Apparently Hulk Hogan nearly joined Metallica as a bass player in their early days. He was once a session musician and a good friend of drummer Lars Ulrich. He is also a fan of the Stone Roses and used them as part of his workout soundtrack.

He also revealed mock anger at the fact that Kasabian check into hotels using his name. Click here to read the story on the NME site, which was sourced from the Sun. just a thought though, after their recent collaboration with Lou Reed maybe the next Metallica joint effort will be with Mr Hogan.

this man is a Knight of the Realm................ no seriously, he is!

I think it would be fair to say that there is one area of my life that my Mother may be disappointed in me. That is my dislike of the institution of the British Royal family and all condescending pomposity it has. Yes in case you hadn’t noticed I am very much a Republican (not in the US political sense obviously) and most definitely not a Royalist. Having posted recently about Mick Jagger (aka Sir Michael Philip Jagger) turning down afternoon tea with ‘Call Me Dave’ Cameron and Boris Johnson it’s strangely appropriate that a story about those who turned down Royal Honours appeared in the news today. Following a freedom of information request by the BBC a list of those now deceased who have turned down various Royal Honours form 1951 and 1999 has been published. There are 277 people on the list including artists Henry Moore, Francis Bacon and LS Lowry and authors Roald Dahl and Aldous Huxley. There are no rock or pop stars on the list. Read the full story on the BBC site by clicking here.

Sir Tom shows off his first house

However it got me thinking about those rock and pop stars who have accepted honours and those that haven’t. The obvious list of those who have are the rock and pop ‘Sirs’ Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones and Bono and Bob Geldof who as Irish citizens are Honorary Knights of the British Empire (KBE). Add to that list Dame Shirley Bassey. A large number of British musicians have received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), which is the highest honour a British subject can receive below a knighthood or damehood. Those include: Annie Lennox, Roger Daltrey, Eric Clapton, Sting, Robert Plant the Bee Gees and Rod Stewart. It was alleged that at the time of Elton receiving his knighthood Rod was just a little jealous.

Macca ponders his failure to win top score in Rate My Mullet

What really interests me though are those rock and pop stars who turned down Royal honours. David Bowie turned down a CBE in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003 and was quoted as saying that “was not what he spent his life working for”.  George Melly and Paul Weller also turned down the offer of a CBE in 2001 and 2007 respectively. Thankfully Keith Richards also turned down a CBE; I’d have been gutted if he had accepted! His comment on Jagger’s knighthood was that he felt it was ludicrous. Influential guitarist and stalwart of the Shadows Hank Marvin turned down an OBE as did Dub Poet Benjamin Zephaniah. At the time Zephaniah publicly stated ‘I get angry when I hear the word ‘empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised’ An MBE was offered to John Lydon who turned it down. I’m pretty amazed that they offered him one really.

Never a Knight of the realm but the only one who came close to looking the part as opposed to looking like an anagram of part

The four Beatles all received the MBE in 1965. John Lennon later returned his to the Queen in 1969 accompanied by a note which read ‘I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts’. It has been alleged that his Aunt Mimi who brought him up and upon whose mantelpiece the award lived was not amused!

Sir Michael Philip Jagger has turned down an invitation to partake afternoon tea in Davos, Switzerland with ‘Call me Dave’ Cameron and Boris Johnson among others. The meeting was allegedly set up to help promote Britain and British industry. However Sir Mick has claimed that inaccurate comments and suggestions have been made about his political allegiances. This is the reason he has subsequently declined the offer.

The whole thing smacks of hypocrisy to me. Why take a knighthood in the first place if you are not prepared to be a tool of the highest order for the government, the royal family and associated flunkies? What has happened to the anti-establishment, rebellious nature of rock n roll? Would Mick argue that he is trying to change things from within? Maybe, but turning down a chance to imbibe warm milky drinks and crust free sandwiches with a bunch of toffs is not that rebellious is it? It’s hardly like depicting the Queen with a safety-pin through her nose or emptying an ice bucket over John Prescott.

What happened to the Stones of old? What about some “Sympathy For The Devil” or “Gimme Shelter” instead of ‘Sympathy For The Coalition’ and ‘Gimme Earl Grey’. Mick you chose to wear the ermine robes you must have known this kind of thing would happen. Keef would never have found himself in this position he remains a true rock n roller who would almost certainly publicly turn down a royal award if it were ever offered!

Does rebellion still have a place in rock music? I believe it does, what do you think? In the meantime click here to read more about it on the BBC site.

Sympathy for the Daveil?

Back in 2009 I had the opportunity to see a band at a charity gig in York. I said some very good things about them in my review of that gig. Click here to read it. In fact I finished my write up of them with ‘My advice is gather up all of your X Factor shite and burn it, then replace it with whatever you can get by 3 Foot Ninja!’ The band have recorded an album which is scheduled for release in March this year and if the new tracks from them that are out there right now are anything to go by, it will be a real scorcher. You can get hold of new track “Fear” for free by clicking here and you can watch them playing another new song; “England Rains Over You” by clicking here. Are these boys the ones to take up a recent clarion call for a new powerful protest song in these dire times? As a big fan of the Clash I certainly hope so. I feel that they have a bit of the Clash about their attitude and that can never be a bad thing.

This music will move you on many levels. You will move your body, your emotions will shake a leg and your mind will tango with your soul. These boys have it all; great songs, great hooks, great lyrics, a social conscience, buckets of talent and a desire and hunger to be the best rock band they could ever be. They will be touring to support the album so if they play anywhere near you do whatever you can as long as it’s legal to raise the money to see them. You will not be disappointed, I intend to be at least one of those gigs myself. So feel free to come and say hi to the Hint Of Mayhem guy after you’ve pogoed and moshed the roof off the venue.

The band consists of Jordan and Joe Bell aided and abetted by Kane Waterfield on skin thumping duties. Did you wonder where their name came from? Well I’m pretty sure it was after a certain member of this powerful trio spent some time playing the original 3 Foot Ninja game on-line. I was also keen to see that they had posted a list of really good bands they have played gigs with on Purevolume. That list is; The Subways, Ash, Wilko Johnson, The Fratellis, Cage The Elephant, The Buzzcocks, Pete and the Pirates, Elvis Presley (they don’t look old enough for that one do they?), British Sea Power, The Airborne Toxic Event, Chico, Twisted Wheel, The Nostalgic Oasis Reverence Band, Little Comets, General Fiasco, Flashguns, Shrug (feat. Barry White). And there was me thinking my musical tastes were eclectic!

So prepare yourself for the arrival of the new album in a few weeks by downloading “Fear” and checking them out on Facebook and MySpace and of course going to see them at a gig near you. I am hoping to bring you more news about this brilliant band very soon; watch this space.

3 Foot Ninja prepare to take the head off of all that bland X Factor style shite!

President Obama was in attendance at a fundraising event in the Apollo in Harlem, effectively on the same bill as the Reverend Al Green. Obama decided to show his vocal prowess with a bit of Al Green karaoke. He followed that up with the comment ‘Don’t worry Rev, I cannot sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation’

What a guy! I really can’t imagine George W Bush or any of the current crop of Republican hopefuls doing anything like that, can you?

I may be a few days late but big congrats go out to Paul Weller and his wife Hannah. She recently gave birth to Weller’s 6th and 7th children; twins John Paul and Bowie. My assumption was that John Paul was named after Weller’s father John and the Modfather himself. However I read somewhere that John Paul is named after Lennon and McCartney. There is no need to guess who Bowie is named after is there? I do seem to recall that Weller only became a bit of a Bowie fan relatively recently, so maybe he is a bigger fan of the Dame than we perhaps thought! I wonder if John Paul and Bowie will come to call their Dad the Modfather as some of his older kids do?

Mr Weller with two of his older kids

I have some sad news to pass on, which by now you may already know; Etta James, soul singer extraordinaire has passed away after a long battle with leukaemia and dementia. The former Jamesetta Hawkins died just days before her 74th birthday. Unfortunately she was never as successful as some of her contemporaries such as Diana Ross. Personally I feel that Etta’s voice was streets ahead of Ms. Ross.

Etta seemed to be able to turn her voice to many different styles; soul, blues, rock and even some bawdy numbers. My lovely wife Catherine aka Catwoman wanted a special mention in this post as Etta’s “At Last” was the first song played after we signed the register at our wedding last September. That is one of many songs played that day that still mean a lot to us both.

Etta had a hard life being mostly abandoned to a number of carers by her 14-year-old mother after her birth in 1938. She also struggled against a serious drug addiction for many years. She has been the recipient of six Grammys including two for her earlier songs; the previously mentioned “At Last” and “The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry)”. Both were Grammy Hall Of Fame Awards in 1999 and 2008 respectively for  qualitative or historical significance. “The Wallflower” was her only US R & B number one back in 1955 when she was still a teenager.

My thoughts go out to her family, friends and fans. RIP Etta James.

Firstly thanks to my good friend Mr Horslen for pointing this rather strange story out. Mr Fiddy Pence, aka Half A Dollar, aka Little Sense, aka Curtis James Jackson III and finally aka 50 Cent. It is the latter name that many of you know him as. After his latest escapade I would say that this man could also be known as Complete Knob! He posted some rigged pictures of Jay Z and Beyoncé‘s new baby Ivy Blue Carter. Click here to see them. Are they in bad taste? Probably. Are they particularly funny? Probably not. Has Fiddy had much publicity lately? No. Has he had a lot in recent days? Obviously. Is this just a cynical attempt to get him back in the news? You bet your ass it is!

I’ve always felt that 50 Cent is an ok rapper but perhaps lacks the humour and wit of the best, such as Eminem, and often lacks the intelligence of the truly great rappers, such as Jay Z. Fiddy has also sparked bemusement with some other tweets recently. He said that he wanted to be a bird so that he could fly and shit on people. Then you could say that 50 ‘shat on you’. I think this man is a bird; well he is a bit of a cock isn’t he? He has also tweeted that he doesn’t believe that he has much longer to live, but I wonder whether that is a metaphor for his dying career. read the news about those tweets on the NME site by clicking here.

In some related news Jay Z has vowed to drop the word ‘bitch’ from his lyrics after the birth of his daughter. That will take a lot of effort won’t it? “99 Problems” without ‘bitch’ in it? How’s that going to work? Will he replace with a similar word? Maybe ‘I got 99 problems but a ditch ain’t one’ or ‘I got 99 problems but a twitch ain’t one’. Please use the comments box on this blog to submit your own alternatives to ‘bitch’ and maybe we can send a list to Jay Z or Jay Zed as my good friend Karen McP calls him. Read the Jay Z no bitch story by clicking here.

Now I am really not the kind of person who is favour of formal attire in fact I dislike formal wear immensely. I suppose that this comes partly from having to wear a suit and tie to work every day for most of my working life. Even now in our supposedly modern and enlightened world I still have to wear a tie to work. Why is this? What is the purpose of a neck tie? As far as I can tell it’s just a coloured or patterned piece of material that is tied around the neck for decoration. Does it keep my shirt buttoned? No. Does it keep me warm? No. Does it increase my intelligence? No. Does it sometimes act as a bib and catch food spillages when I eat my lunch? Actually yes it does!

Anyway I hear that the organisers of Royal Ascot are introducing more stringent dress codes for this years event. Click here to read the story on the BBC website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-16607875 I won’t bore you with all the details as there is only one part that really interests me. You may know that I am a dedicated fascinator hater. I just don’t understand the purpose of those pathetic arty farty constructions that women plonk on their head. Either get a proper hat or wear nothing on your head. Ladies fascinators make you look simple and stupid. (In my opinion at least). well the good news is that fascinators will be banned from the royal enclosure this year, however women must wear a hat. Men must wear a waistcoat and tie, cravats will not be permitted. But let’s face it cravats are a little poncey aren’t they?

So whilst I am pleased that Royal Ascot has banned the fascinator in the royal enclosure I am disappointed that they haven’t banned it completely. aside from that would I really want to attend a function that is so rigorous about telling me what I can and can’t wear? Not particularly. When I attend the likes of the Reading Festival I can wear whatever the hell I want; A Dead Kennedys T Shirt, a Cheeky Girls hoodie, a Prince Charles mask, a Doctor Doom badge or shorts with ‘fuck you, you fucking fuck’ emblazoned across the back. (As an aside here’s a competition for you, I have in fact once worn one of those items at the Reading Festival, can you guess which one? Mr Horslen you’re not allowed to enter as you were with me at the time)

So now I have had my formal wear rant and spread the good news about at least a step in the right direction with regard to the fascinator how about some music? This is a music blog after all isn’t it? So I thought I would choose some fascinator  songs and artists for you. I must confess that I’ve heard none of these tunes before now. I hope that you enjoy them and feel free to suggest others.

I think I must be getting to that kind of age where many of your heroes or favourite folk from your youth are dying off. Well it’s happened again; sadly the great Jimmy Castor is now the late, great Jimmy Castor. He died yesterday in Las Vegas from apparent heart failure after earlier by-pass surgery. He was aged just 71 (although some on-line sources say 64). I hadn’t listened to him for quite a while but I heard the news on the way home from work tonight and played “Trogolodyte” on the iPod.

Mr Castor was a seriously funky dude who could even give the likes of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins a run for their money. His songs have been sampled by many artists including Madonna, Neneh Cherry, Kanye West, DJ Shadow, Ice Cube and the Spice Girls. If you’re too young to remember Jimmy Castor or he somehow passed you by then take a listen to the songs below and get your booty shakin’. You know it makes sense you funkateers you!

My thoughts go out to Jimmy’s family, friends and fans. RIP Jimmy Castor.