Odds & Ends: Jack White, Bono, The Black Keys & One Direction

“I would probably say absolutely not,” White told NME.com. “Absolutely no chance. I couldn’t see any reason to ever do that. I’m not the kind of person that would retire from baseball and come out of retirement the next year. I mean, if we went to all the trouble of telling people we’re done, we meant it you know?

“If we were forced to change our mind about that, I can only imagine the reason being if we went bankrupt or really needed the cash, which would be a really sad thing. I would probably be issuing an apology along with the announcement of the show dates.”

He and Meg White announced the duo were calling it quits in early 2011 after forming in 1997 and releasing six studio albums.

Bono? Oh No

A recent video posted online shows Bono being asked the hard questions about U2’s tax policies by Jason Mattera, conservative activist/writer and editor at large for Human Events.

The interview took place Feb. 8 outside a West Los Angeles event honoring Jimmy Iovine, which featured Bono as one of the event’s co-chairs.

After asking for an autograph from a man who certainly looks like Bono, Mattera says, “By dodging taxes on royalties, are you raiding the poverty programs you purport to champion?” The response? Simply “No.”

Mattera tries again, saying “But you moved your shop from Ireland to Holland.” He is told, “I didn’t do it … I don’t have control over that.” Mattera asks, “How do you not have control over that? It’s your company.” The answer? “It’s not my company.”

The man wasn’t lying. It’s not his company because Mattera was actually talking to a Bono impersonator named Pavel Sfera.  

Sfera, who didn’t talk to Mattera in Bono’s trademark Irish accent, told the Washington Post that he went to the event “as a spoof.”

Mattera’s story on Bono was originally posted on Breitbart.com. The Post notes that story has since been removed from the site. Mattera’s video is no longer on his YouTube page.

“I got punked. I thought I got Bono,” Mattera told the Post. “I didn’t. I got his impersonator apparently. Hats off to him. He got me – and how! After scores of interviews with big-time politicians and celebrities, I finally got had. It was bound to happen sooner or later. On the bright side, if I’m gonna get had as good as I did, it might as well be in pursuit of one of the greatest rockers ever.”

Black Keys vs. Nickelback Take Two

The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney is dropping Nickelback’s name in interviews again.   

The January issue of Rolling Stone included a quote from the drummer/multi-instrumentalist blaming Nickelback for what’s wrong with rock ‘n’ roll today.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world, so they became OK with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be shit.”

Now Carney tells MTV News that he’s not a music snob, explaining that he’s “got a lot of friends and not one of them has a Nickelback record. I’m not a small minority.”

He added that he “didn’t mean to single them out [in RS]. It just came out. There’s much worse bands than Nickelback, maybe.”

Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach chimed in, “Good job, dude. That was the worst apology. That was terrible, man.”
   
One Direction – The TV Show?

Earlier this week Nickelodeon reportedly tweeted that One Direction would soon be starring in its own TV show.

“The rumors are true, our live-action slate does include a development project for @onedirection. Welcome to the family!” the network tweeted, according to the Press Association.

Before Nickelodeon breaks out the confetti and green slime, One Direction has something to say about the announcement. 

One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson told “In Demand” radio that a TV show is not in the works.  

“I think there must have been some misunderstanding,” according to Entertainmentwise.com. “We are doing the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, but as far as a TV show goes we haven’t sat down and had that conversation. To be honest, if it was up to me personally; I just want to focus on the music for now.”

The members of the British-Irish boy band are no strangers to TV. The five singers met and became a group after competing on “The X Factor.” One Direction placed third on the seventh season of the U.K. series in 2010. In February the group made a guest appearance on Nickelodeon’s hit show “iCarly.”

After releasing their debut studio album in Ireland and the U.K. last fall, Up All Night debuted at the top of the U.S. charts last week.