From Radio 1's Newsbeat

10 June 2005

There's a bit of a row brewing about Live 8.

Damon Albarn's fuming after he was included in the line up for the Live 8 Murrayfield gig, when he hadn't agreed to play.

He's also criticised the line-up, and says bands and record companies should pay for their artists to play because they'll gain so much exposure.

He says he was shocked when he heard he was playing:

"I haven't even been asked, so yes that was a surprise to me, I have to say."

"I don't want to take part in an event that is so exclusive."

"More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society, so why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?"

"I don't for one second question their integrity, I feel it's just a shame that this whole thing doesn't involve Africans more, and doesn't show them more respect."

However, Bob Geldof has answered back saying that a lot of the bands have had to pull out all the stops just to be there, and says it's unfair criticism. He denied Damon had been put on the line up.

He says he respects Damon, who came to make tea when they recorded Band Aid 20, but doesn't agree with his view on the line up:

"Simply because you have black skin, or orange skin, or white skin, or lime green skin does not give you a passport on to the Live 8 stage, it just can't."

"The only thing that can do that is whether you sell records across the globe, and therefore the globe will watch."

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