Hello! We’re back! It’s been a heck of a month out of the office and recovering from surgery and this damn cold/flu/virus that the world seems to be catching. What a ride. I am glad most of this is behind me! So on to the news! I am bummed to hear my pal Slash and his wife are divorcing. I guess it will be hardest on their two sons. Pulse of Radio reports Slash and his wife of 13 years, Perla Hudson, did not sign a prenuptial agreement when they got married in 2001, according to TMZ.com. Now that the couple are divorcing, Perla has apparently already hired a lawyer to determine how much money Slash has made during the length of their marriage so that she can get the 50 percent of his earnings that she believes she’s entitled to. Perla believes Slash has made tens of millions of dollars during the past 13 years. He has released five albums in that period, including Velvet Revolver‘s Contraband, which sold four million copies. The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist filed for divorce late last month, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Slash’s divorce petition noted that they separated last June. He is asking for joint custody of their two sons, 12-year-old London and 10-year-old Cash. Slash filed for divorce once before, in 2010, but decided to give things another try and withdrew his claim. The couple renewed their vows in 2011 on their 10th anniversary. Sad. Meanwhile, on a lighter note, at the 30th annual NAMM convention later this month in Anaheim, CA, Slash will receive the Les Paul Award during NAMM’s Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards on Jan 24th. Previous recipients include Neil Young, Peter Gabriel and Todd Rundgren. Slash and his band will be touring Australia, New Zealand and South America February and March. Here’s a full concert video from Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators filmed in September in Glasgow, Scotland!….I love seeing the footage of the AC/DC interviews that were done in our offices air all over the world. This was shot in our conference room by ABC TV Australia…..Guitar World posted an unreleased Dimebag Darrell track called “Whiskey Road.” Check it out here. Look for Guitar World’s Feb issue, a tribute to Dimebag. Noteworthy about the tune: Dime recorded every instrument on the track himself. Man, we miss that guy!…Pulse of Radio also reports on this. What does this say for a country that is supposed to stand for freedom? The departing state superintendent of public education in Arizona spent his last day on the job threatening sanctions against a school district for citing Rage Against The Machine in the district’s curriculum on Mexican-American history. According to Rolling Stone, Republican superintendent John Huppenthal sent a “notice of non-compliance” to the Tucson Unified School District, claiming that the use of Rage’s song “Take The Power Back” violated the state’s ban on ethnic studies. Huppenthal also scolded the district for using an essay written by rapper KRS-One, titled “An Introduction To Hip-Hop” in a class on African-American cultural perspectives. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello addressed the matter on Twitter, claiming that his band’s lyrics are “only dangerous if you teach (them) right.” Huppenthal threatened to cut state funding for the district by 10 percent if it did not comply with the law by March 4th. Arizona’s statewide ban on ethnic studies became law in 2010 and limited the contents of classroom studies. Huppenthal said that the two current courses in question ”promote the overthrow of the United States government” as well as “resentment toward a race or class of people,” while advocating “ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals,” as determined by the law A lawsuit seeking to overturn the law will go before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this month. Huppenthal’s successor as superintendent, Diane Douglas, will follow up on the matter, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Education. Unreal….Speaking of AC/DC, Malcolm Young turns 62 today.
