The $23,000 Giggles (and other improbable but true classic rock tales)

I don't think that either John Lennon or Paul McCartney dreamed, when their attempts to finish recording a take of "I'll Follow the Sun" disintegrated into a fit of uncontrollable giggling, that a tape of that little slice of life would sell for more than $23,000. Heck, it was 1964. At that point, neither The Beatles nor the rest of the world had an inkling of the lengths to which Beatlemania would go. After 44 years in an attic in northern England, the tape sold at auction this week, giggles and all.

Iggy Popped
It will take a lot more than $23,000 to replace the gear stolen from Iggy and The Stooges right in the middle of their reunion tour. A truck containing all of the band's instruments and stage gear disappeared after a concert Monday (8/4) in Montreal. The truck, empty of course, was found the next day. The band has managed to continue the tour uninterrupted by cobbling together donated and rented gear.

New Queen Album Coming Soon
It's been so long since Queen made a new album, the last one had the last tracks recorded by Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991. Queen + Paul Rodgers will release The Cosmos Rocks in the U.S. on October 14. Queen's last album, 1995's Made In Heaven turned out to be their biggest seller, at more than 20-million. Queen-plus begin a European tour on September 15.

Rock's Writers
For some people, one autobiography apparently isn't enough. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, fresh from rehab, has been offered $2-million for his memoirs by a publisher who apparently feels that a 2003 Aerosmith autobiography must have left fans wanting more.

Brian May's new book has a pretty snappy title. A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud is actually the Queen guitarist's doctoral thesis, the one that earned him an advanced degree in astrophysics. That he can manage to write a thesis in between touring and recording a new album is a testament to how serious he was about finishing the college education that he cut short three decades ago to become a rock star.