Paul Weller likes Blur. Or at least, the ex-Jam frontman likes working with members who left the band a few years ago and, according to reports, rarely speak with their former colleagues.
That's the most obvious interpretation of the news, as reported by the best connected Goth in showbiz, Vicky Newton, in her remarkable column Bizarre, that Weller has been in the studio with guitarist Graham Coxon. They've recorded some songs in which they share the vocals and, according to Vicks, those aforementioned songs are "great".
Weller you may recall (or, to be honest, you may not) was very much on the Oasis side of the battle of Britpop, playing on Champagne Supernova and, also, publicly declaring that he wished Damon Albarn would die of a combination of impetigo and a heavy head cold. Although maybe he didn't do that last bit.
Whether this new collaboration means that peace has now broken out between the camps, or that Weller and Coxon have hatched a plan to bring down both Oasis and Blur before filling the resultant void with their own "great" songs should become clear over time.
Nas likes the police. So much does he adore 5-0 that, according to 3am, he's requested the company of several policeman at his gig in Birmingham tonight. That the police in question would be in uniform, on motorbikes and riding out alongside him in order to stop the rapper from being held up by traffic, should not detract from the warmth of the gesture.
"Under no circumstances is the artist to be delayed arriving or departing the venue due to traffic," appears to be the precise wording of the request that 3am believes has gone to West Midlands police. (We called them this morning to check; sadly they were engaged in other matters.) But, still, it's the spirit that matters, and it seems likely that if the coppers were actually to hook up with this lusty chronicler of street crime, they would surely have a whale of a time. If they could see through the tinted windows of the three BMW X5 SUVs Nas also requested, that is.
George Michael likes art. That's the news that's being relayed through a mixed-media collage of raffia and video footage and installed inside a public convenience this morning, after the Club Tropicana man was revealed to have bought a few paintings and other bits and bobs.
"George is hugely into his art," explained an art lover to 3am. "He made a lot of money from his 53-date tour last year and he thought this would be a good way to invest it."
We'll stop there for a moment so that you can soak up how clear Michael's passion for art is. And how money has nothing to do with it whatsoever.
"He's chosen pieces by Damien [Hirst], photographer David LaChapelle and Tracey Emin. "
An interesting, recherché group or artists.
"They wouldn't be to everyone's taste but they're hugely collectible and are certain to go up in value."
Well that's reassuring. So when everyone coming round George's for a bottle of Asti Spumanti and microwaved artichoke hearts stands agog at the steaming dreck hanging on his sitting room walls, George can at least quietly ship it out the back, flog it, and apply the £50 notes he rakes in to his naked body before doing a big amusing dance that everyone enjoys.
