Thank You, Phil

Phil Collins has announced his retirement from music. We are all a little better off now.

The Last Days of Mark St. John: Drugs, Jail, Violence

From KISS Asylum:
A month before roughly two dozen inmates at Theo Lacy Jail viciously killed John Chamberlain in an attack that would earn national headlines and lead to a major scandal that continues to unfold, an inmate named Mark Leslie Norton told deputies he feared for his life. He asked to be moved from one part of the jail to another.

Although deputies may not have recognized him, Norton is better known to most of the world by his stage name, MARK ST. JOHN; he had briefly been a guitarist for the world-famous rock band KISS in the mid-’80s until a nasty bout of arthritis forced him into early retirement.

Norton, according to published reports, grew up in Garden Grove and had been living with his parents there while earning a modest income giving guitar lessons. He was booked into Theo Lacy on Sept. 14, 2006 to serve a two-week sentence after pleading guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and attempted destruction of evidence. For a week, Norton stayed in D Barracks, a medium-security dormitory for nonviolent offenders. But on Sept. 21, according to Norton’s inmate file, which the Weekly recently obtained from the sheriff’s department, he told deputies he wanted to be moved somewhere else because he "stole crackers out of another inmate’s property box" and was "in fear for his safety."

Deputies moved Norton to F-West Barracks, another medium-security dormitory, where he remained for three days, until being released from jail on Sept. 24. From the file, it appears the transfer worked. There is nothing to suggest Norton was attacked or ever requested medical treatment. But one key witness insists that Norton did, in fact, get his ass kicked.

Jared Petrovich, a former shot-caller at the jail and one of nine inmates charged with murdering Chamberlain (see "‘I Lit the Fire,’" April 3), told the Weekly he personally helped to arrange for Norton to be assaulted and that Deputy Kevin Taylor, the same guard Petrovich alleges authorized the attack against Chamberlain, approved the beating. In a recent interview with the Weekly, the onetime shot-caller for the "Woods" (the white inmates at Theo Lacy) stated that Taylor knew in advance that numerous inmates, including Norton, would be beaten up and not only did nothing to stop the assaults, but also gave sack lunches to him and other inmates in return for carrying them out.

"We went up to Kevin Taylor and said, ‘We’re going to beat this guy [Norton] up,’" Petrovich recalls. "[Taylor] said okay and gave us sack lunches, two each for the four us," referring to himself, another Woods shot-caller and pair of Latino inmates who needed to be advised of an upcoming beating so they didn’t "trip out."

According to Petrovich, Norton was being punished for stealing property from another inmate in a different part of the jail. "He got caught stealing something," he says. "I guess he did that somewhere else in the jail, but we found out about it somehow. . . . The KISS guy got beat up pretty bad."

Petrovich says he was included in the meeting because the other shot-caller was scheduled to leave F-West in a few weeks and had chosen him as his replacement. Although Petrovich claims Norton was severely beaten, he says he didn’t personally witness the attack.

Sheriff’s officials have refused to make Taylor, who is currently on paid leave, available for an interview. On Oct. 5, 2006, he allegedly watched Cops on television and used his cell phone to send 22 text messages while dozens of inmates just yards away fatally beat Chamberlain, a Mission Viejo software engineer awaiting trial for possession of child pornography (see "Blind Spot," March 29, 2007). Following the murder, Taylor refused to speak to sheriff’s homicide investigators and, later, declined to be interviewed by district-attorney investigators or testify before the Orange County grand jury. But two of his partners did talk, and what they say suggests that Petrovich’s claims about Taylor, as outlandish as they sound, are plausible.

Both Special Services Officer Philip Le and Deputy Jason Chapluk testified that Taylor routinely used shot-callers such as Petrovich to enforce jail rules and punish inmates who broke them and that he frequently rewarded the shot-caller with special privileges such as extra time in the day room, new uniforms, or—you guessed it—sack lunches.

Le estimated that Taylor would meet with shot-callers up to 10 times per day and that some of those meetings were to ask the shot-caller to ensure that inmates who had been punished didn’t request medical treatment at the jail. The conversation, Le testified, would go like this: "Hey, this guy is messing up, so get him in line; [tell him], ‘You are not hurt. . . . You are fine.’" If the inmate continued to complain, Le told the grand jury, Taylor knew the result would be another violent attack. "Something is done discreetly in certain areas [of the barracks]," he explained. "The inmates know there are certain areas or blind spots, and they do it there."

A former Theo Lacy inmate who claims he was a Woods "torpedo," or enforcer, says he personally beat up, or "taxed," numerous inmates while incarcerated at the jail. (The Weekly confirmed that the inmate, who asked not to be identified, was in Theo Lacy several months before Chamberlain’s murder—and before Norton’s brief stint in the jail.) "It was my job to go to the blind spot and wait while another Wood got the person who was going to be taxed," he says. "You put the person getting taxed against the wall, ask them if they are ready, and then go to town for 15 seconds on their body. . . . It never gets brutal; there might be some bruises left after, but never any blood."

Mark Leslie Norton, unfortunately, is unable to talk about his time in Theo Lacy. As any true KISS fan already knows, Norton died last year. According to the Orange County Coroner, the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage bought on by an accidental overdose of methamphetamines on April 5, 2007. The Weekly’s attempts to reach Norton’s family for comment were unsuccessful.

SWERVEDRIVER! SWERVEDRIVER! SWERVEDRIVER!

It has just been announced that the recently re-formed Swervedriver will be playing in Omaha! The show is Thursday, May 22 at Waiting Room (6212 Maple). Tickets are $15 and they go on sale April 19 from Etix.

This is a mandatory, must-see show for anyone in Omaha claiming to have good taste in music. As a warm-up, check out my Swervedriver/Adam Franklin podcast. Then, buy a ticket and go to the freakin' show. This band will blow you away, I have no doubt in this.

Podcast #24 Available Now!!

I have just posted podcast #24, and this show is dedicated to NYC indie/noise-pop band Madder Rose.

Madder Rose formed in NYC in the early 90s, and was heralded by the UK press as the second coming of Velvet Underground. The band balanced the noisy, driving guitar playing of Billy Coté with the angelic voice of lead singer Mary Lorson, and made some of the best indie music of the decade.

After a poor reception to the band's final two albums, Madder Rose called it quits in 1999. I interviewed drummer Rick Kubic (aka Johnny Kick) for the show, and he tells the story of the band from its inception to its unceremonious ending.

Songs from each of the band's albums is presented, as are a few rarities you might not have heard. If you were already a fan, this show should be a great nostalgia trip. If you weren't, you are about to have a new musical obsession. Good luck.

Listen to the show here.

Download the show.

Subscribe via itunes.

Free Feist

Feist will be Memorial Park's free show for the summer on July 12. She's one of those artists where I admire the artist, but dislike most of the fans. It may be the Starbuck-like appeal of her music (it's good background music, but it's hard to truly be absorbed by her work) or the played-to-death iPod commercial. Still, I'm assuming this is going to attract throngs of folks.

People Of Omaha: Support the Music Venue Ordinance

Currently the Omaha City Council is floating a bill that will designate bars that primarily host live music as a new status of bar called a "Music Venue." A music venue will be allowed to host minors in the bar, provided they are clearly marked as such, are served in different glasses than those over 21, and are prohibited from going in and out of the club. Reputable music venues already do this, but there are forced aligned against this proposal.

It is VITAL for the Omaha music community and the city itself that this ordinance be passed. Culturally, music is what Omaha is known for. This city has spawned international success stories like Bright Eyes, 311, and The Faint. This would not have been possible without all-ages music venues.

Without an outlet for all-ages shows, bars like Waiting Room and Slowdown would be hurt financially, and that could limit that amount and kind of shows that come to the metro area. If you care at all about music in Omaha, let your councilman know that he/she should support the all ages ordinance. If you don't know which district you live in, check here. I have put the email addresses for the council members and the Mayor below. Please take a few minutes to politely express your support.

Contact the City Council & the Mayor
1.) Tell them you support allowing all ages shows in bars in Omaha!!

2.) FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; Tell everyone you know to do the same!!

District 1: Jim Suttle jsuttle@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5527
District 2: Frank Brown fbrown@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5524
District 3: Jim Vokal jvokal@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5525
District 4: Garry Gernandt ggernandt@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5522
District 5: Dan Welch dwelch@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5528
District 6: Franklin Thompson fthompson@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5523
District 7: Chuck Sigerson, Jr. csigerson@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5526
Mayor: Mike Fahey mfahey@ci.omaha.ne.us 444-5000

Here is the letter I wrote to all of the council members and the Mayor:


Mr. Mayor and Members of the City Council:

I am writing you today as your constituent to ask that you vote in favor the proposed music venue ordinance that will allow all-ages music shows to continue in Omaha. I feel that this is vital for the city not just in financial terms, but also in cultural terms.

Omaha’s music community has received international accolades, and artists like Bright Eyes and 311 have done much to promote Omaha as they have toured around the world performing their music. These artists, and many others like them, would not have had the opportunity to grow and develop were it not for all-ages venues.

I am a regular concert-goer in Omaha, and I have seen the lengths that venues like The Slowdown and The Waiting Room have gone to ensure that minors are not served alcohol in their establishments. They are behaving responsibly, and should not be punished for doing so. If this measure does not pass, and minors are prohibited from entering music venues that serve alcohol, the bars that have been acting responsibly and lawfully are the ones that will be hurt.

Places like Qwest Center, Rosenblatt Stadium, and The Orpheum, for example, serve alcohol and allow minors to attend events. It would seem somewhat hypocritical and unfair to allow certain establishments to have one set of rules, while making an entirely different set for the remainder.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I urge you to vote “Yes” for the all-ages music venue.

Elvis Costello: Talk Show Host?

(Hollywood Reporter) - British rocker Elvis Costello will host a talk show for Sundance Channel, beginning later this year, the cable channel said Wednesday.

"Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . .," which will be executive produced by Elton John, will also air on CTV in Canada and Channel 4 in the U.K.

The series will feature everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions, with a variety of performance elements, Sundance said.