On May 31^st BBC 6 Music will air an hour long special on John Bonham, which would have been his 62 birthday. The John Bonham Story will be presented by ‘Nirvana’, ‘Foo Fighters’ and ‘Them Crooked Vultures’ star Dave Grohl and will also feature exclusive new interview material from Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and Carmine Appice, as well as the key industry figures and family and close friends.

The makers of the programme reveal the following :

The story begins with John Bonham’s boyhood obsession with rhythm, beating his mother’s pots and pans into submission before moving into his early drumming education with bands across the West Midlands. From 1968 onwards, we piece together the moment Bonham’s time as a session drummer ended with an invitation to join ‘The New Yardbirds’, led by Jimmy Page.

Told with wit, pace and a genuine love for the subject, this is the electrifying story of a rock’n’roll legend which will paint a picture of the greatest of rock drummers. With touching tales of his focus on family and friends alongside the infamous rock and roll excess. Set to a rich soundtrack of music the programme also shows how Led Zeppelin changed the course of rock history.

As the programme closes the listener will be left with an enduring image of a man whose destiny would be forged by his ferocious drumming style and his insatiable appetite for living life to the full. The show is due to be aired at 15:00pm (UK time).

Them Crooked Vultures finished up there mini Canadian/North American tour last week with successful shows in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, Indianapolis and Chicago. Check out the tour watch section for the latest reviews. The band takes a short break before hitting the European Festival sites with shows in Germany, Luxemburg, Paris, Holland, the Download Festival at Donington UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark before ending up at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan at the end of July. If you’re lucky enough to catch the Vultures over the summer don’t forget to send in your reviews and photos.

Below is a two part interview in which John Paul Jones talks about his early bass guitars and and his love of playing with just about everyone.

.

Got a spare £3,000,000, and fancy investing in property, well look no further than The Mill House in Cookham. Yes, Jimmy Pages old house is on the market again , this is the home that housed the former Sol Recording Studio and has seen the likes of Chris Rea (Road to Hell), Elton John (Ice on Fire), Bill Wyman, Geoff Beck (Guitar Shop), George Harrison, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, The Pet Shop Boys, The Fall, Texas, and Electronic use the studio as well as Jimmy Page of course, who recorded Deathwish 2, both Firm albums and Outrider. It was also here that Coda was produced mixed.  The home was sold to Chris Rea who then sold it to its current owners in 2006. The studio has been taken out now and the house is used as a yoga retreat (!).

Resting on the banks on the River Thames the house has 6 bedrooms & 4 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms, a detached one bedroom cottage, gardens and grounds, a  paddock of about 0.8 acre and is set in picturesque Berkshire.

Not got a spare £3 million then how about £9,000 for a car once owned by Robert Plant. A local Kidderminster garage is advertising Robert old Mercedes for sale. The Mercedes SEC 560 Coupe is advertised as a 1990( H reg), with 95000 Miles, Malachite Green with Cream Leather, Air Conditioning, CD Player with Extensive Sound Upgrade including Hidden amplifiers and sub. This car benefits from having had only two owners, the current owner being Rock Legend Robert Plant who has owned the car for the last 18 years. The car has been garaged all its life and has been looked after meticulously with no expense spared, it comes with a good history and all the MOTs from 1993. The paintwork is immaculate as is the interior.  Most defiantly a  one off piece of Zeppelin related memorabilia! For more info go to  Roberts Mercedes.

After all these years it looks like the paparazzi have finely caught up with Led Zeppelin.  There was a time  it would have been a rare sight indeed to find paparazzi style photos of the band out and about in “normal” life. Withh the advent of  the 24 hour news hungry  celebrity hunting media it is now not uncommon to find the ex Zep’s snapped out and about.  Here are three examples –  Jimmy Page snapped at a recent Kiss concert at Wembley with Gene Simmons girlfriend Shannon Tweed,  Robert Plant having lunch in New York City with singer songwriter Katrina Chester and John Paul Jones out shopping. (GF)