29/02/04 If These Walls Could Talk -Melbourne Herald Sun
Robbie Williams has apparently become too exclusive for words -or at least for potential buyers of his Notting Hill, London home.
The singer presently has on the market his three-storey property, which has a state-of-the-art interior and is expected to fetch at least $17 million.
But top real estate agencies are each allowed to show only one prospective buyer around the home.
Knight Frank, Hamptons International and Foxtons are reportedly among the precious few agents allowed to take part in the property's marketing.
Williams' bought the Victorian home several years ago, having outgrown his Kensington Park Rd flat above an antique store near the well known Portobello Market.
But, as Keyhole reported last year, he snapped up a Chelsea Harbour Belvedere Tower penthouse for more than $4 million - which should leave a fair bit of change in his pocket when Notting Hill sells.
Security-conscious Belvedere Tower is rumoured to be home to London A-listers, among them Sir Michael Caine. Williams will leave behind Notting Hill neighbours such as Angelina Jolie, Joseph Fiennes and Melbourne's Holly Valance.
28/02/04 Quick Bits
Robbie Williams Info have a report on the upcoming Robbie Williams autobiography. The book is to be titled The World According to Robert P. Williams with Chris Heath as co-author along with Robbie. The release date is scheduled for September 2004.
28/02/04 Robbie nets £17.5m from joint venture with EMI -Independant
EMI Group's joint venture with Robbie Williams, the recording star, generated turnover of £35m in six months, according to Companies House documents, producing a £17.5m pay day for the singer.
Accounts for In Good Company, the name of the joint venture, detail, for the first time, the earnings of the star and the commercial agreement between the two sides.
When Mr Williams agreed to a six-album deal with EMI in 2002, the recording group took the unusual step of taking a stake in the new company formed to manage the music writing, recording, performing and touring activities of Mr Williams. But no details of the agreement were released at the time.
Now, however, the notes to the company's accounts for the year to March 2003 show that Mr Williams's control of the company's A shares entitle him to 28.75 per cent of the non-recording profits, excluding website profits. EMI's B shares entitle it to 71.43 per cent of the non-recording profits and all of the website profits.
The company was only trading for six months, however. Mr Williams is entitled to 100 per cent of the recording profits payable.
These would appear to be payable after Mr Williams has taken payments in relation to recording activities which, in the six months reported, amounted to £17.5m, making him one of the world's highest paid recording artists.
Sales relating to recording and broadcast activities for the company were £22.6m. Mr Williams is also owed £139,000 by the company, the accounts show.
24/02/04 Quick Bits
New details on the upcoming Greatest Hits album.
ROBBIE WILLIAMS – Supreme: The best of Robbie Williams
Tracklist:
Let Me Entertain You
Rock DJ
Millenium
Kids (featuring Kylie Minogue)
Feel
The Last of the Great Pretenders (New single)
She’s The One
No Regrets
Supreme
Strong
Let Love Be Your Energy
The Road to Mandalay
Something Beautiful
Come Undone
Sexed Up
Something Stupid (featuring Nicole Kidman)
I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen
Eternity
Angels
Hidden track: Back for good (new version)
Due for release October 2004
24/02/04 Rob's Bad Buddy -The Mirror
Guest of honour at Robbie Williams's 30th birthday party is the baddie in the current series of cult TV show 24.
Robbie invited Greg Ellis to Nobu in Los Angeles for his celebratory meal last week.
The Wigan-born actor - who plays Michael Amador opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the third series of 24 - lives in LA and has become good pals with the singer.
"They met in California and clicked immediately," says a source. "Robbie and Greg both have the same naughty sense of humour and have a real laugh hanging out together."
We can't imagine a better duo to bump into.
18/02/04 Dido joins Robbie on rich list -Melbourne Herald Sun
Dido and Robbie the youngest in the list of top music money earners.
Pop star Dido has made it into a list of the music world’s biggest earners.
The singer made £15.8m (€23.3m) last year thanks to the massive success of her two albums, according to Heat magazine’s annual rich list.
She is at number 10 in the rich list, which is dominated by old-timers.
The Rolling Stones top the list with a £55.3m (€81.7m) pay-day last year after a lucrative world tour and accompanying DVDs.
Paul McCartney – last year’s number one – was second with Elton John third. Both amassed their fortunes thanks to successful tours in 2003.
Robbie Williams made £30m (€44.3m) last year and is in fourth place after his record-breaking Knebworth gigs, which spawned a best-selling live album and DVD.
Coldplay are fifth in the list after a year which saw them catapulted into the superstar league.
Heat bases its rich list on estimated earnings from record and DVD sales, tour revenue, merchandising, music publishing royalties and other income.
Also in the top 10 are heavy metal act Iron Maiden. Top 10:
1 Rolling Stones
2 Paul McCartney
3 Elton John
4 Robbie Williams
5 Coldplay
6 Sting
7 Phil Collins
8 Fleetwood Mac
9 Iron Maiden
10 Dido
16/02/04 Robbie gets an invite from the MSO -The Age
Coming to an arena near you . . . Kylie, Robbie and the orchestra. It's not as unlikely as it sounds, writes Carolyn Webb.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has issued an invitation to pop artists such as Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera and Robbie Williams: come play with us.
MSO managing director Trevor Green wants rock gigs to become a permanent summer fixture for the orchestra. He wants international bands or singers who are keen to put a new spin on their act to get in touch with him.
The intermittent practice of pairing the MSO with pop and rock stars, starting with Sir Elton John in 1986, has accelerated in the past year. Kiss and Dionne Warwick have performed with the orchestra. Meat Loaf and the MSO have a concert date in Melbourne this week.
And while the MSO instigated the partnership with Sir Elton John, sell-out concerts and (in the case of Meat Loaf and Kiss) the lure of lucrative global pay TV, DVD and CD tie-ins mean it is now the artists who are approaching the MSO.
Green describes these concerts as great PR for the orchestra. He says they take the MSO "brand" to the world, while refreshing the rockers' acts.
Green is determined that nine months of the year will continue to be devoted to the likes of Dvorak, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. But he says summer has been under-used.
The classical season finishes in early December, and, with the exception of a Messiah concert later that month, usually resumes with free Sidney Myer Music Bowl concerts in early February.
"You can't run an orchestra like that, with that kind of down time," Green says. "What I want to do is have a summer season . . . with a variety of concerts, from orchestral music in the park, to the Dionnes, the Kisses, the pop, whatever it might be."
Green says the season would be limited to no more than six gigs a year, and would favour international artists.
"We wouldn't just play with any band." Top of the wish list is Kylie Minogue. "I'd be very thrilled if Kylie would sing with the orchestra," he says. "It's her home town, home country, she's a great international artist."
It was Green who started the MSO-pop phenomenon. In 1986, an MSO season with the Victoria State Opera was cancelled. To fill the gap, Green approached Sir Elton John, and asked if he'd consider using the MSO to back his upcoming tour. "It was a lark," recalls Green. "I was just thinking, 'nah, it would never happen'. But he came back and said, 'yeah, sure, let's have a look at it'. So the lawyers came to see us, and we did the deal."
The orchestra toured Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with John, playing the second half of each concert.
"There were two concerts in each city, with about 9000 people at each concert," says Green. "People were dancing in the aisles." John drew on the spirit of the 1984 movie Amadeus to dress as Mozart, in an elaborate wig, and had a model of the Parthenon as a backdrop. The 60-piece MSO was a curio, but it also breathed new life into 15 Elton John standards.
MSO concerts with John Farnham (1989) and Frank Sinatra (1991) echoed that success, but there was a 12-year gap before Kiss in February last year. MSO orchestra manager Barb Glaser says there was "just no opportunity, no time, we were doing international touring, as well, to Japan, China and Russia".
In mid-2002, Kiss promoter Andrew McManus approached the orchestra because, Glaser says, the Melbourne Kiss fan club is one of the world's biggest, and also because of the MSO's history with rock acts.
In the resulting one-off concert, in front of 34,000 fans at Telstra Dome, the 60 members of the MSO donned Kiss make-up and helped the band belt out hits such as I Was Made For Lovin' You and Rock and Roll All Nite.
The concert was broadcast on pay television and a CD and DVD were released, meaning its success continued much longer than the actual concert night.
"We got ourselves known right round the world," says Green. "The Kiss concert was a year ago, and I'm still getting emails daily, from South America and Iceland, saying, 'I've got the DVD of Kiss - fantastic, when's the next one from Melbourne Symphony?'."
Green says rock gigs tell the public "that we're flexible, we're not just an orchestra that can play Beethoven and Brahms". Soul diva Dionne Warwick certainly provided a contrast to Kiss when a 50-piece MSO backed her at Crown Casino's Palladium Room last month on 1960s hits such as I'll Never Fall in Love Again and Walk On By.
This Friday and Sunday, the orchestra reverts to rock mode when it backs Meat Loaf at Rod Laver Arena, the result of another approach by promoter Andrew McManus. The MSO (dressed soberly in concert attire) will play the entire concert of 13 songs - about 90 minutes - and also at Meat Loaf's Sydney concerts.
Green and Glaser are coy about the financial benefits of rock gigs, saying only that the orchestra earns a fee for each contract, and not a percentage of the box office.
"We wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't profitable," says Green. "We are running a business, we're not running a charity. I've got to earn a number of dollars a year, and all the business I can get is very important to me, from our concerts or from anything we do."
Happily, MSO management has copped no objection from the orchestra players, whose average age is around 40. "We have a very young orchestra," Green says. "They love to do it, it's a complete change from their normal repertoire."
Principal percussionist Robert Clarke, 44, says: "I remember when Elton John came to play with us. A few people in the orchestra didn't know much about his music - it was a generational thing. But by the end of the tour, they had so much respect for him, because of his performance standard and his music." But he concedes that, even today, "some people in the orchestra are more in touch with popular music, and some aren't".
Principal clarinettist David Thomas, 32, who joined the orchestra four years ago, says he is too young to have been a Meat Loaf fan in the singer's 1970s heyday. "But I'm looking forward to learning about his music," he says. "In a way, Kiss passed me by (in the 1970s) as well, and I've loved getting to know their music. My wife and I (bassoonist Natasha Thomas) went out and bought some of the Kiss albums after we finished performing with them, and we enjoyed listening to them."
Both men are enthusiastic about Green's plan for more pop concerts. "It's just part of the music that we play," says Clarke. "Nobody in the orchestra expects that the only thing we'll be doing is concerts in the Concert Hall for subscription patrons. We're trained to be versatile. In fact, there's a great deal of versatility required of what we do in the so-called classical repertoire, distinguishing between the musical styles of different eras and different composers. So this is just one more step."
Clarke was in a band that backed Minogue when she performed at the opening of Crown Casino in 1997. "She's a terrific performer," he says. And if she were to sing with the MSO, "personally, I'd enjoy it".
Clarke and Thomas were in the orchestra when it backed Delta Goodrem in October 2002, at the memorial concert at the Myer Music Bowl for victims of the Bali bombings.
"She's terrific," says Clarke. "Such a talent - on keyboards, and as a singer and songwriter."
Nor would they baulk at performing with Williams or Aguilera. "Any of those people, the orchestra would be happy to work with," Clarke says. "It's just part of what an orchestra does nowadays."
16/02/04 Robbie buys new pad for his birthday -People
SUPERSTAR Robbie Williams is returning to his working-class roots... as Lord of the Manor.
Robbie, who turned 30 on Friday, is marking the big day by buying himself a £1.5 million wing of a stately home near his beloved Stoke.
The singer - brought up in a damp flat above a pub in the city - has told pals he's still potty for the Potteries despite his luxury homes in London and Hollywood.
A source said yesterday: "He's definitely feeling a bit homesick. And it means he'll be in reach of his mum, Jan."
She still lives in a semi in Stoke after moving away from the Red Lion pub.
Robbie, whose albums include Escapology, has put in an offer for the 1907 King Edward wing at Rangemoor Hall near Burton-upon-Trent. He wants to use it as his rural retreat. It boasts five bedrooms, a drawing room, ballroom, library, cinema, pool, gym and servants' flat.
With a pad like that you can bet the former Take That star will be Back for Good.
15/02/04 Robbie's an Angel of Lovers -The Daily Record
ROBBIE WILLIAMS' smash-hit Angels has been voted the song with the greatest-ever love lyrics.
The single revived Robbie's flagging solo career and won over the British public with the romantic words: '... she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection, whether I'm right or wrong'.
Nothing Compares 2 U, written by Prince and performed by Sinead O'Connor, was runner-up in the poll of 4000 music fans by Woolworths. Ex-Beatle George Harrison, who died of lung cancer in 2001, came third with his 1969 classic Something, ahead of fellow bandmate John Lennon's single Woman. Elvis Presley's 1972 golden oldie Always On My Mind came fifth.
TOP 10 LOVE SONGS 1. Robbie Williams Angels 2. Sinead O'Connor Nothing Compares 2 U 3. George Harrison Something 4. John Lennon Woman (1980) 5. Elvis Presley Always on my Mind 6. Police Every Breath You Take 7. The Jackson Five I'll Be There 8. Jennifer Rush Power Of Love 9. Lionel Ritchie Hello 10. Nina Simone My Baby Just Cares For Me
13/02/04 Robbie:the biography -Sean Smith
THERE was a time when Robbie Williams would have marked his birthday with a drunken drug-fuelled binge.
Today, when Robbie celebrates his 30th birthday, he will sink a few glasses of bubbly - but the glass will contain nothing more intoxicating than lemonade.
It's a landmark birthday that just a few years ago some predicted Robbie might never see - but the sometime hell-raiser will spend the day quietly at home in Los Angeles with his closest friends and family .
After leaving Take That nine years ago he was drinking up to a bottle each of vodka and Bacardi a day, as well as being in the grip of a spiralling drug addiction. Now his only vice is chain smoking.
Robbie is one of Britain's biggest stars, but the irony is that he owes his sobriety to living in LA - the party capital of the world.
And now he fears returning to the UK, might cause him to slip back into his old ways.
"Robbie could never have got sober back home in England," says a close colleague. "In LA he's become drug and drink- free without anyone tempting him. He's proud of his achievement.
"Robbie has done lot of soul searching, and has really grown up during his time in LA.
"Most people go to Hollywood for the bright lights and fun - Robbie went there to get away from parties and live a normal life where nobody recognises him."
When the boy from Stoke-on-Trent moved to the West Coast in late 2001 it was going to be a six month stay to get over his exhaustion, but the anonymous lifestyle he enjoys there soon began to transform his life.
Robbie hasn't had a drink for two years.
He has spent much of the past year touring, but whenever he returns to LA he falls back into a routine of an ordinary life where he can walk his dogs and slip unnoticed into regular AA meetings.
"He's got exactly what he wanted," adds the colleague. "He doesn't want to be part of the phoney celebrity party scene. He knows where that leads."
A snapshot of the new Robbie Williams, a million miles from the fat druggie of the mid-90s, was provided by a recent visit by his friend Anthony McPartlin - of Ant and Dec fame.
Ant invited Robbie to join him at his hotel, the Sunset Marquis, where new singing sensation Jamie Cullum and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page were among those hanging out at the hotel's legendary Whiskey Bar.
But Robbie knows all about nights that begin with an innocent drink at the bar. Instead, he persuaded Ant and his girlfriend Lisa to join him at his beautiful £2.4million home where they watched a British football game on his enormous big-screen satellite TV - and drank nothing stronger than lemonade.
When Robbie first arrived in the city he would get up early, grab a coffee from the local deli before heading off to Crunch Gym on Sunset Boulevard. Later in the day he would join friends to watch musicians at a small, out-of-the-way bar.
But as he became more settled Robbie has been seen out less and less, especially since he split with Rachel Hunter.
Now he spends his time around his home in a gated community half an hour from the temptations of Sunset Boulevard with security guards at the entrance and celebrities like Tom Jones and former Beach Boy Brian Wilson for neighbours.
The much-needed routine is provided by his dogs - including his pet wolf Sid - which he takes for an early morning walk every day.
By the time he returns to the house his cook will have fixed his special low-fat breakfast - the burgers and meat pies are things of the past.
These days he has his own gym where he runs for an hour every day on the treadmill before doing a session of weights.
The main business of the day is organised by his faithful PA Josie Cliff who sorts out everything for him, from dentist and hair appointments to choosing new furniture.
Recently he bought a piece of land at the bottom of his garden so that the dogs would have a bigger play area and plans to build a house on part of it.
DAY-to-day, his beloved mum Jan and Josie are the most important people in his life.
His bodyguard Duncan Wilkinson drives him around if he decides to go out because Robbie has never had a licence.
So although he can race his Jaguar around the private roads of Mulholland Drive, he can never pass through the gates on to the freeway.
Occasionally Robbie will venture out for an early dinner but is back home in front of the 12-ft wide TV screen by 7.30pm.
Robbie knows the good effect his new lifestyle in Los Angeles is having on him, despite admitting still taking anti-depressants.
In fact, the only area of Robbie's life that has not been transformed is his love life.
Poignantly, Robbie celebrates his birthday the day before Valentine's Day, but the nation's most eligible superstar has no one to send a red rose to other than his mum, Jan.
The biggest female influence in his life, she stuck by him when he was at his lowest ebb after he left Take That and now spends months at a time in LA, helping to look after him.
It is almost a year to the day since he officially split from his last girlfriend, Rachel Hunter.
"In many ways Robbie's romance with Rachel Hunter was a victim of his new sobriety," his LA friend says. "Rachel wanted to party while he wants to stay strong, sober and healthy."
The closest he has come to finding a lasting relationship was his 1998 engagement to the former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton, but their highly volatile union was at a time when he was most firmly in the grip of his demons.
Nicole famously aborted their baby - a tragedy for Robbie although, for once, he has kept his inner feelings to himself.
And, incredibly, since then he has been neither pictured with nor rumoured to have been involved with any new woman even though his £80million deal with EMI turned him into one of the richest men in pop music.
Robbie is a realist, however, and is the first to admit that the life he has chosen for himself is a lonely one.
"I've got this beautiful house, beautiful dogs and it's beautiful here. The sun's always out. So all I'm looking for is the missus now," he says.
13/02/04 Ego Landed (with a thud) -The Sun
NOT so long ago, Robbie Williams was a fall over drunk.
Actually, it was more than falling over — collapsing dramatically in a heap is perhaps a more apt description.
I witnessed Robbie falling from grace on at least three occasions. It’s unlikely he can.
Like the time he toppled headfirst from his chair at Stringfellow’s, slurring and drooling after spending 45 minutes with his spaced out eyes glued to the lapdancer’s bum wiggling two inches from his face.
Crumpled and sweaty, he squirmed at my feet like a baby who can’t crawl. But with more dribble.
Or when he popped over to hiccup hello in a Dublin hotel only to tumble to the oak-panelled floor in front of me and the EMI Records’ senior executive team. Truly an excruciating moment.
I’ve found it hard to look him in the eye since.
We all reckoned he’d be dead within a year or two, yet fast forward five years and today Robbie is Britain’s biggest star, alive and well and celebrating his 30th birthday today.
I say alive and well. But he’s not really well.
Paranoid, single and insecure, with few friends, yo-yoing weight and an appetite for anti-depressants and tobacco, Robbie has attempted to escape his demons.
But they still clearly haunt him at his home in Los Angeles.
It is undoubtedly this tortured part of his personality that has helped elevate — and inspire — him to become our foremost star.
Last summer, he staged three huge concerts during his Knebworth Park residency. That is something no other performer could emulate at this moment.
A teenage millionaire after his days with Take That, he is now said to be worth £50million.
Yet he lives his life like a prisoner, distraught he has been unable to find a partner to share his riches, haunted by broken relationships with some of the world’s most beautiful women.
As he sang on his hit single Feel: “I just wanna feel real love, fill the home that I live in. ’Cos I got too much life, running through my veins going to waste. I don’t wanna die but I ain’t keen on living either. Before I fall in love, I’m preparing to leave her.”
His global success — America excepted — is incredible because when EMI signed Robbie for £1million in June 1996, he was at his lowest ebb.
Despite six years with Britain’s best-selling boy band, who shunted 20 million albums and had eight No1 singles, Robbie’s wealth was dwindling and legal battles with managers loomed.
Many in the industry laughed at the label’s decision. One executive told me it was like signing Andrew Ridgeley from Wham! — Gary Barlow was the safe bet from Take That, the George Michael.
But unlike Ridgeley, Robbie was also in the midst of a year-long booze and drugs bender. Oh, and he had no songs.
There were even music industry bets of £5,000 on whether he would blow his brains out, die of an overdose or disappear without trace within a year.
Robbie now owns a sprawling £3million hacienda in the Hollywood Hills and has recently chosen a 22-bedroom mock 18th century Sussex castle as his new home.
But back then he lived in a dingy basement flat in West London and spent most of his money on booze, cocaine and taxis.
His weight started to balloon, he rarely shaved and EMI started to think they may have made a terrible mistake.
But last year he signed Britain’s biggest ever recording deal, dependant on his success in the US.
Many feel that is now unlikely, although American pop princess Jessica Simpson’s next single will be a cover of his anthem Angels, a dead cert to increase his profile Stateside.
Publicly, Robbie claims to love the anonymity he enjoys there but as recent partner Kat Bailey, a lapdancer who kissed and told on him (don’t they all), admitted: “He seemed really normal and talked about how much he wanted to conquer the US.
“He said he was desperate to escape fame back in England yet was even more desperate to be recognised in America. It really bugged him that no one knew him there.”
Americans don’t get him because they are unable to see him in context.
Robbie is adored here because we witnessed his transition from boy band loser to working class hero.
His image is not a polished one in the manner of, say, Justin Timberlake or Beyonce Knowles.
In terms of fashion, he has no particular look. Fans don’t try to dress or look like him yet there are few women who don’t find his vulnerability attractive.
Musically, his style is almost impossible to characterise, blending rock, soul, hip-hop and dance elements brilliantly to craft a unique sound.
Put him on a stage with his natural wit and showmanship and you can see why he’s become the country’s biggest live draw.
But off-stage, his problems continue. He hasn’t held down a serious relationship since his romance with model Rachel Hunter ended a year ago.
He’s attempted to blot out his troubles with emotion-free sex, continually mutilating his body with tattoos and necking medication.
Robbie’s desire to start a family is no secret and he’s still tormented by the thought of the child he could have had.
Then lover Nicole Appleton aborted his baby girl in 1998 and he wrote a song, Grace, about her. Friends say he finds it difficult to meet children born around that time.
To compound his misery, Nicole now has a child of her own with Robbie’s nemesis Liam Gallagher.
As Rob said recently: “Sometimes I feel like cashing everything in and giving it all away.
“In my darkest moments, I’m convinced my life would be easier if I didn’t have as much as £100. Then I could walk the streets as a free man, meet a girl and live the quiet life I long for.”
For now, the only company he has is a group of hangers-on and sycophants who cocoon him from the real world and treat him like a child.
One confidante adds: “His life is dull. He doesn’t drink, smokes like a chimney and just rattles around LA looking miserable.
“He seems lonely, like he’s about to burst into tears all the time, not some rock god who can have 125,000 eating out of his hand.”
His future bride, if he succeeds in finding one, will determine whether his future lies in Britain or the US.
Career-wise, he is unlikely to ever top his Knebworth spectacular and his split from Guy Chambers, who penned his most enduring songs, is also significant.
So can Robbie succeed on his own or will he be remembered as a recluse who burnt out at 30?
Today in LA, it will be a simple birthday for a complex man.
No champagne, no fuss and no huge Kate Moss-style party — just a quiet night in for a childlike star who thought he’d never make it to this milestone.
11/02/04 Quick Bits
Whats the most added song to radio playlists in Australia this week? Monsoon is whipping up a storm as the most added song to radio this week meaning that an official release date shouldnt be too far away. A promo CD of the single is up for grabs on ebay at the moment,
11/02/04 Robbie to advertise new Smart car -thanks to Jackie
It was the hand of God. Or the nearest thing to God that has ever grabbed the trousers of Swatch watch founder Nicolas Hayek. The effusive Lebanese-born entrepreneur had leapt to his feet to confirm the possibility of a four-seat Swatch car.
'Clunky not funky: the new Forfour is very ordinary'
This was the official announcement, in Stuttgart, of the Mercedes-Benz/Swatch tie-up in 1998, a few months before the launch of Mercedes-Benz's own four-seat baby car, the A-class. "Yes," said Hayek, "there will be a... humpf!" The hand had yanked him back into his seat and then the body attached to the hand leaned forward to the microphone. "No," said Mercedes boss Helmut Werner (aka God), "there will not be a four-seat Swatch car."
Well, that told Hayek. Mercedes didn't want this collaboration to build a cheaper, funkier rival for the A-class and it has stuck to that line throughout the development of the 2.5-metre-long Swatch/Smart two-seater, the subsequent split with Swatch, the travails over the little car's stability and the continued losses for the company, which hopes finally to break even in 2005. Ironically, it is also a line that exposes the fanciful notion that a modern, volume car-maker can survive with a model range based on just two niche-market two-seaters: a city car and a roadster.
So now we have the Smart Forfour, a 3.7-metre-long, five-door hatchback with four seats that goes on sale in the UK this September. Pop pickers will be interested to know that the new Forfour will be advertised by Robbie Williams; anoraks might wish to know that it will be built by NedCar at a factory in Born, Holland, which originally built Van Doorne's Daf models, then Volvo's 340/360 and last turned out Volvo's lacklustre V/S40 and the uncharismatic Mitsubishi Carisma saloon. Since then, ownership of the plant has reverted to Mitsubishi, which is controlled by DaimlerChrysler. The plant will build the new Colt alongside the Forfour. On sale September.
02/02/04 Williams to rent 7 million pound country house for peace and quiet -Ananova
Robbie Williams is said to have his eye on a £7m country house in West Sussex.
According to The Sun, the 29-year-old singer plans to let out 22-bedroom Whithurst Park in Kirdford when he's away.
The newspaper claims the star wants "peace and quiet".
The house, newly built but designed to look like an 18th-century fortress, has handcrafted rooms, a pool, gym and lake.
More info and pics here.
02/02/04 Robbie says dog walking is substitute for party lifestyle -Ananova
Robbie Williams says walking his dogs and sitting around in cafes are his biggest pleasures after giving up on his party lifestyle.
The star told German magazine TV direkt he feels in top form ahead of his 30th birthday on February 13.
He said: "I'm not a playboy anymore. What I like most now is to go to cafes, and take my dogs for walks.
"I'm happier than I've been in a long time. I know I smoke much too much but I still enjoy life. That's not a bad feeling as I head towards 30."
Robbie added he has a pretty normal life compared to the early days of stardom with Take That.
He said: When you're 17, 18 , 19 you live life at the limit and think things will go on that way forever. It took until the age of 29 to realise that I'm not immortal.
"Things can't get much better than they are now, although maybe I won't really realise that until I'm telling my grandchildren all about it."
30/01/04 Robbie will chip in to aid project -The Sentinel
Port Vale fan Robbie Williams has pledged his support to the club's Football in the Community scheme. The multi millionaire pop idol has chipped in £20,000 towards the cost of a five year national anti-racism project which also has the backing of the Football Foundation.
The Williams money comes from his Give it Sum fund, which has already supported a number of local causes.
Jim Cooper, head of Vale's FIC scheme, said: "Robbie attracted a lot of negative comment from supporters when the club was up for sale, so I am delighted he has pledged his support to football in the community.
"It is a worthy cause and, without Robbie's pledge, our bid to the Football Foundation would have been unsuccessful. The Foundation has granted £39,000 for the first year to see if it is successful.
"Robbie' s mother, Jan, sits on the Give it Sum panel which vets all applications, so he will be know about the money going to Port Vale.
"I am hoping if he has any spare time he will call in at one of the coaching sessions we put on for ethnic minorities after school."
29/01/04 Quick Bits
The Robbie Williams Show has been nominated for Best Music DVD at the 3rd Annual Australian DVD Awards.
Other nominees are:
Coldplay: Live
Robbie Williams: The Robbie Williams Show
Machine Gun Fellatio: To Pussytown & Back
Delta Goodrem: Delta
28/01/04 Mop Idol Rob -thanks to Samantha
ROBBIE WILLIAMS has been letting his hair down on a break in Los Angeles.
Robbie, seen getting a coffee with pal JONATHAN WILKES, is now sporting a floppy fringe.
Often moody with snappers, the singer didn’t seem to mind this time — even raising half a smile.
He was best man when You’ve Been Framed host Jonathan married girlfriend Nikki Wheeler in LA last week.
28/01/04 Robbie hit 'most played song in Europe' -thanks to Jackie
Robbie Williams' hit Feel was the most played song on radio in Europe
in
2003, according to a music survey.
Two other British acts - Dido and Craig David - rounded out the top
three,
said analysts Music Control.
Williams' song was one of three tracks from his album Escapology which
featured in the survey's top 20.
Other British acts in the airplay list's top 200 included Blue,
Coldplay,
Simply Red, Sugababes, Phil Collins, Seal and R&B threesome Mis-Teeq.
The trio beat songs from US stars such as the Black Eyed Peas,
Christina
Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
MOST-PLAYED TRACKS IN EUROPE 1. Feel - Robbie Williams 2.
White
Flag - Dido 3. Rise and Fall - Craig David ft Sting 4.
Beautiful - Christina Aguilera 5. I'm With You - Avril Lavigne
6. Where is the Love? - Black Eyed Peas 7. Sorry Seems to
be the
Hardest Word - Blue ft Elton John 8. Family Portrait - Pink
9.
Crazy in Love - Beyonce 10. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
Source: Music Control
Williams' two other songs in the European Top 20 were Come Undone and
Something Beautiful.
Come Undone was the most-played track in Germany, while Feel was the
most-played track in the Netherlands and the third-most played track in
Germany.
Acts from the UK and the US dominated the top half of the list, with
acts
from the European mainland only making up 24% of the total.
The only songs from the mainland in the top 20 were Russian duo Tatu's
All
the Things She Said at number 13 and Move Your Feet by the Danish group
Junior Senior at number 20.
The figures show a decline compared to previous years. In 1999 European
acts
had 38.6% of the European airplay top 100.
23/01/04 Robbie is best man as flatmate Jon weds -The Mirror
ROBBIE Williams was best man at the wedding of his closest friend Jonathan Wilkes yesterday.
Robbie handed over the ring when You've Been Framed host Jonathan married singer and dancer Nikki Wheeler, 25, in Los Angeles.
She was in Robbie's backing group when he played Knebworth last summer.
Robbie and Jonathan, 25, shared a flat in London for four years before the singer moved to America.
Insiders say the marriage will be a major turning point for Robbie who is 30 next month.
A friend said: "Robbie and Jonathan have always been a couple of jack the lads game for anything.
"But Jonathan's been loved up with Nikki for some time. She's a bubbly girl who gets on really well with Robbie but now he's seen his best friend married off things are bound to change.
"All the vibes are that Robbie's going to be really anxious to settle down himself."
Jonathan met Nikki when he interviewed her for a BBC news entertainment show.
They live together in Chiswick, West London.
Jonathan has been working hard on TV projects in an effort to step out of Robbie's shadow. He will co-present Blind Date replacement show Love on a Saturday Night with Davina McCall.
He said last year: "When I get married, people will instantly expect Robbie to be the best man.
"But as long as Nikki turns up, that's all that matters.''
20/01/04 Sanctuary puts on a strong show -This Is London
STRONG albums from stalwarts such as Kiss and live tours by Robbie Williams and others have helped Sanctuary Group to another bumper year.
Last year was a record one for live gigs in Britain and - while the major record labels tend not to make money on their artistes touring, seeing it as a lossleader for album sales - Sanctuary has specialised in running other peoples' tours and making money from it.
It was involved in a staggering 7,000 shows across Europe, Asia and Australia in 2003 for acts including Dido, Robbie Williams, The Darkness, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay, to mention just a few from its roster of 350 live acts.
In the coming year, a continuing tour by Iron Maiden, which has already pulled in audiences of more than a million, and new one from Beyonce, are among the highlights.
On the recorded music side, Sanctuary has specialised in looking after older acts who may have bored, or been forgotten by, their original label. Hence another success for Kiss with the double album Alive IV and strong sales for a new Lynyrd Skynyrd album alongside success for newcomers The Libertines with Up The Bracket, which has sold 170,000 copies worldwide to date.
Pre-tax profits before goodwill amortisation rose 20% to £17m in the year to end-September on turnover up 29% at £152m. The dividend is lifted 14% to 0.4p, paid out of earnings per share up 22% at 3.85p.
18/01/04 Quick Bits
Can 1,000,000 Robbie Williams fans be wrong? Robbie Williams has sold more than one million units of music CD's and DVD's in Australia. His Live Summer 2003 went platinum (70,000) while advance orders for his DVD What We Did Last Summer were 45,000 (triple platinum) breaking DVD shipment records for EMI Australia. Williams' track record is: Escapology (3 x platinum), Sing When You're Winning (3 x platinum) and Swing When You're Winning (3 x platinum), and showing off dance moves from the DVD is Live At The Albert (4 x platinum) and The Robbie Williams Show (3 x platinum).
Also, in the Melbourne Herald Sun, Robbie Williams comes in at number 8 in the Top 40 Most Broadcast Artists in Australia. He also comes in at number 4 with Feel in the Top 40 Most Broadcast Songs, a list which was based on playlist data from the 2002/2003 financial year.
18/01/04 Rachel on Robbie -Daily Star
RACHEL HUNTER says her relationship with Robbie Williams was never serious and they were just having fun.
Rod Stewart's ex has admitted they were both too busy to sustain a relationship.
She said: ''Although we had a lot of fun together for nearly a year, our relationship was never serious. We were both busy with our careers and often on different sides of the world. Robbie has his career and life, and I have my career, life and two children to take into consideration.''
Although the relationship has now ended, the 34-year-old model still has fond memories of Robbie.
She revealed: ''He was very special and a great guy. We are great friends and, even though our relationship was going nowhere, still think he's great.''
16/01/04 Rob number 1 in internet sales -TOTP
Getting pop grumpychops Robbie Williams to cheer up lately is about as easy as teaching Lee Ryan the finer points of Scrabble. However, the latest internet single sales figures should put that cheeky grin back on the fella's face. According to the Evening Standard, Robbie topped the list of singles sold for download, by all those pop peeps who can't be bothered with the trek to the shops Rob-ster's single 'Feel' was the strongest seller, beating the likes of Dido ('White Flag'), Christina Aguilera ('Beautiful') and Norah Jones ('Don't Know Why'). This is after Robbie famously told the world what he thought of online music piracy, stating "I think it's great, really I do. I am sure my record label would hate me saying it, and my manager and my accountants." Er, yeah that's probably putting it mildly, Rob.
15/01/04 Robbie fails to get Best Male Nomination
Robbie Williams will not make the shortlist for best male at the Brits.
The singer, who has won the title for four out of the past five years, is not in the running because tight rules make him ineligible.
Although he is still doing well in the charts, organisers say he has not released an album which qualifies for the annual bash.
Escapology, his last album, was actually out within the eligibility period but he won the category last year with it so is barred from doing so again.
His recent Knebworth album is not a contender because live releases do not count.
Williams won best male in 1999 and then had a trio of consecutive wins from 2001 to 2003.
The shortlist will not be issued until January.
This doesn't mean it will be a Robbie-free Brits, though: he may still be in the running for best single and best pop act.
13/01/04 British music scene in healthy financial state thanks to Robbie -thanks to Jackie
The British live music scene is in its healthiest financial state ever,
according to the firm which distributes royalties to performers.
The Performing Right Society (PRS) said it expected to take in £10m
from
live shows in 2003, the highest figure since it was set up 90 years
ago.
PRS director John Axon said: "It has been an execptional year on the
concert
front - the best ever for revenues."
He put the boost down to the strong economy and the summer's fine
weather.
The PRS says much of the growth is thanks to big high-profile shows
such as
Robbie Williams' shows at Knebworth and the Rolling Stones' concerts at
Twickenham rugby stadium.
Tickets for the Glastonbury festival sold out in a day while other
events,
such as the Reading and Leeds festivals and Scotland's T In The Park,
were
also successful.
Mr Axon added: "It has become part of the culture to attend one of more
of
the big live events of the year."
9/01/04 Quick Bits
'Feel' the second most played song on Swedish radio stations for 2003.
STOCKHOLM - The year of 2003 was a huge success for Per Gessle. The hit single "Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)" was the most played song on Swedish radio stations, both on SR (Sveriges Radio) and commercial stations, during 2003. It's the first time since Music Control started this list in 1996 that a Swedish artist is #1 on that year list. At second place came Robbie Williams with his song "Feel", and at #3 Blue and Elton John's hit song "Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word". All in all four Swedish songs were on the top ten.
6/01/04 Thats rich Robbie -The Sun
POOR little rich boy ROBBIE WILLIAMS has been whingeing about how hard it is to be a multi-millionaire.
The megastar says he is sick of fame and yearns for a “normal” life.
He says he would gladly give up his estimated £68million fortune and get by on £100 a week.
Robbie moaned: “Money has nothing to do with happiness. Sometimes I feel like cashing everything in and giving it all away.
“In my darkest moments I’m convinced that my life would be easier if I didn’t have as much as £100.
“Then I could walk the streets as a free man, meet a girl and live the quiet life I long for.”
Robbie also said he often tells his aides he’s had enough of showbiz — only to change his mind 24 hours later.
He added: “I’m a schizophrenic. Sometimes I walk around at home just wearing pyjamas, cancelling everything — TV shows, recordings, concerts.
“In my mind I have retired from showbiz. The next day, I feel completely changed and I will arrange a new world tour, a CD and a DVD. It’s just how I am. I can’t trust myself. It’s hard.”
Robbie has famously fought a long-running battle with booze and drugs. He has also admitted he is hooked on anti-depressants after struggling to cope with life in the spotlight.
His latest outburst is a far cry from when he signed his £30million deal with EMI records in 2002, when he screamed: “I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams.”
If he decided to live on the breadline, Robbie would have to give up his £2million pad in Notting Hill, West London, and his £3million mansion in LA.
He might even have to sell the house he bought for his mum Jan, also in Notting Hill.
2/01/04 Quick Bits
Release date for De-Lovely set for July 2nd 2004 (LA/NY), expands to later other cities at later dates.
1/01/04 Pop animal a rocker for all ages -The Australian
ROBBIE Williams is a unique figure on the music scene. Cast your eye over the crowds at his recent Australian performances, and there may have been something of a gender bias, but age-wise, it ran from people who required walking sticks to the young glamorous thing he pulled out of the audience for a patented rock star pash.
What was missing was the really young teeny-bopper audience that's usually required to fill stadiums the size of the one's Williams does. He's not really eroding market share from the Justin Timberlakes and Pinks of this world.
It's startling to realise that Williams is turning into Billy Joel or Rod Stewart, but with street cred. Like them, he attracts a baby boomer audience still keen to groove and, also like them, he has done an album of croon-tunes, 2001's Swing When You're Winning. But his bad boy menace gives him cross-over appeal.
Williams isn't the first teeny-bopper to have a successful solo career but, unlike George Michael, he wasn't a household name while in Take That. Gary Barlow grabbed most attention, at least until Williams' partying ways hit the headlines. And while Take That may have sold more records than The Beatles, they were not even as culturally significant as Wham!
His success now is built on his post-boy-band work. He can belt out a catchy tune but we all know that's only a minor part of a pop career. Williams walks the right side of roguish. He has tattoos and admits he's has problems with drink and drugs, but he loves his mum and dad. He's pop, but there's a rawness and a realness that few in the industry possess.
And it's a quality that's evident in Nobody Somebody, a documentary that followed him on a 15-city European tour. He's just given up the booze and the drugs and is obviously struggling to find out who Robbie Williams is. Nights that were spent partying are now devoted to playing Uno, and Williams' moods oscillate between being depressed at the world fame traps him in, to loving what he does.
But as good as it is, you still have to wonder if any of this is the real Williams or even if there is one. His concerts are full of apparent genuine moments – that get repeated night after night. This is a man who takes "let me entertain you" seriously. Nobody Someday could be a glimpse behind the facade or just revealing another facade.
1/01/04 Shirty Robbie not so Valiant -The Sun
DEAR oh dear, what do we have here?
Die-hard Port Vale fan ROBBIE WILLIAMS wearing a Chelsea shirt.
The singer was snapped out and about in Los Angeles with best pal JONATHAN WILKES.
Robbie took a bit of flak from locals in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent last year when he splashed out on a box at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground.
The singer will pay £1million a year for a ten-year lease in the lavish suite.
He quickly denied he had switched allegiances from Vale – known as the Valiants – saying the box was a gift for his management company.
But this latest picture is likely to get Rob into more trouble from fans of Second Division Port Vale, which is currently struggling with cash problems.
I can’t work out what Robbie’s playing at.
Being a Liverpool fan, I couldn’t imagine wearing an Everton shirt. I demand an explanation, Rob.
