PRIMAL SCREAM bassist MANI has launched a bitter attack against fellow rocker PETER HOOK after declaring their supergroup FREEBASS have split - days before the release of their latest album.   READ MORE...

  PRIMAL SCREAM bassist MANI has launched a bitter attack against fellow rocker PETER HOOK after declaring their supergroup FREEBASS have split - days before the release of their latest album.
  The pair teamed up with The Smiths' Andy Rourke and former Haven singer Gary Briggs in 2005 to form the band, based in their native Manchester, England, but their future was thrown into doubt last month (Aug10) when Rourke walked out of the group.
  Now the rockers have confirmed Freebass is no more.
  A statement released to NME.com on Thursday (09Sep10) reads, "It is with great sadness that just prior to the long-awaited album release of It's A Beautiful Life we have to announce that the much anticipated Mancunian union of bassists, Freebass, is no longer a functioning group.
  "Recent events have made Freebass entirely unviable as a band and, with this in mind, it has been decided that the project should be shelved, rather than placed on hiatus while members pursue their other interests."
  The acrimonious break-up has prompted Mani to take aim at Hook, accusing him of exploiting his link to tragic Joy Division bandmate Ian Curtis to boost his earnings after recently performing on the 30th anniversary of his suicide.
  In a series of angry rants on Twitter.com, Mani writes, "Three things visible from space, Great Wall of China, Peter Hook's wallet stuffed with Ian Curtis' blood money, (British soccer team) Man City's empty trophy cabinet!
  "I've actually got an ongoing career, so I don't feel the need to exploit my past glories. I exist in the here and the now."
  And he's lambasted the group's final album, It's A Beautiful Life - insisting it "belongs... in the f**king bargain bin before it's even released".
  Mani is set to return to the studio with Primal Scream this week (ends10Sep10) and he can't wait: "I'm getting back with the 'real' players tomorrow, thank f**k. Can't be doing with talentless nostalgia f**kwit w**res."
  It's A Beautiful Life is still scheduled to hit music retailers on 20 September (10). (MT/WNWCNM&WNTWT/JMA) HIDE STORY

Former AMERICAN IDOL star CRYSTAL BOWERSOX has declined to take legal action against state officials in her native Ohio after learning her personal records had been improperly accessed.   READ MORE...

  Former AMERICAN IDOL star CRYSTAL BOWERSOX has declined to take legal action against state officials in her native Ohio after learning her personal records had been improperly accessed.
  The singer found herself at the centre of controversy this week (begs06Sep10) after reporters at The Columbus Dispatch discovered that several employees at the State Highway Patrol had looked into Bowersox's background information in May (10).
  Representatives for the Ohio Department of Public Safety issued an apology letter to Bowersox on 1 July (10), but the star's father only recently broke the news to her when she returned home to Toledo.
  Bowersox admits she is "disgusted" by the scandal but is not planning to sue those responsible.
  Two of the employees in question have since lost their jobs as a result of their snooping. (MT/WNWA/JMA) HIDE STORY