For those of you who have already purchased the new Led Zeppelin 2DVD set of archive material/concerts etc , how many of you have found the hidden bonus element featuring members of Smart Artists jamming with Jimmy and Robert?

Classic footage of the boys matching the Zep duo all the way through ‘Train Kept a Rollin’, ‘People Get Ready’ and ‘Still In the Height’.

This legendary session, captured during the pre show soundcheck at the Sydney Entertainment Centre for Page/Plant World Reunion tour of 03/04, was originally filmed by Channel 7 Sydney for intended use on the Norman Gunston comeback shows of the same era (but of course we all know what happened to Garry McDonald behind the scenes don’t we !.

Apparently the can of film lay dormant at Channel 7 studios for years following the surprising cancellation of the Gunston programme but was recently discovered following an appeal from the Australian Film and Sound Archive to 7 Execs to recheck all known studio storage areas in attempt to locate this rare and highly valuable celluloid.

Once word reached Jimmy Page that the footage had in fact surfaced, the old Yardbird himself insisted on flying the can in its own First Class seat (via Smart Artists preferred airline Qantas of course) all the way to LA for remix and remaster! The sight of Tony Strong imitating Bonzo and Darren Knight whipping Page’s theremin into gear ………..priceless!

Scotland Yard are currently investigating the recent theft of master tapes of the remastered and soon to be released Beatles classic, Let It Be … Naked.

The tapes disappeared in transit between Paul McCartney’s Essex home and Abbey Road Studios for final remix sessions, those sessions believed to be in an attempt to rectify the previous over production techniques of then Producer Phil Spector.

It is understood that Smart Artists Rudy Morabito is “a person of interest” to Scotland Yard Detectives following his long and well known public feud with Spector which goes back many years to his time in the UK with Celibate Rifles.

In those sessions Spector allegedly held Morabito at gun point on several occasions until he “got the goddam feel right on your piano boy” for his now famous overdubs on several of the classic Imagine tracks.

Apparently Morabito’s defence at the time that he was playing guitar, not piano, did not sit well with the infamous Producer. Rudy Morabito is believed to have sworn that if he ever got the chance he would “teach that crazy mother Spector a lesson” at some stage down the track.

Police believe an anonymous call to them declaring “Spector can’t produce wind let alone a Beatles album, and I’m gonna wipe him out forever” may have some connection with the Smart Artists rocker, who currently has gone into hiding somewhere down the long and winding road.

Welcome to my little corner of smartartists.net

I will be updating this area periodically with tidbits, non-sequiturs and occasionally useful information.

Smart Artists always welcome questions and comments from you.

Just go to the contact information page and drop us a line.

And be sure to reference ‘Smart Artists’ in the subject line or else I may confuse you with someone trying to sell me a medicine that will make my fingers longer.

Until next time … PH

On a recent trip to Melbourne, Smart Artists Bass player Matt Bone was confronted by a most unusual situation in a city fashion store.The world renowned fashion icon and man handler, Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. J.Lo, apparently on holidays down under tried on a dress when suddenly her ass spontaneously combusted.
Matt was shocked to say the least. “I guess it was about time this happened. She’d been carrying a lot of junk in her trunk. Now instead of focusing on her ass, maybe she’ll concentrate on improving her lackluster film and music career,” stated Matt.