Madonna's tribute to Michael Jackson

Madonna was performing at the O2 Arena last night, the place where Michael Jackson would have staged his 'This is it' tourdates. Lady Madonna took a moment to pay tribute to late King of Pop.

Rye Rye- Bang (feat. M.I.A.)

From the 'Fast & Furious' movie soundtrack, the brilliant track 'Bang', by Baltimore artist Rye Rye, who is the first act signed to M.I.A.'s record label N.E.E.T.

Love the gritty, urban feel of this tune and love, love, love the dancing! This is such a Partyzone track and vid. Enjoy!

Such a sad life

You know, the more I listen to and watch the many stories and comments about Michael Jackson, the sadder I get. His life was pretty awful. From the get-go his life wasn't his own. It's like he purely excisted for other people's entertainment. The amount of work he had to do from such a young age & the abuse he suffered from his controling dad, it's horrible...and the world just watched and applauded.

Let this be a lesson to us all. Young kids should never be pushed like that. It's unfair. Even when they are that talented. It should be seen as a form of child-abuse & treated like that. Poor Michael never got to experience what 'normal' life was like. No wonder he became such a messed up adult.

The other side of that, is that he became a better performer then virtually anyone in the world, because he trained that hard & was pushed that hard from the get-go. They have said that, to become the best at something, you have to (at least) practice 10.000 hours. I can't think of the amount of hours he put into his art.

But it does make for a sad life, I think. Living in a bubble. Ridiculed & adored in equal messures.

His music and his legacy will live on, but I hope that part of his legacy will be the warning that young kids have to be kids, because otherwise they can never become well-adjusted, happy adults.

Michael Jackson is dead

What a shock! Michael Jackson has died of a cardiac arrest. Shit! How sad, how weird.

Was it because of the pressure of the 50 'This is it' tourdates that were nearing? Did it suddenly dawn on him what that really meant? And was that when his heart stopped? Would he have been able to do these dates in the first place? I never thought the concerts were going to happen (as I said in a BBC worldservice interview at the time), but never expected it all to end like this. This really is so sad.

And the aftermath of his life is going to be as messy, chaotic and bizarre as his life ever was. Quite possibly, even worse.

Of course, there are his three children, kids who were given up at birth by their (money-grabbing) mothers & who have spend their lifes behind masks or with bags over heads. I guess we'll get to see their faces now? How messed up are these kids going to be? And where will they go? Will their birth-mothers come back out of the woodworks now and claim them and their (possible) inheritance? Or will they go to someone in the Jackson family?

What is going to happen to the many courtcases, debts, etc. that were still largely undealt with? What will happen to Neverland? What will happen to the Beatles back- catalogue? Will it really be returned to Sr. Paul McCartney, like Michael had recently suggested? He had said that after his death, all rights would be returned to McCartney.

Will lots of people (including some of the young boys who had sleep-overs at his house) now come out with their revelations & memoirs?

And finally, what is going to happen to all the people who bought tickets for any of his 50 concert dates? Will they get their money back? And who'll pay for all the expenses made so far?

What a mess. I can't think of any star who has ever left behind such a widespread chaos to be dealt with.

But, as Larry King just said about Michael Jackson: 'It was hard to like him, but it was also hard not to like him'.

And no one can deny...a legend has just passed. May he rest in peace & may those around him find some peace in the end too (I'm afraid that this will take much, much longer)

N.A.S.A. - A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)

Even though this promo is incredibly violent, I do like it. It's like a bunch of dolls playing out some kind of Tarantino movie.

Directed by Logan and taken of the album 'Spirit of Apollo'

Apparently, the Spanish that's spoken in the clip is directly translated from English and makes no sense at all (that's what I've been told anyway). Very funny/strange.

Don't let kids watch this!

Dodgy acapella from General Base on the Partyzone

This was such a funny moment. I had forgotten about it until my friend Tavi from the Eurodance blog sent me the link.

We (the Partzone team) were never too keen on many of these studio/eurodance acts & asking them to sing live during a Partyzone interview was one way to find out if they were actually able to sing. This woman-obviously- couldn't. It was an awful acapella. And what we found the funniest, was her producer (who was sitting next to her on the sofa) sticking his finger in his ear as she sang. Plus the dodgy acapella rap....priceless!

This is why I need a crew!

Last weekend was the Soulbeach festival in Aruba and we got treated to some great performances by Estelle, Jamie Foxx, Common, Robin Thicke, Etana and Wayne Bradie. I am not much a soul/R&B fan, but I still had a lovely time on the beach.

Estelle was great. She has an amazing voice and is such a lovely and funny London girl! I was chatting with her backstage and was just so gutted that I had no camera team with me, we could have done such a nice interview! All I had was my sister's Blackberry, so I decided to- at least- take our picture. Funny though, I had no idea how to do that. Estelle had to set it up for me. I am so useless with all forms of technology. See? That's why I need a crew!

I also didn't realize until later that you can make voice-recordings on a Blackberry. I got a quick ident from Robin Thicke and a few lovely rants from Common, but I messed them up too! Only the Robin Thicke one got recorded. See? I told you. I'm crap with technology/buttons, etc.

By the way, Robin Thicke was brilliant too. Incredible voice, only it's a bit weird to see him bump and grind and fake orgasms on stage, without making fun of himself in some shape or form. If he was having a laugh with it, he'd be able to get away with it (ala Robbie Williams), but now it just looked rediculous. Shame!

Great! An old MTV's Most Wanted moment!!!

The funny thing is, I can't remember this for the life of me. I do remember being on Most Wanted occasionally with Ray Cokes, but this particular incidence I completely forgot (together with about 90% of my MTV years...)

Great to watch back though. And I think what shines through is that Ray and I have always gotten on so well. And then there is the mention of playing truth of dare with Steve Blame. I remember sitting under a blanket in a park in Berlin after a particular heavy night out with Steve Blame and playing truth or dare. The truths that would come out of Steve Blame's mouth always trumped everyone else's. The guy is a shocker! (in the good sense of the word)

Oh....I just noticed...it's the 14th of May. Steve Blame is performing with a punk band tonight somewhere in Germany. I tell you, that man never ceases to amaze me. He's such a lovely oddball. Blow up the soundsystem Steve!!!! I'm thinking of you....

James Hyman/Quentin Tarantino mashup movie trailer

Anyone who ever listened to my radioshow will know that I love mashups. And that love was ignited many years ago by James Hyman's old mashups on the Partyzone, called the Partyzone mega-mixes. He since released several brilliant mashup albums and has become a music consultant on many movies, including the Guy Ritchie movies. Here's a video version of his Quentin Tarantino mix-CD (please note...this is not approapriate viewing for young kids)

The latest on Nadja's case...

From the BBC News webpage:

A singer from the German girl band No Angels arrested on suspicion of infecting a partner with HIV has been released from custody.

Prosecutors say Nadja Benaissa, 26, had unprotected sex with three men without informing them she was infected, and that one later tested positive himself.

Ms Benaissa's lawyers said she should enjoy the presumption of innocence.

A spokesman for a court in the town of Darmstadt said her release was subject to certain undisclosed conditions.

Ms Benaissa was arrested in Frankfurt 10 days previously, before she was due to perform in a solo concert. The prosecutor's office in the western town of Darmstadt said she had been detained because of the "urgent suspicion" that she slept with three people between 2004 and 2006, without telling them she was HIV-positive.

She reportedly faces a possible charge of grievous bodily harm. But her lawyers note that there is no proof that she infected anyone.

Benaissa was chosen to join No Angels in 2000 through the TV casting show Popstars.
The group recorded a series of hits and emerged as Germany's most successful girl band.

Nadja Benaissa's shocking arrest

Many people have been asking me to comment on Nadja's arrest recently, as she is one of the original members of the girlgroup 'No Angels', the band I helped form on the German show 'Popstars'.

On April 11, 2009, Nadja was arrested on suspicion of having had unprotected intercourse on several occassions in 2004 and 2006 without beforehand informing her partners that she is HIV-positive, allegedly infecting one partner with HIV. She faces a possible charge of dangerous bodily harm. She was remanded in custody, after a judge ruled there was a danger she might repeat the alleged offence. If found guilty, the offence would carry a sentence of six months to ten years imprisonment.

Obviously, I'm in shock about the whole case. This is just awful. And it's weird to read something like that about someone you know.

When we picked Nadja for the band, one of the reasons was the fact that she had been living quite a 'hard life' up till then. She was a single mum & was desperately trying to make ends meet. She was a bit wild child before, but it seemed that she had faced her demons. I didn't know that she had caught HIV (I assume she became infected during those early years), but we were well aware of her past & we wanted to give her the chance to have a better future. For herself and for her daughter too.

Everything seemed to have worked out so great and now this...

Some people asked me what I expected was going on through her mind. Did she think 'If I am going to die, I'm bringing some people down with me'? Surely not. I can't imagine that that would be the case.

I did once know a young rent boy (hanging out in the London gay scene, I used to know many) who was HIV-positive. He had told me so himself and I also knew the person he caught it from. Soon after he had poured his heart out to me, he 'disappeared' from the scene. No one knew where he had gone and we were all quite worried about him, but assumed that he had gone back to be with his family.

Roughly a year later, he showed up on my doorstep. He looked like any other 19-year-old. Healthy, clean, well-dressed, etc. He came in and told me about his life. He had moved up North, got a job and a new girlfriend. He chatted for ages and was all happy and bubbly. I, on the other hand, got quieter by the minute and wondered how he was dealing with the HIV and wondered if he had told his new, young girlfriend about his past.

When I asked him, he just blew up in my face. 'What are you suggesting? Are you saying I'm gay? I'm not gay. I'm not HIV positive. You're full of s***t!' He stormed out of my house and I never saw him again. This was before mobile phones, email accounts, etc. So I didn't have any way to contact him again.

When I discussed his reaction with another friend who's a counsellor to HIV and Aids patients, he told me that- sadly enough- this is a reaction they see more often than anyone realizes. Many people go into complete denial and continue to infect others by pretending 'that nothing is wrong'.

Is this what happened in Nadja's case? I don't know. But it's one possible explanation for what happened. Of course, this doesn't make her reckless behaviour any more excusible.

Let this be a lesson to everyone though, that we can't be complacent when it comes to safe sex. Even the most beautiful, successful, 'picture of health' people can be HIV carriers & they may not share their health status with you, if they are even aware of it to start with.

So be safe!

If there is still anyone out there who hasn't yet watched Susan Boyle's performance...watch it now!

This is amazing! I can't embed the clip, but watch the performance of Susan Boyle on 'Britain's got talent'.

Her performance has so far received 5 million hits on Utube (It's been taken off the site by now). Even Hollywood actress Demi Moore has joined the legions of fans who have voiced their support on the internet.

Ms Boyle, who is currently unemployed, is a keen church-goer and community worker who is well-known for her Karaoke performances. She has shared with the audience that 'she has never been kissed' and has dreamed of being a singer since the age of 12 (she is now 47)

Watch this uplifting clip now!

Ape Magazine & RetoMatic gig

For those of you in Aruba...my band RetroMatic are back on stage at Chaos, this Saturday the 4th of April at 11.00 pm. Please, come out and support! It's gonna be fun.

And for those of you who can read Dutch, check out my recent interview with Ape Magazine. Also available for free at the Free Record Shop & at clubs, gig and festivals in Holland: www.apemagazine.nl (April issue, pages 30-31)

What the f***?

Can you imagine being Michael Jackson's child? Living with a bag over your head? (when you go out) This seems like child-abuse to me. But maybe I'm the weird one?

Surely if anyone else walked their child around like this, they would be reported to the child protection agency? I worry what his kids are going to be like when they're grown up. This stuff can't be doing them any good. And- according to certain reports- Michael Jackson wants to adopt an English child when he's doing his long stretch of concerts in London. Someone stop this man! Let him jump around on stage if he wants to (though I have serious doubts that he will manage to do these 50 dates), but don't allow him to have any more children. This is just not right!

Lady Sovereign, 'So human'

This clip made me laugh. Lady Sovereign so reminds me of myself many, many years ago...wearing silly hats, crazy hair and wild colourful outfits. And I just know how she will feel many years from now when she looks back at her clips, photo's, etc. She will find it rather hillarious and shake her head at many of the 'fashion mistakes', just like I do now when I look back at mine. Still, I believe that the world needs people like her to make it colourful. So 'Big up!' to Lady Sovereign.

I also understand that feeling of not fitting in with the many 'barbies' in the industry. I always saw myself as a steetwise tomboy, just like I assume Lady Sovereign does.

Love the way she has covered the old Cure track in this. Yep, the whole thing is rather cute.

Our next RetroMatic performance

We will be back onstage at Chaos Cafe in Aruba this coming Saturday, the 14th of March, from about 11.30 pm.

BTW...now that we're adding more and more current tracks ('So what?' from Pink, 'I kissed a girl' from Katie Perry, etc.) to our set, our name is making less sense all the time. We are becoming less 'Retro' than we had first intended. Maybe now is the time to change our name?

Justin Timberlake taking the piss out of John Mayer

This is quite funny...and- who knows- it may start a proper bitch fight between Justin Timberlake and John Mayer. Scroll the clip up to about five and a half minutes and watch Justin do a- not so flattering- impersonation of John Mayer, who he calls 'the love child of Macy Gray and Smokey the Bear'. That, plus a bunch of other impersonations do show off Justin's acting and singing talents again. Oh...he's just such a charismatic guy, that Justin....

Röyksopp's latest release 'Happy Up Here'

This is the first release of the forthcoming 'Junior' album by the Norwegian electronic/dance music duo Röyksopp. The album will be out on the 23rd of March and- if this track is anything to go by- it's gonna be (as James Hyman would say ; ) the rinse! This track is very approapriately named 'Happy up here' & it does put a smile on my face. I will even go as far as saying that it's my favorite Röyksopp track so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the new material.

How bored am I with Rihanna and Chris Brown????

Right! That's it! I will never again waste a blog posting on Rihanna and Chris Brown. This is the last time. They are so bloody stupid! Why on earth is she back with him again? So she can get beaten up again? She needs to grow up and build a little more self-respect!

Pussycat dolls, Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire)

It has been great to hear that the child actors from the movie Slumdog Millionaire have received a heroes' welcome back in Mumbai when they returned from their Oscars adventure in LA (where the movie won 8 awards)

This is especially touching as the movie received such critisism to start with in India, with many people there taking offense with the movie's name.

Two of the child actors have now even been given free housing by the local government, as they were still living in slum conditions, with one of the actor's family living under a tarpaulin by the side of a busy road.

So the story of the movie has now become a reality, in a way. As the film is a rags-to-riches story about the winner of game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.

These child actors will now all receive an education too. Isn't that great? Of course, this is the kind of stuff that is close to my heart as I spent years trying to get disadvantaged kids in Belize an education. So anyway...this kinda stuff makes me happy. I just wished that all children in the world would be fortunate enough to live in a decent, clean and safe environment and would be able to attend school. But at least, these are a few more kids with a better chance of a possitive future.

Here's a track of the movie:

Internet problems...

Haven't been able to blog much as we have lost our internet connection at home and in the radio studio I never have enough time....

For today, just a quick picture of my performance last friday. As you can see, I was having a good time!

Oasis' new video 'Falling down'

Very odd vid, directed by WIZ. I kept waiting for something to happen in it, but nothing did. Okay, it gets revealed that the woman in the clip is royalty and that the Oasis boys (rebels that they are ; ) shun her. But that's about all. Not WIZ's best work.

I like the Oasis/Beatles look and Liam's usual little bounce at the end of one shot is kinda cute too (oh, the things we girls notice ; )

Anyway, it's the third single of their 'Dig out your soul' album. In stores now.

Chris Brown versus Rihanna

It's been a rather shocking case, hasn't it? Chris Brown battering Rihanna in his car on their way to the Grammy's the other night. She apparently suffered a black eye, bloody nose, scratch-marks/bite-marks on her arms, plus it has been suggested that Chris Brown had tried to choke her and had threatened her that he was going to kill her.

The police officers who took pictures of Rihanna onsite said that her injuries were 'a devastating proof of abuse'. Chris Brown fled the scene. But has since 'spoken' on his Facebook page, saying that Rihanna will now start to show her real colours (which ones does he mean? The bruises he added to her face?) and he has changed his relationship status to 'single'.

Chris Brown has revealed in the past that his mother used to get beaten by his stepdad and that witnessing that abuse had scared him. Chris Brown obviously needs help. He is a young, talented guy with so much going for him, but this is going to destroy his life if he doesn't make changes now and digs deep within himself to the root of the problem.

He needs to appologies to Rihanna and to the rest of the world (seeing as the world is watching this case). He needs to admit that beaten a woman is always wrong, no matter how much she annoys you. Just like, as a parent, I am NEVER in my right to beat my children, and believe you me...they often annoy the hell out of me! You just don't beat someone up. Especially not someone who is physically weaker than you (so if he wants to enter the ring with some world champion female fighter & she agrees to the fight...then that's okay, as far as I am concerned)

Chris Brown's family also have to realize that by sticking up for his actions, they are not helping him. They need to admit that he was wrong for beating her, or he will continue to believe that his actions could somehow be justified.

And Rihanna could take this (awful) opportunity and use it in a possitive way. If she shows strength and determination to walk away from this, and all other, abuse relationships in her life, she could function as a rolemodel for the millions of women and children (and in a few cases men) out there who are victims of domestic abuse. Please Rihanna...take a stand! Speak out about this and get the help that you need.

Peter Bjorn and John, 'Nothing to worry about'

What a good tune and marvelous vid, with some crazy asian rocker dudes! I get the feeling that this is genuine too. At least, I assume that this really is a group that meets in town on their bikes and then do some weird dancing together. Wonderfully bizarre.

And I love that Kanye West was blogging about this track too and that he was bigging it up!

It looks like the Swedish popsters Peter Bjorn and John are gonna do well with this.

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.