Even Duff Has His Own Blog Now

Score one for The Seattle Weekly.

Duff is now writing a weekly blog for the 'Reverb' section of their website.

"Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns N' Roses, plays bass in Velvet Revolver. His column appears every Thursday on Reverb."

Here's just a sample of the kind of prose you can expect from Mr. McKagan (the coolest guy on the planet).

I was fortunate enough in my teens to see the Clash on their first U.S. theater tour. This was before the major recognition they received on the London Calling record, but they were still larger than life to me and truly exotic.

If the term ‘rock star’ could have been used at any time in my youth-driven lingo, it would have been then and it would have described the true awe that I felt of being in the same room as these erstwhile trend setters.

About 200 people showed up at the Paramount in Seattle to see this gig and it was, simply put, mind-blowing. During the show, a big yellow-shirted security guy up front punched a fan and broke his nose. Blood was everywhere. The Clash stopped the show.

Bassist Paul Simonen appeared from the wings of stage right wielding a firefighter’s axe that he must have plucked from the wall. He jumped down in the pit and proceeded to chop down the wooden barrier separating the fans from the band while guitarist Joe Strummer dressed down the security gorilla and went on further to say that there was no difference between the fans and the bands…"we are all in this together!

There is no such thing as a Rock Star, just musicians and listeners!" That moment remains static in my mind to this day.

Duff's Weekly Blog

John Corabi Turns Down Velvet Revolver

Guitarist and singer, John Corabi, formerly of Motley Crue and Ratt, was interviewed on the Classic Metal Show this week (9/6).

Among other things, he mentions that Velvet Revolver sent him tracks, and asked him to write lyrics, and come into the studio to record vocals over them.

John turned them down saying that he "doesn't want to replace another established singer."

In my opinion, that's too bad, because I think John would have been a perfect fit for VR.

It seems like there's really only one vocalist who belongs with Slash and Duff.

Gavin Rossdale? No! W. Axl Rose, duh.

You can listen to the entire interview here, and you can watch John Corabi in action at the bottom of this page.

-Mack



John Corabi on the web: john-corabi.net

GUNS N' ROSES REUNION STARTS NOW

Bach: "I Never Booked These Shows"

Sebastian Bach has stepped into the row over a string of shows in Canada which were allegedly cancelled - insisting he was never booked to play the dates.

The singer was recently reported to have scrapped a series of gigs in Canada next month, including a concert in Vancouver on October 30th.

Bach is adamant that although he was considering a Canadian tour, none of the bookings were ever confirmed.

He writes on his MySpace page, "I do not ever cancel any shows. I have no idea why any of these shows went on sale. I never announced them on my site because they were never confirmed. We wanted to do the tour, we were gonna do the tour, but the offers that we got made it impossible for us to actually do the tour. No show or tour was ever cancelled - because no show or tour was ever booked! I have no clue why any of these shows went on sale, but there are no shows at all planned at this time."

Contact Music

David Bowie Tops Gayest Record Poll

David Bowie's The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust has been voted the gayest record of all time.

The list, which features in Out magazine, was compiled by 100 gay actors, musicians and critics.

Boy George, Rufus Wainwright and Jake Shears were among the artists voting.

Bowie's seminal 1972 release beat The Smiths' self-titled debut to the top spot. Other acts in the top ten included Elton John, Judy Garland and Madonna.

The top ten in full:

1. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
2. The Smiths - The Smiths
3. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
4. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
5. Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall
6. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
7. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
8. Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
9. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
10. Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

Digital Spy

Big Black - Atomizer

After reading that Steve Albini is producing the new Scott Weiland solo disc, I dug out my copy of Atomizer and reveled in the awesome screech of Steve's seminal guitar work.

Atomizer is, no doubt, the band's finest offering. It was recorded in 1985, but sat unreleased until a year later. Supposedly, this was because the cover art originally featured Marvin the Martian.

Another rumor that floated around was that the album was recorded over the phone from jail. I can't see how this could be true, but it was an awesome story.

Needless to say "Bazooka Joe" made its way on every mixtape I made in 1986.

You can download Atomizer here.

-Mack

This Song Does Not Suck.

If you don't "get" Kid Rock than you are probably too hip for your own good.

Yes. This means you.



-mack

What Lars SAYS About the Death Magnetic Leak and ...

Yesterday, Metallica's new album, Death Magnetic leaked to the torrent sites. Here's what Lars told Radio Station KITS (105.3 FM) San Francisco.

"Listen, we're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn't quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy. It's 2008 and it's part of how it is these days, so it's fine. We're happy."

Blabbermouth

That's what Lars said "on-air."

Here's the memo that Metallica sent to to radio stations and media outlets.

WE ARE NOT SERVICING METALLICA MUSIC !!!
We know it has leaked on some bit torrent sites. So what, that happens all the time and we are not changing our plan.
Please tell radio NOT to play other songs, even if they stole the record. We are vigorously fighting to get it off the internet the best we can.
They are our partners and we have a ton for them that could be in jeopardy if they play other music. ( other than My Apocalypse or Cyanide)
Am Ex spent a bunch of money in the majors, per our direction.
ATT spent a ton of money based on our direction.
Clear Channel has a "Sneak Peak". All with CONTENT.
We have a premiere EXCLUSIVE for radio hosted by Dave Grohl and Taylor.
We have a tour and pre sale that many many stations are part of.
We have the biggest marketing plan for a record ever happening RIGHT NOW and they need to be our partner. Its that simple.

PS There are 2 other songs, My Apocalypse and Cyanide that are floating out there and on iTunes....
we are considering servicing those tomorrow morning to promote the premiere and also to let radio know we care about their needs... but for now PLEASE explain this as need be. Thanks.

Bob Lefsetz

I'll be back with a new Guns N' Roses story tomorrow.

-mack