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Welcome To The ‘Hotel California’ Case: The Trial Over Handwritten Lyrics To An Eagles Classic
NEW YORK — In the mid-1970s, the Eagles worked on a mysterious new song.
Don Henley, with the help of band co-founder Glenn Frey, wrote down ideas on a lined yellow pad about “a dark desert highway” and “a lovely place” with a luxury surface and frightening undertones. And something on ice, like caviar, Taittinger, or pink champagne?
The hit “Hotel California” became one of rock’s most memorable. Nearly a half-century later, those scribbled pages of lyrics-in-the-making have become the focus of an unusual criminal prosecution, which begins Wednesday.
Glenn Horowitz, a rare book dealer, Craig Inciardi, a former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator, and Edward Kosinski, a memorabilia seller, are accused of conspiring to own and sell manuscripts for “Hotel California” and other Eagles classics without permission.
The three have pled not guilty, and their lawyers have stated that the men did not commit any crimes with the materials they obtained from a writer who had worked with the Eagles. However, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office claims the defendants conspired to conceal the documents’ disputed ownership, even knowing Henley claimed the pages were stolen.
Clashes over precious items are frequent, but criminal trials like these are uncommon. Many disagreements are addressed privately through lawsuits or agreements to return items.
“If you can avoid prosecution by handing over the thing, most people just hand it over,” said Travis McDade, a University of Illinois law professor who specialises in unusual document disputes.
Of course, the Eagle’s texts stand apart in other ways.
Welcome To The ‘Hotel California’ Case: The Trial Over Handwritten Lyrics To An Eagles Classic
The prosecutors’ primary witness is Henley, who is set to testify between Eagles tour stops. The non-jury trial could provide insight into the band’s creative process and life on the fast track to ’70s glory.
Over 80 pages of draft lyrics from the hit 1976 album “Hotel California” are at stake, including the words to the chart-topping, Grammy-winning title track. It boasts one of classic rock’s most recognisable riffs, best-known solos, and most oft-quoted — maybe overquoted — lines: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
Henley said the song is about “the dark underbelly of the American dream.”
It was streamed over 220 million times and received 136,000 radio airplay in the United States alone last year, according to entertainment data company Luminate. Over the years, the “Hotel California” album has sold 26 million copies nationwide, trailing only the Eagles’ greatest hits album and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The pages also contain lyrics to songs like “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town.” Eagles manager Irving Azoff has described the manuscripts as “irreplaceable pieces of musical history.”
Horowitz, Inciardi, and Kosinski are accused of conspiracy to possess stolen property, among other offences.
They are not charged with actually stealing documents. Nor is anyone else, but prosecutors must still prove that the documents were taken. The defence claims that is not true.
Much is dependent on the Eagles’ connections with Ed Sanders, a writer who also co-founded the 1960s counterculture rock band the Fugs. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he worked on an authorised Eagles biography, which was never published.
Welcome To The ‘Hotel California’ Case: The Trial Over Handwritten Lyrics To An Eagles Classic
Sanders is not charged in this case. He received a phone message requesting a comment.
He sold the pages to Horowitz, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.
Horowitz has handled large rare book and archive deals and has previously been involved in ownership disputes. One featured papers related to Margaret Mitchell, the author of “Gone With the Wind.” It was settled.
Inciardi worked on several notable exhibitions for Cleveland’s Rock Hall of Fame. Kosinski is a principal of Gotta Have It! Collectables, infamous for auctioning celebrities’ personal belongings, including Madonna’s latex underpants, which she unsuccessfully tried to prevent from being sold.
According to court documents filed by Kosinski’s lawyers, Henley informed a grand jury that he never delivered the lyrics to the biographer. However, defence attorneys have indicated they want to investigate Henley’s memory of the events.
“We believe that Mr. Henley voluntarily provided the lyrics to Mr. Sanders,” attorney Scott Edelman stated in court last week.
Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that while working on the Eagles book, he was sent whatever papers he wanted from Henley’s residence in Malibu, California, according to the indictment.
Then, in 2012, Kosinski’s business auctioned off several pages. Henley’s lawyers came knocking. According to the indictment, Horowitz, Inciardi, and Sanders began bouncing around various accounts of the manuscripts’ provenance.
Sanders discovered the pages dumped in a backstage dressing area in one story. In others, he obtained them from a stage assistant or while collecting “a lot of material related to the Eagles from different people.” In another, he got them from Frey — an account that “would make this go away once and for all,” Horowitz said in 2017. Frey had died a year ago.
“He merely needs gentle handling and reassurance that he’s not going to the can,” Horowitz emailed Inciardi during a 2012 interaction about getting Sanders’ “‘explanation’ shaped into a communication” to auctioneers, the indictment states.
According to the indictment, Sanders offered or signed off on some of the various justifications, but what he said verbally is unclear. However, he appears to have disputed at least the dressing-room tale.
Welcome To The ‘Hotel California’ Case: The Trial Over Handwritten Lyrics To An Eagles Classic
Kosinski sent one explanation, approved by Sanders, to Henley’s counsel. According to the prosecution, Kosinski also told Sotheby’s auction company that the musician had “no claim” to the records and requested that possible bidders remain unaware of Henley’s objections.
Sotheby’s listed the song “Hotel California” lyrics in a 2016 auction but deleted them after learning of the ownership dispute. Sotheby’s is not charged in the case and has declined to comment.
According to court documents, Henley paid $8,500 for some draft lyrics from Gotta Have It! in 2012, when he began submitting police reports.
Henley’s defence counsel argues he hired starstruck prosecutors to take up his cause rather than pursuing a civil suit himself.
The DA’s office collaborated extensively with Henley’s legal team, and an investigator even wished for backstage passes to an Eagles concert — until a prosecutor declared it was “completely inappropriate,” according to Kosinki’s lawyers in court papers.
Prosecutors dismissed inquiries about their motivations as “a conspiracy theory rather than a legal defence.”
Last year, they stated in court documents, “It is the defendants, not the prosecutors, who are on trial.”
SOURCE – (AP)
The new head of the Army has stated that Britain must be prepared to fight a war within three years.
Gen Sir Roland Walker has issued a warning about a variety of risks in what he calls a “increasingly volatile” environment.
However, he stated that war was not inevitable and that the Army had “just enough time” to prepare to prevent conflict.
He stated that the Army’s fighting capacity would be doubled by 2027 and tripled by the end of the decade.
Gen Walker warned that the Britain was under threat from a “axis of upheaval” in his first speech as Prime Minister on Tuesday.
Among the primary concerns confronting the Britain in the next years, as noted by the general in a briefing, is an enraged Russia, which may seek vengeance on the West for helping Ukraine, regardless of who wins the war.
He stated: “It doesn’t matter how it finishes. I believe Russia will emerge from it weaker objectively – or completely – but still very, very dangerous and seeking some form of retaliation for what we have done to assist Ukraine.”
Britain’s Government Defence Review and Military Challenges
He also warned that China was determined to retake Taiwan, and Iran was likely to seek nuclear weapons.
He stated that the threats they posed may become particularly acute in the next three years, and that these countries had formed a “mutual transactional relationship” since the war in Ukraine, sharing weaponry and technology.
However, he stated that the path to conflict was not “inexorable” if the UK re-established credible land troops to assist its deterrent strategy for avoiding war.
In his speech, he described his force of slightly over 70,000 regular troops as a “medium-sized army” and made no direct call for additional resources or men.
However, he pushed the British Army to adapt swiftly, focussing on technology such as artificial intelligence and weaponry rather than numbers.
His ultimate goal is for the Army to be capable of destroying an opponent three times its size.
This would entail firing quicker and farther, he said, aided by lessons learnt from the Ukraine war.
The general’s speech at the Royal United Services Institute land warfare conference comes only one week after the government began a “root and branch” defence review to “take a fresh look” at the challenges facing the armed services.
Defence Secretary John Healey launched the assessment, describing the existing status of the armed forces as “hollowed-out” and stating that “procurement waste and neglected morale cannot continue”.
According to the most recent Ministry of Defence (MoD) numbers from April 2024, the Britain’s regular Army forces total 75,325 troops (excluding Gurkhas and volunteers).
That figure has been declining in recent years, as recruiting has failed to match retention. The previous Conservative administration lowered the planned headcount from 82,000 to 72,500 by 2025.
Members of the NATO military alliance have agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024, but several countries are unlikely to fulfil this goal.
The Britain presently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defence. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously stated that the defence review will include a “roadmap” for increasing this to 2.5%, however he has yet to provide a date for this promise.
Source: BBC
News
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
PARIS — Katie Ledecky is looking for clean Olympic races. On Wednesday, Hope had pretty much reached her limit.
The American swimmer hopes to add to her six gold medals as she competes in the 400, 800, and 1,500 meters at the Paris Games. Her program starts with the heavy 400 on Saturday, featuring Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh.
Katie Ledecky | ESPN Image
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
The 27-year-old Katie is competing in her fourth Summer Olympics, but the first since a doping scandal involving almost two dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned chemical before the Tokyo Games — yet were permitted to compete with no consequences. The controversy has raised serious worries regarding the effectiveness of anti-doping initiatives.
Katie Ledecky | Vogue Image
“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky claimed. “But what truly counts is, were they training cleanly? Hopefully this has been the case. Hopefully, there has been worldwide testing.”
The International Olympic Committee has expressed concern over the ongoing US investigation into possible doping by Chinese swimmers. While awarding the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, the IOC urged Utah officials to do whatever they could to stop the FBI investigation.
“I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think,” Katie added. “They seek transparency. They want more answers to the remaining questions. At this point, we are here to race. We are going to race whoever is in the lane next to us.
“We are not paid to conduct the tests, so we trust those who follow their regulations. That applies both today and in the future.
Katie Ledecky | ESPN Image
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
SOURCE | AP
As the summer holidays begin, London may experience an official heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 29 degrees Celsius.
The Met Office predicts a long period of sunny and dry weather for London after a soggy spring and summer.
After a cloudy day on Saturday, temperatures are expected to reach 27C on Sunday, with lots of sunlight.
On Monday and Tuesday, temperatures are forecast to peak at 29 degrees Celsius. Monday is forecast to offer more sunlight, while Tuesday may see some gloomy weather.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the high 20s next week, with lows of approximately 18C.
According to the Met Office, a heatwave is “an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity.”
In the United Kingdom, a heatwave is proclaimed when daily temperatures meet or surpass a certain level for at least three consecutive days.
In London, the heatwave threshold is 28 degrees Celsius.
The Met Office reported that the UK is experiencing hotter and wetter weather on average due to climate change.
The UK experienced its warmest May and April on record this year, despite damp and dismal conditions in many areas.
According to the Met Office’s State Of The UK Climate 2023 report published on Thursday, the UK experienced historic levels of extreme weather last year.
In the United Kingdom, 2023 was the second warmest year on record, bringing storms, flooding, strong heatwaves, and rising sea levels; only 2022 was warmer.
It was 0.8°C higher than the average from 1991 to 2020, and 1.66°C higher than the 1961 to 1990 average.
However, 2023 will be a “cool year” in comparison to 2100, based on the planet’s warming trajectory.
The government’s plan to adapt to the hazards presented by climate change is currently being challenged in the High Court by campaigners who allege the Tory administration’s July 2023 National Adaptation Programme (NAP) fails to adequately address 61 concerns.
Source: The Standard
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