13 December 2005

COREY IN CANBERRA - Dec 23rd !!!

| Jay Wayward
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Cell Block @ Academy

CELL BLOCK 69 choose the Capital for their inaugural ‘Last Ever Performance! ™’ . The band that time tried to forget but failed have chosen Canberra for what has been billed their, Last Ever Performance! ™. ‘We really love to be the playing in the Canberry’, says guitarist, Corey Axelrod, ‘We love the people that are there. They come to see us and we take their money to buy very nice things. They think that we are the totally awesome’.

Cell Block 69 are no strangers to controversy. If you believe their claims, they wrote it! In fact, it would seem that they wrote just about every good song from the eighties only to have them stolen and made famous by other artists such as Duran Duran and Billy Idol . Their claims have often found them the subject of ridicule in the international music press citing a lack of any substantiating evidence. I spoke to Axelrod from his villa in generic Europe and asked him if there was any proof of their claims. ‘Anyone who is lucky enough to see us playing live will tell you the real truth. They can see it in our eyes, our sweat, our passion for the songs we play. We love these songs like a mother might love her child. We could only love that way if the songs were ours. There is your proof’.

Australian audiences have always accepted Cell Block 69s claims but their faith is bound to tested this time. Duanne LeCorey-Michaels, the bands masculine singer claims that their music had such universal appeal that songs were stolen by artists from all over the world, including Australia. “We’ve been reluctant to perform any of the songs stolen from us by Aussies but as this is our first, Last Ever Performance ™, we will now perform them for the Aussies audience’. When asked what particular songs, LeCorey-Michaels just grins and says, ‘You will have to attend our performances to gain this knowledge.’ The claims seem consistent with the international variety of material that has been stolen from them. Songs like ‘Ca Plane Pour Moi’ and ‘Born in the USA’ are testament to their intercontinental appeal.

The few times they have found themselves in court over their claims have usually proven futile for the band. In the early nineties, the band almost threw in the towel when they were sued by Prince after claiming he stole their song, ‘My Name Is Prince’. ‘After the custody battle with Prince, we decided that we would not write anymore songs for them to steal, it’s the songs that suffer the most’, says LeCorey-Michaels. Since then, they have continued to tour the world endlessly performing songs from their vast catalogue.

Judge for yourself, Cell Block 69 will be performing at Toast, Canberra City – Friday, 23 December.

+ cheese on toast. – dance to the latest awesome videos from the eighties on the rad big screen.
Dress for the season, the eighties season Tickets $8 at the door. Spread the word…

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Rad to the max.

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