joi, 5 iulie 2018

Freddie Mercury ( b10 )

 In a 1985 interview, Mercury said of Austin, "All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary [Austin], but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary, and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that's enough for me." He also wrote several songs about Austin, the most notable of which is "Love of My Life". Mercury's final home, Garden Lodge, 1 Logan Place, a twenty-eight room Georgian mansion in Kensington set in a quarter-acre manicured garden surrounded by a high brick wall, had been picked out by Austin. In his will, Mercury left his London home to Austin, rather than his partner Jim Hutton, saying to her, "You would have been my wife, and it would have been yours anyway." Mercury was also the godfather of Austin's oldest son, Richard.
During the early- to mid-1980s, he was reportedly involved with Barbara Valentin, an Austrian actress, who is featured in the video for "It's a Hard Life". However, in another article, Valentin was "just a friend", and Mercury was really dating German restaurateur Winfried Kirchberger during this time. By 1985, he began another long-term relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton (1949–2010). Hutton, who was tested HIV-positive in 1990, lived with Mercury for the last six years of his life, nursed him during his illness, and was present at his bedside when he died. Hutton said Mercury died wearing the wedding band that Hutton had given him.

Friendship with Kenny Everett

Radio DJ Kenny Everett first met Mercury in 1974 when he invited the singer onto his breakfast show on Capital London. As two of Britain's most flamboyant, outrageous, and best-loved entertainers, they shared much in common and instantly became close friends.Everett would play a major role in Queen's early success when, in 1975, armed with an advance copy of the single "Bohemian Rhapsody", Mercury went to see Everett. While privately Everett doubted any station would play the song due to its length at over 6 minutes, he said nothing to Mercury and placed the song on the turntable, and, after hearing it, enthused: "forget it, it's going to be number one for centuries".

miercuri, 4 iulie 2018

Diverse ( 50 )


Ringo Starr ( b8 )

By the end of the year, the phenomenon known as Beatlemania had spread throughout the country, and by February 1964 the Beatles had become an international success, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show to a record 73 million viewers. Starr commented: "In the States I know I went over well. It knocked me out to see and hear the kids waving for me. I'd made it as a personality ... Our appeal ... is that we're ordinary lads." He was a source of inspiration for several songs written at the time, including Penny Valentine's "I Want To Kiss Ringo Goodbye" and Rolf Harris's "Ringo for President". In 1964, "I love Ringo" lapel pins outsold all other Beatles merchandising. Furthermore, the prominent placing of the Ludwig logo on the bass drum of his American import drum kit, gave the company such a burst of publicity that it became the dominant manufacturer of drums in North America for the next twenty years. During live performances, the Beatles continued the Starr Time routine that had been popular among his fans: Lennon would place a microphone in front of Starr's kit in preparation for his spotlight moment and audiences would erupt in screams. When the Beatles made their film debut in A Hard Day's Night, Starr garnered much praise from critics, who considered both his delivery of deadpan one-liners and his non-speaking scenes highlights of the movie. The extended non-speaking sequences had to be arranged by director Richard Lester because of Starr's lack of sleep the previous night, Starr commented: "Because I'd been drinking all night I was incapable of saying a line." Epstein attributed Starr's acclaim to "the little man's quaintness". After the release of the Beatles' second feature film, Help! (1965), Starr won a Melody Maker poll against his fellow Beatles for his performance as the central character in the film.
During an interview with Playboy in 1964, Lennon explained that Starr had filled in with the Beatles when Best was ill; Starr replied: "[Best] took little pills to make him ill". Soon after Starr made the comment, a provoked Best filed a libel suit against him that lasted for four years before the court reached an undisclosed settlement in Best's favour. In June, the Beatles were scheduled to tour Denmark, the Netherlands, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but Starr became ill the day before the start of the tour. Stricken with a high-grade fever, pharyngitis and tonsillitis, he was admitted to a local hospital where he briefly stayed followed by several days of recuperation at home. During this time, Starr was temporarily replaced for five concert dates by 24-year-old session drummer Jimmie Nicol. Starr was discharged from the hospital, and he rejoined the band in Melbourne on 15 June. He later admitted that he feared he would be permanently replaced during his illness. In August, when the Beatles were introduced to Bob Dylan, Starr was the first to try a cannabis cigarette offered to the band by Dylan, where as Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were hesitant.

marți, 3 iulie 2018

Deep Purple ( B5 )

Deep Purple's troubled North American record label, Tetragrammaton, delayed production of the Deep Purple album until after the band's 1969 American tour ended. This, as well as lackluster promotion by the nearly broke label, caused the album to sell poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after the third album's eventual release, Tetragrammaton went out of business, leaving the band with no money and an uncertain future. (Tetragrammaton's assets were assumed by Warner Bros. Records, who would release Deep Purple's records in the US throughout the 1970s.) During the 1969 American tour, Lord and Blackmore met with Paice to discuss their desire to take the band in a heavier direction. Feeling that Evans and Simper would not fit well with a heavy rock style, both were replaced that summer. Paice stated, "A change had to come. If they hadn't left, the band would have totally disintegrated." Both Simper and Blackmore noted that Rod Evans already had one foot out the door. Simper said that Evans had met a girl in Hollywood and had eyes on being an actor, while Blackmore explained, "Rod just wanted to go to America and live in America."
In search of a replacement vocalist, Blackmore set his own sights on 19-year-old singer Terry Reid. Though he found the offer "flattering", Reid was still bound by the exclusive recording contract with his producer Mickie Most and more interested in his solo career. Blackmore had no other choice but to look elsewhere. The band hunted down singer Ian Gillan from Episode Six, a band that had released several singles in the UK without achieving their big break for commercial success. Gillan had at one time been approached by Nick Simper when Deep Purple was first forming, but Gillan had reportedly told Simper that the Roundabout project would not go anywhere, while he felt Episode Six was poised to make it big. Six's drummer Mick Underwood – an old comrade of Blackmore's from his days in the Outlaws – introduced the band to Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. This effectively killed Episode Six and gave Underwood a guilt complex that lasted nearly a decade, until Gillan recruited him for his new post-Purple band in the late 1970s. According to Blackmore, Deep Purple was only interested in Gillan and not Glover, but Roger was retained on the advice of Ian Paice.


The Who - Bargain ( YT1 )