, it's all about those precious viewing figures.

Beyonce's new single 'Single ladies' (Put a ring on it)

There doesn't seem to be an official promo for this one yet (it's just been released today) nor is there one for the double A-side 'If I were a boy'. I know the vids have been shot, I just haven't seen the final versions. But will post them asap.

Cage the elephant, the re-leased version of 'In one ear'

Jees, can you imagine living in a place called Bowling Green? Well, it really exists. It's in Kentucky and it's where the band Cage the Eelphant are from. After the modest success they had 'Aint no rest for the wicked', they have decided to re-release their first single 'In one ear' and have added a very 'Basket case' promo to it. (Greenday)

Global markets plunge, but Sugarbabe was able to spend £20,000 on a holiday

The financial world has gone even more insane today. Strangely enough, I woke up in a panic about 2 or 3 months ago and thought 'I need to take my savings out of the stock market, something really bad is going to happen' (I had bought some stocks for the first time in my life a while ago and they had done amazingly well up to that point). But I didn't act on my gut feeling, as I should have done. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Now I'm on the losing end, like everybody else.

Anyway, some people will feel much less of whatever financial crisis we might be facing. People like popstars. Take Keisha Buchanan from the Sugarbabes, for instance. She has just told the press that she took a bunch of friends on a £20,000 holiday.


The generous Sugababes singer wanted to treat her closest pals to an unforgettable trip, but admits the amount she splashed out was excessive.



She said: "I took eight friends to Atlanta. We travelled first class and stayed in a big hotel. I spent £20,000 easily. My accountant had to call me when I landed to find out where the money had gone."



I just wanted to treat my friends. They wanted to go to Spain but I thought, 'I'm taking you guys to Atlanta.' It didn't look too good when I got the bill."

Oxjam has started

Oxjam is billed as 'the biggest music festival in the world'. It basically is a ton of different events all over the UK that are in support of the charity Oxfam (and anyone can get involved)

From their website:

Oxjam is a music festival with a difference. Each year thousands of music-lovers like you get involved, all across the UK, to raise money for Oxfam. The next Oxjam kicks off in October 2008. We're asking musicians, promoters - in fact, everyone - to get together to make music, raise money and help end poverty. You don't need a big venue - the beauty of Oxjam is that hundreds of small events make one huge party. And you make it happen. Sound good? Sign-up to get involved where you live and your local Oxjam volunteer team will be in touch pronto with support and advice.

Oxjam is about raising money for Oxfam to tackle poverty all over the world. Supporting Oxjam helps people to earn a living; to get an education; health care; fresh water; and to grow more food. Every pound you raise counts.

My first LP33 playlist

Here is my current pick of favorite LP33 artists and tracks (I've made a few slight changes)

More to come. Big up to all these great new artists!



By the way, after several days of first hearing all these tracks for the first time, I have decided that my favorite is 'Bastard' by 'Tough love'. The reason being that I can't get the damn track out of my head. Especially the first two lines 'Life's a bastard & so am I. Life's a bastard and then you die'. The melody is so bloody catchy...I'm sure it would work well if it got the right backing, radio airplay, etc. On top of that, 'Tough love' are an interesting looking band. Kinda steampunk in a way. Has anyone heard of them? (outside of London?) Have they had a general release?

I also do love 'Daddy's gun' and the band 'Fin'. Although for some reason my favorite track of Fin, called 'Broken circuits' has been taken off the PL33 site. I hope they put it back on soon (it's very Radiohead, I'll post it if it comes back on)

Rick Astley gets surprise MTV Europe Music Video Awards nomination.

How funny, it looks like MTV has been 'Rickrolled', less than a year after 25 million people were tricked into watching the video of Rick's biggest single 'Never Gonna Give You Up' (which reached number one in 16 countries in 1987). The promo was posted under the title of several other popular music artists on video sharing website YouTube, and the prank became known as 'Rickrolling'.

And now it has happened to MTV Europe. The public had been asked to nominate artists for the category 'Best act ever' & they have voted Rick Astley onto the shortlist alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, Tokio Hotel and U2.

This is his first ever nomination, 17 years after his last chart success! He must be in total shock!

By the way, I had a bit of an embarrassing Rick Astley moment a few years ago. I was having dinner with a friend who is record company executive and he told me that we were going to be joined by someone else, 'my friend Rick'.

Well, 'my friend Rick' turned out to be Rick Astley, together with his wife. He was about to be singed to the guy's label, I believe.

Anyway, I was rather surprised to see Rick Astley. Of course I remember seeing him on TV when I was a little girl, so it was weird to suddenly be sitting at a table with him. I was playing it cool (as you do) until-at one point during the dinner- there was an (uncomfortable) silence. Without realizing that I did it, I started humming to myself 'Never gonna give you up'.

Immediately, Rick's wife turned to me and said: 'Did you just...?'
'No, I didn't'
'Yes you did, I heard you'
'No I didn't'

At that point I went bright red and she just cracked up. How embarrassing! From that moment on, every time she looked at me she started laughing.
So there you go. How stupid can one be?

Please tell me that this is not (the full extend of) Obama's musical taste!

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are set to play a gig on the 16th of October in New York in support of Barack Obama, with the senator himself attending the show. Bruce Springsteen will also be performing this saturday for Obama at a rally in Philadelphia.

But how boring is that? Couldn't the line-up be spiced up a tat with someone younger, more current, more exciting?

Come on! I always thaught Barack Obamam was so (in Eddy Izzard's words) 'groovy'. Well, there's nothing groovy about Springsteen or Joel.

And it's not like Barack is not being supporting by tons of really cool acts. So, sort it out Barack! Get a better line-up. Your VP is already dull as hell, don't allow the music at your rallies to be that too.

You're all invited to be the first visitors to LP33!

Okay, here we go...feel free to get hooked like me: http://beta.lp33.tv
User: beta
Password: beta

I expect this site to officially launch next week. But we can snoop around already.

So much new talent. So inspiring! Enjoy...

No Led Zepelin tourdates! And why old rockers should not hit on young girls!

I just saw an article on Robert Plant. On how he denies that there will be Led Zeppelin tour dates even though some people are already selling (fake) tickets for these events.

Anyway, I looked at his picture and thought 'Oh yuk, that's that old rocker that once hit on me at the Countdown studios in Holland'. I was so grossed out at the time. All I kept thinking was 'this guy could be my dad, maybe even my granddad'. I knew he'd been in some legendary band, but wasn't even sure which one it was. I've just never been into Led Zeppelin or any of these other old rock bands.

It's funny actually, how often you meet famous people when you're in the public eye yourself without you recognizing them. I remember the first time Bryan Adams came up to me backstage at the MTV Awards and said 'Hi, I'm Bryan'. I just went 'Okay, hi Bryan' and walked on. It was much later when it dawned on me who just shook my hand.

And the same thing with this Robert Plant guy. It's only now that I look at him again that I realize where I met him before.

But anyway, old rockers should not be hitting on young girls...full stop! It's disgusting. Just because someone has made good music doesn't make him any less of a dirty old man.

Oh, and when I'm talking of dirty old men, I don't actually mean Bryan Adams. He is a total gentleman. He just ended up in this story somehow ; )

Already getting hooked on LP33.TV

Sorry people, no time to blog. I'm too bussy surfing the BETA site of LP33. As soon as I've been given the green light to share the password with you all, I will do so. But be warned...once you start surfing the site you can't stop! I have already 'discovered' so many exciting new artists. I feel like a kid in a candy store. This is just too cool!!!!!!

LP33 TV to launch soon!

There is a great new site/service to be launched for musicians and music fans alike. It's called LP33 TV and the following clip will explain-in short- what they are all about. In a way, it's what MySpace should have been. I'm not saying that I don't like MySpace, but it's rather limited compared to what these guys offer to new artists (And with the hordes of small labels and new artists leaving MySpace and MySpace music, I am not alone in saying that)

If only services like these had existed when I was a young girl...I wouldn't have had to stand outside record company buildings with my tape in hand, demanding to see an A&R person. I used to find the record company addresses on the back of record sleeves (really showing my age here) and kept taking the ferry to England from Holland & stayed at youth hostels whilst I attempted to get seen by someone at these labels.

It took me years of being laughed at, running out of money and returning to Holland again and again. I was always told to just leave my tape at reception and that they would pass it on to A&R which I always refused. I knew that they had to see 'the whole package' to understand what I was all about.

When I was finally let in to a record company building I was forced to sing right there and then in the offices by Tom Watkins, who was the manager of the Pet Shop Boys, Bros and later East 17. By lack of a microphone, I just sang into an empty coke bottle & was signed on the spot (this was before I joined MTV), which just proves that perseverance does pay off.

So what I am trying to say is that I understand what it feels like to be a young artist who wants to show the world what you can do & how frustrated it is to not always get the platform that you want. Well...this is that platform! LP33.tv

Katy Brand, funnny music clips

For those of you outside of the UK, I don't think you will have seen these before....They are clips from the Katy Brand's big ass show. There's tons of them on Utube, but these were my favorites. Be warned...it's all rather silly : )

The return of a legend, Grooverider is free!!!!

Dego from 4Hero and I had been writing backwards and forwards to each other through MySpace about the fate of Grooverider. Dego kept posting the words 'Free Grooverider' on MySpace and, seeing as I had been wondering about how Grooverider was doing (see an older posting), I contacted Dego and we started talking about what we could possibly do for 'the Rider'.

Lucky enough, we didn't need to do anything anymore as Grooverider got his well-deserved pardon earlier this month during Ramadan.

See this from Music News.com:

Grooverider is back in the UK after serving seven months of a four year sentence in a Dubai prison. The 'Rider, real name Raymond Bingham, was arrested in November 2007 at Dubai airport on charges of possession of 2.16 grams of cannabis.

In February, he was sentenced to four years in prison. After his lawyer, Mohammad Al-Reda, was unable to get the charges dropped during an appeal, Grooverider’s only hope of returning to England was during the religious festival of Ramadan, when 700 Emirati and ex-pat prisoners are traditionally pardoned.

In August, Grooverider heard his name was on a list of potentials, but it wasn’t until Monday 1st September that he heard he was being released.

Grooverider finally returned home on September 4 and we can now all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

To celebrate, Lock N Load Events have teamed up with Groove Connection and Alchemy to put on the party of the year with a stellar line up selected by the main man himself!

Joining Grooverider at KOKO on his return to clubland will be an all-star supporting cast of friends and special guests. First up is of course the long-awaited 2 hour B2B set between Grooverider and partner Fabio. Alongside them will be Shy FX, Dillinja, Bailey, Mickey Finn and Jumping Jack Frost, with MC’s GQ and Fats on the mic, with more DJs to be announced.

This party is going to blow up big time! Get down there if you can. It's on Saturday the 11th of October at Koko. Good to have the Rider back!

George Michael's drug problems

George Michael says he is 'sorry for screwing up again' after being arrested the other day at a public toilet. Well, I'm sorry too now that I've heard that he was actually arrested for being in possession of crack cocaine. That is just bad, bad news. Crack is so bloody nasty. It breaks my heart to think of George Michael, who's such an amazingly talented man, smoking the crack pipe.

If he doesn't sort his life out soon he will end up in the gutters one day. If you've ever witnessed anyone with a crack habit you'll know what I am talking about. This is not a fun, little, social, occasional drug (even though it may start out as that). It is nasty, evil stuff. If this continues he will lose his fortune, his health, his sanity, his talent....

So, even though I am not religious, I will be praying for George Michael. I hope he'll get the help he needs and kicks this nasty habit.

George Michael arrested at a public toilet yet again!

George Michael recently said he wanted to give up touring to go and live a 'quieter life'. So is this what he had in mind as a quieter life? Being picked up (by police and not some handsome stranger) at another public toilet whilst in the possession of drugs?

Georgy-boy, what are you doing? Can't you give up that thrill of getting caught? Surely you can get meet cute strangers at other locations? Like your house(s)? What's up with these lavatories? Why, why why?????

I was once sitting at a dinner table with George Michael and his partner Kenny Goss. George Michael was lovely, but rather odd-looking. At first I thought that he was a fake, to be honest. He is so tiny! I had no idea. He was so small and tanned to the point where it looked bizarre.

I was rather drunk and had joined the table with Louis, who was the promoter for the Prodigy. This, by the way, was soon after George Michael's first 'public toilet arrest'. Remember that? When he was done for lewd conduct? Well, I nearly died of embarrassment when Louis stuffed his cheeks full of ice cubes and then turned to George, saying: 'George, George...do you like it with ice?'

George and his partner were not drunk like we were that night and just smiled at us politely. God, it was embarrassing!

Oh well...I can laugh about it now ; )

Weekly music news

Here's an extra dose of weekly pop news for ya from NME.

Van Morrison bans alcohol at gig

Now this is ridiculous...Van Morrison has banned his fans from drinking alcohol at his gigs. So already, people can't smoke at these places anymore, now they can't drink alcohol, what's next? How bloody boring!

I mean, it's understandable that you may want to ban real drunken people from coming in in the first place or throwing someone out if they behave in a way that is too disruptive to others. But telling the whole audience to not have one drink? Not even a 'civilized' glass of wine? Come on! And it's not like Van's audience would consist of hordes of teenagers. Most will be middle-aged. You can't tell these people what to do on their night out. Especially as they will have paid between 40 to 105 Pounds per ticket!

Van Morrison battled alcohol addiction in the 70s and 80s and is now teetotal. He told bosses at the Brighton Dome (the venue he played last night) not to sell any alcohol before or during his performance because it might disturb his singing, but he insists his decision is not an attempt to impose his lifestyle on his audience. Yeah, right!

The 63-year-old star is notoriously temperamental, and has previously said he finds it annoying when his fans walk around during his shows because he thinks they should be 'savouring the experience of seeing him live'.

What a prima donna! What will he do next? Throw people out of they dare to whisper something to each other during his performance?

Understandably many concert-goers are furious with the demands. One disgruntled fan said: 'Having a drink at a live show is part of the concert-going experience. It is a real shame Van has decided to make this decision.'

Morrison is also due to play alcohol-free shows at the Liverpool Philharmonic and Birmingham Symphony Halls next month.

Celebrities without make-up

Yay! This I like. Because it shows that we're all human and celebrity's (most of them) aren't any more beautiful than 'normal people'. It's all down to make-up, stylists, lighting, photoshop, etc. So ladies...just watch this and feel instantly better about yourself.