Posted on 09/07/2005 3:27:15 PM PDT by pissant
You just blew $100 on a Paul McCartney concert only to find out that the real Beatle died in a car accident back in 1966. Sound like you fell into the Twilight Zone?
Like a killer chorus or a persistent groupie, myths have a way of following rock bands around and ultimately lingering their way into legend. Some, like the McCartney body double bit, have been proven false. Others remain a mystery.
From slight exaggerations and strange coincidences to tales of the occult and full-blown conspiracy theories, here are the Top 10 rock myths around today.
Number 10 - Marilyn Manson was on The Wonder Years (false)
From missing ribs and breast implants to the eye-for-testicle swap, Marilyn Manson has generated his fair share of creepy myths. Perhaps the strangest and most persistent, however, is that the shock-rock frontman -- born Brian Warner -- played the bespectacled Paul Pfeiffer on the hit show The Wonder Years in the early '90s before morphing into his twisted onstage persona.
Number 9 - Ozzy Osbourne bit a bat's head off (true)
When you earn your living pelting audiences with calf livers and pig intestines, you are quite literally feeding the rumor mills. On one fateful January night in Des Moines, Iowa, Ozzy Osbourne's own eating habits became table talk after a fan threw a live bat onstage to return the frontman's hospitality. Taking the stunned creature for a rubber toy, Black Sabbath's frontman bit into its neck and -- realizing he had bit off more than he could chew -- found himself in dire need of a rabies shot.
Number 8 - Jim Morrison faked his own death (???)
The conspiracy theorists who insist Doors frontman Jim Morrison is still alive and kickin' it up somewhere in Mexico have plenty to fuel their suspicions. For starters, only Morrison's wife Pamela and French physician Dr. Vasille saw the corpse after the rock star was found dead in his bathtub on July 3, 1971. And if the ensuing media blackout, the lack of an autopsy (customary for all suspect deaths in France) and Morrison's many occult connections weren't enough, the singer apparently visited his grave sight only three days before his untimely death.
Number 7 - Keith Richards received new blood (false)
Cheat death often enough and fans will start drawing their own conclusions. Notorious heroin addict Keith Richards learned this lesson back in 1973 when he checked into a Swiss hospital for a blood-filtering treatment known as a hemodialysis. Rumors quickly spread that the Rolling Stone had actually undergone an experimental treatment that amounted to a complete blood transfusion in order to detoxify himself for an upcoming European tour.
Number 6 - David Bowie and Mick Jagger were caught in bed together (true)
Having your wife catch you in bed with another woman is simply one of the occupational hazards of being a rock star. But David Bowie was really put on the spot after his ex-wife told national television audiences that she once found her admittedly bisexual "Thin White Duke" spooning naked in bed with the Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger. Both men and their lawyers denied any gay implications.
Number 5 - Mama Cass choked on a sandwich (false)
Almost 240 pounds when she died, it's not a stretch to believe food had something to do with "Mama" Cass Elliott's passing. But the ham sandwich found next to her bed on that fateful night in 1974 fired up a number of half-baked rumors, including suggestions that the 32-year-old belter for the Mamas and the Papas had choked on her last meal. An autopsy, however, revealed a clean trachea.
Number 4 - The Beatles toked up in Buckingham Palace (false)
Most bands don't go out of their way to feed the rumor mills. Then again, most bands aren't the Beatles. Singer John Lennon once claimed the Fab Four shared a joint in the washroom of Buckingham Palace back in October 1965, the day they were set to receive their honorary Members of the British Empire awards from the Queen herself. George and Paul later denied the story, while Ringo (perhaps only fueling the tall tale) claimed he could not remember.
Number 3 - Jimi Hendrix wore an acid-laced bandana (???)
The colors may not have matched, but many fans still believe the secret behind Purple Haze could be found behind Jimi's red bandanas. Rumors abound to this very day that Hendrix brought his stage performances to dizzying psychedelic heights by placing LSD litmus papers (blotter acids) underneath his trademark bandana, which would ultimately be absorbed into cuts he had made in his skin and roll down as sweat into his eyes.
Number 2 - Robert Johnson signed a pact with the devil (???)
Bluesman Robert Johnson apparently came across more than two highways when he reached the crossroads of US 61 and US 49. Legend has it that the most famous guitar player of the 1930s actually sold his soul to the devil one hot day in Clarksdale, Mississippi, apparently forking over his eternal existence for a style of guitar playing that, for all intents and purposes, has remained unmatched to this very day.
Number 1 - Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain (???)
When Kurt Cobain was found dead on April 8, 1994, the ensuing public reaction over the tortured musician's suicide was anything but peaceful. Many fans suspected wife Courtney Love had conspired to have her husband killed, hinging on several irreconcilable facts: Cobain's stolen credit card, a weapon without prints, a questionable suicide note, and the simple fact that nobody injected with three times the lethal dose of heroin would have been able to pick up a shotgun and take their own life.
I listened to that dude on Coast To Coast. I guess it's conceivable.
I met The Bangles once in the 80's, when I was a DJ and they were playing in my town. They were very nice. Sold 2 laptops to Frank Sinatra. Ok, Frank Sinatra's assistant, but still.
Thank goodness the crewcut thing was a myth. Ringo looks downright hideous. LOL
Van Morrison has a song: What Ever Happened to PJ Proby
Yes, Thank God it wasn't him!! LOL
I would have tried mightily to get in Susanna Hoff's pants!
I was always a fan of the Mick, Keith, Marianne Faithfull and a Mars bar myth.
Speaking of rock bands though, I always loved it when Joe Perry and Steven Tyler were giving the speech inducting Led Zeppelin into the HOF Joe said, "Everything you ever heard about Led Zeppelin is true. Mad, bad and dangerous to know." I immediately thought sweet because I have heard some awesome Rock and Roll stories about them.
I think Marianne was pretty much a ho.
I heard Plant was gay rumours.
I don't know about you but I heard enough rumors going the other way to say that Plant wasn't gay, maybe bi but not gay.
I guess I meant bi, since he had quite the reputation as a ladies man!
I was heartbroken when Pete Townsend admitted he had poofer tendencies!
If Dylan ever says that, I'm gonna throw all my rock CDs away! LOL
That's no myth. That's the straight truth!
. . .at least according to my grandma!
I'm just as huge of a Van fan as yourself! Did you catch Scott Says' Van thread the other day?
I listed 5 of my fave albums, each from a slightly different phase of his long career:
Astral Weeks
St. Dominics Preview
Beautiful Vision
Hymns to the Silence
Too Long in Exile
I also really like his newest - Magic Time. The song "The Lion Again" is a follow up to St. Dominic's "Listen to the Lion". Great stuff!!
Everytime I see his face
It reminds me of a face I used to know.
All I have is a photograph
And I pray I will see that fugly mug no mo'....
I just Listened to DOwn the Road this past weekend for the 1st time in a year. Fun stuff!
It's true about the satanic messages you hear when you play Stairway to Heaven backwards. I'm living proof.
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