Archive for December, 2009
Guitar Player is Hooking You Up for the Holidays
Forgot to ask Santa for sweet music gear this year? No worries. Guitar Player will deliver.
Eight incredibly lucky subscribers to the gear lover’s magazine can win one of eight very generous gift packages through the GP2 8×8 Giveaway — including eight giant amps, eight gleaming axes, and seven pedals (the acoustic package doesn’t need one) to drown your post X-mas blues.
All subscribers have to do is open the latest edition of the electronic rag, wait for the registration form to pop up, and sign up. Not subscribed? Well, doing that works too … and it’s free, by the way.
So let’s see, some nice reading material and the chance to score some shiny new hardware. I’m already signed up. Check out this info page for instructions to enter yourself, plus some interesting prizes for Twitterheads who follow Guitar Player on Twitter and re-tweet their promos. Contest ends at midnight on January 31. Happy reading…
Top 10 Rock Stars Whose Deaths Would Make Us Cry
The world is filled with rock icons who are either aging or live perilously close to the edge, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t wake up each day a little worried that one of them will keel over.
Not that the ones on this list are the only ones I worry about — any rock star death warrants sitting on my couch all day with a handle of Jack and a tub of ice cream watching “Almost Famous” over and over — but there are a few special souls who would definitely make me lose it, and probably a lot of other people, too. Dammit, Michael Jackson came close.
Here are ten rockers whose deaths would make us lose it faster than our inheritance in Vegas. God forbid.
10. Ozzy Osbourne. This gentle, funny, formerly evil rock legend has gone from being the definition of rock mayhem to the definition of man-cute. He’s also the king of perseverance — his awesomeness wasn’t diluted by an entire reality series about his annoying family. He even manages to seem cool in commercials about cell phones and oil-based butter spread, acting confused and shouting “I’m the prince of fucking darkness” at the air. A world without Ozzy is a world with no rock and roll mentor. When he goes, bands will dissolve out of respect, and the news will be flooded with man-made catastrophes and mass suicides. Kitties and doggies will weep.
9. Ringo Starr. “The goofy one” (presently “the posh one”) seemed to have a definite air about him during his Beatles career. It was a sort of blind joviality, with the slight appearance of being confused over what was going on at any given time. It especially came through whenever he provided vocals, where he sounded like a musical version of someone’s dad. These days he’s enjoying coolness with his designer shades, Don Johnson stubble and ever-present peace signs, but geez, look at any photo of him. He’s still Ringo. The day there’s no more Ringo will be the day there are no more rodeo clowns, doctor’s office lollipops, corporate meeting donuts, or anything else that makes a serious situation fun. Long live the goofy one.
