http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html 60 Classic Rock music news and commentary MFAC 2004-2005 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:06:38 -0700 Super Simple RSS editor*AT*rocknrollzone*DOT*com http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Singer Doug Fieger who sang vocals and played rhythm guitar in the late-seventies band The Knack has passed away at age 57. His family had announced his death as resulting from complications of lung cancer. He died at his home in Woodland Hills Calif. Over the years, The Knack had come to symbolize rock 'n' roll's dreaded yet respectably iconic one-hit-wonder status. Their wonderfully high-energy single My Sharona from the album Get The Knack shot rapidly up to number one on the charts during the summer of 1979, where it remained for six weeks. Unfortunately, that kind of success eluded the band's follow-up attempts. Their next release, Good Girls Don't taken from the same album, narrowly missed making it into the top ten. Before Fieger's passing, the band had already lost a founding member. Drummer Bruce Gary had died in 2006. (February 16, 2010) Tuesday,February 16,2010 21:06 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html John Mellencamp's son Spek wants his dad to quit smoking - so he made a little deal with his father. It's as simple as this: Spek has started up a dedicated "my dad John Mellencamp will quit smoking" Facebook page and John has agreed that once 1,000,000 have visited the page, he will quit smoking. I might be reading more into this than I should, but considering that "dad" didn't insist on some form of time limit, he just may be content to see this thing drag on as long as possible. (December 6, 2009) Sunday,December 06,2009 17:20 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html The recent on-stage fall of Aerosmith front man Stephen Tyler has resulted in the postponement and possible cancellation of the next show on their current tour, with some doubt being cast over succeeding shows proceeding as originally scheduled. Initial reports on the accidental fall during an August 5 show in Sturgis, South Dakota, held that Tyler's injuries were sufficiently minor that the tour's forthcoming schedule would not be affected. Unfortunately, the band's management has since informed promoters that today's August 7 stop in Winnipeg Manitoba would have to be postponed in light of a more thorough medical assessment of Tyler's condition. The 61 year old singer had been performing (rather ironically we think) Love In An Elevator to entertain the crowd during a sound system outage when he lost his footing and tumbled quasi-head-first downwards off a narrow cat-walk appendage to the main stage. The incident brought the show to a halt. Tyler, who has already undergone surgery on his foot and knee, had sustained visible head, neck and shoulder injuries. He was reportedly feeling some pain afterwards but remained in good spirits while being airlifted to hospital. Update: Aerosmith has announced that due to the extent of Tyler's injuries, the remainder of the band's summer tour has been postponed. The latest information is posted on the band's website (www.aeroforceone.com). Friday,August 07,2009 12:44 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Musician David Byrne, has some harsh words for U2 and it's lead singer Bono. The former Talking Heads vocalist is crying foul over the lavish size and scale of the legendary Irish band's current tour in light of Bono's high-profile urging for leaders of well-off nations to increase their financial stake in the war against third-world poverty. Byrne has posted on his website: "Those stadium shows may possibly be the most extravagant and expensive (production-wise) ever: $40 million to build the stage and, having done the math, we estimate 200 semi trucks crisscrossing Europe for the duration. "It could be professional envy speaking here, but it sure looks like, well, overkill, and just a wee bit out of balance given all the starving people in Africa and all." U2 had previously faced similar criticism over plans to corporately relocate outside of Ireland for the purpose of paying less in taxes. (August 2, 2009) Sunday,August 02,2009 13:37 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Procol Harum keybordist Matthew Fisher has been awarded a portion of the royalties the band has been receiving from the classic 1967 song A Whiter Shade of Pale. Although he had both composed and played the song's distinctive organ riff, Fisher's claims for a share of royalty payments have been cast in doubt by arguments from fellow band members Gary Brooker and Keith Reid that Fisher had signed away all his rights to the original recording. The award was part of a ruling handed down by the U.K's highest court which made references to how the riff contributed to the song's success and memorable attributes. (August 2, 2009) Sunday,August 02,2009 13:34 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Former Beatles manager and president of ABKCO Records Allen Klein has passed away at the age of 77. Although Klein was best known for his work with the Fab Four, he had also worked with the Rolling Stones and several other "British Invasion" artists. Klein's tenacious business instincts and dogged determination to secure the best deal possible for his clients set him apart from other pop music managers of the 1960's. He was particularly adept at negotiating music royalty deals with record labels. His tenacity often led to disagreement and strife within the bands he represented. Of the four Beatles members, only John Lennon fully supported the direction in which Klein was taking the band with Paul McCartney being starkly opposed - a situation that many to this day feel contributed to the group's eventual breakup. Contrary to his tough reputation, the side-burned Klein proved unsuccessful in securing The Beatles' ownership of their early song catalog. His death followed a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. He is survived by his girlfriend, a former wife and children. (July 5, 2009) Sunday,July 05,2009 18:01 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Phil Spector has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The legendary record producer remained expressionless and stared straight ahead as Los Angeles Superior court Larry Fidler handed down a term of 15 years to life for second degree murder with an additional four years for use of a gun in personal circumstances. Spector was also slapped with an order to pay various fees including $16,811 in expenses for Clarkson's funeral. Spector's attorney Doron Weinberg said there will be an appeal based on prosecution testimony the defense claims was admitted in error at the previous trial. Spector was led away to custody immediately after the court session concluded. (May 31, 2009) Sunday,May 31,2009 20:57 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Donald Evans has died of cancer. The 48 year old had been working, mostly on tour, with the band until being diagnosed with a relatively severe form of cancer in 2008. Evans was originally hired in 2001 following the death of former bassist Leon Wilkeson who had died in his sleep in a Florida hotel room. The band had recently suffered the death of it's original keyboardist Billy Powell last January. Evans, who was fondly dubbed "Ean" by the band, had died at his home in Columbus Miss. and is survived by his wife Eva and two daughters. Lynyrd Skynyrd has posted a message of condolence on their web site. (May 9, 2009) Saturday,May 09,2009 12:53 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html A second trial by jury in Los Angeles Superior court has found music producer Phil Spector guilty of murder in the 2003 shooting death of former actress Lana Clarkson. The shooting had taken place at Spector's large castle-like home and had originally resulted in a deadlocked 2007 murder trial. On the night of the shooting, Spector had earlier visited LA's House Of Blues night club. There he met Clarkson, who worked at the club as a hostess. She accepted Spector's invitation to visit him at his home for a late drink. After the club had closed, Spector's chauffeur drove Clarkson to Spector's home in suburban Alhambra. During the trial the chauffeur, testifying as a key prosecution witness, recalled that roughly three hours after Clarkson had entered the home, he heard a gunshot followed by Spector exiting with a gun in his hand, saying "I think I just killed somebody." The former actress was found dead in the home's foyer with a gunshot wound to her head. Spector's defence challenged the veracity of the chauffeur's recollections, arguing that Clarkson's wounds appeared to be self-inflicted, a contention they claimed was supported by multiple points of forensic police evidence. According to the prosecution, Spector had a well established past history of threatening people with guns during arguments. With five women testifying to that effect with different stories but eerily similar experiences, a common thread may have emerged that was sufficient to convince the jury of the 69 year old Phil Spector's guilt. (April 13, 2009) Saturday,April 18,2009 21:12 http://www.rocknrollzone.com/plugged.html Buffalo Springfield's drummer Dewey Martin passed away at the age of 68 on January 31 at his home in Van Nuys California. Martin, whose full birth name was Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff was a native of Canada and is reported to have died of natural causes. Upon honing his skills after playing drums as a pastime throughout his teens, Martin later moved stateside and played on tour with The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline. He had reportedly supplied Stephen Stills with some LSD, the effects of which were rumored to have had an influential role in penning the legendary 1967 song "For What It's Worth." Dewey had performed backing vocal on the song. When 'Springfield broke up a year later, Martin had attempted to form a new line-up under the name New Buffalo Springfield, but was brought to a halt by cascading legal problems. Other Springfield alumni were Neil Young, Richie Furay and Bruce Palmer, all of whom found considerable success and status in the years ahead. (February 13, 2009) Saturday,April 18,2009 21:12