IMMORTALITY
The above is the title of a song written by the Bee Gees for the Broadway production of "Saturday Night Fever." The chorus begins, "Immortality - I make my journey through eternity." A very appropriate way to mourn the passing of Maurice Gibb. While I genuinely mourned the passing of John Lennon and George Harrison, the Beatles broke up before I was 10 years old. I never experienced "Beatlemania" at it's hey day. However, I can truly describe the Bee Gees as a main component in the soundtrack of my life. Though sadly labeled a "disco" band by those who derided the music, the Bee Gees had the ability to shape their music to the day, which is why they were still recording and performing up until Gibbs' death. And I must agree with Nolan that their influence is heavily felt in many of the songs our band mate Matt wrote. That hospital error may have contributed to Maurice Gibb's death is more then ironic. It was fifteen years ago this March that younger brother Andy checked himself into a hospital with stomach pains. He died days later from a rare heart ailment. Maurice Gibb was 53. Among his survivors are twin brother, Robin, and older brother Barry.
OTHER PASSINGS
Paul Monash, a successful screenwriter who went on to produce some of my favorite films, passed away after a brief illness. He was 85. In the 1960's, Monash wrote, directed and produced the popular television series, "Peyton Place." Moving on to films, he produced such hits as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Carrie" and "Big Trouble in Little China." In 1980 he wrote the Golden Globe-winning mini-series "All Quiet on the Western Front."
Mickey Finn, bongo player for the 70's glam rock band T Rex, died last Saturday in London. He was 56. After early stints with the bands Hapshash and Coloured Coat, Finn was asked to join T Rex by leader Marc Bolan after the bands original bongo player quit. Finn assumed leadership of T Rex after Bolan's death.
WHO ARE YOU?
It didn't even take a feather to knock me over when I heard the news of web surfer Pete Townshend's arrest on charges of possessing indecent images of children. Townshend was arrested Monday under the Protection of Children Act after police searched his home and office and confiscated several computers. After being questioned, he was released on police bail. He has yet to be charged in the case. Under British law, suspects are not charged immediately upon arrest, and some people who are arrested eventually released without charge. According to Townshend, he used a credit card on one occasion to download pornographic images off the Internet as research for his upcoming autobiography. He stated that he reported this activity to the police. Townshend believes that he was "sexually abused between the ages of 5 and 61/2." The title character in Townshend's rock opera, "Tommy," is sexually abused by an uncle.
What is it with celebrities and child porn these days? First Jeffrey Jones, then Paul Reubens. Now Pete Townshend. And how in the hell do you just "find" kiddie porn on the INTERNET. I mean, do you just type kiddie porn into the search engine? I wouldn't recommend it, of course. Townshend is not alone. More then 1200 people were caught in the operation that nabbed him. I can't believe the other 1199 were working on their autobiographies as well. I hope Townshend's story is true. I hope he only did it the one time. His alibi, though still unsettling, makes sense. However, if it turns out he was a frequent viewer of this material, I fear his legacy as one of the most innovative and creative musicians in rock and roll history may be tarnished forever.
GO BUCS!
Still a little room on the bandwagon to root for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this week's NFC Championship game.
THE WEATHER
One reason I loved growing up in Florida -- the weather was pretty constant. You knew you were going to get 15 minutes of rain every day, but that was it. When I wrote last week's piece, the high temp here in Kansas hit 74 degrees! As I write this now, we've received 5 inches of snow!
Well, that's it for now. Have a great week. See ya!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2003 by Michael A. Smith. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.
