07/09/2008
Music News: Chris Martin Answers The Gay Questions, Plus Sub Pop, Yaz, Beck
Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.
No, it didn't come during an interview with a gay magazine. Rather, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin was posed with the question, "Do you know how I know you're gay?" while answering reader questions submitted to Blender's "Dear Superstar" column. The answers are posted at the magazine's website in audio form.
So came Martin's reply: "We have a lot of gay fans. It's something I'm very proud of. In fact—well, I'm proud of anybody after us—a lot of gay guys like us 'cause of the music. Guy [Berryman, guitarist] does have a big gay following as well, because he's...you know. One of our best concerts ever, this gentleman came up to us after the concert, and he went straight up to Guy and said, 'More light on you. They need to put more light on you.' We were like, Yep, you tell him, man."
What Chris Martin, who admittedly has only had one other relationship before Gwyneth Paltrow, stopped short of saying was that Guy Berryman (pictured right) is pretty darn hot...something he actually goes into full-on when answering another question. But first, the Blender moderator jumped into the gay questioning.
BLENDER: "When I was doing some research for this interview, I read—this is probably a pretty fairly common experience among, I will say, boys or dudes of our demographic—where at boarding school for awhile, you weren't quite sure. You felt that you might be gay up until a certain age."
CM: "Every kid does, man. When you're 14 or 15, you're like, 'Hey, what am I? What's the deal here? What am I gonna turn out like?'"
BLENDER: "Was there any kind of boarding school experimentation?"
CM: "Sadly not. I wish I could report... I was very lucky because we lived right next to a girl's school. So there was never that sort of 'Which one on the island would you eat first?' kind of period."
Interesting choice of analogy. Anyway, here's what he went on to say about Guy Berryman: "My entire life is spent trying to push him forward at photo shoots. This is a serious answer—he is our packaging. He's a good-looking guy. The rest of us look OK—we work hard to stay thin and all that stuff—but he's a handsome bastard, and none of us pretend that if he wasn't in the band we'd be as popular... He's reponsible for all of our calendar sales."
Sub Pop—the seminal Seattle indie label that unleashed Nirvana, Soundgarden, emo, The Shins and Postal Service into the mainstream—has turned 20. It's latest slogan? "Sub Pop...going out of business for 20 years." Billboard runs through the label's top 20 moments, albums and videos, as well as interviews co-founder Jonathan Poneman. iTunes also has a special selection of discounted top picks from Sub Pop's back catalog to celebrate the anniversary.
The Los Angeles Times interviews Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet of Yaz ahead off the duo's three L.A. shows this week: "I'm aware that I have a lot of gay fans, and I love it. In the 1970s when I grew up as a punk rocker, we were all on the outside and I think that we found common ground with one another." The four-disc Yaz box set, In Your Room, was released yesterday.
Pinned by Prince Charles: Kylie Minogue received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) last week at Buckingham Palace.
And here you were thinking Kanye West is just plain annoying...
Annie Lennox just another name being floated around—along with Duffy, Duran Duran and Leona Lewis— for singing the next James Bond theme, for the fall's Quantum Of Solace.
Here is a video, something completely new and exciting from Mariah Carey that you've surely never seen before—her writhing around in a bikini.
THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:
Modern Guilt, Beck's eighth studio album, produced by himself and Danger Mouse.
Patches From The Quilt, an EP from Gym Class Heroes released ahead of the group's September release of the full Quilt album.
Alison Moyet's The Turn, a solo album that initially was releaded in the U.K. last fall, but no doubt has been put out here to coincide with the Yaz reunion, box set and tour.
Estonian pop singer Kerli's Love Is Dead.
Moby's EP for single "I Love To Move In Here," featuring 12 remixes of the track.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 4:25 PM EST by Robbie in Annie Lennox, Kanye West, Music, Music Recommendations, Music Video | Permalink
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I owe Sub Pop a great deal of gratitude for helping me get through my teen years via the bands they launched.
Guy Berryman is cute but I think I just fell in love with Chris Martin. Male celebrities usually make fools out of themselves when faced with "the gay question"; whether they get defensive/homophobic or start talking how much they "love" their gay fans even though you can tell they're only seeing dollar signs. But Chris's answers were so...honest. Or at least they feel honest. Obviously I don't know him, so...yeah. But I get the impression he's telling the absolute truth. Combine that with the amazing compositions he comes up with and those big blue eyes of his and--SWOON.
Posted by: Chas | Jul 9, 2008 4:41:51 PM
Thanks for the COLDPLAY post! They are one damn, fine-lookin' group and Guy Berryman has ALWAYS made me quite shakey in the knees, so, it's funny but not surprising to read what Chris Martin, who is absolutely adorable, has to say about him. And, once again, thanks for the one-stop-shopping for computer wallpaper today... SWOOOOON...indeed...
Posted by: virgoboy | Jul 9, 2008 4:46:51 PM
Is Chris Martin really that dense that he didn't get the "You know how I know you're gay?" joke?
Someone send him a "40 Year Old Virgin" DVD stat!
Posted by: crispy | Jul 9, 2008 4:58:26 PM
Oh, and I love Coldplay and the new album is fantastic... but I really wish they'd stop dressing like a boho version of Sgt. Peppers.
Posted by: crispy | Jul 9, 2008 5:04:23 PM
I love the new Coldplay cd. It's more experimental than the others. I was devastated when they cancelled their concert in Winnipeg because of production delays. I'm still hoping they'll re-schedule. Just to prove my varied taste, I also love the new Mariah. However, I think the last 2 lighter singles were not good choices. There are harder hip-hop songs on the cd that are better. Maybe she's worried she'll look too hard-core & alienate "poppy" audience.
Posted by: scar2 | Jul 9, 2008 5:39:30 PM
Not that I'm a Coldplay fan, but Guy is actually the bassist, not a guitarist. (He is totally adorable though.)
Posted by: VR | Jul 9, 2008 5:41:17 PM
Maybe they should break with tradition and do a full Bond soundtrack. Some of the recent movies have sucked, but the theme songs are usually great. So do more than one!
Posted by: Paul R | Jul 9, 2008 5:47:40 PM
I truly love Coldplay! In other great news:
Congratulations once again to Cyndi for having the #1 breakout single on Billboard's Dance/Club chart! "Into The Night Life" follows on the success of "Same Ol' Fucking Story," which peaked at #1 on the Club charts. Everyone, be sure to ask the DJ to spin this infectious hit when you go out to party, and don't forget to request it on the radio!
Posted by: Paul | Jul 9, 2008 5:53:24 PM
Crispy, Chris Martin gets the joke. He's first line in response is something like "I really liked that joke"
Honestly, I always thought he was a twat (didn't really thing he had to go far for his role in Extras), but the Blender interview does present him as a real funny/down to earth guy. I really like the last question about baby names (Papaya, Chewbacca, Sandal)
Posted by: what | Jul 9, 2008 6:09:43 PM
Ack! I suppose I should read the articles before commenting. Thanks for clarifying... strange that Towleroad redacted that part of the quote.
Posted by: crispy | Jul 9, 2008 6:22:46 PM
Oh puh-lease, give me a break. You must be misguided if you think Chris Martin's response is somehow good for our community. He comes across as your typical man who's uncomfortable with male homosexuality. Note how he deflects the line of questioning to Guy Berryman's looks. Typical diversionary tactic.
Don't fall for the notion that Coldplay is anything other than your record company-approved set of "strictly straight" guys. They're lame.
Posted by: jason | Jul 9, 2008 9:23:31 PM
Now I know what I'm doing for vacation. I'm going to ride a dolphin side saddle through liquid gold. Thanks Mariah!
Posted by: Chino | Jul 10, 2008 9:09:58 PM