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December 26Flying to the East I read the new Mojo which has a letter praising Deep Purple, one of the most maligned groups ever. The problem is they have "Whored'"it to death. Do you want to see Don Airey? NO, you want John Lord. Do you want Steve Morse with his stupid Indian necklace? No, you want Ritchie Blackmore. I'll take David Coverdale or Ian Gillan, preferably David. I remember going to Woolworths with my Mum and talking her into buying me Made In Japan - never mind Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy etc. It is a GREAT live album, every single track rocks. I even remember buying Grand Funk Live which is okay - I'm being kind then convincing myself it's great. The cover is good, it makes it look exciting which is the job of a photographer and an art director. Those were the days, now people don't care, they want it for free. Anyway back to Mojo... Ultravox is also in the issue,. went to Japan with them in '81 or '82, can't remember exactly. They hated me. Midge Ure started crying because I took a photo of him eating a McDonalds instead of a haggis burger. My other memory was the drummer Warren was a tosser. In Singapore, I love landing here with the huge rain clouds - the sky never disappoints. December 25Peter Makowski said I should write something as we both particularly dislike Chrismas. Maybe the Master's speech - like the Queen's speech. I mean, what has she really got to say. 'Hello common people and thank you for all your taxes that keep me in the luxury I deserve.' My parents used to watch her speech like it was their duty.Thinking about it now how sad... I got a lot of books for Christmas so instead of what I'm listening to here's what I'm reading -
And from Peter for Christmas I got -
Peter and I are off to the southeast today, so I begrudgingly wish who ever reads this a Happy New Year - another event I loathe... December 22Ran around London today. It was mental - people going crazy, shopping. Saw Phil Alexander and Wag and Dave Brolan (the only sober Irishman I know) and Dave Everley who Kazuyo says is the most dour man she knows. 'He always looks like he's about to cry or look for a fight.' I did explain he is from the North and you aren't allowed to be happy up North. Metallica destroying the Los Angeles Forum and me with The Legendary Rob Flynn and the human Frankenstein, Dave THE SNAKE Sabo drinking a quick pint of vodka and coke. My photo is taken by the very ugly Karen Sihota in between her bites of several tacos. Karen won't go anywhere without Mexican in her. 
 Karen did give me two fantastic books for Christmas, a first edition of Steppenwolf and a signed copy of Annie Leibovitz At Work. I might even get her a gift voucher to El Pollo Loco as a thank you.
 
  
The view flying home... 
December 20Flew home last night. It was quite scenic as the mountains surrounding Los Angeles were snow-capped. Flew on Air New Zealand again. The ground staff were obnoxious. The ground agent wanted Noriaga's ticket to Fukuoka. 'It's at my house,' I explained. 'He can't fly unless we see it,' she said curtly. 'You didn't say that when he flew out here, and he doesn't need a visa to come to London and be my slave,' I smiled back. 'What about the other one?' she said, looking at Kazuyo. 'I'm Irish,' grinned Kazuyo handing over her Paddy passport. 'How did you get this?' said the agent, looking at it as if we'd printed it this morning. 'Easy, have sex with a Paddy and marry him. They gave it to me - and I used to be a man.' She calls a supervisor and tells him about Noriaga going to London without a visa when he doesn't even need one. 'We'll let him on this time...' What a horrible bitch. I take our boarding passes. As she hands them over she says 'Say thank you.' I look at her, 'What for, if I had something to thank you for I would.' The crew on board were very easy going and friendly - as it should be. Travel in, out and through America is not exciting, it's a chore. It used to be fun. I'd always loved the vibe of airports but American check in and security is no fun and soulless, run by morons. I did think about going to see The Black Crowes and Metallica in San Francisco but I'm heading East in a couple of days and as I landed Peter Makowski phoned with Victim Of Changes blaring in the background. 'Unleashed In The East,' he cried. 'Like the Mighty Priest very soon.' Peter always gets excited when escaping the Polish enclave of Ealing. Feeling jetlagged, must try to wake up... December 19As I got back to my hotel at 1am this morning there was a photographer standing outside, fully equipped with heavy duty cameras. I asked the doorman what he was doing. 'Waiting to run after Paris Hilton, she's in the bar.' He sees me and starts getting excited, firing his flash at me and thrusting a note book and a sharpie in front of me. 'Please, PLEASE,' he implores. 'What the fuck do you want? Go away.' 'PLEASE Lars, just one autograph...!' This really happened. I'd seen Mike Tyson walking along Sunset yesterday followed by the same thing, videoing him and firing flash guns, screaming at him - bear in mind this was at 11am. And people wonder why I don't want to work for Getty or WireImage... Metallica at the LA Forum. See more... 
December 18Didn't get to bed until 2am. General Noriaga was rocking to Green Hell, which they played last night. I didn't really sleep. I was awake three hours later - watched the dawn from my room. It's back to normal clear blue skies and sunshine. Dave Grohl reminded me of General Custer last night- the last man standing at the bar as the vultures descend on him. I remembered Dave said Taylor Hawkins was scared of me. He thought this was highly amusing - you should always be scared of the The Master. My final view was of Diamond Dave cornered by Lonn Friend who was telling the world how Jon Bon Jovi dumped him. At this point I think Dave had fallen asleep. As U2 say, It's a Beautiful Day... Have quite a bit to shoot today - Kirk with Adam Jones from Tool, Lars and The Legendary Rob Flynn of Machine Head. Tool's people were quite something. They insisted on a contract, the sort of thing Guns N' Roses would have had to fuel Axl's paranoia. It was in such legalese that it may as well have been in Latin. I thought bollocks at first then I looked at what I was being paid and thought I'll take the money, I really don't care. Adam Jones was so nice I was quite thrown, I was expecting awfulness and he couldn't have been anything but pleasant. It was a pleasure. Next was Lars and The Legendary Rob Flynn, "Brothers In Metal"! It was inspiring, a work of photographic Metalart. I even took a photo of Rob, Lars and Rob's dad. Your heroes played The Four Horsemen so it was headbanging all the way, plus their ballad Fight Fire With Fire. I had a good time - what more is there to say? After the show I went to see Rob Flynn who was kicking ass with Dave THE SNAKE Sabo, drinking pints of vodka and coke. Rob wanted me to join in, so I did for a bit. Rob bit me on my forehead with his fangs as a sign of true friendship. Dave told me I've been too nice to him on this diary and can I write something nasty - will do very soon. The sky leaving Las Vegas, the others are flying out of Los Angeles and landing over London. 
 Iceland and the snowy rolling mountains are Scotland. 
 December 17Woke up today to black skies - this just isn't right for Los Angeles. It rained all day, pouring down, freezing and bone-chillingly cold... Drove to the LA Forum for some Metallica. Hung out with photographer Neil Zlozower and just before the show started saw Dave Grohl with an entourage of about fifty people, with Taylor Hawkins at the rear. I should have warned Taylor he's not seeing Queen tonight. Two of the The Killers were at the mixing desk - Brandon and the bassist, looking at Metallica playing Creeping Death, both with their arms folded looking thoroughly bored. Come now, Creeping Death is not a boring song, it's a singalong anthem. I did get a good photo of James Hetfield jumping ala Pete Townshend - the Metal Pete Townshend. Saw a happy Dave after the show. Dave thought the Metallica lightshow was the best lightshow he'd ever seen. I made the faux pas of telling him just how useless and crap and over trendy The Foo Fighters lightshow was at Wembley Stadium. This did not go down too well. 'How would you know?' asked Dave in a dismissive voice, sounding hurt. 'I know because I shoot them all the time and your lightshow at Wembley was shit.' Dave conceded his lightshow was bad compared to Metallica's. I left young David fending off drunk people in the Forum bar. Driving back I thought how things change - in the good/bad old days I'd have been there until the bitter end... Here's an email from my past,
Yes it's true. He was the HOMOSEXUAL bassist of the band and would look at Pete and I with lust in his eyes. Be careful if you have too many beers - I haven't seen him since the 70's and I'm sure he hasn't changed. December 16Los Angeles has had interesting weather - rain,snow, more rain, and it's freezing. I expect it in London but not here... Phil Collen was on my flight, with Kazuyo and General Noriaga. We all flew on Air New Zealand which is normally quite okay but this time I had a class A cow in the lounge. 'You can't bring in guests etc.' I pointed out that I'm a three million mile United flyer and I'm allowed two guests. 'Not on Air New Zealand!' she said, looking down her nose. I felt like thumping the old cow and telling her to go fuck herself - I just said 'You have more rules than the army.' She was like one of Pearl Jam's staff following Eddie Vedder's orders. It's just occured to me that Christmas is next week. I hate Christmas... December 15Off to Los Angeles for this coming week...
Plus The Who, as they are playing London.           I like the picture of Rabbit, he looks quite spiritual - and Pete's guitar neck looks ghostly... December 13I had a call last night from a New York production company who are filming a special on Metallica in Los Angeles next week. The assistant wanted me to go to a hotel in Hollywood to be interviewed as the costs of coming to me in West Hollywood were too much - this is about two miles and means they can't be bothered. I passed... Then the producer needed to speak to me. She calls from New York and sounds irritated. 'Have you ever shot Metallica apart from live photos? Did they let you backstage? Do you have "FUN" stories you can tell?' Fun? It goes on like this. I tell her I did all the pictures for the first ten years, then fell out of love with Lars for eleven years, then he and I kissed and made up and I am back etc. She pauses, 'Well, what I need to know is have you EVER met them?' Americans - what can you say? Fun-fun-fun... Pouring with rain today, real Matt Kent weather (one of my old friends from the wastelands of the south east), really makes you want to jump under a bus. Stayed in and read the papers. The Guardian had on the front page the news that it beat Elton John in a libel case over a very funny sendup of his over the top pompous ball in Lost in Showbiz. It also had a Q&A with that stupid old fraud Seasick Steve, he really talks a load of bollocks - sleeping rough, riding freight cars, real old dreams of hobo rubbish. If the person that worked with him in Washington at the photo lab (and contacted me before) is reading this can they get in touch? I finished Saturday night watching a Steven Segal film called Kill Switch, in which he plays a deadly cop with a bad southern accent, looking fat with very badly dyed hair. It has awfully bad blues music, just to show we are in the south. It never says where - probably south of Hollywood. It was so moronic, I realised I was a moron for even watching it... December 12The Man Raze at the Barfly on Phil Collen's 100th birthday.... 
 
 
Peter Gabriel, shot when I was young (he was too). I found these in a box of old prints. 
December 11Ozzy Osbourne's surprise 60th birthday party, December 3. 
December 10
A photo of the late Michael Lee with some friends. I don't remember
Tesla in Los Angeles last week. See more... 
December 8A nice message from David Coverdale
Off to see the Man Razes at The Barfly with Peter Makowski tonight... Phil Collen's 51st birthday at the Barfly. The crowd sang happy birthday as he came onstage which threw off Phil's intro... The rest of the night was a rock'n'roll party. I took some photos, and a quick topless photo, then had to leave early with Peter to catch the Last Train to Cheamville, leaving them all "kickin' ass" as they say in America. I'm sure they'll be going to bed at 7am... More Magazines...   
December 7Sunday and it's freeeeeeezing in a nice sunny English kind of way. Jetlagged, found it hard to get going. Saw Phil Collen this evening, he came over to my house for dinner with his bodyguard, Mike Kobayashi. We were considering destroying London then realised it's too cold and we're too old... Peter Makowski has had lots of emails from all his girlfriends in Thailand saying how they miss him and love him. I'm off to the east this Christmas and will be seeing in the New Year with Peter, while he makes love in Thailand. I've offered to vet his girlfriends to help find him a suitable wife. He has vowed to come home engaged to a local, fresh from a village. A message from the Steven Wiig fan and poetry club....
December 6Back home to a sunny but cold London, not quite as cold as I thought it would be. I'm off back to Los Angeles in a week for Metallica at the Forum so I can take more photos of Steve Wiig for all you Metallica fans... Here's an email from Argentina-
Noooooooooow I don't care what Uriah and David says because it's not true. I have only every met Rod Stewart briefly and it was with Carmine Rojas (Rod's bassist). I asked Rod to sign a bootleg cd and he was more than happy to, and I LOVE the Faces, the Oasis of their day. Now now David, hate is a strong word to use... HATE, as in the dictionary - dislike intensely/intense dislike. David should think carefully before casting the first stone... December 5Woke up still dreaming of my Uni in truffle oil, and Frida Pinto the girl in Slumdog Millionare - go and see the film, it will inspire you to love life. Some photos from New Orleans. The tower at sunset is the view from my room. The boat and alligators are the very very cold freezing bayou. I always thought New Orleans was warm... The two of the clouds are the sky at dawn over the airport. 
   Paul Weller in Dubai, see more... 
A photo of two Handsome and Powerful Men out in Los Angeles, looking for love... December 4Flew back to Los Angeles from a oddly cloudy Las Vegas. Flying in I got some okay photos of the strange cloud layer. Went to see Slumdog Millionaire, a strangely uplifting film. It was so good I could watch it over and over. My date took me to dinner where I dined on Uni fused with truffle oil, it was a culinary delight. I did have KFC for lunch yesterday and that was delightful as well... December 3In Las Vegas staying at the Wynn, a five star diamond award hotel, whatever that means. The service is dire, shit, in fact - shitty attitude from the staff. I checked in at 7pm and all they had was a room with two single beds. After getting the manager and going mad she found me a room but I then had to wait an hour. I finally got a room that was a twenty-minute walk from the reception. Bear in mind check out is at 11am and this is a "FIVE STAR" hotel. The rooms are just okay, bathrooms are tired, service is non-existent. It has shops that sell everything - diamond Rolexes, you name it! As the credit crunch is here everything is on sale at 60% off. Well, an Oscar De La Renta dress is now only $2,500 - a bargain...! I had a wander around the Hard Rock Hotel which is now like an old Motel 6. Talk about run down. I wanted to have a look at Pete Townshend's number 9 Les Paul - it's gone from the lobby and been replaced by a Britney Spears schoolgirl outfit and various rap star's tracksuits. Talk about downgrading. The walls are full of fifth-rate rock photography, cheap digital prints. It was poor. And embarrassing. Spent the evening at Il Mulino, a very upmarket Italian restaurant, for Ozzy Osbourne's surprise 60th birthday party. I did some photos and it's always a pleasure having Kelly Osbourne tell me I'm rude and disgusting. Sharon had made Ozzy a cake with a photo of him as a schoolboy on it. It was a lot of fun. Jack Osbourne asked me (quite seriously) if he could make a film about me - sure, I'll give this up to be a film star. I'll get Gong Li to be my co-star... Sunset over Los Angeles, See more... 
December 2
New covers of Classic Rock, with pictures of Ozzy and his mates from the Classic Rock Awards
Last night I saw Tesla coming at you live at the House Of Blues. As I arrived Jeff Keith was outside with some of his fans (or family). They looked just like him except with more teeth missing. One was called CRAZY George, he had a broken foot from 'Jumping out of a crazy bitch's widow!' Crazy also was dressed like Rikki Rocket circa 1987 with a cowboy hat. He and Jeff were discussing 'Kicking ass.' It was a truly forgettable conversation. I went to see Brian Wheat and Queer Dave Rude. Troy was all friendly, thanking me for shooting the band in between praying to a cross on the wall. Frank of the one string attack was showing off his fists, just like his father-in-law's, Dickie Betts, good for fighting. I stayed for five songs then had a date at Nishimura, the best Japanese restaurant in the world, so I tearfully left the building humming Modern Day Cowboy. As I came out Crazy was standing on Sunset strip telling the security he was a friend of Jeff's - strange how even Jeff ran away from his old mate Crazy... Woke up this morning full of the joys of December. Off to Las Vegas today to get married. December 1I'm in Los Angeles, flew in on Saturday. It rained all last week here but it's quite nice now - sunny, which makes me more positive in the winter. Cold though when the sun's gone. Nice light over Scotland when I left, snow-capped mountains, and Iceland looked inviting as well. My female companion looked over Scotland and said 'Is that chalk?' 'No, snow.' 'Are you sure, isn't Scotland made of chalk?' 'Positive!' I don't think geography was her best subject at school. Had a few emails from Uriah Heep fans wanting to kill me and wishing me a slow death. Look, it's my website, if you don't like it don't read it - write to Peter Makowski, he'll fight you all. He used to be a bareknuckle fighter so he'll take on all of you. The only normal email was from Louis Rentrop who was asking if I hate Wake The Sleeper. I don't hate it, but it doesn't make me want to rush out and watch Bernie Shaw - let's be honest, he's not David Byron. I can't see Bernie getting the Legend award at next year's Classic Rock Awards. Shot Tesla yesterday along Sunset Strip - it had God's light as it was Sunday. Jeff Keith told me he'd given Brian Wheat a goat. I even told Jeff that in Little Rock on the way to the Metallica show I'd seen a sign for Texarkana (Jeff's hometown). Brian took me aside and said 'He doesn't know I butchered it, don't tell him, he'll go all psycho.' I even had a nice civilized dinner with Brian, Dave Rude and his Man Friday, Jimmy Dean. We saw Harry Dean Stanton at dinner, he looked about a thousand years old. His skin was translucent white, he seemed to float into the room. It was as if a ghoul had entered. You Tube has a great clip of Golden Earring playing Radar Love from '74 with George Kooymans playing a perspex Dan Armstrong guitar. In New Orleans last weekend I saw a billboard for Brenda Lee as in the line from the song "Brenda Lee coming on strong". I had no idea she was real... New Orleans. The statue of Jesus was at the big Saint Louis Cemetery, Jesus welcoming you to sleep for infinity while you rot away. I liked the grave with the American flags, rather poignant that someone remembers... 
Instead of more photos of Lars, James, Kirk and Robert here's what you really want - Steven Wiig with Rob Zombie impersonator Frankie, and Tom Robb, model and body sculptor. 
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Some old magazines with Herr Page
Me from 2002, sent by William Nash - must go there one more time.
Scott in his pool at home on his private yacht...
