Standard-Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania • 51

jLuust 1S, 2002 STANDAD-Sf EAKtE SUNDAY C5 i Web site for former Rolling Stone Brian Jones makes no sense with Jones. Yes, I suppose it is possible someone dunked him and held his head under water too long, whether intended homicide or not But it is unlikely someone else wouldn't have jumped in to stop it After all, having the cops bop in to investigate a death in the middle of wild party is decidedly uncool. But, of course, none of the message posters accepted that The board is loaded with charges and counter-charges, insults and counter insults. for a fully-grown, 30-some-thing adult (and on this site, 30-something means you're the baby of the crowd). It's one thing to admire someone, to respect hisher ability and to proclaim hisher greatness at one thing or another.

But, it's quite another to center one's life on someone you never knew, only read about and listened to. Maybe you should consider crochet Maybe I should post that on the Brian Jones message board. All that made me wonder, exactly what is the point of this nonsense? What is the point of a fan club for a dead man? I didn't bother to check, but I have no doubt that similar sites "dedicated" to Elvis, Lennon, Morrison, Hendrix. Joplin, Bon Scott Joplin, Kurt Cobain and other former musicians contain the same sort of "witty repartee." When you think about it to say your life revolves around a dead musician is to say your life is quite empty; especially IriJP Win 1 1 jgs. Each Jo You know haw when vnn run for political office your official announcement lists all the organizations of which you're a member? If I ever run for office (and I'd belying if I said I never considered it), my list would be quite short I am a member of, the Republican Party, the Louise Brooks Society, aYahoo discussion group about Eastern European cars and I think the Pocono Libertarians.

I say think because I was at one point, though the membership may have expired. I am not a joiner! I am an individualist, not acollecuvisL My "heroes," if you will, are Barry Goldwater and H.L Mencken (in addition to Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Ted Williams, Dave Keon), not FDR and John Maynard Keynes. But, I have over the years considered joining organizations. I once perpended joining a Chrysler 300 club (I have a '68, not a "letter series" which limited my options), but decided against it As has been well documented, I'm a huge Rolling Stones fan. But, I have never joined any Stones fan club, ana never seriously considered it, even in my youth.

Never saw the point I did, however, consider joining one of the Brian Jones fan clubs years ago. But, I L.A. Tarone never did. Now, I was and remain a big Jones admirer. It is he, after all, who founded the band and picked and led its musical direction.

It is he who established and personified their scruffy, tough guy, "anti-every-thing" attitude that so many of us idolized. Still, there was an intellectual air about him that led us Stones fanatics to feel intellectually superior to fans of the moptops. Jones was a brilliant musician. He could learn to play anything in a half-hour and master it in an hour. It's impossible not to feel sorry for him over the way his band was stolen from him, with manager Andrew Loog Oldham the master thief, Mick and Keith willing accomplices.

But. there were lots of negatives about Jones as well. He was reportedly mean and spitefuL To call him irresponsible is to dramatically understate me case. To caH him self-centered and self-pitying is to restate the obvious. When the takeover started, Jones wallowed deeply in self-pity and never recovered.

He buried himself in a morass of depression and drugs, completely lost control and ultimately died because of it -and that's true whether you believe the murder conspiracy stories or not I had a slow night last week. I decided to look through bookmarks I have on my work computer. One was a Brian Jones club. I pulled it up and was surprised to see how trivial posts on its message board had become. Many were of the "after all these years, we still miss you and you'll never be forgotten" variety.

Sorry folks, that's nonsense. Jones HAS been forgotten, deservedly or otherwise. Yes, those who knew him (virtually no one on this message board) remember him, as does the band and "old" Stones fans. But to the general music-buying public, Brian Jones is "who?" That may not be fair, but it is fact Another guy picked apart lyrics looking for "guilt" He found a few lines (taken out of context) in "Soul Survivor" and "Comin' Down Again" which he said were Jagger and Keith's admission of involvement in Jones' collapse and, ultimately, his death. But the post that got me the most was one posted June 23, that read "Happy Father's Day Brian, hope you have a wonderful day." Now, what kind of delusional idiot would post something like that? Does this woman actually believe Jones is alive somewhere? Is she one of those who thinks Jones, Morrison, Lennon, Moon and Hendrix are living on an island having wild jam sessions? And, "Happy Father's Day Brian Jones?" You've got to be kidding me! Jones never gave a damn about the kids he fathered.

He barely acknowledged their existence. Another post slammed Jones' two sons for not wanting to know ''the truth" about his death on July 3, 1969. Whether that's true is debat able, but if it is, I can't say I blame them. They never knew hirn. He was Only a father in the biological sense of the term.

He never gave them horse-back rides, taught them to walk, or played with them in the backyard. Why should they care, if, in fact, they don't Posters want the Jones offspring to demand police open another inquiry into his death That's based on "evidence" gathered by Geoffrey Giuiliano and centered on Tom Patrick Gerard. A couple of years ago, Giuiliano wrote a book, Paint It Black, the Murder of Brian Jones. In it Giuiliano claimed he'd gotten a deathbed confession from Gerard that it was he who murdered Jones. Giuiliano released a CD with a purported "re-enactment" of Gerard's confession that he drowned Jones because he was pulling a lot of silly pranks and getting on everyone's nerves.

It also had an interview with Tom Keylock, who'd claimed he was there the night it happened and backed up Gerard's claims. (Keylock was an honorary officer of this fan club -surprise surprise!) Veteran readers of this column will remember that when it came out, I wrote about the disc and quite easily picked it apart. Giuiliano is a professional self-promoter. The disc was obviously staged. Now, Keylock has admitted the entire interview was a hoax.

Now, that doesn't necessarily make eveiything hunky dory. The bond fire of Jones' possessions hours after his death certainly smells fishy. The official verdict of "Death by Misadventure" is not satisfactory. Something did happen that night! Maybe the official version of drowning because of asthma medicine is fact. It does appear the most plausible and it is the one I believe.

Maybe that's my predilection to disbelieve conspiracy stories. For example, I believe none of the JFK conspiracy theories. I do believe the so-called "magic bullet" theory. And if you bothered to strip away all the conspiratorial nonsense and look at the evidence, it is easily the most plausible (though it is still unknown whether Oswald was paid by someone, say Castro or the Mafia). But all the grassy knoll and second and third gunmen stuff is a load of crap.

Most likely, it's the same i ri lo a JOAN VOLCIAK, of WestHazleton displays the Standard-Speaker SUNDAY vacation at Silver Springs, Florida. rl Li Quieter half of '80s duo Hall Oates releases first solo album ft -Wk taken by daughter Lisa Betley. Attention PhotographyEofllfirs while on Enter SUNDAY to 0 Photo Send us catch It on country, Each the "Most will be Photos eligible be returned. telephone Photos will be the photo. families the Standard-Speaker Sunday PHOTO CONTEST CSJir K' II a photo of the most unusual place you someone reading a Standard-Speaker SUM-PAY.

could be on a bus, on a plane, in the wilderness, the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, out of the on a golf course, etc. (StandardSpeaker f0 0 Photos Accepted Only!) By CATHERINE LUCEY Associated Press PHILADELPHIA Mention the 1980s mega-duo Hall and Oates and most people will say Daryl Hall the one with shaggy blond hair who sang most of their hits was the star. Even his partner. "My personality, my voice tends to get overshadowed by Daryrs," John Oates says. "I don't think that's' an overstatement" But now fans have a chance to hear Oates on his first solo album, "PhunkShui." "I think this is a chance for me to step out," says Oates, 53.

The album, a mix of funk and rock, is something of a departure from the pop sound that made Hall and Oates so commercially successful And the optimistic lyrics suggest that Oates has found contentment in both his personal life and his music. The album's title refers to the Chinese art of designing a house In accordance with nature's forces; Its tone is one "of balance, of self discovery, of doing things the right way," Oates says. David Chackler, chief executive officer of Zephyr Media, which Is releasing the album Tuesday, said: "Everybody was really blown away by it After 30 years the silent one speaks." Of course Oates has never been silent, not since he began his career as a solo singer-songwriter in his teens. He met Hall when both were students at Temple University in the late 1960s and after they teamed up, the two spent the 1970s releasing i series of albums working on a sound that blended folk, soul and other Influences. "The well we all drew from was the tradition of doo-wop music, )az2 and church music, the background of Philadel- week we will choose from the photos sent to us Unusuar.

It will appear in the Standard-Speaker SUNDAY Winning Photo Ad. The photographer mentioned and will receive a check for $25.00. must be received by Thursday of each week to be for Sunday's First Place Winner. Photos will not You must Include your name, address and number on the back of each photo submitted. can be color or black white.

3" 5" or 4" 6" accepted. By submitting your photo, you allow Standard-Speaker SUNDAY the right to reprint the Standard-Speaker employees and their Immediate are not eligible to enter. Mail your entry to: BRAD C.BOWEFVA8Soclated Press Oates, of the duo Hall and summer tour Aug. 9 at an Fans will have a chance to his first solo album, "Phunk Their "blue-eyed soul" songs, drawing from their and Phllly Sound roots, were what made them successful, fans say. "The term blue-eyed soul wasn't in popular use, but Hall and Oates conveyed what that was supposed to mean," said Todd Rundgren, who produced their 1974 album "War Babies." "For the time they were successful they managed to not sound like anyone else," Rundgren added.

"When disco came along they didnt start doing disco." But as they grew more successful, Daryl became the main attraction. "When we first started out we were two singer-songwriters sharing a stage said Oates. "As the years went on Daryl began singing the hits. The hits became the songs of Hall and Oates, the sound of Hall and Oates." Daryl Hall, left, and John Oates, launch their opening open-air concert In Hershey. hear Oates on his own when Shul comes out Tuesday.

phia music," says Hall, 52. "What we wanted to add was the singer-songwriter American thing." During their early years they scored some big hits, Including "Sara Smile," "She's Gone" and "Rich Girl" But they really exploded in the '80s when, after tweaking their sound to give It more pop flair, Hall and Oates released several platinum and gold albums and top 10 hits Including "Kiss on My list, "I Cant Go For That (No Can Do)" and "Maneater." They performed at the Live Aid concert in 1983 and recorded a concert with David Ruffin and Eddie Kcndrick of the Temptations. Their playful style and sometimes corny videos only made them more popular. "We were In sync with the '80s," says Oates. 'Our music was perfectly aligned with the music of the time." Standard-Speaker Sunday Photo Uontest PO Box 578 Hazleton, PA 18201 Oi.