Pop: Sleeve Notes

Following BBC Radio's decision to promote more live music festivals in 1999, Capital Radio has announced that they'll be doing a Party in the Park Roadshow next summer. Based on this year's Hyde Park event that pulled in 100,000 punters to see the likes of Boyzone, Natalie Imbruglia and the Mavericks, there will be four free outdoor concerts. The first will be in Birmingham on 5 June with the others organised for Southampton (13 June), Brighton (27 June) and finishing in Cardiff (7 August). All of these shows will be free.

Another London bash is scheduled for early July; as it will once again raise money for The Prince's Trust, this will have an admission price. To date no artists have been confirmed but expect some names from the charts.

Meanwhile the Glastonbury publicity machine keeps rolling, with speculation that this year's headliners could include the Rolling Stones, Metallica and REM. Festival organiser Michael Eavis has said that Glastonbury 2000 will be his last festival - but it looks like there will be no shortage of people to take his place. Glastonbury is now big business and the excellent NME website (nme.com) has been asking readers if the festival should continue without Eavis at the helm. Opinion is split, with 55 per cent saying it should go ahead as "it'll probably be less muddy", while 45 per cent think that "without the slaphead with a dodgy beard, the spirit of the festival will disappear".

TP