Remembering the man who forever changed American history, respect…
Kev
All posts by Kev Brock
This Day In Music: 1/16/12
Musician Birthdays: Aaliyah (R&B, soul singer, actress, born in 1979)
– In 1964: The Beatles played two shows at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, the first of an 18-night engagement. This first show was attended mostly by Paris’ “top society” members (all dressed in formal evening attire). The French press had little good to say about The Beatles in the next day’s papers, but The Beatles didn’t care, because they’d just received news that their single ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ had hit No.1 in the US, selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone.
– In 1965: The Beatles played the last of a 16 night run billed as ‘Another Beatles’ Christmas Show’ that had started on Jan 1st at The Hammersmith Odeon, London.
– In 1969: Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Albert Collins all appeared at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California.
– In 1973: Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University, Philadelphia to an audience of 25 people.
– In 1977: One half of TV cop show “Starsky & Hutch” (he was blonde Hutch), David Soul went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’. Also a No.1 in the US.
– In 1978: Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious fell through a glass door at a San Francisco hotel, took a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital.
– In 1980: Paul McCartney was jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport in Japan.
– In 1984: Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Barbados for drug possession and were each fined $200 (£117).
– In 1985: David Bowie’s schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burnes killed himself after laying down on the railway lines at Coulsdon South station, London. He was killed instantly by a passing train. He was 47.
– In 1987: TV presenter Jools Holland was suspended from Channel 4’s UK music show The Tube for 6 weeks, after using the phrase ‘groovy fuckers’ during a live trailer broadcast in children’s hour.
– In 1988: 24 years after The Beatles first topped the chart, George Harrison went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Got My Mind Set On You’.
– In 1988: George Michael went to No.1 on the US album charts with his debut solo album ‘Faith’. It went on to sell over 8 million copies.
– In 1988: Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people in Rio De Janeiro. The largest audience ever for a single artist.
– In 1989: Michael Jackson played the first of five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. These were the last shows on the singers Bad World Tour. Jackson donated more than $1m of the final concert’s takings to an organisation fighting child cruelty.
– In 1990: Ike Turner was convicted of driving under the influence of cocaine and being under the influence of cocaine and sentenced to a four year prison sentence in California.
– In 1992: Eric Clapton recorded his unplugged session for MTV. The set which included his current hit single ‘Tears in Heaven’ and a reworked acoustic version of ‘Layla’, earned six Grammy Awards for the album including Record of the Year.
– In 1996: Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker’s plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane; neither singer was injured in the incident.
– In 2000: It was reported that Mick Jagger had lost the chance of a knighthood because of his errant ways. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had second thoughts about the message it would give about family values.
– In 2004: Michael Jackson appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to seven charges of child molestation. The singer who arrived 21 minutes late was told off by the Santa Barbara judge saying ‘Mr Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot here, it is an insult to the court.’
– In 2008: Radiohead were forced to abandon an intimate gig at Rough Trade East records in London after police raised safety fears. The band moved the gig to a nearby club after over 1,500 fans turned up after the event was announced in the morning promising tickets to the first 200 fans.
– In 2009: Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort. The Culture Club frontman denied the charge at Snaresbrook crown court and claimed the victim, Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, had stolen photos from his laptop. The singer told police he invited Carlsen back to his home after a cocaine-fuelled pornographic photo shoot in January, 2007, because he suspected the Norwegian of stealing pictures from his computer. He admitted handcuffing Carlsen to a wall in April 2007 but said he did so in order to trace the missing property.
Still trying to improve guitar playing…
I’m not looking to become a guitar virtuoso or anything like that, I just want to improve a little on the instrument. Play a little more professionally. Trying to get better at improvisation, learning how to count rhythm in music, theory stuff, scales & modes, playing along with a metronome, etc. I just want to be accepted as a musician, so I’m doing my very best on trying to get better, so I can be considered an actual musician.
I’ve been practicing a lot more, and reading a lot more instructional stuff too. Whether I want to record music at home or play in an actual band, I need to get better. If I want to write better originals and improve my songwriting, I feel that this is what I need to do.
On mastering the art of improvisation, the trick to that is memorizing the sound of each note in your head. There are only 12 notes of music and it takes a long while to memorize the sounds in your head. I’m getting the hang of it and getting better. Once you memorize the sounds of the notes, you’ll be able to play just about everything you hear.
I would like to play in a band someday and this is another reason I’m trying to improve. Some people mistakenly think, I’m a great guitarist, but in reality, I’m okay. Not the greatest as some think I am. I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of learning.
Even if I’m unemployed and have no job as of this moment, I’ve been spending most of the day, playing guitar, other than going to the gym.
My main goal in guitar playing is get better at lead guitar soloing so I can play like my guitar heroes that I look after. I’m trying my best to become a great guitar player, and I would like to get there.
Kev
Thought: Is Tom Hanks’s film career in a slump???
Here’s one of my favorite actors that I admire, Tom Hanks. I admired his acting talent with all the comedies he’s done in the 80’s and the serious drama movies he’s done in the 90’s like “Forrest Gump”, “Apollo 13” and “Saving Private Ryan”. Tom hasn’t made a good movie since “The Terminal” in 2004. “The Terminal” was a really good flick, a comedy that was directed by Spielberg.
I never really liked the two Dan Brown adaptations he did with Ron Howard, “The Da Vinci Code”, and “Angels & Demons” weren’t that great, admittedly. “Charlie Wilson’s War” was a shit movie and so was “The Ladykillers”.
I have no interest in seeing, “Larry Crowne” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”.
Tom needs to step his game up and go back to his Oscar worthy acting talent. “The Road To Perdition” was one of my favorite flicks he’s ever done and I wish he would go back to dark movies like those.
I still admire Tom, I just wish he would get better at choosing his movies. His movie choices lately haven’t been that great. I haven’t seen a Tom Hanks movie in theater in a long time for this reason. I wish he would come out with an interesting movie that would make me go back to see Hanks movies in theaters again. I used to see his movies in theater all the time.
Kev
NFL Weekend…
Yesterday, I watched both, “Saints vs. the 49’ers” game and the “Broncos vs. Patriots”. I thought the “Saints vs. the 49’ers” game was an amazing game and it’s what the Superbowl should be. “Broncos vs. Patriots” was kind of a boring game though, which is understandable ’cause the Patriots are a hard team to beat, they’re very good. I was hoping the Broncos would step up and do better, but they got destroyed by the Patriots big time.
I also plan on watching tonight’s, “Giants vs. Packers” game later this evening. I also plan on watching tonight’s Golden Globe Awards, so Sunday is TV most of the day.
Thought about hitting the gym today but I don’t feel like it, I’ll go tomorrow.
Kev
This Day In Music: 1/15/12
Musician Birthdays: Captain Beefheart (singer/songwriter, born in 1941) Ronnie Van Zandt (singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, born in 1948), Adam Jones (guitarist of Tool, born in 1965)
– In 1961: The Supremes signed a world wide recording contract with Motown Records.
– In 1965: The Who released their first single ‘I Can’t Explain’. With Jimmy Page on guitar and The Ivy League on backing vocals, it went on to reach No.8 on the UK chart.
– In 1967: The Rolling Stones were forced to change the lyrics of ‘Lets Spend The Night Together’ to ‘Lets Spend Some Time Together’ when appearing on the US TV’s The Ed Sullivan Show after the producers objected to the content of the lyrics.
– In 1969: George Harrison had a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo where he made it clear that he was fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison wasn’t happy with plans for live performances and the Let It Be film project.
– In 1972: Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart.
– In 1977: The Eagles went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Hotel California’ the group’s third US No.1 album.
– In 1982: The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, supported by The Go-Go’s.
– In 1983: Men At Work started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with ‘Down Under’ the Australian act group’s second US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
– In 1998: Harmonica player Junior Wells died, (born Amos Blakemore). Worked with Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones.
Notice, I leave my ego at the door of everything…
Whether you want to be a musician or a bodybuilder, you need to leave your ego out of things. That’s what I do, I left my ego out of everything. I never had an ego even if some mistakenly think I had an ego problem.
In bodybuilding, I never acted like I was bigger, tougher, and more muscular than others. I know there are other people that are better than me at bodybuilding and more tougher than me. I never put other people down in the fitness world and respected others fitness physiques, no matter what they looked like. If other fitness people looked different, I never made fun of them or never criticized anyone. I’ve always been respectful and positive at most everything.
In music, I’ve always respected other talent. I’ve always liked to treat music in a positive direction whether it was national music or unsigned. Didn’t matter to me. I don’t go around criticizing music saying that musicians and bands suck. I do criticize bands/musicians once in a blue moon, but I don’t do it too much like so many people do. Being a negative nancy in music, is not such a good idea, and I’ve learned from my past mistakes, admittedly. I also never acted like I was better than other musicians.
Having an ego problem isn’t healthy for your mind, ’cause bad karma will get you in the end. Maybe this is why my thoughts and opinions are sometimes controversial, ’cause I’m always positive and have a different opinion than others. That’s okay though, I love it when people start talking ’cause it’s letting me know that my honest thoughts are getting out to people.
Kev
This Day In Music: 1/14/12
Musician Birthdays: Zakk Wylde (Guitarist for Ozzy solo, Guitarist/singer for Black Label Society, born in 1967), Dave Grohl (Drummer for Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures, Queen of the Stone Age, singer/guitarist for the Foo Fighters, born in 1969), Caleb Folowill (singer/guitarist for Kings of Leon, born in 1982)
– In 1963: Charlie Watts made his live debut with The Rolling Stones at The Flamingo Jazz Club, Soho, London.
– In 1964: The Beatles (minus Ringo Starr, who was fog-bound in Liverpool) departed from Liverpool for Paris, France for an 18-day run at the Olympia Theatre. Arriving in Paris, John, Paul, and George were met by 60 fans. Ringo, accompanied by roadie Neil Aspinall, arrived the next day.
– In 1970: Diana Ross made her last appearance with The Supremes at The Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas.
– In 1978: The Sex Pistols played their last live gig at Winterland, San Francisco, (they re-formed in 96).
– In 1989: Bobby Brown went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Prerogative.’
– In 2006: American actor and stand-up comic Jamie Foxx started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his second album ‘Unpredictable.’
Thought: Madonna shouldn’t accuse Lady Gaga of ripping off one of her songs, when Maddona has done the same thing to other artists…
Madonna’s jealousy of Lady Gaga is finally starting to show. Madonna, the Queen of Pop, recently had an interview on “20/20”, and she accused Gaga’s hit, “Born This Way” is a rip off of one of Madonna’s earlier hits, “Express Yourself”. I agree that both songs are kind of similar. I don’t think Gaga would rip off Madonna at all. Gaga has always been a fan and admirer of Madonna. So, I would think, “Born This Way” is a homage for Madonna, in my opinion. A homage/tribute, kind of a thing.
So Madonna accuses Lady Gaga of being a thief? Well, Madonna shouldn’t accuse Gaga of anything ’cause Madonna herself has stole from other artists. Madonna stole, “Deep In Vogue”, by Malcolm McLaren to use for her hit, “Vogue”, and she also stole an Ingrid Chavez song for her hit “Justify My Love”. I’m sure she ripped off plenty of other songs from other songwriters too. Not only that Madonna ripped off music over the years, she also ripped off her image that she stole from other celebrities like Marilyn Monroe for starters.
Madonna’s music career may have meant something to all of us back in the early days in the 80’s but today she’s a joke. I like Lady Gaga because she’s definitely like a modern day Madonna, but even better. I love Lady Gaga. Loved all 3 of her albums, and “Born This Way” is her best album.
People maybe getting tired of Gaga and her unique fashion, but in defense of her weird fashion ways, I think she’s just trying to express herself. I believe it’s okay to be different, it’s a free country and you can look like how you want to look like. I don’t think what Gaga is doing is for attention. She’s a talented artist. I would see her in concert if she ever came around here.
Kev
BREAKING NEWS: Gene Hackman hit by car, while riding bicycle in Florida…
Legendary actor, Gene Hackman, was hit by a car while riding a bicycle in Florida and was airlifted to the hospital. Even though his injuries are non-life threatening, he was airlifted to the hospital ’cause he was riding a bike on an island. Other than that, Gene is fine.
More on the story, here
Well, glad he is all good.
He was a phenomenal actor though. Loved him in a lot of movies. While he is famous for his role as Lex Luthor in the , “Superman” movies, he is also famous for “The Conversation”, and, “The French Connection”. I also loved him in, “Hoosiers”, “Unforgiven” and “Crimson Tide”.
I wish he hadn’t retired from acting. I could definitely see him do much more in films.
Kev
K'Brocking 
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