Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

With all the latest press re hollywood stars being let off easy or scrott free for crimes (amy weinhouse, keifer sutherland, paris hilton) I am getting increasingly disgusted with how easily a person with money can get out of being punished... and it made me start looking into it...

remember when vince neil crashed his car into oncoming traffic back in 84' and killed one of his friends?

I had a high school friend who was involved in a similar situation:
had been drinking and took a corner too fast and crashed a pickup truck. He awoke to find his friend dead next to him. I knew both guys fairly well...
the kid who drove did somewhere around four years time for manslaughter. At the trial the 'dead friend's' parents pleaded with the judge to let the driver off easily - in tears - they said sentencing him to hard time would be like losing another son for them. He faced seven years and got off with four.

vince neil did 18 days of hard time. Now I was a big fan of crue and I realize that we all make mistakes...
but are we really at a point in america where the bourgeoise can get away with murder?
do you feel sick too?

The thing that always bothered me was not that today's celebs get off easy, it's quite the opposite. Nobody else in the country really does time for a 2nd offense DUI (unless they are being made example of...), but paris was forced to serve time.

Yet woody allen molested his 16yo step-daughter and vince neil killed a guy, while drunk driving (the lead singer of Brittany Rocks, I believe) and both never even saw a courthouse.

Hell.. my neighbor had 12 DUI's and had his license suspended 8 times over, and yet killed a pedestrian while driving drunk and only served 8 months before getting paroled.

Celebs don't get off easy anymore, every one of them is made an example of and serves 10 times the sentence us ordinary people would. That was a thing of the past IMO.

Just for the record, it was Razzle (guitarist for Hanoi Rocks).

Either way, guys, it's just another example of how the system doesn't work. Ambiguous laws that are left open to interpretation by the courts are never going to deliver the desired results. I have also known folks who have had 8, 10 even 12 DUI's, and after the first couple, don't even see jail time. I think that, whether a celebrity faces the proper consequences for their actions or not, should never be an option.
Basically, what I mean to say is this: In a perfect world, there is ONE consequence for ONE crime.
But this is the real world, and money (and prime time) talks...

.

I want it noted that I will NOT post a 12 page essay on this!

Too many people are enamored with the rock and roll lifestyle stuff that the media pushes......cool drugs, chix and wimmins, etc. Its seems almost as if "oh well its rock and roll" attitude dehumanizes it in way. How many kids today do you see walking around with 40.00 'Syd' T-shirts from hot topic ? Lots here. Its weird....in the 70's they looked for any way possible to lock rock musicians up. Now, its, "Oh Wow...Pete Dougherty is like soooo kewl, doo00ood" from the same system. Go figure.

I wanna be a rock-star too!

The guitarist I'm working with has had 3 DUI's in 2 states, & has spent 1 weekend in jail because of them. He also had to do 100 hours of community service.

I can't believe he has gotten away with so much, but he has.

I have no idea where he came up with the scratch for his legal fees.

He still drinks at every opportunity.

I want to replace him.

Sounds like you may have to replace him at some point. He may be detained at some point.

Already happened once. Haven't been able to replace him yet, but I have high hopes.

The band leader/singer likes him, but is fed up, too. I may have him ready to split with this loser.

I've been advertising here & elsewhere for quite a while.

I'm shocked you are having difficulty finding a guitarist.

Kramerguy wrote:Celebs don't get off easy anymore, every one of them is made an example of and serves 10 times the sentence us ordinary people would. That was a thing of the past IMO.

I don't know what state the guy u r talking about lived in but in AZ first offense you are gauranteed a 2 nite stay in tent city (lookup tent cit... not pleasant)... and 2nd offense is a minimum of 60 days in jail. I know of two ppul who served time for both first and second offense.
the guy with 12 dui's... there's no excuse. that is a real tragedy.

hilton got it hard? I don't think so. she got a fair shake in my opinion... didn't get off easy... didn't get off that bad... (she'd have done 60 in AZ's tent city if she'd been down here).

agreed... woody allen is a slime ball child molester.

Craig Maxim wrote:.

I want it noted that I will NOT post a 12 page essay on this!

i can't even begin to tell you how dissapointed I am to hear that craig.

philbymon wrote:Already happened once. Haven't been able to replace him yet, but I have high hopes.

The band leader/singer likes him, but is fed up, too. I may have him ready to split with this loser.

I've been advertising here & elsewhere for quite a while.

I don't wanna sound too soap-boxy... but perhaps you can softly influence him to continue drinking but begin to utilize cabs, designated drivers, etc.

Why would I wanna work with a drunken guitarist?

Sometimes he's good, but no one is that good, & when he gets drunk you can really tell by his playing. He slips out of key, forgets to tune, sings out of key, etc etc etc.

I don't wanna drive him around, & cabs out here cost a mint, cuz everything's at least 12 miles away. Besides, his drinking outside of the band is what caused him to miss a show when he had to go to jail after he failed to meet the requirements of his parole.

Either he gets some self discipline, or he gets replaced, or I'll quit working with him, & the band can find another bass player if they need or want him that badly. Those are the only options I'll allow in my life with these guys as the professional musician that I am. He's well beyond his last chance with me, & I will replace him if I can.

There is never a need for me or anyone else to be at the mercy of a drunk or a druggie. I won't have his bad habits ruining my rep. I'll go solo first. I have to do one more show with him, by contract. If he does anything to mess with it, I'm probably gonna draw that "it's either him or me" line in the sand. I can live with things no matter how they go without animousity, but I don't need to continue this crap.

i just meant that you seem like a decent person and I doubt he has many decent people left around him... then again perhaps the absence of those decent people will be a 'louder' message.