DENIZ TEK: RADIO BIRDMAN MURDER CITY NIGHTS

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The most gorgeous guitar players of all time tome is Deniz Tek.. brilliant and talented... check this video out of one of my favorite Tek songs... Murder City (Detroit) nights...

THE ENGLISH BEAT: STERN GROVE FESTIVAL SF ...

Dave Wakeling and Keith Rendel

One of the very best things about being in Facebook is reconnecting with old friends that have moved far away or that you lost contact with back in time. One of these for me was reconnecting with Keith Rendel. Fascinating fun guy and so full of life...

We met in the 80's and instantly got along like a house on fire. Keith was living in San Francisco then and was just in Detroit for a short time. We spent time running around Detroit. Keith and I both love Ian Hunter and as luck would have it Ian was playing at Cobo Arena opening for Heart.

We caught Ian's show then we left! Never did see Heart. Keith went back to his life in California and I ended up on the road doing shows for along time too. Don't remember how we found each other again on FB but I am very happy we did. Thank you Keith XXOOk

Keith interviews Paul, Mick & Jason of Magic Christian. Video by GilW

Magic Christian Shake Some Action Live in Toronto

Keith is a friend of Dave Wakeling. I am a huge fan of Dave's so this is what prompted Keith and I to start working together from the midwest to the West Coast... Keith went to see Dave and The English Beat at the Stern Grove Festival.

Flamin Groovies guitarist Cyril was not present but leads the band I interviewed. Listen to Shake Some Action. All your musician friends will know who they were.
Talk soon. I have lots of ideas....K

The English Beat on 7-17 Video by GilW

I had the pleasure of meeting Dave when he played the Magic Bag awhile back. You can read my English Beat story HERE

STAGE COLLAPSES AT OTTAWA BLUES FEST!

Cheap Trick Survives Stage Collapse at Ottawa Bluesfest

My friend Skip Gildersleeve who is on tour as a guitar tech with the Court Yard Hounds ... just wrote me about the main stage collapse at the Ottawa Blues Fest yesterday. They were the band before Cheap Trick last night in Ottawa before the stage collapsed. One hour earlier it would have been Skip's band guys.

According to the Associated Press, the main stage at Canada’s Ottawa Bluesfest, one of the largest North American festivals, collapsed last night while Cheap Trick were performing. The result of an unexpected severe thunderstorm, winds began to pick up around 8 p.m. EDT, blowing through the show and immediately leveling the stage. The members of Cheap Trick were unharmed, but reports as to exactly how many others were injured are varied. Full Story

SUNDAY PICS FROM SCOTT MORGAN

All comments from Scott.....

ok i'm up to no good again. i guess that's my job...

Kimmer loves this one too.... I guess he must have been the best all around for me

Good for tonight....

PETER LAWFORD: HOLLYWOOD POLITICS AND THE MAFIA

Peter Lawford and John F Kennedy

From Rags to Riches and back to Rags aptly describes the life of Actor Peter Lawford. He ran with the "A" crowd and got fried being too close to the sun. As a member of "The Rat Pack" Lawford was placed in the center of the Hollywood/Las Vegas elite. Lawford took it to another Level by marrying President John F. Kennedy's sister Patricia (Pat).

Peter Sydney Vaughn Aylen (Lawford) 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984 grew up under the iron fist of his highly abusive Mother Lady May Lawford. This "lady" was a trip! She dressed poor Peter in girl's clothing and much more.

She was married to another man (Vaughn Aylen) and when she became pregnant he promptly divorced her. She very shortly thereafter married Sir Sydney Lawford. No wonder Lawford turned to booze and drugs and had low self-esteem issues.

Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, May Britt, Pat Kennedy Lawford, Peter Lawford at the Lawford's Santa Monica Home c. 1960 © 1978 Bernie Abramson

Peter and Marilyn

Peter was a famous leading man in Hollywood and certainly when an arm injury kept him out of WWII. He defined suave and debonair. Women flocked the charming English actor.

After marrying into the Kennedy clan. Peter was a pawn used by Joe Kennedy to get celebrity support to elect Jack as president. Peter was often used to wrangle women for Jack Kennedy, he was then used by Frank Sinatra as an "in" with the Kennedys.

Many insiders think that Peter Lawford knew:

Who killed JFK, he knew why Robert Kennedy went after the mob, and knew who killed Marilyn Monroe and why... they believe what Peter knew ended up killing him. As Peter was sinking and drinking and drugging more and more.. he was ignored by the Kennedy's, banned by Frank Sinatra, and rarely had good film roles. He began working in television and doing camp shows like Love Boat and Love American Style etc.

Peter set up the infamous Happy Birthday Mr. President serenade for John Kennedy's birthday..

After Joe Kennedy banned Sinatra from JFK access, Lawford was banned from the Rat Pack and his life tumbled from there. Then JFK was assassinated...he was persona non grata in Hollywood.

Lawford died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve 1984 of cardiac arrest complicated by kidney and liver failure after years of drug and alcohol abuse.

His body was cremated, and his ashes were interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Due to a legal dispute, the cemetery, Lawford's ashes were removed and scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California by his widow, Patricia Seaton Lawford, who invited the National Enquirer tabloid to photograph the event.

 A plaque bearing Lawford's name was erected at Westwood Village Memorial Park.

THE DEATH OF "BEWITCHED" ACTOR PAUL LYNDE

Actor Comedian Paul Edward Lynde

Paul Lynde was one of the funniest comedians of all time. I would have to say he was perhaps the first openly gay film/television actor too. Everyone knew he was gay but that never became an issue for Paul. Remember what happened to Ellen Degeneres when she came out? Her career went down the tube...

Paul Lynde's form of comedy was sly, acerbic, sarcastic and his timing was impeccable. And that cackling laugh!!! Just listening to Paul laugh cracked me up. Though I appreciate his humor more as an adult than as kid watching Bewitched. I liked him on Bewitched as he was the comic relief from Darrin and Endora!

For me I will always remember the hilarious Bewitched Episodes with Paul playing "Uncle Arthur". Another generation of TV watchers grew up watching Paul Lynde in the center square on Hollywood Squares. On Squares Paul was the hippest and certainly the most risque. Paul stayed in tune with the younger generations in terms of style and attitude... He never wanted to be stodgy.

Read More about Paul's Career and Filmography

Paul Lynde was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and studied drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where his fellow students included Cloris Leachman, Charlotte Rae, Patricia Neal, Jeffrey Hunter and Claude Akins. At Northwestern, he joined the Upsilon chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma and is listed amongst the most famous members of the fraternity. He graduated in 1948 and moved to New York City, where he initially worked as a stand-up comic.

Paul Lynde also played Mr. MacAfee the father of Ann Margret's character in the film Bye Bye Birdie. Some say Paul Lynde's portrayal helped boost Birdie into a smash hit.

Paul Lynde on the set of Bye Bye Birdie

Paul Lynde hated being the center square on Hollywood Squares. He thought he deserved better, and he did. A slowly fading memory now, Lynde is not even a standard subject for comic impressionists. What he needed, and perhaps what he deserved, were a few great roles, either in television or films, something more than playing Uncle Arthur in Bewitched. Center Square, a new biography outlining Lynde’s rise and fall, names many tantalizing, could-have-been projects, including a film never made with Richard Pryor. PopMatters

Sadly Paul Lynde was not a very happy man. Guess that is true with a lot of comedians. He was a huge alcoholic and smoked alot too. Marie Osmond in this clip below called "Sour Grapes" talks about how Paul hated working with kids. Paul also longed to be a dramatic actor and not be so typecast. But one laugh out of Paul would blow a dramatic part to bits.. Check Paul's timing in this bit with Donny Osmond... He is perfect...

Television appearances run the gamut from “Bewitched”, “Donny & Marie”, “Love American Style”, “The Munsters”, “The Carol Burnett Show”, and “What’s My Line?”, to his own Special “Paul Lynde Goes Maaad!”, “I’ve Got A Secret”, and - of course - “Hollywood Squares”, where he occupied the center square for nearly a dozen years total, collecting two Emmy Awards for his caustic wit, wisecracking his way to financial independence, gaining international recognition by answering such questions put to him by host Peter Marshall as: “In the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ the lion wanted courage and the tin man wanted a heart. What did the scarecrow want?” Paul: “He wanted the tin man to notice him.” Read More

Paul went out and brought a date home and when he didn't appear the next night at a dinner party friends and family discovered that at age 55 Paul suffered a massive heart attack.

Though Paul was a very beloved comedian and had many many friends and admirers he just had a depressed kind of personality.. RIP Uncle Arthur

BRIXTON KEY IN PERSON AUG 4 SAN FRANCISCO

Official Charlie Six Website

I recently chatted with author Brixton Key over the phone as he lives in Downtown San Francisco. Brix is a good friend of my old friend Keith Rendel. What a unique guy Brix is... Brix is an incredible storyteller and I enjoyed listening to him talk about his life in Rock n Roll and his family in England...

Brixton graciously sent me a copy of "Charlie Six" to read and I love it! His book came in my mail a few days ago and I am half way through it now. This book is totally retro cool... It has everything Kimmer loves! Rock n Roll, Mobsters, Parties, London Crime, Fashion and more...

Heads up all the people in the San Francisco Bay area...

Thursday August 4, 2011 at 6PM Brixton will be reading aloud from Charlie Six at Jack Kerouac Alley (map). Following the reading will be a reception (that I wish I could attend!!!) at Specs sorry 21+ only

Jack Kerouac Alley

257 Columbus

between Vesuvio and City Lights

(between Jack Kerouac Aly & Saroyan Pl)

San Francisco, CA 94133

Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill