Another music legend is gone. Some may not know who this woman is, but for you die hard punk rock fans would know who she is. She is the front woman for the pioneering punk rock band, X-Ray Spex. At age 15, she ran away from home and became a barefoot hippie. She lived the hippie lifestyle for most of her life. After seeing the Sex Pistols for her birthday in 1975, she formed a punk rock band of her own named, X-Ray Spex.
The band X-Ray Spex didn’t last very long as they only did two studio albums and a couple of live albums. After the band broke up, she recorded her own solo album, “Translucence” in 1980. She just recently released a new solo album this year titled, “Generation Indigo”. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away. She was 53 years old.
Phoebe Snow, a legendary folk singer, most famous for her anthem song, “Poetry Man” died today, due to complications from a stroke she suffered last year. When she was a teenager, she bought a Martin 00018 acoustic steel string guitar and played almost every club in Greenwich Village in, New York City. The name Phoebe Snow is a staged name that was originally taken from a fictional character created by Earnest Almo Calkins as a way to help promote the Lackawanna Railroad.
In 1972, she was signed to a record deal when an A&R rep saw her perform at the Bitter End club in NYC. The A&R guy was so blown away by her performance that he signed her on the spot. Toward the 90’s and the 2000’s years, she appeared on Howard Stern’s radio show many times, and performed at his wedding. She also performed for Bill Clinton’s, Camp David in 1999. Phoebe Snow was 58 years old.
Tim Hetherington, a British-American photographer and journalist was killed by a mortal shell or an RPG round while covering work in the city of Misrata, Libya. Tim is best known for his work on the documentary he made with Sebastian Junger titled, “Restrepo”. The film is about Junger and Tim documenting the war in Afghanistan.
“Restrepo” is available for streaming in Netflix for those interested in checking it out. I plan to check it out this weekend. Honestly, I never knew who Tim Hetherington was until I started seeing his name all over the news, but after learning more about him, much respects. He’s quite a talented and brave man. He’s willing to be around dangerous places for his work, which not many photographers can do. RIP, Tim Hetherington.
The legendary Oscar winning film director, Sidney Lumet, has passed away this weekend. To those who aren’t familiar with his work, he is most well known for working with Al Pacino a few times with films such as “Dog Day Afternoon”, and “Serpico”. He was also the director of, “The Wiz”, the Wizard of Oz remake that starred Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. Some of his other famous films include, “12 Angry Men” which he had Henry Fonda star the leading role and directed the film, “Deathtrap” starring a young Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine. He has teamed up with many big name actors over the years such as: Melanie Griffith, Richard Gere, Jane Fonda, Vin Diesel, Glenn Close and many more.
Sidney Lumet died in his home in Manhattan, New York City. He was 86 years old.
Very sad and heartbreaking news today. One of the most famous actresses in the world, Elizabeth Taylor passed away. She is known to having various health problems over the years, mostly having problems with her heart. She is a two time Academy Award winner. She won for “Butterfield” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf”. Her most famous role that she is well known for is, “Cleopatra”, the biopic film of the Egyptian queen which she starred alongside, Richard Burton. Another one of her famous roles is in the film, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.
We lost a true legend in the movie industry today. I actually watched “Cleopatra”, on TV just not too long ago and next thing you know, Elizabeth is gone. Elizabeth Taylor was 79 years old.
The world of music lost another great one. I wasn’t much into rap, hip hop or R&B, but I respected, Nate Dogg. That guy has talent, can’t deny that. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like this type of music, Nate Dogg was talented, I’ll say it again. I didn’t know much about Nate Dogg’s career, though. I only knew him through his hit song with Warren G, “Regulate”. That song brings back memories to my high school years. When I was in high school in the 90’s, that song was being played all over the place. Pretty much everywhere you went, you heard that song. I’m not into this kind of music much, I’m more of a rock & metal kind of guy, but I did LOVE this one song, “Regulate”. “Regulate” is a very powerful tune.
Nate Dogg died yesterday in Long Beach California, his cause of death is not known at this time, but he was well known to having a few strokes in the past. Nate Dogg’s music have inspired other rap music artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and more. RIP Nate.
Alice In Chains, the legendary Seattle grunge band, have lost another one. First they lost their important front man, Layne Staley, and now they lose their long time bassist, Mike Starr. Mike was one of the founding members of Alice in Chains, he played in the band from when they first started all the way ’til, 1993. Mike Starr left Alice In Chains due to his drug addiction and wanted to get clean by joining the cast to Dr. Drew’s reality show, “Celebrity Rehab” on, Vh-1. Mike Starr was found dead yesterday, in Salt Like City, his cause of death haven’t been announced yet, but everyone is speculating that it could be a drug overdose.
Alice In Chains is one of my favorite bands of all times. I feel bad for Jerry and the guys in AIC, that they have to go through another death when they just lost, Layne. Sad news. RIP Mike Starr. Sad loss in the music industry.
There have been a lot of iconic sex symbols over the years. Everyone from Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Anna Nicole Smith, Pam Anderson, Carmen Electra, etc., the list goes on. In my opinion, it was Jane Russell who is the true American sex symbol. She helped make, “sex” popular and mainstream in the 1940’s and 50’s. She was a film actress and a pinup model.
Her first film role was, “The Outlaw” which is a western film about Billy the Kid. It was the film that made her the sex symbol as the film’s goal was to show off the talent of her. She’s also famous for starring in, “The Paleface” with Bob Hope and “Gentlemen Prefers Blondes” with Marilyn Monroe.
Jane Russell died at her Santa Maria, California home due to respiratory-illness. Jane Russell was 89.
Jack Lalanne, the man who started it all. The King of Fitness, the master. The one who is responsible for making bodybuilding & fitness mainstream. How did Jack get inspired into fitness? Well as a kid, he was addicted to junk food just like any kid would be. He also had a violent temper back in his childhood. Jack started learning from Paul Bragg, a pioneer at nutrition & wellness, so Jack decided to change his lifestyle at age 15 to eat better and exercise more. After graduating from high school, he took night time classes at Oakland Chiropractic College in San Francisco, and graduated with a Chiropractic Degree.
He invented a bodybuilding machine, called, the Smith Machine, which can be seen in all gyms all over the world to this day. The Smith Machine is used for squats and various other exercises. It was made so it can be safe to use without a spotter. Later in the years, Jack Lalanne hosted his own TV show for 34 years titled, “The Jack Lalanne Show” which he taught fitness, health & nutrition on the the show. He marketed a variety of vitamin supplements, he also invented special devices called, the “Juice Tiger” and “The Power Juicer”.
Later in the years, Jack was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by Governor Schwarzenegger (pictured above). Jack also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Over the years, Jack continued to workout every single day, non stop until the last day before his death.
He is such a hero and inspiration to the fitness world. He is the real hero in fitness. Not Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris or Jillian Michaels. It was all about Jack. Jack has been doing bodybuilding and fitness way before the days of the supplement industry got too commercial. Think about this. If Jack wasn’t around to do what he did for us, there would be no bodybuilding. There would be no Arnold, Sly, Flex Wheeler, Jillian Michaels, Lou Farrigno and all those other fitness people in the media. Jack is responsible for bringing us this. Without him, none of us would be hitting the gym on a regular basis right now.
Bow down to Jack Lalanne! King of Fitness! Thanks Jack. In honor of Jack, I will continue to do my workout routines the old school way like how I’ve always been doing this ever since I started. Even though these video lessons are very old, they CAN still be very useful to this day!
Kev
The Official Music Website of Kevin Brock – Brocking N' Rolling
K'Brocking 
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