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COURTNEY BACK IN REHAB Courtney Love has been ordered to spend the next six months in a residential rehab facility. This is a result of being found guilty of breaking the conditions for her probation on various charges, including assault and being in possession of an illegal substance. COURTNEY SUED Courtney Love's troubles just keep mounting. Kristin King has filed a civil suit against her, alleging 'assault, battery, false imprisonment, and intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress'. This relates to an incident in April 2004, to which Love pleaded no contest at the time. MOTLEY STAR BREAKS KNEE Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil broke his knee after falling over onstage in Atlanta, Georgia. The accident happened just six numbers into the Crue's set, and the rest of the show was cancelled. SABBATH, PISTOLS GET FAME NOMINATION Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop and Lynyrd Skynyrd are among the latest batch of nominees for induction into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame. The names of those who will be inducted is to be announced in December.

Gig Info

Jack Hammer Thursday Oct 6th: Jack Hammer @ The Foundry Fly Lounge, Pta East Fri Oct 7th: Jack Hammer @ Steak and Ale, Centurion Fri Oct 14th: Piet Botha & Amigos @Die Blou Hond, Linden, JHB. Unplugged show More info here »»»

"Benjy says..." Archive

Benjy says...

Greetings classic rock fans,

Judging by the volume of calls recieved on Thursday there are a lot more Dream Theatre fans out there than I realised! They are truly one of the most inovative bands in modern rock, marrying the power of old and new school metal with the best prog influences, sort of speeded up Sabbath meets ELP/Yes. My thanks go to Clayton Arendse from CDW for joining me on this Dream Theatre exploration and if you are looking to investigate or buy new prog bands like DT/Porcupine Tree/Spock's Beard then Clayton is your man and can be found at the V&A Waterfront store, along with ROA regular Richard Filmer ... between them they've got all the rock bases covered. If you are a new convert to DT then the best starting point would be "Awake"; "Images & Words" and the new album "Octavarium".

Next week's special is Canada's Mahogany Rush featuring uber guitarist, Frank Marino.Unfairly criticised as mere Jimi clones, the 'Rush were one of the most exciting hard rock bands of the 70's and early 80's producing a string of classic psychedelic albums like "Child of the novelty", "Maxoom" and "Strange universe". Whilst the early albums had Hendrixian overtones (nothing wrong with that!), Frank Marino soon forged his own unique style of playing, incorporating elements of fusion, jazz, blues and straight rock 'n roll into a heady melting pot that satisfied rock fans worldwide. Their landmark album was 1978's "Mahogany Rush Live" where Marino fires off some of the most devastating and barely believable guitar licks ever heard, particularly on the classic "Johnny B Goode" and "King Bee" ... all this and more this coming Thursday night.

THE ROCK OF AGES PLAYLISTS

I constantly get asked where I source the music played on Rock of Ages and also how I put the show together. Well in the first instance most everything played comes from my personal collection which is being constantly being added to all the time. In addition to this the record labels send me albums, I pick up some surprising stuff at street sales and of course CDW's Richard Filmer mails me every week with suggestions and rarities which I pop in and listen/buy. For instance he turned me on to Jake E Lee's new album as well as new albums by Tony Iommi, Glenn Hughes etc. I also scan the key rock magazines like Mojo, Classic Rock and Uncut. Plus I do shop at Amazon/Freak Emporium/CD Now and a host of small indie labels that specialise in rare classic rock albums. The point being that in order to bring you the widest variety of rock I am on a continual search for music to play ... How do I put the show together? .... how do I decide to play a particular record? Why is there a lot of Led Zep, Jimi, Tull, Sabbath, Free, Purple, etc? .... here's the inside track ...... Firstly there is no 'playlist' as such on Rock of Ages, I have 110% free choice and play exactly what I like with no 'interference' from third parties - the only opinion that I take into account is yours, the Rock of Ages fans who make suggestions to me on a regular basis.

I start work on each week's show on Sunday night as well as Tuesday/Wednesday after my day job (www.freshmusic.co.za) - spending several hours each night listening to albums, checking tracks and artists with the ROA database to see when last they were played and packaging tracks/genres into 'blocks' i.e. the recent Latin Rock, Brass Rock, 60's Rock, etc. Plus of course there are the regular sections like Blues, Comedy, Prog, Live in Concert and Long Songs that need planning .... at any one time I have a base of about 120-150 albums with me in the studio to choose from. So there is some method to my madness and musical schizophrenia but the funny thing is that although the opening music/stings and the closing 'laid back' set are almost set in stone the rest of the show flows by itself! It's almost like something takes over when the red light comes on and I often discard tracks and artists that I was going to play in order to spin something else that fits in with what I'm playing at that time ... that's the beauty of Rock of Ages - It's unpredictable, even to me! As for playing a lot of the artists that I mentioned earlier - well they are all 'core' bands that have large bodies of work to source and are constantly requested by the Rock of Ages fans. The show tries to cover a huge rainbow of rock, all styles, genres and ages - hopefully that's why you listen in the first place.

THE ROCKIT SCIENTIST

Talking about classic rock the great news is that in addition to ROA on Thursdays you can now join my good friend and fellow rock lover, Leon Econimedes (the Rockit Scientist), on Wednesday nights on Radio Today .... Leon is one of the most knowledgable rock scholars around, he knows his stuff and plays some amazing music, both classic and new ... check out www.rock.co.za/rockit for frequencies and information ... so now you have 2 nights of rock to look forward to!

Ssee you on Thurday.

Yours in the pursuit of all things rock.

Benjy Rock of Ages is brought to you by CD Wherehouse - where the obsessed unite.

Studio numbers:
021-4342523/2525

Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, rants, raves and ramblings expressed on this website are the author's own and in no way reflect the views of Radio 2000 or the SABC.

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Stay tuned every Thursday 8-12pm for the best in classic rock on RADIO 2000.

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Your Host

Benjy Mudie
Then	Now

Benjy Mudie was inducted into the South African Rock Hall Of Fame on 14th August 2002. Of Scottish origin, Mudie started out in the music industry working in record shops. He later became the A&R man for WEA records, signing such luminaries as Lesley Rae Dowling, Baxtop and Falling Mirror. He has ventured briefly into the realms of songwriting, getting co-writing credit for Little Sister's song 'You Got My Heart', but it is mainly for his running of record labels, notably Tusk and more recently Fresh and Retro Fresh that he is honoured. With these labels he has tirelessly dedicated himself to putting South African music out there, showing an unshaking belief in the quality of SA music.

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