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rockandrollstorytime · 4 years

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Rock and Roll Storytime #8: The Rolling Stones at Altamont (AKA One of the Worst Concert Disasters of All Time)

The year 1969 had been a hectic one, both for the world in general (with the continuing Vietnam War, the Chappaquiddick incident, and the moon landings) and especially for rock and roll (with the death of Brian Jones, Woodstock, and the Beatles starting to head full-steam down the road that led them to their break-up in April 1970). Capping off this year full of highs and lows, there was Altamont, which has been labelled by many as the death of the 60′s. At the very least, it certainly brought a premature end to the idealism that the youths of that generation held dear.

Lord knows, I will always say that Brian Jones should have had a chance to get back on his feet and I’m super salty that he’s dead, but honestly, I’m glad he missed out on this one.

Before I tell the story of Altamont though, I must ask… Whose bright idea was it to hire the Hell’s Angels as security for a Rolling Stones concert and pay them with $500 of beer?

Well, to answer that question, I’m going to have to begin this story with the ending of another. Truly, the roots of this ill-thought-out decision lies within events that had happened that summer.

I’ve mentioned Brian Jones already, but to give those of you who are new to this the rundown, Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was the Stones’ first guitarist, and at the start, he was the brains of the band. Seven years, a bunch of internal conflict with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Loog Oldham, a messy relationship with Anita Pallenberg, drug abuse and alcoholism, two drug trials, and a fuck-ton of stress later, Brian was in a state we’d call “mental exhaustion” (didn’t help that his physical health was shit too). Where in 1966 he was contributing some of the best parts of the Stones’ early music, such as the sitar on “Paint It Black”, in 1969, he’d rarely show up to the studio, and if he did, he would usually be too intoxicated to properly contribute. In fact, on Let It Bleed, he only contributed to two songs: “Midnight Rambler” (congas) and “You’ve Got the Silver” (autoharp).

In June 1969, the Stones decided they wanted to go on tour again, but then, they found out that due to the fact that Brian had twice been convicted of drug possession, it’d be unlikely that he could receive a visa to perform in the U.S.A., if at all. Ultimately, Mick and Keith decided that their best option would be to fire Brian, and so, on June 8, 1969, they went down to Brian’s home, Cotchford Farm, to tell him that he would no longer be with the group. According to those present, Brian had been expecting this, and in the various press releases, it was made to appear as if Brian had left the band on his own terms. His statement read, in part, “I no longer see eye to eye with the others over the discs we are cutting. We no longer communicate musically. The Stones’ music is not to my taste any more. The work of Mick and Keith has progressed at a tangent, at least to my way of thinking. I have a desire to play my own brand of music rather than that of others, no matter how much I appreciate their musical concepts.”

At this point in time, whether Brian was accepting of this turn of events or not is up to conjecture.

In either case, the Stones brought in 20-year-old Mick Taylor (previously of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to replace Brian, and at a press conference on June 13, the Stones announced that they would be holding a free concert on July 5 in order to properly introduce their new guitarist.

And then, just three days before the concert was set to take place, Brian drowned in his backyard swimming pool, being just twenty-seven years old. Although the coroner ruled it death by misadventure (which personal research seems to support), theories have long persisted that Brian was, in fact, murdered, but that is, of course, a story for another day.

The Stones in the Park concert quickly became a tribute to Brian Jones, and at the start, Mick read two verses of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais, and as the band launched into “I’m Yours and I’m Hers” by Johnny Winters (one of Brian’s favourite songs), thousands of butterflies were released, though this was against park stipulation, as they were voracious Cabbage White butterflies, and many had died due to the boxes not being properly ventilated.

What’s important to this story about the concert at Hyde Park is that the London chapter of the Hell’s Angels was there providing security that day. It is also important to note that the Grateful Dead (who, incidentally, also had a member of the 27 Club in their line-up) had also hired the Hell’s Angels as security numerous times.

Several months later, the Stones had been having a pretty good run with their American tour, which was able to slightly mitigate some of the shady business practices Allen Klein had subjected them to, but throughout, fans and journalists kept complaining about high ticket prices. If you ask me though, those bitches were lucky. I’d rather be paying three to eight dollars (equivalent to $21.21 to $56.57 in 2019) as opposed to a minimum of $159 that tickets to a Rolling Stones concert now sell for. Not to mention, Woodstock had happened in August that year, and that was a big success, so in Mick Jagger’s 26-year-old, immature, unwise brain, that obviously meant that they should have another free concert like the one at Hyde Park. Really, in his mind, the peace and love movement was only just beginning, so what could go wrong?

As Murphy’s Law will tell you, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”

Oh, and go wrong it did.

The first major problem was that they couldn’t get a venue.

The concert was set for December 6, and their tour manager, Sam Cutler, struggled to get them a venue. He tried San Jose’s State University, but there had been a three-day festival recently, and the city wasn’t exactly in the mood for another batch of hippies storming the city so soon afterward, so that was out of bounds. He then tried gunning for San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, but there was a football game between the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49-ers taking place in the same general location, which made use of the venue impractical. He then tried getting Sears Point Raceway on board, but disputes quickly arose over filming distribution rights and an up-front fee of $300,000.

Finally, just two days before the concert was set to take place, the Stones’ management managed to get a hold of Altamont Speedway (it helped that the owner, Dick Carter, apparently offered the venue for free).

As you can imagine, there was a whole shit-ton of problems that arose from that, and Rolling Stone magazine, in its piece on the tragedy, listed the following logistical problems:

“1) Promise a free concert by a popular rock group which rarely appears in this country. Announce the site only four days in advance.

2) Change the location 20 hours before the concert.

3) The new concert site should be as close as possible to a giant freeway.

4) Make sure the grounds are barren, treeless, desolate.

5) Don’t warn neighboring landowners that hundreds of thousands of people are expected. Be unaware of their out-front hostility toward long hair and rock music.

6) Provide one-sixtieth the required toilet facilities to insure that people will use nearby fields, the sides of cars, etc.

7) The stage should be located in an area likely to be completely surrounded by people and their vehicles.

8) Build the stage low enough to be easily hurdled. Don’t secure a clear area between stage and audience.

9) Provide an unreliable barely audible low fidelity sound system.

10) Ask the Hell’s Angels to act as ‘security’ guards.”

Most sane people would have quit while they were ahead, but this is the Rolling Stones we’re talking about. Between Brian Jones having five kids by the age of twenty-three, Mick Jagger allegedly sleeping with over 4,000 women (and don’t get me started on him and David Bowie), Keith Richards’ drug habits and his snorting his dad’s ashes, Bill Wyman dating a teenager while he was in his forties, and Charlie Watts punching Mick Jagger in the face, we are absolutely not dealing with the most sane bunch of individuals on the planet.

And let’s not forget that some idiot decided it’d be a great idea to pay the Hell’s Angels in $500 of beer (the equivalent of $3,535.43 in 2019).

Yeah, if you listened closely to the sounds of the earth in 1969, I can guarantee you, you probably would have heard a barely-cold-in-the-ground Brian Jones spinning in his grave over this stupidity (because he was acting as the band’s manager for a time in their early days before Andrew Oldham came on board).

Let’s also not forget that they hired a particularly notorious batch of Hell’s Angels from Oakland, California, whereas the Grateful Dead found their “security bikers” in Sacramento. Apparently, Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully even tried to warn the Stones about the “real” Hell’s Angels after seeing the footage from Hyde Park, but obviously, they didn’t take whatever warning he tried to give them to heart. The hippies in general had a romanticized image of the Hell’s Angels in their heads, seeing them as “outlaw brothers of the counterculture.”

No points for guessing how that worked out, but let’s continue regardless.

Set to perform that night were Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Grateful Dead, and of course, the Rolling Stones.

They would all be performing on a stage that was just thirty-nine inches off the ground and surrounded on all sides by over 300,000 attendees. Apparently, this had been planned to create a more “intimate” experience.

From what I could tell, waivers were not involved.

For the sake of time, I can’t give you a minute-by-minute analysis of the event, but I can still provide a basic timeline of all that happened.

So, everything went relatively smoothly as Santana performed their set, but it was only downhill from there. As the day progressed, the crowd started fighting each other, and the “security” sure as hell didn’t help matters. At some point, someone knocked over one of the Angel’s motorcycles, which was likely an accident. However, the Angels were already pretty pissy, and plus, rule number one when it comes to the Angels is “Don’t mess with the motorcycles.” So, the Angels, already high thanks to someone spiking the beer with acid, started indiscriminately assaulting audience members they didn’t like with sawed-off pool cues and motorcycle chains, including a guy who was running around naked and someone else who was trying to take pictures of the stage. One woman who called in to a radio station the next day reported that she saw five fistfights, and the Angels were involved in every last one. She tried to intervene, but the people around her warned her not to, fearing for both their safety and hers.

During Jefferson Airplane’s set, Marty Balin was knocked unconscious when he tried to intervene in a fight between the audience members and Hell’s Angels. When Paul Kantner grabbed a mic and sarcastically thanked the Angels, Bill Fritsch grabbed the mic from him and started arguing with him about it. In addition, Denise Jewkes, lead singer of Ace of Cups, was hit in the head with a beer bottle and suffered a skull fracture. Her husband, Noel, had to lead his six-month pregnant wife through the sea of people so she could get medical attention. The Stones later paid her medical expenses. By this point, news of what was going on out front was beginning to seep into the backstage areas and even back to the Stones at their hotel room, but most of the acts decided to press on regardless. However, after hearing about what happened to Marty from Michael Shrieve, the guys from the Grateful Dead decided to book it.

Yeah. Thanks a bunch, assholes.

The crowd did calm down a bit for the Flying Burrito Brothers’ set, because really, who can say no to Gram Parsons? However, that calm was only temporary. When the Stones arrived by helicopter, it wasn’t even ten seconds before someone punched Mick Jagger in the face. Also, Bill Wyman missed the first helicopter out, so the Stones were already going to be late.

And then Mick Jagger decided he wanted to be all dramatic and shit, so the crowds were forced to wait until nightfall for the Stones’ set.

Meanwhile, during Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s set, a “stoned out” Angel reportedly stabbed Stephen Stills in the leg whenever he stepped forward to sing, leaving trails of blood running down his leg.

By the time the Stones were anywhere near ready to take the stage, things started to degenerate even further, to the point where the Angels (who already despised Mick’s scrawny, English arse) pretty much forced the Stones to go out on stage regardless of whether they were ready or not, just to prevent a full-scale riot.

It was in that moment Mick knew… he fucked up royally.

As Mick observed the constant fighting between the audience members and Hell’s Angels during the show as he sang “Sympathy for the Devil”, he desperately, defeatedly, pleaded for calm, his usual bravado completely absent for once in his adult life. However, it was clear that the Angels already weren’t going to listen to the flamboyant musician they clearly hated, and tensions had been simmering too long throughout the day, so Mick’s pleas for peace practically went completely unheard.

Mick Taylor later said, “The Hell’s Angels had a lot to do with it. The people that were working with us getting the concert together thought it would be a good idea to have them as a security force. But I got the impression that because they were a security force they were using it as an excuse. They’re just very, very violent people. I think we expected probably something like the Hell’s Angels that were our security force at Hyde Park, but of course they’re not the real Hell’s Angels, they’re completely phony. These guys in California are the real thing — they’re very violent. I had expected a nice sort of peaceful concert. I didn’t expect anything like that in San Francisco because they are so used to having nice things there. That’s where free concerts started, and I thought a society like San Francisco could have done much better. We were on the road when it was being organized, we weren’t involved at all. We would have liked to have been. Perhaps the only thing we needed security for was the Hell’s Angels. I really don’t know what caused it but it just depressed me because it could have been so beautiful that day”

(I feel so sorry for Mick Taylor. The kid was just twenty years old when he saw all this bullshit going down.)

Now, what I’m going to do with this go-around, before I describe what happened next, is tell you a little bit about Meredith Hunter. He was just eighteen when he went to Altamont with his girlfriend, Patti Bredehoft. The only reason he had a gun that day, according to his family, was for self-protection, given that he was basically a young black man with a white girlfriend in a sea of white people, at a time and place where racism was still very much prevalent. Allegedly, the gun didn’t even have any bullets in it; it would just be a last resort to deter anyone giving him trouble. Like most 18-year-olds, he was also a bit naive, and though his girlfriend wanted to leave, he convinced her to stay for the Rolling Stones’ set. At one point, he was already set upon by Hell’s Angels, but that time, it was only a scuffle. What is known is that he was high on methamphetamines, but what isn’t known for sure is his general demeanour. Some said he had a crazy look in his eye, while others said that he seemed calm, though he was upset at the violence.

And then, all hell broke loose.

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As “Under My Thumb” was ending, cameras found an opening into the crowd, into which stumbled Meredith Hunter. He grabbed his gun, a .22 calibre revolver, which was visible to cameras against Patti’s dress. When Alan Passaro saw this, he immediately assumed that Hunter was trying to shoot somebody, and started stabbing him (this was, again, in plain view of a bunch of cameras). Subsequently, he was repeatedly kicked in the head, trying to tell his attackers that he wasn’t trying to kill anybody. However, the Angels were convinced that he was attempting to shoot somebody, and that’s essentially what the narrative became- that a crazed black kid high on meth tried to shoot Mick or one of the other Rolling Stones (which, believe me, I’d be salty about even if I hadn’t read a Rolling Stone article about him).

It was little Mick Taylor who managed to keep things rolling (a bit) by suggesting they play “Brown Sugar”, which had only been recorded the previous Tuesday.

Somehow, after the vicious beating he’d suffered, Meredith was still alive, and a doctor at the scene looked at him and recommended that he get immediate medical attention, or else he’d die. However, the only helicopter at the scene was reserved for the Rolling Stones, and the pilot made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that no one else was allowed on board. Hunter ended up dying of his injuries while they waited for emergency responders.

I don’t quite know how well the situation was explained, but still, dick move on the part of the helicopter pilots.

In addition to Hunter, three other people died, one after falling into a fast-moving irrigation duct while tripping on LSD, and two others were killed in their sleeping bags during a hit-and-run accident. There were also four reported births, one of which occurred during Jefferson Airplane’s set.

The day after the concert, the Stones flew back to London, as the news slowly disseminated throughout the world.

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In 1971, a documentary about the tragedy, Gimme Shelter, was released to the public. However, in the years since, many have argued that is meant to excuse the Stones’ actions and is an apologist piece of media. Still, the footage itself does show a chilling account of what happened that day, if you can ignore that overall narrative (though you really shoudn’t ignore that).

Alan Passaro was later charged with Meredith’s murder, but was acquitted by an all-white jury, who likely either excused the crime due to racism, or just didn’t have the full story.

After Altamont, just about everybody turned on each other. The audience members, many of whom undoubtedly still live with the scars of that fateful night blamed the Hell’s Angels, whereas the Angels laid some of the blame on the audience members, and most of it on the people who hired them, whilst the Stones said they’d never work with the Hell’s Angels again (which, allegedly, almost resulted in some of them trying to assassinate Mick Jagger).

In my honest, humble, not-so-professional opinion, I say the blame should be laid with the Stones’ management, Mick Jagger, the Grateful Dead, and the Hell’s Angels. The concert should have been planned over a matter of months instead of weeks, held in a proper venue, and above all else, not had fucking Hell’s Angels as security guards.

While the Grateful Dead came out of it rather unscathed (mostly because they didn’t play), it’s been said that the Stones lost quite a bit of their edge. It’s easy to say that they grew up a lot because of this event, becoming a lot humbler, and a lot less greedy and risky as a direct result of this. It’s even to a point where people haven’t liked much of what they’ve put out since the 1980’s. Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young declined to have their performances shown in Gimme Shelter, and have since spoken very little about the event. Meanwhile, Alan Passaro drowned in 1985, though the circumstances of his death are suspicious, to say the least. Meanwhile, Meredith Hunter’s family still deals with the trauma of his death, and aside from a $10,000 ($70,708.59) settlement, the Stones never even approached the family to offer their condolences, or even a half-assed explanation (I don’t recommend the latter approach). The Hell’s Angels also had their reputations as dangerous outsiders cemented by this event, given that they’d caused at least 75-90% of the violence that took place that day.

Keith Richards has maintained his “fuck-all” attitude about this through the years, even writing in his 2010 autobiography “In actual fact, if it hadn’t been for the murder, we’d have thought it a very smooth gig by the skin of its fucking teeth.”

There is a reason that many of the dreams of the 60′s died at Altamont, and all the evidence you really need is the footage that was shot that night and the words of the people who saw the fiasco first hand.

Sources: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/remembering-meredith-hunter-the-fan-killed-at-altamont-630260/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-rolling-stones-disaster-at-altamont-let-it-bleed-71299/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/12/03/altamont-at-50-the-disastrous-concert-that-brought-the-60s-to-a-crashing-halt/#535871c31941 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-chaos-of-altamont-and-the-murder-of-meredith-hunter https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-altamont-festival-brings-the-1960s-to-a-violent-end https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/altamont-wasnt-the-end-of-the-60s-it-was-the-start-of-rock-n-roll-disasters https://worldhistoryproject.org/1969/12/6/altamont-free-concert Altamont by Joel Selvin Life by Keith Richards https://allthatsinteresting.com/altamont-speedway-free-concert https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/lifestyle/altamont-rolling-stones-50th-anniversary/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Meredith_Hunter http://timeisonourside.com/chron1969.html https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/01/altamont-free-concert-in-1969/ https://www.ranker.com/list/altamont-free-concert-facts/jen-jeffers http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/On-This-Day–Deaths-at-Rolling-Stones–Altamont-Concert-Shocks-the-Nation.html https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/altamont.php https://westegg.com/inflation/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUlyVSfhgaM https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-rolling-stones/1969/altamont-speedway-tracy-ca-43d6fbb3.html https://slate.com/culture/2018/07/just-a-shot-away-a-history-of-altamont-by-saul-austerlitz-reviewed.html

#mick jagger #keith richards #brian jones #charlie watts #bill wyman #mick taylor #the rolling stones #jefferson airplane #santana #flying burrito brothers #the grateful dead #cw: drugs #cw: death #cw: racism #cw: murder #cw: assault #cw: violence #this concert was such a mess

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wiganjazzzz · 5 years

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The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60

London's iconic jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, celebrates its 60th birthday this year and to recognise this fact they have produced a list of their most significant jazz albums of the last 60 years.

Here is what they say:

The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60 is comprised of the 60 most important, most brilliant, most innovative and most significant jazz albums that have been recorded over the last 60 years. Artists who have shared their personal jazz favourites include the likes of Soweto Kinch, Nubya Garcia, Courtney Pine, Pee Wee Ellis, Billy Cobham, Claire Martin, Alex Garnett, Natalie Williams, Moses Boyd, and Monty Alexander. Broadcasters and journalists such as Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews, Robert Elms, Helen Mayhew, Mike Hobart, Rosie Hanley, David Freeman, Jane Cornwell, Mike Vitti and Jez Nelson have also provided their top albums. Additionally, industry expert and resident Ronnie Scott’s Music Bookings Coordinator Paul Pace also shared a list of the Jazz albums which have inspired him. Now that all of the submissions are in, the team at Ronnie Scott’s has been able to reveal which albums have proven the most popular with the panellists and most importantly, which albums have made the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60. The list is not a best-seller list or a best-of : it's a collection of albums which, in the opinion of the panellists, represents the last 60 years of jazz, and the depth and breadth of the genre. It shows jazz in the past, present and future.

THE RONNIE SCOTT'S JAZZ 60

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda Archie Shepp - Attica Blues Art Blakey - Moanin’ Betty Carter - The Audience with Betty Carter Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard Cannonball Adderley - Somethin’ Else Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Courtney Pine - Journey to the Urge Within The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out Dave Holland - Extensions Dexter Gordon - Go Ella Fitzgerald - Ella In Berlin: Mack the Knife Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Seven Days of Falling Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evolution Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay George Benson - Breezin’ Gregory Porter - Water Hank Mobley - Soul Station Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage Horace Silver - Song for My Father Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius Joe Henderson - Page One< John Coltrane - A Love Supreme John Coltrane - Giant Steps Kamasi Washington - The Epic Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert Kurt Elling - The Messenger Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder Loose Tubes - Loose Tubes The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire Mark Murphy - Stolen Moments Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes Michael Brecker - Tales of the Hudson Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Miles Davis - In a Silent Way Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley - Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train Pat Metheny Group - Still Life (Talking) Robert Glasper - Black Radio Roy Hargrove - Earfood Sarah Vaughan - Ronnie Scott’s Presents Sarah Vaughan Live Shirley Horn - Here’s to Life Stan Getz & João Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto Sonny Rollins - The Bridge Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile Stan Tracey - Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milk Wood” Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One Tubby Hayes - Tubbs in N.Y. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil Weather Report - Heavy Weather Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes (From the Underground) Yussef Kamaal - Black Focus

#Jazz #Music #London #Birthday #60th #classic album #ronnie scott

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randomlyrandoms · 5 years

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Celebrity Deaths 2018

JANUARY Jon Paul Steuer - Jan. 1 (TV Actor) Robert Mann - Jan. 1 (Violinist) Rick Hall - Jan. 2 (Music Producer) Thomas Monson - Jan. 2 (Religous Leader) Bruce Halle - Jan. 4 (Entrepreneur) John Young - Jan. 5 (Astronaut) Jerry Van Dyke - Jan. 5 (TV Show) *Dick Van Dyke's Brother* Donnelly Rhodes - Jan. 8 (TV Actor) Doreen Tracey - Jan. 10 (TV Actor) Eddie Clarke - Jan. 10 (Guitarist) Jessica Falkholt - Jan. 11 (TV Actress) Keith Jackson - Jan. 12 (Sportscaster) Bobby Zarin - Jan. 13 (Reality Star) Dolores O'Riordan - Jan. 15 (Rock Singer) Peter Wyngarde - Jan. 15 (TV Actor) Bradford Dillman - Jan. 16 (Movie Actor) Jo Jo White - Jan. 16 (Basketball Player) Jessica Falkholt - Jan. 17 (TV Actress) Dorothy Malone - Jan. 19 (Movie Actress) Fredo Santana - Jan. 19 (Rapper) Olivia Cole - Jan. 19 (TV Actress) Dorothy Malone - Jan. 19 (Movie Actress) Paul Bocuse - Jan. 20 (Chef) Jim Rodford - Jan. 20 (Musician) Bob Smith - Jan. 20 (Activist) Connie Sawyer - Jan. 21 (TV Actress) Ursula K. Leguin - Jan. 22 (Children's Author) Hugh Masekela - Jan. 23 (Composer) Joel Taylor - Jan. 23 (Meteorologist) Nicanor Parra - Jan. 23 (Poet) Lari White - Jan. 23 (Country Singer) Mark E. Smith - Jan. 24 (Punk Singer) Warren Miller - Jan. 24 (Director) Ingvar Kamprad - Jan. 27 (Entrepreneur) **Mark Salling - Jan. 30 (TV Actor) Louis Zorich - Jan. 30 (TV Actor) Ann Gillis - Jan. 31 (Movie Actress) Rasual Butler - Jan. 31 (Basketball Player) Leah LaBelle - Jan. 31 (Pop Singer)

FEBRUAY Dennis Edwards - Feb. 1 (Rock Singer) John Mahoney - Feb. 4 (TV Actor) Khalif Smith - Feb. 5 (Youtuber Star) Mickey Jones - Feb. 7 (TV Actor) Ebony Reigns - Feb. 8 (Reggae Singer) John Gavin - Feb. 9 (Movie Actor) Reg E. Cathey - Feb. 9 (TV Actor) Jóhann Jóhannsson - Feb. 9 (Composer) Vic Damone - Feb. 11 (Pop Singer) Jan Maxwell - Feb. 11 (TV Actress) Daryle Singletary - Feb. 12 (Country Singer) Marty Allen - Feb. 12 (Comedian) Morgan Tsvangirai - Feb. 14 (Politician) Billy Graham - Feb. 21 (Religious Leader) Emma Chambers - Feb. 21 (TV Actress) Nanette Fabray - Feb. 22 (TV Actress) Ensa Cosby - Feb. 23 (Family Member) *Bill Cosby's Daugher* Bud Luckey - Feb. 24 (Cartoonist) Sridevi Kapoor - Feb. 24 (Movie Actress) Rogelio Guerra - Feb. 28 (Soap Opera Actor)

MARCH David Ogden Stiers- March 3 (TV Actor) Roger Bannister - March 3 (Runner) Hubert de Givenchy - March 10 (Fashion Designer) Ken Dodd - March 11 (Comedian) Craig Mack - March 12 (Rapper) Nokie Edwards - March 12 (Guitarist) Stephen Hawking - March 14 (Physicist) Jim Bowen - March 14 (Game Show Host) Ed Charles - March 15 (Baseball Player) Tom Benson - March 15 (Entrepreneur) Tripp Halstead -March 15 (Blogger) Dushon Monique Brown - March 13 (TV Actress) Mike MacDonald - March 17 (Comedian) Charles Lazarus - March 22 (Entrepreneur) Fergus Anckorn - March 22 (War Hero) Morgana King - March 22 - (Movie Actress) Dushon Monique Brown - March 23 (TV Actress) Stéphane Audran - March 27 (Movie Actress) Rusty Staub - March 29 (Baseball Player) Bill Maynard - March 30 (Comedian)

APRIL Steven Bochco - April 1 (TV Producer) Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - April 2 (Politician) Susan Anspach - April 2 (Movie Actress) Ray Wilkins - April 4 (Soccer Coach) Eric Bristow - April 5 (Darts Player) Tim O'Connor - April 5 (TV Actor) Cecil Taylor - April 5 (Pianist) Jonathan Pitre - April 6 (Activist) Chuck McCann - April 8 (TV Actor) Art Bell - April 13 (Radio Host) R. Lee Ermey - April 15 (TV Actor) Pamela Gidley - April 16 (Movie Actress) Hal Greer - April 16 (Basketball Player) Harry Anderson - April 16 (TV Actor) Barbara Bush - April 17 (Political Wife) Dale Winton - April 18 (TV Show Host) Avicii - April 20 (DJ) **Verne Troyer - April 21 (Movie Actor) Bob Dorough - April 23 (Jazz Singer) Johnny Bennett - April 25 (TV Show Host) Kristin Nelson - April 27 (TV Actress) Judith Leiber - April 28 (Fashion Designer) Lil Lonnie - April 29 (Rapper) Robert Mandan - April 29 (Soap Opera Actor)

MAY Scott Hutchison - May 10 (Guitarist) Hubert de Givenchy - May 10 (Fashion Designer) Margot Kidder - May 13 (Movie Actress) Doug Ford - May 14 (Golfer) Tom Wolfe - May 14 (Journalist) Hugh Dane - May 16 (TV Actor) Joseph Campanella - May 16 (TV Actor) Young King Dave - May 17 (Instagram Star) Stephanie Adams - May 18 (Model) Robert Indiana - May 19 (Pop Artist) Clint Walker - May 21 (Movie Actor) Nara Almeida - Nay 21 (Fashion Designer) Allyn Ann McLerie - May 21 (Dancer) Philip Roth - May 22 (Novelist) Elizabeth Sung - May 22 (TV Actress) John Bain - May 24 (Youtube Star) Blake Painter - May 24 (Reality Star) Jerry Maren - May 24 (Movie Actor) Blake Painter - May 25 (Reality Star) Cornelia Frances - May 28 (TV Actress)

JUNE Sophia Gall - June 1 (Instagram Star) Georgann Johnson - June 4 (TV Actress) Dwight Clark - June 4 (Football Player) **Kate Spade - June 5 (Fashion Designer) Alan O'Neill - June 6 (TV Actor) Peter Stringfellow - June 7 (Entrepreneur) Anthony Bourdain - June 8 (Chef) Jackson Odell - June 8 (Movie Actor) Eunice Gayson - June 8 (Movie Actress) Neal Boyd - June 10 (Opera Singer) D.J. Fontana - June 13 (Drummer) Matt Murphy - June 15 (Guitarist) Leslie Grantham - June 15 (Soap Opera Actor) Xxxtentacion - June 18 (Rapper) Big Van Vader - June 18 (Wrestler) Sophie Gradon - June 20 (Reality Star) Charles Krauthammer - June 21 (Journalist) Vinnie Paul - June 22 (Drummer) The Random Toon Show - June 24 (Youtube Star) Richard Harrison - June 25 (Reality Star) Harlan Ellison - June 27 (Novelist) Steve Soto - June 27 (Musician) **Joe Jackson - June 27 (Talent Manager) *Michael Jackson's Father* Emily Hayward - June 28 (Youtube Star) Derrick O'Connor - June 29 (Theatre Actor) Steve Ditko - June 29 (Cartoonist) Smoke Dawg - June 30 (Rapper)

JULY Alan Longmuir - July 2 (Bassist) Richard Swift - July 3 (Music Producer) Ed Schultz - July 5 (Radio Host) Claude Lanzmann - July 5 (Director) Alan Longmuir - July 7 (Bassist) Tab Hunter - July 8 (Movie Actor) Jorge Valenzuela - July 8 (World Music Singer) Annabelle Neilson - July 12 (Reality Star) Roger Perry - July 12 (TV Actor) Ray Emery - July 15 (Hockey Player) Jon Schnepp - July 19 (Director) Elmarie Wendel - July 21 (TV Actress) Oliver Dragojevic - July 28 (Rock Singer) Arielis Paulino - July 29 (TikTok Star) Nikolai Volkoff - July 29 (Wrestler)

AUGUST Rick Genest - August 1 (Tattoo Artist) C. Struggs - August 3 (Rapper) *Charlotte Rae - August 5 (TV Actress) Barry Chuckle - August 5 (Comedian) Stan Mikita - August 7 (Hockey Player) Jill Janus - August 14 (Metal Singer) **Aretha Franklin - August 16 (Soul Singer) Atal Bihari Vajpayee - August 16 (Politician) Kofi Annan - August 18 (Politician) Craig Zadan - August 20 (Film Producer) **Stefan Karl Stefansson - August 21 (TV Actor) Barbara Harris - August 21 (Movie Actress) Ed King - August 22 (Rock Singer) Robin Leach - August 24 (TV Show Host) John McCain - August 25 (Politician) Neil Simon - August 26 (Playwright) Vanessa Marquez - August 30 (TV Actress)

SEPTEMBER Bill Daily - Sept. 4 (TV Actor) Burt Reynolds - Sept. 6 (Movie Actor) **Mac Miller - Sept. 7 (Rapper) Kim Porter - Sept. 11 (Movie Actress) Rachid Taha - Sept. 12 (Rock Singer) Marin Mazzie - Sept. 13 (Stage Actress) Denis Norden - Sept. 19 (Radio Host) Al Matthews - Sept. 22 (Movie Actor) Chas Hodges - Sept. 22 (Rock Singer) Gary Kurtz - Sept. 23 (Film Producer) PeeWeeToms - Sept. 28 (Youtube Star) Kim Larsen - Sept. 30 (Rock Singer)

OCTOBER Charles Aznavour - Oct. 1 (Pop Singer) Geoff Emerick - Oct. 2 (Sound Desinger) Will Vinton - Oct. 4 (Film Producer) Audrey Wells - Oct. 4 (Screen Writer) Hamiet Bluiett - Oct. 4 (Saxophonist) **Scott Wilson - Oct. 6 (Movie Actor) Peggy McCay - Oct. 7 (Soap Opera Actress) Paul Allen - Oct. 15 (Entrepreneur) Dennis Hof - Oct. 16 (Entrepreneur) Oli Herbert - Oct. 17 (Guitarist) James Karen - Oct. 23 (Movie Actor) Ntozake Shange - Oct. 27 (Poet) James Karen - Oct. 28 (Movie Actor) Jin Yong - Oct. 30 (Novelist) Willie McCovey - Oct. 31 (Baseball Player)

NOVEMBER Roy Hargrove - Nov. 2 (Trumpet Player) Sondra Locke - Nov. 3 (Movie Actress) **Stan Lee - Nov. 12 (Comic Book Author) David Pearson - Nov. 12 (Race Car Driver) Katherine MacGregor - Nov. 13 (TV Actress) Kim Porter - Nov. 15 (Model) Roy Clark - Nov. 15 (TV Show Host) Devin Lima - Nov. 21 (Pop Singer) Nicolas Roeg - Nov. 23 (Director) Ricky Jay - Nov. 24 (TV Actor) Stephen Hillenburg - Nov. 26 (Director) Bernardo Bertolucci - Nov. 26 (Director) *George H.W. Bush - Nov. 30 (US President)

DECEMBER Ken Berry - Dec. 1 (TV Actor) Geoff Murphy - Dec. 3 (Director) Philip Bosco - Dec. 3 (Stage Actor) Pete Shelley - Dec. 6 (Punk Singer) Nancy Wilson - Dec. 13 (Jazz Singer) **Penny Marshall - Dec. 17 (Director) Donald Moffat - Dec. 20 (Movie Actor)

#CelebrityDeaths2018 #FamousPeopleWeLostIn2018

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kartiavelino · 5 years

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It’s time for a #MeToo moment in hip hop

Within the weeks following the horrific revelations made in Lifetime’s bombshell six-part docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” the fallout has been immense. The 52-year-old R&B celebrity, accused of alleged sexual and bodily abuse with underage ladies spanning almost three a long time, has parted methods with Sony Music Leisure and its subsidiary RCA Data, following protests over his conduct. However whereas a day of reckoning appears to be lastly at hand for Kelly, the hip-hop and R&B world has but to actually have the #MeToo moment that has rocked Hollywood, skilled sports activities, the video-game trade and the journalism biz. Rapper Kodak Black is awaiting trial this April for allegedly pinning down, biting and raping a girl in a South Carolina resort. However regardless of such severe allegations, the tattooed 21-year-old “Tunnel Imaginative and prescient” hit-maker continues to be handled like an A-lister. Kodak has been a frequent VIP visitor of school soccer’s Florida Gators and the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and continues to be working with a number of the greatest artists in the music trade, together with Migos’ Offset and “Sicko Mode” headliner Travis Scott (“ZEZE”), pop celebrity Bruno Mars (“Wake Up in The Sky”) and platinum rapper and criminal-justice activist Meek Mill (“Tic Tac Toe”). Veteran music govt Antonio “L.A.” Reid was ousted from his CEO submit at Epic Data in Could 2017 amid a number of allegations of sexual misconduct. However such alleged abhorrent habits hasn’t stopped the disgraced visionary behind the likes of Usher, TLC and Pink from being re-embraced by the recording trade. Reid has raised over $100 million for his newest label enterprise Hitco Leisure. His first excessive profile signing was Large Boi of Outkast, the long-lasting hip-hop group Reid initially found in the early ’90s. Hip-hop royalty Nas, whose ex-wife and singer Kelis has accused the profitable tech-venture capitalist of psychological and bodily abuse throughout their five-year marriage, has skilled little fallout from the disturbing revelations. The Queens emcee’s 2018 launch “Nasir,” produced by Kanye West, was his 12th top-10 album on Billboard. After which there’s controversial rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot useless final June. He had been publicly praised by Mill, West and Erykah Badu and was posthumously featured on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated, animated hit movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” — regardless of being charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant girl, home battery by strangulation and false imprisonment. One nameless feminine editor remembers a 2011 picture shoot throughout her time at hip-hop journal XXL the place she pushed again towards the sexual advances of a sure platinum rap celebrity signed to Dangerous Boy Data. “As I appeared down at my notes throughout [the interview] and commenced making ready my recorder, he went in for a kiss,” says the veteran music journalist, who nonetheless refuses to call names for worry of being shunned by the rap trade. “I ended up pushing him off. A couple of days later, I came upon mentioned rapper and his supervisor had been badmouthing me post-incident, saying they thought I used to be some younger, simple thot that wished it.” So why the slow-walk to carry the hip-hop trade accountable? “There’s simply sure issues in our tradition that we simply don’t discuss,” says Jackie O Asare, a veteran music publicist who has represented such acts as Lil Jon, Three 6 Mafia and Mya. “Hip-hop tells us to man up, cope with it and preserve it transferring.” There are different causes, after all. Hip-hop, which has surpassed rock as the preferred music style in the US, continues to be fueled by largely road, male-dominated vitality and has struggled to shake off a few of its misogynistic previous. However probably the most telling purpose R. Kelly and others have been capable of function with impunity for years is as a result of most of their victims have been ladies of coloration — extra particularly black ladies. The hip-hop and R&B world has but to actually have the #MeToo moment that has rocked Hollywood {and professional} sports activities. White ladies who’ve come ahead towards highly effective trade titans equivalent to Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein (presently dealing with 5 counts of rape and sexual assault) and ousted chairman and CEO of CBS Les Moonves have largely been painted as courageous, credible witnesses. The black and brown victims of Kelly and different city music figures are sometimes instances dismissed as gold diggers who ought to have identified higher. It’s a sobering actuality that Likelihood the Rapper admitted in “Surviving R. Kelly” when he apologized for working with him. “Black ladies are exponentially a greater oppressed and violated group of individuals, like simply in comparability with the entire world,” Likelihood mentioned, including: “I didn’t worth the accusers’ tales as a result of they had been black ladies . . . I made a mistake.” It goes even deeper than that. For years, African-Individuals have felt the necessity to defend black males towards outdoors assaults provided that we now have typically instances been traditionally portrayed in a detrimental gentle by the lens of the media. It’s a pure reflex for many black folks. Even Golden Globe-winning TV and movie actress Taraji P. Henson initially defended R. Kelly on social media, implying that extra folks had been making an attempt to silence him than Weinstein, insinuating racial bias, earlier than strolling again her claims. “LET ME BE CLEAR,” Henson later clarified on Twitter, “KELLY IS GUILTY AND WRONG AND SHOULD BE MUTED PERIOD!!!!!” As Likelihood The Rapper, Henson and others proceed to show, the #MeToo moment for R&B and hip-hop — and the general black group — is a lengthy, advanced and painful journey. And it begins at residence. Keith Murphy is a veteran Chicago-born journalist and editor who has written for VIBE, Esquire, OZY, ESPN’s The Undefeated and BET Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/01/26/why-hip-hop-needs-its-own-metoo-moment/ The post It’s time for a #MeToo moment in hip hop appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2019/01/its-time-for-a-metoo-moment-in-hip-hop.html

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ultralifehackerguru-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on http://www.lifehacker.guru/best-worst-golden-globes/

The Best and Worst of the Golden Globes

Oprah Winfrey accepting her Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC, via Associated Press

The Golden Globes on Sunday night were the first major awards ceremony to be held since the sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein were revealed. You could almost draw a direct line from #MeToo and Time’s Up (the anti-harassment initiative sponsored by powerful Hollywood women) to many of the evening’s most memorable moments — like Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech and Natalie Portman’s presenting of best director. Here’s a look at those and other highs and lows of the night:

The Most Electrifying Speech (and Reaction)

All hail Queen Oprah. Her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award brought the house down and then some, not just as the most rousing speech of the night (among many calls to arms) but also as the instantly iconic address of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements.

Few if any people blend the personal and political as well as Ms. Winfrey, and she wove together stories of her childhood, watching Sidney Poitier win an Oscar in 1964 while her mother, “bone-tired from cleaning other people’s houses,” watched. She traced her own career rise, and praised journalists for unearthing stories of corruption and abuse.

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have,” Ms. Winfrey said, as she settled into a preacher’s rousing cadence. She recounted the story of Recy Taylor, a black woman who was raped in 1944 and whose white assailants were never charged. “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men,” Ms. Winfrey said. She paused, just for a moment. “But their time is up.” The audience broke into applause. “Their time is up!” The audience rose to its feet. “Their time is up!”

But that wasn’t the end of the speech. Ms. Winfrey closed by proclaiming that “a new day is on the horizon,” and envisioning “a time when nobody ever has to say, ‘Me too,’ again.” She delivered those lines over rapturous cheers and applause. Imagine if every awards ceremony had a speech like this. — Margaret Lyons

Read the full transcript of Oprah Winfrey’s speech.

The Worst Red-Carpet Interviewers

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Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet. CreditMike Nelson/European Pressphoto Agency

Even before the Globes began, an acting challenge of sorts was on display: watching Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic do their part for #WhyWeWearBlack and try to pivot from clothes to crises during their “E! Live from the Red Carpet” show.

Continue reading the main story

Ms. Rancic and Mr. Seacrest had pledged to not ask their guests who they were wearing, but rather why they were wearing black. It sounded like a promising approach, though it was undermined, somewhat, by the continued presence of the E! Glambot, a gadget that creates a wholly unnecessary slo-mo 360-degree view of outfits, and that could really have done with a new name, if the network had actually been thinking things through.

The piercing replacement questions Mr. Seacrest and Ms. Rancic came up also didn’t really advance the cause. Samples: “What were your New Year’s resolutions?” (Mr. Seacrest to Neil Patrick Harris.) “What are some strange secret talents you have?” (Ms. Rancic to the cast of “Stranger Things.”)

And while the hosts dutifully tried to discuss the issues, they didn’t seem to really know what to do with the answers from the boldface names. Especially when stars like Debra Messing and Eva Longoria both called out E! itself, siding with Catt Sadler, who quit her E! hosting job a few weeks ago because, she said, her male co-star was being paid nearly double her salary. Neither Ms. Rancic nor Mr. Seacrest wanted to go near that one. — Vanessa Friedman

Read a review of the E! preshow.

The Host With the Most Thankless Job

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Seth Meyers onstage at the Golden Globes. CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC, via Associated Press

Seth Meyers pulled off one of the trickiest feats in awards show memory: an opening monologue that was not too glib but not too preachy, funny but not out of touch, self-effacing without veering into humble-braggy. Not every single line worked — sorry, joke about “Get Out” said to Daniel Kaluuya — but let’s call 90 percent an A.

— Margaret Lyons

Read a review of the telecast and the full transcript of the opening monologue.

The Sharpest One-Liner of the Night

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Natalie Portman with her fellow presenter Ron Howard. CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC, via Getty Images

Natalie Portman adding “all male” while announcing the best director nominees was the most succinct and among the most cutting criticisms of the entertainment industry. You don’t have to be Oprah to get in the ring. — Margaret Lyons

The Quickest Reaction to the Sharpest One-Liner

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Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria on the red carpet.CreditValerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Many of the actresses at the ceremony had signed on to the Time’s Up initiative, and their unity was most evident in a moment the cameras didn’t catch. It was just after Natalie Portman announced “the all-male nominees” for best director. In the audience, Kerry Washington, the “Scandal” star, pumped her arms and gave a high-five to Eva Longoria, sitting next to her. I asked Ms. Longoria how she was feeling Sunday night, and she said, “Amazing — so proud.” — Cara Buckley

Read more about Time’s Up.

The Least Said (by Men Who Didn’t Speak Up)

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Joseph Fiennes, like many men at the ceremony, sported the Time’s Up logo. But few men spoke out about the initiative or about sexual harassment. CreditDamon Winter/The New York Times

Women had plenty to say about harassment and their struggle for gender equality, but men were mostly silent. Seth Meyers was a notable exception, acknowledging that a white man may not have been the ideal host for the moment but filling his monologue with enough self-deprecation and righteous barbs to ease any concerns. Otherwise, men almost entirely clammed up on the subject, with the loudest statements they made coming in the form of fashionable pins. For those watching at home, it was easy to think: Yet again, the women carry the burden. — Daniel Victor

The Best Speech (Non-#MeToo Category)

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Sterling K. Brown accepting the Golden Globe for best actor in a TV drama. CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC

Sterling K. Brown, a star of “This Is Us,” gives wonderful acceptance speeches, and if his recent winning streak is any indication, we have more to look forward to. “Throughout the majority of my career I’ve benefited from colorblind casting,” said Mr. Brown, the first African-American to win a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV drama. Then, addressing the creator of his show, he said, “Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man. That could only be played by a black man. And so what I appreciate so much about this thing is that I am being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am. And that makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me, or dismiss anybody who looks like me.” — Margaret Lyons

Read the full transcript of Sterling K. Brown’s speech.

The Sweetest-Sounding Presenters

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Kelly Clarkson and Keith Urban, presenting best original song. CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC, via Getty Images

Kelly Clarkson and Keith Urban singing “and the Golden Globe goes to” in harmony? Cute! Just a cute little thing to do. — Margaret Lyons

The Unlikeliest Appearance on an Awards Show Stage

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Tommy Wiseau, left, James Franco and Dave Franco, with the Golden Globe Ambassador, Simone Garcia Johnson, behind them. CreditPaul Drinkwater/NBC

A best actor win stemming from one of the worst American movies? At the Golden Globes, anything is possible. James Franco picked up best actor in a musical or comedy for his performance in “The Disaster Artist,” playing Tommy Wiseau, the director of the very bad, very cult film “The Room.” But it was Mr. Wiseau who stole the show (or at least tried to). Mr. Franco invited the director to the stage with him. Mr. Wiseau went in for a hug, then went straight for the mic, but he was quickly pushed aside by the actor. It may be as much of the awards spotlight as Mr. Wiseau is likely to see. — Mekado Murphy

(C)

#2018 #golden globes #Lifestyle

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the80way · 7 years

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Happy Birthday shout out going to my brother from another mother Keith Murphy. Just like in this pic, KM the Chicago Kid has always had my back since meeting at Hookt.com in 1999. Yup I met Prince's #1 stalker in 1999! I remember moving to LA and throwing Murph and Mark Allwood all types of exclusive news pieces that the other sites would be forced to jack. So much of my personal and professional growth and development as a man I credit to this guy. We've slept on each other's couches (I spent a lot more time on his), we had countless classic battles on NBA Live, we've had plenty of priceless drunken expeditions from coast to coast, but what I've always enjoyed most is the dope late night conversations and debates about life, sports and hip-hop. Murph is by far the sharpest, smartest and most skilled music journalistic mind that I know. I've been trying to push him into writing books and producing documentaries for years, so even in his very, very old age, the best is to come. A1 since day 1, I love this guy so much more than he loves trolling on the internet. #ThatsMyDogg #RealTalk #HipHop #Brothers #Chicago #Flint #King #VibeMagazine #XXL #Rides #Legacy #444 #the80way

#flint #hiphop #rides #thatsmydogg #vibemagazine #xxl #king #brothers #realtalk #legacy #chicago #1 #the80way #444

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makeitwithmike · 7 years

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7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity

By Dara Fontein

We’ve all been there.

You’re sitting in a brainstorm and can’t think of a single idea. Your deadline is looming and you can’t come up with a topic to write about. You have to schedule a week’s worth of content and have no idea what to post.

You’re stuck in a creative rut.

While there are countless theories on how to get out of a creative roadblock—72 percent of people say their best ideas have come to them in the shower—the following TED Talks offer tried and trued advice to get those ideas flowing.

In this post, you’ll find TED Talks that will help you:

Boost your creativity as soon as possible

Find your next great idea

Turn the power of play into workplace innovation

Discover the secrets of the best ideators

Continue reading for a list of our favorite TED Talks that can help get you out of a creative rut—no shower required.

1. How to find a wonderful idea

“How do you think of ideas?” This is the question American rock band OK Go gets asked most often. Their innovative music videos—featuring everything from dances in zero gravity to drone footage of hundreds of umbrella dancers in a Tokyo parking lot—have put the band on the map.

Lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash leads their TED Talk by explaining that the band doesn’t think of ideas, but rather finds them. He uses an analogy of a sandbox to explain that the band uses their resources to get in the “sandbox” and play in order to find these great ideas. It is in the process of actually playing and working things out (in this “sandbox”) that their bigger, better ideas will eventually reveal themselves.

Kulash explains the creative process in the following steps:

You think of your first idea and a plan to make it happen (i.e. Think about how you will build a sand castle in the sandbox analogy.)

Go back and double-check your original idea (i.e. Change some of your sandcastle designs, move some towers, change some details)

Revise it (i.e. Start playing with the sand and revising your sandcastle design further.)

Go back and forth between the idea and the plan until you eventually have a solid, actionable strategy (i.e. Mapping out the step-by-step plan for building the sandcastle.)

Execute your idea (i.e. Build the refined sandcastle.)

It seems simple, but Kulash emphasizes the importance of thinking over execution. Follow these steps—and play in your own “sandbox”—to find your own great ideas.

2. Four lessons in creativity

Radio host and author Julie Burstein sets the tone for her TED Talk by sharing “creativity grows from broken places.” Burstein speaks with creative people for a living and shares the key lessons about creativity she has learned over the years.

According to Burstein, there are four core aspects of life that we need to embrace so that our own creativity can flourish:

Experience. Burstein explains we need to pay attention to the world around us. By being open to new experiences that could change us, we open ourselves up to creative possibilities.

Challenge. Burstein explains how the most powerful creative work can come out of the parts of life that are most difficult.

Limitation. Getting pushed to, and past, your limits is sure to boost creativity. Burstein explains how figuring out where your limits are is how many find where strengths lie instead.

Loss. The most difficult of the lessons. Burstein explains that “in order to create, we have to stand in that space between what we see in the world and what we hope for, looking squarely at rejection, heartbreak, war, and death.”

The next time you need a creative boost, think about these four core aspects.

3. How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas

It may seem counterintuitive, but tech podcaster Manoush Zomorodi argues that boredom can increase creativity.

“When your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy forming new neural connections that connect ideas and solve problems,” Zomorodi explains. In a world where we have countless things to distract us from boredom, Zomorodi outlines the very reasons being bored can be beneficial to creativity.

Zomorodi created the “Bored and Brilliant” project, where she teamed up with researchers to understand how boredom impacts our lives—and what happens when we never let ourselves get bored.

The research suggests that people who never get bored:

Are less creative when it comes to problem-solving and planning ahead

Are more likely to experience emotions they have never encountered before, as boredom allows them to explore their feelings more deeply and without distraction

From this, Zomorodi concludes that when it comes to digital literacy, we must focus on the ways technology is used to improve our lives. In this, creativity is born.

4. The surprising habits of original thinkers

Psychologist Adam Grant studies original thinkers for a living. He classifies “originals” as “nonconformists, people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them, the people who stand out and speak up, who drive creativity and change in the world. They’re the people you want to bet on.”

In his TED Talk, Grant shares three key things he’s learned about recognizing unique thinkers—and how someone can become an original thinker themselves.

Three things original thinkers do are:

Embrace fear and doubt. While Grant explains self-doubt is debilitating, he explains idea doubt is energizing and “motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine.”

Procrastinate. Grant explains, “Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, and to make unexpected leaps.” To be original you don’t have to be first. You just have to be better.

Let the bad ideas flow. A repertoire of bad ideas is evidence that at least you are trying. As Grant says, “The more output you churn out, the more variety you get and the better your chances of stumbling on something truly original.”

5. The playful wonderland behind great inventions

Writer Steven Johnson explores how the “strange delight of play” has been instrumental in the biggest innovations throughout history.

“Many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions ended up sparking momentous transformations in science, in politics and society,” Johnson explains.

Johnson continues to outline the importance of play for the creative ideation process. He explains, “The playful state of mind is fundamentally exploratory, seeking out new possibilities in the world around us. And that seeking is why so many experiences that started with simple delight and amusement eventually led us to profound breakthroughs.”

I was curious as to how workplaces can incorporate play into their culture, and found these six suggestions from Inc.:

Cooperative play, such as games, help “spark healthy competition while also inspiring teamwork, camaraderie, and fun.” Try to incorporate a small game into your next brainstorm and see creativity flourish.

Risk-taking play, as “recovering after a loss allows you to learn faster and get closer to a win.” Something we at Hootsuite have found helpful during a brainstorm is to spitball all our terrible, outrageous ideas first. Sharing our silliest ideas can be risky and make us feel vulnerable, but great ideas will often stem from these verbal games.

Constructive play—such as building and designing. Our designers workspaces have dedicated areas stocked with play items such as Rubik’s Cubes, Play-Doh, origami paper, and other tactile objects.

Exploratory play—where there’s no designated end to the activity. One of our most successful blog brainstorm sessions included participants doodling aimlessly on pieces of paper. There was no real reason for the doodling other than letting everyone explore an outlet for their creativity.

Storytelling and narrative play—”…being a good storyteller is critical to making innovation a reality,” the Inc. article explains. For help with this, entrepreneur Ted Murphy shares a great workplace-friendly storytelling exercise on his blog.

Physical play, where physical and social skills are exercised in a safe environment. Inc. explains that workspaces can be like “playgrounds, with flexible, open environments that encourage people to get up and bump into those they don’t sit next to. It’s those random encounters that fuel creativity.”

6. Why you should talk to strangers

Inspiring creativity usually means getting outside of your comfort zone. Author and “stranger enthusiast” Kio Stark explains that “When you talk to strangers, you’re making beautiful interruptions into the expected narrative of your daily life—and theirs.”

Stark makes a point to engage with strangers and has been documenting these encounters for about seven years. Through these interactions, she discovered some interesting things:

Sometimes breaking the rules a little bit is where the action is

We can consciously learn to reject bias and make a space for change

Using our senses instead of our fears can liberate us and create intimacy

Our brains are programmed to make assumptions and put things into categories based on previous learnings and societal conditioning. These biases are clear roadblocks to creativity. Stark’s key point is this: In order to expand our thought processes and break free from restrictive perceptions, we need to step outside of our comfort zones.

7. How frustration can make us more creative

Economist and journalist Tim Harford explains how challenges and problems in the creative process can be a good thing.

Harford first shares the story of American pianist Keith Jarrett who played what would eventually become the best-selling solo piano track of all time, after initially refusing to play because of an issue with his piano.

This story mirrors the process many creatives face. We don’t want to work with bad tools—whether it’s an out of tune piano or a computer running Windows 98. Harford argues that the most brilliant results are usually found in these imperfect situations where obstacles need to be overcome.

Harford shares another example with an experiment conducted by high school teachers. Half of the teachers gave their students handouts with standard fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial, where the other half of the students were given handouts with difficult to read, oddball fonts such as italicized Comic Sans. The students given the difficult font ended up doing much better on their exams, no matter the subject.

The moral of Harford’s story is that difficulty forces us to work a bit harder, and think a bit more about what we are doing. Creativity is not driven by complacency, so the next time you feel overwhelmed by a project, take a step back and embrace your frustration—you’re about to get your next great idea.

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#7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity

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bizmediaweb · 7 years

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7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity

We’ve all been there.

You’re stuck in a creative rut.

In this post, you’ll find TED Talks that will help you:

Boost your creativity as soon as possible

Find your next great idea

Turn the power of play into workplace innovation

Discover the secrets of the best ideators

Continue reading for a list of our favorite TED Talks that can help get you out of a creative rut—no shower required.

1. How to find a wonderful idea

Kulash explains the creative process in the following steps:

You think of your first idea and a plan to make it happen (i.e. Think about how you will build a sand castle in the sandbox analogy.)

Go back and double-check your original idea (i.e. Change some of your sandcastle designs, move some towers, change some details)

Revise it (i.e. Start playing with the sand and revising your sandcastle design further.)

Go back and forth between the idea and the plan until you eventually have a solid, actionable strategy (i.e. Mapping out the step-by-step plan for building the sandcastle.)

Execute your idea (i.e. Build the refined sandcastle.)

It seems simple, but Kulash emphasizes the importance of thinking over execution. Follow these steps—and play in your own “sandbox”—to find your own great ideas.

2. Four lessons in creativity

According to Burstein, there are four core aspects of life that we need to embrace so that our own creativity can flourish:

Experience. Burstein explains we need to pay attention to the world around us. By being open to new experiences that could change us, we open ourselves up to creative possibilities.

Challenge. Burstein explains how the most powerful creative work can come out of the parts of life that are most difficult.

Limitation. Getting pushed to, and past, your limits is sure to boost creativity. Burstein explains how figuring out where your limits are is how many find where strengths lie instead.

The next time you need a creative boost, think about these four core aspects.

3. How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas

It may seem counterintuitive, but tech podcaster Manoush Zomorodi argues that boredom can increase creativity.

Zomorodi created the “Bored and Brilliant” project, where she teamed up with researchers to understand how boredom impacts our lives—and what happens when we never let ourselves get bored.

The research suggests that people who never get bored:

Are less creative when it comes to problem-solving and planning ahead

Are more likely to experience emotions they have never encountered before, as boredom allows them to explore their feelings more deeply and without distraction

From this, Zomorodi concludes that when it comes to digital literacy, we must focus on the ways technology is used to improve our lives. In this, creativity is born.

4. The surprising habits of original thinkers

In his TED Talk, Grant shares three key things he’s learned about recognizing unique thinkers—and how someone can become an original thinker themselves.

Three things original thinkers do are:

Embrace fear and doubt. While Grant explains self-doubt is debilitating, he explains idea doubt is energizing and “motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine.”

5. The playful wonderland behind great inventions

Writer Steven Johnson explores how the “strange delight of play” has been instrumental in the biggest innovations throughout history.

“Many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions ended up sparking momentous transformations in science, in politics and society,” Johnson explains.

I was curious as to how workplaces can incorporate play into their culture, and found these six suggestions from Inc.:

Constructive play—such as building and designing. Our designers workspaces have dedicated areas stocked with play items such as Rubik’s Cubes, Play-Doh, origami paper, and other tactile objects.

6. Why you should talk to strangers

Stark makes a point to engage with strangers and has been documenting these encounters for about seven years. Through these interactions, she discovered some interesting things:

Sometimes breaking the rules a little bit is where the action is

We can consciously learn to reject bias and make a space for change

Using our senses instead of our fears can liberate us and create intimacy

7. How frustration can make us more creative

Economist and journalist Tim Harford explains how challenges and problems in the creative process can be a good thing.

Extend the value of your creative content across social with Hootsuite and Adobe’s collaboration.

Learn More

The post 7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity published first on http://ift.tt/2u73Z29

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unifiedsocialblog · 7 years

Text

7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity

We’ve all been there.

You’re stuck in a creative rut.

In this post, you’ll find TED Talks that will help you:

Boost your creativity as soon as possible

Find your next great idea

Turn the power of play into workplace innovation

Discover the secrets of the best ideators

Continue reading for a list of our favorite TED Talks that can help get you out of a creative rut—no shower required.

1. How to find a wonderful idea

Kulash explains the creative process in the following steps:

You think of your first idea and a plan to make it happen (i.e. Think about how you will build a sand castle in the sandbox analogy.)

Go back and double-check your original idea (i.e. Change some of your sandcastle designs, move some towers, change some details)

Revise it (i.e. Start playing with the sand and revising your sandcastle design further.)

Go back and forth between the idea and the plan until you eventually have a solid, actionable strategy (i.e. Mapping out the step-by-step plan for building the sandcastle.)

Execute your idea (i.e. Build the refined sandcastle.)

It seems simple, but Kulash emphasizes the importance of thinking over execution. Follow these steps—and play in your own “sandbox”—to find your own great ideas.

2. Four lessons in creativity

According to Burstein, there are four core aspects of life that we need to embrace so that our own creativity can flourish:

Experience. Burstein explains we need to pay attention to the world around us. By being open to new experiences that could change us, we open ourselves up to creative possibilities.

Challenge. Burstein explains how the most powerful creative work can come out of the parts of life that are most difficult.

Limitation. Getting pushed to, and past, your limits is sure to boost creativity. Burstein explains how figuring out where your limits are is how many find where strengths lie instead.

The next time you need a creative boost, think about these four core aspects.

3. How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas

It may seem counterintuitive, but tech podcaster Manoush Zomorodi argues that boredom can increase creativity.

Zomorodi created the “Bored and Brilliant” project, where she teamed up with researchers to understand how boredom impacts our lives—and what happens when we never let ourselves get bored.

The research suggests that people who never get bored:

Are less creative when it comes to problem-solving and planning ahead

Are more likely to experience emotions they have never encountered before, as boredom allows them to explore their feelings more deeply and without distraction

From this, Zomorodi concludes that when it comes to digital literacy, we must focus on the ways technology is used to improve our lives. In this, creativity is born.

4. The surprising habits of original thinkers

In his TED Talk, Grant shares three key things he’s learned about recognizing unique thinkers—and how someone can become an original thinker themselves.

Three things original thinkers do are:

Embrace fear and doubt. While Grant explains self-doubt is debilitating, he explains idea doubt is energizing and “motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine.”

5. The playful wonderland behind great inventions

Writer Steven Johnson explores how the “strange delight of play” has been instrumental in the biggest innovations throughout history.

“Many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions ended up sparking momentous transformations in science, in politics and society,” Johnson explains.

I was curious as to how workplaces can incorporate play into their culture, and found these six suggestions from Inc.:

Constructive play—such as building and designing. Our designers workspaces have dedicated areas stocked with play items such as Rubik’s Cubes, Play-Doh, origami paper, and other tactile objects.

6. Why you should talk to strangers

Stark makes a point to engage with strangers and has been documenting these encounters for about seven years. Through these interactions, she discovered some interesting things:

Sometimes breaking the rules a little bit is where the action is

We can consciously learn to reject bias and make a space for change

Using our senses instead of our fears can liberate us and create intimacy

7. How frustration can make us more creative

Economist and journalist Tim Harford explains how challenges and problems in the creative process can be a good thing.

Extend the value of your creative content across social with Hootsuite and Adobe’s collaboration.

Learn More

The post 7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

7 Must-Watch TED Talks to Help Marketers Boost Creativity published first on http://ift.tt/2rEvyAw

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