The Stool Pigeon music newspaper

MR CASTELLON & MS FURTADO. The engagement is announced between Demo and Nelly, daughter of António José Furtado and Maria Manuela.

MR SHEARS & MR CHRIS. The engagement is announced between Jake, Scissor Sister, and Chris, a Yale arts student.

BELAFONTE - BROWN. On Wednesday 6 June, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Stephen Belafonte, to Melanie Brown, daughter of Martin and Andrea.

BURNS - SIMPSON. On Friday 6 July, in Central London, Pete Burns, son of Frank and Eva, to Michael Simpson.

RAYMOND - FOSTER. On Friday 3 August, in Atlanta, Usher, son of Raymond III and Jonetta Patton, to Tameka.

WAY - Z. On Monday 3 September, at Coors Amphitheatre in Colorado, Gerard Way to Lyn Z

ANDRE. On Friday 29 June, to Peter Andre and Katie Price, a gorgeous girl, Princess Tiáami.

HUCKNALL. On Monday 18 June, to Mick Hucknall and Gabriella Wesberry, a bonnie girl, Romy True Hucknall.

JONES. On Friday 20 August, to Jade Jones and Emma Bunton, a delightful boy, Beau.

The divorce is announced between Samuel Dylan Murray Preston and Chantelle Vivien Houghton.

Autumn done come for LEE HAZLEWOOD
Words Phil Hebblethwaite

Lee Hazlewood, writer, musician, producer and grade A hellraiser, never made any pretence of the fact that he was dying of renal cancer. He explicitly said that his 2006 album, Cake or Death, was his swan song, and he answered the question, “How are you, Lee?” in an interview with this newspaper by valiantly saying: “Shit, but thanks for asking.” It was an answer that was typical of a man who was both capable of finding humour in the bleakest of situation and was eternally thankful that his life had been a rich one.

Everyone knew Hazlewood for the huge songs like ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’ and ‘Some Velvet Morning’ that he wrote for and sang with Nancy Sinatra, but they’re only a fraction of his musical story. Before that he had a string of hits with Duane Eddy, who’s trademark twangy guitar style he invented, and after he did a whole load of brilliant low-key solo albums - some of them plain beautiful, some plain weird - that, much to his delight, kept getting discovered by new generations of musicians and music fans. Records like Cowboy in Sweden and Requiem for an Almost Lady are adored by people like Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie, Beck and Sonic Youth. Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth even re-issued those two records, two others from the late-sixties/early-seventies, and his classic 1963 debut solo album, Trouble Is A Lonesome Town, just to ensure they’d be around for other people to encounter.

And Hazlewood was always far more than a songwriter. His innovative production techniques, high on Sam Phillips-like echo, deeply influenced Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, who was a protégé of Lee’s in the very early part of his career; he did plenty of acting; scored numerous films and TV shows; and he had always been an ardent traveller, living in countless countries across Europe and the world. All that time he maintained his reputation for living life to the full. Few people in music got through as many bottles of Scotch and packs of Marlboros as Lee Hazlewood and few have inspired such intriguing rumours. Living in Sweden in the seventies, it was thought that he’d gone mad and, possibly, even become a monk.

Lee was born into a liberal, middle-class family in Oklahoma, grew up in Texas, was conscripted and stationed in Korea during Work War II, and started out in music in Arizona soon after. He lived the latter part of his life with his beloved third wife Jeane in Las Vegas. It was at home that The Stool Pigeon spoke to him last year. Do you ever think about how you might like to be remembered? he was asked. “Sure,” he replied, “on my urn, after they burn me, or as my epitaph, I want them to write, ‘Didn’t he ramble.’ I’ve had that for years - it belongs to me.’”

Barton Lee Hazlewood, singer, songwriter and producer, b. 09.07.1929, d. 04.08.2007

TONY WILSON
Words Daddy Bones

The infamous Salford impresario was equally revered and reviled, but will long be remembered as “the man who put Manchester on the map”. Following a local TV career exposing fresh post-punk music on such shows as Granada’s As It Goes, Wilson and a creative team (featuring producer Martin Hannett and designer Peter Saville) launched Factory Records in January 1979 with a showcase EP of local talent, including Joy Division. Factory would become the iconic home to such greats as Cabaret Voltaire and Happy Mondays, and thanks to successes like New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’, then the best-selling 12” ever, the imprint made ‘indie’ music a global phenomenon.

Through Factory’s kudos, coupled with the buzz of the Haçienda (arguably the world’s most famous nightclub), Wilson, by proxy, imbued Manchester with a deservedly arrogant cool; the annual In The City music convention that Wilson began in 1992 remains the best-attended musical event in the UK. His socialist ideals, particularly splitting label-band proceeds two ways and allowing acts to own their contracts, ensured that he never made money from his ventures.

Factory Records declared bankruptcy in 1992; the Haçienda was razed in 1997. Though diagnosed with renal cancer, treatment for which he could neither claim on the NHS nor afford himself, it was actually a heart attack that killed him. Factory’s cataloguing system, which began with a poster and famously included allocations for almost anything - objects, their website, even a Whitworth Street cat - has sadly ended at FAC 501, assigned to Wilson’s coffin.

Anthony Howard Wilson, executive, b. 20.2.1950, d. 10.8.2007

MAX ROACH
Words Daddy Bones

In an age where drums are either woefully under-used or simply a programmed machine thump, it may be difficult to evoke a sense of how important a drummer Max Roach was. To the drums as Louis Armstrong was to the trumpet, he is quietly rightly regarded as the greatest to have ever handled the sticks.

Raised in Brooklyn, he tinkered with several instruments before falling for the sound of a snare drum at age 10. His professional career began in 1940s Harlem, accompanying giants such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. He would go on to work with practically every major name in jazz and his skills would see him quickly become a leader in his own right while developing a stunning hard bop style that was often impossibly fast, yet with texture and lightness of touch. His treatment revolutionised jazz rhythm, allowing the drums to become an upfront ‘voice’ in their own right, and he recorded and performed many startling improvisational works with drums either unaccompanied or at the forefront.

Roach, briefly blacklisted by the industry in the sixties for his rebellious political stance, remained a defiant innovator throughout his lifelong career, refusing to retread old ground for nostalgic fans, and was one of the first of the old guard to embrace the fledgling hip hop scene in the early eighties. He even appeared in a show with emcees and breakdancers. He is exceptionally well honoured; his grand array includes the MacArthur Foundation’s ‘Genius Grant’.

Maxwell Lemuel Roach, drummer, b. 10.1.24, d. 16.8.2007