24 November

Pick a Day

24 NOVEMBER

In Music History

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2023 Garth Brooks opens the Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk on Broadway in Nashville, where you can slip on down to the Oasis - the name of the rooftop bar. In March 2024, an Amazon Prime Video series launches to document its construction.

2017 Mitch Margo of The Tokens, who had a #1 hit in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," dies at age 70.

2014 Eminem releases the two-disc compilation album Shady XV.

2014 Iggy Azalea reissues her debut album, The New Classic, as Reclassified. The re-release features five newly recorded songs.

2003 Glen Campbell is arrested for drunk driving and hit-and-run charges in Phoenix, Arizona, after crashing his BMW into another car at another intersection and continuing on. The 67-year-old Campbell, who is sentenced to ten days in jail, allegedly knees an officer's groin during the arrest.

2001 Melanie Thornton, the lead singer for La Bouche, dies in a plane crash (Crossair Flight 3597) near Zurich, Switzerland, at 34.

1998 The Metallica compilation of cover tunes, Garage, Inc., is released.

1997 Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols is the defendant in an episode of Judge Judy. The case is a wrongful termination suit brought on by his former drummer, which Rotten wins.

1994 Oasis is named Best UK Band at the first annual MTV European Music Awards.

1993 Albert Collins, electric blues guitarist and singer, dies of cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 61. The "Master of the Telecaster" can be seen in a cameo appearance in the 1987 comedy Adventures in Babysitting (performing "Babysitting Blues" with the cast).

1991 Eric Carr of Kiss dies of heart cancer at age 41.

1985 Bluesman Big Joe Turner, real name Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., dies of heart failure after a series of illnesses in Inglewood, California, at age 74.

1978 In a clear prelude to his coming "Christian" direction, the Jewish-born Bob Dylan plays tonight's gig in Fort Worth, Texas, wearing a large gold cross around his neck.

1974 In the midst of his infamous "Lost Weekend," John Lennon rehearses with Elton John for Elton's upcoming Madison Square Garden performance, where Lennon makes a surprise appearance.

1973 Ringo Starr's "Photograph" hits #1.

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"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli Buys Only Copy Of Wu-Tang Clan Album

2015

The only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's new double album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin is sold at auction. The buyer is not Wu-Tang obsessive Quentin Tarantino as many hoped, but Martin Shkreli, a 32-year-old pharmaceutical executive notorious for buying a drug company and raising the price of their AIDS drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.


By making just one copy of the 31-track album, Wu-Tang is changing the paradigm of music distribution, treating the album like a piece of fine art rather than a commodity. And like a fine art auction, details are kept under wraps. The album is made on Wu-time, taking about six years to complete. In early 2015, potential bidders with significant capital are given private listenings, and in May Shkreli wins the auction for a reported $2 million, but the unique restrictions take months to hammer out. It seems Wu-Tang is hoping that the buyer will curate the album by holding private exhibitions, but Shkreli just wants to show it off like a trophy. On December 9, he Tweets: "Which artist should I now approach to buy my next private album from?" The controversy doesn't end there: On December 17, Shkreli is arrested on charges of securities fraud and gets out on bail. RZA is unaffected, seeing it as the nature of art. Ghostface Killah feels differently, and when asked about Shkreli, says "F--k him." Shkreli taunts him on Twitter, posting, "Don't cry, Ghost. All rap careers come to an eventual end." The feud escalates, and Shkreli threatens to remove Ghostface's vocals from the album. As for details on the album or its future, even congress can't find out: Shkreli pleads the fifth when he testifies. In 2018, he is sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding investors.

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Comments: 1

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Anj from LacrosseGhostface, you never sold him the right to endorse you or the,WuTang clan. He cant just go waving your names around. Or doing that weak ass shady childish trollin s--t. If he can't handle, something so precious like that with pride and respect then Im sorry that happened but its not ok. I always told my boys just ignore ignorance... within reason of course. Sue his ass for Libel? And that by disrespecting the music the way he has that he's breached his right to anything about you. Boshie MF. Take it back. Love You's Ghostface and all yous WuTang Clan .

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