Newspaper Page Text
ARTheat
"4 e {l;\
I 2 _l‘ ‘ 5
e
4
Miss Monique
Not in the script: Too many pro wrestlers dying young
%PAUL NEWBERRY
National Writer
ATTANTA (AP) - Every
thing is planned. The high-fly
ing moves. The outlandish
story lines. The crackpot char
acters.
One thing isnt in the script:
the staggering number of pro
wrestlers who die young,
Chris Benoit was the latest,
taking his own life at age 40
aftcr]fiilling his wife and son in
a grisly case that might be the
blackest eye yet for the pseudo
sport already ridiculed as noth
ing more than comic books
come to life, a cult-like outlet
for testosterone-ragin’ young
males to cheer on their freak
ishly bulked-up heroes.
But the tenacious, grim-faced
grappler kitown as lic “Cana
dian Crippler” was hardly alone
in heading to an carly grave.
The very same weekend
Benoit killed his family, the
body of old tag-team partner
Bluesman 8.8. King prepares for next album
By KATHY HANRAHAN
Associated Press Writer
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -
8.8. King is afraid.
“Trying to come on stage
after Etta James is frighten
ing,” King joked during a
recent telephone interview
with The Associated Press.
King is embarking on a 16-
city summer blues festival
tour July 24 with James and
Al Green, who King says is
equally as *‘frightening” to
follow.
“I know both of them, they
are really fiery on stage,” King
Spice Girls announce reunion for 11-date world tour; first show will be in LA on Dec, 7
By SHARON HONG
Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) - The
Spice Girls wannabe stars
again.
Following a calculated
publicity buildup, the
original Girl Power
group of the 1990 s
announced Thursday
that they have agreed to
reunite for 11 concerts
around the world in
December and January.
The shows will be their
first concerts since
breaking up in 2001, and
the first with all five of
the original group since
Geri “Ginger Spice” Hal
liwell quit to pursue a
solo career in 1998,
“Imagine you got
divorced and you've got
back together with your
ex-husband,” Halliwell
Biff Wellington (real name:
Shayne Bower) was found in
his bed, dead at 42. A couple of
weeks ago, former women'’s
champion “Sensational” Sherri
Martel passed away at her
mothers home in Alabama.
She was 49.
And on it goes.
Mike Awesome (Michael Lee
Alfonso in real life) was found
hanged in his Florida home in
February, the apparent victim
of a suicide at ‘f’. “Bam Bam’
Bigelow was 45 when a lethal
cocktail of cocaine and benzo
diazepine, an anti-anxiety drug,
sto;:;)zd his already ailing heart
in January.
And on it goes, dozens and
dozens of wrestlers meeting a
similar fate over the past two
decades. Some died with drugs
flowing through their veins.
Others tried to clean up but
belatedly paid the price for their
long-term abuse of steroids,
painkillers, alcohol, cocaine and
other illicit substances.
said.
At 81, King isn't slowing
down.
Over the past weekend,
King made his annual visit to
his hometown of Indianola
for the aptly tided *'B.B.
King Homecoming Festival.”
“It is something that I have
been doing for 42 years, play
ing free for the kids in June,”
King said. “Watching them
King was born on a planta
tion in ltta Bena near Indi
anola. Growing up, the blues
icon said no one famous ever
came to town to play music
. B
Bs A
N ; ;‘“%:
said, explaining how she
felt about the reunion.
“She just appreciates
On the Real with Miss Monique ...
Dear Miss Monique,
Over the weekend, | met
a guy that claimed he was
single. We exchanged
numbers and I rtalked rto
him a couple of times. I
am not sure that I should
continue to talk to him.
His baby’s mother called
me this morning on my
job claiming to be preg
nant again by him and
stating that she still loved
him. She was reallv friend
How many more must pass
through the morgue before
everyone stands up and shouts:
Enough's enough?
“From my 17 years in the
business, I know probably 40
to 45 wrestlers wslo dropped
dead before they were 50,” said
Lance Evers, a semiretired
wrestler who goes by “Lance
Storm” when fie’s in the ring,
“It’s an astronomical number.
Then, he added in a voice
tinged with anger and sadness,
“I'm sick and tred of it.”
Over the years, there are been
numerous proposals to put
wrestling under some sort of
ovcrffht, be it at the state or
federal level. Those ideas usual
ly have fallen on deaf ears, large
ly because the powct&d\atic
be it the pld-time regional pro
moters or WWE owner Vince
McMahon, the guy who large
ly controls the sport today, don't
want the government telling
them how to run their business.
Jim Wilson, who parlayed
y P ‘\’\a_
S ]
r
8.8. King
for the children.
“I wanted to let them know
that if 8.8. King can do it
the fact we've let her
back in,” joked Victoria
“Posh Spice” Beckham.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Music, Literature, Theatre, Books,
TV, Dance, Film, Entertainment
ly and did not say anything
ugly towards me. She just
wanted to let me know
how she felt about him and
that she wanted their rela
tionship to work. Of
course, | called him and he
said that she was pregnant
again, he didn't know for
sure if the baby was his.
He also said that he knew
how she felt about him,
but for him it was over. He
added that he was not in
%,;a '
'3 r 'e v >,-
Y\ f, ™
ELLY M
pro football into a ring career,
says he was blackballed when
he began pushing for a
wrestlers union. Since then, he
has written a book about his
experiences and kept up the
push to rein in those who gov
ern the sport.
Although Wilson’s bartle
Sce Wrestlers,pagc 4B
they can do it better,” he said.
On July 28, King will
attend the Eric Clapton
sponsored Crossroads Guitar
Festival in Chicago. Proceeds
from the event, which brings
together guitarists ~ from
Willie Nelson and 8.8. King
to John Mayer and Sheryl
Crow, will go to The Cross
roads Centre in Antigua, a
treatment and education
facility founded by Clapton
for chemically dependent
persons.
After that, King heads back
Sce 8.8. King ,pagc 4B
The group said the
shows would be in Los
Angeles on Dec. 7; Las
Vegas on Dec. 8; New
York on Dec. 11; Lon
e oan Dec. 15
Cologne, Germany, on
Dec. 20; Madrid, Spain,
on Dec. 23; Beijing on
Jan. 10; Hong Kong on
fan. 12; Syfney, Aus
tralia, on Jan. 17; Cape
Town, South Africa, on
Jan. 20; and Buenos
Aires, Argentina on Jan.
24,
Halliwell and Beckham
joined with Melanie
“"Sporty Spice”
Chisholm, Emma “Baby
Spice” Bunton and
Melanie “Scary Spice”
Brown to pose f)o,r pfiotos
and announce tour
plans.
“We wanted to say
thank vou to our fans. It
love with her. 1 just feel
like if 1 still choose to talk
to him that I will be inter
fering in their relationship.
He says she will not affect
our relationship and thar |
am wrong for not giving
him a chance. What would
you do?
Tomika
Dear, Dear Tomika,
Years ago if it were me, |
probably would have given
him a chance to prove to
What do summer songs from the
Beach Boys to Rihanna have in
common? They make you feel good
By ERIN CARLSON
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Fach
summer, a song emerges that
comes to detine those warm,
sunshiny months for seasons
atterward: Donna Summer's
Bad Girls. Alice: Cooper's
Schools Out. Usher's Yeah. Bey
onces Crazy In Love. And,
unfortunately, the Macarena.
But not all songs released in
the summertime can become
the next Sexyßack, the Justin
Timberlake jam that had clubs
rocking last summer, or / Ger
Around, the Beach Boys 1964
cruising hit, or even the /sy
Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka
Dot Bikini, which Bryan
Hyland made a No. 1 hit in
1960.
What raises a song beyond
just a hit to the level of a full
fledged summer classic is an
intoxicating mixture of star
power, smart songwriting and
slick production. And while
blockbuster summer songs
have been as varied as the artists
whove performed them, they
all share a some common
thread: They make you feel
good.
That may be the secret sauce.
“(It) needs to remind you of
when you had three months off
every year and tha feeling that
you got in the pit of your stom
ach,” said Lou Brutus, a pro
gram director at XM Radio,
which kicked off the start of
this summer with three-day
marathon of summer classics.
“Anything that can capture that
just feels very right for
us,” Chisholm said.
“Obviously it’s nostal
gic. But equally, if new
tans want to come along,
that’s fantastic,” Halli
well said. “I like to think
our songs are universal
and they are timeless.”
Their first single,
“Wannabe,” was released
in 1996 and topped
charts in 31 countries.
They went on to sell
more than 55 million
records.
But their last album,
“Forever,” released in
2000 and without Halli
well, fared poorly.
You coufd now call
them the Spice Mums.
Beckham said the tour
will be designed to
accommodate the band
members’ seven children.
Bunton is pregnant with
July 5, 2007
me that he was sincere.
Then a year after that I
will have probably wished
I hadn’t given him that
chance, because nine times
out of ten, it would have
been some ‘baby mama’
drama. If it were me nowa
days, 1 would notice the
signs now and run like a
run-away slave! You feel
me? Girl, there are too
many other men out here.
Sec Monique,page 3B
burst of energy is pretty fair
game.
“You just want o jump up
and down in place and scream
at the op of your lungs with,
you know, a zest for life,” Bru
tus enthused.
An upbeat sound — perfect
for road trips, club-hopping
and watching Fourth of July
fireworks — is key in crafting a
summer song,
“Ir has o have some empo,
it has o have some energy,”
said Sean Ross, vice president of
music and programming at
Edison Media Rescarch, which
surveys the radio industry. “lt
has to have sort of a breezy fecl
wit.”
Chart-topping, head-bop
ping examples range from the
Lovin' Spoonfuls 1966 ode w 0
skirt-chasing, Swmmer in the
Ciy, 1o Coolios Fantastic Viy
age, which the Gammy-win
ning rapper took in 1994
Will Smith made a seasonal
statement in 1991 with his hot
weather hit Summertime. The
actor-rapper sets a_happy-go
lucky scene, waxing nostalgic
about “the smell from a grill”
and advising listeners to “break
to va crib, change your clothes
once more/Cause you're invited
to a barbecue that’s starting at
4"
The song is successful
because it paints an inviting
picture of summer, said singer
Fergie. Further, it has another
essential ingredient: a relaxed
vibe.
See Summer,page 4B
her first child.
“Our priority is going
to be our families. We
want to have fun,” said
Beckham, who has three
sons with her husband,
soccer star David Beck
ham. “That’s one of the
many reasons for this,
for our children to see
what we used to do.”
In conjunction with
the tour, EMI said it
plans to release the first
Spice Girls greatest hits
album in November. The
group also plans to make
their first official docu
mentary for TV broad
cast.
“It’'s going to be the
most honest story that
you've ever heard,” Hal
liwell said. “You get to
see the dark side of the
Spice Girls, the gritty
side, the tears.”
1B