June 30, 2000 17:35

WYCLEF JEAN GETS HIPPY!

The sometime-[b]Fugee[/b] covers [b]'Wish You Were Here'[/b]...

Wyclef Jean is to cover Pink Floyd's 1975 track 'WISH YOU WERE HERE' on his forthcoming album, 'THE ECLEFTIC'.

According to www.mtv.com, the song is given hip-hop treatment and Jean plays guitar on it.

He said: "The guitar has been my hobby since I was little and 'Wish You Were Here', if you could play that, you were officially on your way to being a good guitar player as far as rock was concerned."

He also revealed the song was an important component in the soundtrack to his youth: "It was one of my favourite songs growing up, so I wanted to throw that twang into the album."

He denied that the decision to use that particular track - which relates to the band's split with guitarist Syd Barrett in 1968 - had any relation to the rumours of division within the Fugees camp, and insisted there will be another album from the band.

Jean added: "I definitely spoke to them [since finishing 'The Ecleftic'] and I don't see that there won't be another Fugees record, unless one of the members calls a press conference and goes, 'I am no longer a member of this group', and then the group is broken up."

It is not the first unlikely song that Jean has tackled on record. His 1997 solo debut album, 'Carnival' worked a take on Bee Gees 'Staying Alive' into his song 'We Trying To Stay Alive'.