‘Jim Morrison lived life in the fast lane, blowing fans’ minds with his trippy lyrics and magnetic stage presence. So it has always seemed strange that according to official records he died in benign circumstances: from heart failure in a Paris bathtub. Now, a new book suggests the singer may have met his maker with a psychedelic bang after all.
Sam Bernett, a former Paris nightclub manager, has claimed that the Doors frontman died on 3 July 1971 in a lavatory cubicle at his club. The suspected cause of death: heroin overdose.
Although rumours of this have circulated since Morrison’s death 36 years ago, no witnesses have come forward, until now.
The author, who managed the venue in question, believes two drug dealers carried Morrison out of the club and took him to his apartment. After arriving there, Bernett claims, Morrison was thrown into a bath in an attempt to revive him.’
‘Brian May, the multimillionaire guitarist who founded the rock group Queen, has finally completed the PhD in astrophysics that he abandoned more than 30 years ago.
The 59-year-old composer of hits such as Fat Bottomed Girls and We Will Rock You turned his back on the stars for international fame with Freddie Mercury and his band. His thesis on interplanetary dust clouds lay gathering dust of its own in the attic of his home in Surrey.
May’s interest in the subject was rekindled last year when he co-authored a children’s science book with the astronomer Sir Patrick Moore. He discovered that remarkably little research had been done in the intervening 33 years.’
That friend of mine who films a lot of gigs has made a bit of a mashup. It’s kinda amusing. 🙂
‘What do you get when you get the Canberra band Tonk, a pub full of people, a video camera, and the most annoying soundtrack known to mankind? Watch and find out…’
Followup to When Gigs Go Homo.
(2.3meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘A female Muslim juror has been arrested in Britain after allegedly listening to an MP3 player under her hijab headscarf during a murder trial, police said Monday.
The woman in her early 20s was spotted by a fellow juror listening to music as she was meant to be helping try the case of a pensioner accused of bludgeoning his wife to death after 50 years of marriage.
She could now be charged with contempt of court and, if convicted, may be punished with an indefinite jail sentence and an unlimited fine.’
‘Metallica singer James Hetfield was investigated by UK airport officials who believed he was a terrorist this week, it has been claimed. The star was barred entry to Luton airport on Thursday and questioned by staff who were concerned about his appearance. Fears that Hetfield might be involved in terrorism were apparently founded on his “Taliban-like beard”, according to The Times. He was allowed to leave the airport after a brief interrogation, when he persuaded officials that he was a rock star. [..]’
‘After 14 failed attempts at joining the United Nations using media campaigns and presidential appeals, Taiwan is turning to a local goth-style rock band backed by Ozzy Osbourne in its quest for membership to the world body.
The band, named ChthoniC, will travel to at least 80 cities in four countries by the end of the year, supported in part by the Taiwan government, which is providing pro-U.N. literature and a slogan-painted truck.
The band will visit Canada, Germany, Britain and the United States.’
‘To judge by their lyrics, gangsta rappers are adept at seeing off rivals with a bullet and their women with a slap.
But America’s rappers are now trapped in a corner they don’t seem able to shoot their way out of, with either weapons or words.
Confronted with haemorrhaging sales, the most assertive popular music movement since the Sex Pistols has lost its swagger and is suffering a crisis of confidence.’
‘Pink Floyd fans who may have thought that they had bought their last copy of The Dark Side of the Moon are helping to make the landmark album a best seller again–this time at Apple’s iTunes.
The reason appears to be its availability in a new audio format–yes, again.
Thanks to generations of music fans wearing out copies of the album on LPs, 8-track tapes and cassette tapes, Dark Side has sold more 35 million copies worldwide since it was released in 1973 and has spent more than 1,550 weeks as one of Billboard’s Top 200 best-selling albums–that’s about 30 years. [..]
Now the album is climbing the charts again, thanks to the unprotected 256kbps AAC version available through Apple’s iTunes Plus. Since Apple’s DRM-free music experiment with EMI was launched in May, sales of Dark Side have gone up more than 270 percent.’
‘The Spice Girls, who burst on to the music scene with “girl power” and attitude in the 1990s, have reunited for a world tour, their Web site said on Thursday.
Spice Girls
“Hey everybody!! We’re back!! Can you believe it!!” Ginger, Sporty, Posh, Scary and Baby Spice announced on their Web site.’
This is from the Britain’s Got Talent TV show. Good job.
(12.0meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Feast your eyes on the result of weeks of work using the various remains of over a dozen cars — from 80’s BMW’s to a 1990 Toyota Tercel — it’s the glorious Turbo II Junkyard Boogaloo boombox. For those of you who want the gearhead nitty-gritty, the full “How To” is here. For those who just want to see this baby in all of its radical goodness, below you’ll find some documentation of what the Turbo II is and does …
Ninety-two pounds of plywood and car parts joined together as an homage to the homemade car-battery boomboxes used by first-generation break dancers; if you’ve watched the video above you’ve already got the general idea of the Turbo II Junkyard Boogaloo’s features. Read on and we’ll fill you in on the details [..]’
‘The singer in the Police jumps like a “petulant pansy,” the drummer is making a “complete hash,” and who knows what the guitarist is doing?
Notes from a bitter critic? Actually, it’s a disarmingly frank concert review from the aforementioned drummer of the newly reunited rock trio.
A philosophical Stewart Copeland unleashed his vitriol in a posting on his Web site on Thursday, a day after the band played its second show in Vancouver, the Canadian city where it began its first world tour in more than 20 years on Monday.
“This is unbelievably lame,” Copeland wrote of Wednesday’s show at the GM Place arena. “We are the mighty Police and we are totally at sea.” [..]
“The mighty Sting momentarily looks like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock,” Copeland reported.’
There’s something in my front pocket for you.
(2.2meg Windows media)
see it here »
A friend of mine has been filming a a whole bunch of gigs lately, and was amused when he came across this little snippet during the video editing.
Apparently, the gig took a decidedly homosexual turn at one point, and neither he nor the band noticed at the time. Quite clear in the audio of the video tho. 🙂
(513kB Flash video)
see it here »
Why can’t I get just one kiss?
see it here »
Not the end of sad desperation, it seems.
(6.5meg Flash video)
see it here »
way out in the water, see it swimming ..
(9.1meg Flash video)
see it here »
no comprende, it’s a riddle.
(9.6meg Flash video)
see it here »
The fathers who write that eternity is used to fight the sword have filled you up with the devil’s cock.
He’ll come in the name of the Lord.
see it here »
‘If you hadn’t heard, TechCrunch20, the conference which alleges to put a sense of merit back into startup conferences, has declared MC Hammer a Web2.0 “expert” and put him on the panel of judges. These judges will select amongst the bajillions of entries the rarified few who will present their wares to VC’s and industries insiders over a two day period.
Who are the other judges?
* Mark Andreeson, founder of Netscape.
* Chris Anderson, Editor-In-Chief of Wired.
* Dave Winer, grandfather of RSS, and author of one of the first blogs ever.’
Also, stop! It’s hammer time..
(10meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday.
The study tested the effect of the portable music devices on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds.
The study did not examine any portable music devices other than iPods, which are made by Apple Inc.
In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart’s pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.’
Hey, I’m the king of the world. You ought to hear my song.
You come on and measure me, I’m 20 inches long.
see it here »
