February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Eileen Murphy
We began the week with the distressing news that Bono is the reason that M.G. (which stands for meltingly gorgeous) Mel Gibson has shaved his head. The dreamy Aussie (who has such strong Irish roots that he’s named for St. Mel’s Cathedral in Longford Town) is in California at the moment, filming "Million Dollar Hotel," which was written by the U2 frontman.
In the movie, Gibson plays an federal agent who investigates the mysterious death (really, are there any other kind?) of a billionaire’s son. The rich boy’s body was found in the seedy Million Dollar Hotel, which means, of course, that irony and symbolism will hit the audience over the head like a mallet when the film is released. But hey, as long as Mel’s in the movie, who cares?
We think that Mel shaved his head in an effort to deglamorize himself for the role, but the nie thing about Mel is that even in movies where he has to wear hair extensions and and get tortured on a rack (think "Braveheart") he still manages to look like a highly-paid movie star. It must be those blue, blue eyes . . .
We hear that Bono has a cameo in the movie, as the world’s most highly-paid bellhop, and that Mel has been trying to convince the singer to take a larger role. The movie also starts Jeremy Davies ("Saving Private Ryan") and model Milla Jovovitch.
In more Bono news, it seems you can’t swing a cat anywhere in the U.S. without smacking him on the head. The singer recently guested on the Grammys, and then popped up during Bob Dylan’s set at the House of Blues in Las Vegas for what we hear was a kick-ass duet on "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door." (Well, even we’d sound good compared to Freewheelin’s Bob.) One can only hope that Bono wore a shirt that read "Soy Bomb."
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Ronan & Yvonne sittin’ on the nest . . .
Those of you who keep up on such things will be happy to know that Boyzone’s managing very nicely for the moment without lead singer Ronan Keating, who’s home with his wife, awaiting the birth of their first child.
Ireland’s most popular teenybopper band — referring to the age of their audience, not the age of the group members — is on tour in Europe even as we speak, and Stephen, Mikey, Shane and Keith have divvied up Ronan’s duties so that each of them gets a share of the spotlight.
The band has announced that they will kick off their Greatest Hits tour in May at the RDS, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they do a few dates here in the states this year. We’ll keep you posted . . .John’s Irish roots
We love to play the "Who’s the Secret Paddy?" party game, where you name three celebrities and have to pick out the one with the Irish roots. For example, guess who’s the Irish one in this list: Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta or Jerry Springer? The answer is John Travolta, who’s mother, Helen, was born in Ireland.
Now, we’d never have guessed either, except that Travolta mentioned it in an interview with the Sunday World this week. He also talked about his desire to buy a house in Ireland, probably down in County Clare. Travolta’s is a licensed pilot and would like to be able to jump in his private plane and fly to Ireland from his home in Los Angeles at a moment’s notice.
Though Travolta has not ruled out Dublin as a possible home base, he says his mother would approve of the beautiful south.
"I have heard about a place called Dalkey, where all the stars are bidding for homes," he said. "But I think Shannon is beautiful, and I know this would be my mother’s recommendation."
Travolta is a frequent visitor to Ireland, and often stays in U2’s Clarence Hotel in trendy Temple Bar. He says that he loves being in Ireland because he enjoys the people he meets there.
"I love the Irish folks," he said. "I think there’s a clarity and a presence in the Irish eyes that you just fall in love with. There’s so much humor and poetry in the soul."
The men who built America
Back before U2 or Boyzone or Sinead or even Thin Lizzy, Horslips put Irish music on the American pop charts. With their irresistable blend of Celtic rhythms and rock and roll beats, the Belfast band achieved international success with albums like "The Book of Invasions," "Aliens" and "The Man Who Built America." Now the band that helped change the face of Irish music is back — sort of.
The ex-rockers recently won a High Court settlement after a 12-year battle with the Belfast based Outlet Recording Company. The fight over control of the group’s back catalog has been decided in the band’ s favor, and they are seeking damages of £500,000 for lost revenues.
But the real money will come from re-release of their back catalog, which no doubt earn them millions of pounds. There is also a strong possibility that the band will reunite for a special millennium live concert and a world tour.
"Promoters feel that there is still a huge audience out there for Horslips," a band spokesman said. "They are putting in offers for us to make a comeback. We’re not ruling out anything at this point."
Horslips last played together in 1980, and its members have moved on to other successful careers. The best-known Horslips alums are Joe Lockart, a radio producer for the popular Irish station 2FM, filmmaker Barry Devlin and journalist Eamonn Carr. The group also included Charles O’Connor and Johnny Fean.
The band members are reportedly thrilled with the resolution of the court case.
"It was never about money," their spokesman said. "It was about maintaining the standards of our work that was being released. Now that we have control again, who knows what the future holds for Horslips?"