HOT COUNTRY NEWS
BY STUART CAMERON
THURSDAY 15 MAY 2003


Here's the new edition of HOT COUNTRY NEWS - a digest of the latest
news
from the country music world edited by broadcaster and journalist
Stuart
Cameron from a European perspective.

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MARSTON FERRY FRONTMAN DIES


I am very sad to report the death at the age of 61 of one of Britain's
finest songwriting talents, Ray Mallett, who was the lead singer with
the
British band Marston Ferry.

Ray was admitted into hospital last week and within two days he was
dead. It
is reported that he suffered heart failure. Family man Ray was a firm
favourite with a great sense of humour which was reflected in his
songs -
indeed his current single, "Do You Want To Make Love Or Fight
Tonight", is
currently in the EMS European Most Popular chart. But it was songs
like
"Honey" and "The Old Port Mahon" which helped give him an instant
following
with DJs around the world.

This has come as a big shock. He has left behind some fabulous work
which
will continue to be played by many people for years to come, and his
band,
Marston Ferry, were legendary in Oxfordshire for as long as I can
remember.
I have many memories of Ray. He was such a nice person to chat with
and to
work with. He will be sadly missed.

Mick Morgan of the band told me: "He was like a brother to me. He was
only
days away from his 62nd birthday. We hope to keep his music alive by
carrying on as a band playing his music."
The funeral will take place on Tuesday 20th May at 10.30am at Oxford
Crematorium.


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MAVERICKS IN FOR UK DATES


The Mavericks will be in the UK on July 6th for Guilfest 2003 at
Guildford,
Surrey and concerts in Liverpool and London. They will return for a
major
London concert as part of a bigger tour in the autumn to support the
release
of the new album on Sanctuary Records. Mon 7 July will see them at
Liverpool's Summer Pops show at the Big Top Arena, Kings Dock,
(/0151 256
5555) while on 9th July they'll play a low-key gig at The Mermaid,
Puddle
Dock, Blackfriars, London (020 7403 3331).


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THE PRS FILES - PART 3!



The PRS continue to come under attack from their own grassroots
members who
are fed up being given the brush off by the organisation which claims
to
represent their interests, but instead ignores their claims for cash
which
they are entitled to.

In a nutshell, as I have pointed out over the past two weeks, the PRS
are
happy to look after their rich clients who are lucky enough to gain
airplay
on the national networks and therefore enjoy a fairly decent living.
The
struggling writers who plough everything into their bid to make a go
of it
in the music industry don't gain support from the PRS, who, rather
than
encourage talented writers, opt instead to distribute millions of
pounds to
their successful members.

Direct money from airplay royalties from national airplay on stations
like
BBC Radio 1 and 2 finds its way to the publishers and writers
automatically - with around £50-£80 being paid per spin this is a very
lucrative earner. But there are more ways the PRS benefit, and this is
through collecting licences from mobile DJs, shops that play recorded
music
and countless other ways. This money is known in the business
as "Black Box"
money and this is where the PRS do themselves no favours.
They use this money to distribute in the way they feel is right, but
this
money is not split fairly, and this is what has annoyed the writers
and
publishers who don't attract the same airplay as the big names.

PRS say it is not worth their while to distribute such small amounts
of
royalties and put in the effort to administer this area of the
business. But
if the writers themselves spend hours and hours collating airplay
information and then presenting this evidence to the PRS they simple
do not
want to know.

So what would be a fairer system? Those writers who pain-stakingly
log their
airplay should be rewarded for their efforts. A token payment up to
£1000
per year would be a grain of sand in a desert for the PRS who are in
charge
of millions of pounds in revenue. It would go some way to repairing
the bad
feeling which exists, and justify the £50 joining fee they charge to
new
budding writers.

You can be sure that not all their members will want to go to the
time and
effort to collate airplay information, but those who do should be
rewarded
for their efforts, and the more airplay they can locate for their
songs the
more they should be paid. After all, they would effectively be doing
the
work that the PRS haven't got time to do themselves!

This week we have been inundated once again with letters from
disgruntled
PRS members emphasising how unfair the system is and how the PRS do
nothing
to encourage people at the grassroots.

We are still trying to track down a member of the PRS who will grant
me an
interview. There seems to be a lot of shy people from this
organisation who
do not wish to make any public comment, but we will try our best to
secure
an interview with one of the main people from PRS and bring this to
you. I
am most interested to hear their side of the story and in particular
how
they feel they can defend their current policy.

Some suggestions on how the PRS can improve their systems are
realistic and
workable... the money paid to the writers from the top stations could
be
reduced drastically, and instead the value of local radio airplay
could be
increased dramatically.

Every local radio station in Britain (BBC and commercial) operate
from a
computer playlist system, and it would be easy to electronically send
this
airplay data to the PRS. In this modern age of technology there would
be no
extra work involved. They could then scrap their ridiculous system of
paying
out only to writers whose music has been played on just 3 days in
every
month. This would certainly help matters!

One reader suggested all unhappy members should find out and attend
the AGM
of the PRS and make their presence known by protesting collectively
until
their point has been addressed. Nice one!
It is a sensitive issue of course and understandably, a few readers
prefer
to remain anonymous in case they are taken to task over their
comments, so
we will respect this, but one current radio DJ had this to say this
week:

"On our station we do a PRS return twice a year! I do three shows a
week
playing on average of 100 records on the shows. In a year that
amounts to
over 5000 country songs played and details of only around 100 of
these will
be returned to PRS. In the early years we had to do returns to PRS
for
every single record we played on air. That changed around the mid
1980s and
since then we have been doing only a couple of sample periods per
year. This
year alone, for instance, I will have played around 30 tracks
written by
Isla Grant. NONE of these will have been returned to PRS as we have
not had
a sampling period this year. This is just one example of a songwriter
who
has not received ANY payment for her songs having been played on the
radio."

Another writer told me that her song had enjoyed 5 months of airplay
on Ritz
1035 Radio, at the time Britain's only 24 hour radio station. The
same song
was on CMT (Country Music Television) constantly gaining 5 months of
airplay. Actual times and dates were recorded and sent to PRS. A
cheque for
£50 "on account" was her reward!

This was in spite of a top executive at CMT insisting that the PRS
had been
paid all royalties due! When further questioned about this, the PRS
representative told the writer that "because they hadn't received
detailed
logging from CMT it wouldn't be fair to pay one writer and not
another!"

This episode happened two years ago and it's pretty fair to assume
that the
cash collected by PRS is still sitting there waiting to be
distributed,
begging the question what will happen to that money? One possibility
is that
one former PRS representative that I know enjoyed a very nice
lifestyle
running around the country in a company Mercedes staying in 5 star
hotels
paid for by the PRS!

There have been dozens of sad stories from writers who have received
very
small unrealistic amounts from the PRS (if anything) and it is clear
that
this is a major problem. Hopefully BBC1 TV's programme "Watchdog"
presented
by Nicky Campbell will investigate the situation and highlight this
problem
on national television. Maybe then we will be able to get things
changed for
the better and encourage rather than discourage talented writers.




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UPCOMING UK RELEASES


May 19 - JOHN HIATT & THE GONERS - Beneath This Gruff Exterior
(Sanctuary)
May 26 - KENNY ROGERS - Back To The Wall (Sanctuary)
May 31 - PAUL & HELEN MATEKI - Something To Sing About (World-Records)

June 2 - KENNY ROGERS & ALISON KRAUSS - Love Like This (Sanctuary -
single)
June 2 - GILLIAN WELCH - Soul Journey (WEA/London)
June 16 - LUKE GUY REED - No Hat (Solent)
June 24 - GEORGE STRAIT - Honktonkville (MCA)
June 30 - LONESTAR - Greatest Hits (BNA)

July 21 - BROOKS & DUNN - Red Dirt Road (Arista)
July 28 - BRAD PAISLEY - Mud On The Tyres (Arista)
August 11 - SARA EVANS - Restless (RCA)


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EMS EUROPEAN MOST POPULAR TRACKS CHART



E.M.S. European Top 30 Most Popular Independent Tracks
15 May 2003 - © EMS 2003

This is not an airplay chart though DJs can only vote for current
songs they
are playing on the radio. All European Radio DJs are eligible to vote
for
their favourite Top 10 independent tracks each week from current
releases.
Each DJ selects their favourite 10 songs in the order they like them -
5 pts
is awarded to their 1st choice, 4 for 2nd and 3rd, 3 for 4th and 5th
place,
2 for 6th and 7th, down to 1 point for 8th to 10th places. Once all
votes
are counted the song with the most votes is ranked the highest. In
the event
of a tie, the song gaining most votes from DJs will be ranked higher.
A new
entry will rank higher than a re-entry. If still a tie, the song
appearing
in the highest position the previous week will be ranked higher.

THIS WK / (LAST WK) / WKS IN / SONGS & ARTISTS / PTS / (No. of DJs
VOTING)


1 (1) 3 IT'S LONG OVERDUE - TROY COOK Jr 52 (17)
2 (5) 3 AM I TOO BLUE - LISA O'KANE 51 (19)
3 (17) 2 PLENTY MORE LOVE - LANE BRODY 51 (16)
4 (12) 2 PLAYIN' COUNTRY MUSIC - FRED LEONARD 45 (14)
5 (3) 10 HEY JUANICA - BROOKLYN COWBOYS 37 (12)
6 (6) 5 CHARLEY'S BOOTS - K C WILLIAMS 32 (11)
7 (14) 2 VOICES OF THE HIGHLANDS - SPEED LIMIT 31 (10)
8 (2) 10 I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU - RICKY LYNN GREGG 31 (9)
9 (7) 6 JUST MY PAST - UNDERTAKIN' DADDIES 23 (8)
10 (16) 3 HELLO PRETTY LADY - STU STEVENS 23 (8)


11 (11) 17 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY - HERMANN LAMMERS MEYER & SANDY POSEY
21 (8)
12 (21) 5 THE PERFECT PLACE - SHAYNE WEEMS 20 (8)
13 (27) 2 (I'M CHECKING IN) TO THE LOST AND FOUND - RIVER GIBBS 20
(8)
14 (NEW) 1 DOS TACOS - JOHNNY BUSH 20 (8)
15 (23) 2 I GOTTA GET TO HER - BRITT HAMMOND 20 (6)
16 (22) 6 OL' BEAT UP TRUCK - DANNY MACK 19 (9)
17 (13) 2 PRAYERS FOR YOU - KAREN O'SHEA 19 (7)
18 (4) 12 SHE LOVES ROMANCE - TROY COOK Jr 19 (6)
19 (NEW) 1 (IF IT WEREN'T FOR COUNTRY MUSIC) I'D GO CRAZY - DUANE
MICHAELS
18 (9)
20 (10) 6 CANADIAN ROAD TRIP - KENNY BUTTERILL 18 (6)


21 (NEW) 1 WHEN YOU DANCED WITH ME - BRITT HAMMOND 18 (5)
22 (18) 6 THE BALLAD OF NARVEL FELTS (2003 REMIX) - LOU HOBBS &
NARVEL
FELTS 18 (4)
23 (15) 6 ALL ROADS LEAD BACK TO YOU - DONNA BOYD 17 (7)
24 (29) 4 JONES ON THE JUKEBOX - RUSTIE BLUE 17 (7)
25 (9) 6 SAY YOU LOVE ME - PAULA MacASKILL 16 (6)
26 (NEW) 1 HERE I AM AGAIN - BURNT WATER 16 (6)
27 (8) 5 10,001 - LAURA DODD 15 (5)
28 (NEW) 1 NOT MUCH LOVE HERE ANYMORE - RAY PETERS BAND 14 (6)
29 (26) 2 STUPID SMILE - DELIVERANCE 13 (6)
30 (24) 3 GLORYTRAIN TO HEAVEN - CLINT MILLER 13 (4)


THE NEXT 30....


31 (19) THE GIRL I DREAMED ABOUT - VINCE HATFIELD 12 (5)
32 (47=) CHILDREN'S GAMES - DEAN DOBBINS 11 (4)
33 (37) L.A. TURNAROUND - THE COUNTRYPOLITANS 10 (3)
34 (NEW) PRODIGAL SON - BILLY RAWLETT 10 (3)
35 (RE) HEY LOVE, NO FAIR - LELAND MARTIN 10 (2)
36 (57=) FIVE STAR DIVE BAR - KING COUNTRY 9 (5)
37 (28) EVERYBODY'S GOT TROUBLES - HAL WILLIS 9 (4)
38 (NEW) DO YOU WANT TO MAKE LOVE (OR FIGHT TONIGHT) - MARSTON
FERRY 9 (4)
39 (38) I FEEL LIKE TRAVELLIN' ON - THE YODERS 9 (2)
40 (NEW) LIVE FOR NOW - TOMMY THE UK COWBOY 8 (5)


41 (RE) STAY A LITTLE LONGER - KELLI HAKE 8 (5)
42 (39) THE QUEEN OF EL PASO BUMP N' GRIND - KAREN DEE 8 (3)
43 (45) SAFE HARBOR - BLANCHARD AND MORGAN 8 (3)
44 (NEW) SARA - BILLY *BUBBA* KING 8 (3)
45 (32) FAMILY FARM - DeLON 7 (4)
46 (34) BLUE BLUE TEARS - RANCIE 7 (4)
47 (49) THREE DAYS - SANDI WEST 7 (4)
48 (60) ROUND BALE HOTEL - SHERRY LEECE 7 (4)
49 (NEW) REMEMBER - FOXX 7 (4)
50 (20) TILL YOU FOUND ME - LANE BRODY 7 (3)


51 (25) LOVE ME TWO TIMES - CLAY DU BOSE 7 (3)
52 (33) COULD THIS BE LOVE - GREGG STORM 7 (3)
53 (41) DON'T DO IT DARLIN' - NARVEL FELTS 7 (3)
54 (43) THAT'S WHAT LOVIN' YOU MEANS - TRAVIS CAUDELL 7 (3)
55 (57=) THAT'S ALRIGHT MAMA - ERNIE ASHWORTH & KEVIN CURTIS 7 (3)
56 (NEW) DON'T WAKE ME UP - LOLENE 7 (3)
57 (31) QUEEN OF THE WEST - BRIAN GLADSTONE 7 (2)
58 (50) ONCE A DAY - HEIDI HAUGE 7 (2)
59 (NEW) LONESOME WHISTLE - KEVIN DEAL 7 (2)
60 (40) BLUE RIDGE CABIN HOME - LARRY FORD 6 (4)



EMS would like to thank the following DJs who regularly report to the
survey....

Max Achatz, Dick Adriaensen, Peter Anderl, Gary Beal, George Backer,
Philippe Caux, Veronica Capaldi, Stuart Cameron, Dominique Costanoga,
Alain
Demers, Ann-Lykke Elling, Pat Fitzmaurice, Michel Gandon, Ray Grundy,
Dann
Hansen, Friedrich Hog, Frank Hambleton, Rolf Hierath, Bente Kyed,
Lucien
Knapen, Herman Lammers Meyer, Vince Laus, Ricky Lee, Lars Lindberg,
Robert
MacMillan, Eric Montfort, Theo Oldenburg, James Pearson, Alfonso
Pella, Alex
Pijnen, Tom Robinson, Jos Robben, Petur Rouch, Bernard Roudaire, Joris
Smits, Pietro Scazzola, Erwin Schapendonk, Doc Schulze, Gerd Stassen,
Dieter
Trenkler, Eddy
Veldkamp, Bauke Van Der Vliet, Bart Van Der Pol, Urbain Van
Geerteruy, Jos
Van Den Boom, Ries Verwijmeren, Dean Wilding, Sandy Watt, Lee
Williams, Rein
Wortelboer, Mark Austin, George Backer, Margaret Barrett, Harry
Boerman,
Lucien Boes, Jean-Luc Chanson, Doreen Christensen, Rafel Corbi,
Sheena Guy,
Kjell Horlin, Trevor Kirkpatrick, John Morris, Nigel Rennie, Patrick
Servanton, Abel Stel, Sven-Olaf Svensson, Kick Trevors, Martin Van
Der Laan,
Joe Vincent, Patric Molis, Erik Topholm, Cathy Starr, Graham Hassall,
Colin
Thorpe, Benny Sorensen, Michael Baumert


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BITS AND PIECES



The Bunch will be showcased at the Suffolk Showground as part of
Minifest on
20th-22nd June. The British duo have already impressed many European
DJs,
but also fans of Sammie and Len are none other than Pop Idol judges
Simon
Cowell and Pete Waterman! 01440 761023 will get you more details or
log onto
www.minifest.co.uk


Kenny Butterill, whose album "Just A Songwriter" has hit the right
chord in
Europe with a lot of airplay and interest, has just signed a deal with
Americana Media Productions to help promote his career in Europe and
USA.


Indie favourite Rustie Blue has just returned to the USA following her
successful European tour. Recent singles "I'm Dropping Tears"
and "Jones On
The Jukebox" have both enhanced her reputation and it seems she has
inherited the title "Sweetheart of the Indies". She is currently
working on
her next album.


Producer Tony Brown's recovery is astounding doctors, according to
reports.
Few expected him to live when he suffered a critical head injury a
month
ago. Friends now say the popular label executive is up and around and
cracking jokes. Brown was transferred to Centennial Medical Center in
Nashville a little over a week ago.


There are grave concerns about the health of June Carter Cash. The
star
suffered complications following surgery to repair a faulty heart
valve.
There has been no official update received in the past few days
although we
have received several conflicting reports. We will let you know as
soon the
exact situation as soon as we have official word from a reliable
source.


Jamie O'Neal's new single, "Every Little Thing," is out this week,
but she
won't be touring to support it. O'Neal's expecting her first baby
next
month.


British linedance queen Sandi West's current single aimed at the
linedancers, "Three Days", is an unusual cover of a lesser-known
Willie
Nelson song. British magazine "Linedancer" has published the dance to
go
with it - it's called "3 Daze".


Veteran DJ Bryan Chalker, currently on Radio Caroline with a monthly
show,
has gone into the world of politics! He has been elected as a Bath
City
councillor in England (conservative) and he says he hopes to have a
strong
say in getting more country music highlighted there, particularly
traditional music. He is also looking to book selected acts at the
Salisbury
Conservative Club where he is now chairman.


Bob Cheevers is coming over for some dates in Britain in June
beginning on
the 13th at Foyle Folk Club in Derry. After a few more Irish dates he
crosses over to Scotland for his opening night there on the 25th at
The
Stereo in Glasgow with John Hinshelwood. He will visit England on the
5th
July but look out for his big date at the Royal Albert Hall on 16th
July as
part of a Beatles Tribute show. His massive tour will end on August
2nd. For
more detailed information connect with Bob at
cheeversongs@...


A song co-written by Rhonnie Scheuerman, Bill Townsend and DJ Wayne
Graham,
"The Thin Blue Line", has been adopted as the national theme song of
the
Fraternal Order Of Police".


American singer DK Davis is a firm believer in the single as a
promotional
tool and also as a commercial entity. His forthcoming release "Don't
Cha
Know" is already gaining momentum and the country-rock soo-wop track
will be
the first official single which people can actually buy ahead of his
long-awaited album release.



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