Hart is a wonder wall +meet Mario

MANCHESTER - bella Mancio... with Rhian Sugden from Bury, Manchester, for Lords of Football. 

Still don't know what '69' on her socks means...
Vote for Mario Balotelli as Etihad player for November too, here and you can meet him. 

England-Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart sings Oasis' Wonderwall, mimicking Liam Gallagher's swagger. 

The Verve "History", song feat. Liam Gallagher clapping. Something copied from (Wil)Liam Blake's poem "London". 

Tonight @ Old Toilet, Richard Ashcroft's Manchester United (Premier League=Serie A) vs London's Crystal Palace (Championship=Serie B) 1-2 lol ...Man Utd out. I had predicted a 0-3.

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England's Capello the legend: I'll never join Inter Milan

MILAN - Photo: very Oasis attitude :), or also: very Bush aha.
England manager, ex AC Milan legend Fabio Capello was at Milano Rho Fiera 2015, where Oasis had to perform their last concert ever, and he put an end to all the speculation about him joining Inter Milan. The second team of Milano tried more than one time to have him as new manager. But now he finally said: "I'll never join Inter Milan... I was at AC Milan and I could never jump down to Inter".
Similar to what Paolo Maldini said last year.
Capello also said that giving the "scudetto" 2006 Serie A league victory to Inter Milan was a big mistake by the "incompetent people" who decided that after the "Calciopoli" scandal, because "I won it on the pitch".
He also said he taught Ibrahimovic how to score goals from AC Milan Dutch legend Marco Van Basten. The other day the Swedish striker scored his 100th and 101th goals in Serie A.

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Andy Bell unplugged

STOCKHOLM - An extremely rare acoustic set by Andy Bell, 16.11.2003 @ Debaser to download here. In his adopted country of Sweden, a mix of Ride (Mark Gardiner), Hurricane #1 and one of the only two performances of the Oasis great b-side by Andy, Thank You For The Good Times.

1 : Chelsea Girl 

2 : Paralysed 

3 : Howard Hughes 

4 : Today 

5 : Castle On The Hill 

6 : Thank You For The Good Times 

7 : Elizabeth, My Dear 

8 : Step Into My World 

9 : Like A Daydream 

10 : Close My Eyes

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Beady Eye in Vancouver

VANCOUVER - The crowd at the Commodore was a mixed bag of big-chested 40-somethings in Oasis shirts, excited tiny blond girls riding on people’s shoulders, and screaming die-hard Liam fans. As Beady Eye walked on-stage, the room filled with unified chants of “Liam”, repeated over and over until the rock star appeared. The younger Gallagher was dressed in what could have easily been something from his clothing line, Pretty Green.
As Beady Eye launched into Four Letter Word (one of the catchier songs off its debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding) the crowd hollered and all eyes were on the singer as he leaned into the microphone, leg extended to the side in his signature stance like a child tap dancer in a school musical. Between each song, Gallagher chugged bottled water, fixed his perfectly coiffed, 1960s mod haircut and edged towards the excited crowd like he was ready to pounce. “Beatles and Stones” (an obvious tribute to two great rock ’n’ roll bands he admires) and “Millionaire” followed as his chiselled, weathered face became red and wet with sweat.
He asked where “all the chicks” were between songs like The Roller and For Anyone.
Although he didn’t do much, he was mesmerizing to watch, just for the fact that he was Liam Gallagher, spitting, stomping, and snarling within arm’s reach.
Noel’s solo project, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, is not gaining any great critical acclaim. Beady Eye were popular enough to almost fill the Commodore.

Gem covering the Beatles "Every little thing" in Cadaques (Millionaire). Last night Gem was drunk :), same as Gem in Milan

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Beady Eye are Oasis without the dictator

LONDON - Liam Gallagher seems reluctant to do it, so the door is open for plenty of speculation.
Liam was one of two focal points in Oasis, the other being Noel Gallagher. Noel, more or less, dominated Oasis with the short-fused Liam put in Noel’s shadow. Noel wrote most of the songs, talked a bigger talk than Oasis could walk and thus became the band’s voice.
As most people who followed Oasis know, Liam and Noel fought constantly, leading Noel to leave the band and Liam to carry on as best he could. An underdog.
Which is why Beady Eye is such a revelation, even if Liam is matter-of-fact about the band and its album, Different Gear, Still Speeding.
While Noel was pontificating, Liam was settling down and improving as a songwriter. He also could rely on the other guys in Oasis, which he’d inherited. They — Gem Archer, Andy Bell, Chris Sharrock — had songs and ideas of their own.
“We wanted to show that we knew what we were doing,” notes Gallagher.
Although he is miles away, talking on the telephone, it’s possible to imagine him saying this with a shrug. Oasis had been together 15 years. The transition to Beady Eye was, from that perspective, natural.
“Some of the songs were there before,” he adds. “About 50% would have been on the next Oasis album.”
[I think even a bit more, 'cause some of those should've been songs by Andy and Gem too - Marco]
However, this wasn’t Oasis, the point being made by taking a new name. Beady Eye signified a fresh start.
“We just wanted to get into the studio,” Liam explains. “It’s a lot different from having Noel there. We just wanted great guitar music with lots of melody.”
Which is probably why the album sounds like a veteran band with the leash off. Without Noel calling the shots and being the dictator, the members of Beady Eye seem freed to try out a range of ideas. The resulting album has a freshness with colour and variety that the last few Oasis albums didn’t deliver.
Still acting as a guideline, though, was Liam’s devotion to British invasion rock, especially to The Beatles. Beady Eye has elements of The Kinks and Small Faces in songs such as “Millionaire,” “Standing on the Edge of the Noise” or, tellingly, “Beatles and Stones” and “Wigwam” could be the band’s “It’s All Too Much,” Beatle George Harrison’s psychedelic opus.
Gallagher figures the next Beady Eye album even has more of the Harrison flavour — of his All Things Must Pass album.
But that second album is nowhere near completion. For now, the band is performing songs from the first album and developing.
“I think with the first album we just wanted to record the songs,” Liam says, “With the second album you’ll see growth.”

another video with Pattie Boyd

very similar to an Oasis groupie, called 'Hellen'... they're hidden and have nicknames, as prostitutes, LOL

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George Harrison 2001-2011

MILAN - The other day was 20 years without Freddie Mercury, today is 10 years without my favourite Beatle, also F1 McLaren fan, see an older post. 

I am thinking about the use of celebrities who died, made by other celebrities. The use made by fans is fine, to remember them and learn from. 

The use by celebrities could seem the same, but sometimes it's not really appropriate. 

In Formula 1, the other day in Brazil, Hamilton and Barrichello used helmets of the same colours and design, of the famous one used by the legendary McLaren driver Senna. I didn't really like it, I even said it's a shame. You two will never have even a nail of Senna. And I don't know if he had agreed to use it. The helmet is like a signature in this sport. Of course during the weekend and race, both of them had terrible results. Senna helmet still not working eh. Maybe he didn't agree. Please don't use it anymore. And there's already Bruno, Senna's nephew using it.

In music, it's a bit different. Some days ago Liam Gallagher said Beady Eye next album will be more inspired by "All things must pass" by George (Liam said he cries listening to that album). He was also an inspiration for style and Pretty Green clothes.
Everybody knows John Lennon is Liam's idol, some even say he thinks to be him, but it's not true. When asked about his favourite song, album, etc., it's always something by George Harrison. As album, the triple All things must pass (nothing ever lasts forever, lol), and as song Something (Beatles times), the biggest love song ever, also according to the Italian origins legend Frank "The Voice" Sinatra.
And sometimes Liam also says, e.g. at the end of a Twitter twit: "Beware of darkness", as the song by George. Noel Gallagher probably took the word Wonderwall from the psychedelic "Wonderwall music" soundtrack by George: he was also a film producer, as Liam will be soon, about the Beatles.
Photo: with Pattie Boyd, an Oasis groupie was very similar to her.

Tribute day to George (when you want), you know he was the most inspired one by Indian culture and mysterious (because he was introvert).

I was born and spent all my life near this place. This is a hidden street where I used to buy the newspapers everyday, and in fact the name is Press Street (via Stampa). There's also live music and dance shows in this Indian restaurant in Milan historic centre, Sarla www.sarla.it

I love spicy food as the Indian one (and Mexican), and it's also Liam's favourite one. Sometimes I cook Indian even at home, I make the Prawn Biryani, that is spicy rice with curry, shrimps (Jean Shrimpton :), coconut, onion, to eat while drinking tea. One time in another Indian restaurant quite close to this one, a waiter FORCED me ahaha to finish a dish (it was a VERY spicy tomato soup), 'cause probably accepting to eat the whole dish means "good manners" for Indian people, otherwise it would mean you don't like it. My friends were wondering how I could eat that, but almost every day I eat spicy food.

The Football English pub where Oasis used to go, it's near here and next to it there's a Hare Krishna place :))

some beautiful songs by George:

Something

Here comes the sun

My sweet Lord (where Noel Gallagher copied some Supersonic and Hindu Times)

While my guitar gently weeps

Wah wah (from my compilation)

Isn't it a pity

Got my mind set on you

Wonderwall movie trailer

Oasis' To Be Where There's Life (song by Gem), with Indian sitar

Oasis using Indian sitar from minute 5:50

Oasis covering George's Within You Without You

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did Oasis fail in America, as Noel says? No, of course

Oasis had FOUR (of seven cds) top5 albums in the States, platinum records, about 9 million albums sold, even Be Here Now was 2nd and voted album of the year (and Noel Gallagher said that album was a mistake... Liam&the fans love it), Rose Bowl and Madison Square Garden sold out for 3 consecutive nights, in record time for a British group, US bands as the Killers named Oasis as their inspiration to start a band, etc. I remember the film Upside Down even showed a map of USA in an UK flag and "Oasis" written. Conquered. If Noel was a bit humble, instead of Liam, should blame his songwriting going poor.

besides, Britpop had many anti-American characteristics (see the film Live Forever, that is a bit too political), and those results are great.

Oasis failing in America because of Liam in '96 as Noel says? "because Liam is a twat" as Noel fans say? Not only Noel left the band in the USA in 1994, plus abandoned in 2000 and 2009, he also walked out of the same '96 tour only two weeks later (because of a minor disgreement Liam & Bonehead had over a leather jacket).
I bet the 28th position reached by Noel's album in the US is still Liam's fault eh...

one to wake up a bit after Noel's gig. The Prodigy feat. Liam Gallagher "Shoot down"

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r.i.p. Gary Speed

HUNTINGTON - Wales national football team manager Gary Speed has been found hanged at his home. 
The Football Association of Wales revelaed the death of the 42-year-old former Leeds, Newcastle and Wales midfielder this morning.
A FAW statement said: "We are sad to announce the death of the national team manager Gary Speed.
"We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family.
"We ask that everyone respects the family's privacy at this very sad time."
A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police confirmed Speed's death.
She said: "At 7.08am today, Cheshire Police was informed of a sudden death at an address in Huntington, Chester.
"Officers went to the scene where a 42-year-old man was found dead.
"The next of kin have been informed and have confirmed the identity of the man as Gary Speed.
"There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. The family have requested that they are left in peace to grieve at this difficult time.
"A family tribute will be released at a later date but not today."
In a 20-year playing career, Speed won the English league championship with Leeds in 1992.
He also played for Newcastle, Everton, Bolton and Sheffield United.
Speed started his coaching career with Sheffield United last year and only took over the Wales team in December.
The football world was paid tribute to Speed as news of his death was revealed this morning.
Speaking on Twitter, Manchester United striker Michael Owen said: "Just cannot believe the news regarding Gary Speed.
"We waved at each other a couple of days ago dropping our kids off at school. I'm numb.
"He lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind two sons. Tragic."
Former Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate also paid his respects on the social networking site.
Southgate said: "Absolutely tragic news about Gary Speed. So sad for his young family."

Kelly Jones from Stereophonics sings Can't Take My Eyes Off You (a Welsh soccer anthem) in tribute

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Tevez: I want to play for AC Milan

MILAN - I think I've already heard this from other AC players ;)
Noel and Liam Gallagher will have to come to Milan to see their idol, ex captain Carlos Tevez (but of course he's not playing yet), his transfer to Milan giants has moved a step closer after his agent held positive talks with the Italian champions.
Kia Joorabchian had a two-hour meeting with Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani at the club's headquarters.
It had been thought a short-term loan was on the cards yet the word in Italy is a permanent transfer is on the negotiating table.
City boss Roberto Mancini is happy to see the back of him but has insisted Manchester City want the £40m market value for the striker, although privately City admit they will not get it.
And the Serie A side are considering a £25 million swoop for City outcast Tevez in the January transfer window.
Joorabchian said: "It was a constructive dialogue which left me feeling happy.
"Milan is the best solution at the moment, they are his first choice.
"Carlos wants to wear the Milan shirt."
Juventus are also interested in signing the Argentine striker, but he prefers Milan.

Tevez is currently at his home in Argentina after a total breakdown in communications with City.
Mancini said that Tevez's decision to return to Argentina without permission had ended any hope the forward had of playing for the Premier League club again.
The 27-year-old has still not returned to Manchester and recently missed a scheduled meeting with the Premier League leaders to discuss his future.
Mancini refused to answer questions about the matter in his weekly press conference.
Tevez has not played since apparently refusing an instruction from Mancini to warm up during a Champions League game against Bayern Munich in September.
Tevez said he didn't refuse. [If I can say something that maybe nobody said, to me it seemed a bit of an excuse that of Mancini saying he refused. Probably it's true, Tevez has got a difficult character, but you know they don't get on well together and Mancini didn't want to have any more problems with him, it was all too fast, and he wanted to give a "shock" to the team, excluding Tevez forever, to make them work even more seriously, and in fact also Balotelli began to have many good performances].
City fined Tevez four weeks' wages last month but were forced to halve it after the Professional Footballers' Association intervened.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Joorabchian added: "In reality the problem is only with Mancini, not with the club.
"Carlos has been clear with the club, the only consequence was a fine.
"However, it's obvious they're interested in resolving the situation."
Tevez is under contract with City until 2014 and earns a whopping £200,000 a week at the Etihad Stadium.
But Joorabchian reckons the Rossoneri will be able to meet his client's pay demands.
He said: "I don't think problems should be talked about with his wages seeing as all big players earn high salaries.
"However, we didn't talk about the economic aspect with Galliani."
Milan are on the lookout for a new forward with Antonio Cassano set to miss the rest of the season recovering from heart surgery.

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football day for Noel in Milan

MILAN - Noel Gallagher is in Milano today, and on Monday and Tuesday. He said he wants to go to the stadium, to see AC Milan-Chievo Verona,  at the San Siro beside his idol Berlusconi. My sister is there @ red ring 1, beside God, lol.
I mean God Noel, as both fans of Noel and Berlusconi consider them a divinity.
This game is the betrothed vs Romeo & Juliet :), that is, life vs death (of you and me :).
The people could attend the Smashing Pumpkins instead of his gig.
In the afternoon there's a big match, Liverpool vs Manchester City (Mancini's birthday), we could go with Noel @ Football English pub as in the good old days... oasisblues offering the olive branch to Noel Gallaga? nah, Sara wouldn't like a whole day of football... she would prefer to go shopping (shoes) as in February 2009, when it had snowed so hard. Anyway, the pub is in the zone of shoes shops ;), all open for Christmas. I think I'll invite him and then we're not going lol... in Italian slang it's called the "pacco" ahaha. There is the Formula 1 at the same hour, and only English ladies want to see that at the pub...

On Monday he's at some radios, and gig in the evening.
Meanwhile, Manchester United vs 10 man Newcastle 1-1, Manchester City vs 11 man Newcastle 3-1 dominating. Difference.

A step back, his Top musicians are: 1. the Beatles 2. Sex Pistols 3. the Rolling Stones 4. the Who 5. the Kinks 6. he can't remember 7. Oasis
Mine: 1. Led Zeppelin 2. the Beatles 3. Ennio Morricone 4. Oasis 5. the Queen 6. the Verve 7. I can't remember, great band. Maybe Paul Weller.

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rossonero Noel @ Jools Holland bootleg

LONDON - AC Milan rossoneri red & black colours for Noel Gallagher's guitar and background, preparing to come to Milan. 

Download the mini-bootleg Live @ Later with Jools Holland here, email me for the password (same old one for Noel's bootlegs)

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Liam: you'd hate the guy who wrote Elvis songs to be singing them

LONDON - Liam Gallagher says Beady Eye may play Oasis songs when they tour in 2013.
He told US radio station Live 105: "The mentality is, Oasis was no longer, we believed, and still believe, in our album, and we're not going to play any old songs and we're going to stick to it until the end of the year.
"And maybe next time we go out, with the new album, we could get a few in there - who knows.
"But I think we've done alright without playing them. I've got no desire to play them at the moment to be quite honest, I've heard them enough. But, you know, maybe we might throw a few in there."
Noel - who hasn't spoken to his brother since he walked out of Oasis - has been playing tracks from the band's back catalogue on live dates promoting his new High Flying Birds project, but Liam thinks he has equal claim to perform the songs, also those his brother wrote. [23 Oasis songs are not by Noel]
He added: "If I wanted to play them we'd play them, no one's stopping us from playing them, I feel they're my songs as much as Noel's , regardless of whether I wrote them."
Comparing himself to legendary vocalist Elvis Presley (his idol, we are 3 people with the same big sideburns :) on our face, but mine are way better), he added: "It's like Elvis, you'd hate the guy who wrote Elvis's songs to be singing them wouldn't you? You wouldn't know what the fuck was going on. If I want to play them, I'll play them."

To the email readers: here is another competition to win tickets to Beady Eye in Los Angeles.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd live

VIGEVANO - The conservative Lynyrd Skynyrd, the legendary American band, will play here again, this time @ castello di Vigevano castle (nice venue), near Milan, 13 June 2012. 

You know, the (Southern) Confederate flag they use, is sometimes considered racist, and it was used by Elvis Presley too (Liam's idol, who's even got his tattoo). In fact (but not for this) he was even accused of being a Nazi. The band played for Bush in 2004. They have the (American) eagle as symbol, as Manchester City. 

This is all so nationalist, so American pride, so right-wing, so Berlusconi lol, that Noel Gallagher would love it. 

Forrest Gump - Sweet Home Alabama

Milano 2009 - great audience


Almost Famous - Simple Man. Reminds of the times with Oasis groupies

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top lad Berlusconi releases new album, to headline Leeds festival 2012

MILAN - (photo: the first on the right is Mario Balotelli's Raffaella Fico, while Berlusconi's was Nicole, same name of Liam's wife lol).
You would like him to play festivals eh, at least he would bring nice girls.
At least Berlusconi fan Noel Gallagher would join this.
Former Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, 75 years old, has finally released his new album True Love.
The Guardian (left-wing... so to mock him) reports that the controversial politician who quit his post last week, published the cd. The Guardian should shut up a bit, about things they don't know, as when they wrote Liam Gallagher abandoned the stage at the iTunes Festival 2009 (but that was normal, when Noel was singing, and that time I remember Liam was even just beside the drums), and so he wanted to sue them.
Berlusconi's album is his 4th with guitarist and former parking attendant Mariano Apicella from Naples.
The "zio Silvio" (uncle Silvio, as we call him), who used to sing on cruise ships, has sung for a host of his fellow world leaders, including Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and George W Bush at his villa in Sardinia – where his notorious 'bunga-bunga' parties took place.
One of the other musicians on the album, Angelo Valsiglio, said in an interview with Italian music magazine Viva Verdi that the record is a "really elegant and refined production with Brazilian hints".
In September, Berlusconi received political criticism from an unlikely source when Madonna branded him as "unsuitable to govern Italy". The singer, who is of Italian-American descent, made the remark during a visit to the Venice Film Festival for the unveiling of her new movie WE.

Madonna makes me love Berlusconi. Legend, top lad *.

* A lad is a male who specialises in creating and distributing exquisite banter. Though most lads are youngish (late teens and early twenties) age is not a defining characteristic and you will find both young lads and old lads. Some special skills of lads include, but are not limited to the following:

- Binning Pints
- Exposing genitalia and getting naked in public places
- Throwing up after copious alcohol consumption
- Spousal Abuse
- Getting kicked out of pubs/nightclubs for being overly offensive

Excelling in all areas will earn a lad the title of "top lad". There is no higher praise that can be bequeathed upon an individual.
"That guy just saw off a whole bottle of Vodka then partyboyed that bird, what a lad!"

"Andy got kicked out of City for binning his pint, then turtling naked on the dancefloor...LAD"

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Noel in Milan, Tevez @ AC Milan

MILAN - Noel Gallaga will be in Milano on Monday, let us know if you wanna meet God, lol.
Noel Gallagher gave his top 5 Oasis favourite songs: 1.Supersonic, 2.Rock'n'roll star, 3.Lyla, 4.Champagne Supernova, 5.Wonderwall.
Nahhhhhhh noooel how can you say that, as Liam says: you have no music taste.
I say: 1.Rockin' chair 2.Stay young 3.Let's all make believe 4.Whatever 5.Who put the weight of world on my shoulders (Rockin' chair and Whatever weren't really written by him, but by Griffiths of The Real People, fundamental for Oasis)
top 5 written by Liam: 1.Boy with the blues 2.I'm outta time 3.The morning son 4.Pass me down the wine (love it) 5.Love like a bomb (or Songbird, 'cause even Noel likes it very much)

Tevez agent was here today! Tonight with Galliani @ "da Giannino" restaurant. They said Tevez will go with AC Milan to Dubai in December, so he can be fit to play again soon. My sister is going with AC Milan to Dubai too, will post some photos. Proper place to recover, for a depressed fat man as Tevez.

Mister Bean - Thanksgiving turkey for the American boy sganauei Noel :)

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Freddie Mercury 1991-2011, "somebody told me that Italians are the best singers in the world...especially in Milano!"

LONDON — 24 November 1991-2011. Freddie Mercury died 20 years ago today but his star has only burned brighter in the two decades since, with Queen and their larger-than-life frontman as popular as ever.
The British rockers, marking their 40th anniversary this year, are among the world's biggest-selling artists ever - with most of their sales coming in the 20 years since Mercury died.
Queen's guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor are busier than ever and Mercury's songs such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Don't Stop Me Now" still endure as classics.
The Independent on Sunday newspaper said the singer's death "seemed a mere hiccup in his career".
In the years since, Mercury's stock has risen, with a new generation of artists citing Queen among their influences.
Mercury, 45, died at his London home. He had been diagnosed HIV positive several years earlier and died of bronchial pneumonia, brought on by AIDS.
Queen's lead singer is remembered for his captivating live performances, spellbinding vocals and enduring hits including "We Are The Champions", "Killer Queen", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".
The jukebox musical "We Will Rock You", launched in 2002, still plays to a packed house in London and has been staged around the world from Australia to South Africa, Japan, Europe and Las Vegas.
With interest still high, a film about Mercury, starring Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen, is in the pipeline, focusing on the years leading up to Queen's stellar performance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.
"Even though physically he is not here, his presence seems more potent than ever," May wrote in a blog marking Mercury's 65th birthday in September.
"He will always epitomise the perfect frontman - the consummate channel of communication between a band and an audience.
"He devoured life. He celebrated every minute. And, like a great comet, he left a luminous trail which will sparkle for many a generation to come."
In a statement on November 23, 1991, Mercury confirmed from his death bed that he had AIDS.
Within 24 hours he had fallen into a coma and passed away, having handled his illness in private and never complained of his suffering.
As one of the highest-profile victims of AIDS, his death brought greater awareness of the virus and helped remove the stigma from a disease now ravaging southern Africa.
In a 1987 interview, Mercury told journalist David Wigg he had no fears of becoming a lonely, rich 70-year-old.
"I've lived a full life and if I'm dead tomorrow, I don't give a damn. I really have done it all," he said.
Freddie, born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946 to a Parsi Indian family living on the East African spice island of Zanzibar and educated at an English-style boarding school in India, the shy teenager arrived in London when his family fled the 1964 Zanzibar revolution.
The classic image of Mercury is him in his 1986 touring costume, moustachioed and with one fist raised to the sky, a pose captured in the statue of him in Montreux on the Swiss shores of Lake Geneva.
When they felt able, his three bandmates painstakingly produced full tracks from scraps of vocals an ailing Mercury had recorded there in 1991, in precious hours when he could muster the strength.
Once he could no longer record, Mercury decided to come off his medication.
The subsequent album, "Made In Heaven", released in 1995, is one of Queen's best sellers.
Facing up to life without Mercury was tough.
May plunged into severe depression, having also lost his father and his marriage and contemplated suicide.
Like May, Taylor produced two solo albums in the 1990s, but despite their efforts to move on from Queen, they learned to embrace their legacy.
Bassist John Deacon retired in 1997 and has vanished from the public eye, though May and Taylor have his blessing to carry on.
Launching the rock theatrical "We Will Rock You" in 2002 was a gamble that paid off, breathing new life into Queen's music by allowing fans to enjoy their hits played live.
More than 13 million people have seen it worldwide, including 5.5 million at London's Dominion Theatre.
A sequel is planned, using songs not in the existing musical, though the original keeps packing out theatres.
Queen went back on the road again in 2005 when they joined forces with former Free singer Paul Rodgers.
Their collaboration spawned giant arena tours plus a studio album "The Cosmos Rocks" (2008) before Rodgers returned to his solo career.
One outdoor show in Kharkiv - Queen's first in Ukraine - played to 350,000 people, highlighting the enduring support for the band.

This is, above all, an Oasis website, so here's something about the Gallaghers. I've never heard them talking about the Queen, probably for respect to Freddie. But especially Noel Gallagher wouldn't have liked something about the Queen, I mean the woman :)
You know, they often talked bad of many musicians :) but I noticed that when they don't talk shit of someone, or even say nothing at all, it's because they like them. And for the greatest English bands, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc., so probably the Queen too, the Gallaghers may have a good opinion.

MILAN - And here I post again this for the new email readers. The Queen, on 14&15 September 1984 in a not so big place (Palasport-Palazzetto dello Sport) near the legendary San Siro stadium. The Queen have been in Milan again, in 2005 and 2008 but of course without Freddie Mercury, so I didn't go to the gigs.
I have the bootleg of the first Milan '84 gig, great quality (it starts with a typical stadium chorus "alee-oh oh" :), about 30 songs, email me if interested.
I began to follow the Queen in 1991 when Freddie died, thanks to some girls from school, and in a few years it was easy to transfer my passion for England on Oasis.
They were fundamental, if I didn't start to follow the Queen, I think I wouldn't have begun with Oasis.
As you probably know, the Queen last concert was on 9 August 1986 at Knebworth, where Oasis exactly 10 years later, 10-11 August 1996, performed their biggest concerts ever (250,000 people), where Oasis "had to stop", according to Alan McGee.

14/9/'84, Is this the world we created + Love of my life, where Freddie says: "somebody told me that Italians are the best singers in the world :)) ...especially in Milano!" :))
...maybe he had in mind Pavarotti and "the Voice" Sinatra :)

15/9/'84, Love of my life, Freddie (red&white as Milan :) says in a perfect Italian (as Paul McCartney in 1965 here): "volete cantare con noi?" :) (do you wanna sing with us?)


video in Milan, old-fashioned faces ahaha, Tear it up


Crazy little thing called love


Bohemian rhapsody... oh mamma mia mammia mia, mamma mia let me go :)


intro+Somebody to love


We will rock you


dedicated to AC Milan :), We are the champions in Milan


England national anthem in Milan, God save the Queen

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Barcelona political weight and Tevez @ AC Milan

MILAN - Great match but see the difference: Barcelona 'political' football weight, just touched one of their players on his arm -> penalty given, with the referee WAITING for Barcelona players protesting...  

Then clear foul on Milan Robinho's legs -> nothing.
He also missed an incredible chance to score an easy goal. 

Superb goal by Prince Boateng (and Ibrahimovic). Barcelona could reach their result thanks to an own goal by Milan and a penalty by Messi (booked and repeated), and were in big difficulties in some parts of the game.

Meanwhile the English tabloids are wonderful... City dominating the league and beating records but are "in crisis" ...the journalist "fears City exit"...better said: he cannot wait, he's looking forward...

Tevez agent will be in Milan tomorrow! they said Tevez will go with AC Milan to Dubai in December, so he can be fit to play again soon.

AC Milan are favourites to land Carlos Tevez in January after agreeing personal terms with the player, according to reports in Italy.

The Argentine has not played for Manchester City since September and is back in his homeland as his relationship with manager Roberto Mancini has seemingly broken down beyond repair.
That has alerted some of the top clubs around Europe, and the Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed Tevez's advisor, Kia Joorabchian, has agreed the deal with AC Milan.
The contract would see Tevez earn £3m in a six-month deal that would then be re-assessed in June, with another two-years on offer for the 27-year-old.

(from Inter Milan sponsor Gazzetta and Noel Gallagher's Talksport, so the news could be not true, as Sneijder @ City last summer)

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rank Oasis albums

LONDON - model: Jasmin.

I would put 1) What's The Story Morning Glory 2) The Masterplan 3) Be Here Now 4) Heathen Chemistry 5) Don't Believe The Truth 6) Dig Out Your Soul 7) as a provocation I put here Definitely Maybe (I think it's overrated, many say it's the best one... boring, so I say 7th position) 8) Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (but I don't mean it's shit).

Article from the Nme:

Well, this shouldn’t be too hard. After all, popular consensus states that Oasis were life-changing, then dog-shit, and surely all I have to do is fellate the first two albums, flagellate Be Here Now, file my copy and hide under the bed while the online lynch mob debates whether to play ping-pong with my bollocks or just stamp on them (I’d prefer they were turned into furry novelty earrings, if I get any say in the matter…).
And yet, here I am: sat up at midnight, head spinning, tongue lolling like a confused bulldog, so tired that Bonehead appears to be playing a giant doorkey on the cover of Be Here Now, shuffling the Gallaghers’ seven studio albums on my coffee table like some low-rent Louis Walsh before the ‘X Factor’ Live Finals. Jesus, this is agony. If only Sinitta were here to help break the deadlock…
Album quantification is not an exact science. I’m not wearing a lab coat and I can’t analyse these songs on a molecular level, like the bloke from the Oral B advert. All I can give is my blinkered, biased, best-to-worst countdown of a band that changed my life. After we’ve done that, I’d love to hear your take.

1. Definitely Maybe (1994)

With all that said, this decision was a piece of piss. While most ’90s indie bands had a tacit agreement – “Let’s kick off with a shit debut, then we’ll get cracking…” – Oasis burst out of the blocks fully formed, with attitude, chemistry, pull quotes, a healthy contempt for Phil Collins and a Parka pocketful of perfect songs.
Strange to think of it now, but on Definitely Maybe, Noel actually had something to say, and when he fused dole queue manifestos like Rock ‘N’ Roll Star to heaven-scraping melodies and Liam’s spit-and-sawdust vocal, the results sounded like the voice of God. Supersonic, Slide Away, Columbia, Cigarettes & Alcohol… circa ’94, Oasis were pissing out classics like a man with a golden cock.
Granted, there are two tracks you always skip (Up In The Sky and Bring It On Down) and one lasagne-fixated abortion that’s as irritating as crabs on a tourbus (hang your head, Digsy’s Dinner). But let’s not split hairs. Definitely Maybe is as good as rock ‘n’ roll gets.

2. What’s The Story (Morning Glory) (1995)

I struggle with Morning Glory these days. Blunted by too many jukeboxes and wedding discos, listening to this second album now feels a bit like watching Del Boy fall through the bar: I buy into it, but only because society demands it. For me, it’s become cultural wallpaper, and it’s got a few skid-marks, too, like the turgid Hey Now! and the caveman clatter of Roll With It. I even considered bumping it for The Masterplan, until I consulted with my inner ’90s schoolboy and he set me straight: “What the fuck? We loved this! Put it as #2, you raging twat!”
He’s got a point. Suspend your cynicism, wipe away the suffocating context, approach these 12 songs with virgin ears, and Morning Glory is still a staggeringly good record. From the knockout one-two of Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger, through the haunted strum of Cast No Shadow, right up to the lapping tide of Champagne Supernova, these are unofficial national anthems that soundtracked a generation’s coming-of-age. In fact, I’ll stick my neck out and argue it’s the last time that an album – or a band – truly changed British culture.

3. The Masterplan (1998)

Advice to fledgling songwriters on a white-hot creative streak: don’t spunk away your youth anthems as b-sides. Your fire will die. Your muse will wither. Before you know it, you’ll be singing about magic pies and wondering why you buried that bristling call-and-response duet with your brother. You may have gathered that I have a tricky relationship with The Masterplan. I suspect Noel does too. Sure, as those early singles swung in like wrecking balls, it seemed thrillingly cocksure to toss gems like Acquiesce, Talk Tonight and Fade Away away as flips, but by the time this compilation arrived in ’98, it came laced with forehead-slapping frustration that Noel didn’t hold them back for a great third album.

4. Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (2000)

In a recent Nme blog, I posited the theory that Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants is not the musical colonic irrigation implied by its sales figures and critical standing. Some people agreed. Many didn’t. Some felt I should have been throttled at birth with my own umbilical cord. Whatever: I still rate this fourth album, from the loping groove of Go Let It Out to the cold-sweat atmospherics of Gas Panic. Even Little James has a certain so-shit-it’s-funny charm.

5. Don’t Believe The Truth (2005)

Like Quentin Tarantino, TFI Friday and Hooch, by 2005, I had Oasis down as something that should never have crossed the millennial boundary line. They threw me for a loop with Don’t Believe The Truth: a sixth album that had some blood and thunder, with Lyla shaking off the dust and The Importance Of Being Idle relocating Noel’s mojo for the first time in years. I wouldn’t quite trumpet it as a Return To Form!, but when someone’s been kicking you in the balls for years, it’s a relative relief when they just slap you in the face, and Don’t Believe The Truth was a decisive step in the right direction.

6. Be Here Now (1997)

We came. We queued. We paid. And all for this: an overcooked dog’s dinner knocked up by five dusty-nosed egotists and a producer who approached his craft with all the grace of a man overfilling a sausage. After an initial music press starburst, Be Here Now quickly became indie’s favourite whipping boy, for its slack songs, its gaudy production and its ice-age duration, and these days it sits cowering on the naughty step, covered in critical pinpricks, with its hands over its bloated face. To be honest, I’m not angry with this album anymore, just disappointed. It’s the end of Noel’s imperious early run and the bellyflop that launched a tsunami of duds.

7. Heathen Chemistry (2002)

I never liked Oasis as a songwriting democracy and Heathen Chemistry was a four-way fuck-up. Noel waded through treacle on Stop Crying Your Heart Out and made us dry-heave with She Is Love. Liam briefly raised hopes that he was a Dylan-esque genius with ‘Songbird’, before revealing that, no, he wasn’t, with Born On A Different Cloud [by Liam on that album there was also Better Man - n.b.Marco]. Gem Archer and Andy Bell’s efforts go off like damp fireworks. In summary, then, Heathen Chemistry is very nearly abysmal, and with The Strokes and The Libertines tearing it up circa 2002, you’d have been certifiably insane to waste time with this rock dinosaur’s dump.

8. Dig Out Your Soul (2008)

I’m aware that some press and punters saw Dig Out Your Soul as a late return to form, and I’m honestly not trying to stir the shit by handing it the wooden spoon. Personally, I hated this album. Actually, ‘hate’ is too strong a word, implying some kind of emotional response or a quickening of the pulse. I was merely bored by the valium grooves of Falling Down, the death-march cod-Lennon-isms of I’m Outta Time and the half-arsed psychedelic toe-dip of To Be Where There’s Life. Every other Oasis album has at least one song that stops me feeding it to the bargain bucket. Dig Out Your Soul is dead to me.

"I can see a liar" - dedicated to Noel Gallagher

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win Beady Eye in Los Angeles

NAPLES - Unlucky result for Manchester City in Napoli, deserved a draw or even a win, with 18 shots and a huge ball possession of 71%, but some players didn't play very well.
Of course Balotelli scored (just after a Napoli fan here on tv said Mario "stayed too much with the girlfriend" eh), though he had the fever, but played a good game.
What happened to Manchester City official Facebook page? Maybe hacked. Must have been the Old Toilet fans...
Negative day... big pain in my back, I couldn't breathe - I was blocked in bed.
They say it's because I make love too much, but that can't be - I'm a virgin.
There must have been some jinx... maybe Noel Gallagher was around here, lol.
Today AC Milan-Barcelona.

Competition: Los Angeles fans can win tickets to Beady Eye @ the Wiltern theatre (Saturday 3 December) clicking here (from rock girl Colette).

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Peggy Gallagher tells the boys to end their feud

MANCHESTER - The Beady Eye fan (but listening to High Flying Birds before sleeping, lol), mother of Oasis feuding rock star brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher (quite similar to my mamma :), but this is older) has called on them to "sort out" their differences after their acrimonious relationship was laid bare in the latest round of a legal battle.
Speaking from the Manchester home where her sons grew up, Peggy Gallagher, originally from Mayo, Ireland, today said she hoped they could resolve the dispute away from the courts.
"Let them sort it out themselves," she said. When asked whether she had found the legal row upsetting, she added: "Yes."

Meanwhile, Milan fans who missed a ticket (that is me, on purpose), can see Noel gig direct live on tv. In the advertisement, there's a hilarious "Noel Gallagher plays in Italy for the first time" LOL (yes, in 1995) ...again, poor inexperienced artist eh.

It's not even his first solo gig without Liam here (Blue Note 2006, Del Piero announcing him).
Those people of RTL 102.5 are the usual bunch of idiots, clearly not the radio where I worked.
I remember them saying bullshit like, in the year 2009, Meaning of soul (2005) and Rock'n'roll star (1994) were NEW songs... And, classic anti-Liam, that he was going away from the stage because angry, when Noel as usual was playing the few songs with his voice...and the man speaking said Liam was "a clown"... Noel sung 4 songs as usual at those times, Liam 15, and the man said Noel was singing more songs...

Noel announced gigs for September 2012 already (!), though he could not be there, 'cause he could get arrested... he needs so much money (£55 per ticket, wtf) because he'll have to pay Liam...

And how come everybody said Noel's gigs were "sold out in a few minutes" and I can still find tickets after 3 months... Reminds of of all the lies told by Noel. Don't believe the truth.

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Balotelli's non-celebration

NAPLES - Roberto Mancini saw Manchester City stay five points clear in the Premier League, and beating records.
The City chief saluted Mario Balotelli (here is the "non celebration" with folded arms), who bagged a penalty opener in a 3-1 defeat of previously-unbeaten Newcastle.
But Mancini claimed his money-laden leaders must improve when they try to clinch a Champions League knock-out spot with victory at Napoli tonight in Italy.
And Micah Richards heightened the mystery over his England exile with a fine goal worthy of his excellent performance.
Mancini drooled over Balotelli's dead-ball finishing.
He said: "With the penalties Mario is fabulous. It is impossible that he misses. I don't know why. He shoots very well.
"Mario is a very important player for us. He is a great player and is getting better and better.
"I am trying to help him because I don't want him to waste his talent and to make sure he can become the player he can become.
"The rest is down to him and he is doing very well."
Magpies boss Alan Pardew rated City "the best side we have played by some distance".

And tomorrow, big match AC Milan-Barcelona.

I've heard the UEFA elected the french Zidane as the best player in the last 20 years... wait a minute, who's the UEFA President? The french Platini. Ok, then tell me who's the best player in the last 20 years?

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exclusive: the Gallaghers to come face to face in court

LONDON - See, it's not over yet. In the court document – referencing the initial claim HQ11D03099 – Noel Gallagher admits he said Pretty Green would be allowed in the brochure “over my dead body”. But he says he didn’t speak directly to Liam Gallagher about it and instead went through intermediaries. He claims Liam left abusive voicemail messages on his wife Sara’s phone. He also claims that Liam deliberately baited him on stage by dedicating songs to Pretty Green staff. Liam is now expected to pursue his action all the way and the pair could come face to face in court. Last night a spokesman for Liam said: “After Noel apologised, the matter is now in the hands of lawyers.”

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Richard Ashcroft in Milano @ Mtv Supersonic 2006

MILAN - Let's go on with music history, always related to Oasis. Yesterday I named him, and here he is, the ex Verve man. I've seen him live here in 2000 and 2002 (with his wife Kate Radley from Spiritualized, playing keyboards, I wanted to give them something I was writing) and this was 2006, I was invited to this fucking Mtv show (wasting hours preparing everything, all you see there it's fake), I hate Mtv, I never watch it. I met the prettiest girl ever, called Mina, just like the legendary Italian singer or Mina from Dracula aha and spent a beautiful day with her. Pity that at the end of the day, before the concert, her boyfriend came. A fat fuck wearing a wine colour sweater. I really have some regrets about that. What should I do... I thought, love is really blind, lol.

By the way, about naming people after celebrities, yesterday I was saying Noel Gallagher wanted to call his son "Carlitos"... (then Sonny). Imagine calling one (forever) after the name of a traitor. I laughed when I read Noel was introduced to a little dog called "NOEL", who had been "…named after you, man!!!!!!", the owner said by shouting at him… (the traitor). I believe the man's best friend is not the dog but the cat, but not the scaredy cat as Noel is.

Let's go back to Ashcroft. It's such a pity that The Verve split, this time probably forever, they really can't get on well together. I enjoyed very much their last ("Forth") album in 2008 ("Valium skies", "Judas", "I see houses", etc.), it should've been more successful.
Their best one was of course "Urban Hymns" (1997, Liam Gallagher shouting "this is big fuck you!" lol at 5:00 of "Come on"), but one of my favourites albums ever is also the first of his solo cds, "Alone with everybody" (2000, "Brave new world", "On a beach", "You on my mind in my sleep", etc., I remember I had learnt to play those songs by guitar all "by my ear", without chords written - also because I "bought" internet in 2001 (Noel in 2011), on September 11 - Richard's birthday - I was in a computers shop when they told me what happened). Good also his 2nd solo ("Buy it in bottles", "Check the meaning" - video that always made me think, I even wrote some posts about it, etc.)
I don't like his new project, RPA & The United Nations of Sound (being a Manchester United fan, he couldn't give a different name :), you remember the video "Are you ready?", looks like a big advertisement of Adidas... Liam wouldn't appreciate, lol. And in only 2 words written in Italian language, there was a mistake (probably also in some other languages).

He was definitely one of my favourite artists, but I don't appreciate much when he speaks about politics, I think musicians should make music only.

You can see he's the opposite of Noel Gallagher, as the Oasis man never played in Live Aids and those things, and hates Bob Geldof. I also remember Noel saying he was in favour of war in Iraq, and of course Ashcroft wasn't. Besides, Ashcroft believes music can change people and things, while Noel always said it can't happen.

The only one time when Noel (without Liam) played for a kind of "social cause" gig was to perform a few songs at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York (7 June 1997) and this thing banned him from playing in communist China with Oasis even 12 years later (you know, the monks story). You remember him writing on his blog "fuck me them communists..."
This Ashcroft show was totally communist, as Mtv is here. In the interview below, you can hear him speaking about "fascism", "right wing" and "conservatives" as if they were the disgrace of the world (he says when he supported Coldplay - how can you support Coldplay? - he's afraid of getting arrested in the U.S.A., because of smoking). At first, the woman (Paola Maugeri) avoids to translate some of those things, to avoid controversies. Man, just to remind you that communism in history made at least 10 times more of dead people, so if you wanna be "on the right side of history", you should at least choose the "less worse" one...
This was one month before the general election here, when then communists "won" (thanks to cheating on votes) and of course was a complete disaster, failing from the beginning and lasting something like one year, of confusion.
As you can see, Paola puts him in some difficulty when she recalls musicians having champagne and crabs in the Live 8 backstage (he laughs... nothing to laugh about... in fact she's very serious), and he's a bit confused, talking about mobile phones.
I hated the video for "Words just get in the way"... it shows how hypocrite "Mad Richard" is... (his nickname). The communist Picasso appears there, and maybe Ashcroft feels close to poor people 'cause in that video he didn't shaved his beard eh... I don't get the link between poor desperate people shown there and Ashcroft rich and happy on a Formula 1 circuit and on a helicopter... Maybe he wanted to underline this... But hey poor people, don't worry, "IF YOU WANT IT" (as annoyingly repeated), you can become rich... And with a stupid face he indicates a poor man with his finger, but no problem, as he says, you can call him... Richard always had an attitude of victim: oh he cries, oh he's in despair... what's wrong in his life? He's got everything. Which were all those pains, problems? Maybe how to manage millions? A girl not interested in him? Look at yourself in the mirror... He just acted as the "bloody poet", with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The only problem was given by himself : the drugs. Then, "the drugs don't work"... when he (almost) stopped moaning about his condition (he didn't at all), he began to feel the saviour of Earth... (probably he thinks to be Jesus... and here he said people should stop speaking about religion... while he can). Classic of communists: despising richness. Of other people. Not theirs.
In a really beautiful song I adore to sing ("World keeps turning", great song for the music), he sings: "all my blocks every night I try to figure out what's wrong and right...oh here, a hypocrite, yeah I did..."
He's really desperate about poverty (but his money is always raising...). It's a pity that this wonderful music is ruined by those ideas... He's so full of himself... I think musicians obtain the opposite of what they want (e.g. Bruce Springsteen and company against Bush, then he was the most voted president in the USA history). Richard's just an (ex?) drug addict.
Anyway, Noel appreciates his music, as I do, and you remember him dedicating Oasis' "Cast No Shadow" to the genius of Richard Ashcroft. In that same album, What's the story Morning Glory, Noel seemed to reply to him years before: "Some might say that sunshine follows thunder...go and tell it to the man who cannot shine / who lives in hell.."
Of course I can't write Richard's (and Noel's) songs, respect (but not always) for their songwriting. But I have some doubts about Ashcroft voice too. First of all, I can reach every low and high note of his voice, and I am nobody, it's really easy for me to sing his songs (while some Oasis old songs sung by Liam were not really easy), so this tells me there are probably better voices than Richard's around. Besides, his voice doesn't really "scratch" as for example Kelly Jones, it's different, I rather take his rough voice as model to imitate.
Of course all this criticism towards Richard, as I do with Noel, it's love, lol.

interview part 1
part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7


Lucky man


Music is power


Bitter sweet symphony, I don't like this version, I used to play an acoustic one that sounded better (the video was the famous one in Hoxton street, bumping into passers-by)


Science of silence, I loved the video at the seaside in the winter, I found myself in a similar situation that year, 2003, when the video came out


Break the night with colour (this was the video inside a jail - maybe they arrested him because of smoking)

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Led Zeppelin groupies and under-age sex

MILAN - Here's another post about groupies as some time ago on Zani, and my favourite band, not Oasis but Led Zeppelin (both the Gallaghers favourite band too, according to their reaction in meeting them in a backstage).
I was writing about Oasis groupie girls giving me tapes and rare material, but they were also making a lot of stupid things, as following them everywhere, as stalkers, and I wasn't really interested in that.
When I think about groupies, I remember the film Almost Famous (with "Penny Lane"), I identified myself with the protagonist (he was meeting musicians and writing about music, today he would have a blog :), and I liked the movie for the soundtrack too, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Who, The Beach Boys, etc. and one of my favourites, The rain song.

By the way, just another thing before the article. The other day I posted about the Beach Boys, and guess what : now Noel Gallagher says he hates them. He said that in a disgusted, unreal way, almost ordering to hate them. One can dislike them but they made a big part of music history. Just another confirmation of what Liam says: Noel has no music taste. So why Paul McCartney likes them, and said Pet Sounds influenced the Beatles. Richard Ashcroft, the genius, who clearly has some taste, considers God Only Knows the "perfect song" (Paul the same, "best song ever written"). Maybe 'cause they have more than 30 hits and was probably the only band that Noel didn't copy... He's clearly jealous of Carl Wilson's falsetto... as Noel now started to sing in falsetto. They had happy tunes, you don't really have, Noel. Go listening to depressing Coldplay. I was talking about this last night ...tell me tell me tell me the answer you may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

The term “groupie” has its etymology in (musical) groups and describes a person (usually a female) who seeks sexual and/or emotional intimacy with a celebrity, or other authority figure (or other music-related person, webmasters, biggest fans, guru, so that's Marco, lol).
Jimmy Page is considered a legend when it comes to sex with groupies. We've heard that he hasn't given up his S&M ways and he likes his women to be submissive. We also hear that Jimmy is into role-playing and often asks his sexual conquests to pretend that they're little girls (lol). And sometimes maybe those conquests really ARE little girls. Just ask Lori Maddox or Sable Starr, two of many females who had sexual relationships with Jimmy before they reached the age of 15. Robert Plant has earned high praise as a lover and he has a huge penis (reportedly almost 10 inches=25 centimetres... then I can be the new Robert Plant, lol - joking, but I have a very long tongue, my friends call me Salamander :P). According to groupies who've had the pleasure of intimate encounters with Mr. Plant, he is a kinder, gentler version of Jimmy Page. Robert is playful, flirtatious, and treats most groupies with respect. We also hear that Robert finds it a turn-on when women fawn all over his golden locks. Robert is damn proud that he still has a lot of hair, unlike many of his peers who are rapidly losing theirs!

In a poll of "The 100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock", printed by Spin magazine in 2000, an incident involving members of Led Zeppelin, pieces of shark (or was it a whole red snapper?) and the lower orifices of a bound, naked groupie was in top place, more than three decades after it allegedly happened. It is just one of many such Led Zep legends. Hordes of sniggering, awestruck male teenagers from the 1970s onwards have swapped tales of the British band that set the standard, created the model, even, for debauched rock'*'roll partying.
But was it a party for everyone? The history of Led Zeppelin, and particularly their tours of America, involves much worse than just the sexual degradation of fans. There's the brutal violence, the accusations of attempted rape, the child abuse; and that's before we get to such modern-day mundanities as drugs and occultism.
The fish episode took place at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle, on Led Zeppelin's second tour of the USA in 1969, in the room of the tour manager Richard Cole. In his unauthorised biography Hammer of the Gods, Stephen Davis explains how one could catch fish out of the window of Cole's room. He then quotes Cole as saying: "These birds were coming up to my suite wanting to fuck, and me and Bonzo [the drummer, John Bonham] were quite serious about catching these fish." Cole then describes the "victim": "She might have been hit by the shark a few times for disobeying orders, but she didn't get hurt." Let's hope she saw it the same way.
But these were different, unreconstructed days days when Robert Plant's voice could be described in a Rolling Stone review, for instance, as "imitation spade". And Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones (who often travelled separately) and Bonham were like kids in a candy shop.
As Plant has said: "I was young when I first went to America. I was 19 years old, and I went crazy. I met The GTOs and my mind just snapped. I'm from a nowhere town in the Midlands and here were these girls with bare breasts blatantly coming on, and of course we went crazy".
The GTOs Girls Together Outrageously were an LA clique led by Pamela des Barres (then called Miss Pamela). "When you saw Led Zeppelin play," she relates in her book Let's Spend the Night Together, "it was all over bar the orgasm". There were many other regular groupies who hooked up with Zeppelin when they arrived in the USA and, particularly, Los Angeles (the Hyatt House hotel there became known as the Riot House). Cynthia Plaster Caster, for instance, specialised in casts of the erect penises of rock stars. She describes how, while she fellated Plant, Cole urinated on her. Bebe Buell, a Playboy Playmate, told Playboy magazine that her time with Page was a meeting of minds, and how she felt Page's habit of "spewing saliva" into her mouth during sex was "his way of putting some of himself in me".
There's lots more where that comes from: tales of young, pretty, rich rock stars having weird sex, buying motorcycles to ride along hotel corridors, having more sex, throwing televisions out of hotel windows, having more sex still, attacking George Harrison with cake, having yet more sex, and, perhaps most extraordinarily, getting drunk on imported Watneys Red Barrel and still being able to have sex.

So far, so smutty, and so much to be expected. After all, Led Zeppelin did invent cock-rock, creating some of the most overtly sexual music ever recorded "way down deep inside, I wanna give you my love" [+"I'm gonna give you every inch of my love" - Whole lotta love]; "squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg" [The lemon song]; and they had a singer with the most orgasmic vocal style yet.
But there are more disturbing stories. Page, for instance, had a relationship with a 14-year-old called Lori Maddox, who relates in Hammer how Richard Cole kidnapped her on Page's orders and brought her to the Riot House. She claims she fell in love with Page almost immediately. She also tells how she had to be locked up, albeit willingly, most of the time so that word of this illegal relationship statutory rape could not get out.
Cole figures a lot in the more unsavoury episodes of Zep's career. The British journalist Nick Kent describes him as "genuinely terrifying". But unless you are scared by Page's infatuation with the English occultist Aleister Crowley [Oasis discoverer Alan McGee too] and the consequent cartoon-diabolic aura surrounding Zep, the most unsettling member of the band itself was Bonham, whose other nickname was The Beast. The American journalist Ellen Sander describes how on the last night of Zep's second America tour, band members, led by Bonham, ripped her clothes off, "shrieking and grabbing". She goes on: "They were in a frenzy. I was absolutely terrified that I was going to be raped..." Zep's former-nightclub-bouncer manager, Peter Grant, bodily pulled Bonham off her. She describes life with the band as like being inside cages at a zoo where "you get to smell the shit first-hand".
Another terrifying Bonham incident occurred aboard the Starship, the Boeing 720 passenger aircraft that the band fitted with luxurious bedrooms for their 1973 and 1975 tours. Plant says his fondest memory of the craft is "oral sex in turbulence", but one stewardess will have a different take. Stephen Davis describes how Bonham, after drinking a bottle of whisky, appeared in a robe, grabbed the attendant, bent her over forwards in an arm lock and announced that he was going to "have her from the rear". He then threw open his robe. At the girl's screams, Cole and Grant appeared and dragged him off.
Maddox said Bonham was the nicest guy in the world when sober, but a maniac when drunk. Once, in a Los Angeles bar, a woman looked at him and, apparently recognising him, smiled; he went over and punched her in the face. And in 1977 he, Cole, Grant and a former London gangster called John Bindon were arrested in San Francisco after a security man was beaten unconscious and left in a pool of blood. A $2m legal action ensued, and the night lives in Led Zep legend as "The Oakland Incident".
The American promoter Bill Graham later described Grant's security men as "just waiting to kill". If Zep created the template for the music and antics of bands that followed, from Aerosmith through Mtley Cre and even to the drug-addled groupie-madness that was The Eagles then Grant, the original manager to put bands in charge of their own income, created his own legend of excess. He is often called the fifth member of Led Zeppelin, and his legend is inseparable from theirs.
Instead of having the band's shows promoted by local businessmen in each town, Grant promoted Led Zeppelin himself, simply hiring the venues and then giving the people who once would have taken the lion's share of the profit as little as 10 per cent. So far so good (in 1996, the Music Managers Forum award for outstanding achievement in management was renamed the Peter Grant Award in his honour), but his methods were often questionable. His 6ft 5in frame, mountainous physique and uncompromising nature was often enough to cow venue managers into handing over cash. And woe betide anyone he spotted in the audience with a recording device (in Vancouver in 1971 he destroyed what he thought was a taping device only to discover it was sound-monitoring equipment installed by the local council). Record shops selling Zeppelin bootlegs could also expect his own brand of personal attention. To his credit, he did describe his use of Bindon as "security co-ordinator" of the 1977 US tour as his greatest managerial mistake.
Zep's later years involved increasingly hard drugs Page and Grant particularly with cocaine, and Bonham adding them to his formidable alcohol consumption and Plant says the exuberance of the early tours was lost. Bonham's death, choking on vomit after an alcohol binge, brought the band to a squalid halt in 1980. Grant died of a heart attack in 1995.
In 2007 Plant, Page and John Paul Jones were to wheel the Zeppelin out again. Is it just the music that is the attraction for those hundreds of thousands of men of a certain age who have tried to get tickets? Or do the inner remnants of those sniggering, awestruck teenagers of the 1970s still secretly want a piece of that extraordinary, sordid action, however proxy?

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Beady Eye @ Eurockeennes festival bootleg

BELFORT - (photo at the Main Square festival in Arras two days before), download here the first part (of 2), dear lesbian french girls with smoking shaved pussy lol email me for the password and second part

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