ARTS

ENTROPY BEAT

The ten top grossing touring musical groups for the first half of 2006
include these seven. Next to the names is the year they got started.

1960 PAUL MCCARTNEY
1962 ROLLING STONES
1969 AEROSMITH
1971 BILLY JOEL
1976 U2
1981 LUIS MIGUEL
1983 BON JOVI

This supports the thesis of western cultural entropy outlined in "The
Quiet Storm: Blowin' in the Wind of Cultural Decay." While there is
nothing wrong with these groups, a thriving civilization would be
expected to have a higher percentage of more recent bands.

http://prorev.com/quietstorm.htm

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MICK JAGGER USES TELEPROMPTER TO REMEMBER LYRICS

ADAM SHERWIN, TIMES, UK - Sir Mick Jagger has succumbed to an on-stage
Autocue in the battle against rock'n'roll amnesia. A screen secreted
among the 63-year-old rocker's onstage monitors scrolls through the
lyrics to the Rolling Stones' classic songs in time with Jagger's
delivery. The prompt, used during the band's L250 million-grossing tour,
even tells him the name of the city where he is performing, and cues his
between-song ad-libs. . A technician keeps pace with Jagger's delivery,
but after 40 years on the road, the screen may require close reading. He
sang the same verse of Ruby Tuesday twice at last week's concert in
Glasgow during a show broadcast across the world by BBC Radio 2. The
Autocue allows Sir Mick to greet overseas crowds in their own language
at prearranged breaks. The script suggested "Good evening London" at
last month's Twickenham shows.

The revelation cast new light on the lengths required to keep ageing
rockers on the road. Oxygen masks are on permanent standby for Ozzy
Osbourne, while the Beach Boys require backstage deep muscle massage
from a licensed practitioner.

Autocues are a guilty secret. "Everyone uses them, from Macca to Elton,"
said Brian Larter, managing director of Autoscript UK, which provides
prompts for BBC newsreaders and rock stars. But discretion is vital.
"Singers like to hide them in a front-of-stage monitor," Mr Larter said.
"You don't want cameras to pick them up or let the audience see them or
the gig can turn into karaoke."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2338953,00.html