Things were looking bleak for former Guns n’ Roses drummer Steven Adler when he was a patient on Dr. Drew’s VH1 reality-detox show Celebrity Rehab … and then we caught the first two episodes of its uber-depressing sequel, Sober House. The series, as the title suggests, is supposed to track addicts coping with the return to semi-independent living in a group home free of drugs and alcohol (but full of Andy Dick — how is that going to help?). So far the entire show has been devoted to watching the guy who played drums on Appetite for Destruction sink deeper and deeper into holy crap territory — he entered the house with needles and a package of heroin, left to sober up, and returned more FUBAR than ever.
Most recently Adler, “high as a kite” as house boss Jennifer Gimenez likes to say, starts violently railing about the cameras tracking his every move — and according to rehab specialist Bob, Steven has never met a camera he didn’t like. When the lights go out in a rolling California brownout, Adler smokes heroin in a bathroom and becomes so disoriented and wobbly he can’t even find his way back to his room (the concerned camera crew try to nudge him back towards the staircase, but he can’t follow hints, let alone keep his eyes open).
What’s worse? The fact that the Celebrity Rehab Website is advertising this calamity with cutesy copy befitting an especially outrageous episode of Full House (”Check out more of Steven’s out of control behavior from this week’s episode!” and “It’s only the first day and the Sober House staff already have their hands full!”). The look on Steven’s wife’s face says it all: this guy is in Intervention-worthy shape, not Rock of Love Bus condition. Trust us, we’d be far happier if Adler was trading germs with wasted Brazilian strippers in vinyl bikinis right about now.
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• Ex-Guns n’ Roses Drummer Steve Adler Is Having the Worst Week Ever
Our favorite hoaxer is at it once again. The individual going by the name “Melissa Roxford” is sending out e-mail messages regarding AC/DC. This time, the claim is that drummer Phil Rudd is leaving the group.
For entertainment purposes, here’s the latest from “Melissa.”
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From: Melissa Roxford [sonymusic_epic@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 [...]
Post from: Real Rock News
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is set to make the jump to Broadway. Playbill reports that Broadway bigwigs the Nederlander Organization have acquired the rights to make a new musical based on Jackson’s famous werewolves-and-zombies video. Broadway has already turned the music of the Four Seasons and the Who’s Tommy into musical productions — and somehow recruited U2 to record music for a Spider-Man show — so the prospect of Jackson on the Great White Way isn’t that far-fetched, especially as producers scramble for ideas to draw in big crowds in the wake of large-scale show closings due to the recession.
According to James L. Nederlander, “I love the idea of making ‘Thriller’ a musical. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what…” “Now what” is our thoughts exactly: the concept works great when it’s used in YouTube videos made by French film students lip-synching “Thriller”, Filipino prisoners dancing “Thriller” and impromptu dance troupes on a train, how can a six-minute song/14-minute music video sustain itself over the course of two acts? According to the press release, the musical take its plot from the actual music video, a “horror film spoof in which a young couple are out on a date on a beautiful full moon evening, when suddenly the young man, played by Jackson, turns into a werewolf.” This sounds like it could be Cats, but with zombies instead of kitties.
On a positive note, the musical will reportedly also feature songs from both Jackson’s Off the Wall and Thriller, so you can pretty much expect to see “Billie Jean” and its sidewalk that lights up when you step on it at some point during the production. Michael Jackson will also reportedly be a part of the creation of the musical in some capacity. The creative team and estimated theater dates of the show have not yet been revealed.
Related Stories:
• French Kids Go Zombie, Nail “Thriller” Lip Sync in a Single Take
• “World’s Largest Zombie Disco” Marks 25th Anniversary of “Thriller” Video in NYC
• The Real Jailhouse Rock: Why the Prisoners Dance to “Thriller”
Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty
Last week, inspired by Britney Spears’ controversial “If U Seek Amy,” we asked our readers to tell us their favorite songs that didn’t dance around with clever wordplay and just dropped cuss words in the song title. We counted the votes, and N.W.A’s ode to the LAPD, “Fuck Tha Police,” was the shit, beating out expletive-laden tracks by Nine Inch Nails, the Replacements and Neil Young. To see the entire list of songs that wouldn’t be played on the radio, check below.
1. N.W.A - “Fuck Tha Police”
2. Nine Inch Nails - “Starfuckers, Inc.”
3. Prince - “Sexy M.F.”
4. Wu-Tang Clan - “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit”
5. Liz Phair - “Fuck and Run”
6. Marilyn Manson - “This Is The New Shit”
7. Tenacious D - “Fuck Her Gently”
8. The Replacements - “Fuck School”
9. The Rolling Stones - “Bitch”
10. Warren Zevon - “My Shit’s Fucked Up”
11. Beastie Boys - “Hey Fuck You”
12. Elton John - “The Bitch is Back”
13. Nas - “Life’s A Bitch”
14. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - “Fuckin’ Up”
15. Violent Femmes - “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance”
