The world of rock’n’roll can be very, very strange…it’s loaded with strange creatures: performers, managers, fans, and various hangers-on…people get into the scene because there are (allegedly) no rules and rebellious bad behaviour isn’t just tolerated, it’s encouraged…

There’s a sense in many quarters that anything goes and that the conventions of society and the law just seem to don’t apply…if you don’t participate, you don’t belong…you’re viewed with suspicion or distain…if that’s the case, you’re excluded…

And let’s be honest: artists can be different…they are not like you and me…

It’s not an insult to say artists are often wired in unusual ways, which is the thing that makes them artists…they think different, feel different, and as a result often act different that your basic civilian…

Add in alcohol, drugs, and other mind-altering things and you end up with bizarre situations that end up attracting the attention of law enforcement and the courts…

Many are minor indiscretions…misdemeanours that result in a warning and maybe a fine…but some of these actions and activities are extremely serious…they involve property damage, bodily injury—or worse…

These are occasions where music, rock culture, fame, rebellion, and chaos get all mixed together with dangerous and sometimes deadly results…

This is Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, episode 32…and this time, we’re going to go through a list of some of the most bizarre music-related crimes in history…

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We’re largely immune to most the craziness that rock starts get up to…arrested for drugs?...yawn…got into a bar fight?...what else is new?...a DUI?...what, another one?

There is a red line…anything to do with any kind of sexual assault is still properly greeted with revulsion…murder is still considered a bad thing…and if pedophilia is involved, there is no coming back from that.

But once upon a time when all rock and roll was considered dangerous, any kind of bad behavior made the news and resulted in widespread condemnation in the media, from church pulpits, from teachers, and parents.

The Rolling Stones built their early career on bad behavior…although they were good friends with the squeaky-clean Beatles, they were artfully positioned to be the anti-Beatles, the bad boys of rock’n’roll…it was all very clever and very effective.

As mild as some of the stones’ offences seem today, back then, they were considered outrageous and dangers…the authorities—police, judges, politicians—really were out to get them.

That is not an exaggeration…and in the process, the rolling stones amassed a very long rap sheet…there are no fewer than 13 instances where the stones were in big trouble with the police.

 This is episode 31 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry” …let’s examine the impressive and decades-long arrest record of The Rolling Stones.

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The holiday season is upon us and one questions is always present.

Have you been naughty or nice? Depending on your answer you'll either be rewarded or you'll find a much more frightening fate will be upon you, and no, it's not a lump of coal.

For centuries, disobedient children in Austria and other Alpine countries have faced a truly terrifying Christmas consequence for their misbehavior — a dreaded visit from Krampus.

If you've misbehaved Krampus can be heard before he can be seen which makes him even more frightening.

The joyful sound of sleigh bells will be replaced by something far more sinister: the menacing clanking of rusty chains accompanied by the eerie tinkling of cowbells.

So be good for goodness sake because Krampus is coming to town.

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According to myths around the world, the devil is always looking for more souls…this practice isn’t anywhere in the bible, but there are plenty of accounts in other religions, literature, and art.

For example, Dante’s “ The Divine Comedy, “ written in the 14th century, riffs on this concept.

Other stories involve the devil and demons seeking humans to give up their souls in exchange for riches, favours, or the bestowment of special powers. These are the so-called “deals with the devil.”

The best-known ancient example is the story of Faust, a German legend dating to the 16th century... a depressed and bored scholar attempts suicide... when that fails, he calls upon the devil to make things better.

“Give me magic powers, knowledge, and a chance to indulge in all the pleasures of this world!”… The devil—known as Mephistopheles in this story—says, “Sure!... You can have all you want for a few years…but when time is up, you will give me your soul, and you will be my slave forever.”

Faust says, “deal!”…and for a while, he gets everything he wants, including lots of sex…things inevitably turn out bad for him, and per his contract, he is carried off to hell—maybe…there are other versions of the story where he gains redemption and gets to keep his soul.

So how does one make an appointment with the devil to sell their soul?...mostly, you meet him at a crossroads at midnight, discuss terms, and sign the contract.

Over the centuries, sea captains, generals, and painters are said to have sold their souls in exchange for worldly things…and so have a number of musicians…the most famous of these stories is connected to blues musician Robert Johnson…it is said he made a deal with the devil and was bestowed with an almost supernatural ability to play the guitar.

Robert Johnson eventually died at the age of 27…but what really happened?...was he murdered?...or did his contract expire?

I’m Alan Cross, and this is episode 30 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”…let’s take a trip to the crossroads to see whom we find there…and here’s a hint: more than just Robert Johnson will be there.

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If you were around in December 1980, you probably remember where you were and how you felt when you heard that John Lennon had been murdered…it was unbelievable, inconceivable, that someone would kill not just a Beatle but a man who was famous for promoting love and peace around the world.

On the surface, Lennon died at the hands of a disturbed, depressed fan who hoped to achieve immortality by snuffing out the object of his obsession…but there’s more to Lennon’s death than you might realize…a lot more.

On this episode of Uncharted, we’re going to look at some of the little-know stories, neglected truths, and lingering mysteries about John Lennon, his assassin, and what happened before, during, and after that night in December 1980.

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The number “27” occupies an odd place in rock history…it’s the age when rock stars die—or so the story goes…and, if i’m honest, it does come up quite a bit…there are books on the subject, documentaries, and more.

The age of “27” has an eerie hold over popular culture…even casual music fans think that this is when so many rock stars have died…given the ubiquity of the concept of “the 27 club” has, someone might guess that we’re talking dozens and dozens of deaths…just look how deeply “the 27 club” is embedded into rock lore…it’s morbid stuff, but who doesn’t like stories that flirt with death?.

Here’s the question: is this mythology justified? ...what evidence exists for it?... And if so, what’s so special and common about rock starts dying at the age of 27?... We should look into this.

 I’m Alan Cross and this is episode 28 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry…it’s time to investigate the truth of “The 27 Club”.

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When Nadine Bailey was 7 years old she woke up terrified of dark figures looming at the end of her bed and an eerie presence all around her. From then on every night was the same, she was visited by phantom-like shadows and no matter where she went, the ghostly encounters followed her. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits and the unexplained have consumed her entire life and for the past 20 years she's been an award-winning guide with Edmonton Ghost Tours  Along the way she has taken people into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness and inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons, and more. On Haunted Canada, Nadine journeys through terrifying and bone chilling stories of the unexplained. Join her if you dare.

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When you go to a big, loud rock show, you want a spectacle…lights, lasers, special effects, and, if all goes well, lots of pyro…flames, explosions, smoke bombs—they all add to the theatricality of it all.

But if you’re going to blow stuff up and have open flames onstage, you gotta be careful…not only do you have to abide by health and safety regulations, local laws, and local building codes, you have to be very aware of the venue itself.

Can it handle your pyro?... If it can’t—or if you don’t police people who insist of lighting up their own munitions—the results can be deadly…and so far in the 21st century, there have been too many of these incidents.

This is the story of one particular night in west Warwick, Rhode Island…it should have been a typical night of metal at a nondescript 500-person venue…instead, it was one of the worst building fires in American history.

I’m Alan Cross and this is “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music History”…and this is the scary story of the station nightclub fire…

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What do Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, patsy cline, Jim Croce, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ricky Nelson, and Stevie Ray Vaughn have in common? ...they all died when the private aircraft in which they were flying crashed.

 Holly, the Big Bopper, and Valens were on a single-engine six-seater Beechcraft bonanza when it went down in bad weather in an Iowa cornfield in February 1959…Cline and two other musicians died in March 1963 when their six-seater piper Comanche…bad weather was to blame there, too.

Jim Croce was onboard an 11-seater Beechcraft twin-engine when it hit a tree on takeoff from and airport in Louisiana…fog and pilot error.

In October 1977, a chartered Convair CV-240 carrying members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and their crew somehow ran out of gas and crashed into a Mississippi swamp…i tell that story in episode 1 of this podcast.

On December 3, 1985, Ricky Nelson was on an old DC-3 when an heater on the plane caught fire and crash-landed in a Texas cow pasture.

And Stevie Ray Vaughn was in a helicopter leaving a Wisconsin music festival on August 27, 1990…it ended up all over the side of a ski hill…it was foggy and while the pilot was certified to fly a fixed-wing aircraft under such conditions, he wasn’t licensed to fly a helicopter. 

There are many more examples, but I think I’ve made my point. 

On this episode, I want take a close look at two more private plane crashes that are still widely discussed…there’s the accident that nearly killed blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and killed several other people…and the other crazy story of the aircraft accident that killed Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads.

I’m Alan Cross and this is episode 26 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”.

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The 1920s were a time when people were after easy money…people flocked to the stock market, buying up shares in small companies with borrowed money…and for a while, returns were good.

But this go-go atmosphere also attracted swindlers and con artists…Carlo was one of them…he arrived in the U.S. From Italy in 1903 with $2.50 in his pocket…he’d boarded the ship with more, but Carlo had lost most of it gambling.

He eventually made his way to Montreal where, as a bank teller, he made connections with many new Italian immigrants…the bank had been paying very high interest…these interest payments were covered by the profits from real estate investments…except that they weren’t.

All payments were funded through new deposits from new customers…when the flow of new customers stopped, the interest payments dried up, clients demanded their money, and the bank failed…the owner ran off to Mexico with whatever money was left.

But Carlo was intrigued…by 1920, he was in New York running a company that promised to double investors’ money in 90 days…and if you were a ground-floor investor, that’s exactly what happened…and you were paid promptly.

By mid-1920, Carlo’s company made millions…investors clamored give him money, handing over their life savings and mortgaging their houses…but then several people got suspicious…how could Carlo keep offering such amazing returns?

He couldn’t…the profits could only keep coming if there were new investors…by July 1920, it all started to collapse…the debts were huge…six banks involved in Carlo’s plot failed…at least $20 million—more than $300 million in today’s money—just disappeared.

When he went to prison, Carlo was booked under his assumed name: Charles Ponzi…this kind of fraud is now known as a “Ponzi scheme”.

The world is full of scam artists, many of whom think that they can avoid the mistakes of Charles Ponzi…but the math and the finances never work…Ponzi schemes always fail.

They’ve been tried with stocks, currency trading, beauty products from south Africa, the planting of teak trees in India, church donations, fake loans—even (believe it or not), ant farming in China…and of course, there was Bernie Madoff’s investment club that fleeced people of at least $65 billion.

There’s also one Ponzi scheme that involved a couple of groups that legitimately sold tens of millions of CDs…but behind it all was a financial scam.

This is “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry” …and this is the wild story of the Lou Pearlman and the great boy band Ponzi scheme.

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