Greatest peices of ART I've seen in my life so far!

Once my exams are done, I'm going to get real busy. Not like I'm any less busy now but plans are exciting me alot! I've been going through some fantastic out of the world designs and its terribly overwhelming. Its just thrown me off my chair! Viewing those Artworks gives me the feeling of having drunk a potent caffeine cocktail of all the caffeine drinks out there. Its indescribable. I never knew that art without any apparent message can be soo beautiful. Utterly pretty. What a brilliant play of colour....Just head there now.

Masters of Graphic Design

It will take a lifetime to load all the images, but trust me your life won't be the same again once they're done loading. I promise.

Painting from Jim Morrison, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and the likes!

Head over to this place and check out the brilliant paintings by legends. I didn't even know so many of them paint. My personal favourite is by Bob Dylan. Only if I had enough money to buy it. Nevertheless I'll buy a photo of that soon ;-). Also check out Jerry Garcia's and Jim Morrison's, very interesting stuff!

The future of the Music Industry.......

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

- Jim Morrison as quoted from "The End"

The end has begun. Radiohead draws the first blood and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) follows. The long standing dominance of the music industry has fallen. Their rigidity has cost them, and oh so dearly!! Ouch! There was always a cold war going on between the artist and the music industry, but few have chose to revolt and fewer have been successful.

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.

- Hunter S. Thompson

When Radiohead chose to break free from their music company and sell music independently, it did create a few tremors here and there. But the big blow came when they decided to allow the fans to pay whatever they wished! Ok not whatever, the highest you can pay is $205.61 as reported by a Limewire employee. This has freed the music artists. Given new hope. The record companies has always been rigid and stringent when it came to the internet revolution of music. The recently victory of RIAA against a P2P user by muscling their way through is an example of how the music industry is winning the battles and losing the war. The war they began in the first place! The didn't embrace the technology and use it, they went against it. How many times in history have we seen the fall of great empires because they refused to change with the times?

Not so long a go I had read an article in RAVE (Indian Music Magazine) from this guy in Chumbawumba about how the music industry should embrace P2P and use it to their advantage rather than playing Tom & Jerry. The counter-article in that issue was from a hard nosed executive representing the Indian Music Industry (IMI), who was adamant on the users paying up for everythin that they think is a crime. So there you have it. You first harass your artists, who provide you content to sell. Then you harass the people who might buy that content content. And then you stupidly assume nothings gonna go wrong against you. Wow! Talk about wishful thinking.

The recent break away of Radiohead has changed the Music business overnight. Radiohead's new album has gone on sale today on their website, without any blood-sucking company in the middle. Fans can pay anything below $205.61 for the album. Two days before In Rainbows goes on sale, Trent Reznor announces his departure from the music industry.

Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.

- Trent Reznor, 08th October, 2007.


Since the announcement of Radiohead, the record industry is thrown in a frenzy. The popularity and anticipation was building up like mad. Record companies are now desperately scrambling about try to get Radiohead to sign a record deal. Yes, they trying to sell physical CD's of the same music which users can pay ANYTHING for on the internet much before the phsical CDs hit the market. Which is somewhere after X'mas. Now talk about being stuck up. Although they have been home to EMI, HMV reported that they have the album for pre-order, which is later proved to be bogus. Parlophone too had certain claims. All this shows the desperation they have to sign a deal, which is the same scenario a new recording artist goes through! What goes around, comes around baby! A leaked email from the new EMI boss Guy Hand talks about how they have been thick and refused to embrace the the Digital Revolution. He says "the industry has stuck its head in the sand" and that Radiohead's decision is a "wakeup call". If you look at recent music history, I wouldn't hesitate to put their name alongside legends The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan. Even the Beatles have succumbed to music industry dirty play during the Phil Spector days, but not Radiohead. However the revolution began with Sir Paul McCartney going to Starbucks for music distribution. And was carried forward by Prince who gave his CD's away for free.

In the future there will be no CD's, DVD's. The physical forms of music will become a complete niche. The masses will be owning softcopies of music. With technologies like IPTV coming in, fans are not only going to use internet to buy music, they're going to buy it directly by plugging their iPods to their television sets. They'll buy music from a kiosk in a mall by connecting their iPods to their servers. Starbucks is selling music now, so is Wal-Mart. They're all selling music without going through any Record Company. Anyone with a platform will sell music, without the help of a music industry. Rise in Indie music supports the idea to have a business plan like this to sell music. Unless the music industry plans to make major changes, I see them going down to ashes. Music Industry has long been complaining about the pirates declining record sales, what they didn't see is the rising music interest. I judge the need for music on the sales of an iPod or an iPhone. As long as music players are selling, there will always content needed to be put on that. The iPods sales are rising while the records sales are falling. I don't see a fall in music market? They didn't see this. Hence the fall.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end

- Jim Morrison as quoted "The End".

SLASH completes Autobiography!

Yes its true! According to Rolling Stones SLASH has completed his autobiography! Its been in the news sporadically, but now we can expect it soon. And I'm so picking that up on day one of its release. Its supposed to have been written with the assistance of the same guy who helped Nikki Sixx write the acclaimed Heroin Diaries. So I'm expecting good stuff. Maybe it was just ghost written, but either ways the book is hoping to clear a lot of rumours regarding the Guns N' Roses! Yes you heard that right. And we're talking about the Guns N' Roses here, not Axl and his Roses!

B.E.P., Beyonce & Akon for October!

Its the secnond bloody time I'm gonna miss a major star and its NOT EVEN BLUDY FUNIE! BEP are on their way to India but headed towards Bangalore. Last time the political nonsense cost me Steven Tyler, and this time 'round its the Dutchess Fergie! I can't believe it, if Mumbai is the Entertainment capital why doesn't it behave like one? If we are the so called entertainment capital shouldn't we have lower tax rates? They're just making sure Mumbai shall not be called the entertainment capital in the future as the entertainment is outside of Mumbai.

Atleast Beyonce is headed for the city. Scheduled for 27th October as of now, the ticket prices in her case is not declared as yet. BEP tickets are for Rs.1,650 and 1,000. I'm not big on Bootylicious so I don't really care for Beyonce....but I'm sure theres a huge herd for this....

Akon strangely is only doing a single Delhi concert priced at Rs.1800 and 900. Not only are the ticket pries strange but so is the single venue.....I mean what happened to Mumbai and Bangalore oh sorry Bengaluroo (is it just me or does that really sound Aborginal?)? Or atleast introduce the artist to newer venues..

Led zep tickets are for sale! So is Chinese Democracy!

You might have missed out on the lottery system for the Led Zep tickets, but like expected there are quite some guys who bought tickets to make money off them. If you are willing to pay the price, you still have a chance to see the legend for the last time in your life. I think any price is justified!

In other news Chinese Democracy has just appeared on the UK Amazon for pre-order. The release date according to the website is Tuesday, February 12th, 2008. I personally believe this is the final date of the release, but other websites are taking this as a hoax as albums release on a Monday in the UK. But what ever! Its Axl Rose, MJ in the making!

Scorcese to make a Harrison Biopic

Martin Scorcese is all set to make a biopic on George Harisson which might star the remaining Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The documentary will tell the story of his life and his spiritual journey. Which means he will cover Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which will be interesting to know. Scorcese in the past has mad a movie on Dylan, which I havn't seen as yet! :(

I hope this one is good!

Led Zeppelin Tickets for Sale!

Ok this is the moment you all have been waiting for.....the tickets for the Led Zep's 26th November show at O2 arena are now at sale at this location. Now I have to idea if this is authentic, but it seems like it is quite something. Official sales havn't begun as yet.

Led Zeppelin reunion is now OFFICIAL!

Yes with all the news doing rounds on the internet, I would like to confirm to the world that the reunion is indeed happening on the 26th, November. There has been a constant rumour that Led Zeppelin are to perform at O2, but with Metalsucks reporting that Led Zeppelin has the venue on 'hold', this news can be considered the last straw in the piling rumours. However it was convincing enough when NME.com through a fan quoted Robert Plant saying:

"Well we've got a band meeting about it this afternoon about it. There's not a lot to work out as it's only going to be one-off gig."

The gig is a charity event organised by the promoter Harvey Goldsmith. Last they performed was for the Live Aid, 1985, which the band hated so much they refused the inclusion of the footage in the DVD. Led Zeppelin had disbanded 27 years ago after John Bonham expired due to a drinking binge. Jason Bonham, John Bonham's son is rumoured to fill in as the drummer.

2007 is truly the year of reunions. It just keeps getting better. Police, Genesis, GNR, Spice Girls (Yes I love them!), how much more bigger can it get?

R.I.P. Hily Kristal, CBGB

With a heavy heart I say R.I.P. Hilly Kristal. I remember reading about him in RAVE a while back about how great he was. I truly admired the man and the courage to have a club like CBGB. CBGB stood for the true and actual Indie music scene. Indie in this context, is not the traditional commercial meaning. It means the freedom one has to express. That is the freedom granted by Hilly Kristal on a platform for the world to watch. Whop can forget Izzy Stradlin wearing a CBGB t-shirt in sweet child o mine? WHO??

This is truly a very sad moment and I'm deeply saddened by this. This is also means that CBGB comeback is that much more difficult. I know it will make a comeback, but I wonder if in the same spirit. Will it still hold that raw energy? Will they still showcase virgin talent? without any 'suit' tricks?

Please visit the CBGB Myspace Page.

(CBGB was a legendary club in Manhattan, NY which showcased fresh talent. It known to be the forerunner in the punk scene and has launched the careers for Ramones, The Misfits, Television, Mink DeVille, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Fleshtones, Blondie, and Talking Heads. The club closed on the weekend of October 13, 2006.)

Mr Brightside

Oh it almost feels like a century when I post again on Professio! Seems like I've returned after serving time in prison! I havn't go time for anything ever since college began, and a lot has happend like College festivals, freshers party, politics, Malhar, politics, Youthfest, politics, Umang, jealousy, politics, College band, politics and some other random things as well. I also made it to the finals of Mr. Umang & Guitar Wars! But I really miss those days of reading my feeds of Rolling Stones, Ultimate Guitar, Stereogum, etc. I don't even practice guitar at all! So a while back when I heard this jazz version of Mr. Brightside by Paul Anka I was in pure bliss, it reminded me of the days I was learning Jazz Improvisation by Jamey Aebersold......

Anyways heres a cover version of one of my most favourite songs, enjoy

Mr. Brigtside by Paul Anka

Phoenix

Retreat, Regroup, Reattack.

GNR to reunite without Axl!

Yes its true. Believe it. According to Steven Adler (Ex-GNR drummer) the holy reunion will take place on 28th July at the Key Club, Los Angeles. According to the clubs's website the band schedules to play that night is Adler's Appetite and L.A. Guns along with a few "very special guests". Adler also confirms the presence of Slash, Duff McKagan and (hold your breath) Izzy Stradlin. Its highly unlikely they will be joined by Axl 'nut' Rose, as hes got his own band going now. However Adler talks about a full fledged GNR reunion saying : "Axl and I spoke to each other in Las Vegas recently, and I know there's a chance. It's just too big. Whatever the Stones make when they play, we'd triple it. It'd be ridiculous not to do it. He can't be that goofy."

A Guns n' Roses reunion indeed has high possibilities. Axl, with his once-in-a-lifetime Chinese Democracy is going to lose a fortune. No doubt Chinese Democracy will debut at No.1 in more than 10+ countries and will be hugely successful, but by no means it'll recover the $ 15 spent on it. Which inevitably calls for Axl to reunite to make the moolah all over again. As for Steven Adler, the guys just got a ridiculous band called 'Adler's Appetite' whcih more like a group to appear on Fear Factor. So hes just plain desperate. Izzy Stradlin in the past has performed with the New GNR lineup (a.k.a Axl and his pretty pink roses). So as for Izzy hes' game. As for SLASH, hes always been coordial and sent x'mas greetings to Axl to avail no response. And according to SLASH's recent interview to Ultimate Guitar he has buried the hatchet with Axl and has moved on. However a recent hurdle has been created by the success of Libertad, which makes the reunion that much more difficult.

For what its worth, I can kill to be in the City of angels to watch the gods play!

Indian Matrix

Yardbirds to Reunite!

Yes, 2007 is officially the year of reunions in the history of Rock n' Roll! This time around its the blues super group The Yardbirds. According to certain industry insiders Jimmy Page is to team up with Jeff Becks along with drummer Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja on bass. They will kickstart their tour in October. Unfortunately Clapton won't be joining them. However it is still unclear as to who will fill in for the lead singer as Keith Relf (original singer) was electrocuted back in 1976. Plant? If only.......
This will the first time their playing ever since their brief performance in 1992 for their Rock n Roll hall of fame induction.

Diego Garcia: The Secret US Military Base

United States in its insatiable hunger for power, over the years has strategically and connivingly set up military bases around the world under the pretext of "peace keeping". The news of these military bases is well suppressed from the mainstream media. Examples of U.S. bases around the world include Guantanamo Bay, Saudi Arabia, Ascension Islands, Diego Garcia, and many more. Here I shall demystify the secret that is, Diego Garcia.

Diego Garcia is a tiny, isolated, remote atoll located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, some 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) south of India's
southern coast, Diego Garcia has more reason for being in the news than Paris Hilton. It is a lethally equipped island with state-of-the-art destruction machines’ (including an illegal nuclear warhead) which has helped US in its bombing campaigns in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. Apart from that Diego Garcia is a NASA Space Command & Control Centre, Spy Station and a torture heaven for "suspected" terrorists.

A Brief History……

Chagos Archipelago (which includes Diego Garcia) and Mauritius were first inhabited by the French in the 18^th century. However, the British defeated the French and took over the island after the Napoleonic War in 1814 to 1965. Since 1965, Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a British overseas territory.

During the peak of Cold War, the US realizing its lack of control over the Middle East wanted to set up a military base in the vicinity. Therefore in 1965, the Chagos Islands, which include Diego Garcia, were detached
from Mauritius to form part of the British Indian Ocean Territories
(BIOT) as a condition for Mauritius' freedom from the United Kingdom. United Kingdom
received a US$14 million discount on the acquisition of Polaris missiles (Nuclear War head missile) from the United States for this exchange.

Between 1967 to 1973, Diego Garcia went through a illegal, enforced depopulation of its locals to make room for a US military base. The locals or Chagossians or Illois (islanders) were mix descendants of the slaves imported by the French and then by the British. When the US ordered the UK to free the population of its locals, UK obliged. Although being aware that deportation of Chagossians is illegal under of the Article 73 of the UN charter. Anyhow the Chagossians were deported under a fictional make belief that the Chagossians are Foriegn Contract Workers with no Right to Abode. However, this was only the legal hurdle the US had to handle. The actual practical deportation is even more unnerving. Agents of the British government present on the island took notice of the fact that the Chagossians made annual trips to Mauritius. They then offered the naive Chagossians a free trip to Mauritius in their local boat, just so that they will not let them back in. The Chagossians were stranded and destituted on a foriegn land with no skill, language or aid. However these weren't all the Chagossians, many were still working on Copra Plantations on Diego Garcia. In 1968, the Britain then bought the loss making plantation. They herded the Chagossians into the hold of a ship and dumped on the wharf of Port Louis, Mauritius. With just a single suitcase each.

But why does the US have a military base in the middle of nowhere?

As mentioned earlier during the Cold War era, the United States was realizing its lack of control in the Middle East. It was also keen on establishing a military base in the Indian Ocean because of Diego Garcia's proximity to India, a potential ally of the Soviet Union, the United States saw the island as a strategically important one. However, this hasn’t been the only attempt to menace India. Recent declassified US Official records reveal that President Richard Nixon secretly pleaded China to “menace” India by moving troops to the Indian border during the '71 Indo-Pak war. India’s growing power was always a concern to the United States. U.S. military activities in Diego Garcia have caused friction between India and U.S. in the past during the Cold War era, various political parties in India repeatedly demanded the U.S. to dismantle the military base.

Although Diego Garcia was ready with the world's biggest runways, it didn't launch any attacks. It just serves as a listening post for the NSA. It was only in January 1980, when the White House announced what became known as the Carter Doctrine: "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force." This is when Diego Garcia was set up almost like a war launch pad. There were multiple missions to handle on this front which include Iran Revolution, Tehran Rescue of US citizens, Iran-Iraq war, Russian Invasion of Afghanistan. And it also served as a transit point between US and its Middle East bases. Diego Garcia's full capability was used during the Gulf War when full strength air strikes were launched, while simultaneously dispatching Pre-positioning ships. These Squadrons
quickly delivered its equipment to Saudi Arabia (where US has another base funded by the Saudi government). There, soldiers flown
on air transports from U.S. and European bases quickly unloaded and
deployed the pre-positioned material. Diego Garcia has also been the Military Centre during the US invasion in Afghanistan Operration Enduring Freedom and 2003 Iraq Invasion.

Diego Garcia: Military Strength

In terms of its military strength Diego Garcia is the strongest military base US has outside its own mainland. It has an airbase that supports the
largest of modern aircrafts. B-52s and other bombers have been deployed
from Diego Garcia on missions to

1) Iraq during the 1990 Gulf War.
2) Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
3) Iraq again during the 2003 invasion.

High-tech portable shelters to house the B-2 bomber were built on the island before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and a fleet of B-52s, B-1s and B-2s from Diego Garcia also led the shock and awe attacks on Baghdad on March 22, 2003, dropping 4,200 lb. bunker busters on the city. B-2 bombers are the most expensive airplane ever build costing $2 billion dollars a piece. They're undetectable by radars and most of their functioning is unknown due to its classified nature. Imagine bombing tribal nations with no radars with high-tech undetectable planes…sheesh!
Apart from these bombers, Diego Garcia is also a regular deployment site for US Navy P-3C Orion patrol and anti-submarine
aircraft, which is an aircraft for ocean surveillance and submarine warfare. The atoll also shelters the 14 ships of Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two. These ships carry the equipment and supplies to support a major armed force with light tanks, armored personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital. As mentioned earlier.

The base also serves as a naval refueling and support station. This means that Diego Garcia acts as an oasis for the many hidden submarines, ships constantly circling the globe under the pretext of “peace keeping”.

The base is also a part of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network with a 3
telescope GEODSS station, and is a NASA Space Shuttle emergency
landing site.

However the biggest threat & concern is the presence of a nuclear warhead present on the island. YES, Diego Garcia is rumoured to have a nuclear warhead. According Protocol II of the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation and China are invited to agree not to test or assist or encourage the testing of a nuclear explosive device anywhere with the African zone, which includes Diego Garcia. However, neither the U.S. nor the UK recognizes Diego Garcia as being subject to the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, even though the rest of the Chagos Archipelago is included, suggesting the U.S. and/or U.K. wishes to maintain the freedom to base nuclear weapons there. So that’s how the U.S. neither admits, neither denies harboring a nuclear warhead on the island.

What else happens on the island?

Apart from helping America bomb countries under the pretext of “peace keeping”, Diego Garcia imports “suspected terrorists” for torturing them. Human rights groups have often claimed that the military base is used by the U.S. government for the controversial "extraordinary rendition" of prisoners. Extraordinary rendition is an American way of bending laws which involves the sending of untried criminal suspects, suspected terrorists or alleged supporters of groups which the US Government “supposedly considers” to be terrorist organizations, to countries other than the United States for imprisonment, interrogation and torturing. Critics have accused the CIA of rendering suspects to other countries in order to avoid US laws prescribing due process and prohibiting torture, even though many of those countries have, like the US, signed or ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Critics have called this practice "torture by proxy" or "torture flights". As Diego Garcia is located in the middle of nowhere, it makes a safe haven for the US to torture the living day light of who ever they “think” is a terrorist.

It is also likely that the National Security Agency (NSA) has a listening post on the island, by which the NSA collects spy intelligence data about other countries.

Currently Diego Garcia is a base of equivalent strength compared to any base on the US soil, if not stronger. With a lethal possibility of a nuclear warhead, the stakes just increase ten fold. All in the name of Oil. Chagossians have resorted to living in the Mauritian slums subject to harsh rascism, unemployment resorting to prostitution, substance abuse, suicide. Recently they were granted their plea to resettle on a neighbouring island by the British courts, only to be revoked later. Even their compensation has reached them filtered through various levels of corruption and inflation.

All this, in the name of oil.

I encourage everyone to view this award winning documentary about the plight of the Chagossians: Stealing a Nation

Also visit www.chagossupport.co.uk

Rockstar Baby!

Insomniac

Ah I can get no sleep!

Thats the curse a creative person is born with. The price they pay.
Every night when I hit the bed in the hope of resting for another day ideas pour into my head. And oh so many. I'm just a night person, my brain is a lot more active. Concept, Ideas and other related things are he demons which won't let me sleep. They will make me excited and want to act on it right away. Usually schedules are messy the day after. But that is just the price I pay.

With growing hits, this time around it is the much anticipated Blog design overhaul. I've been getting lots of ideas are crowding my mind. It makes me as excited as a little kid with a brand new toy. It really does. So going to be a new layout, new additions, more music news, more music insider news, and WILL focus on good creative talent. I just have to get rid of this boring Standard Blogger template.

So the next time around I'll post, it'll be a brand new improved blog for a newer fan following.

Velvet Revolver: Libertad Review

Oh so it finally out!

Not officially but whatever.......

My anxious wait comes to an end and before the actual release date of July 3rd.

Libertad is the much awaited sophomore album since their debut No.1 album 'Contraband'. On Libertad Velvet Revolver has taken a more mainstream approach to their sound of which I'm loving every bit. This time the producer on board is Brendan O'Brian whose produced many hit albums for many legendary artists, including Core - Stone Temple Pilots. I love the fact they have dropped their metal-esque sound from Contraband. Libertad has its own unique hard rock sound and anyone hoping for Gun N Roses-esque record will be slightly dissapointed. Velvet Revolver has developed their own unique sound since Guns N' Roses to which Scott Weiland has a huge role to play. However Axl was just an awesome singer, but Weiland is still good in his unique wayand one will grow to love him.

Scott Weiland (Ex-Stone Temple Pilot) has mentioned in various interviews about everyone in the band raising the bar on this album. Well, to be honest no one has grown in the band, Velvet Revolver has improved as a complete band. Their songs are much tighter, better and more rock n' roll. The first single of the album is 'She build quick machines' which entered the Billboard Mainstream Rock Track charts at No.6 and has stayed there since the past six weeks. This single has been selected according to 'suit' research and statistics and forced onto Velvet Revolver, which Duff McKagan expressed to Billboard stating that they had other singles in mind but eventually settled for this after a while. In my opinion 'Mary Mary' was the way to go with the first single cause of its mainstream commercial appeal, rock n roll sound and also cause I can't get it outta my head. It could have hit number one and taken over the crappy emo Linkin Park track. On 'Mary Mary' Weiland proves his vocal talent and creativity when hits a few amazing low notes which marks the high points of the song. The next single in line is 'The Last Fight' which is a mid-tempo easy listening track. This is a standard music company 'suit' trick in which they first release a fast track then a slow one. There is a hidden track titled 'Don’t drop that dime', which plays after a gap on the last track 'gravedancer'. Apart from their first single 'She builds quick machines' and 'The Last Fight'. They've Electric Light Orchestra's 'Can’t get you out of my head' which has a great SLASH solo, the only lengthy solo in the album. With Entertainment Weekly putting 'Just Sixteen' on their website, I can't think of any other studio album which has had so many tracks in the news. All of this will push the sales of the album rather than any single track from itunes. I'm expecting good CD sales for this one. I'm definately buying this one.


Every album needs 2-3 GREAT songs, and a couple of mediocre ones to make it a huge hit. Libertad certainly packs more than that. I predict this one going multi-platinum in multiple countries. Songs like 'Mary Mary' prove that Velvet revolver has arrived and will grow to be a legend. Consequently it also proves that GNR reunion is that much more difficult. A reunion would have been inevitable if both 'Chinese Democracy' and 'Libertad' would fail. 'Chinese Democracy' will lose money and fail, but not Libertad.

Things are going well for Velvet Revolver and I couldn't get happier. Atleast they dont take 10 years to make albums. Being a SLASH fan I'm totally excited about the band.

In other news Axl Rose recently was welcomed on stage by being hurled by a can in the middle of 'Welcome to the jungle' by a fan who was upset about the show beginning late. Why am I not surprised....Axl oh Axl.....*tsk tsk

Watch the video for 'She builds quick machines' here.
Watch the live video of 'Just Sixteen' here.

Strange Culture......

Last night I attended a engagement of my cousin sister to some unseen, unmet man.

The following is what I encountered at that MUSLIM Engagement.

I arrived rather early and found that the mean and women are segregated from each other by means of a wall consisting of a decorated bedsheet on bamboos. Well it is the unity of a man and a woman, so why are exactly are men and women kept away from eachother's sight??

Well whatever, my brother and me proceed and sat in the empty, open air, bedsheet room. We sat in plastic chair just staing at eachothers faces as not a soul in sight at the Male Camp.

To kill time I wander around and bump into my uncle. So I ask him to introduce me to the groom. Well he informs he isn't here and isn't going to come. The groom is NOT going to attend his OWN engagement. Whateva.....

Thats not all further into the conversation Im informed my cousin hasn't even met him once! She has just seen photographs of him! Only her family members have met him, interrogated him n whatever. It like a lottery system. You're just simply taking a chance into whom your going to marry. All this at the request of the groom's family who wish the two shall not meet who also called for the men and women in separate camps! Well isn't that the duty of a possesive father of a hot daughter??

A the union of a man and a woman, men and women are delibrately kept out of sight from eachother! The groom isn't allowed to attend his own engagement! Not only that, the bride and the groom will come face-to-face at the wedding, but from a distance. There I also a strong possibility that the bride and the grooms face might be covered with some midieval decorations.
Their honeymoon is the first time they meet. Well no turning back at that moment.....

Like wow! 2007 and this can still go on. I wonder why they didn't allow the Bride to meet the groom? How da hell does India have such a population after such customs???

Thats Muslim Culture for you.

Awesome Indie Music

OK now lets get to business!

Like I said a few days ago I was going to feature unknown awesome Indie artists so here goes:

Suphala:
http://www.myspace.com/suphala

I dont know a hea o tail bout' this dame but she she simply awesome on the drums. The whole deal with her is that although she okays the tabla she can compose music as well, which many of her percussionist contemporaries can't. She makes MUSIC not some random dabbling on the tabla.

Simply Brilliant. Check out the Norah Jones track in particular.

Bright Eyes
http://www.myspace.com/brighteyes

I heard about them from my friend and found them pretty good you know. She linked me to this site which had lyrics to their song which was exactly like the song I wrote once I had a breakup. But nevertheless it was SOOOO GOODD!! I was low after readin that coz I felt ripped off....welll u know in a way. But thesde guys have great potential too!

BTW, the songs name is something like "Its, Cool we can be friends!" ITS VERY VERY GOOD, check it.

ENTOURAGE RAWKS MY WERLD!!!!!

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I MET ROGER WATERS!!!

OK I MET ROGER WATERS IN PERSON, GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH ON MY POSTER!!

I was at the venue planning to enjoy the music from the outside since I din have enough cash to enter. But were still on the lookout for bootleggers who would be giving for a cheaper prize just when out of nowhere a random dude hurriedly gave my friend Rs.3000 pass, flashed a thumbs-up n entered!!

Ok so what better than getting one free pass................. Yea thats right, getting TWO free passes. And that what happend. After 45 mins. opf the conceert are over we're were still looking to exchange or cash the passes. Thats when this angelic uncle from the organizers appeared from nowhere sitting on a short wall smoking away to glory. We asked if he could buy our pass, he asked us why we were selling them, we replied that only either of us could go so we were planning on selling them. Thats when I asked the uncle if he could take our Rs. 3000 pass and give us two Rs. 2000 passes. He asked us to hang on, n a few mins. later he recieved some passes n he did the exchange. He ran like the wind cutting through people and entered the concert.

The concert was fabulous with whole flying pig n the screen imagery n george bush bashing. after the concert we managed to get free roger water posters n decided to head towards Taj Lands End, the residence of Roger Waters in Mumbai.

After an hour n a half of battling, hiding with the staff n security we managed to get the entire bands signature inlcude HIS HIGHNESS ROGER WATERS!!! IN PERSON!! Ok at this point I would like to announce that since his signed the poster he HAS touched it! Yes people DIE OUT OF JEALOUSY!!! N Im the very few in Mumbai who got his signature because rest of the guys were from Delhi.

How I got the tickets is here, along with conert details n pictures Concert Adventure

How I met ROGER WATERS is here Hotel Adventure

I MET ROGER WATERS!!! Hotel Adventure

Now the fun begins...........

Other than us there was another group in the hotel waiting to meet Roger, they were kids from Delhi all wearing the Roger Waters concert t-shirts. There was a wall outside Vista where I wrote "In the memory of Roger Keith Syd Barret - neo (my cell number)" Well I though Roger would read it and get touched and call me! Yea wateva....

























At the hotel we hit this restaurant Vista. Sangita then found out that Rogers in Suite 2021 on Floor 21. Pratik and Smta head to his room while we're waiting in Vista. No luck as theres no answer to the repeated door bells. Then we get a news input of Roger being in Masala Bay. We abandoned Vista headed one floor below to the first floor to masala bay. At the lift we came acroos Arjun Rampal once, more and just before the doors shut Sahej yelled "I C U SUX!!".

At Masala bay we were refused a table and even refused to enter and meet Roger. Basically the staff was politely asking us to Fuck off!! Later security asked us to clear the floor. We managed to get Mr. Snows autograph while leaving the floor. We then accumulated on the stairs near the lift lobby on 1st floor. We were even shooed away from the stairs "Gheun tak!". Wateva...


Sahej, me and Pratik are now camping on secong floor stairs. From the mirror we can see the first floor lift lobby. Sangita, Smita are stationed outside Roger Waters suite. The delhi boys are garrisoned on the other side of 1st floor waiting for Roger to exit. through these postions we waited and accumalted the entire bands signature, include Roger Waters's son, Harry Waters.


Just when we were getting this one guitarists signature we heard some noise. We all looked towards Masala Bay and saw his HIGHNESS Roger Waters. He wa walking towards the lift lobby. He flanked by two uber-super-sexy-hot chicks with two rows of security guards holging hands and walking ahead of him. But Roger said in his British accent "A'll sign aa few o thaissee". Everyone was crowding him lke crazy and he stricly asked everyone to queue. Delhi Boys, Pratik, Sahej, all got signatures including some druggies who appeared at the last moment from nowhere.


So then we click a picture at our watch tower.















Oh it feels so great to meet the greatest and the most artistic Rockstar EVER!!!

Sangita, Smita didn't get his autograph as they were waiting outside his room. They could
nt get through the security and didn't get anything. We later met this Bangladeshi group9which really had this hot chick) who were dining at Vista. They came up to us and asked if we were waiting for Roger, and we just flashed our posters. Poor guys.......Roger even spoke about them on stage saying fans have come from so far away.

Now I was parading the poster at 2 am around the entire hotel. I was holding the poster like I am holding in the picture added with a impish gleaming smile. I flash the posters in the face of the stringent staff that didn't let us through. I was coming in the way of random foriergners from Rogers crew and flashing the poster. I was irritating the hell out of everyone. Then we were dancing at the drive-in security cam. Showing them the finger and freaking out like mad.

We also met Iranian Oil Minister son, Hirad. He attended the concert an was jealous of my poster.

BTW I have the best signed poster. IN SEXY SILVER MARKER!!!

Where theres a will theres a way!

I MET ROGER WATERS!!! Concert adventure

Ok when I was walking towards the station I was all prepared to enjoy the concert from the OUTSIDE!! I had no idea I would get 1 free pass, then exchange that for 2, then get a free poster, then get the whole band to sign it including ROGER WATERS!! IN PERSON!!

Where there is a will there is a way.

When I reached the venue with my friend, Sahej, I was prepared to stand out and enjoy the music. But Sahej was rather keen on entering. So we were hanging around the bootleggers who were offering Rs. 1500 for a Rs. 2000 pass, but I we were still out of cash. I was tryin to contact my dad who is out of station if he could transfer cash on my card so I could buy the passes. But no luck. We continued loiterring around as the concert began.

The first song was over, and 'Mother', one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs had begun as well. I was going to cry! Well then Sahej bumped into a friend of his who was going to enter. Just then out of nowhere this guy hurriedly passed Sahej handing him a Rs. 3000 passing. Flashed a thumbs-up. And entered the concert. I could'nt believe it, and no one could. Alrite even though we got hold of that pass it was still one, and two of us. I told him to enter but we wer still on the lookout for some guy to exchange these passes for two Rs. 2000 passes. We hunted high and low. Saw Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Luke Kenny, et al. We also came acroos this guy who was selling Complimentary passes of Rs. 1000. One guy offered him Rs. 300 and hes like *in very Orkut fraindship* "Yea man c'mon, fast, oh man Comfortably Numb oh shait". Wateva...

Its 8 'o clock, 45 mins of the concert is through and we're still confused between selling the pass or let Sahej enter. Thats when Sahej noticed this Uncle sitting there from the organizers. Sahej asked him if he could buy our pass. He asked us why were we selling it, we explained that one one of could enter so we rather sell it. I at that moment asked him if he could take this Rs. 3000 pass and give us two Rs. 2000 passes. He politely asked us to hang on. After a few minutes he recieved some passes. He took our passes and gave us two Rs 2000 passes!!!!!! I was leaving but turned around to shake hands with him warmly.

Then I turned around and began 'Le parqour'. I ran like the wind cutting through the crowd, zig-zaggin through people and stopping outside the entry gates causing the dust to rise in a cloud. When I entered a song from Final Cut was on. We just couldn't believe it. I realy could digest the fact Im in. And then Roger annouced that hes going to play a new song about a family in Beirut, Lebanon who took him in their house when his car broke down during a road trip. The song was beautiful. The on screen imagery include a comic strip about the entire incident showing how poor the family was and how they offered him their entire food. The song was basically about that do these kind people really mean us harm? And about how war kills the innocent and the good. There were pictures of Bush, Saddam et al to which the crowd was cheering like MMMAAADD!!!!!! And justy then an inflatable pig appeared from the right side of the stage with messages spray painted on him: "SARV JAATI EK HAI", "HABEUS CORPUS", "KAFKA RULES OK!" n on his ass "IMPEACH BUS NOW!" The pig was paraded above the crowd while the band played on n then left free to the sky. Heavenly.

Dark Side of the moon began with a short break, during which we were making unsuccessful plans to jump into the higher section. Amazing played, but the Black female just messed up the Great Gig in the Sky vocal solo which sounds so much better on my CD! But later in the song her voice turned very silky cum velvety, nice but not the best.

Concerts over, Sahej and me walk around like ZAPPED zombies around the venue. We spot some guys wearing Pink Floyd t-shirts. We run to buy them, but get free posters instead. We re-grouped with Sahej's friend, Pratik, his cousins Sangita and Smita. They asked me if I knew where Roger is staying, and Im like "Taj Lands End" because I remember reading that in the papers as associate sponsers. We're now headed towards Lands End to meet mister Roger Waters.

Read what happend there here Hotel Adventure

Tooo god DAMNIT FUUNNNIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Please leave a comment if u laughed hard......

Sex, Drugs, Rock n' Roll: Brief Chronicles

Music and intoxication have gone hand in hand, not only from the 60’s Sex, Drugs rock and Roll era, but ever since the birth of music. Many cultures across the globe such as Turkish, Polish, Swedish, German, Danish and even our so called conservative Indian has an equivalent phrase: “Kabab, Sharab aur Shabab”(Meat, Wine and Women/Beauty). All of this being centuries prior to the sixties. So don’t go blaming the hippies when for the debauchery and the opulent lifestyle. However this lifestyle reached it peak in the 60’s with the hippie movement leading a life of sex, drugs, rock n’ roll having strong liberal and peace views. “Flower Children” as they are popularly known as, produced some of the best rock music there ever can be.

Much of this interest in drugs rose as a means to escape all the negativity of the world (War, etc). This culture became very popular and also became means of getting inspiration for some. While some indulged in it for sheer joy, while some out of personal dilemmas. Whatever the reason, it gave the best rock we would ever get.
The Beatles say, they actually started “really thinking” after consuming drugs, who were introduced to it by Bob Dylan. A lot of artists started drugs out of curiosity as it was a fad of the time. Beatles used to consume a lot of scotch and coke prior to the drug introduction. And as Paul McCartney says that they preferred drugs as it didn’t cause their motor nerves to malfunction while playing the guitar. He also says he tried it cause everyone was doing it from Beach Boys to Eric Clapton was doing it. This kind of indulgence mostly spread through hedonist parties which had omnipresent skimpily clad women, drugs, alcohol in abundance along with a night full of debauchery. One would begin from there and get hooked on for life, mostly till death, or in some cases, clean up. However the acts performed by these stars are rather amusing.

One of the most amusing and fascinating is Syd Barrett, who indulged in LSD (Powerful hallucinogen drug) very early on during the days of Pink Floyd. Many report seeing him on stage with the group, strumming on one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show at The Fillmore West in San Francisco, during a performance of Interstellar Overdrive, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar. The audience seemed to enjoy such antics, unaware of the rest of the band's consternation. Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett apparently crushed Mandrax and an entire tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which subsequently melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". The image of Syd's melting features would later be used in The Wall film. For a handful of shows David played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally deigning to join in playing.

But Syd Barrett wasn’t the only one with strange on stage antics. During a 1969 concert at The Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, an intoxicated Morrison exposed himself on stage. He was arrested for this act on the 1st of March, 1969. His often anti-social behaviour made him a hero to his own generation, but he was regarded as a dangerous influence by middle-aged establishments and concerts were cancelled. Then there was Jimi Hendrix who would literally make love to the music with his pelvic gyrations in front of his amplifier producing revolutionary sounds through his guitar using feedback. Stage antics would also involve playing the guitar with his teeth, playing behind his back, jump and tumble on stage and perform a whole lot of LSD induced acts. One of the most famous would be at the Monterey Pop festival, 1967, where additional to the above mentioned acts he would also set his guitar on fire followed by smashing it to little bit and pieces. All this while the band continued play in the background. However Jimi Hendrix wasn’t the only one to trash his guitar, there was Pete Townshend of the Who as well who would indulge in the same act.

On The Smothers Brothers Show, the band was nearing the end of "My Generation" when the American audience witnessed the truly destructive nature of The Who. A smoke machine started behind the amp racks, and Pete Townshend jammed his guitar into his speaker several times, causing it to appear to short circuit in a ball of fire and smoke. This was actually a rigged pyro, set behind the amps, which, bearing in mind that the backing track was pre-recorded, were not plugged in. Keith Moon had rigged his drum set with triple the normal amount of explosives, and as Pete Townshend was smashing his guitar into oblivion on the stage, the drums exploded and Townshend, supposedly, sustained severe ear damage.

The musicians of The Who were also natural showmen: singer Daltrey was a dynamic front man, noted for hurling his microphone around on the end of its cord like a lariat. Townshend is famed for playing crashing chords on his guitar with great windmill-like sweeps of his arms (he claims that he got the idea from watching Keith Richards swing his arms to limber them up before a concert; Richards later said he didn't remember ever doing it). The maniacal Moon battered his drums powerfully. Through all that mayhem, Entwistle stood still, often for the entire length of the show, seemingly bored by the whole affair, playing intricate, powerful, innovative bass lines as if he had the stage to himself. The Who’s extravagant and wild stage antics can be traced back to their early days when they were called “The High Numbers” with Peter Meaden as their manger, who was cultivating a mod image for them. They performed regularly in the Railway Hotel, Harrow, where the low-ceiling was a constant source of impact on the top of Townshend’s guitar. One night the guitar neck snapped clean off to the delight of the delirious crowd. Film directors Kit Lambert and Chris stamp, who were making a documentary on the mod phenomenon, were quick to realize the repetition and exaggeration of this stunt would attract considerable publicity, who then secured them a Tuesday night slot at the Marquee Club under the name of ‘The Who’. The rest is history. But not all was about destruction, there were some rather historical nights too during this era. Steve Paul’s ‘The Scene’ in New York was the greatest nightclub of the sixties, where Jimi Hendrix would often jam. One eventful night he jammed with Jeff Becks, and on March, 1968, he was joined by Jim Morrison who contributed growling, obscenity-laced vocal accompaniment.

If their onstage behaviour appalling, their offstage life will throw you off your wits. Sex, drugs rock n’ roll era, apart from what the name implies is also the era of experiments. Lot of stars indulged in bizarre acts out of curiosity. It is rumoured that Mick Jagger and David Bowie were caught red-handed in the bedroom by the Bowie’s girlfriend who was shocked walked in on them in their bedroom. Also Brian Epstein, who was a known homosexual, had a secret holiday with John Lennon, which he describes as “beautiful” in his biography, and John saying he almost had an affair with Brian. It was quite a known fact to the close associates of the Beatles that Brian Epstein was in love with John Lennon, who also wrote love letters to John Lennon on certain occasions. While some experimented, rest of the stars indulged in plain old debauchery, mostly with their groupies.

None of this can be complete without the mention of the Rolling Stones, and more importantly Mick Jagger who on one night Mick Jagger walked up to Marianne Faithfull and introduced himself and then deliberately poured his champagne down the front of her shirt. After an awkward mumble of apology he was audacious enough to mop spilled drinks with his hands, very slowly and very pointedly. The trick didn’t seem to work and Marianne stood up and was heard calling him a “dreadful, spotty slob”, she also added that she “hated pimply men, and he’s got more spots on his face than she’s ever seen”.

She later dated him.

Another amusing tale about Mick Jagger happened in 1972 when he asked a documentary film producer to make a film about Rolling Stones 1972 tour of South America which was intended for public viewing; however Jagger on viewing the final product declined to release it as it contained explicit sexual activities as well as drug taking. There was said to be a long sequence of sky-high sex with the members of the Stones’ entourage making love to the groupies 30,000 feet in the air while crossing over America. While sexual activities were on in various places on the plane, two of the groups were seen watching the whole scene while provided musical accompaniment on tambourines and maracas.

As bizarre as this sounds, it couldn’t get more bizarre than Jimi Hendrix claiming his sexual life began at the tender age of 12! Hendrix who had a very active sex life often met fan girls through Devon Wilson, a close associate of Jimi, who would often pick up girls for Jimi by telling them “Jimi finds you cute, would you like to come over and meet him?” Hendrix is also widely known for and associated with the use of hallucinogenic drugs, most notably LSD. A common opinion is that Jimi's use of LSD was integral in unlocking his creative process. Hendrix had never taken hallucinogenics until the night he met Linda Keith (girlfriend of Keith Richards), but likely experimented with other drugs in years prior in the forms of sleeping pills, and speed fueled his "stop and go" lifestyle. Throughout his career pictures exist of Hendrix smoking marijuana. He was known to take Heroin according to some, but some suggest he had trypanophobia (fear of needles). While his fellow contemporary Jimmy Page has admitted to using Heroin on several occasions, but insists he was never an addict. It was also rumoured that Hendrix had a cut on his forehead, on which he would tie a bandana with a LSD strip which would slowly fuse into his blood.

Syd Barrett has LSD induced; psychotic stories in abundance. According to Roger Waters, Barrett came into what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It, Yet?" The song seemed simple enough when he first presented it to his band mates, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn: as they were practicing it, Barrett kept changing the arrangement. He would then play it again, with the arbitrary changes, and sing "Have you got it yet?" After more than an hour of trying to "get it", they realised they never would and that they were simply bearing the brunt of Barrett's rather obtuse sense of humour.

Elvis on the other hand has been addicted to several drugs, many of them ironically being prescription drugs to cure his disorders. In Las Vegas, 1971, things almost went out of hands for the King as he almost killed himself and a fan. During his performance he had spotted a 18 year old beautiful blonde, Page Preston, according to her account, one of Elvis helps came up to her and asked if she wanted to meet him. After much persuasion she met him in his hotel room that night and met him later as well in Palm Springs, California. On meeting him in California, she complained of a terrible headache, to which Elvis gave her some pills and from that moment on she doesn’t remember anything until she woke up in the hospital. According to Sonny West, Presley’s bodyguard, Elvis had been feeding both of them various drugs all through out the night and he heard them giggling and mumbling into the wee hours of the morning. Presley’s aides found them the next afternoon unconscious and barely breathing. On another occasion Elvis Presley had asked Sonny West if they could swap their wives by saying that “I know you like Priscilla and I like Judy, why don’t we swap for a bit of fun?” But that is not all there is to The Kings whims. He is also known to have see-through mirrors in his mansion to watch couples make love and see girls change into their costumes before they got into the pool.



Well, apart from the sex there was also a lot of destruction these wild rockers did. One escapade involved John Bonham throwing televisions out of the windows of the Riot House during a drunken rampage and then blaming the damage on Led Zeppelin groupies. Led Zeppelin at the time used to rent out entire sections of hotels most notably the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, colloquially known as the "Riot House" which became the subject of many of rock's most famous stories of debauchery. The Who too had a very notorious reputation on how they treated their hotel and dressing rooms, particularly Keith Moon, who has had frequent incidents of destruction. The band was also arrested for this on at least one occasion, in Montreal, and was for many years banned from the Holiday Inn hotel chain. At one party, Keith Moon under heavy influence of alcohol, dived head long into an empty pool and chipped his front tooth from the accident. But none of this can be rivaled by the cheek of the Beatles who smoked marijuana in the Royal toilets of Buckingham Palace. The very same night they were to receive their MBE. As to why these stars consumed so much of drugs is rather debatable, but nevertheless they do produce amusing stories.




Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles claim that it unlocks their creativity resulting in better music. Their creative abilities can’t be disputed, but does it really work that ways? Well according to certain research it shows that during these drug induced stated your brain is very relaxed and calm, producing similar waves on the EEG as a relaxed brain during intense meditation. It is this state of mind which is optimum for doing creative and productive work. Some Buddhist Tibetan monks achieve this state for days on end and have known to increase their life span which this endured meditation. But all would agree that drugs are a costly bargain for such a state of mind. Neither can one refute the impact and popularity of the music produced in such a state. One example would be “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” which was created on a marijuana spell, so was ‘Strawberry fields forever’ and ‘Day Tripper’ according to the band. ‘Day Tripper’ being a direct reference to drugs which not many people understood at the time. But what garnered the most publicity for the Beatles and drugs was “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” which according to popular belief is a song based on a wild LSD trip, and incidentally abbreviates to LSD.

However time and again both Lennon and McCartney have denied such allegation stating that it was inspired from a drawing of John Lennon’s son, Julian, however recently Paul McCartney in an interview said “the song was obviously about a drug trip”. The video of the song too contains psychedelic colours about a suggestive LSD vision. Eric Clapton too had recorded “Layla” on a drug trip. And most of Jimi Hendrix’s jam sessions took place when he was really intoxicated.



While some consumed drugs for creative inspiration, while some consumed them due to personal dilemmas. One of the most sympathetic would be Janis Joplin, whose addiction only grew with time. She was known to be desperately lonely and expressed it publicly on many occasions. One concert she announced “I have just made love to 25,000 people and I’m going home alone!” She used sex as a vehicle to console her loneliness. She constantly went on one-night stands with young boys who she didn’t bother knowing much about, but none of this rid her of her ghosts who only grew stronger with drugs, alcohol and time. Janis had a foreboding sense of morbidity and on hearing about Hendrix’s death she ruefully exclaimed “Goddamn it. He beat me to it.”

Very similar to her was the lifestyle of Jim Morrison who famously lived by an oft-repeated quote from Blake, "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Even before the formation of The Doors, Morrison took copious amounts of LSD, but soon switched to alcohol; which he began to consume in herculean proportions. He reportedly also indulged in various bacchanalia. He would increasingly start to show up for recording sessions extremely inebriated (he can be heard hiccupping on the song "Five To One") as well as being late to arrive for live performances, which caused the band to linger on stage playing only music or occasionally forcing Ray Manzarek to take on the singing duties. Such excesses and apathy took their toll on Morrison and the band. Morrison too regularly slept with fans and had numerous short flings with women who were celebrities in their own right, including one with Nico from Velvet Underground, a one night stand with singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, an on again off again relationship with 16 magazine's editor in chief Gloria Stavers, and an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin that left Joplin in tears. At the time of his death, there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him.

But none of this can be complete without the mention of the youth hero Kurt Cobain, who battled addiction due to depression. He has been battling depression and chronic bronchitis throughout his life. Doctors however were not able to pin-point his cause of depression thereby not entirely able to help him. Cobain self-medicated with heroin, although his condition was not the primary reason for his heroin use. Cobain had his first taste of heroin sometime in 1986, administered to him by a local drug dealer, who had previously been supplying him with Percodan. Cobain used heroin sporadically for several years, but, by the end of 1990, his use had developed into a full-fledged addiction. A year later, his use began affecting the band's support of Nevermind, with Cobain passing out during photo shoots. Prior to a performance at the New Music Seminar in New York City in July 1993, Cobain suffered a heroin overdose. Rather than calling for an ambulance, Love injected Cobain with illegally acquired Narcan to bring him out of his unconscious state. Cobain proceeded to perform with Nirvana, giving the public no indication that anything out of the ordinary had taken place. Cobain had visited Rome for his Laryngitis and Bronchitis treatment on March 3rd, 1994, The next morning, Love awoke to find that Cobain had overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol (Love had a prescription for Rohypnol filled after arriving in Rome). Cobain was immediately rushed to the hospital, and spent the rest of the day unconscious. After five days in the hospital, Cobain was released and returned to Seattle. Love later insisted publicly that the incident was Cobain's first suicide attempt.

All was not hunky dory as soon this lifestyle of excesses started claiming lives. In 1968 Brian Jones was convicted of drug abuse and caused much doubts about his availability for the Stones’ US tour. He was also very jealous of Mick Jaggers leading role; however matters escalated when Keith Richards impregnated his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and he finally quit in June, 1969. The following month he was found dead in his swimming pool. The official and much disputed verdict stated death due to misadventure.
In the early morning hours of 18 September 1970, Jimi Hendrix was found dead in the basement flat of the Samarkand Hotel at 22 Lansdowne Crescent in London. Hendrix died amid circumstances which have never been fully explained. Having spent the night with his German girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, he likely died in bed after drinking wine and taking nine Vesperax sleeping pills, then asphyxiating on his own vomit. For years, Dannemann publicly claimed that Hendrix was alive when placed in the back of the ambulance; however, her comments about that morning were often contradictory and confused, varying from interview to interview. Police and ambulance reports reveal that not only was Hendrix dead when they arrived on the scene, but he had been dead for some time, the apartment's front door was wide open, and the apartment itself empty. Following a libel case brought in 1996 by Hendrix's long-term British girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, Monika Dannemann allegedly took her own life.
Some reports indicated that the paramedics who escorted Jimi out of the apartment did not support his head and that he was still alive. According to this version of events, he choked on his own vomit and died during the trip to the hospital, because his head and his neck were not supported.
A sad poem written by Hendrix that was found in the apartment has led some to believe that he committed suicide. More speculative is the belief that Hendrix was murdered--forcibly given the sleeping pills and wine, then asphyxiated with a scarf by professionals hired by manager Michael Jeffery, Hendrix’s manager who is also rumoured to have staged a kidnapping of Hendrix due to a dispute. The most popular theory, however, is that he simply misjudged the potency of the sleeping pills, and asphyxiated in his sleep due to an inability to regain consciousness when he vomited. He died at 27.

On hearing this Janis Joplin exclaimed “Goddamn it. He beat me to it.” But she wasn’t far from death as 4th October she was found dead caused by an overdose of heroin and whiskey. The last recordings she completed were "Mercedes Benz" and a birthday greeting for John Lennon on October 1, 1970. Lennon, whose birthday was October 9, later told Dick Cavett that her taped greeting arrived at his home after her death. She died at 27.

3rd July 1971, Jim Morrison, age, 27, was found dead in his bathtub by Pamela Courson, his long time companion. Just like Hendrix, his death too is mysterious and caused much controversy. According to Stephen Davis' biography of Morrison, it was reported that he had dried blood around his mouth and nose and large bruising on his chest. This suggests Morrison might have died from a massive hemorrhage caused by tuberculosis. Many fans and biographers have speculated that the cause of death was a drug overdose, but the official report listed the cause of death as heart failure. Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner found no evidence of foul play. The lack of an official autopsy left many questions unanswered and provided a fertile breeding ground for speculation and rumor. According to Danny Sugerman, in his autobiographical novel Wonderland Avenue, he recounts that he briefly met with Courson when she returned to America in the mid-1970s. Courson told him that Morrison had in fact died of a heroin overdose when he inhaled copious amounts of the substance, believing it to be cocaine. Sugerman added that Courson just like Hendrix’s girlfriend had given numerous contradictory versions of Morrison's death. Courson too died a later at age 27 of a heroin overdose. In Densmore's(The Doors drummer) own autobiography, Riders On The Storm, the drummer reasoned that Morrison had taken heroin with a strong iquor, climbed into the bathtub, and committed suicide. A 2006 French television documentary, from a series called 'Death of an Idol', had interviewed several Parisians who claimed that they had seen Morrison at a Paris nightclub, Rock 'n' roll Circus, which was a known place for heroin dealers. The club's manager claimed to have seen Morrison that night. A Parisian woman, Nicole Gosselin, claimed that she had seen Morrison in the club on the evening of 2 July 1971. Apparently there was a shipment of heroin due that evening and Morrison was looking for some. Soon after it arrived, Gosselin claimed that she saw Morrison near the club toilets and that he was passing out against the wall completely white-faced. Gosselin also claimed that the batch of heroin was particularly potent and that she knew the person who sold it to Morrison. Some people took him out of the club and into a taxi, presumably to return him to his apartment. This would perhaps explain why Morrison was found in the bathtub, as this is a classic way of reviving overdose victims. The documentary also spoke to the fireman who arrived at Morrison's apartment early on 3rd July. This man claimed to have seen Morrison's body, with the remnants of a trickle of blood coming from his nose. The fact that Morrison was a known alcoholic meant that adding strong heroin to his already weakened constitution was a dangerous mixture (heroin and alcohol are potentially lethal when mixed in sufficient quantities).
In The Lizard King, Jerry Hopkins recounts that, well before the Doors achieved noticeable success, Morrison had joked that he should fake his own death to generate publicity. According to some of Morrison's friends and bandmates, once the Doors had achieved their remarkable success, publicity was no longer seen as being so desirable. Morrison then spoke of wanting to fake his death and move to Africa in order to escape the scrutiny that surrounded his every move. He told them that if he could succeed with the ruse, he would write to them using the pseudonym/ anagram(of his name) "Mr. Mojo Risin." Such a disappearing act would have paralleled the life of one of Morrison's favorite French poets, Arthur Rimbaud. According to Krieger and other Doors members, they have yet to receive any letters. Similarly conspiracy theory suggested that he faked his death to avoid legal action. All this added to the heap of theories surrounding his death raising ambiguity.
Morrison is buried in "The Poets' Corner" of the famous Père Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris. Morrison's gravestone has a Greek inscription reading Κατὰ τον δαίμονα ἑαυτοῦ, in capital letters (ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ). The meaning intended by the Morrison family when the inscription was selected is "True to his own spirit." The literal meaning is "according to his own daimōn", an Ancient Greek word that implies a minor deity, attendant spirit, luck, fortune, "guiding star" Various erroneous interpretations of the inscription have been proposed, including "down with his own demons" (presumably in Hell), "burnt by his demons", and "with the devil himself."
Another strange co-incidence is the death of three blues based rock n’ roll artists in serial order all dying at age 27! Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and surprisingly all of their names begin with ‘J’.

Next in line was the Elvis Presley on 16th August, 1977 to pass away. Presley was found lying on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom by his fiancée, Ginger Alden, who had been asleep. A stain on the bathroom carpeting was found that indicated "where Elvis had thrown up after being stricken, apparently while seated on the toilet. It looked to the medical investigator as if he had 'stumbled or crawled several feet before he died'." He was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where at 3:30 P.M. doctors pronounced him dead. Presley was 42 years old. At a press conference following his death, one of the medical examiners declared that he had died of a cardiac arrhythmia from an intake of a large amount of prescription drugs.
7th September the following year it was Keith Moon to follow who died in his sleep after a prescription-drug overdose(which was given to cure his alcoholism), only a few hours after a party held by Paul McCartney. Two ironies about the last album, Who are You, includes the cover, which shows Moon sitting in a chair with the words "not to be taken away," and the song "The Music Must Change", which has no drum track.
25th September, 1980 was the tragic demise of John Bonham, another legendary drummer belonging to Led Zeppelin. A day earlier Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for the upcoming tour of the US. During the journey Bonham had asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (roughly sixteen shots (2/3 pint (~8dl)) of vodka), with a ham roll. He then continued to drink when he arrived at the studio. A halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Page's Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight, Bonham had fallen asleep and was taken to bed on his side. It was rumoured that he had a total of forty shots that night. Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's then tour manager) and John Paul Jones found him dead the next morning. Bonham was 32 years old.
Shortly after that on the 8th of December was the murder of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment in New York. ‘The Day the Music died!’ screamed out a cover of Time Magazine. Incidentally this very day is Jim Morrison’s birthday as well.
With that ended of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll era. A similar lifestyle did continue into the future but not in the same style and freedom. What did not end with that era was the popularity of the music they made, the lives they led and influence they made.