Excellent Online

OASIS will be playing a small US tour for the radio festivals in December. The first date has been announced for the Y100 Christmas festival in Philadelphia on December 3rd. Expect more dates to be added in major cities.

Gem (ex-Heavy Stereo) will be replacing Bonehead on guitar.

Reni (ex-STONE ROSES drummer) is back in the spotlight, NME reports. He's been writing material since he left the band in 1995 and is seeking a record deal. He's on vocals and playing guitar, Lee Mullen (HAPPY MONDAYS) is on drums, and is looking for a bassist and second guitarist.

Simon Jones (ex-VERVE) and John Squire (ex-Stone Roses) are working together. They are writing material in a Manchester studio but details about release dates or even the name of the project has not been made public. Excellent Online will keep you updated on what happens with this collaboration.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN have split. Music365 reports that it's finally official and the Reid brothers are now working on solo projects. William Reid will be releasing a mini-LP, 'Taster' on November 8th and brother Jim is working in a new band called T.V.6.9.

The following was originally posted to the Excellent Mailing List on October 5th, 1999, as my direct response to a thread on the Stone Roses. You see, it's a bit of an anniversary this month, as the world (or at least Silvertone Records) are celebrating the 10th anniversary reissue of "The Stone Roses," an album some would claim to be (one of) the greatest of the decade. One member's pro-Roses message to the list brought forth a surprising number of anti-Roses posts, and no sooner than you can pull out a knife and carve "4 REAL" into your arm, we've got a full-on brouhaha on our mailing list. Which made me sit back, take a deep breath, and wonder just what all the fuss is for. My comments are below.

Congratulations are in order for BLUR'S Damon Albarn, on the birth of his first child, a girl (yet unnamed.) Wee Albarn was born on Sunday to Damon and girlfriend Suzi Winstanley, according to reports published in The Mirror this week.

We have breaking news that could jeopardize one of the main draws for this weekend's Coachella Festival. MORRISSEY was forced to cancel his Las Vegas appearance last night after band member Alain Whyte suffered back spasms so severe that he had to be rushed to hospital and put on some pretty hefty muscle relaxants. Morrissey is expected to be a headliner at the show.

We have at least ONE break-up story that we can confirm as being untrue. A spokesperson for Creation Records is flat-out insisting that HURRICANE #1 are, for the time being, still together. Rumours had been flying about the Internet (and even made the pages of Melody Maker) that the band had called it quits, but Creation insists that although the band is taking some time off (with no immediate plans to record,) we havn't seen the last of 'em.

THE CHURCH had to shorten their recent set at the Bowery in New York due to frontman Steve Kilbey being arrested! Kilbey was picked up by NYC police after purchasing three small doses of heroin off the street. Rather than cancel the show, the remaining members, led by Marty Wilson-Piper, performed an abbreviated set. Kilbey, meanwhile, has been ordered by a judge to spend one day cleaning the A-train!

We've finally received confirmation on what was becoming painfully obvious: ULTRASOUND have split. The hotly-tipped group, labeled early as a cornerstone band of the "Nu-Psychedelic" movement, released their debut disc, "Everything Picture," to much critical disdain earlier this year. Shortly thereafter, the band began cancelling festival gigs amid rumours of problems within the ranks.