del.icio.us categories:
By Art Shimko
photo: Rocket City Records, Barry Levine/Associated Press
-- SNH is sad to report the , drummer of the influential all-female 70's rock group The Runaways which also featured both Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
West, 47, died Saturday night from lung cancer after being diagnosed a year ago according to her manager Mara Fox.
West was born in Long Beach, California in 1959 and grew up in Huntington Beach spending her time surfing and skiiing which eventually became low priorities when she receieved her first drum kit from her grandfather. In 1975 West was 16 and co-founded The Runaways with guitarist Joan Jett, guitarist Lita Ford and vocalist Cherie Currie along with a revolving doors of bassists (Jackie Fox, '76-'77; Vicki Blue '77-'78; Laurie McAllister '78-'79) completed the line-up.
The band went on to headline shows with groups like Cheap Trick and Tom Petty opening for them and scored hits with the tracks "Cherry Bomb" and "Born to be Bad."
Following The Runaways' 1979 breakup West continued her music career as a multi-intrumentalist and released a solo album. West had just finished her memoirs before her death and wanted to get the book published.
Left behind are West's mother, stepfather, six sisters and also her former bandmates who released statements to the press: "We shared the dream of girls playing rock 'n' roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer," [Joan] Jett said in a statement. "I am overcome from the loss of my friend.
I always told her we changed the world."
Cherie Currie: "Sandy West was by far, the greatest female drummer in the history of rock and roll. No one could compete or even come close to her, but the most important was her heart.
Sandy West loved her fans, her friends and family almost to a fault. She would do absolutely anything for the people she loved. It will never be the same for me again to step on a stage, because Sandy West was the best and I will miss her forever.
" A private service for family on Saturday while funeral arrangements are still pending, our condolences go to West's family and friends.
-- Heather Mills McCartney The Sun, The Daily Mail and the Evening Standard for reporting "false, damaging and immensely upsetting" stories in regards to her divorce from husband Paul McCartney, apparently the papers reported the McCartney was abusive with his wife and stand by their stories claiming that they "were obtained by proper methods and in accordance with good journalistic practice." And despite reports from the media that Mills McCartney received a settlement offer in the millions her lawyer states that no such offer has been made.
Looks like the British media didn't use "good journalistic practice" to get that part right.
-- Pete Doherty during a Babyshambles gig Monday night at the Piper Club in Rome when he destroyed every intstrument in sight as well as throwing a mic stand up in the air, he also took the mic stand and brandished it towards fans in the front row, the band's drummer was reported to have been hit and left the stage. "During the concert the singer has interacted with the public 'in his own way,' but without causing riots or anything," DNA Concerti said in a statement.
-- Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus) after a security check at the John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, California turned up a 21-inch collapsible baton which was in Snoop's laptop case. Snoop was en route to New York for a movie shoot on Monday and told sheriff's deputies it was a prop for the movie, Snoop was not arrested. Snoop was involved in an airport brawl back in April at London's Heathrow Airport after members of his entourage weren't allowed into British Airways' first-class lounge which resulted in him and five other men being prosecuted for violent disorder, that airline has since banned Snoop from traveling with them.
Snoop might want to consider Greyhound or Amtrak as an alternative should he keep this shit up, airport climates are tense enough these days since 9/11 so you really don't want to fuck with security measures.
-- In more legal news involving rappers Foxy Brown (Inga Marchand) and anger management classes on Tuesday for assaulting two nail salon employees over a $20 manicure. Brown must take random drug tests and submit DNA samples as well as stay far away from the salon workers for the next five years.
Judge Melissa Jackson was pissed when Brown didn't appear at Manhattan Criminal Court for her sentencing on Monday (according to Brown she was recovering from a tooth extraction) and was facing jail time had she failed to show up on Tuesday. Brown's lawyer Franklin Rothman tried to change her pleas: "This defendant had no clue what was going on when she pleaded guilty. What is more is that she protested her innocence at the time," Rothman said.
Rothman explained that Brown had acted in self-defense after a scuffle over payment and that she received bad advice taking a guilty plea, the plea change was denied. Afterwards Brown told the press outside the court that she would beat the charges.
--
--
-- More tough luck for Rockstar Supernova, it seems as if fate doesn't want to see yet another "supergroup" succeed in this world.
Bassist Jason Newsted , right bicep and right rotator cuff after trying to catch a bass guitar which had fallen from atop an amplifier and was scheduled for immediate surgery. Newsted will be on the shelf for up to nine months rehabbing and healing, meanwhile the band (Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Lukas Rossi) have to scramble for a replacement in time for their tour which begins on New Year's Eve in Las Vegas.
-- Thanks to a deal Courtney Love (Seattle's Yoko Ono) struck with New York music publishing company Primary Wave in which they purchased 25% stake of Nirvana's catalog for $50 million named Kurt Cobain the richest dead celebrity this year.
Primary Wave plans on using Nirvana's music in the TV show CSI: Miami as well as licensing the music to certain marketers. Prior to the Primary Wave deal other Nirvana tracks such as "All Apologies" appeared in the HBO series Six Feet Under and "Something In the Way" was used in the 2005 war flick "Jarhead".
-- The Essence Music Festival next summer after the event was moved to Houston's Reliant Park following Hurricane Katrina last year.
-- Jermaine Dupri as President of Urban Music at Virgin Records due to the lackluster sales of his girlfriend Janet Jackson's latest Virgin release 20 Y.O. "Since there are so many rumors running rampant about my position at Virgin Records, I feel that it is necessary to set the record straight," Dupri said in a statement.
"I was not forced out of the company, I made a decision that it was in my best interest to leave." Well, maybe Virgin's not doing the best job promoting the album but come on, does Janet Jackson's music REALLY MATTER in 2006? Think about it, the last time she made the waves in press was when one of her tits became exposed on live television years ago.
--
--
--
--
Links created with the
News RSS