Book of The Year

Well it should be..another cracking read from music entrepreneur Simon Naper Bell who discovered some of the biggest names in rock music including WHAM and the late George Michael as well as penning a legendary hit for Dusty Springfeild and Elvis Prseley. Napier Bell in the 80s was also the first perosn to stage a rock concert in China when WHAM ! appeared there. Napier Bell also discovered Australia's Jean Paul Young and was responsible for his massive hiy "Love is in The Air. His latest book is full of fascinating anecdotes as many of his previous best-sellers : You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, about the 60s; Black Vinyl White Powder, about the postwar British record industry; and I’m Coming To Take You To Lunch,and is a guaranteed rollicking look at the music busines along with his other numerous interests and escapades. Recently he's directed three major documentaries. 'To Be Frank', about Frank Sinatra (Netflix). '27 Club', investigating the psyche of creative music artists (Netflix). And '50 Years Legal', marking 50 years since the UK decriminalised homosexuality. To order the book go to Simon's FACEBOOK page.. https://www.facebook.com/simonnapierbell

Michael Buble, Anna Nicole, The Who and Robin Hood

Michael Buble and his favourite actor Cary Elwes

  Crooner Michael Buble has announced via this week's Woman's Day that his favourite all-time movie and actor are The Princess Bride and star of the flick, Cary Elwes who also played Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
By co-incidence Elwes was in Melbourne last week as a guest at the Comic Con convention along with Star Trek's William Shatner and George Takei and actress Shannen Doherty. Around 33,000 fans attended the convention.
The Shuttle's omnipresent spies also report that  Elwes was spotted at Melbourne's magnificent National Gallery of Victoria last Friday where he appeared absorbed in the works by Australia's first acclaimed artist George Washington Lambert.

Kit Lambert with Townshend & Daltrey

George Lambert's self portrait

As reported by the Shuttle last year, Cary Elwes is to direct a bio-pic on the life of the late rock manager Kit Lambert who discovered The Who and Jimi Hendrix amongst other music legends. Lambert led a dissolute but magnificent life before dying tragically in mysterious circumstances at the age of 43 in 1981. At his peak he owned a house in Belgravia and a palace in Venice where he wooed his neighbour, the art collector Peggy Guggenheim.
Kit was the grandson of George Washington Lambert  and the son of noted English classical composer Constant Lambert .

The Who perform at the closing concert for the London Olympics last year

George Lambert was appointed the official war artist for the WW1 Gallipoli campaign that is so etched into the Australian psyche and was accompanied on that venture by a young war correspondent Keith Murdoch, father of media baron Rupert Murdoch. Both were disturbed by the upper class British generals at Gallipoli who they considered dangerous and incompetent.

Agnes Bruckner stars as Anna Nicole

Kit Lambert was born into privilege and was privately educated and his classical education combined with a rock'n'roll lifestyle influenced The Who's music as exampled by the rock opera Tommy. Remaining Who members Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey are enthusiastically backing the film about Lambert and it's rumored will be composing music for the film.  The Rolling Stones and The Who are the remaining 60's Supergroup and are still huge throughout the world. In 2010 The Who performed at the most watched event in TV history, the Superbowl and at the closing ceremony for the London Olympics last year in front of an estimated 750 million viewers worldwide. 
 As for Cary Elwes, he has several films to be released soon including one on the life of Anna Nicole and he has just produced a film about the famous meeting between Elvis Presley and president Richard Nixon in 1970. Nixon made Presley, who was high as a kite on drugs at the meeting, an Honorary Marshall. That movie is to be released by Aussie actor Eric Bana's production company.

Looking At Jedward's Crotch(s)

Who could forget their appearances on Britain's Got Talent, as much as we tried. The god awful Jedward, John and Edward the Irish twins who sang out of tune, danced awkwardly like marionettes and basically were just plain bad.

They've had the last laugh of course and have gone on to make millions with the help of Louis Walsh who recognises a money spinner when he sees two. And they really are quite likable in a cringe worthy way.

Now pop impresario Simon Napier-Bell has weighed into the debate with a look at Jedward's trousers, on the outside but with a few comments on what may lay within.

Napier-Bell  has launched many show biz acts in his day including some who have gone on to become legends. Like Marc Bolan and T-Rex and Wham with superstar George Michael.

He also wrote a few songs-one You Don't Have To Say You Love Me was a mega hit for Dusty Springfield and Elvis Presley and which along with Big Spender is still a favourite of drag queens the world over (Napier Bell grumbles that he never receives royalties from the drag acts)

His piece on Jedward is for the  Huffington Post and he descibes them as like "asexual Teddy bears"and gives us an amazing insight into acceptable trouser crotch levels and heights as seen in the world of rock and pop. Not unlike Vogue's Anna Wintour issuing a decree on hem levels. It should  become required reading for anyone intent on cracking Britain's Got Talent or X Factor and as Napier-Bell is in constant demand to judge pop talent quests around the world he probably knows what he is talking about.

Regular Shuttle readers may re-call we acted as a bit of a host when Simon Napier Bell visited Sydney in 2009 and ferried him to and fro to various media interviews.

Simon Napier-Bell

 One, with top TV daytime host Kerri Anne Kennerley left her reeling when she asked him what was  most outrageous thing that happened in the world of rock management and he replied-"possibly when David Bowie said he would let me  f*ck him if I would manage him". Fortunately for Napier Bell he didn't take Bowie up on the offer particularly as at the time the Thin White Duke was notable for his rotting green teeth.

Napier-Bell spends most of time commuting between a sumptuous villa in Thailand and the UK and USA where he hosts a radio show and lectures while writing some best selling books in his spare time.

KAK- shocked

His Black Vinyl White Powder is considered the definitive history of rock and pop from the 60s to the 90's and was required reading on the British school curriculum.

I'm Coming To Take You To Lunch is a rollicking read about his adventures as he attempts to (successfully) negotiate with Chinese party officials to have Wham as the first ever international pop act to appear in China, nipping in the bud the ambitions of Freddie Mercury and Queen. At the time it was one of the most talked about events on the planet.

Simon Napier-Bell is writing regular features for the Huffington Post which can be read here.
 At Simon's website you can find more about his books.
Here is Elvis with You Don't Have To Say You Love Me :