lifestyle TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016 FEATURES Jagger and Scorsese strum up rock ‘n’ roll’s ‘Game of Thrones’ he 1970s may have been the decade that Company just as it is about to go bust. But it is fashion forgot, but Martin Scorsese the label’s cocaine-fuelled owner Richie Tbelieves that was because the world was Finestra, played by with manic gusto by Bobby too busy with drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll to Cannavale, who is the center of the story. care. The acclaimed director has brought all “Vinyl starts in ‘73” when a bizarre mix of glam that excess to the small screen in his new hard rock, Led Zeppelin and the early strains of dis- rocking television series, “Vinyl”, set in the bac- co, punk and hip-hop shared the New York chanalian world of a New York record compa- scene, Scorsese told AFP while he was still ny. Scorsese, who made his name with “Mean shooting the two-hour pilot. Streets” in 1973 as the city’s music scene roared its loudest, has been working on and Gangsters and big money off on the project for 18 years with none other “It’s full of stories of gangsters, drugs, rock than Mick Jagger. ‘n’ roll and big money,” he added. The series starts with Finestra trying to cash in the chaot- ic list of bands he has signed-often at random- by off-loading the company and its cooked British Rolling books onto German giant Polygram. While he Stones’ (from lives the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle to the full, rubbing left) Charlie shoulders with Elvis Presley, Lou Reed, David Watts, Keith Bowie and Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, his wife Richards, Mick Devon (played by Olivia Wilde of “House” Jagger and fame) goes quietly mad at home. Ronnie Wood She has swapped life hanging out with the arrive to the Velvet Underground in Andy Warhol’s Factory National Stadium with the bored conformity of Stepford Wives in Santiago on suburbia. Jagger has gone to pains to deny February 1, 2016, that the Finestra character is even loosely for a sound This file photo shows director Martin based on Ahmet Ertegun, the legendary test. —AFP Scorsese attending the New York premiere Turkish boss of Atlantic Records with whom of “Vinyl” at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York the singer was close, but he said the industry ‘Screaming racket’ “The Blues”, which marked the centenary of series and suggested they put their heads City. — AFP was full of “crazy people” at the time. “He loves that kind of music-that kind of the music’s birth. together. Winter and Scorsese were working The Rolling Stones frontman was already “They were so wacky that it was hard to screaming racket. So I thought I’d put James “Mick and I started working on ‘Vinyl’ in on their Prohibition era gangster epic rock royalty by the early 1970s, and his insider write up how mad they were in real life and into the mix. I’m very pleased with him,” the 1998,” Scorsese told AFP, but their plans for a “Boardwalk Empire” at the time for HBO, now knowledge of the industry is clear in the no expect people to actually believe that a 72-year-old added. Scorsese and Jagger feature film fell victim to the financial crisis regarded as a television classic. Already crit- holds barred HBO series which premieres in businessperson could behave like that,” he previously worked together on his 2008 fea- in 2008, when studio bosses would no longer ics are talking about “Vinyl” in the same the United States and Europe on February 14 told Billboard magazine. He also made no ture on the Stones, “Shine a Light”, one of a bankroll the project, then called “The Long hushed tones, with the Hollywood Reporter and 15. Jagger’s son James even plays the bones about the fact that as executive pro- series of landmark music documentaries the Play”. Instead Scorsese’s longtime collabora- calling the “propulsive new series... a kind of snarling singer of a fictional punk band called ducer he suggested that his musician son director has made including “No Direction tor Terence Winter, who wrote the script for rock ‘n’ roll ‘Game of Thrones’” and Variety the Nasty Bits who arrives hungry and raw on would be great as the heroin addict punk Home: Bob Dylan”, “Eric Clapton: Nothing “The Wolf of Wall Street”, said there was so declaring it one of the year’s “most anticipat- the books of the failing America Music singer Kip Stevens. but the Blues”, as well as the major series much material it would be better as a TV ed TV series”. — AFP Adele officially best-selling artist of 2015

dele, who broke records spective ballad in line with Adele’s innovations shook up the indus- with her song “Hello” and previous work, was the first single try. Number two for 2015 was Alatest album “25,” was offi- to be downloaded more than one another British artist, singer-song- cially the biggest artist of 2015. million times in the United States writer Ed Sheeran, whose career Global music industry body IFPI in one week. IFPI chief executive has soared in the past couple of said that the British ballad singer Frances Moore, in a statement years on the popularity of his bal- was the top-selling musical act issued from Europe yesterday, lad “Thinking Out Loud.” US coun- last year based on worldwide called “25” the “runaway global try-turned-pop superstar Taylor sales of recordings. Adele sensation of 2015” and said Swift, who won the IPFI Global achieved the feat for the full year Adele’s achievement was “simply Recording Artist award the previ- even though she did not release phenomenal.” IFPI, which stands ous year when she released her “25” until November 20 and for the International Federation of chart-topping album “1989,” fell to declined to put the album on the Phonographic Industry, pres- number three in 2015. streaming sites, a rare move at a ents its annual award based on an Rounding off the top five were time when such on-demand serv- artist’s physical and digital sales as This file photo taken on Canadian pop celebrity Justin ices are growing rapidly. “25”- well as streaming, although the February 24, 2013 shows singer Bieber, who in November Adele’s third album which came group does not release figures. Adele as she arrives on the red released his latest album Beyonce, Chris Martin and Bruno Mars perform during Super Bowl 50. more than four years after its Tracking service Nielsen carpet for the 85th Annual “Purpose,” and British boy band predecessor-broke records for SoundScan reported Sunday that Academy Awards in Hollywood, One Direction who called a hiatus first-week sales in both the United “25” had sold eight million copies California. —AFP in late 2015 after a fifth album Beyonce, Coldplay ‘believe States and Britain. in the United States-becoming threshold since 2001, when and departure of founding mem- in love’ at Super Bowl show The first track “Hello,” an intro- only the sixth album to reach that iTunes and other digital music ber Zayn Malik. — AFP Stars, migrant crisis in focus at Berlin film fest ovies starring Colin Firth, Kirsten mount a daring resistance campaign after Dunst and Emma Thompson will losing their only son in the war. Mvie for gold at the 66th Berlin film festival starting Thursday, with Meryl Streep ‘Right to happiness’ as jury president and a spotlight on Europe’s Another first feature, “Hedi” by Tunisian refugee crisis. The 11-day event, Europe’s filmmaker Mohamed Ben Attia, tells a love first major cinema showcase of the year, will story set in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. start with a gala screening of “Hail, Caesar!” It will be the first film made entirely in the with US directors Joel and Ethan Coen and Arab world to appear in competition in Berlin stars George Clooney, Channing Tatum and in two decades. “The overarching theme this Tilda Swinton expected on the red carpet in year is the right to happiness-the right to a In this file photo, Rihanna performs at the We Can the wintry German capital. home, to love, to self-determination, to life Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los The competition will kick off the follow- and to survival,” festival director Dieter Angeles. — AP ing day, with 18 films from around the world Kosslick told reporters. US director Jeff gunning for the Golden Bear top prize, Nichols, who built a reputation with inde- which Streep’s seven-member panel will pendent hits such as “Mud” and “Take Shelter”, Rihanna album at award on February 20. Last year, top honors will present the sci-fi thriller “Midnight Lady Gaga performs the American National Anthem prior to the start of Super Bowl went to Iranian dissident director Jafar Special” with his frequent star Michael US number one 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Pahahi, whose innovative “Taxi” had to be Shannon, Dunst and Adam Driver of “Star Clara, California. — AFP filmed in secret in a Tehran cab. Among the Wars: The Force Awakens”. It tells the story of a oldplay and Beyonce went both retro Indians who found the imagery cliched. most-anticipated pictures this year is man racing to protect his gifted young son after unusual release and inspirational on Sunday as they put Coldplay decorated the Super Bowl stage with “Genius”, the feature debut by British theatre from a religious cult leader and government Con a colorful Super Bowl halftime show marigolds and wrote the band’s name in Hindi director Michael Grandage starring Oscar agents. French veteran Andre Techine will ihanna’s long-awaited album “Anti” hit number one full of flowers and happy children. While on their amplifiers and drumset. Singer Chris winner Firth as literary editor Max Perkins, present a new drama, “Being 17”, while Oscar- Sunday on the US chart after an unusual roll-out Coldplay was nominally the headliner at the Martin raced onto stage singing the upbeat who published some of the 20th century’s winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic will Rthat included two commercial tie-ups. “Anti,” the American football championship game, it was Coldplay track “Viva La Vida” as the Youth greatest American writers. premiere “Death in Sarajevo” based on a play first album since 2012 by the Barbados-born superstar, Beyonce who made news-moments after the Orchestra Los Angeles, led by Venezuelan Jude Law plays writer Thomas Wolfe, by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy. which was released January 27 after apparent delays, show finished, a brief television advertisement maestro Gustavo Dudamel, enthusiastically ran Nicole Kidman his lover and muse Aline Also in the main line-up are two docu- topped the Billboard chart for the week through announced that she will head on a world tour. in with him. Bernstein, with Dominic West portraying mentaries, Alex Gibney’s “Zero Days” about Thursday. The album came out initially as an exclusive on With more than 100 million people estimated Furthering the theme of youth, Martin sang Ernest Hemingway and Guy Pearce as F. the threat posed by cybersecurity breaches, Tidal, the streaming service led by rap mogul Jay Z, in a to be tuning into the Super Bowl, likely the top to a crowd full of bouncy youngsters whose Scott Fitzgerald. Also generating buzz and “Fire at Sea” by Italian director Gianfranco surprise timing on a Wednesday evening US time that US television event of the year, Beyonce was screams threatened to drown him out as he ahead of the festival is a new adaptation of Rosi, winner of the Venice film festival’s 2013 defied the music industry’s guideline of global releases ensured of maximum exposure. reached down from the stage. the international bestseller “Alone in Berlin”, Golden Lion. Rosi spent months on the on Friday. The 40-date tour of stadiums across North While Beyonce’s appearance was an open Hans Fallada’s 1947 novel which is based on Mediterranean island of Lampedusa to tell South Korean electronics giant Samsung also let one America and Europe will open April 27 in secret, the Super Bowl stage featured one sur- a true story. The Nazi-era thriller sees the story of a community on the front line of million of its smartphone users download “Anti” for free. Miami and close July 31 in Brussels, Beyonce’s prise-Mark Ronson. The English artist led his Thompson and Irish actor Brendan Gleeson Europe’s largest influx of migrants since The arrangement likely cut into Rihanna’s sales figures as promoters announced shortly afterward. hit “Uptown Funk” as Bruno Mars-who in 2014 play a working-class German couple who World War II. —AFP tracking service Nielsen SoundScan does not count give- Beyonce, who had been relatively quiet in had been the Super Bowl halftime headliner aways on the chart, although it does factor in streaming. 2015, on the eve of the Super Bowl released a — re-emerged to lead an urban-style dance Rihanna signed a promotion deal reportedly worth new song, “Formation,” a hip-hop-driven track crew. With the game marking the 50th Super $25 million with Samsung, which set up an interactive with a theme of racial pride. Beyonce put on Bowl, Mars and Beyonce converged together website for the album. “Anti” became available on iTunes “Formation” at the Super Bowl, backed by a on stage to a medley of tracks from past half- and other digital retailers on January 29 and as a CD a synchronized squad of dancers in matching time performers. One snippet showed week later. Streaming services, which offer unlimited on- black leather bodysuits with golden high- Michael Jackson, whose black-and-gold outfit demand music, have been rapidly growing and trans- lights. She took over the show from Coldplay, was the clear forming the music industry’s marketing strategies. But who paid tribute to the Super Bowl’s host city inspiration for Beyonce’s attire for the night- streaming was not the main factor in Rihanna’s chart suc- of San Francisco with a stage that flashed in although the late King of Pop had worn cess, with direct purchases on iTunes and other retailers the tie-dye of the city’s 1960s counterculture trousers. Earlier in the Super Bowl, Lady Gaga- counting for three-quarters of the 166,000 album sales as dancers on the field hoisted giant flower best known for her outrageous outfits and over the past week. shapes. The show ended with the stars hyper-sexual stage persona-delivered a classic “Anti” had opened on the chart a week earlier at num- together on stage as spectators in the stands and at times jazzy rendition of the national ber 27 as it had come out with little more than a day to go held up colorful cutouts to read out the anthem. Sporting a sparkling red pantsuit and in the reporting period and only on Tidal. Tidal has heavi- words, “Believe in Love.” heavy red eye makeup, along with blue polish ly promoted exclusives in a bid to challenge Spotify’s on her long nails, Lady Gaga drew loud dominance of streaming and offered free trials to Indian theme for Coldplay applause for her performance of “The Star- Samsung users who downloaded “Anti” for free. Rihanna Coldplay also pursued a fascination with Spangled Banner” and appeared to be holding has been one of the 21st century’s top-selling artist and India. The British rockers together with back tears. Lady Gaga has increasingly moved had been prolific in her output from her 2005 debut until Beyonce recently released an Indian-themed away from her over-the-top performances and 2012. “Anti” mostly moves away from the R&B and dance video for “Hymn for the Weekend,” eliciting distinguished herself by singing pop classics in tracks for which she became famous, with the 27-year-old much negative feedback on social media from a duet with 89-year-old Tony Bennett. — AFP People queue up in front of a booth selling tickets for the Berlinale Film instead preferring ballads about romantic tumult. — AFP Festival, in a shopping mall in Berlin yesterday. — AFP