<![CDATA[[MusicRatty] tag: mark]]> http://www.musicratty.com/tag/mark Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:54:00 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Pollard Soundtracking 3-D Cleopatra Musical, Maybe]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/136f01cf9a893e1b12d134a31151e482 http://www.musicratty.com/article/136f01cf9a893e1b12d134a31151e482 Okay, so. We've long heard rumblings about a potential rock opera movie musical, presented in three glorious dimensions, based on the life of Cleopatra, directed by Stephen Soderbergh and soundtracked by former Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard. But getting a firm grasp on all of it has proved a little tricky since the Pollard part of that equation hasn't exactly been forthcoming with the juicy details.

There's been an upswing in interest in the flick lately, including recent Variety and MTV.com articles that all but confirm everything we'd heard about the project. Apparently, the film is called Cleo, Soderbergh says that Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Cleopatra, Hugh Jackman's all but ready to go as Mark Anthony, and English actor Ray Winstone has been cast as Caesar. They expect to start shooting in April, in, it bears repeating, 3D.

The script for Cleo was written by author/former Guided by Voices bassist Jim Greer. Soderbergh told MTV.com, "He went away for like six weeks and wrote this great script! It's like an Elvis musical in a way. It's not serious. I mean it's historically pretty accurate but its sort of like Viva Las Vegas meets Tommy."

Oh, and Pollard? According to MTV, he's all in. Variety reports, "The music has been written by the indie rock band Guided by Voices," but unless it was written before Pollard stopped using the GBV name in 2004, that probably means just Pollard.

Pollard's people won't officially confirm anything specific about his involvement in the project, but note that a 2006 article in the New York Times describing the longstanding creative partnership between the Fading Captain and the acclaimed director gets Pollard's involvement in the then-incubatory Cleo project right. We tracked down the Times piece, which says, "the two have started working together on another project, Cleopatra, which is being written by Jim Greer...the film is described by Mr. Soderbergh as Tommy meets Viva Las Vegas." Hey, two years later, he's still using the same soundbite!

As a bit of background, Soderbergh wrote the introduction to Greer's Guided by Voices oral history/biography Guided by Voices: A Brief History, while Pollard wrote the music for Soderbergh's 2005 film Bubble.

While we wait for more information about this whole crazy project, we'll remind you that Bob's new sensation Boston Spaceships will released The Planets Are Blasted, their rather quick follow-up to this fall's fine Brown Submarine, February 17 from Guided by Voices, Inc.

]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:00:00 +0000 pollard project then-incubatory cleo project cleopatra soderbergh viva las vegas cleo voices crazy project Pollard Soundtracking 3-D Cleopatra Musical, Maybe <![CDATA[Wale-Nike Boots Video]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/29b398a574eed313a93b8f2610e584b7 http://www.musicratty.com/article/29b398a574eed313a93b8f2610e584b7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTstFaMf-4E

Give Wale credit for knowing how to fall back. The D.C. rapper/Mark Ronson bid for street cred has laid low since The Mixtape About Nothing led the blogosphere to declare him “real and spectacular.” Now with every Internet dork hunkering down to craft their year-end lists, flagon of Merlot and camembert* in hand, Wale has returned with a video for a song that leaked 15 months ago.

A weird decision, sure–but idiosyncrasy is a prime reason why the guy is worth watching in the first place. Judging from the Chris Robinson-directed clip and the song itself, the “Nike Boots” video exists beyond promotion, but as a way for Wale to trump his DMV roots. You’d have to ask Noz how faithfully it holds up, my D.C. experience is limited to a day at the Smithsonian and a dull, drunken night in Alexandria. But between the black and white grit, the cameos (Kid Capri, Bun B, 9th Wonder), the flashing Capital rotunda imagery, and the teeming crowds, Wale creates an aura of triumphalism.

It’s always been odd that the capitol’s never produced a major rap star. I once interviewed Izzy and while he was nice enough, dude claimed he was going to put D.C. on his back. Uh, not quite. Unless Wale gets busted under some obscure Good Samaritan law between now and next Spring, the district’s luck is bound to change.

* In the 90027, we go Diesel Kush and iced coffee.

Download:
MP3: Wale-”Nike Boots”

]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:43:08 +0000 wale-nike boots wale wale credit major rap star rappermark ronson bid capital rotunda imagery year-end lists dmv roots video Wale-Nike Boots Video <![CDATA[GWHH Review: Scarface - Emeritus]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/72a0c885008f2038e0130b983eee01ca http://www.musicratty.com/article/72a0c885008f2038e0130b983eee01ca

Scarface’s ninth (and final) LP, Emeritus, has hit stores today and the Houston veteran certainly leaves another positive mark for the southern gangster / Houston movement. Top to bottom, the album is definitely one that all fans of hip hop would enjoy, even if southern hip hop does not particularly appeal to you (as that rings true for me). The sometimes characteristic slow flow of Scarface hits the ear drum sometimes positively over production that is generally inconsistent across the album. For example, the fifth track “Still Here” has a beat that is too dull to me that did not really click with Scarface’s style. Then there’s times where the production really shines like on the subsequent track, “It’s Not A Game”, which features a lovely hook that also personifies some of the format of the tracks on the album. Scarface rarely does his own hook, rather raps, and lets a sample, female performer, or a soulful artist like Bilal on “Can’t Get Right” kill the hook. Combined with the catchy hooks and Scarface’s slow flow, the album boasts a reflective tone from the rap legend that also contributes to the sense that Emeritus is indeed his last album. “Soldier Story” is the best example of all of these elements coming together for a great record. The beat, lyrics, and delivery all mesh well together and while Scarface tells a story that not many can truly relate to, he does so in a way that makes us care about it still with passion in the verses and chorus that listeners can feel. Generally, Scarface achieves that notion, but comes up short, most notably on a 3+ minute long intro where he talks about his problems that I got tired of hearing after one listen. Clear lyrics and clever references are also seen throughout Emeritus, but they are also mixed in with some explicit lyrics that did not hit me positively like they can (See: “Who Are They”, where clever references to Randy Moss and Deion Sanders are mixed with a negative lyric associated with masturbation). Above all, Emeritus is an example of music that still appeals to the majority of listeners, not based on the messages or stories spoken, but because Scarface does an overall great job at making people care about his story.

Top 3 *Tibs Favs.™ (in order)

02. High Powered f/ Papa Reu

08. Soldier Story f/ The Product & Z-Ro

06. It’s Not A Game

Production: 8/10

Lyrics: 8/10

OVERALL (not an average): 8/10

BUY: Scarface - Emeritus [iTunes]

—————————————————————————————

Scarface “Can’t Get Right” f/ Bilal

VIDEO PREMIERE!

PREVIOUSLY:

Scarface “Can’t Get Right” f/ Bilal

Producer: Nottz - FULL, CDQ, Track off the album, Emeritus *Tibs Fav.™

~ Sgt. Tibs

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:17:48 +0000 scarface emeritus scarface rarely tibs tibs favs scarface hits emeritus itunes emeritus tibs fav scarface achieves GWHH Review: Scarface - Emeritus <![CDATA[Best protest songs: No. 2, Whats Going On - Marvin Gaye]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/c9a71ef7405fa761d2ff2f0e12a0ed5a http://www.musicratty.com/article/c9a71ef7405fa761d2ff2f0e12a0ed5a Marvin Gaye

In honor of this election year, I am looking back at the 25 greatest protest songs of all time. I’m starting with No. 25 and working my way up. Note: Each artist was only eligible to have one song make the list. To read past entries on this list, click here.

2, “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye (1971)
Motown boss Berry Gordy wasn’t wrong often, at least not on a professional basis, but he missed the mark completely when he argued that “What’s Going On” would flop as a single. The somber, introspective song, a heartfelt meditation on social troubles like black-on-black violence, was perfect for its time and it raced up the charts. These days, “What’s Going On” is widely considered to be one of the greatest pop songs _ of any type _ ever recorded.

Video:

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:08:02 +0000 songs marvin gaye pop songs introspective song song past entries time black-on-black violence mark completely Best protest songs: No. 2, Whats Going On - Marvin Gaye <![CDATA[HousePlanet Top15 November 2008]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/a915d581e09fd9ed312a495fa23ae0c6 http://www.musicratty.com/article/a915d581e09fd9ed312a495fa23ae0c6 November Top 15 from HousePlanet Distribution. We choose 15 tracks from 90 releases in this month. Progressive, house, techno, minimal... Only the best music from HousePlanet. Please listen and support if you like our music.

HOUSEPLANET DISTRIBUTION RELEASES

Ilya Docent feat. Botva - 530AM (Original Mix) [Royal Tracks] DOWNLOAD

Very melodic deep house track with piano sounds. The release also includes 5 very good remixes. Check out progressive remix from Anton Sever. HP recommendation!

Karl Kage feat. Kathy Monahan - 7 Nation Army (club Mix) [24 Beats Recordings] DOWNLOAD

Cover version of the famous 7 Nation Army track. Great club tune. It was in Beatport Electro House Top 20. Worth to listen and buy!

Andres Solano - Over Haze (Original Mix) [Quimika Records] DOWNLOAD

Quality Tech House Track from Quimika Records! Good vibrations, perfect beats! Check out also "Over Mist" from the same release.

Ilya Gushin - Club City (Esthetique Mix) [Royal Tracks] DOWNLOAD

Club City beats! The best progressive music from Royal Tracks Records. Another great release. You will enjoy it for sure.

Mark Wagner - Wanna Make You Feel (Original Mix) [Solar Storm Records] DOWNLOAD

Fast electro house track with female vocals. Energetic, dancing and powerful rhythm. Enjoy!

DJ Cumhur - The Sea (Original Mix) [Anatolian Beats] DOWNLOAD

DJ Cumhur presents to you the sounds of The Sea. Awesome prgressive track. The release also includes electro remix from DJ Sarmek.

Escadia - Digital Iterations (Original Mix) [Seaburn Records] DOWNLOAD

HousePlanet September Top10 member Escadia returns with a new release - Digital Iterations. Straight to HousePlanet November Top. Amazing melodic progressive track. Don't miss it!

DJ Dalysovich - Flavour Of Love (Hansen vs Puentez's Cologne at Night Remix) [DeepSound Records] DOWNLOAD

Wow! This tech house remix will make you dance. Crazy beats and in the same time the track has a very good melody. Enjoy!

Karl Kage - King Obama (Original Mix) [24 Beats Recordings] DOWNLOAD

Karl Kage celebrates the victory of Barack Obama in US presidential elections. Electro House track with famous speech of Martin Luther King. Interesting combination...

Dave Floyd, Loar Plux - Bedtime Groove (Original Mix) [Ambasada Records] DOWNLOAD

Debut release from Ambasada Records. Great tech house track with a selection of some seriously trippy beats. The release inludes 4 more remixes. Enjoy!

Rober K. - Souls (Original Mix) [Deepsessions Recordings] DOWNLOAD

Again we can enjoy deep progressive tracks from Deepsessions Recordings. This time we picked up a release from Robert K. Melodic, cosmic track with soulful energy.

Mr. Bizz - Point Of View (Original Mix) [ROHS! Records] DOWNLOAD

Excellent deep techno track from Rima Sirsalis EP. You can find more 8 tracks on this release. Don't miss them!

Elektroworld - Nacht Trauma (Original Mix) [Eworld] DOWNLOAD

Massive Electro House bomb! Fat sound with funky beats! Enjoy!

Max Riolo - Woodwind (Original Mix) [AudioBit] DOWNLOAD

Jazzy, soulful, latino house track for the lovers of such music. Second track from Max Riolo Presents House Beat EP. Summer vibe!

Tomas Kaine - Illusions (Original Mix) [Speca Records] DOWNLOAD

Minimal bomb from Tomas Kaine! Speca 004 EP has 5 great tech/minimal tracks for progressive listeners. Don't miss it!

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0000 tech house remix house houseplanet latino house track track nation army nation army track cosmic track original mix HousePlanet Top15 November 2008 <![CDATA[Gunter Bialas, "Introitus - Exodus"]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/62de6af9e6776d99865285ac40ce8aff http://www.musicratty.com/article/62de6af9e6776d99865285ac40ce8aff -- Liner Notes --

Gunter Bialas was born in 1907 in the town of Bielschowitz in Upper Silesia. He studied music in Berlin, particularly with M. Trapp. In 1947 he was appointed director of the composition course at the Northwest German Academy of Music in Detmold, where he became a professor three years later. From 1959 until his retirement in 1972 Bialas taught composition at the Munich Musikhochschule.

A Profile

In 19th-century Germany the history of music was largely coloured by the debate over programme vs absolute music. Here it was the theorists who tried to make a hard-and-fast distinction rather than the composers, who doubtless realized that, in the final analysis, absolute music also has its programmatic traits and programme music does not stand outside the norms of the absolute. As a result, this debate has left our century, and German composers in particular, with a somewath consorted relation to any form of illustrative music. Significantly, Gunter Bialas has noted this fact with regret. This is significant first of all because in large parts of his oeuvre he has attempted to reconcile these two admittedly never fully disparate ideals, instilling into his works a characteristic tension between the absolute and the illustrative. Bialas's music uses suggestive images to put pressure on the listener and express (its meaning intelligibly in sound. His musical language reveals with exemplary clarity the truism that music is a priori always more than something with a one-dimensional meaning. His works take illustration beyond the realm of banal tone-painting and are fully capable of standing on their own.

A good example of this point is provided by his "Haiku" series, ideally matched settings of concise Japanese lyric poetry, even though they only represent a small if characteristic segment of his work as a whole. "I intended to grow no older/But the temple (bells . . ." Bialas captures a musical image of the relentless tolling of the bells in a melodic ostinato. Yet he goes beyond this to attain a purely musical evocation of perseverance: the osoinato "stands" for a manner of musical expression that neither shuns concrete images nor falls foul of the strictures of absolute music. In this way, subjective vision and the objective shaping of time coincide for one brief instant, both image and music uniting in the "primary sound-form" of the bell strokes.

This aesthetic of reconciliation between image and music accounts not only for the strong influence of literature in Bialas's work - even in his untexted instrumental pieces - as the composer himself has emphasized. It also explains his unmistakable fondness for the miniature, or rather for musical distillation. After abandoning the driving, extrovert, dangerously mechanical music of the 1950s Bialas was able, by discovering and cultivating archaic techniques such as "primitive" heterophony in the 1960s, to attain an art of deliberate omission, choosing as his goal the greatest possible simplicity. This goal manifested itself in a judicious and calculated renunciation of plenitude and abundance: he regards technical manipulation and musical constructivism as an inescapable transitional stage which every progressive composer must pass through and leave behind. In the back of his mind is the realization that only by passing through musical technique does a form of musical compression become possible in which omission itself Is discernible. In Hegelian terms, the omissions are "sublated" in the music.

Discernibility (perhaps lucidity is a better term) is a key notion in Bialas's view of music. It doubtless accounts for his almost violent rejection of the mindless application of serial techniques which, in his opinion, leads to indiscernibility and hence to the imperceptible and meaningless. Musical meaning is the keystone of Bialas's work as a composer, though this is not to equate meaning with one-dimensional signification. Particularly in his later works Bialas's musical language becomes increasingly multi-faceted with a clear tendency toward shades of mood, always trenchantly formulated. His Heine cycle of 1983 provides a clear instance of his search for shimmering, disparate realms of expression. This, as the composer himself remarks, is fully in keeping with Heine's own personality as a poet, hovering precariously between lyricism and irony. Even Bialas's operas likewise strike a precarious balance between tragedy and comedy. Here the balance is expressed in varied devices of psychological and emotional alienation fully in accord with the aristocratic irony which marks the personality of this highly cultured composer.

Bialas sees himself as part of a sorely tried transitional generation which, though violently bereft of valuable years of creative work, nevertheless was given the opportunity of a radical and rewarding fresh start. At all events his music represents an important aspect of German post-war culture, and his art of musical illustration and expression, his abstract conaiseness and sublime shades of mood will probably be more greatly appreciated in the near future than is presently allowed by the current death-throes of hyperstructuralist music.

Introitus - Exodus

When traditional labels for musical forms and genres are applied to 20th-century compositions they most often summon up a broad panoply of meanings. Much can be learned of the work in question by examining these meanings. Was the composer seeking reassurance from the past for his novel idioms? Did he feel compelled by his neo-classical leanings to take recourse in history? Or, as in the present work, did he wish to conjure up an aura of archaism and ritual? Bialas himself addressed this matter in a brief introduction: "First of all, 'Introitus' and 'Exodus' mean exactly what the words imply when translated hiterally: entrance and exit. We are familiar with the introit as the beginning of the mass. In Greek tragedy, exodus refers to the departure of the chorus. Both of these are rituals, and it is this idea of ritual which I wish to kindle in the listener" (from "Meilensteine eines
componistenlebens - Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag" p. 66).

The "entrance", a plastic sound introduced by an initial unison figure in the strings, brass and bassoons, is fully in keeping with Bialas's distinctive approach to music:



It is no accident that this figure, an ascending whole-step with an upbeat flavour, is a prototypical incipit formula in liturgical psalmody. Hence it forms a clear link with plainsong (the "introit" as a genre never left the confines of Gregorian chant) and points to the semantic background of the work. In a sense, it announces the opening of a secular mass, a ritual pertaining to human life and death generally. However, as Bialas himself explains, the entrance is not without its difficulties: "Entrance means overcoming resistance: each advance provokes a reaction" (Festschrift). There are two ways in which resistance and reaction are at work in the "Introitus": first of all. the initial impulse is followed by an opposing process of stagnation centred from the very outset around the portentous not "a". Secondlv, onomatopoetic noise figures alternate in various groups of instruments, clustering around the stagnant central pitch "a" and frustrating the implied progress of the work:



The opening 12 bars outlined above lead to renewed effort to begin (some using the initial figure in inversion) which in turn are confronted by stagnation and frustration as resisting forces. These form the constitutive factors of the first large division of the piece. The factors are superimposed in many ways, generating a dialectical tension as dynamic entrance figures confront inhibiting layers of sound with no style emerging as predominant. By the final third of the "Introitus" only the pivotal note "a" has been firmly established. From bar 157 it serves as a starting point for a wide-ranging pendulum movement to the pitch "b" a 9th above. This expressive gesture signifies life, and serves the additional function of linking the Introitus with the adjoining "Interludium", which likewise ends in this pendulum motion. Thus the first formal division is inconclusive, and leads directly to the second large-scale section, the "Interludium" for unaccompanied organ.

The "Interludium" is a rhapsody, its free form and improvisatory manner conforming to the traditional genre of this name. The composer has described its musical function as "to extend the development of the material, to prepare new material, to separate the movements, and to give the soloist an opportunity for self-expression" (Introduction, Third "musica viva" Concert, Munich, 1977). Unexpectedly, the primary turns into the intermediate: life is revealed as an "interlude" between birth and death.

The difficult entrance is followed by an im~lacable descend: "Even where the word 'Exodus bears no relation to its familiar meaning in the like-named book or film - namely explosion - every exit involves the application of force" (Festschrift). This forced exit is immediately evident in the figures which open the third section. Now the progress of the piece is dominated by constantly descending figures driven by timpani rolls and mark-like drumbeats, distantly reminiscent of the Baroque rhetorical figure "katabasis":



The downward force overwhelms and eventually absorbs the sustained tones and sonorities in the other instrumental groups. These tones now have an almost stabilizing function, and seem to pit all their strength in an effort not to slip away entirely.

In bar 19 there begins a large-scale crescendo of apocalyptic proportions over a march rhythms. New material and figures are added layer by layer, creating an impression of wild lamentation. Following a climax and consequent collapse, a gradual process of disintegration sets in. Here too the technical analysis of the music coincides with its meaning: disintegration ("Auflosung") is also a solution ("Loesung"), and for many it means redemption ("Erloesung") - or as Bialas put it, "the music does not recognize distinctions". All that remains are the ostinato elements, which were always present as a permanent background and which ultimately, from bar 1f6, draw all of the figures into the maelstrom of a "marche funebre" leading to the original starting pitch "a". In a manner of speaking, this pitch forms the soul of the work. As Bialas wrote: "The piece also concludes with this pitch, and we hear it reverberating in the small timpani in a long after the other instruments have fallen silent" (Festschrift).

"Introitus - Exodus" provides a notable instance of a synthesis which is characteristic of Bialas's work as a whole: a semantically meaningful process is articulated within a piece of music which at the same time meets all our expectations and notions of absolute music. Clarity of form and an inborn power of musical conviction do not stand opposed in this work but are mutually conditioned. Referring to the difference between his work and Richard Strauss's "Death and Transfiguration", Bialas shed revealing light on his own intentions: whereas Strauss seeks to depict an individual destiny, however transcendant at the end, Bialas's aim in "Introitus - Exodus" is to show Life itself in its primordial, archaic conditions: entrance, consummation and exit (whatever that exit may mean) can clearly be traced in the piece, even if it "has no programme which one must know and follow" (programme notes to "musica vivau concert). Hence the progress of the music in absolute terms has an unprogrammatic exterior meaning, and turns Bialas's musical language into a vital and profound expemience. -- Siegfried Mauser
(Translation: J. Bradford Robinson) ]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:00:00 +0000 musical language reveals musical language bialas gunter bialas music programme music absolute music musical musical compression Gunter Bialas, "Introitus - Exodus" <![CDATA[All About Jazz Reviews]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/6043b9a754a71d9f98e3ce18f94e1306 http://www.musicratty.com/article/6043b9a754a71d9f98e3ce18f94e1306

From All About Jazz:

02-Dec-08 Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya
Sanrei (Bakamo Records)
Reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

02-Dec-08 Massimo
The Visionary (Net Dot Music, Inc.)
Reviewed by Douglas Payne

02-Dec-08 Jeff Barone
Open Up (Jazzed Media)
Reviewed by John Barron

02-Dec-08 Vandermark / Kessler / McBride / Joode / Flaten
Collected Fiction (Okka Disk)
Reviewed by Mark Corroto

01-Dec-08 Louis Moholo-Moholo Duets With Marilyn Crispell
Sibanya (We Are One) (Intakt Records)
Reviewed by Lloyd Peterson

01-Dec-08 Reptet
Chicken or Beef? (Monktail Records)
Reviewed by Henry Smith

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]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:00:00 +0000 02-dec-08 jeff barone net dot music 02-dec-08 vandermark douglas payne bakamo records john barron lloyd peterson monktail records intakt records All About Jazz Reviews <![CDATA[No title]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/ce2e8729eb8b669f52e7e7219404c9f4 http://www.musicratty.com/article/ce2e8729eb8b669f52e7e7219404c9f4 A Silent Film - You Will Leave A Mark

"If I have no religion I have no reason to be scared"

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a completely unknown and otherwise forgettable indie band releases a totally epic track. The band is A Silent Film from the UK, who I'm sure you probably haven't heard of. Their album is full of melodic piano pop that didn't really do anything for me, but this track sure did. You know You Will Leave A Mark is going to be great about thirty seconds in, when it really kicks into gear. "Surging" is probably the appropriate word. It's all about the piano and the verses in this one. There's definitely a touch of the 80's here, but it's also very current. In fact, this could have easily fit on Keane's latest. Even the vocals are somewhat similar.

A Silent Film - You Will Leave A Mark (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here!)

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:18:00 +0000 silent film melodic piano pop piano mark track epic track evaluation purposes easily fit completely unknown No title <![CDATA[Alter Bridge 'Hush-Hush' Over Led Zeppelin Rumors]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/d48be402b6deb93a33e3ea16b10b66f5 http://www.musicratty.com/article/d48be402b6deb93a33e3ea16b10b66f5 Myles KennedyAlter Bridge star Myles Kennedy appears to have taken a step closer to fronting Led Zeppelin on tour after band mate Mark Tremonti

=> Read more!

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:32:31 +0000 led zeppelin mark tremonti step closer middle band tour class Alter Bridge 'Hush-Hush' Over Led Zeppelin Rumors <![CDATA[Who Killed John Lennon?]]> http://www.musicratty.com/article/ec06e40dd973c62083ee8ae8f182451d http://www.musicratty.com/article/ec06e40dd973c62083ee8ae8f182451d Who Killed John Lennon?

By John W. Whitehead
12/1/2008

"You gotta remember, establishment, it's just a name for evil. The monster doesn't care whether it kills all the students or whether there's a revolution. It's not thinking logically, it's out of control." -- John Lennon (1969)
In recent years, there have been countless stories about the U.S. government abusing its surveillance powers. They range from government agents listening in on the telephone calls of American citizens to the FBI harassing innocent people over their free speech rights for simply criticizing the government. And once some government bureaucrat decides to focus on a certain person, the data files are collected and civil liberties are undermined. This type of behavior, however, has been going on for a long time. Such was the relentless harassment and government stalking of John Lennon. It is not only a chilling tale of paranoia and abuse of power, it is also a lesson for our times.

In December 1971 at a concert in Ann Arbor, Mich., Lennon took to the stage and in his usual confrontational style belted out "John Sinclair," a song he had written about a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Within days of Lennon's call for action, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.

What Lennon did not know at the time was that FBI agents were in the audience, taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song. The U.S. government was spying on Lennon. Supposedly, the goal was to collect enough information to have him deported.

By March 1971, when his "Power to the People" single was released, it was clear where Lennon stood. Having moved to New York City that same year, Lennon was ready to participate in political activism against the U. S. government, the "monster" that was financing the war in Vietnam.

It certainly helped that Lennon was a natural in the spotlight, with one of the most recognizable faces in the world. And with the Beatles' break-up, Lennon began doing his own thing, posing for publicity photos, decked out in Japanese riot gear and singing "Say you want a revolution, We better get it on right away, Well you get on your feet, And into the street."

Lennon had learned early on that rock music could serve a political end by proclaiming a radical message. More importantly, he saw that his music could mobilize the public. For example, on November 15, 1969, during a peace rally in Washington, DC, Pete Seeger led nearly half a million demonstrators in singing Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" at the Washington Monument. "The people started swaying their bodies and banners and flags in time," Seeger later recalled, "several hundred thousand people, parents with their small children on their shoulders. It was a tremendously moving thing."

The release of Lennon's Sometime in New York City album, which contained a radical message in every song and depicted Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao dancing together nude on the cover, only fanned the flames of the conflict to come.

Government officials had been keeping strict tabs on the ex-Beatle they referred to as "Mr. Lennon." But the official U.S. war against Lennon began in earnest in 1972 when he was served with deportation orders. While the orders were supposedly for a four-year-old marijuana conviction in Great Britain, what Lennon didn't realize was that Nixon was personally driving the effort to have him deported.

FBI files, made public after years of lawsuits, reveal the extent of the Nixon Administration's efforts to "neutralize" Lennon. (However, while ominous in tone, the term "neutralize"--as used by government agents--was never really defined.) With FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover at the helm and reporting to the Nixon White House about the FBI's surveillance of Lennon, memos and reports had been flying back and forth between senators, the FBI and the U.S. Immigration Office. Clearly forces were at work to "neutralize" Lennon.

Nixon's pursuit of Lennon was relentless--and in large part based on the misperception that Lennon and his comrades were planning to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention. The government's paranoia, however, was misplaced.

Left-wing activists who were on government watch lists and who shared an interest in bringing down the Nixon Administration had been congregating at Lennon's New York apartment. But when they revealed that they were planning to cause a riot, Lennon balked. As he recounted in a 1980 interview, "We said, We ain't buying this. We're not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what? And replace it with what? . . . It was all based on this illusion, that you can create violence and overthrow what is, and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic. They're all lunatics."

Despite the fact that Lennon was not part of the "lunatic" plot, the government persisted in its efforts to have him deported. Finally, in 1976, Lennon won the battle to stay in the country. As he said afterwards, "I have a love for this country. This is where the action is."

Lennon's time of repose didn't last long, however. By 1980, he had re-emerged with a new album and plans to become politically active again. The old radical was back and ready to cause trouble. In his final interview on Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon mused, "The whole map's changed and we're going into an unknown future, but we're still all here, and while there's life there's hope."

That very night, when Lennon returned to his New York apartment building, Mark David Chapman was waiting in the shadows. As Lennon stepped outside the car to greet the fans congregating outside, Chapman, in an eerie echo of the FBI's moniker for Lennon, called out, "Mr. Lennon!" Lennon turned and was met with a barrage of gunfire as Chapman--dropping into a two-handed combat stance--emptied his .38-caliber pistol and pumped four bullets into his back and left arm. Lennon stumbled, staggered forward and, with blood pouring from his mouth and chest, collapsed to the ground.

John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He had finally been "neutralized."

Source]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:54:00 +0000 john lennon john lennon lennon stood lennon mused government officials government government bureaucrat decides government agents Who Killed John Lennon?