‘Louie Louie’ singer Jack Ely dies
Jack Ely, lead singer of The Kingsmen, was best known for 1960s hit “Louie Louie”, has died aged 71. His son Sean Ely said the musician died at home in Redmond, Oregon, after a long battle with an illness, reported BBC News. “Because of his religious beliefs, we’re not even sure what (the illness) was,” he said. Ely co-founded the Kingsmen in 1959, with the group recording its cover of Richard Berry’s 1957 tune “Louie Louie” and releasing it in 1963. “Louie Louie” told the story of a sailor on his way back to Jamaica to reunite with his love. But because Ely had howled the lyrics into an awkwardly dangling microphone, coupled with his bandmates’ raucous, three-chord racket, his vocals sounded muffled and led to confusion as to what words he actually sang. Ely’s incoherent singing led the FBI to investigate the famous track on the grounds that it might be obscene. The law enforcement agents concluded, in a lengthy investigative report, that the song was “unintelligible at any speed”. Ely had a falling out with the band shortly after the song was recorded and he then began playing with his new band, the Courtmen, – who recorded their own “Louie Louie ’66” – and later a group called Jack E. Lee and the Squires, who released a single titled “Love That Louie.” (PTI)
Ranveer Singh to rap for mothers on TV show ‘Thank-you Maa’
Actor Ranveer Singh will do a rap for mothers a new TV show “Thank-you Maa”, which will go on air during Mother’s Day next month. Ranveer, 29, who is recuperating from shoulder injury, will don wigs and imitate the mothers from various backgrounds including Punjabi, Gujarati mom, Sindhi and American to bring fun to the act. “Thank-you Maa”, dedicated to all the mothers for all their love, on Star Plus will also have performances by celebrities like Shakti Mohan, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Gurmeet Choudhary, Aditya Narayan, Aditi Sharma, Salman among others. “Mother’s Day is round the corner, and this year Star Plus is leaving no stone unturned to tribute all the mothers. The dapper Ranveer Singh will be doing a special act for the Mother’s Day special on Star Plus – Thank-you Maa. “He is an excellent rapper and for the first time he will be doing a rap for all mothers which the audiences will surely love,” a spokesperson of the channel said in a statement. The “Lootera” star has earlier rapped for his stint during a TV commercial. “Thank-you Maa” will be aired on May 10. (PTI)
Can’t wait for a film’s release to donate for Nepal: Akshay
Bollywood superstar has denied speculation that he be donating the first day collection of his upcoming film “Gabbar Is Back” for Nepal quake relief fund. Akshay, who shot his last release “Baby” in the earthquake-affected country, said he cannot take such decisions as he is not the producer of the film. “Heard a rumour that I am donating #GabbarIsBack’s 1st day collections to the #NepalEarthquake victims. Firstly, I am not the producer so that’s not my call to make and more importantly I don’t need to wait for the film’s release to do my bit,” Akshay posted on Twitter. Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures and directed by Krish, the remake of the 2002 Tamil film “Ramanaa” also features Shruti Haasan and Sunil Grover. The film will release this Friday. The 47-year-old actor also shared the link on his micro-blogging site for the support of Nepal, which was hit by the powerful earthquake. (PTI)