Since we've always been a fan of folks who talk the talk and then run the other way like scared rodents when asked to walk the walk, we'd like to tip our hat to the folks at Def Jam, who've decided that Kanye West's campaign against homophobia has gone far enough. Producers of Noah's Arc, an African-American-themed show on MTV's new, gay-oriented Logo network, asked the label for rights to use some songs -- specifically Kanye's -- only to be turned down by paper-pushers in its New York office who'd apparently prefer that no practitioners of alternative lifestyles even know their artists exist. Patrick-Ian Polk, the man behind Noah's Arc, doesn't have any beef with West himself, but issued a statement saying, "A lot of times, these requests don't make it to the artists, but [Kanye] needs to check his people, because that's not cool" . . .
There's nothing quite as entertaining as seeing First Amendment fights staged to hoary classic rock -- a fusion that went down nicely this past week in Woodbridge, Virginia, where folks got into a pier-six brawl over whether or not a high school marching band should be allowed to play Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." The Hylton High band was forced to remove the tune from its repertoire after a local newspaper feverishly opined that playing it not only promoted the cause of the Man Downstairs, but violated separation of church and state in its endorsement of things Beelzebubbian. Despite the fact that Daniels attempted to come to the rescue by pointing out that the song paints Satan as a loser (and a lousy musician, to boot), the school board refused to alter course -- which was no doubt a relief to the kid who'd have had to replicate that fiddle solo on tuba while marching around in a silly hat . . .
As Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madonna discovered decades ago, fascism is a heckuva profitable element to inject into musical theater -- a fact that ought to whet the appetites of accountants working for former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim. That dynamic duo is hard at work whipping up a musical about the life of Imelda Marcos -- known by some for her massive shoe collection and by others for her eagerness to starve thousands of Filipinos to death by running off with most of the country's treasury. We're assuming that Byrne and Cook will be seeking to accentuate the positive, given that a flack for the Adelaide, Australia festival that will premiere the play, entitled Here Lies Love, drones on in a statement about how the pudgy despot-ette "loved the nightlife in all parts of the world . . . so much that she installed a disco in her New York townhouse." Heck, Eva Braun played a mean game of charades, so why not throw her a tribute as well? . . .
Although some public displays of onanism are frowned upon, there are folks in Britain who're all to happy to pony up dough to witness self-gratification -- as practiced by, say, former Jam drummer Rick Buckler. The skinsman is embarking on a new venture, in which he'll pay homage to himself as part of a Jam tribute band called the Gift -- which takes its name from the last album by the band Buckler played in until 1982. Up next, a film about Saturday Night Live's Anthony Michael Hall years, starring none other than Anthony Michael Hall . . .