Rock'N'Roll Row

Famed music entrepreneur Simon Napier-Bell (pictured left) was in Sydney last month and Whispers popped along to the Newtown music club Leadbelly to hear him give a talk on the music industry.  Napier-Bell discovered such legends as Marc Bolan & T-Rex, Dusty Springfield and the late George Michael and Wham. He has managed numerous stars and steered their careers including The Yardbyrds in the 1960s up to Sinead O'Connor last year.

One of Napier-Bell's themes is the influence of gay managers on the emerging music business in Britain that included not just himself but Brian Epstein and The Beatles, Kit Lambert and The Who, Australian Robert Stigwood and The Bee Gees and Larry Parnes. Parnes discovered and launched numerous stars in the 1960s including Billy Fury and Marty Wilde. One tale told by the late Kit Lambert is that Robert Stigwood rang Parnes and said " I've just driven past your office and there is a blond Adonis working on the roadworks, look out your window". Parnes looked, spotted the handsome blond and the career of Tommy Steele was born. Napier-Bell reckons gay managers had a unique feel for what teenage girls wanted and acted upon it.

Top: Epstein & The Beatles* Jann Werner Bottom: Stigwood & the Bee Gees. Kit Lambert & The Who

Parnes & Tommy Steele

The New York Times just last week featured this theme (after speaking to Napier-Bell) in a feature written by journalist Jim Farber on the occasion of the pending launch of a biography of the famous Jann Werner who launched the music bible Rolling Stone magazine. Werner, now 70 only just came out the closet recently. But an almighty row is now brewing between Werner and his biographer which you can read all about. What fun!

The articles:

The Gay Architects of Rock

Who created that gorgeous 20th-century creature, the rock star? Consider

the gay image makers of the day, like Brian Epstein and Jann Wenner.

Rolling Stone founder falls out with biographer over candid life story

exclusive : Beatle John Lennon's bi-sexual orgies !

The British blogger Madame Arcati says a new book reveals that former Beatle John Lennon indulged in bi-sexual orgies. Former pop king Jonathan King who has sold over 40 million records in his time reveals the tale in his just released autobiography 65 My Life So Far.
                 There have been persistent rumours about Lennon's sexuality over the years especially concerning his manager and the discoverer of  The Beatles, Brian Epstein.
               Lennon's first wife Cynthia, who John married in 1968 but also had been living with since their art school days and possibly knew the Beatle better than anyone including Yoko Ono, details in her 2004 book John the complicated relationship between Lennon and Epstein.

          Although she denies it was sexual she does concede it was an extremely complex relationship with Lennon at times being excessively cruel to Epstein whist at the same time expressing his deep admiration for the man.
                   When Brian Epstein committed suicide in 1967 it was said that he was upset at the possibility of losing  management of The Beatles whilst close friends claimed that Epstein was distraught at losing his influence with Lennon who they said he was obsessed with. Cynthia says Lennon, assassinated in New York in 1980 was devastated at the news of Epstein's death.              
                    A contemporary of Epsteins, the music identity Simon Napier-Bell relates the tale of receiving a long rambling phone message about Lennon from Epstein on his answering machine the night the Beatles manager killed himself.
                  Jonathan King had his first massive hit record in 1965 with his song "Everyones Gone To The Moon" whilst he was still a university undergraduate and went onto have a string of pop hits over the years as well as producing records for top bands like 10CC and Genesis, worked with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Whitesnake, ran his own record company, stood for Parliament, hosted TV shows and wrote for newspapers and produced the Eurovision Song Contest.
             He also did a stint in jail and currently has an appeal over that court case before the European Court of Human Rights.

King says in his book that "two or three times" in the 60s, Lennon stayed over at his flat with with several young ladies and was perfectly happy to indulge in a multi-gender session of stimulation."


65 My Life So Far can be obtained at Amazon.
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## tSS has had to sack one staff member after a kind reader pointed out that dreadful spelling mistakes have been rampant throughout posts. The office moggie Mildred Pierce who doubled as a sub-editor has been banished from the office and only fear of the RSPCA who have already pounced upon 2 cast members of "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here"over the demise of a rat prevents us from removing the feline from the building..

It's also recommended that one should always double check one's work if using one of those new mini laptops if your sight is not up to par.