New Old New Romantic

Some folks might say that Duran Duran has used up their share of comebacks. Every time the powers that be might think that they’re has-beens or far too old to be in the business, they pop back up. They’ve done it with previous releases like “Notorious,” “Big Thing” the so-called ‘Wedding Album,’ and “Thank You.”

And here they are again. The new album, Red Carpet Massacre, was released earlier this month, and again represents a change in sound while still retaining that trademark vintage DD vibe. This time the Pretty Boy Five, sans Andy Taylor, recruited new blood like Justin Timberlake and Timbaland to write and produce.

There was to be a new album called “Reportage,” fifteen tracks worth say the rumors, but when Andy Taylor parted ways with the boys, for what has been termed ‘irreconcilable differences,’ they set aside the material he was part of and continued on with Timberlake and Timbaland. DD continue with Dominic Brown on guitar.

Now while I can’t say I’m all that impressed with the single, “Falling Down,” which almost recalls an electronic ghost of “Ordinary World,” the rest of the album is superb. "She's Too Much" which is to "Come Undone" what the above song tries to do, but it succeeds on its own, the echo only accentuating the sound. Similarly, "Box Full o' Honey" wants to be "Save a Prayer" but remains original as well.

The funk comes out to play with the best tracks on the disc, "Nite Runner", "Skin Divers" and the title tune. These are the most Timb-affected songs on the album and come off quite well. "Skin Divers" has all the magic realism lyrics of the original Duran Duran days and "Nite Runner" is my favorite by far.

I think "Red Carpet Massacre" is a critical triumph even if it doesn't make its way to the top of the charts. Don't call it a comeback, it's just Duran Duran holding on to their new romantic roots, while continuing to evolve. Great stuff!

Motorcycle Daredevil Evel Knievel Dies at Age 69

Continuing the sad pattern of death this blog has been following lately, daredevil Evel Knievel passed away today.

I remember the man, or at least the legend of the man fondly. I waited through what seemed like hours of talk talk talk on the "Wide World of Sports" to see the man jump whatever. I remember seeing his excruciating landing at Caesar's Place. I remember listening madly to the AM radio news the Sunday he attempted to jump Snake River Canyon.

And what I remember most was that there was nothing, and I mean nothing, I wanted more for my birthday in the summer of 1974 than the Evel Knievel stunt cycle playset. I did get it, along with the Scramble Van accessory, but really, that was a bit too Barbie for my tastes. I loved the ramp that came with it though, that and the dual ramps that came with the SST Demolition Derby became Evel's territory as I jumped everything from cats to wagons and even off the cliff of my front porch.

Since that time, I've seen documentaries on the man, and I'd have to say he was crazy, stubborn and maybe even a bit of a liar - but one thing was sure, Evel Knievel was an entertainer. There'll never be another like him.


From the Associated Press:

Motorcycle Daredevil Evel Knievel Dies at Age 69

Friday, November 30, 2007

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose exploits made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel death was confirmed by his 21-year-old granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. Always, he welcomed the challenge whether in sports, at work or play. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. In later years he still made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during the "Evel Knievel Days" festival.

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the Western states and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.

Hi son, Robbie, successfully completed the same jump in April 1989.

In the years after the Caesar's crash, the fee for Evel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London — the crash landing broke his pelvis — to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie.

Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.

Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.

Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8.

Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey at Butte High School, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959.

He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player.

Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the U.S. Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. As a motorcycle dealer, he drummed up business by offering $100 off the price of a motorcycle to customers who could beat him at arm wrestling.

At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.

Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a 200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon.

Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.

Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and his Butte hometown. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Quiet Riot Silenced

Kevin DuBrow 1955-2007


From E! Online:

Quiet Riot Silenced
by Josh Grossberg
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:36:17 PM PST

Quiet Riot is marking a moment of silence for its fallen frontman.

Kevin DuBrow, the zebra-pantsed singer for the hit-making heavy metalheads, was found dead in his home in Las Vegas Sunday. He was 52.

News of DuBrow's death was announced on Riot drummer Frankie Banali's Website.

"I can't even find words to say," he wrote. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend, Kevin DuBrow."

Police and paramedics were alerted by a concerned neighbor Sunday afternoon.

"We got a call to do a welfare check," a Las Vegas Metro Police spokeswoman told E! Online, adding that there were no signs of foul play.

The rocker was pronounced dead at approximately 5:20 p.m.

The cause of death has not been announced. The Clark County coroner will conduct an autopsy and toxicology tests this week, but the official results won't be known for several weeks.

In a statement posted online, Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni asked fans to reserve judgment until the coroner issues a report.

"I ask that no one here offer any speculation or opinions, theories or other things that could be construed as negative or, and I'm sorry for this, even sympathetic, right at this immediate time," Garni wrote on a tribute Website dedicated to Riot cofounder Randy Rhoads.

"I am already, within hours of this, having to deal with untrue rumors and speculation and that only adds fuel to that. There is a tendency for the subject of Kevin to incite flames on every board, and now is not the time for that. I will explain to everyone here the facts and the truth in the next 24 to 48 hours as I realize this will affect us all. So please, until then be patient."

According to MTV.com, DuBrow appeared to be in good health and was in New Orleans just before Halloween to celebrate his birthday.

With DuBrow on vocals, Quiet Riot became the first hair metal band to score a Top 5 hit with its cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize" off the monster 1983 LP Metal Health, thanks to heavy video airplay on MTV. The album itself made history as the first metal release to top the Billboard album charts, supplanting the Police's Synchronicity.

Quiet Riot was formed by Rhoads and Garni in the mid-1970s, with DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth. The band broke up when Rhoads left to play guitar for Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. After Rhoads died in a 1982 plane crash, DuBrow relaunched Quiet Riot without any of the founding members.

The rebooted band reached its zenith with Metal Health, which sold 6 million copies and spawned the Top 40 singles "Slick Black Cadillac" and "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)."

While the follow-up Condition Critical was certified platinum and scored two hit singles, "Party All Night" and another Slade cover, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," the band was eclipsed by other hair bands.

After a succession of lineup changes, Quiet Riot disbanded again in 1989, with the other members actually firing DuBrow after the end of a tour.

The metal mavens reunited in the mid-'90s and continued to play the club circuit. After a brief breakup in 2003, DuBrow issued the 2004 solo album In for the Kill, before the band once again reformed for a 2005 tour with Cinderella, Ratt and Firehouse.

In October 2006, the band released its final studio album with DuBrow, Rehab, on Chavis Records.

"As I mourn his death with a heavy heart, I will remember hearing his voice and the music for the very first time on the radio back in 1983," said label boss Bill Chavis. "I will remember all the great music Kevin and Quiet Riot gave to so many of us over the years, and I will say, 'Thank you, Kevin. May you rest in peace.' "

Funeral plans have not yet been finalized.

Mother of Doctor Who Passes

From The Doctor Who News Page:

Verity Lambert has died

November 23, 2007 • Posted By Kenny Davidson

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Verity Lambert, who has passed away at the age of 71.

One of the UK's foremost television producers, Lambert was the first producer of Doctor Who, holding the post from 1963 to 1965. It was a role that proved pivotal at the time, as, at the age of 27, she was the youngest and only female drama producer working at the BBC.

As the first producer she was instrumental in creating the universe of Doctor Who and was responsible for some of the most important principles of the series, ensuring the programme's success over the years.

After she left the programme her credits and reputation continued to rise and she became one of the best known players in the industry. She oversaw such iconic productions as Adam Adamant Lives, Budgie, The Naked Civil Servant, Rock Follies, Rumpole of the Bailey, Edward and Mrs Simpson, Reilly: Ace of Spies, Minder, GBH and Jonathan Creek.

In 1985 Verity Lambert established her own independent production company, Cinema Verity. The company's first production was the 1988 feature film A Cry in the Dark, starring Sam Neill and Meryl Streep. Cinema Verity's first television series, the BBC1 sitcom May to December, ran from 1989 until 1994.

In 2000 two of her productions, Doctor Who and The Naked Civil Servant, finished third and fourth respectively in a British Film Institute poll of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century.

In the 2002 New Year's Honours list Lambert was awarded the O.B.E. for services to film and television production. In the same year she received BAFTA's Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television.

She was due to receive the Working Title Films lifetime achievement award at the Women in Film and Television Awards on 7th December.

Russell T Davies, the current Executive Producer of Doctor Who, said: "There are a hundred people in Cardiff working on Doctor Who and millions of viewers, in particular many children, who love the programme that Verity helped create. This is her legacy and we will never forget that."

It is noteworthy that a tribute from the current production team was made in the 2007 story Human Nature, when the Doctor, as the character John Smith, mentions his mother's name was Verity.

Jane Tranter, Controller of BBC Fiction, said: "Verity was a total one-off. She was a magnificently, madly, inspirationally talented drama producer.

"During her long and brilliant career there was no form of drama that was beyond her reach and that she didn't excel at. From the early episodes of Doctor Who to the still to be transmitted comedy drama Love Soup, via Widows, Minder, GBH, Eldorado and Jonathan Creek (to name but the tiniest handful of credits) – Verity was a phenomenon.

"She made the television drama genre utterly her own. She was deaf to the notion of compromise and there wasn't an actor, writer, director or television executive she worked with who didn't regard her with admiration, respect and awe.

"She will be hugely missed but her legacy lives on in the dramas she made, and in the generations of eager young programme-makers she has inspired.

Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, said, "In Doctor Who, Verity Lambert has left a legacy that lives on in the new productions BBC Wales has been making since 2004. We in Wales owe her a debt of gratitude for handing on such a treasure which continues to be enjoyed the world over."

"Today (Friday) is the 44th anniversary of her first ever episode of Doctor Who."

"Please Don't Squeeze the Charmin!"

Dick Wilson 1916-2007