The three most expensive guitars

At number 1 - the reach for asia Stratocaster. - $2.7 million

This guitar sold at auction in Qatar in 2005, to raise funds for Reach out to Asia, a charity formed to help the tsunami victims. Coordinated by Bryan Adams, was signed by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams himself. Initially taken by the Qatari royal family for $ 1 million and later donated to charity, after it was sold again to a price of $ 2.7 million, which means that the guitar has yielded a total of $ 3.7 million dollars for charity.

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In second place - Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Stratocaster. - $2 million

This guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock in 1969. From 1970 until 1990 was in charge of drummer Mitch Mitchell, before emerging to the surface in 1990 at the opening of the new Fender Artist Centre complete with cigarette burns on the headstock, and Trademark Jimi reverse stringing. It sold at Sotheby’s in the same year for $ 198,000. The rumors say that Paul Allen (Bill Gates’ right-hand man at Microsoft) is paid two million dollars for this guitar in 1998.

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And in at third - Bob Marley’s Custom made Washburn 22 series Hawk. - $2 million

Classified as a national asset by the government of Jamaica, this guitar is one of only seven guitar of reggae icon’s life. On November 21, 1971, after a gig in Vancouver, Marley gave the guitar to a guitar technician Gary Carlsen with the words, “Take it as you will understand later.” When he later came to sell it after the singers death, the Jamaican government felt they had to have it and bit $2million for it.

Egypt, Libya... London?

Around 400,000 people joined a Violent demonstration yesterday in London to oppose the coalition government's spending cuts and broken promises. Teachers, nurses, midwives, council and other public sector workers were joined by students, pensioners and direct action supporters, bringing the centre of the capital to a standstill.

Tens of thousands of people streamed along Embankment and breached police barriers in Whitehall. The rioters many of whom students set off from the University of London in Bloomsbury, swelled the crowd, which stretched back as far as St Paul's Cathedral.

A lot of people in the UK are barely able to make ends meet as it is but if something isn't done about the state of finance soon, the national debts will continue to rise until our economies can no longer function.
And this is not just the UK, The US is over 3 trillion in debt and its still rising with no sign of it ever being payed off. Interest is charged on all money printed, meaning there is more theoretical money than real money, with more interest being charged on the debt. Its absolute madness.

Wyclef Jeans not playing poker for a while, he was shot for trying to vote!

Hip-hop singer and former Fugee Wyclef Jean is still recovering after he was shot in the hand. His publicist Cindy Tanenbaum said Jean, who was in Haiti, was shot in Port-au-Prince on the eve of the country's presidential vote. The singer was rushed to a hospital for immediate treatment.

It is still unclear whether or not the shooting was politically motivated, but after Jeans failed presidency bid and the countries history of violence and corruption I wouldn't really be surprised.

Ex-Fugees member Pras also tried to provide some information on the shooting.

    "Yes they shot Wyclef and he's in the hospital... Mess with me, I'll fight back. Mess with my friends, I'll hurt you. Mess with the ones I love, and they'll never be able to identify you." (Pras' Twitter)

Noel Gallagher is "Scared to go on stage"

After having his ribs shattered by a crazed fan three years ago onstage in Canada, Noel Gallagher has revealed that he is still "to scared to go back on stage". Recalling the incident, Gallagher explained: "Someone, who can only be described as a 'Canadian', was able to get onstage, somehow managed to evade our crack security team  and assaulted my mid-riff.
Gallagher is currently working on a solo album to compete with his brothers "Beady eye" Lets hope he'll start touring again once its done.

In the meantime we still have youtube videos of the genius in action.

Illegal MP3's and the $75 Trillion Lawsuit.

Well it seems Limewire is in a bit of trouble as they get sued for damages of up to $75 Trillion by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America)

The RIAA had contends that LimeWire has enabled potentially thousands and even millions of people to illegally download one or more of over 11,000 songs. As a result, the association said its members are entitled to statutory damages for every single illegal download.

An award based on the RIAA calculations would amount to more money than the entire music industry has made since Edison's invention of the phonograph in 1877. I didn't think anybody still used limewire anyway.

Original article can be viewed here

Say Goodbye to Music Singles

Mercury records have just announced that they will no longer be producing singles. The record label which ownes bands like Arcade Fire and U2, will now rely solely on downloads.

Digital downloads' popularity, higher manufacturing costs, and the expense of dealing with unsold stock have all contributed to the Single's demise.

Ian McCann, the new editor of Record Collector magazine, has said: 'The major labels have struggled with finding a way of coping with the comparatively small runs that a physical single entails and are just not cut out for such business.

It is a sad day indeed, i can still remember sitting in my mums car on the way back from HMV, eagerly reading the CD inlays, desperate to get home because the car only had a cassette deck.

Carbon fiber Guitar

This brand new guitar from XOX is being hailed as the most revolutionary guitar of our generation. Personally i think that's rubbish although it does look quite cool.
The design is obviously stolen from the classic les paul design, complete with double humbuckers. While it may be nice to look at i really can't see a serious guitarist up on stage with it.

The entire body is made from a single lump of carbon fiber, Which XOX have claimed is impossible to break, so don't expect to be able to smash your guitar after your set.
The first batch are set to go on sale soon directly from XOX, but with a price tag of nearly $3000, some people could easily up in debt.