Charles Manson: musical motive?

Charles Manson

I was first drawn into the world of serial killer, Charles Manson, after reading ‘Helter Skelter’ by Vincent Bugliosi. As with most of the thing that I take an interest in, I then went on to read everything and anything about him and ‘the Family’. I was fascinated by all the music "clues" that surrounded the family and the murders.

I became fascinated by the failings of the hippie mentality of the '60s that the Manson murders represented. I have a copy of his album LIE and I was terribly disappointed by it. This was no 'hippie messiah', with a new philosophy that was going to change the world. Had there not been the notorious Manson murders, I seriously doubt that any of Charlie's music would have become well known.

I won't go into too much of Manson’s background, it seems to be well known enough. In 1967, Charlie was released from prison after serving half of his life in various institutions. And yes, that means that he could not have auditioned for the Monkees because he was still incarcerated in 1966. In prison, he learned guitar Alvin Karpis of the Ma Barker gang and he became interested in Scientology

Charlie made quite a few contacts with those in the music business such as Neil Young, John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas and most famously, Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson.

members of 'The Family'

Dennis was willing to not only introduce him to his music industry contacts (such as Terry Melcher), but also recorded Charlie at his brother Brian’s home recording studio. Once the drugs had worn off, Dennis discovered that Charlie's girls gave him the clap and Manson's hippy followers fleeced him of about $100,000 (in the summer of 1968) - the reality set in.

However, Dennis did convince the Beach Boys to record one of Charlie's songs on their new 20/20 album. ‘Cease To Exist’ was recorded under the new title of ‘Never Learn Not to Love‘. The song was the b-side of a Beach Boys single, which only made it to number 61 in the charts. Charlie could later claim the notoriety of being the only serial killer to have a song in the charts!

There are many theories banded about as to why the Manson Family committed those murders in the hot summer of 1969. One theory is that the murders were to incite a race war letting Manson take over the world, another was to take the heat of Family member Bobby Beausoleil who was arrested a few days before the Tate murders for the murder of musician Gary Hinman. Another strange motive was that the Tate and LaBianca murders were a retaliation for Manson’s rejection by the ‘music establishment’ (Terry Melcher, a music producer, used to live at 10050 Ceilo Drive where Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski set up home.)

actress Sharon Tate

If the murders were not some sort of twisted revenge, there are however many interesting coincidences. There are ties to both the Cielo Drive and the Waverly Drive crime scenes and Manson was familiar with both places. Manson was introduced to Terry Melcher, while Melcher was still living at 10050 Cielo Drive. Another incident places Charlie at 10050 Cielo Drive, when Dennis drove Melcher home, as Charlie sat in the back seat. Rudy Altobelli, a business manager for celebrities, lived in the guesthouse at Cielo Drive. He had contact several times with Manson when he came to the house looking for Terry Melcher. During one visit, Charlie even met Sharon Tate.

Charlie pursued his musical aspirations through 1969. Terry Melcher came to hear Manson play at Spahn ranch but wasn't impressed enough to offer a contract. While Family members claimed that Melcher discussed a recording contract, Melcher denied ever discussing this.

Ultimately, Charlie failed to convince anyone to sign him to a record contract. Was this the spark or just a coincidence in the resulting murders? Manson allegedly told a friend that summer, "How are you going to get to the establishment? You can't sing to them. I tried that, I tried to save them, but they wouldn't listen. Now we've got to destroy them."

Of all the books that have been written about Charles Manson over the years, each one has its own theory as to why the murders were committed. Of course, the "Helter Skelter" theory is the most popular, simply due to the enormous popularity of the book and TV movie.

While the Helter Skelter motive has the dramatic mixture of the Beatles, the Bible, drugs, sex and the apocalypse - it doesn't answer the 'motive' question once and for all. Were the Manson murders just payback for drug burns? (There is evidence that murder victim Frykowski was trying to be a dealer for the drug MDA) Was it just coincidental that both of these houses had 'musical' ties? When you mix all the drugs, sex and music...who knows what really went down?

Only Charlie truly knows. But, I have a feeling that Charlie will take his true motives to the grave.


http://www.charliemanson.com/

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

Whitesnake gig 5 December 2011 HMV Forum Kentish Town, London

L-R: Dave Coverdale, Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich 

Whitesnake front man David Coverdale still continues to thrill crowds all over the world with with his trademark blues rock voice. When he’s up there on the stage, he is hard to beat as a singer, showman and master of the double meaning.

Physically fit as he bounds across the stage and with his voice in a far better shape than on the Good To Be Bad tour, there’s an enthusiasm about his performance as he plays the rock god to a T.

Playing for just shy of two hours, the band blast through hits before filling the mid-section with guitar and drum solos.

My new rock boy crush Doug Aldrich

The Reb Beach versus Doug Aldrich (my new rock boy crush by the way) fret-off has become a familiar feature of the modern-day Whitesnake shows and both men are masters of the electric guitar. On the Forevermore tour, their joust is perhaps a tad too long and the same can be said for Brian Tichy’s lengthy drum solo.

Brian Tichy

Tichy showcases his talents by drumming with candy canes, chop sticks and butcher knives. That’s right I said knives all of which he throws into the crowd (minus the knives of course).

Every moment in Coverdale’s company is a moment of complete joy and if the material from new album Forevermore is anything to go by then, as a songwriter, he still has so much more to say.

Mixing new material with familiar hits, that side of the latest Whitesnake show is simply perfectionist. Love Will Set You Free sits comfortably alongside Give Me All Your Love and Love Ain’t No Stranger – three sensational tracks spanning the generations and proving the band has a rich back catalogue.

Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City, Fool For Your Lovin and Here I Go Again really get the crowd going as they sing and clap along like their lives depended upon it.

For all the rumblings around those solo slots, plus a visit from Santa, it is this iconic tune which will live longest in the memories of Whitsnake's partisan and passionate fans.

Phony Beatlemania has Bitten the Dust

I don't like the Beatles. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I can't stand them, I'd rather cut my ears off etc etc. You get the drift.  There are many reasons why I don’t like them. I was brought up with listening to the Rolling Stones and so I always preferred them to the Beatles. The Stones’ rock n roll and rebel sound appealed to me more and  I liked the sense of danger, the bad bay attitude you got with the Stones compared to the sugary sweet bubble gum pop sound that the Beatles had in the beginning.

I’ve read many articles and interviews with people who state that the Beatles were the “pioneers of pop music” but for me, that title deserves to go to the Beach Boys. Their syrupy surfer lyrics were pure pop. It was a kind of sophisticated pop that the Beatles could only dream of. “They defined the sixties” is another phrase linked to the Beatles. But that same phase has also been linked to cult leader Charles Manson not exactly a positive point in the “the Beatles are the best band ever” fan club.

The Beatles, and in particular John Lennon, went through a hippy-trippy psychedelic phase all ‘give peace a chance’ and ‘Imagine’ and the like. But look at the bigger picture here; John Lennon sings ‘imagine no possessions I wonder if you can no need for greed or hunger....’ no possessions eh John? But yet you lived in the Dakota building in New York surrounded by expensive things. A bit of a hypocrite if you ask me.

Now a few people have called me, and I quote, “a fucking music snob” because I don’t like the Beatles they know who they are (p.s I don’t care). But surely I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the Beatles? And I’ve always wondered this, do they genuinely like the Beatles or do they like them because there seems to be some unwritten law that says you must like them? So if I am a music snob for not liking the Beatles, what does that make them? Some sort of music zombie following everyone else? I know what I’d prefer.

Tom Waits - Bad As Me album review

When you are the same age as modern blues crooner Tom Waits (sixty one in case you were wondering) and releasing your 17^th studio album, you can afford to take things easy and stick at what you are good at and what you know. He still sings like an old man with a 60-a-day smoking habit and a throat infection and I love him for it.

Waits’ latest album is like an introduction to his best bits. It is the sort of album you can hand to someone who may have never heard a Waits song before and be safe in the knowledge that they will soon become a converted fan. All Waits is on this album is the romantic, the misery and the feeling of what music should be. He’s good at playing the hurt and broken man despite having the love of a good woman.

the stand out track for me Sisatisfied. It takes its cue from the well-known Rolling Stones track, where Waits demands the same satisfaction. Now Mr Jagger! And Mr Richards! I will scratch where I been itching! he sings while the Stones guitarist plays along on his guitar. Having already appeared as a guest on previous Waits albums, Richards lends a hand on four songs on this album too.

Bad As Me is, as always with Tom Waits’ offerings, an album full of empathy, antagonism and sorrow – the sort of stuff that puts Waits in the same league as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley.

The album’s 13 tracks does its job as entertaining Tom Waits fans but also does well at alerting a new generation that Waits’ music is out there to enjoy and there are few like him out there.

Buy it Tom Waits - Bad As Me

Wasn't That Done By Someone Else?

‘All Along The Watchtower’. Not a bad wee tune. Most people know the version by Jimi Hendrix not in its original form by Bob Dylan.

It’s the classic story of a cover version outshining the original. And it’s its nothing new. Is it a compliment to Dylan that his songs have been covered so many times (or insult depending on the band) or a case of an artist being lazy?

From The Byrds’ jingly jangly take on ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ to Axl Roses screeching on ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door' and Neil Young’s ‘Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues’ and Hole’s ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’

I’ve just heard that Kesha’s covering ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ by Bob Dylan. Now, call me a music snob if you like, but that is just an insult. The song no doubt will rely heavily on Auto-Tune and synths and god know what else over lines that make a grown girl cry.

Also in the ‘Wasn’t That Done by Someone Else?” category: Jeff Buckley’s take on Leonard Cohen's ‘Hallelujah’ . With Cohen’s gospel choir, it lifts your spirits but with Jeff Buckley’s heart-rending rendition it plummets you into the deeps of despair.

Did you know that Bjork’s ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, was originally by Betty Hutton, star of ’Annie Get Your Gun’ ?

Everyone’s at it. The Rolling Stones covering Buddy Holly with ‘Not Fade Away’, The White Stripes with their take on Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, the Beatles with 'Twist And Shout' and so many more.


I’d like to think that it’s a good thing, that perhaps these covers will bring the original version to the ears of a new generation of fans. But the cynic in me actually believes that covering another band is lazy and for the most part, sacrilege.

Morrissey V NME

Singer Morrissey's libel battle against NME magazine over a controversial interview where the magazine printed what was considered “racist views” by the singer, is to be heard next year. The former Smiths front man has already won at a pre-trial hearing against the former NME editor, Conor McNicholas and the magazine's publisher, IPC Media.


In the interview published in 2007, Morrissey was quoted as saying that "the gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away. With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears."

The issue of NME published in 2007

This is not the first time that the singer has been accused of having racist views. In Johnny Rogan's biography of the singer, it is claimed that in his late teens, he had written "I don't hate Pakistanis, but I dislike them immensely".
In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Morrissey spoke out on the topic of animal cruelty in China, a subject that the singer feels strongly about. He said at the time, "You can't help but feel the Chinese are a sub-species".This led to Love Music Hate Racism, a yearly concert that aimed to stamp out racism in music, to whom Morrissey had previously donated money, said it would be unable to accept any support from him again unless he retracted his comments. "When you start using language like 'subspecies'," said a spokesperson for the campaign, "you are entering into dark and murky water".

Morrissey also provoked a storm when he allegedly compared the Norwegian massacre in which 76 people died in July when Anders Behring Breivik went on a murderous rampage, to the slaughter of animals for fast-food restaurant chains.

The 52-year-old, who is a staunch vegetarian and animal rights activist, allegedly made the remarks just before performing his single Meat is Murder, at a concert in Poland, telling the crowd: "We all live in a murderous world, as the events in Norway have shown, with 97 dead. Though that is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried shit every day."

Everybody needs and wants a musician, artist etc to be controversial and to be provocative. My favourite quote is by Sex Pistol and Public Image Ltd singer, John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten: “Its better to provoke a reaction than to act to provocation.” However, there is a large difference to being provocative and outspoken on your views to being bigoted and racist. There is no place for racism in this world it is offensive, hurtful and narrow-minded. Not to mention the wars and fights that it causes. Everyone deserves to be happy, healthy and treated as an equal regardless of the colour of their skin, their ethnicity, religious views or their country of origin.

No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them. 
                                             - Elie Wiesel 1928-, Rumanian born American Writer

　

Spotlight On.... Nick Kent

When I think about what inspired me to become a journalist and in particular, a music journalist, the name Nick Kent springs to mind.

Nick Kent was one of Britain's most notorious music journalists in the '70s. He started writing professionally at the age of 19, cutting his teeth with the underground publication Frendz. He started working for NME in 1972. He became famous for his antics as well as his writings. He flew to Michigan in the States to visit Creem's offices, unannounced, to ask Lester Bangs if he could teach him fine points of rock journalism. Kent seemed interested in writing about, and interviewing, some of music’s most tortured souls. He wrote one of the first extensive pieces about Pink Floyd’s front man Syd Barrett, and wrote lengthy articles on legends like Lou Reed, the New York Dolls, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, and the Rolling Stones that did not always paint these music heroes in the best light. Kent seemed to have an knack for finding controversy and drama, or at least letting controversy and drama find him. He perhaps got a little too involved in the lifestyle of the musicians he was covering, and by the mid-'70s had problems with hard drugs which was adversely affecting his writing and career. It was around this time that he played a significant role in an up coming punk band’s career called the Sex Pistols.

Kent got to know Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren in 1974, and helped teach him about music past and present. I remember reading a story about how Sid Vicious got his name it goes something like this; Kent was at a Pistols gig where Sid attacked him with a bike chain leaving Nick bloodied and bruised. Now, this incident did in fact take place, but whether the attack earned Sid is infamous pseudonym is debatable, depending on who’s telling the story at the time. There is also speculated that the Sex Pistols' "I Wanna Be Me" was about Nick Kent. Although he is still most famed for his stint with NME , Kent wrote for many other publications, including The Face, Spin, and Details.

Maybe it is the romantic notion of sex, drugs and rock n roll that draws me to Nick Kent he did after all, live that lifestyle or maybe its because he wrote for NME which I class as my musical bible. Either way Nick Kent is my inspiration and the reason I got into journalism. Hats off to him.

Further reading:

Nick Kent Apathy for the Devil

Nick Kent The Dark Stuff

Nick Kent Guardian profile


　

The Birth of Independent labels circa 1977

Sid Vicious: poster boy for punk

The year was 1977. Safety pins and studs became the must have accessory and the music press and the establishment was given a shock treatment by Punk. It was also the year that the independent record label was born. When Punk came screaming and howling into the music world, large record companies such as EMI had to make room for the likes of independent labels like Island and Virgin. Now I don’t know about you but I find it weird that Richard Branson signed the Sex Pistols, the poster boys for punk, to Virgin seeing as they are now everything that the Pistols rebelled against, but that is a different blog story all together. After Island and Virgin came Stiff, Chiswick, and more recently, Rough Trade Records.

So, the Sex Pistols belonged to Branson and his cronies at Virgin, CBS had the Clash and the Buzzcocks and Polydor had dibs on Siouxsie and the Banshees. Keeping up so far? Good.
Let’s look at Stiff records. Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman (aka Jake Riviera) formed Stiff Records in 1976. Established at the beginning of the punk rock explosion, they embodied the spirit of punk and the true meaning of independent labels. The Pink Fairies, the Belle Stars and The Pogues were all released on Stiff and the label's marketing and advertising was often provoking and witty and an ambush of puns were born from the name “Stiff” and the slogan "If it ain't Stiff it aint worth a fuck" is now legendary.

Every town and city in Britain had its favourite band and any one of these bands could make up to 1000 records. With the help of word of mouth and fanzines (not much of them around anymore!) the bands could sell their precious tape/vinyl (yeah no CDs in those days!) to the masses. If, like the Pistols, national radio wouldn’t play your songs, your one shot at getting any airplay at all was the John Peel show that showcased so many bands that no one else would touch.

Scotland and the rest of the UK soon got in on the act. Scotland had Sensible Records who introduced the world to Fay Fife and The Rezillos. Rabid, hailing from Manchester, had Gyro, Slaughter and the Dogs, the Nosebleeds and John Cooper Clarke. Over in Ireland, the Good Vibrations label was already producing quality records and they displayed this with releases from The Undertones, Protex and X-Dreamists.

Many people may have hated Punk and everything that it stood for but there is no denying that it changed the face of music and the music industry. I salute you, Punk Rock, the labels and the bands that were born from the movement that were all in it not for the money but for the glory alone. Punk Rocks!

Album Review: Howler – ‘This One’s Different’

   On paper, Rough Trade’s recent signing, Howler, sound like every other band that have come and gone leaving a vague memory of skinny jeans and messy hair in their wake. Yes Howler are yet another band flogging glamorous indie rock n roll and belting guitars. You could be forgiven for thinking “big deal, bands like this come and go in a blink of an eye”. That is your first mistake. Despite this façade, the Minneapolis four-piece are not just another carbon copy of The Strokes, The Vaccines et al.
Lead singer and songwriter, Jordan Gatesmith is in fact their secret weapon in chart domination, a slight exaggeration perhaps but take a listen and tell me that I am wrong.
‘This One’s Different’ is 15 minutes of Gatesmith voicing his feelings like many a good songwriter does. And this boy does it well. The highlight of this EP though, is the gem ‘I Told You Once’ which sounds like the love child of Razorlight circa 2004 and Damien Rice. The sneering put down “I wish there was something I could do ‘cause I hate myself more than I hate you” on the track will be the best line featured in a song all year. I bet my nail polish collection on it.
On the basis of this debut EP, Howler are built to last and come their debut album which can’t come soon enough, they’ll be giving their touring chums The Vaccines a run for their money. Oh and your second mistake? You don’t already have this EP lodged snugly among your CD collection.