More Death

World Wrestling Entertainment has learned that Brian Adams, also known to our fans as Crush, has been found dead today.

Known for his formidable strength, the Hawaiian native made his first impact on the U.S. wrestling scene in the late 1980s with the NWA’s Pacific Northwest organization.

When he debuted in WWE in summer of 1990, he joined Ax and Smash as the third member of the legendary tag team, Demolition. A change in the rules allowed the trio to hold the World Tag Team Championship, with any two of the three members defending the titles. The trio would lose the championships to The Hart Foundation due to interference from The Legion of Doom, sparking a fierce rivalry between them and Hawk & Animal.

After Demolition disbanded, Adams returned to WWE in summer of 1992 as the blond-haired Hawaiian powerhouse, “Kona Crush.” He thrilled our fans with his ready smile and fearsome strength. However, a rivalry with Doink the Clown – which culminated in one of the most unforgettable moments in WrestleMania history when Crush was attacked by two Doinks – changed the Hawaiian’s philosophy. He eventually fell under the guidance of Mr. Fuji and engaged in a fierce war with “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Their most memorable battle was WrestleMania X, where Savage defeated Crush in a Falls-Count-Anywhere Match.

After a short absence, attorney Clarence Mason brought Crush back to WWE in summer of 1996. Crush would join the Nation of Domination in 1997, and then formed the Disciples of Apocalypse biker gang with Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball later that year.

Early in 1998, Adams joined World Championship Wrestling and became part of the New World Order, using his own name. He later would go on to team with Bryan Clarke as KroniK and win the WCW Tag Team Championship twice. After WCW folded, KroniK would have a short-lived run in WWE in 2001, fighting with Kane & Undertaker.

After leaving WWE in late 2001, Adams competed in Japan and then attempted a career in boxing. After suffering a shoulder injury while training for first professional bout, Adams called off his boxing efforts and returned to Japan to compete.

Adams wrestled his last match in January 2003, suffering a spinal injury that forced him into retirement. Whether he was beloved or jeered, Adams made a lasting impact on WWE and he will be missed by Superstars and our fans. Here are some reactions from his fellow wrestlers....

Hacksaw Jim Duggan: I knew Brian pretty well. He came to play in my golf tournament a few times in Florida. He was a big, impressive, young guy… It’s such a shock that he’s gone. He was one of those guys that never seemed to really get the big break, but had all of the talent and all of the skills to do it. It’s a shock.

Ron Simmons: I’m still in a state of shock right now. He and I go way back and have worked together for years. He was a very good friend of mine. I still don’t want to believe it. I’m just saddened by it and I just want to wish his family well. I am just very, very upset about this because it hits close to home. He was a good friend, ya know?

Sgt. Slaughter: It was a real sad moment when I heard that this happened because Brian Adams was really good talent and had a great future in this business. But [I’ll never forget that] he’s the one who introduced me to Sushi in Guam and I never thought that I’d eat raw fish, but he’s the one who showed me what to look for and how to eat it. I also appreciate that he put me on a workout regimen and I started working out a lot harder than I had before and it really helped my career going into WrestleMania VII. He was just a good guy who had a big heart. It’s just a real sad day for wrestling fans throughout the world.

24 HR Party People....

Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records and the man who put Manchester on the map by bringing Joy Division, Happy Mondays, and New Order to the world, died today of a heart attack. He was 57.


Obituary from BBC
Anthony Wilson
Tony Wilson was staunchly proud of his Salford roots.

Record label owner, broadcaster, journalist, pop impresario and nightclub founder - Anthony Wilson was famous for many things, but perhaps he was most famous for being a self-styled professional Mancunian.

Tony Wilson was widely regarded as the man who put Manchester on the map for its music and vibrant nightlife. He remained active on the city scene until his death on Friday aged 57.

He was born in Salford's Hope Hospital on 20 February 1950.

He attended De La Salle Christian Brothers' school, before going on to read English at the University of Cambridge in 1968.

In the 1970s he went to work for Granada Television in Manchester, where he fronted programmes including music show So It Goes and current affairs magazine World In Action.

He later went on to be long-time host of the early evening Granada Reports.

Wilson was a founder of Factory Records in the late 1970s, the label behind Joy Division, New Order and The Happy Mondays.

The Hacienda was one of the most famous clubs in the world. He continued to work in television even at the height of his work with Factory records.

In 1982, he set up The Hacienda nightclub, which became known as perhaps the most famous club in the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

It became the heart of the "Madchester" scene, playing host to bands such as New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis.

Even Madonna played her first UK gig at the Whitworth Street club in February 1983.

The club was famous for its dance nights, particularly house music nights where DJs Mike Pickering, Sasha and Dave Haslam regularly played.

In the early 1990s the club was blighted by cash flow problems and it closed its doors in 1997.

The building was demolished in 2002 and apartments were built in its place.

The semi-fictional story of the club, the music and Wilson's life was documented in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film, 24 Hour Party People.

His character was played by comedian Steve Coogan to critical acclaim.

Wilson later went on to set up the annual Manchester music conference, In The City, with long-term partner and former Miss England Yvette Livesey.

But it was not just in the music world that he made his mark - he was also a key player in local politics and supported a campaign for a regional assembly for the North West.

In 2004 he set up an unofficial coalition calling for regional devolution, called The Necessary Group.

More recently he presented radio shows Ground Rules and Talk of the Town on BBC Radio Manchester and Sunday Roast on Xfm Manchester.

He was the main presenter of the BBC's Politics Show North West.

Wilson fell ill in 2006, before undergoing emergency surgery to have a kidney removed in January 2007.

Doctors diagnosed him with cancer and he started a chemotherapy course at Manchester's Christie Hospital.

The chemotherapy failed to beat the disease and he was recommended to take the drug Sutent, which is not funded by the NHS in Manchester.

Members of the Happy Mondays and other acts he supported over the years had started a fund to help pay for his treatment.

Some velvet morninG

It is with great sadness that we announce that LEE HAZLEWOOD has died peacefully at his home outside Las Vegas, USA, after a three year struggle with cancer. He celebrated his 78th birthday earlier this month surrounded by family and friends from around the world. He passed away on August 4th, 2007, in Henderson, Nevada, and is survived by his son Mark, his daughters Debbie and Samantha, and his devoted wife Jeane.



Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning

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For over half a century, LEE HAZLEWOOD proved himself to be one of the most ingenious, inspired and impressively stubborn sons-of-a-bitch the music industry ever saw. His career – a word that HAZLEWOOD himself scorned – saw him take on almost every aspect of the music industry – a word that HAZLEWOOD himself was equally dismissive of – and come out on top every time. Most famous for his work with Nancy Sinatra – he wrote and produced many of her biggest hits, including These Boots Were Made For Walking, Sugartown and the unforgettable Some Velvet Morning – HAZLEWOOD in fact started his musical career as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona. It was here he first met Duane Eddy, with whom he began to flesh out and record some of his songs. In 1955 he set up Viv Records and in 1956 hit paydirt with Sanford Clark’s legendary The Fool, and the following year he gave up DJing to focus on production and writing. In the early 1960s he established the LHI label (which is best known for having released the debut album by Gram Parson’s first group, The International Submarine Band) and began releasing his own solo albums, including the extraordinary "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town".

In the mid sixties, in the face of The British Invasion (led by the likes of The Beatles), HAZLEWOOD retired to the shadows (where he was always most comfortable) only to be reluctantly dragged out to work with Nancy Sinatra. Their work together – including the iconic Boots – was an overnight success and saw her become a star in her own right worldwide, but she also insisted that HAZLEWOOD step out in front of the microphone himself, leading to the release of three "Nancy & Lee" albums.

In the early 1970s HAZLEWOOD moved to Sweden to ensure his son was not drafted by the US military. He recorded a series of solo albums there as well as collaborating with film director Torbjörn Axelman, but then ‘retired’ again, working only occasionally over the next two decades. Instead he began to follow an itinerant lifestyle which he pursued until very recently, living in Ireland, Germany, Spain and of course America. However it was the rediscovery of this work two decades later by a new generation of musicians – including the likes of Sonic Youth, whose drummer Steve Shelley tracked HAZLEWOOD down and reissued a number of his solo albums on his Smells Like Records imprint – that led to a resurgence of interest in his work as a performer. In the late 90s he returned to the studio to record the typically cryptically titled standards album "Farmisht, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! and Me", and in 1999 he returned to the stage at the invitation of Nick Cave who was curating that year’s Meltdown Festival in London. Following a sold out show at the Royal Festival Hall he sanctioned the release of two albums of unreleased material, most notably "For Every Solution There’s A Problem", toured Europe, and then returned to the studio to record his final album, "Cake Or Death", which was released to worldwide acclaim in 2006.

HAZLEWOOD’s music has always been a staple of movie soundtracks, but it has continued to become more and more fashionable, regularly turning up in films as diverse as The Dukes Of Hazzard – which saw Jessica Simpson perform These Boots Were Made For Walking for the title track – and the arthouse flick Morvern Callar – which used Some Velvet Morning to great effect.

The family have requested that those wishing to honour LEE HAZLEWOOD should make donations to the Salvation Army…

Kiss all the pretty ones goodbye
Give everyone a penny that cry
You can throw all my tranquil' pills away
Let my blood pressure go on its way
For my autumn's done come
My autumn’s done come.
Lee Hazlewood, My Autumn’s Done Come