No fight for 'Phonics

No battle for xmas no 1 with Calzaghe

11 November 2008 - According to the tabloids yesterday (10 November) Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe have enlisted Oasis and Stereophonics to battle it out for a Christmas No 1 fight.

They claimed Calzaghe had called on the Stereophonics to help him record the track and that Mancunian Ricky Hatton had called on Oasis to help him claim the top spot.

However, speaking ahead of yesterday's Mencap Little Noise Sessions in London, the Stereophonics have denied any involvement.

"My mother told me about that," said frontman Kelly, "she phoned me up and she said it's in the paper... I know Joe but I haven't seen him for a few years.

We used to play charity football matches together but I don't know where that story's come from."

Bassist Richard had a theory as to where the story could have come from: "We were going to go over to New York and play a gig for all Calzaghe's fans in Madison Square Gardens or somewhere like that...

It didn't come together, so maybe somebody put two and two together and came back with sixteen."

It's a celebration, it's a party - Kelly Jones, Stereophonics

'Greatest hits' tour

The band released their greatest hits album, A Decade In The Sun, this week and they head out on a UK tour in December.

It seems that fans will be treated to a 'greatest hits' tour according to Kelly: "We've never ever played a set list with like twenty five singles in a row before. You always try to do stuff from the albums or B sides. We are literally going to try and do that kind of hit-mungous night.

"I am quite curious to see what it does to the crowd," he continued, "because when you do the big favourite ones people have a great time so to do a whole evening of that, it's gonna be great."

The band reckon it's the right time for them to release a greatest hits album as they've been around long enough, as Kelly explains: "I think greatest hits albums have a stigma attached to them, a lot of bands put them out after having two albums thinking they have loads of hits.

For us this is something that we are completely part of, we have been asked about five or six times over the years to do it and it never felt like the right time. But ten years down the line, it does feel like a good time."
 
New material

And he is quick to reassure fans that this is by no means a swansong for the band: "The two new songs on it are an indication that we are still doing new stuff. It's not just like closing the chapter. To us it's a celebration, it's a party, we are very proud of what we have done."

The Welsh rockers played the new songs last night, You're My Star and It Means Nothing. Kelly says they were asked to record some new material for the greatest hits album and went a bit overboard: "We wanted to show we are still doing new stuff, the last album only came out about a year ago anyway. We went into the studio to write two or three and ended up writing eight or nine.

We are gonna continue recording in March for a new album to come out next year. It's going good, the writing, I'm very pleased with it."

Stereophonics tour dates:

28 Nov - Colston Hall Bristol
2 Dec - SECC Glasgow
3 Dec - SECC Glasgow
4 Dec - AECC Aberdeen
6 Dec - International Arena Cardiff
7 Dec - International Arena Cardiff
9 Dec - Echo Arena Liverpool
10 Dec - MEN Arena Manchester
12 Dec - Metro Radio Arena Newcastle
13 Dec - Trent Arena Nottingham
15 Dec - NIA Birmingham
16 Dec - Centre Brighton
17 Dec - International Centre Bournemouth
19 Dec - Arena Sheffield
20 Dec - O2 Arena London



Ruth Barnes