Backstage with the Real “Almost Famous” Queen of Groupies

If someone told you their earliest romantic encounters were with David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger, you’d either slap them or roll your eyes. Unless that someone was Bebe Buell, of course. In the 1970s, the American model just so happened to be in the right place, at the right time, well, countless times, solidifying…

Lonely Lighthouse Perfect for Surviving the Zombie Apocalype

Guard duty at this lighthouse is probably not the best job for anyone with a tendency to go sleepwalking. Precariously perched on a rock pillar in the Westman Islands around six miles from Iceland’s mainland, the Þrídrangaviti lighthouse is arguably the most isolated lighthouse in the world, and most definitely the scariest. The solitary structure, sitting…

He was Meant to Be Bigger than Bowie

He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, declaring himself “glam rock’s truest fairy” to slack-jawed media critics and listeners alike. Touted as America’s successor to David Bowie, he was signed to Elektra Records for $500K and for a brief New York minute in the early 1970s,…

Before He Was Ziggy

David Jones (aka Dave Jay, aka David Bowie), was 16 years-old when he stepped in as saxophonist and lead singer for The Kon-rads at a gig in a south London pub. The year was 1963 and the band’s intended frontman, Roger Ferris, had just sliced his foot on broken glass and been rushed to hospital. David…

Downton Abbey meets the Flintstones: England’s Abandoned Rock Houses

I don’t watch Downton Abbey, but if it were set inside houses like these, I think I probably would! Welcome to Holy Austin Rock in Staffordshire, England. These medieval cave houses carved from sandstone were abandoned by the last residents in the 1960s, but people were living happily inside them for over three centuries before…

The Groovy Imitation Bands of 1960s Japanese Rock

When the Beatles arrived in Japan in June of 1966, they caused as much pandemonium when they did when they triggered Beatlemania in the United States in 1964. A total of 8,400 policemen were mobilized for security at a cost of 90 million yen and more than 6,500 Japanese teenagers were taken into custody. They had been…

Meet the Nomadic Berber Rock Band Who Plays the Desert Blues

They’ve played at Glastonbury and Coachella and brought down the house at New Orleans’ legendary House of Blues. Bob Dylan, Coldplay and Carlos Santana are fans and in 2012, this nomadic group of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali went to Hollywood to pick up their first Grammy award for Best…

For Sale: Spacious Hand-Carved Cave Cathedral

Here’s something you won’t find on Craigslist. Hidden beneath the desert of Northern New Mexico, hand-sculpted from the sandstone cliffs, an etherial cave network built by a single man, is up for sale. Armed with not much more than a pick axe and a wheelbarrow, a sixty seven year-old sculptor and off-the-grid visionary artist, Ra…

The Queen of Rock ‘n Roll, 1969

Tina Turner rocks the stage at the Lake Amador Gold Rush Festival of 1969, when an estimated 40,000 people flocked to the small Californian county and its surrounding hills from all over the country to experience love, peace and rock n roll… Steve Rudzinkski submitted these photographs he took in 1969 to Merced Music: “I was in…

For Sale! Rare Memorabilia from David Bowie’s Lyric Sheet to Notorious B.I.G’s Jacket

Just a quick heads up– there’s a legendary auction going on over at Paddle 8 right now that for anyone who’s ever waited outside a concert for an autograph, blown a week’s rent on a rare Beatles record or collected vintage tour posters of their favourite band, should probably go see what’s on offer. The auction is in…