“Seven Ages of Rock,” an ambitious week-long documentary that kicks off tonight, delivers a fast-paced, entertaining ride through rock music from 1965 to the present. So it’s very tempting to just sit back and enjoy it, except that’s hard when it’s all built on a lie.

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Ike Turner, who became more famous for abusing drugs and beating up his wife Tina than for helping create rock ‘n’ roll, died Wednesday morning at his suburban San Diego home. He was 76.

A free spirit who was also a shrewd businessman, Turner lived the kind of life that rap wanna-bes can only write about.

He was married at least four times - some reports say up to a dozen - and he had at least four children, a number he never precisely clarified.

He missed his own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 because he was in prison on drug charges.

In New York in 1986 to play a comeback gig at the old Lone Star Cafe, he was asked how much cocaine he used.

"No more than the average executive," he replied.

He was a no-show on stage at the Lone Star that night.

His image in later years was largely shaped by Lawrence Fishbourne’s menacing portrayal of his character in the film adaptation of Tina’s autobiography, "What’s Love Got To Do With It."

Tina charged he beat her repeatedly and that she finally escaped in 1976 when she feared for her life.

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Not really, but it should be.

Meat Loaf halts gig to say: I quit

Meat Loaf, the rock singer known for his larynx-trembling marathon performances, was less than halfway through his concert at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne. The opening bars of Paradise by the Dashboard Light were sounding when he came to an abrupt halt. “I can no longer continue,” he said. “This is the last show I may ever do in my life.”

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You know you’re doing too many drugs when Keith Richards gets upset over it.

Rolling Stone Ron Wood admits he was freebasing so much cocaine at one point that Richards "had turned into Mr. Drug Enforcement Administration."

"Everybody was angry with me around this time, and after a row with Keith one day, he stormed off to get his gun," Wood writes in his new memoir "Ronnie" (St. Martin’s Press). "He returned with his derringer, pointed it at me and yelled ‘You f—ing b—!’ I calmly pulled out my .44 Magnum. And that was the last time Keith drew his gun on me … until the next time."

The two guitarists fought again in a hotel room while on tour, Wood adds. "He barged in, broke the glass bowl of the pipe, and came straight at my face. … He smashed a bottle and cut me with it. I stormed out and went to find Mick [Jagger] and Charlie [Watts ], who were working on a song in a room along the corridor. While I stood there bleeding all over the carpet, Mick looked up and asked: Have you got any ideas for the middle eight?’"

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I think Keith was on too many drugs. It effected his judgment so he thought doing drugs was ok for him, but bad for other people. Maybe he just wanted all the drugs for himself?

It’s been a long time, but Led Zeppelin, one of the last superstar acts to refrain from selling its music online, is finally offering its catalog to digital-music fans.

The shift by Led Zeppelin, whose reunion concert in London next month has already incited a frenzy for tickets, highlights the clout of digital sales in the music market as mass merchants reduce the shelf space devoted to compact discs. Under a series of new agreements expected to be announced today, the band will make its songs available first as ringtones and similar mobile features starting this week in an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless. Digital downloads of songs from the band’s eight studio albums and other recordings are expected to be available through Verizon and digital-music services, including iTunes, on Nov. 13.

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A month after she canceled all U.S. appearances, troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse has agreed to perform at the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards in New York next month. The British diva pulled out of MTV’s Video Music Awards, which were held in Las Vegas on Sept. 9. Her record label, Universal Republic Records, had scrapped all U.S. performances after reports of a drug overdose - and after she shunned rehab. The fourth annual mtvU Woodie Awards - aimed at a college audience - will be presented Nov. 8 at the Roseland Ballroom. Winehouse, best known for her hit "Rehab," is nominated for Woodie of the Year.

Source: The NY Daily News

She doesn’t give me a "woodie", but I think she is a great singer. Hopefully she won’t overdose before she hits 30. (She’s 24 now.) That’s sooo late 1960’s early ’70’s.

In a crucial legal victory for record labels and other copyright owners, a federal jury yesterday found a Minnesota woman liable for copyright infringement for sharing music online and imposed a penalty of $222,000 in damages.

The verdict against Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, Minn., brought an end to the first jury trial in the music industry’s protracted effort to rein in piracy with lawsuits against individual computer users. Since 2003, record labels have brought legal action against about 30,000 people, accusing them of trafficking in copyrighted songs.

Many of the people sued in such cases settle out of court for, on average, about $4,000, according to the industry’s trade association. Ms. Thomas chose to face trial instead, saying that she did not share files on the Kazaa network as the labels contended. She and her lawyer declined to comment after leaving the courthouse.

The jury verdict, which called for $9,250 in damages for each of the 24 songs involved in the trial, came after brief deliberations.

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Rocker John Mellencamp has written a new song in support of six black youths accused of attacking a white school friend. A host of stars have spoken out in support of the Jena, Louisiana six - rapper Mos Def led a rally last month to promote their plight.

Now Mellencamp has dedicated a track on his new album to the accused.

The lyrics to Jena include: "An all white jury hides the executioner’s face / Oh oh oh Jena / Oh oh oh Jena / Take your nooses down / So what becomes of boys that cannot think straight / Particularly those with paper bag skin / Yes sir, no sir wipe that smile off your face / We’ve got our rules here and you’ve got to fit in."

Source

John Mellencamp Official Website

Bands need to exploit every form of communication short of smoke signals to sell their music these days. But Bang Camaro may be the first one to launch a career entirely through a video game.

The second installment of the phenomenally popular game "Guitar Hero" squeezed just one unknown band into its playlist of heavy metal mainstays - Bang Camaro, with their song "Push Push (Lady Lightning)." That exposure alone allowed the band to sell out shows around the country and rack up sales on iTunes. Tonight, Camaro headlines Bowery Ballroom, following a sellout gig a few months ago at Mercury Lounge. "We have no promotion behind us, no major distribution and no big label," says band co-founder Bryn Bennett. "It’s all the game."

The group got its break as much from its locale as its music. It’s based in Boston, home to Harmonix, the company behind "Guitar Hero." Executives at the company saw the group at local clubs and thought it had the perfect crotch-grabbing, fist-in-the-air strut for their rip-roaring game.

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Bang Camaro Official Website

My friend Miguel sent me the coolest site to check out. If you dig music and like to listen to the lyrics, or if you just like music trivia, you will love this site. It explains what songs are about and provides background information and trivia.

Miguel and I both love the song Hotel California by The Eagles, so I checked out that one.

Songfacts:
This is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America.

Don Henley: "We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles.

This won the 1977 Grammy for Record Of The Year. The band did not show up to accept the award, as Don Henley did not believe in contests.

Don Felder got the ball rolling on this. He had the chord progressions and took it to Don Henley and Glen Frey. They put the words down, then Joe Walsh wrote all the guitar parts and arranged them for everyone. (thanks, Les - Dannevirke, New Zealand)

"Colitas," in the line "Warm smell of colitas," is often interpreted as a flower or a sexual reference. It is a Spanish word translated to Henley by The Eagles Mexican-American road manager meaning "Little Buds," and is a reference to marijuana.

The hotel on the album cover is the Beverly Hills Hotel, known as the Pink Palace. It is often frequented by Hollywood stars. The photo was taken by photographers David Alexander and John Kosh, who sat in a cherry-picker about 60 feet above Sunset Boulevard to get the shot of the hotel at sunset from above the trees. The rush-hour traffic made it a harrowing experience.

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