In my first bonus book review for April, I raved about Rap On Trial (not a paid subscriber? There’s an excerpt of the book here). That got me wondering about the most compelling cases from the world of music. Eve went with, and I quote, “Phil Spector!!!” but I didn’t love the HBO dramatization of the case; I did like Unsolved and Biggie: The Life Of Notorious B.I.G., and Surviving R. Kelly was difficult but important. And surely the Cocaine & Rhinestones pod has, or will have, something on the rumor that Kenny Rogers paid some dude to take the fall for a cocaine possession charge.
What’s your favorite music-related case material — whether it’s a doc, a pod, a book, or a murder ballad?
My interest is hit or miss on individual episodes of Disgraceland (sometimes the sound design drives me nuts) but I loved his spin-off podcast, the 29 Club. He's only done season 1, about Jimi Hendrix, but I thought it was incredibly compelling, especially the first 5 episodes.
And speaking of Cocaine & Rhinestones (which I just accidentally called Coconut & Rhinestones; maybe Ginger & Lovey should do that podcast), I have a saved google search for it because I find it galling that there's still no season 2. I am desperate for it to start again. I can't wait to find out who he's going to cover! Hoping for Faron Young, due to a story I read about him smacking a child in the bleachers during his performance at a state fair, because she made a face at him. But a double episode about George Jones would also be very exciting to me.
Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS. (I’m assuming we can discuss theft of intellectual property as a crime). And I am SHOCKED that I’ve never heard of Cocaine & Rhinestones - going to listen as soon as the last of today’s 85 Zoom conferences has ended.
Because you all expected some deep cuts from New Zealand cult musicians.... The Muttonbirds have a song called A Thing Well Made https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=db-LtAbrYYA written from the perspective of a gun shop owner in Christchurch. It's the final couple of lines that are the kicker, if you know it was inspired by Aramoana (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramoana_massacre).
And as a bonus, Pink Frost by The Chills which when I was growing up was rumoured to be about the lead singer killing his girlfriend (it's allegedly actually about him dreaming about killing her by accident in his sleep, decide for yourself if that's more or less creepy)
Has anyone watched I Called Him Morgan, the jazz documentary? I have been meaning to and it'd fit this topic perfectly.
Can also add that there's a Gloria Trevi movie, used to be on Netflix I think, which wasn't great but gave you some idea of the nutbag story of her life.
I love the podcast Disgraceland. It's music related crimes but the narrator has a phenomenal voice for podcasts and the writing is very poetic. I am guessing it's a " love it or hate it" type of thing but it's worth checking out. There were a lot of things I didn't know, and he also covers the big ones too.
There are a lot of layers of fakery here, but the ‘murder ballad’ on The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 “Tweeter and the Monkeyman” always just makes me smile. Dylan tongue in cheek lyrics with appropriate Jersey Springsteen references, great vocal performances, it’s got it all. And the final lines cap it: “Sometimes I think of Tweeter. Sometimes I think of Jan. Sometimes I don’t think of nothin’ but the Monkeyman.” Oh nameless narrator, we’ve all been there.
My interest is hit or miss on individual episodes of Disgraceland (sometimes the sound design drives me nuts) but I loved his spin-off podcast, the 29 Club. He's only done season 1, about Jimi Hendrix, but I thought it was incredibly compelling, especially the first 5 episodes.
And speaking of Cocaine & Rhinestones (which I just accidentally called Coconut & Rhinestones; maybe Ginger & Lovey should do that podcast), I have a saved google search for it because I find it galling that there's still no season 2. I am desperate for it to start again. I can't wait to find out who he's going to cover! Hoping for Faron Young, due to a story I read about him smacking a child in the bleachers during his performance at a state fair, because she made a face at him. But a double episode about George Jones would also be very exciting to me.
Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS. (I’m assuming we can discuss theft of intellectual property as a crime). And I am SHOCKED that I’ve never heard of Cocaine & Rhinestones - going to listen as soon as the last of today’s 85 Zoom conferences has ended.
Because you all expected some deep cuts from New Zealand cult musicians.... The Muttonbirds have a song called A Thing Well Made https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=db-LtAbrYYA written from the perspective of a gun shop owner in Christchurch. It's the final couple of lines that are the kicker, if you know it was inspired by Aramoana (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramoana_massacre).
And as a bonus, Pink Frost by The Chills which when I was growing up was rumoured to be about the lead singer killing his girlfriend (it's allegedly actually about him dreaming about killing her by accident in his sleep, decide for yourself if that's more or less creepy)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pjW3MT8D9RY
Has anyone watched I Called Him Morgan, the jazz documentary? I have been meaning to and it'd fit this topic perfectly.
Can also add that there's a Gloria Trevi movie, used to be on Netflix I think, which wasn't great but gave you some idea of the nutbag story of her life.
Fave murder ballads - the album aptly titled Murder Ballads.
I love the podcast Disgraceland. It's music related crimes but the narrator has a phenomenal voice for podcasts and the writing is very poetic. I am guessing it's a " love it or hate it" type of thing but it's worth checking out. There were a lot of things I didn't know, and he also covers the big ones too.
There are a lot of layers of fakery here, but the ‘murder ballad’ on The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 “Tweeter and the Monkeyman” always just makes me smile. Dylan tongue in cheek lyrics with appropriate Jersey Springsteen references, great vocal performances, it’s got it all. And the final lines cap it: “Sometimes I think of Tweeter. Sometimes I think of Jan. Sometimes I don’t think of nothin’ but the Monkeyman.” Oh nameless narrator, we’ve all been there.