4waystop

The Wrath of Khan is No More...Ricardo Montalban 1920-2008

I awoke today to find out that several strange things happened.  The Star Trek convention on Fantasy Island was cancelled and all of a sudden the supple fine corinthian leather on my vintage Chrysler Cordoba had dried and cracked.  I fell to my knees and shouted KHAN.  I clicked onto Variety.com and found out that the greatest Star Trek villan of them all passed away on Thursday.

Ricardo Montalban enjoyed a long and storied career. He was born in Mexico City and crossed the border way before there was any debate about open or closed borders and proved that he could be a contributing citizen. 

During the last decade, he was most famous for doing voice over work in commercials and cartoons and his final role was playing a cow on the family guy where he repeated the fine corinthian leather line.  But he will always be best remembered for playing Batman to Herve Villechez Robin on Fantasy Island or as Khan on Star Trek II.

Keep his family in your thoughts and give him the vulcan salute.  And while remembering him tell him to live long and prosper in the life that comes after

One postscript, with Roark and Tattoo both now in heaven...I guess it has now truly become Fantasy Island.

I never thought that I would be writing about death twice in one weekend

Out of courtesy and respect for the situation, sometimes you don't write another article and inject your own opinion...you simply repost the best article you can find.  Basically,  A cellular phone corporation held a block party in Columbia, Carolina.  Some very talented individuals played some music.  REST IN PEACE.

From the New York Times:  A Lear jet crashed on takeoff at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, killing four people and leaving Travis Barker, the former drummer for the band Blink-182, and a popular disc jockey critically injured, the authorities said Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, Kathleen Bergen, said the plane, carrying six people, was departing just before midnight Friday from Columbia Metropolitan Airport when air traffic controllers saw sparks coming from the plane. The plane hurtled off the end of a runway and crashed through antennas and a fence. It came to rest on an embankment of a five-lane highway and was engulfed in flames, said Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Two passengers, Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles, died, as did the pilot, Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and the co-pilot, James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., the Lexington County coroner said.

Beth Frits, a spokeswoman for the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., said Mr. Barker and the disc jockey, Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM, were at the center.

Mr. Barker and Mr. Goldstein, who perform together under the name TRVSDJ-AM, played a free concert in Columbia’s college neighborhood Friday night.

Remembering Henry Z. Steinway...Dead Thursday September 18, 2008--Age 93

A great grandson of the firm’s founder, Mr. Steinway was actively involved with the Company up to the time of his death, maintaining an office at Steinway Hall in Manhattan.  Born in New York City in 1915, Mr. Steinway began his association with the firm as a factory apprentice in 1937 following graduation from Harvard.  He rose through the ranks, becoming Factory Manager in 1946 upon discharge from the service, and was named Vice President in 1947.

He served with distinction as President from 1955 to 1977, and as Chairman from 1977 to 1980. In 1980 he became a Consultant to the Company, a position which he held to present day. He married Polly Zinsser in 1944, who survives him, as does his sister Lydia Steinway Cochrane, and his five children.  Henry Z. Steinway was a true piano man, and his familiar presence at Steinway Hall was our greatest treasure.

An avid correspondent with curators, customers, Steinway dealers and celebrated artists through the years, Mr. Steinway enjoyed a perspective of the changing musical world that few in our industry will experience.  Though his typewriter is silenced, our lives have been forever enriched by his personal warmth, his candor, and by his unwavering faith in the instrument that bears his name.

Thank you, Mr. Steinway for  keeping the tradition of the truly great piano alive.

Information courtesy the Steinway&Sons Website: http://www.steinway.com

Breaking News--Founding Member of Pink Floyd Richard Wright dead at 65

Saddness abounds throughout the music world this evening, particuliarly for those fans who hear the call of jam bands and psychadellia.  Pink Floyd was always special...always a cut above.  I don't know why, maybe it was because they were from across the pond and didn't have to fight with all of those San Francisco bands to get noticed.  It just kind of magically happened for them.  And now a bit of that magic has burned out with the loss of Richard Ross today who now joins Syd Barrett in the great beyond...Later Days, my friend.

From Robert Booth in the Guardian UK:

Richard Wright, keyboard player and founding member of Pink Floyd, died yesterday at the age of 65 of cancer.

Wright's most famous composition was The Great Gig in the Sky which featured on the band's album The Dark Side of the Moon. It begins with a voice saying "I am not frightened to die" and is for many fans the band's most moving song.

The track was one of five Wright is credited with on the album and he featured on every Pink Floyd tour, where he became famous for his ghostly, atmospheric keyboard sound. But Wright had a rocky relationship with Roger Waters, the band's bass player and leading light, who forced him to resign at the end of sessions for 1979's The Wall album, although he was later reinstated. In 1978 he released his first solo album. Back with Pink Floyd, he co-wrote five songs on The Division Bell album in 1994. He also took part in the Floyd reunion which was the highlight of the 2005 Live 8 concert in Hyde Park.

Wright was born in Hatch End, north-west London, the son of a biochemist, and educated at Haberdasher's Aske school. He is survived by his daughter Gala, sons Jamie and Ben, and grandson Stanley.

 

REASONS WHY TO MISS ARTHUR C. CLARK

Last week one of the worlds greatest visionary nerds died. Clarke's work is marked by an optimistic view of science empowering mankind's exploration of the solar system.  His interest in the paranormal was influenced by Charles Fort and embraced the belief that humanity may be the property of an ancient alien civilization. My wife believes that we were pets of an ancient civilization and we were dumped on a planet at the end of the galaxy. Here are five reasons why Sir Arthur Charles Clark will be missed.
You Will be Missed

HILLY KRISTAL RIP

CBGB founder Hilly Kristal died at 75 in New York on Tuesday of complications from lung cancer. The New York club, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006 -- and was run by Kristal throughout its existence -- helped spawn the careers of the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith and countless others. He definitely was a guardian of rock & Roll.

NEW WARREN ZEVON MUSIC TO BE RELEASED IN MAY

Thanks to Warren Zevons son Jordan, located 126 demos and outtakes after Zevon’s 2003 death; 16 of those songs comprise Preludes – Rare and Unreleased Recordings, to be released on May 1. The tracks to be on the CD are:

Tracklisting for Preludes:
1. Empty Hearted Town (solo piano)
2. Steady Rain (full band)
3. Join Me In L.A. (solo guitar)
4. Hasten Down The Wind (solo piano)
5. Werewolves Of London (full band)
6. Tule's Blues (solo piano)
7. The French Inhaler (solo guitar)
8. Going All The Way (full band)
9. Poor Poor Pitiful Me (full band)
10. Studebaker (solo piano)
11. Accidentally Like A Martyr (full band)
12. Carmelita (solo guitar)
13. I Used To Ride So High (full band)
14. Stop Rainin' Lord (solo guitar)

FOUNDING MEMBER OF MAMAS & PAPAS DENNY DOHERTY DIES

Denny Doherty, a founding member of the 1960s folk-pop band the Mamas and the Papas, died yesterday at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. He was 66. More about the Mamas & Papas

CHINESE DEMOCRACY RELEASE DATE TENTATIVE

The great Axle Rose has announced on the GNR web site a tentative release date of March 6.
Yeah Right I would not put any money down on it! This CD has been on tentative status for years!
"To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement," Rose said of "Chinese Democracy," which has been in the works for more than a decade. "Overcoming the endless and seemingly insane amount of obstacles faced by all involved, notwithstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone -- the fans, the band, our road crew and business team -- has at many times seemed like a bad dream in which one wakes up only to find that they are still in the nightmare. Unfortunately, this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life."
My opinion: Axle go away and leave us alone!
My prediction: Whenever it comes out it will BOMB!

MUSIC LEGEND AHMET ERTEGUN DIES

Ahmet Ertegun music legend along with producer Tom Dowd, Herb Abramson and others created Atlantic Records in the late 1940s. Ahmet was at an October 29 concert by the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theatre in New York where Ertegun fell, suffered a head injury and was hospitalized. He later slipped into a coma. He has left us!

It was Erteguns guidence of Atlantic Records that made it one of the greatest labels ever. His vision and golden ear helped the careers of Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, The Drifters, Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin's,  Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Ahmet Ertegün wrote a number of classic blues songs, including "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen", under the pseudonym A. Nugetre (Ertegün backwards). The songs were given expression first by Big Joe Turner and continue in B.B. King's repertoire. "Nugetre" also wrote the Ray Charles' hit "Mess Around", with lyrics that drew heavily on Pinetop Smith.

Music mogles like Ertegun do not exist in the Music world anymore
He will truly be missed!