(NOTE TO JIMMY PAGE: Don’t think we put the Mickey Mouse ears on Aleister Crowley!)
It’s not often we get a message through The Back Office from someone who may not even be registered as a Rock Town Hall participant suggesting a thread idea, but recently we received such a suggestion from such a lurker! I won’t give this person’s name, but I encourage him to register and claim credit for this cool story. Dig:
In 1977, Eddie & The Hot Rods released the excellent (and until yesterday unknown to me) single “Do Anything You Wanna Do,” with lyrics inspired by the teachings of famed occultist (and Jimmy Page idol) Aleister Crowley. The single sleeve featured the image of Crowley dressed up in Mickey Mouse ears. Legend has it that Jimmy Page was not amused by this image and put a curse on Eddie & The Hot Rods. Lots of bad mojo followed for the band. Read the full story here:
http://greatwen.com/2013/03/27/jimmy-page-aleister-crowley-and-the-curse-of-eddie-and-the-hot-rods/
Are there other instances of Rock ‘n Roll Curses to examine? Did the prematurely deceased members of The Yardbirds cross Page? Who cursed Page into being part of The Firm?
I don’t know who started the curse but a lot of folks die at the age of 27: Hendrix, Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Andrew Ridgeley’s career, etc
I’d think the main one would be all of the voodoo terms that same in with the Delta Blues. The black cat bone, john conkeroo and all that Robert Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads stuff.
There is the story about the Frank Sinatra song “My Way” being linked to a number of killings after people sing the song at Karaoke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Way_killings
I also just read that there is a curse on Fleetwood Mac or at least there was one, but Lindsey Buckingham seems to have broken it because here’s what happened to previous guitar players.
Peter Green = was committed to a mental hospital, acid casualty
Jerry Spencer = took too much mescaline in 1971 and joined a sex cult.
Danny Kirwin = was committed after an incident on stage where he smashed his head into a wall then went into the crowd while screaming threats at the rest of the band, ended up dying homeless.
Bob Weston = died of an aneurism
Bob Welsh = killed himself after receiving news that he would never walk again
Maybe the curse on Buckingham is that he has to continue playing the hits with his old bandmates/lovers despite having been proclaimed a “musical genius,” like Brian Wilson, who has been prisoner to his own youthful genius.
Wait, how is taking mescaline and joining a sex cult a curse? It sounds to me like it could have been the end game.
The ultimate curse for Eddie and the Hot Rods is that “Do Anything You Wanna Do” was quickly copied lock stock and barrel a few months later by the Records on their single “Starry Eyes.” Still gets in my craw. And mind you, I like both songs.