From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
Where Are They Now?
By Dave Romm
What makes a "hit song" is a combination of factors, very few of them under the control of the artist. Many performers go on to long lasting careers, doing the occasional crowd pleasing museum piece but often prefering their later work. Here are a few CDs from former chart toppers.
Pete Townshend smashed his guitars on stage while writing songs about Tommy, the deaf dumb and blind kid who plays a mean pinball. In addition to his work with The Who, he released several solo albums. "Autumn 1970, Townshend started on Lifehouse. A multi-media piece with a movie script about The Who, its audience, and a science fiction plot concerning virtual reality, alternative reality, experience suits, and Sufi spirituality" says the web site, which goes on to say, "In 1993, Tommy opened on Broadway to become an eventual Tony winner. Townshend released the album PsychoDerelict based, in part, on the science fiction plot of Lifehouse." Lifehouse might have been groundbreaking in 1970, but the science fiction isn't very good in 1993 and the reason to pick up PsychoDerelict is the music. Horribly packaged (the lyric sheet is worse than useless) and the little plot dialogs are not banded separately so I've had to snip the aiff files to make them playable. Still, several of the songs are great. Now and Then (about falling in love) and Meher Baba (about virtual reality) are my picks. You can get the CD and others by Townshend here.
Dion DiMucci is simply Dion to most who remember him from his 1950s rocker days with the Belmonts. He's continued touring and writing songs and has several CDs. I confess I picked up 1989's Yo Frankie because of the guest stars: Dave Edmunds, Bryan Adams, k.d. lang, Lou Reed, Paul Simon and more. But there are no star turns and no personality gets in the way of the music. A bunch of good rockers got together for some good old fashioned rock; no gimmicks, no nostalgia, just a driving beat.
Steve Mariott goes back to the British band Small Faces where he had hits like Tin Soldier and Itchycoo Park, then in 1969 joined Humble Pie and wrote Natural Born Woman. He kept going, through reuinions and a solo career. This latter produced 30 Seconds to Midnight, which (according to the web bio) he doesn't like for the production elements, but I think is a pretty solid blues/rock album. Mostly covers (which is probably why the songwriter Marriott is a bit down on it), he and a tight band do very creditable versions of songs by Curtis Mayfield, Donovan, David Byrne and Bob Marley. My favorites are the non-reggae version of Get Up, Stand Up ("fight for your rights, don't give up the fight"), the driving rock of One More Heartache and the electronic blues version of You Rascal You which may be so far over the top that Louie Armstrong wouldn't recognize it.
Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso is one of the great albums of all time, a massive hit that helped spark an interest in island music that continues to this day with reggae and ska and beyond and helped launch the multifaceted career of Belafonte which also continues to this day. Classic songs like Day-O and Jamaica Fairwell have stood the test of time and the test of different artists' arrangements. Of the 11 songs on the albums, eight are written or co-written by "Lord Burgess". That turns out to be the stage name of Irving Burgie, who among many songs wrote the national anthem for his native Barbados. Forty years after Calypso, Burgie released his own CD of many of his songs made famous by Belafonte in Island in the Sun. Alas, neither the years nor the charts have been kind to Burgie. The songs (can't really call them covers) are pale imitations of the best versions. His Day-0 is a gentle ska and Jamaica Fairwell is richly arranged and he brings an earthy tempered enthusiasm that doesn't really overcome his weakened voice. I'm very glad to see that he's still around and still working, but this album is not the best introduction to his work. I can't find it new on the net, but amazon has it used, if you want to hear how the original writer handles his own songs in gentle, upbeat arrangements.
Dave Romm is a conceptual artist with a radio show and a web site and a very weird CD collection. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here.
Thanks (again), Dave!
He's Been Busy, Again!
The Worried Shrimp
Unelected Clowns..
Another Great Trio of Movie Reviews
Orgy of The Dead, Queerwolf & Blackenstein
By Joe Bacon
Another excursion into celluloid insanity awaits you in this latest installment. This time I am sharing three guilty pleasures with you in the Nickelodeon of the Nincompoops!
Exhibit #1 is another lost legend. Legends have a way of becoming bigger than life. While the search was going on for this cinematic crepetation, the Myth grew and grew until many believed it to be a lost gem. When discovered, it turned out to be a pithy rhinestone. No, I am NOT talking about the picture starring Dolly Parton (all of her) and Sylvester Stallone, I am writing about something more pathetic.
There are many legends of lost treasures in Hollywood. Live here long enough and you hear the tales told by those who have been here longer than you have. Many legends of lost treasures swirl around a building called Continental Film Industries, or CFI for short. Many who are learning the ropes in Hollywood refer to CFI as Can't Find It because of the poor customer service they have had. Our Exhibit #1 was in the CFI vault for many years because it's creator could not scrape up the money to get it out. One day, a devoted disciple of the Creator was so curious that he paid the CFI bill WITH INTEREST to see what he/she thought was a glorious gem. Boy, was he/she/it disappointed! The Creator is ED WOOD and Exhibit #1 is the dim dull drooling dip of dunces called
'ORGY OF THE DEAD'!
ORGY OF THE DEAD (1965), shot in SexiColor (?) is Ed's farewell to 'mainstream' cinema and documents his descent into the pit of porno. Imagine if you can a film that combines 20 minutes of inane Ed Wood dialogue with 60 minutes of inept topless dancers who still would not make the cut to work at Jumbo's Clown Room.
Starring in this film is the one and only Criswell. Yes, he opens this film the same way as he did Plan 9, but this time he rises out of a coffin as The Emperor of the Dead. Let me tell you that if Criswell REALLY is the Emperor of the Dead, hell, I want to stay connected to life support machines for all eternity. Seems Criswell rises from his coffin every Full Moon to summon entertainment from those who have died. It's a shame the Village People weren't around in 1965. From the rumors I have heard, they were more of Criswell's cup of 'T' (as in Mister) than the topless twits were. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Criswell wears the same cape as Bela Lugosi did in 'Abbot & Costello Meet Frankensteinî.' Bela should have figured out a way to take the cape with him!
Well, Criswell (remember he predicted Shirley Temple Black would serve as Governor of California for 20 years 1974-1994) and his sidekick Ghoulita are getting ready to have their monthly party when all of a sudden, some film gets spliced in showing two young lovers, a horror book writer and his buxom redhead girlfriend are arguing in a car. In TRUE Ed W Style, these scenes have no continuity and they shift between day and night while the couple drives to a graveyard to get the boyfriend inspired - that is to write his next blockbuster (REMEMBER - DEEP THROAT IS STILL 8 years in the future here). The couples drive up and are captured by a mummy (NO NOT BILLY) and a werewolf and are brought to judgment before Mr. C, as he squints to read the cue cards Ed W is holding. Well, the rest of the film consists of 10 strippers jiggling a certain part of their anatomy so ineptly that Al Bundy would have fallen asleep.
The LINE OF THE MOVIE:
The Boyfriend: 'Wow, they wouldnít dare put both of us in the same grave!'
Pissed-Off Girlfriend: 'I hope not. I hate you!'
Now, let us move on to Exhibit #2. This one should bring excitement to the Andy Sullivan types who cannot get enough of the Village People. This little gem is one of my GUILTY PLEASURES and it was written and directed by Mark Pirro. It is the immortal
Curse of the Queerwolf' (1988).
Poor Larry Smallbut (Michael Palazzolo) is leading the normal life of someone just getting by in West Hollywood. He and his friend Richard Cheese (Kent Butler) are hoping to strike some gold in the entertainment business. However, fate deals Larry a 'blow' from which he never fully recovers.
One night, Larry is walking home from work. He notes that the moon is full, and he tries to hurry. However, Larry is bitten on the butt by what he thinks is a transvestite. Boy, Larry feels weird after that bite. What's even worse is that he meets a poor gypsy woman several weeks later who warns him that something dreadful will happen to him when the moon gets full again.
Larry thinks the gypsy woman is kidding but he finds out that his life has changed for the worse when the moon gets full. Remember what they say in those old Lon Chaney movies -
Even if you're pure of heart
And say your prayers at night
You become a QUEERWOLF
When the moon is full and bright.
Okay, they did not say it that way, but you can guess what happens. There are very funny scenes during Larry's first transformation and another funny scene when Larry is jumped by a bunch of Young Republicans. He makes them PAY THE PRICE. Well, there is only one way to kill a queerwolf. Even President Chimpy can figure that out! Then again, who fathered those twins???????
Now, on to Exhibit #3, this puts the 'X-Ploitation' in 'Blaxploitation' movies. For those of you who weren't around in the seventies, let me tell you that you didn't really miss the Four Events that Changed Culture as we know it. Well, we all know the four were:
Nixon,
Oil Embargoes & OPEC,
Disco Music, and
Bad Movies Exploiting Black Actors
Exhibit #3 is a very bizarre example of the fourth point. Well, Youíve heard of ''Blacula,'' RIGHT???
Well, I'm not reviewing Blacula, but I am reviewing another great cinematic achievement from American Independent Pictures, that still manages to flunk you up when you try to apply the MST3K test. Exhibit #3 is
'Blackenstein' or 'Black Frankenstein' (1973).
Let's start by naming names of the Guilty Parties behind this fermented malevoulous mish-mosh! Director William Levey and Writer Frank (no relation to Stein) Saletri. Hey, these guys are no William Castle and Roman Polanski. In another 20 years, they may reach the height of Bialystock & Bloom!
Anyway, the PLOT (3.14159 inches deep) Eddie Turner (Joe de Sue) is a great talent on the football field who wants to go to college in 1972. However, Eddie's plans are interrupted when he receives a fan letter from Dick Nixon. Dick wants him to take the place of one CERTAIN IDIOT WHO HAS A WEAKNESS FOR COCAINE IN TEXAS and go to Vietnam BECAUSE THE IDIOT HE IS REPLACING HAS GOTTEN IN a FAMILY WAY WITH a 15 year old. Eddie wasn't stupid enough to do that to HIS MAIN SQUEEZE, Winnie Walker (Ivory Stone). Eddie tells his new friend Dick that he will go to Vietnam and beat up the Viet Cong. Eddie hopes to run into his pal AL GORE while he's in Vietnam and tell AL his story.
Well, when Republican operatives find out that Eddie wants to tell AL what is going on, well, he has to be stopped. Eddie's commanding officer, one COL. POWELL decides to send Eddie on a suicide mission. Col. Powell just happens to forget to tell Eddie it is a suicide mission, so Eddie goes out alone to find JANE FONDA and her COMMIE FRIENDS. Instead, Eddie finds himself in a minefield and manages to blow off both of his legs and arms. Well, Col. Powell, just happens to forget to tell Eddie's pal AL about any of this.
Eddie is taken to a M*A*S*H unit where even Hawkeye, Trapper John and BJ couldn't do anything to save his extremities, so they send him back home topless and bottomless. While Eddie has been away, his girlfriend Winnie has completed medical school and she works with the gifted Dr. STEIN (John Hartó - Yes THE John Hart who replaced Clayton Moore in 30 Lone Ranger episodes when Moore wanted More). Now, Dr. Stein has been working with a new transplant procedure that would regenerate organs and completely stop tissue rejection involving modified DNA. Eddie just happens to turn up at Dr. Stein's hospital!
Winnie sees him and her heart breaks. She runs to Dr. Stein and begs him to help Eddie. This really pisses off Dr. Steinís assistant MALCOM (Roosevelt Jackson) who secretly lusts for Winnie. Dr. Stein, following what his former self, The Lone Ranger, would do wheels Eddie into the operating room. He asks Malcolm to be sure to bring that DNA serum in the proper strength so Dr. Stein can get Eddie back on the football field.
Malcolm decides that if he offs Eddie heíll be able to get into Winnie's (DELETED) and he decides to mix an EXTRA STREGNTH SOLUTION for Dr Stein to inject. Dr. Stein successfully completes the surgery and everything looks great - until Dr. Stein decides to go home and sleep. While the Doc sleeps, the EXTRA STREGNTH SOLUTION OVERSTIMULATES EDDIE'S NEW ARMS AND LEGS AND EDDIE GROWS THE BIGGEST AFRO of ALL TIME. Eddie takes one look at himself in the mirror, seeing that he is more of a freak than the guys parading in front of Joe Weider at the Mr. Olympia Contest, he becomes one bad mother (Hush your mouth - hey I'm only talking about a bad movie here - we can dig it!) who waddles around and kills a bunch of folks that piss him off. He decides to go after Dick Nixon and that IDIOT IN TEXAS WHO PUT HIM IN THIS SITUATION, but rest assured, our Boys in Blue stop him before he forces Tricky Dicky into an earlier retirement.
Oh, Did I tell you that Liz Renay, who later appeared in John Waters' Desperate Living is also in this Cast of Plaster? Gee, how could I forget that?
Well, that's it for this tour of the Theater of Trash. Don't feel bad, we've only begun to scratch the surface here folks. Be sure to bring your bottle of Lysol with you for your next visit!
~~ Joe Bacon
Thanks, Joe! Great job, as usual.
An Opinion
From My Old Pal
From Rosemulhol
Subj: (no subject)
Just a note from a progressive and musician; I really think you are sick! I have never seen a mainstream "hit" like this so devoid of soul, so devoid of anything we might consider compelling. Honestly, this is the worst reality bite I have ever experienced [ save that idiot AL GORE AND PICKLES GORE ] , but really- It hurts to proscribe a liberal philosophyand see that everyone with whom you are aligned are stark raving tacky. I can feel that you miss my message Rush and the ditto-sheep are Americans and are deserving the same rights to respect as we are----HONESTLY I THINK BART COP AND YOU RE ENTERTAINMENT OPINES ARE 'OTHER WORLDLY' IN THEIR TACKINESS but i'll keep on monitoring Keep on fighting the good fight.
Rosemulhol
Nice open. To what topic are you referring?
'Stark-raving-tacky' is a pretty good description of the household decor, and one that I will take as a compliment. Take care.
For more missives from Rosemulhol...
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Got stuck on Faux again tonight. 'Futurama' was pretty good with all the 'Star Trek' voices. Wonder if this show will be renewed?
I'm really glad there are only 4 episodes of 'X-Files' left. The sibling of a pal is one of the producer's, and I somewhat feel obligated to
watch. But, they really pissed me off tonight by killing off my favorites - 'The Lone Gunmen'. Big pisser.
Tonight, Monday, CBS starts the night with fresh episodes of 'Yes, Dear' and 'Baby Bob'. Then it's a rerun 'Raymond', followed by fresh
episodes of 'Becker' and 'First Monday'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Charles Barkley & Oliver Mtukudzi.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Michael Clarke Duncan, Jami Gertz & Hank Williams III.
NBC starts the night with fresh episodes of 'Fear Factor' and 'Third Watch'. 'Crossing Jordan' is a rerun.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Edward Burns & Jimmy Eat World.
Conan is in a traditional Monday night rerun with Kevin Spacey & Jennifer Connelly.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Michael Clarke Duncan & Course of Nature.
Of course, ABC starts the night off with another rerun of their so-called 'Funniest Videos', followed a fresh 'The Bachelor' and their new 'Sybil the Soothsayer',
'Contact: Talking to the Dead' with George Anderson. The 'highlight' of the so-called psychic-who-talks-to-the-dead is the family of Bonny Lee Bakley Blake. Sure is a night to be Disney-proud.
Scheduled on a fresh 'Bill Maher' are Robert Conrad, Kevin Richardson, and Erin Shannon.
The WB is fresh with '7th Heaven' and 'Angel'.
Faux is also fresh with 'Boston Public' and 'Ally McBeal'.
UPN has a night of reruns - 'The Hughleys', 'One On One', 'The Parkers' and 'Girlfriends'.
Tonight, AMC features 'Mother, Jugs & Speed' (19976) (it's tagline
was 'they don't call them that for nothing!'), starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch & Harvey Keitel (& more!).
On TCM, it's The Lusty Men (1952), directed by Nicholas Ray, and stars
Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum & Jimmie Dodd (yes, 'Jimmie', one of the 2 adults on the old Mickey Mouse Club), and it was written by
David Dortort. If you ever watched an episode of 'Bonanza' or 'High Chapparal', it was most likely written by David Dortort.
It is followed by Double Indemnity (1944). Film noir at its best with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck & Edward G. Robinson.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Bob Guccione Stoops Low, Again
Anna Kournikova
Russian tennis ace Anna Kournikova may be ready to whack some balls at Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, who is about to unveil nude photos of the
luscious lobber. A source at the skin mag tells says that her layout in the June issue will be "a lovely, tasteful pictorial."
Kournikova and her boyfriend, Enrique Iglesias, may beg to differ. The sizzling images were taken by a paparazzo. Though shot at a distance, a source
tells the Daily News' Roberto Santiago, "They're high quality."
Kournikova's camp didn't return calls, and Iglesias' managers wouldn't comment.
Anna Kournikova
Fun Link
'The Mini-Mizer'
The Mini-Mizer (Lego Fun)
American Bandstand's 50th...A Celebration
Little Richard
Little Richard performs "Good Golly Miss Molly" with the Pointer Sisters providing backup vocals during the "supergroup" finale of "American Bandstand's
50th...A Celebration," Sunday, April 21, 2002, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. A variety of musicians including Stevie Wonder, Michael
Jackson and Cher taped performances over the weekend for the television special, which is hosted by Dick Clark and scheduled to air on May 3.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
The Tale Of The Tape
R. Kelly
Since the alleged R. Kelly sex tapes first hit the media two months ago, the primary question has been if the girl featured on the 27-minute tape, currently
under investigation by the Chicago police, was actually underage, since her identity had been kept hidden.
While her immediate family — as well as the girl herself — have yet to step forward, a former protégé of R. Kelly has told a Los Angeles radio station that the
girl on the tape is her niece, whom she says was 14 at the time the tape was made.
Sparkle, who had a hit with Kelly in 1998 called "Be Careful," told radio DJ Adimu of the Beat (KKBT) on April 3 that her niece was a fledging rapper whom
she introduced to Kelly. She said this took place during a time when other members of her family also had a working relationship with the singer (Sparkle's
brother-in-law, for instance, played guitar for Kelly, she said). Sparkle claimed that her niece met Kelly when she was 12. "We've had contact all along with
the girl's family," Chicago police spokesperson Officer Pat Camden said. "But until our investigation is complete, we can't confirm or deny that [Sparkle is the girl's aunt]."
For the rest, R. Kelly
The Overlooked Film Festival
Roger Ebert
Most were box office flops. Others didn't make it that far. That none found much of an audience made them perfect for Roger Ebert and his Overlooked Film Festival.
The annual festival begins April 24 in the college town of Urbana-Champaign. This is the fourth year that Ebert, a graduate of the University of Illinois and an
Urbana native, has hosted the festival for films he feels deserve a second look.
Ebert says major Hollywood studios aren't taking enough chances on independent and foreign films and are choosing safe pictures that aren't challenging moviegoers.
The festival opens with a screening of "Patton," the 1970 film starring George C. Scott as the World War II general. The movie will be shown in 70mm — a
format rarely used by current filmmakers.
Other films include "Metropolis" — both the 1927 classic silent film and last year's Japanese animated movie — and "Say Amen Somebody," a 1982 documentary
about gospel music.
Roger Ebert
'Where Are They Now?'
Willie Aames & Bibleman
Sent by Joe Bacon
Willie Aames, the former teen heartthrob who starred in the TV hits "Eight Is Enough" and "Charles in Charge," is Bibleman, a caped superhero who
throws Bible verses around faster than you can say "Shazam!"
"It's like Pink Floyd for kids. And in-your-face Jesus Christ with Spandex," said Aames.
More than 300,000 kids will see the touring live show this year and many more will see Aames on one of the several videos he's made that feature the superhero fighting bad guys with a sword and campy humor.
He fell into a life of "drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll," he said. The series ended, and Aames went from being married, making a million dollars a year and living in a fancy home on the beach to being divorced, "sleeping on the floor in the barrio, in a closet" and cleaning toilets on boats for $30 a day.
Willie Aames & Bibleman
Can Identify With The Sentiment
'I Cry'
A masked man holds a sign reading "I cry, I cry, I'm ashamed of being French" after early results of the first round of the presidential elections in Paris,
Sunday April 21, 2002. Media projections showed President Jacques Chirac was in the lead and should face extreme-right National Front party leader Jean-Marie
Le Pen in the runoff on May 5.
Photo by Jacques Brinon
BartCop TV!
Cartoon
Zippy (In Color)
Zippy (In Color)
And 'Worst Government Official or Agency', Too
'Big Brother Award'
Oracle Corp. chief executive Larry Ellison has been named "worst corprate invader" by a British privacy advocacy group for his proposal to boost
national security with a national identity card system based on his company's software.
The Redwood City software titan received the dubious honor in the annual "Big Brother Awards" handed out by Privacy International at the Computers,
Freedom and Privacy conference Thursday night. No one from Oracle stepped forward to accept the statuette, which depicts a bronze boot stomping on
a human head. A call to Oracle was not immediately returned.
The award for "Worst Government Official or Agency" went to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, for the detention of large numbers of suspects after
Sept. 11 and for his support of an anti-terrorism bill whose surveillance provisions are opposed by privacy advocates.
Gov. Gray Davis also was nominated for opposing workplace and financial privacy legislation.
'Big Brother Award'
In Washington, DC
'Hanging In The Balance'
With the Capitol in the background, paraplegics from the Lives in the Balance group "hang" around Thursday, April 18, 2002 during a demonstration
to urge the Senate not to ban therapeutic cloning for stem cell research. The group believes that while Congress debates the issue, their lives
and the lives of millions of Americans are "hanging in the balance."
Photo by Rick Bowmer
Picked Up For Another Year
Jenny Jones
Tribune Broadcasting has come to the rescue of the syndicated talk show "Jenny Jones," which was in danger of being silenced after more than 10 years on the air.
The former Chris-Craft television stations in the top two markets New York and Los Angeles, Fox-owned WWOR and KCOP, had decided not to renew the show after this season.
But Tribune has agreed to carry "Jenny" on all of its 23 stations, representing coverage of more than 38% of the country, starting this fall, the show's 12th
season. The deal marks the first group-wide station pact for the show in its history; "Jenny" has been sold on a market-by-market basis in the past. All told,
the show is now cleared this fall on TV stations covering more than 85% of the country.
Jenny Jones
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
36-Inches - That's A Yard!
'Community Joint'
Australian police arrested five people who defiantly puffed away in public on what they claimed was the country's biggest marijuana joint, but it turned
out to be nothing more than tobacco and harmless legal herbs.
The 36-inch so-called "community joint" -- rolled using brown paper as wrapping -- was part of a chaotic demonstration in Darwin Saturday by the Network
Against Prohibition (NAP) against a planned tightening of drug laws.
The NAP wants the government to accept marijuana as an integral part of Northern Territory lifestyle but the tighter legislation against those suspected
of dealing is due to come into force next month.
'Community Joint'
Sunday At The Trail Blazers / Lakers Game
Jack
A bearded Jack Nicholson watches the action during the opener of the best-of-five first-round Western Conference playoff series between the Portland
Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, Sunday, April 21, 2002.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
Shooting Pilot For AMC
Mike Nelson
AMC, a cable network dedicated to the world of American film, is developing a reality series about towns that serve as locations for movies.
The pilot for "Movie Trailer," hosted by "Mystery Science Theater 3000" veteran Mike Nelson, will focus on Woodstock, Ill., where the Bill Murray comedy "Groundhog Day" was shot.
If the pilot goes to series, Nelson will travel around the country by trailer, visiting almost-famous locations in the towns and calling on
locals to share stories about their moments as Hollywood insiders. He'll also fill his trailer with memorabilia, taking pieces of movie history with him.
Mike Nelson
Foul Play Not Suspected
Layne Staley
Authorities said Layne Staley, 34, lay dead in his north Seattle apartment for two weeks, his body surrounded by heroin-injection paraphernalia,
before a relative discovered him.
Foul play was not suspected, and there was to be no criminal investigation, Seattle Police spokesman Duane Fish said.
Staley's body was reported found Friday, but the presence of drug paraphernalia and estimated time of death were not initially released.
An autopsy was conducted on Saturday, but the cause of death won't be confirmed for weeks because toxin tests were being conducted, the
King County Medical Examiner's office said Sunday.
Some 100 friends and fans held an candlelight vigil Saturday night at the Seattle Center.
Behind Staley's snarling, wailing vocals, and Jerry Cantrell's driving guitar riffs, Alice and Chains became one of the biggest acts to
emerge from the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the early 1990s, with Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group's debut, "Facelift," got
significant airplay, and its 1994 EP, "Jar of Flies," debuted at No. 1.
Alice in Chains was essentially in limbo by 1995, as Staley fell deeper into addiction. He spoke of making a comeback, but the band never again launched a major tour.
Staley entered rehab several times but couldn't kick his habit. He was featured on the cover of a 1996 issue of Rolling Stone with the heading "The Needle and the Damage Done."
Layne Staley
In Memory
Reginald Rose
Reginald Rose, one of the leading writers from television's "Golden Age" in the 1950s who was best known for the movie "Twelve Angry Men", died on Friday at a Connecticut hospital at age 81, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Rose died of complications from heart failure at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, his son said.
Rose won an Emmy Award in 1954 for writing the Studio One television version of "Twelve Angry Men", in which one juror painstakingly sways the 11 others debating the fate of a Puerto Rican youth charged with killing his father.
Rose received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of the 1957 film version, which starred Henry Fonda, who co-produced the movie with Rose. The film, which also featured Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley Sr., E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam, was directed by Sidney Lumet and was also nominated for best picture that year.
Rose, a native New Yorker whose work was distinguished by his focus on social and political issues, won three Emmy Awards and was nominated for six.
In 1957, Rose wrote "The Defender", another Studio One special that brought him acclaim and was later turned into "The Defenders" television series in collaboration with producer Herbert Brodkin.
"The Defenders", which ran for four seasons and 130 episodes after debuting in 1961, starred E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as a father-and-son team of defense attorneys in perhaps the most socially-conscious series to air on television in those days.
Other movie screenplays written by Rose included "The Wild Geese" (1978) and "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" (1981).
Reginald Rose
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Very Recently updated.
Put up a page devoted to 'The Osbournes'
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite quotes...
Scroll down for lots of addys to pick from (or 'from which to pick', for the truly anal retentive).
