  |
 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
March 29
Watched The Curse Of The Golden Flower. Beautiful primary colours - enjoyed it.
Some flowers, shot in Los Angeles. March 28Wake up ten minutes before landing in sunny London - I genuinely thought I was still in my seat over the Rockies. March 27Simon and I had a meeting with an artist (who cannot be named, not my idea) and a film producer looking at doing a biopic. I'm not mad about the idea, but Simon loves the deal and, you know, if it buys me a house in Bali and a date with Gong Li I'm all for it. Speaking of Gong Li, got her new film The Curse Of The Golden Flower, out today on dvd, plus Vincent Cassel in Satan and Art Of The Devil II. Flew home at 6pm, both got upgraded to the front of the plane. I was quite looking forward to shooting the dusk but didn't in the end - too tired. Took a while to relax as over Denver we were being thrown everywhere. At one point I have a premonition of crashing into the Rocky Mountains, surviving, and having to eat Simon until I'm rescued. I realise after eating him I don't like kosher food... March 26Neil Zlozower asks me to come over and shoot a quick photo of him. Neil hands me his autofocus camera. I can't for the life of me figure out how to work it and neither can Neil. Fuck it - we give up and I shoot it on manual... Go way out to the valley to see Chris Cornell (who signs some big prints I've blown up for The Sunset Marquis Hotel), he's rehearsing for his tour. I stay and shoot a bit of it. He does Spoonman, Rusty Cage, Black Hole Sun, Burden In My Hand, Jesus Christ Pose and Seasons, plus a few Audioslave songs. I suggest Slaves And Bulldozers and Mind Riot which he says is a good idea. I also tell him to do Blind Dogs - he has no idea how it even goes. Well, he could open with Like Suicide. Chris reminds me of the time I shot Soundgarden in Melbourne and Ben Shepard said 'Hold on,' turned around, threw up, wiped the vomit on his sleeve and carried on... I'd forgotten about that. The band were tight and heavy. I came back to Hollywood and went for a run listening to Soundgarden. I'd forgotten how much I like them. Had dinner this evening with Bic Runga and her mum, Sofia, her tour manager, Tyson, a charming antipodian, and Mr and Mrs Shirley. Simon entertained Sofia while THE CAVEMAN tried to drink the restaurant dry (he tried every bottle of red wine on the menu, washed down with martinis). As his eyes rolled in various directions his wife Devon decided it wouldn't be a good idea to drive home to the Malibu cave. I suggested he send the dog for a midnight swim in the sea on it's own, so he doesn't have to spend his Iron Maiden royalties on any more diamond-studded Tiffany dog collars.THE CAVEMAN did make a good attempt at destroying Hollywood. The restaurant, Boa, recommended by the hotel as the new hip place, was distinctly average - overpriced, poor service and the food was dull, I'll stick to the five places I normally eat in... March 25England has gone into summertime, no more dark afternoons. Wonder how the weather is? Sunny and hot here - going to do nothing... Went for a wander with Simon, both too tired to do anything, mainly due to the fact we'd gone wild last night (well, kind of). Bic Runga is in town and came to say hello with her mum. She's very pregnant so we went for tea. Bic brought me some socks from the southern hemisphere and some travel bits. She was tired so I ended up having sushi with Simon. We considered seeing the film 300 but re-considered when we found out it's three hours long. I was in bed by 10pm - I'm getting old, in my other life I'd have stayed up till 10am...
Some vintage Johnny Thunders pictures. The photo on the right is Peter Perrett, Pete Makowski's second favourite junkie - after Johnny. He jammed with him at this show. See more...
Peter has written to me telling me Glenn Hughes was so good tonight at Shepherd's Bush that he cried. 'I couldn't help it, I was overcome with emotion it was so soulful. Glenn's guitar player looked beautiful angelic.' Peter then told me seeing Glenn has made him hungry to see Whitesnake... March 24
We are working today shooting Slash. Slash is late as usual, but gets on with it. We end up shooting at The Sunset Marquis. I suggest shooting at Mel's Diner on Sunset, but Slash thinks we'd get no peace. It's enjoyable working with two people I actually like. March 23I run into Andy Hilfiger at my hotel. He is so nice and charming I start to feel bad. He's with his brother Michael who is walking around like a rockstar. Got to give him credit - he tries. And in an odd way it works - you think he is somebody... Spent this evening shooting David Grohl (who is a rockstar, even though he'd be embarrassed I said it) of the pop group The Foo Fighters. David arrived on time, did what was asked, was enthusiastic. We swopped gossip and stories. He has some good ones which I can't tell you. Dave wouldn't believe me when I told him I HATED the Beatles. He suffers from the same dementia as Steven Tyler, both thinking the Beatles are gods rather than a awful, over-rated pop band. 'You're lying, I know you like them!' 'Dave, I don't, they're crap...' I did an okay job - fading a bit from jetlag. Couldn't get myself going, I'm not doing more nightime shoots until I get in the time zone. March 22Get up to see it's snowing - summer must be on it's way... Flying can be boring especially when over fun places like Regina. Still it's a lot better than Eurostar. I once spent four days in December at the Holiday Inn in Regina with Iron Maiden. It was like being in prision, nothing to do and it was freeeeezing. I still have nightmares about going to places like Regina or Halifax, Nova Scotia - the sort of thing Metallica used to do as well. Neil Zlozower sent me the 1978 chapter of his Van Halen book. I sit on the plane looking at it. Neil had the good sense to get people who knew or saw the band to write soundbites. Even I wrote something, it's on my Van Halen page on this site. Gene Simmons in this chapter is good, he's honest and frank. The book looks exciting, makes you want to go and see them. Tom Jerman did a great layout job. The early photos of Diamond Dave are very camp very theatrical - can't wait to see the rest of it. As Diamond did say "The Cradle Will Rock". Simon "Semen" Kenton, my agent, is flying with me, being annoying. 'Let's go to the Tommy Hilfiger party tonight, GNR are playing.' He's boringly excited. It must be pointed out he loves bands like the Blue Oyster Cult and Hilfiger's brother anal Andy plays in a side band with Buck Dharma, the midget guitar player from BOC. Simon and I are only just on talking terms again after what I wrote about his favourite totalitarian drummer, Neal Peart (don't ask him for an autograph, he'll get you removed by his Gestapo bodyguard and deported to Lithuania). People have been shot for asking to get all three signatures on an album. Semen loves Rush, 'How dare fans try to speak to Neal, he's an artist, intellectual rock royalty.' He might have read a couple of long-winded books but that doesn't stop him being an intellectual plonker. You'll find all Neal's books under Semen's bedroom pillows. Here is an interesting word - hippopotomonstroseskuippedaliophobia - the fear of long words. Semen has been using it all the way here. I will try to remember it, handy for an American PR - they won't know what I'm talking about. Then again they only know the language of "Me Me Me". Arrive 3.30. Los Angeles is already in summertime and it's nice and warm, 80 degrees - and it's sunny. Got dragged out by Simon to the Tommy Hilfiger party at the Roxy Club (it's fashion week in LA. It was truly awful, lots of video film crews and photographers filming and snapping anything. Michael and Andy Hilfiger (there are are nine of them) play with Nigel Mogg on bass and two nobodies from Guns 'N Roses (line up number ten). They murdered The Rocker, All The way From Memphis and Evil before I left. Michael was like Jim Morrison - the fat version, just before his last bath. He spoke in a bad cockney accent mixed with Scottish. In between posing he tried to sing and Nigel Mogg proved he couldn't play the bass. Jesus, it was dire... I've put more pictures of Steven Tyler up. See more... March 21Went out today and got three pairs of glasses as I can't see - well, I can't see to take photos. Sorting out my LA trip tomorrow which has been changed again. I thought UK PRs were bad, but they're nothing when you get into dealing with Americans. 'No problem... Oh no, they can't do that etc.' Never mind that you've just flown 7,000 miles. I was so pissed off with it all I had to get out of my house and away from the phone and email. Went to the Nobu 10th Anniversary party at Kensington Roof Gardens. It's the first day of spring today and naturally it's FREEEEEEEZING!!!!! Even so most of the women were in skimpy dresses. Saw a beautiful elegant woman (a Gong Li lookalike) and I was transfixed. It turned out she was Lady Rothermere, wife of a newspaper owner. So much for my lustful thoughts - she was also about two feet taller than me. But it was Got home to more email changes. I gave up looking at midnight... March 20Had to get up at dawn to go to Paris to do a shoot for Q magazine. I can't say who I shot as it is a secret (the magazine operates a bit like the CIA). What I can say is we should have left five fucking hours later. Talk about hanging around, I waited for hours at a French tv show (French version of Jools Holland). The subject matter arrived hours late, had to soundcheck, then shower, then try to show a bit of interest in me.
Anton Brookes, PR, hard at work... Honestly, hanging around is mindless, it puts you off what you are doing. I eventually shot for an hour. The set up conditions were shit and so was the weather. I got the job done as best as I could - I have no idea how good a job I did. Ran for the train, finally got home at 11pm. I feel drained, vacant - fucking vacant, in fact... Going to Los Angeles on Thursday. Check my emails and everything I'm doing has been changed. Nice, lots of fun sorting this out at midnight... Oh, before I forget, I have to say Pat Foley is a wonderful human - I'll know on Thursday if he really is. March 19Some photos of Steven Tyler shot in London. I'm quite happy with this session, got quite a lot done in a short space of time - more to follow. 
March 13Just added some more Chris Cornell. See more... 
March 12Chris Charlesworth has sent me some copies of my Metallica book in German. Quite handy as there's hardly any copy in it - okay, mine and Kirk's intro. And Valerie Janes has got my Iron Maiden book signed by the whole band for me so Finished Tony Visconti's bland bio. All he seems to do is moan about his royalty rate. And yes, Marc Bolan was a wanker. The one thing Tony did was take the photo for the cover of the T Rex album The Slider - uncredited, which would have pissed me off. It's a GREAT photo and I'd love a copy of the original. I'm printing some stuff up to put in The Morrison Gallery in Los Angeles - should be there by the end of the month. Just added some vintage Aerosmith. See more... 
 I watched Welcome To Dongmakgol again. It's quite funny and bittersweet. Hye-jeong Kang is good in it - go and get it, it's out on dvd on Cine Asia. Here's a message from The Caveman.
He forgot to mention his boring dog, let's hope it's been washed out to sea - then he can call the record Blues For Fido or Missing Dog Blues... March 11Beautiful day. Sunny, warm, the joys of spring unless you're Mick Wall who's still got the blues (part 922) after talking to Gary Moore. Gary's still got the blues, going on about John Mayall and the blues. Mick's writing a piece on the blues. I suggested Sir David Coverdale as he's a blues singer and is real blue blood. Not some boring northern oik like John Mayall. Told Mick to speak to Doug Aldrich to see if he's still got the blues - feeling blue wanting to sound like Ritchie The Caveman's blues album Blues For The 'Bu will be out next week. It features rich people pretending to have the blues while living in Malibu Colony. It has those two great blues musicans, Adrian Smith and Jannick Gers, playing the Saw the French Revoultion show at the Royal Academy. The Death Of Marat painting by David (no, not Sir David) is a great piece of revolutionary propaganda. The painting is huge and looks three-dimensional. There's an interesting bust, a lead self portrait of someone called Messerschmidt being angry. It reminds me of a Scorpions album cover... Or The Caveman. Ended up taking some photos of the statues on the roof of the Royal Academy. 
 The Sunday Times had a grovelling feature on how great a photographer Brian Adams is - I've kept it for toilet paper. March 10I found I had The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway on cd, thought I'd give it a listen. It's, uuummmm, hard work - truthfully it's bollocks. The title track and Back In NYC are good the rest - it's music for people with lots of A-levels. Watched Lacombe Lucien, a film by Louis Malle. I first saw it when still at school in 1974 - still a sad film. Now going to watch some enjoyable Korean horror - The Host. Peter Makowski has sent me the Tony Visconti biography Why I love Bowie ('cos he might give me some work) And Hate Marc Bolan ('cos he's dead and I can say what I like) with a forward by Morrissey (as if anyone cares). I'll read the Bolan bit. Tony may even have a point, no one seemed to like him. In the new issue of the pompous Quarterly magazine is a perfect description of glam rock by the author Jake Arnott. His take on Get It On and Bolan is spot on. As is his seminal assessment of Rock And Roll (part two) and Gary Glitter - tacky, cheap and vulgar, but irresistible. Joe Elliott would cry reading this... It's Saturday night and I'm going to have a party!. Truthfully I'm having a night in. March 9Danielstein has been inundated with emails from sad people outraged that Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash isn't in the Blink/Gibson show. Yes, Andy Powell, who wrote thought-provoking songs like The King Will Come, Warrior, Throw Down Your Sword, Leaf And Stream, Rock And Roll Doctor and my personal favourite, Blowing Free - "Once I had a girl blowing free like the cornfields" - that's part of the lyrics. Like I said, thought-provoking stuff. Danielstein better be careful, he might get his windows smashed by the Wishbone Army. Thinking about it, what about Deke Leonard, Mickey Jones, in fact what about the Mighty Priest - Glenn and KK, or Ace and Paul from Kiss...? Haven't these people got anything else to worry about in life than Andy Powell not having a photo? Yes, Andy can just about play better than Madonna so perhaps he should be in the show. These are the sort of people who go to record fairs.. Kevin "The Caveman" Shirley is writing his bio online, inspired by Pete Townshend! If you want to know fascinating details of how he twiddles his knob or knobs log on to his wonderful website. Can't wait to read how he and Joe Porkamassa ate Hollywood - sorry of course I mean the 'Bu... I've had an invite to Macau this weekend. I've booked a flight tonight - can't decide whether to go. Feel I should go and shoot some travel. Well it's late afternoon on Friday and I'm not going to Macau as I can't get motivated and the weather's the same as here - not really hot or cold. In a couple of today's papers are some ads for Marks and Spencer with Bryan Ferry - the photos are terrible. Badly lit, badly composed. I looked at who shot them and it's Brian Adams. I remember him taking shit photos of The Who at the Teenage Cancer Trust soundcheck. He should stick to singing about Robin Hood or whatever he sings about with Sporty Spice. Wonder how much he got paid... March 8Watched Babel, it was okay. The story with Brad Shit and Kate Blanchett was stupid - all the characters were stereotypes. The Japanese story with Rinko Kikuchi was best, mainly because she was a deaf teenage nymphomaniac. Actually she is great in the part... A perfect day, well, nearly perfect. I mean, I could win the lottery to make it better. The sun is shining, what more could you want - just a win on the lottery! Danielstein has been phoning around gushing, 'A real guitar hero came in the gallery'. 'Who - Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Angus Young, Madonna, perhaps even Bono?' 'Nooooooooo, Justin Hawkins of The Some more Chris Cornell, I prefer my black and white which I'll add soon. See more... March 7Took forever to get to London last night as Chelsea were playing - traffic hell. The Blink show was packed, Danelstein even gave Kazuyo a bottle of water. She was shocked, 'I was waiting for the bill.' 'Don't worry, he'll charge you Dave Brolan told me Terry O'Neil loved my big inkjet of Pete Townshend, he said it was the best photo in the show (honestly, he said this - I KNOW I'm sounding like Denis O'Regan or Danny Clifford). Justin Focus (aka Thomas) was in the middle of the throng, out of his mind. 'I've given up music, I now only shoot film, I'm a set photographer.' I was
Spent the evening chatting to Kevin Westerberg and his very lovely assistant, Kim. Introduced Kevin to Kazuyo - he spoke to her in Japanese. 'Does he speak well?' 'Noooooooo, crap Gaijin Japanese, you're better and you're bad as well.' We go off for sushi.
Woke up this morning thinking I need a night in... Met up with Jimmy Page for a coffee, we had a look at the Blink show. 'Nice to see a picture of a real guitarist,' said Jimmy while looking at Bono. He has a point. We were going to stay longer until Danielstein, being the little arab that he is, started telling people on the street Jimmy was in his gallery. We made a quick exit - I called Danielstein and asked him if he was retarded. 'Oi vey, it's business, you have to make the most every situation'. I'm sure he was sitting there rubbing his hands together. He finished the conversation by trying to charm me, 'Muzeltov, it's nearly Friday...' Before I forget, it's a beautiful day. I should be taking photos instead of going on about Danielstein. Going to stay in and watch Welcome To Dongmakgol (a Korean film) or Babel . March 6Well, I know I'm home because the weather is shit - wind and rain. Went out with Barry "Bazza" Drinkwater last night, the richest man I know. Bazza has a big meeting today with a pop band called Led Zeppelin. 'Can't go mad,' said Bazza, 'need a clear head for tomorrow.' We go to Nobu. 'Fuck it, I drag him home at midnight. He hobbles and weaves across the road to my car (he's on crutches after breaking his leg skateboarding). 'Can I throw up out of the window of your car?' he beams, eyes rolling in different directions. I get him home in the early hours - he doesn't have any keys. 'I'll sleep in the garage with the dogs, the wife won't let me in.' Up at 6am - off to shoot the Man Razes this morning... Had a good session with Phil Collen's other band, Man-Raze. I was a bit slow, had a huge attack of jet lag. Managed to get going though. Nice to see Simon Laffy and Paul Cook. Kazuyo didn't realise he was in the Sex Pistols. 'Is he a football hooligan?' I suppose it depends if supporting Chelsea makes him one. Let's face it, Chelsea are more posh than Millwall - now that could make him a blue blood hooligan. Bazza rang, happy his meeting was over and he could recover down the pub. He was with his henchman, Tom Bennett. 'We're at it,' said Bazza. 'You're coming out to get on it!' I asked him about his meeting, 'Did they like your products?' 'They kept it all - I was going to sell it down Berwick street market.' Poor old Bazza, making millions and then having to give away t-shirts... Phil Collen called to say he loves the photos from today, and you know, it's good to hear that. Off to London to the Gibson show, Through The Lens, at the bank of Danielstein - The Blink Gallery. March 5Some Chris Cornell - more to follow... 
 
 Flew home from LA last night, couldn't get a window - of course the view was of the best sunset, beautiful colours and light. But I could shoot nothing... Scott Rowley sent me Led Zeppelin, A Celebration with this note enclosed. "Och Aye! Thought you might like this - the best book Dave Lewis ever wrote about Led Zep genius" The book's pages are blank... He also told me to stop writing in Scottish being that I am a "Sassenach", a lower form of life from south of Hadrian's wall. I had to own up to my Scottish heritage, since my mother was from his homeland - och aye etc... In the new Classic Rock issue there is a shoot of Black Sabbath with the new Dio era line up. The photos are so badly retouched they look like waxworks. The cover is a colourful work of art in the Jackson Pollock tradition. It looks like it's been put together using centrifugal force. March 3I saw some records I've been after a long time - Happy Birthday, I Am, and With Love, all original Pete Townshend Meher Baba LPs. It's nice finding something you've been after, it makes collecting worthwhile - or shows that I'm just a sad collector... Had a look in the Morrison Hotel gallery, promised Sam the owner I'd send some prints to put up. I have no idea what - Aerosmith, Metallica, GNR, Sabbath, The Who - what do people like? Hot day, up in the 80s. I hiked Runyon Canyon, it was harder than I remembered. Thought I'd go up to the Hollywood sign to shoot it close up. It was disappointing as by the time I got up there it was hazy. The light wasn't right, flat and dull looking... 
 The other thing was a bunch of Germans, right at the top of the road overlooking the sign. Two Lamborghinis were parked, one silver, one bright orange. A film crew was shooting two German celebrities for German TV. The celebrities I walked to the edge of the canyon. A big voice shouted 'Vot are you doing? Zis is our place.' Three of the crew try to move me. 'It's a public street!' 'You must move, ve are filming!' I resort to English. 'Fuck off!' They become self-righteous and I know they can't do anything. I also realise when a resident arrives and asks them for a filming permit that they don't have one. They finally leave in a hurry. It was just like being on holiday, when they come down at 6am and put their towels on all the sunbeds. "You must move or you vill be shot..." Great view of the sign - wish the light (and the company) had been better Heard the sad news that Joel Brodsky has died. He took the famous bare-chested photo of Jim Morrison that made him the American rock star of his day. I didn't know Joel that well but when I did speak to him he was always funny and nice. March 2Some Steven Tyler at his best and at his worst - a real rockstar... See more... 
 Mick Wall thinks Fairport Convention "Rocks". Now I know that he's either staying up all night and is in a trance, hallucinating, or he's totally lost his marbles. And Phil Alexander told me last week he likes Pentangle. What is the world coming to? Both are a load of old shit. The Caveman is having Peter Bird write his book - Peter's the wrong side of interesting. A Caveman cookbook - Meals I've Eaten With Joe Porkamassa. Must stop reading his diary - don't want to ruin the book. Having my eyes tested this morning. Got them done and they're bad - really bad. Old age, yuk... Must get them fixed to read The Caveman's book... The hot news here is the betrayal of England by it's favourite son, Sir David Coverdale. He's become a US citizen, giving up Saltburn On Sea for the US of A. His serf, Michael Mcintyre, is quoted as saying "It has been a long drawn out process". Maybe Sir David should have found someone to do it properly in the first place, so it would have been a bit quicker. Sir David will always be Rock Royalty no matter where he goes - In the heat of the night...
March 1On my flight yesterday there was a flight attendant I realised I've known for twenty eight years - Tracy Monseraat. I'd met her years ago with Billy Gibbons in Hawaii. She was, and still is, quite stunning, she's the sort of girl they would have used on ads for the Islands. You could imagine her in a grass skirt with flowers around her neck. I was flying with my agent Simon. She tried to get us upgraded to First Class, but the Purser wasn't having it. Simon looked too much like a Chav (he's from Essex). I should be grateful he's only working class, unlike some of the pseudo snobs he represents - George Bodnar and Denis O'Regan. A source tells me there will be a statue erected to Denis on Hammersmith Bridge welcoming people into Barnes. And George will have the job of polishing it every Sunday when he's not lunching with D-list celebrities and Danny Clifford. Had quite a civilised flight with Simon in Business Class but next time I'll leave him and sit in the front on my own. I mean, me with commoners - it's just not the done thing. I need to travel more with William Nash. We could spend the flight discussing the joys of fox hunting. After getting in had dinner at Argo. Simon wanted me to meet a "Client" of his at a trendy new bar called The Abbey. He said it was full of Asian women and 95% gay men. I left him heading off there - I'm not bribed THAT easily... Off to the dentist today, then I'm shooting Chris Cornell. Spent the afternoon shooting Chris, firstly around the Sunset Marquis Hotel, which is half a construction site. Because of this it made it a good location. I got a lot done, even shot him with my friend Chris's '77 Pontiac Can-am - white hood mobile, all that was missing was a bucket of chicken. All friendly, as they say in the south. Finished shooting Christopher on Sunset Strip. We had a good shoot, very productive.
|
||
The PR looking after us babbled on about what a great bunch of blokes they are. In fact he often tells what a great bunch of blokes all his acts are. Would have been more useful if he'd organized lunch or dinner - or even tea.
