Did You Know: Rick Allen
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Did you know that Rick Allen, the one handed drummer of seminary rock legends Def Leppard, enjoyed even more success after losing his arm in an auto accident? After the crash, Rick and the band were preparing their fourth studio album entitled ‘Hysteria’, and guess what: it matched the sales of its predecessor ‘Pyromania’ in even shorter time, and was considered by many to be an even greater album!
Ironically, Rick lost his arm after he invested in a sports car with part of his substantial earnings from ‘Hysteria’. So I guess the crash gave him a hand (haha) at attaining even bigger things in life.
Did You Know: Prince
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Did you know that Prince, the pint-sized musician, was the first artiste to come up with a record entitled The Black Album? It wasn’t Metallica!
In 1986, he went to work on the aforementioned album, but never released it. It was in the Warner Bros soon-come list, but was withdrawn at the very last minute. Bootleg tapes made their way to the music-minded masses and what they heard was a fine musical endeavour.
The man himself came up with an explanation on why the album’s release never saw the light of day. Here is one paragraph from said statement - give yourself a pat on the back if you can decipher its meaning:
‘Spooky Electric must die. Die in the hearts of all who want to love. Die in the hearts of men who want change. Die in the bodies of women who want babies that will grow up with a New Power Soul Love Life Lovesexy - the feeling u get when u fall in love, not with a girl or a boy but with the heavens above. Lovesexy - endorphin. Camille figured out what 2 feel. Glam Slam Escape - the Sexuality Real.’
Did You Know: Jimmy Page
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Did you know that Jimmy Page - guitarist of Led Zeppelin - used to dabble in Satanism? From his obsession of the maniac Aleister Crowley - Page even bought Crowley’s temple/mansion in Scotland named Boleskine House - came the stories of his alleged dabbling in the dark arts that, due to Page’s lack of understanding and knowledge of the subject, put a curse on the other members of the band.
The first incident was a crash involving vocalist Robert Plant, his wife Maureen and their children. Everyone in the car suffered multiple bone fractures - Plant was even advised not to walk, or to even attempt walking, for 6 months.
One of the last - and most heart wrenching incident was the death of Robert Plant’s 5-year old son, who died of a freak respiratory difficulty in 1977. Somehow everyone - including those inside the Led Zeppelin camp - just had a gut feeling that it was Page’s dangerous dance with the devil that caused these calamities.
Did You Know: Paul McCartney
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Did you know that Paul McCartney of The Beatles and solo fame was once rumoured to be dead in 1966? The so-called cause of death was a road accident, and it all started with a crash that occurred around the time of the rumours. One of the two passengers who were fatally injured had dark hair and was disfigured beyond all recognition. Rest assured, it spun the rumour mill even faster and it spread like wildfire.
People never did see Paul for months, and The Beatles made the situation even worse by organizing a Paul McCarney look-alike contest. More “facts” and “evidence” popped up throughout the year, but all the madness was quelled when a very healthy Paul McCartney was seen alive and well.
Metallica: Commercial Success or Commercial Failure?
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
While we know that Metallica officially suck nowadays - I’ve been harping on this topic for a long time now - I’d like to describe the direct relation between commercial success and musical failure: the curse that befell one of the brightest heavy metal prospects the world has ever seen.
So, what really happened to Metallica? Well, to keep it short and simple: they let the success get to them. There are two distinct ways a band can handle success: they either let it inspire and motive them to improve the quality of their music, or it distracts them and turns them into complacent has-beens. Metallica, sadly, took in the luxuries and perks of success and threw away the drive and musical creativity that made them a worldwide phenomenon in the first place.
There are bands who share Metallica’s common plagues: of being relative unknowns at first and enduring hardships - and putting in an immense amount of hard work - to attain a level of success that is admirable. Strangely, most of these bands have gotten better as they’ve grown: American metal stalwarts Nile, Nevermore, Iced Earth and German thrash legends Kreator, Sodom and Destruction come to mind.
Then why did Metallica decline in their musical focus over the years and ended up being worn out shadows of their former self?
They just couldn’t handle the temptation that money and fame brings. Complacency is the keyword here - they just got more and more comfortable with their wealthy and lofty heights that they totally rejected the idea of pushing the envelope of their musical edge and vision (something they have done, with amazing results, during the course of Kill ‘Em All to The Black Album).
For those who want to revisit the glorious years of Metallica, do check out the Cliff ‘Em All DVD, and dust off your Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets albums and give them a well deserved spin on the stereo. Now that’s the real Metallica.
Phil Spector: Legendary Lunatic
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Phil Spector is a name that would incur some raised eyebrows among fans of oldie hits and pop hits of yesteryear, but has recently been launched into hype-fueled media frenzy for the worst possible reason: murder.
He is the prime suspect of the murder of a not-so-famous actress (since she’s unheard of, there’s no reason why I should mention her name here - but for those who care, there’s always Google) and while he’s getting grilled by the cops as we speak, I’d like to pinpoint some of the low points of Spector’s mysterious life:-
It was somewhere in the late 60’s when he acquired a great deal of success by producing hits for The Righteous Brothers and The Ronettes, among others, when Spector’s ego reached an all-time high and he refused to go through the necessary steps to get his new hits some decent airplay. Believing that his songs were beyond the greatness of anything else ever recorded, he even went as far as making negative statements on radio programmers on national television. Needless to say, the music industry boycotted him and Spector was left to ponder on the biggest mistake of his career thus far.
He completely disappeared for two whole years (some say he fled into the desert) sometime after that but when he returned, numerous rumours started spreading about him hiring the services of bodyguards to follow him around everywhere he went. Apparently, four disgraced music fans followed him into the toilet at a show once and after having bundled him into a cubicle proceeded to piss all over him. Spector was outrageously afraid of physical contact with others - his short stature contributed a lot to this phobia of his.
Then came the time where he used to walk around in a trench coat, with his hair kept at extreme lengths (way before the Beatles revolution began worldwide). He even survived a high speed crash that left him banged up and burnt.
A more serious rumour has it that he locked singer Leonard Cohen in his studio and threatening him with a gun until his album ‘Death Of A Ladies Man’ was completed. He pulled the exact same stunt on his then-wife Veronica as well - and refusing her to leave their Hollywood mansion where they lived together - and also pulled the gun on blind crooner Stevie Wonder once too.
It’s no surprise that this nutcase has finally - and officially - been linked to a murder charge.
Spear Britney
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Witty title, isn’t it? I saw that smart phrase on a sticker on someone’s guitar. Anyway, Britney needs a dose of reality really bad - or a spear thrust into her back.
After all the hoo-hah about her rehab nonsense and all the rollercoaster weight dramatics, she finally saw a bit of hope and posted a message to all her fans on her official site. The best part is, the message sat beside a shot of her topless - with her tits covered. Now, if only the cameraman had a better angle…
This is a rant, I know. After years of being forced at gunpoint to listen to her whiny songs…now I have to read about her life? How sad is that? Hell, my life could be a better drama then hers. It’s just sickening to read and hear about her like she’s the most important person on the planet.
Boo hoo.
Get a life, you soulless, manufactured piece of candy.
Someone who gets married in a drunken frenzy shouldn’t be a mother of two. Most of all, someone as irresponsible as her should not be a pop icon or a role model to thousands of teenage girls. It’s just WRONG.
It was fun seeing you prance around in your latex outfits, Britney…but life moves on. At least mine is - you’re still stuck in your exaggerated, fake plastic world.
Keith Moon: The Craziest Musician Of All Time
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
‘The production of our records has nothing to do with sound. It’s got to do with trying to keep Keith Moon on his fucking drum stool.’
Pete Townshend of The Who, 1970.
Keith Moon was a drummer of epic proportions - and more than just musically. He was the drummer of the legendary rock band The Who, who apparently passed his audition for the band in 1962 - at the tender age of only 15 - by totally destroying his drum kit. Right after that, he was on a 16-year spree of utter madness and mayhem.
These are some of his most outrageous brushes with reality.
Moon awoke one night to an unshakable hunger, and had the craving for chicken. Sadly for him, the kitchens of the hotel were closed hours before he decided to feast in the dark of night - that’s when he decided to take matters into his own hands. Moon raided the hotel kitchen fridges, and took several birds back into his hotel room. After stuffing himself, he decides to play football with the remainder of the poultry and calmly places them back in the fridges he raided just minutes ago. The next morning he calmly placed a bunch of bank notes on the reception desk for the birds he preyed on the night before.
Moon never did learn to drive, so he would sit on the front passenger seat and would toy with the car’s functions - just for fun. He’s been known to throw the car into first gear - when the vehicle is zooming through traffic at 190km/h. Moon’s dislike for automobiles didn’t end there. Once he drove his Rolls into an ornamental pond outside his home - in a bizarre case of attempted suicide.
He also once arrived in style at a West End club in London, driven there by his assistants. The problem was that he was on the bonnet of the car - completely naked.
Moon once jumped off a high windowsill directly into the sea - just to give his buds a little scare. Even though he survived that and countless other potentially lethal stunts, Moon succumbed in September 1978, aged 31. He overdosed himself on anti-alcoholism tablets - he took 32 of the tablets one night, more than twice the recognized lethal dosage.
The band was never the same after he passed - The Who did hire another drummer and record several more albums but they slowly slipped into oblivion from the day their greatest band member decided to pull the stunt of his life.
American Idol: Jordin Sparks
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
So the results are out - Jordin, the talented and rather attractive singer with an unmistakable soulful voice finished first ahead of the entertainer Blake - who could sometimes be very, very annoying with his beatbox-enhanced takes on classic and contemporary numbers.
Before Jordin and Blake ended up on one of the most watched showdowns in television history, viewers discarded the “resident pro” Melinda - who obviously wasn’t too popular because of her average looks - and before that they quickly made LaKisha a thing of the past.
Why?
Looks, of course.
The viewers decide who stays and who goes home, right? Then American Idol is a nationwide popularity contest of sorts - physical features make a lot of difference. Previous winners might have been of varying stature, but this season - because the talents were equal in all of the female contestants who reached the semifinal stage - it had to come down to looks…right?
I’m not denying Jordin’s talent, but boy does she know how to dress up! Week after week, she has appeared stunning on stage and has the voice of an angel to back her up. Then why am I rambling about this?
I’m going on and on about this because I’m sick of viewers - who would possibly just freeze in horror in front of the thousands if they were given the opportunity to sing on stage - who make their choices on the appearance of a contestant. It’s truly a wonder how Ruben, Fantasia and Taylor Hicks made it, but I also know that they are not selling that well now. Pretty girl Carrie Underwood has sold about 6 million copies of her album so far, and Chris Daughtry’s album sales are quite decent.
So, let’s look forward to another season of Popular Idol - I’m waiting to catch some of the more outrageous participants do their thing in the qualifying sessions!
Custom Telecaster Electric Guitar Body
June 11, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Where do you go to buy a custom electric guitar body? Well you could probably start at www.GuitarMill.com
GuitarMill.com offers custom Telecaster and Strat guitar bodies, made from your choice of Swamp Ash, Hard Ash, Mahogany, Alder or Pine. You can get body blanks (slab of wood), raw guitar bodies, or any level of finished / painted guitar body. You can also order complete custom made Telecaster / Strat style guitars, although I’m not too sure if you’ll get a Fender logo on the headstock 
Here are the services they offer:
- Custom Guitar Building
- Partial or full assembly of bodies
- Special Pricing for Bulk Orders
- Aging / Relicing
- General Guitar Maintenance Work
- Full Finishing / Re finishing
- Repairs / Restoration
- Bodies cut using your wood
See: www.GuitarMill.com
