OMG! Billy Mays has died suddenly! We knew Billy from our many years of doing public shows with him as an exhibitor. Bill was a really quiet, nice and organized exhibitor. He was the kind of pitchman that came to life when the light came on. Our prayers and thoughts are with his wife and family. RIP BILL
My friends Bobb and Karin Schmitz of Easy Way Products had this to say about Billy's death:
Bobb and Karin:
Yesterday Billy got home to Tampa from shooting a commercial in Philadelphia. There was a blow out on one of the plane's tires during the landing. Something fell down and hit Billy on the head. It was a very rough landing. Billy was interviewed by a Tampa TV station and he told them he was hit on the head but that he had a hard head.
This may be something similar to what happened to Natasha Richardson.
Thanks guys! TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa police say Billy Mays, the television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.
Authorities say Mays was pronounced dead Sunday morning after being found by his wife at home. There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.
Mays' wife, Deborah Mays, says the family doesn't expect to make any public statements and asked for privacy.
Mays was also featured on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which followed Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.
One of the best songs to come out of the 1960s was the rock anthem "I FOUGHT THE LAW" by the Bobby Fuller 4. It had driving guitars and riveting beats. Love that song to this day and so do the new hot bands that have done covers of it like Green Day see their version HERE
Born in Baytown, Texas, Robert Gaston Fuller spent most of his youth in El Paso, Texas, where he idolized Buddy Holly, a fellow Texan (Holly was a native of Lubbock, Texas). He played in clubs and bars, and recorded on independent record labels in Texas, with a constantly-changing line-up, during the early 1960s. The only constant band members were Fuller himself (on vocals and guitar), and his younger brother, Randy Fuller on bass.
Fuller moved to Los Angeles in 1964 with his band The Bobby Fuller Four, and was signed to Mustang Records by producer Bob Keane, who was noted for discovering Ritchie Valens and producing many surf music groups. By this time, group consisted of Bobby and brother Randy on vocals/guitar and bass respectively, Jim Reese on guitar and DeWayne Quirico on drums.
It was sometime during the hot late afternoon hours of Monday, July 18th, that Bobby Fuller's body was found, lying across the front seat of his mother's Oldsmobile, which was parked in the large lot beside the apartment he shared with his younger brother, bassist Randy Fuller.
The car had mysteriously appeared after hours of searching the local area had not turned up any clues to his whereabouts. The doors were unlocked, the windows were closed tight, and no keys to the vehicle were found inside. When the first Hollywood-division police officers arrived and opened the driver's side door, they noticed there was a book of matches on the seat beside Fuller on the front seat.
An eyewitness to the gruesome discovery remembers that Fuller had traces of dried blood around his chin and mouth, and that his face and chest were bruised as if he had been beaten. Fuller's hair and clothing were also soaked with gasoline, and his right hand still clenched a rubber siphoning-tube.
Crime scene investigators made so many baffling errors in judgment that it seems some kind of "police cover-up" may have actually taken place. An empty gas can, found in the back seat, was removed by a policeman (who apparently didn't consider it vital to the investigation) and thrown into a nearby dumpster.
The Olds was not dusted for fingerprints, nor was it ever impounded and searched for further clues. Members of the radio and television press at the scene were told that it looked to be a clear case of "suicide," despite much visual evidence to the contrary, and this off-hand remark was the first news of Fuller's death to be broadcasted to the world.
Many people still believe what they first heard that day to be the truth, and despite the fact that a coroner's autopsy report--which originally listed the death as suicide---was changed months later to read "accidental" due to "inhalation of gasoline." (The accompanying case report also stated that Fuller had been "despondent over job situation recently.")
There were also rumors that he had actually drank gasoline, though a Stanford University crime professor reported (in 1966) that "no one has ever successfully killed themselves by drinking gasoline. One could not be able to keep it down, if they could get it down. They would simply throw up before they could die from it."
Another rumor was that Fuller had overdosed on LSD or some other kind of hallucinogenic drug at a Malibu Beach party the night before. The people at the parties were celebrities, and to avoid a scandal, they poured gasoline down his throat, saturated his hair and they planned to torch the car---to make it look like a "mob slaying"--yet no trace of drugs appear in the autopsy report, and no traces of gasoline had actually been swallowed.
Fuller was buried four days later at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Burbank. Case closed.
4:20 into this video features mysterious death of Bobby Fuller
According to the official Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office autopsy report, "Deceased was found lying face down in front seat of car--a gas can, 1/3 full, cover open--windows were all rolled up & doors shut, not locked--keys not in ignition".
**NEW INFO From a reader**
Nicely done...one issue though....the gas can was on the right front floorboard ...and...there was a second can in the trunk of the car, the one that belonged to the car! The can with Bobby came from where? It was never thrown into a trash can that was NOT there...that was a Bob Keane CONCOCTION! Janis Joplin 4 years later would walk across the street from her apt and meet the pusher man on the bench on the corner just 50-60' from where Bobby was found in his car....then she would go back to her apt and take some uncut bad drugs and die......250' from where Bobby died. There are a few other tit bits ..... later.....
The report also noted excessive bruising on his chest and shoulders, and attributed the cause of death to asphyxiation "due to inhalation of gasoline". Bobby had been drenched with the gasoline, and he was in a state of rigor mortis. His body appeared battered, and his right finger was broken, as if it had been bent back.
The police attributed his death to suicide, with the report stating that there was "no evidence of foul play." So basically he beat himself up, broke his finger, and then drenched himself with gasoline. Oh yeah, that makes sense. The case remains closed and sealed under California law.
1776 N. Sycamore Avenue (above Hollywood Blvd.), Hollywood: the apartment of Bobby Fuller, the singer who (as lead singer of 'The Bobby Fuller Four') gave us "I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)." In 1966, just five months after that song hit the Top Ten, Fuller died mysteriously from gasoline asphyxiation in his car (at age 22), while parked outside his apartment, just around the corner from Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Police labeled it a suicide, but the possibility of foul play has also been mentioned. According to his road manager at the time, "Bobby was found in his mother's car on the vacant lot north of the building, where there is now a small park - about 50' from Franklin & about 50' from Sycamore and about 50' from the apartment house." Map HERE
Michael Jackson's Life on People Magazine Covers HERE
OMG we just got a CBS News Alert that Michael Jackson died today at age 50. Though nothing would surprise after all the other media stunts he has pulled over the past 40 some years. However, we are still shocked and sad over the loss.
RK loved him so much as a kid. He was just three years younger than myself and I grew up watching his life. Knowing the massive talent MJ possessed and the mentally unstable childhood he endured made it a pain filled view.
We wonder what will happen to those children... At least the drama is over.
RIP Michael.
Michael Jackson
CBS News has confirmed Jackson's death, but the Los Angeles Fire Department Thursday confirmed that he was rushed to UCLA Medical Center, reports KCBS in Los Angeles.
Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived.
Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home around 12:26 p.m. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told The Los Angeles Times.
The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson's rented home, was roped off Thursday with police tape.
News trucks were gathered, helicopters flew overhead, and orange cones were laid out to redirect traffic.
"We have no statements as far as transporting Michael Jackson,'' Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales said.
Jackson had planned to hit the stage at the O2 Arena in London for 50 concerts this summer. Tickets for the series, which kicks off on July 8, sold out in a matter of hours on March 13. By the time the shows end in February 2010, more than 1 million people will have seen Jackson perform. Jackson, 50, has been in the public eye for more than 40 years.
With his unforgettable catchy Jackson Five tunes and incredible stage presence, the public has been infatuated with the shining child star turned awkward adult, who reached international superstardom. As soon as Jackson glided across the stage with his signature moonwalk dance, it was all over from there - fans were immediately hooked.
His album "Thriller," released in 1982, was a chart-topper that set the bar for pop music.
In recent years, however, the pop icon has become more of a recluse and somewhat of a lost soul.
Headlines about Jackson were no longer about his music; instead there were stories of plastic surgery and strange behavior. He dangled his baby from a balcony and most damaging to his image was his 2005 trial for child molestation.
It's been 21 years since Tough Tony Spilotro, the reputed rackets boss of Las Vegas, was murdered along with his brother, presumably by members of "The Outfit" in Chicago. But the best-known version of how the men were killed is simply wrong, according to federal prosecutors in Chicago, who are preparing to out away the men responsible.
Operation Family Secrets is the name of the FBI probe that led to the indictment of 14 Chicago mobsters, charged with 18 gangland murders, including those of the Spilotro brothers. The trial, slated to begin in two weeks, will challenge widely held views of what really happened to "Tough Tony."
Movie fans around the world are familiar with the bloody end met by Las Vegas mob boss Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and his brother Michael. In the film "Casino," the characters based the Spilotro brothers were taken to an Indiana cornfield, then were beaten to a pulp, one at a time, with baseball bats, and then buried while still alive.
In Chicago, federal prosecutors are prepared to make the Spilotro murders a centerpiece of the massive prosecution of 14 mob figures. The case that will be presented at the Dirksen Courthouse lists 18 murders in all, along with many other crimes, but because of their movie notoriety, the Spilotro's are likely to get top billing.
Rick Halprin, Chicago defense attorney, said, "The event is depicted in a movie, and anybody sitting on a jury, or most of the jury, is going to associate the two. The judge is going to have to deal with that when we select a jury."
Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp: "But the movie version is wrong. Mobster-turned-informant Nick Calabrese is ready to testify that the Spilotro brothers were killed, not in Indiana, but instead, here in a quiet suburb of Bensenville."
Why should a jury believe Nick Calabrese about the Spilotro murders? Because Calabrese admits that he was one of the killers. He's also fessed up to participating in 14 other mob murders and is ready to tell all he knows about the Chicago outfit, including his own brother Frank.
This is the story told by Calabrese and corroborated by the FBI with other sources. Tony Spilotro, who was facing three indictments in Las Vegas, returned to Chicago in the belief that he might be in line for a promotion in his hometown.
Former mob associate "Slick" Hanner said, "The reason they got killed was because they were going back to Chicago to take over The Outfit. He was telling his crew we're going back to Chicago."
Acting boss Joe Ferriola, now deceased, saw it differently and ordered the murders. Spilotro's presumed boss, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, allegedly signed off on the hit. The Spilotro brothers were wary about going to a meeting, but changed their minds about taking guns along, presumably because someone close to them put their minds at ease.
According to Calabrese, the Spilotro's were picked up by James Marcello, currently listed as boss of The Outfit, and were driven to a house in the Bensenville suburb. Tony was supposed to get a promotion. Michael was to become a made member. When they got to the house, they were taken to the basement for the ceremony, and that's where Marcello, Calabrese, and four other men beat them to death.
At least two men, including hitman John Fecarotta, put the bodies in a car and jumped on the highway. As the I-Team learned, one of the first signs they would have seen directs them toward Indiana and the cornfield. Former Spilotro underling, hitman Frank Cullotta, tried to put Spilotro away, but is still bothered by the imagery.
Cullotta said, "If I had to kill him, I couldn't kill him that way. I'd a just shot him. I couldn't beat him to death like that, let his brother watch. I just assume they were showing one or the other, you're not such a tough guy after all."
While RK was hanging with the DoGs last week, awesome Mary Kay DoG told me about her friend Heather Harris who shot all of the really good publicity stills for the DoGs. MK mentioned that she would talk to Heather about sending me some images for their new blog TheDoGs1970.
Heather kindly emailed me and is sending a disc of images for The DoGs. HH sent me her website too and I got lost in there looking at all the famous rock stars she has framed. She had an access backstage pass to Rock N Roll History. Heather has all her fabulous images for sale on her site: HeatherHarris.Net
Heather Harris' photographs of musicians have been published in Rolling Stone, MOJO, Billboard, the Los Angeles Times, Hits, Creem, Music Connection and countless others. Spanning the Buffalo Springfield to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, her work includes many of the most important figures in rock that came through her native Los Angeles throughout the past four decades.
Author of the books "Punk Rock 'n' Roll," and "Bob Marley - Rastaman Vibration," (both of Almo Publications), she is readying a photojournalistic collection of her music photography and overview of Los Angeles' unique local music scene, "Fast Film." You can view samples of more than 4 decades of rock & roll photography here, along with a complete chapter excerpt.
Heather Harris is available for studio portraiture 24/7, and for live concert, location or event photography. Original signed and framed museum-quality photographic prints of these historical images, plus thousands more, are available for purchase.
As RK was digging for cool retro stuff we found this really fabulous slide show on the history of Las Vegas and the Mobsters that built the city and casinos there. We really wish that Hollywood would make a blockbuster film about the whole story. We have had of course Casino with Robert Deniro, Bugsy with Warren Beatty, and Sugartime with John Turturro. A bit of fictional depictions in the Godfather were good too. But... A TOTALLY true film featuring the real characters of Las Vegas. Maybe I'll launch a film production company myself... hmmm
Well Kimmer has been very busy since February 22, 2009 when we launched Machinegun Thompson's Blog At first he was hesitant and then about a month into he tore into blogging! Now he is a full time blogger and does most of the posting with an occasional post from Retrokimmer
Dennis had led a fascinating life and has many stories and experiences to share with young readers. For me it is a very exciting project and MGT has granted me access to the massive archives of his life. That man saves everything and is never without a camera!
Mackyplanet's newest blogger is the effervescent Julie Molinare from LA by way of New York. (go Mets!) Ms Julie has a big landscaping business and we began creating a beautiful blog for her yesterday. It is really fun for me as I get to use pretty images of plants and flowers. I love those colors too. Her gorgeous Onion Field phot makes a great header. Adding a playlist for Greener Designs was fun as she has great taste in music. Julie had some great E-How pages already so those were her first posts.
About three weeks ago RK met Loren Molinare, Julie's husband and the Head DoG of the legendary punk band The DoGS. We hit it off immediately. Loren is so upbeat and enthusiastic about lmusic and life in general. Making a blog for him was a total blast. It helps so much that Loren sent me ton of images and text too. Finding tons of info on the net helped too.
This past Wednesday the DoGs came to play in my town of Ann Arbor, MI. Together with my newest blog makeover and fellow blogger Kirk of the Motor City Blog we decided I would cover that show. Kirk had his crack team of Paparazzi Christian, Nicole, Melody, Jesse, come out to shoot the DoGs. Ms Macky and her camera team! YAY
Meeting the DoGs was a blast. Loren, Mary Kay and Tony really rocked the Blind Pig.
Hadn't been to the Pig in a very long time and stayed up way too late for work the next day.
It was worth every minute of lost sleep. They were really great and the crowd went wild!
While talking with Loren on the phone I made the New Blog TheDoGs1970.Com Blog. The DoGs have the most fabulous art! Going to find their artist and hook them up with MGT. They have several logos and I chose the one below as their header. I just love it.
The main person who got me involved with The DoGs was a very charming English teacher in Tokyo, a certainly charming Detroit Jack. Jack Waldron is originally from the Detroit area but has been an expatriate for a decade. We must have known each other in another life. We instantly became fast friends at the Pig Wed. night. Below is Detroit Jack and Loren DoG. We need to sell those T shirts Jack! Look what the MC5 started!
Loren is also in Little Caesar a hot band that favors R&B and classics. We had a great time beginning their new blog yesterday along with Greener Designs. (No I never get out of the house) LOL
RK had a blast and stayed up way too late on a work night! RK got to finally meet Loren the leader of the DoGs pack! Just love him and the rest of the pack, Mary Kay and Tony (tone dog) too. We just created a blog for the DoGs see it here: TheD0Gs1970.com
RK was charmed by the dazzling antics of one Detroit Jack of Tokyo.. What an amazingly high energy music fan, producer and promoter. RK will be creating a new blog for Jack this week end so stay tuned for his blogosphere launch soon.
Detroit Jack very gingerly allowed RK to touch his mint copies of the MC5 Kick out the Jams records... Graciously shared his black Sharpie all night for autographs too! Thanks JACK
The gang are down playing tonight in Cleveland click HERE for the venue and start time.
Haven't had such a wild time since the 80's!
Go see them in Cleveland, OH, Lansing MI, and Toronto!
MCB's newest contributors Christian and Nicole were out late and for the highly anticipated return of The Dogs who kicked ass and took names all night.
Look for a show review to be added here later today (see below) and if you missed the show head on out to Lansing tomorrow for another great night of detroit punk at Mac's Bar.
Ann Arbors' rockin' history came full circle last nite (June 17, 2009) at the Blind Pig, when The Dogs ripped open the wounds they last inflicted some 35 years ago. For the young punters, a chance to find out if they were 'Tuff Enuff' to handle the full onslaught of an old school high energy Detroit/Lansing band. For the older Dogs fans, it was more of the band that refused to give up the fight back in the day! It was crystal from the outset, that their beloved Dogs had upped the antee with new and enhanced ass kicking energy. The Killed By Death heros went for the juggulars of the pups who dared to venture too close to the cage. Vetern packs just howled up at the moon from the safety of their Lazyboys, rationalizing it to be safer than taking the Dogs by the tail! -- Detroit Jack
The most gorgeous of the Beach Boy's Wilson brothers, Dennis Wilson lived on the edge and walked on the wild side. His hard partying with drugs and alcohol and associations with undesirables led to his untimely death at age 39. He was buried at sea before such things became illegal.
The tale commences with the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, who first encountered Manson and his dreams of rock stardom in Southern California sometime in 1968. The Beach Boys drummer was blown away by the demos written and recorded by the recently freed ex-convict -- suffice to say Wilson was equally impressed by the free-love attitudes of the female members of the Manson Family cult.
The charismatic leader and his followers went as far as relocating lock, stock and barrel to Wilson's house, and the Beach Boy proceeded to shop Manson's songs to various record labels, even introducing him to hip young producer and Columbia Records A&R man Terry Melcher, son of the famous singer-actress Doris Day.
Terry Melcher had just moved out of !0050 Cielo Dr. and Poor Sharon Tate moved in with her husband director Roman Polanski. Insiders have said that Manson picked that house planning on murdering Terry Melcher for rejecting his desire for a recording contract. Dennis is said to have felt terrible guilt for the rest of his short life.
Unfortunately, because of Dennis, The Beach Boys would always be associated with Manson and the Helter Skelter murders. In 1968, Dennis picked up a couple of female hitchhikers, and took them back to his place on Sunset, near the Will Rogers State Park. That was opening the door. By the next night, the place was crawling - to borrow a joke from my pal Ally "like cockroaches in a bad restaurant" - with Family members, including Charlie himself.
Through the connection with Manson – the Beach Boys actually recorded one of Charlie’s songs, on the 20/20 album. Charlie’s version was called Cease To Exist – and the group changed around the lyrics and renamed it Never Learn Not To Love.
Dennis was once questioned about the integrity of recording that song, and he responded by saying that Charlie didn’t want writing credit – he wanted cash. He’d stolen enough from Dennis that he felt justified in recording the song, and not giving Manson any residuals.
The Beatles had a landmark moment on my birthday...Feb 09 1961. The first Beatles lineup of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best played a lunchtime gig at famous Cavern Club
The Cavern Club located on Mathew Street in Liverpool featured " beat groups" that changed the course of music for all time. The Beatles played at the Cavern about 300 times between March 1961 through August 1963. An endless stream of famous groups came out of the Cavern, such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, and many others. It was the birthplace of the British Invasion. In the early days Cilla Black was in charge of the cloakroom. Pete Best was the Beatles drummer , later being replaced by Ringo Starr, who had been playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The club is full of history.
Of course I wasn't to hear them until my birthday in 1964 when they played on Ed Sullivan and I fell in love with Paul McCartney. Being in love in second grade was tough and heart breaking... But I made up for unrequited love by buying Beatle lunch boxes, notebokks, shoes, dolls, posters and more... I loved the Beatles perhaps more than any other band of my life time.
Here are the very first Beatles on video (thank God for You Tube)
CHICAGO – Hundreds of mourners turned out Thursday at a music-filled wake and memorial service for Chicago blues icon Koko Taylor, whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the nickname "Queen of the Blues." Among those who paid tribute to Taylor were Mayor Richard Daley and musicians Delores Scott and Vance Kelly. The "Queen" lay in a glass-topped casket at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition headquarters on Chicago's South Side, dressed in an elegant off-white silk brocade dress, gloves and a tiara .... RIP Queen Koko
Readers of the MOTOR CITY BLOG will have noticed a little change in the way things look thanks to our newest supporter - RETRO: KIMMER who is involved with a million things around town and also takes care of Machine Gun Thompson's websites
This is version 0.1 and we plan to move to version 3.4 or something like that over the next few weeks....still bare bones for the most part - less to distract you from the posts. Anyway - we dig it and there is a little more to come so big thanks to Kim Maki (Retro: Kimmer) who actually just finished up working on a video project with Machine Gun Thompson - the drummer from the MC5 who actually will be making a surprise appearance at The Dogs show in Ann Arbor June 17th at The Blind Pig thanks so much Kirk @ MCB for the big plug for the one and only legendary drummer Machinegun Thompson and welcoming The Dogs, the newest member of our Mackyplanet blogger network. Go visit them and watch them play here: TheDogs1970.com
