title: Sex (book)

text: The pictures were shot almost entirely with Super 8 film. Most of the photo shoots took place in New York City and Miami. Locations in New York City included the Hotel Chelsea and Times Square's all-male burlesque Gaiety Theatre whose dancers participated in one of the book's photo sessions. In Miami most of the sessions were at a house Madonna had purchased just before beginning the project, and on several beaches and streets. One morning during the four-day Florida shoot Madonna was prancing naked around her 14-bedroom house in Miami when someone jokingly suggested she go out on the street. According to Baron on the street "cars screeched to a halt, motorists whistled, and one entranced cyclist fell off his bike". During the photo shoots Baron said, "[Madonna]'d do something crazy and then we'd come up with something even crazier". One of the most shocking photographs features two women in post-punk attire flanking Madonna with one of them holding a knife to her crotch. It was considered too violent to be used. While the book was being produced some of the photographs were stolen but were quickly recovered by the FBI. According to "New York" magazine, there were approximately 80,000 photographs taken for the book; only a handful of them were used. It took 15 days to print the book. The total production process took about eight months. Warner Bros. commented that "Sex" was very difficult to produce, requiring contributions from many printing companies. They noted that to make a profit the book needed to sell at least 350,000 copies.


title: Sex (book)

text: Wrapped and sealed in a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Mylar bag, "Sex" has 128 pages and is spiral bound with an aluminium cover that has the word "Sex" stamped in the middle and a warning label. The front page shows Madonna against a sky blue backdrop. Three different types of paper were used for the printing. Madonna and Baron & Baron Inc. (consisting of Fabien Baron and the photographer Siung Fat Tjia), who also collaborated with her designing the cover art for her fifth studio album, "Erotica", oversaw the design. As this was Maverick's first project, the packaging was crucial. Madonna had no faith in Warner Book's "mass-market" publication process, however, so Baron suggested they transfer the packaging job to Nicholas Callaway's bespoke Callaway Editions. Charles Melcher, the book's co-publisher with Callaway, said they usually published "exquisite art books, $100 high end, beautiful things". It was a challenge for them to process Madonna's ideas into reality. The artist wanted the packaging to be sealed, so the reader had to tear it open to read the book. They considered various kinds of clasps before deciding on a sealed bag as a reference to a condom package. The metal cover was Madonna's idea. She was inspired by the 1979 album "Metal Box" by Public Image Ltd. Melcher recalls, "We were talking about materials for the cover, and we went into her kitchen. [Madonna] pointed at the metal plate at the back of her stove and said, 'I want something like this'. I was very impressed with the way she interacted with her world to source things". The company bought about of aluminium, roughly a pound for each book. The designers oversaw the production of the front and back covers, which were stamped and anodized while the aluminium was rolling on a press.


title: Sex (book)

text: The book opens with the introduction: "Everything you are about to see and read is a fantasy, a dream, pretend." Throughout "Sex", Madonna offers poems, stories, and essays. She used the pseudonym "Mistress Dita" as an homage to German actress Dita Parlo; her friends in the stories are Bunny, Dex, Stella, Chiclet and Stranger. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, a big part of the book reads like a letter to a pornographic magazine. Madonna wanted to explore the notion of power in "Sex". Melcher said she wanted to talk about "gentle and hard, soft and violent [in "Sex"]. She was playing out all those elements in her book. That was reflected in the materials: uncoated, soft paper on the inside and hard metal coating on the outside".


title: Sex (book)

text: Like the text—which was mostly printed on the photographs—they are highly sexual and depict nudity, simulations of sexual acts, bondage, homosexuality and analingus, with accessories such as knives, whips, masks and chains; however, intercourse is never shown. Actress Isabella Rossellini, rappers Big Daddy Kane and Madonna's then-boyfriend Vanilla Ice, model Naomi Campbell, gay porn star Joey Stefano, actor Udo Kier, socialite Princess Tatiana von Fürstenberg, and nightclub owner Ingrid Casares and unknown models are featured in the book. Its heterosexual photos involve only Madonna and Vanilla Ice. Madonna herself is featured partially or completely naked. One of the book's most famous photographs shows a naked Madonna hitchhiking in Miami. The book also reflects Dita's perspective towards her own sexuality. She writes that her "pussy" is a temple of learning and exposing it, is really an homage to it. "It's hard to describe it smells like a baby to me fresh and full of life. I love my pussy, it is the complete summation of my life." "Sex" contains statements like "ass fucking is the most pleasurable way to get fucked and it hurts the most too". "There is something comforting about being tied up. Like when you were a baby and your mother strapped you in the car seat. She wanted you to be safe. It was an act of love". "I wouldn't want a penis. It would be like having a third leg. it seems like a contraption that would get in the way. I think I have a dick in my brain". Dita also points out "A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That's why they don't get what they want". Since they recovered stolen pictures during the making of "Sex", Madonna thanked the FBI for "rescuing photographs that would have made J. Edgar Hoover roll over" in the book's credits.


title: Sex (book)

text: The book's imminent release caused a great deal of controversy. One photo showed a nude Madonna wearing a rabbit's tail, shaving the pubic hair of a naked man, and cavorting outdoors with a dog, suggesting bestiality. The Vatican urged its followers to boycott the book, saying that it was "morally intolerable". Indian customs officials said the book offended the country's public morality. The Press Trust of India (PTI), India's domestic news agency, quoted a top customs official as saying the book would be seized under a section of the Customs Act prohibiting entry of indecent literature. Citizens of Alexandria, Louisiana, filed a complaint with the city's police department on behalf of the Rapides Parish Chapter of the American Family Association, claiming "Sex" violated Louisiana's anti-obscenity laws. U.S. Southern Baptists did not want their Bibles printed on the same printing presses as "Sex" and threatened to stop doing business with the printer RR Donnelley. The Nashville-based Baptist Sunday School Board, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, reviewed their $2.1 million ($ in dollars) printing contract with Donnelley. Board President James Draper said he was infuriated Donnelley printed "such an obscene book". "Entertainment Tonight" reported Madonna had initiated the mayhem with the explicit content in the music video for "Erotica", walking bare breasted at designer Jean Paul Gaultier's fashion show and posing nude in "Vanity Fair" magazine. A writer for "The Sacramento Bee" said that since the press wanted "controversy", Madonna was willing to give them "fodder" with her "antiques".


title: Sex (book)

text: Madonna claimed she was publishing "Sex" "to liberate America — free us all of our hang-ups". She told "Spin:" "We live in a very repressed society, and I deal with erotic themes. The point I try to make is: Why should we feel ashamed of our sexuality?". She stated later that the book "does not condone unsafe sexual practices". Nicholas Callaway of Callaway Arts & Entertainment said the book was "inevitably going to be controversial. The book explores every aspect of sexual fantasy. It's hard to calculate the effect, [but], "Sex" should be considered 'art'". It was rumored that Time Warner was nervous about the book's release, however, in an interview with "Vanity Fair", William Sarnoff, president of Warner Books, said he felt Madonna "should pursue all avenues of creativity as she defines it". The Warner company said they would make sure "Sex" reached its target audience. They reminded the public the book was safely wrapped in a Mylar bag to prevent in-store peeping and contained a warning label.


title: Sex (book)

text: Michael Kilian of the "Chicago Tribune" published a tongue-in-cheek article on October 7, 1992, about the coming release: "Prepare thyself, [...], The mega-event of the millennium is to occur in precisely two weeks. It's an event far more mega than the November election, the collapse of communism or even the crowning of Leanza Cornett as the new Miss America." Kilian went on to write: "The word on the street (which is precisely where it belongs) is that this is the hottest Truly Twisted personal sexual fantasy picture book in all Christendom, that it goes far beyond all previous Truly Twisted personal sexual fantasy picture books-perhaps beyond all imagining what such a book could be.


title: Sex (book)

text: On October 15, Madonna threw a pre-release party at New York City's Industria Superstudio having signed all the invitations with "Dita" her "Sex" alter ego. She dressed as Little Bo Peep carrying a stuffed toy lamb. Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg expressed concern at first about "what the parents of America's impressionable teens will soon be thinking" of Madonna, but said that it "all depends on your idea of lovemaking, which in Madonna's case, should give new meaning to the word erotic". Waldenbooks and Barnes & Noble prepared corporate statements store managers could share with customers who were offended by "Sex". (Both statements defended the right of bookstores to provide "diversity and choice" to customers, saying censorship is not the role of bookstores.) Many book stores stated the book would not be sold to anyone under 18 and it would only be on display behind the cash register. Bookstore owner David Epstein said, "The feeling of most people who have ordered the book is that Madonna is something special, that this is cutting-edge art [...] they're not the kind of people who are buying it because it's smut and dirty pictures. People are interested in it as art."


title: Sex (book)

text: "Sex" was released on October 21, 1992, the day after Madonna's fifth studio album "Erotica". A comic book title "Dita in The Chelsea Girl" and a promotional single titled "Erotic", wrapped in packaging representing a condom wrapper, was included with the book. "Erotic", a stripped-down arrangement of the song "Erotica", offered an alternate vocal take not used on the album version. Upon its release, the book was banned in India, Ireland, Japan and some Australian states.


title: Sex (book)

text: Given the controversy surrounding the book there was no need for Madonna to promote it. One of the few promotions she did, however, was to appear on the cover of the October edition of "Vogue", dressed in "Hippie trip" fashion. These photographs were taken by Meisel. On October 22, 1992, MTV aired a special called "The Day in Madonna", hosted by Kurt Loder (a pun on the title of their daily show "The Day in Rock"). It profiled the release of Madonna's "Sex" and her album "Erotica", even taking the book to the streets to allow people, including a sex therapist and a group of real-life New York City dominatrices, to view it. MTV also interviewed people who had looked at the book on the day of its release at the HMV music store in New York City. To celebrate its release, the store held a Madonna look-alike contest and set up a booth where people could view the book for one dollar a minute, with the proceeds going to Lifebeat, the music industry organization founded to help fund AIDS research.


title: Sex (book)

text: Critics, conservative, feminist and anti-porn groups reacted negatively to the book because of its sexually explicit photographs, which many characterized as hardcore pornography. J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his biography of Madonna, wrote that much of the book appears surprising, not shocking. He derided the concept as childish and impetuous. Though Madonna insisted she was trying to demystify sexuality altogether, he believed she just wanted to publish pornographic text and pictures and get away with it: "She was being a brat, not a revolutionary." Author Lucy O'Brien declared the book a bold, harrowing exercise in frustration, and despite Madonna's attempt at invincibility, it appeared to be "a curious act of self-destruction". Anthony DeCurtis of "Rolling Stone" said "The overwhelming effect of the book is numbing". Describing the photographs as "derivative", he wrote that "Madonna herself seems far too eager to shock; that, not even prurient arousal, seems the ideal response the book tirelessly seeks. The potency of "Sex"s subject matter is dissipated by Madonna and Meisel's self-congratulatory – and silly – sense of their own 'bravery,' as if their naughty games were somehow revolutionary."


title: Sex (book)

text: Roger Catlin of the "Hartford Courant" said some passages from the book were "too dirty to quote ... even the funny ones". "The Daily Beast" said "the book is neither groundbreaking (save that it features a major star) nor particularly sexy [...] "Sex" is convincing only when it's playful, as when she appears nude in a Miami pizzeria, chewing a slice while a baffled customer looks on. Elsewhere, she's simply undressed with no place to go." Richard Harrington of "The Washington Post", in a mixed review, wrote: "Is "Sex" shocking? Not really. Mostly because it's Madonna, and somehow we've come to expect this from her. Is "Sex" boring? Surprisingly, yes." British author Zoë Heller of "The Independent" wrote that it was "the women who once saw Madonna as a witty feminist role model who have been most alarmist about her latest pornographic incarnation ... Previously, they say, Madonna played with traditional images of feminine sexuality in a subversive, 'empowering' way. But now, with sado-masochism and rape fantasies, she has gone too far."


title: Sex (book)

text: Calvin Tomkins, author and art critic for "The New Yorker", wrote that "unfortunately, the book is going to be mistaken for pornography". "Vanity Fair" deemed it "the dirtiest coffee table book to ever be published". Caryn James, in "The New York Times," wrote: "There is plenty here to offend the meek (whips and chains), the self-righteous (gay men and lesbians), not to mention the tasteful (a tacky and cluttered art design)". The "Times" Vicki Goldberg was dismissive, writing, "Unfortunately, not many of the images are very good photographically. Many are just pictures, or just porn." Writing for "Spin", Bob Guccione, Jr. gave the book a particularly unfavorable review:


title: Sex (book)

text: With "Sex", Madonna broke several worldwide records. The retail price of the book was $50 in the United States, or around $ in dollars. Across Europe, "Sex" was sold for £25 in the United Kingdom, and for pta 7500 in Spain (an equivalent of $70 at the time or $ in ). The most expensive sales were found in Argentina with a retail price of $89, which is about $ in dollars.


title: Sex (book)

text: The initial print run for the first edition was one million copies in five continents and in five languages. It set the record for the largest first printing of an illustrated book in publishing history. Callaway pointed out the book was an "unprecedented hit", because the print run of an average art book ranges between 5,000 and 10,000 units. Hundreds of copies of the book were pre-ordered, prompting book sellers to say that "Sex" was "shattering their sales records for advance purchases". John Robinson from "Santa Cruz Sentinel" informed that many booksellers agreed that "Sex sold, like nothing else before" and "they've never seen anything like it, especially for a $50 book". In Canada, H.B. Fenn and Company, distributors of "Sex", reported an order for more than 45,000 copies from bookstores across the country by October 22.


title: Sex (book)

text: In the United States, "Sex" sold 150,000 copies on its release day, with additional 500,000 units a week later. The book also reached the number one on both "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" Best Seller list", topping the latter for three weeks. By the end of the year, "Sex" ended among the Top 15 of the best-selling titles in the United States with sales of over 750,000 units. The book became in a "huge bestseller" in Canada after a "careful review" by customs authorities according to "Quill & Quire", as well it also became as one of the fastest-selling books in Canadian history. In the United Kingdom, "Sex" sold 100,000 copies in its first day, including 80,000 units in the first half an hour in London according to "Creative Camera". "Sex" ended as the second best-selling hardcover book of 1992 in the UK, behind Andrew Morton's Diana biography.


title: Sex (book)

text: In France, Madonna held the record for the highest first-month sales for a book in history, before being surpassed by Thierry Meyssan with "" in 2002. In Paris alone, 23,000 copies were sold in the first hour of release. "Sex" sold 7,220 units in Spain within its first two days, and 2,000 copies in the first five-hours in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Italy moved 5,000 copies. By October 24, a spokeswoman for Australian distributors, Octopus Publishing, informed thousands of copies of "Sex" had been sold in Western Australia. Despite the censorship, "Sex" was able to sell 150,000 units of an edited version of the initial printing in Japan, topping the national best-selling list in its debut. According to the Chinese state newspaper, the book sold 5,000 copies in the first-week in the city of Shanghai alone. Although the book was censored shortly after its publication, several hundred of copies were sold in the Irish capital.


title: Sex (book)

text: Worldwide, the book sold 700,000 units in its first day. In summary, "Sex" went on to sell 1.5 million copies worldwide in matters of days, becoming the fastest-selling coffee table book in history. It remains the best-selling coffee table book of all time. In 1999, Ed Brown from "Fortune" called "Sex" the best-selling illustrated book in history, further comparing that "for most publishers, selling 20,000 copies of a coffee-table book is a minor miracle".


title: Sex (book)

text: By December 1992, Paul Craig from McClatchy called it the biggest wonder of the year in literature. Giselle Benatar described "Sex" as "the publishing event of the century".


title: Sex (book)

text: A day prior its release, Tyra Braden of "The Morning Call" concluded that the book "might become a collector's item a few years down the road". Writing for "San Francisco Chronicle" in 1999, Joel Selvin noted the prices for the book on the web, ranging from $200 to $500 for sealed copies; ten times the original $50 cover price. According to Barry Walters from "Rolling Stone", "Sex" remains one of the most in-demand out-of-print publications of all time. A long-lasting title at BookFinder.com's lists, "Sex" featured as the most requested out-of-print publication from 2011 to 2015. In their database, AbeBooks recalls: "The most famous out-of-print book of modern times is Madonna's "Sex" book, which remains in demand but the pop star refuses to republish it".


title: Sex (book)

text: The book, though widely panned by the press, is regarded as one of the factors that shaped the social reaction and criticism of Madonna during the early 1990s. Her fifth studio album "Erotica" was affected by the negative press surrounding the book. In March 1993, "Spin" wrote an article praising the book. Months later in Mexico, social communicologist Nino Canún dedicated an episode of his morning talk show "¿Y usted qué opina?" (English: "So what's your opinion?"), to Madonna. Some members of the audience, among them a priest, presented their arguments why The Girlie Show concert tour by "this morally clueless singer" should not be allowed in Mexico. Later, during the Mexican concert, in response to these comments, Madonna wore a "charro" sombrero and simulated an orgy with her dancers onstage.


title: Sex (book)

text: Continuing her provocative work, Madonna starred in the erotic thriller "Body of Evidence", which features her fully nude engaging in simulated sexual acts. In March 1994, she was a guest on "Late Show with David Letterman", used profanity, and handed Letterman a pair of her underwear asking him to smell it. The release of her sexually explicit works, and the aggressive appearance on Letterman led some critics to see Madonna as a sexual renegade. She also faced a strong negative reaction from critics and fans who commented that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over. Author Lucy O'Brien commented:


title: Sex (book)

text: Madonna responded to the huge backlash with the song "Human Nature", from her next album "Bedtime Stories" (1994), with the lyrics "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex," while declaring "And I'm not sorry. It's human nature."


title: Sex (book)

text: She later explained: "I wouldn't say I regret it. I've made mistakes and learned from them. Most people want to hear me say that I regret publishing my "Sex" book. I don't. The problem was releasing my "Erotica" album at the same time. I love that album and it got overlooked." In 2003, Madonna said: "I'm not apologizing in any shape or form [...] I was interested in pushing buttons and being rebellious and being mischievous and trying to bend the rules. There was a lot of irony in the "Sex" book and I am poking fun at a lot of things and I am being kind of silly and adolescent and I am being very f you, if a man can do it, I can do it."


title: Sex (book)

text: In 2002, Naomi Campbell said she had "a lot of respect for Madonna being bold enough to come out and do a book on sex. I've never reneged on that." In 2009, rapper Vanilla Ice confessed to being unhappy with the book once he saw it. "My friends were like, 'Dude, that's cool man', but I was like, 'I'm dating her, it's not cool to see your girlfriend with all these other people' [...] It kinda ruined the whole thing. I wonder what her kids think of that book? Here she is writing kids' books now but they're going to see it and go, 'Mommy, what were you thinking?'" Another of the book's models, actress Isabella Rossellini, told "Out" that she regretted her participation: "I don't think the book worked, even though the photos were extraordinary, and some of them quite memorable. I think there was a little bit of a moralistic sort of 'I'll teach you how to be free!' – and that bothered the hell out of me."


title: Sex (book)

text: Later reviews of "Sex" have been more positive. The authors of "The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What It Means, and Where We Go from Here" (2008) commented that "the book is particularly interesting in the way that, like many of Madonna's works, it portrays sex in terms of domination and power". Jane Raphaely, editor-in-chief of "Cosmopolitan" (South Africa) praised Madonna's "liberated behavior in "Sex" [...] the fact that she takes all forms of pornography and systematically demystifies it by putting it under her control", in an article in 1996. Brian McNair, author of "Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratisation of Desire" (2002) praised this period of Madonna's career, saying she had "porno elegance" and that ""Sex" is a cultural phenomenon of global proportions" which "established her iconic status and cultural influence". Priya Elan of "The Guardian", wrote: "That the "Sex" book came after a record-breaking album and tour felt like a shrink-wrapped curve ball. But Madge was expressing something unique." Elan felt the book was part of a "slower reveal that began with confessional tracks such as 'Oh Father' (from 1989's "Like a Prayer") and continued with the many scenes of narcissism captured in """.


title: Sex (book)

text: Several writers consider "Sex" a bold, post-feminist work of art besides being labeled a "cultural book". Martin Amis of "The Observer" wrote an essay discussing the book's cultural meaning. Critical theorist Douglas Kellner affirmed that with "Sex" "Madonna became herself, an artifact of pop culture". French academic writer Georges-Claude Guilbert described "Sex" as "one of the most successful publicity stunts in history", whereas Russell W. Belk, author of "Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing", feels its success was a product of marketing. Despite the negative feedback, sales of "Sex" generated more than US$20 million ($ million in dollars) for Madonna in 1992 from its first print-run. It was deemed as an "unprecedented entrepreneurial coup". Overall, "Sex" generated US$70 million in sales at retail.


title: Sex (book)

text: Taraborrelli commented in his book, "", that Madonna's friends knew the book and her behavior were a barrier to shield her from the world. She was tired of the extreme scrutiny from the public and media which she had provoked. Annoyed, Madonna fought back by creating the persona of a renegade, someone so outrageous as to defy explanation, someone found objectionable by most people. Taraborrelli said that in Madonna's view, "she had no other way of fighting back".


title: Sex (book)

text: According to some writers, "Sex" also helped Madonna make a name in the porn industry, and earned her the title of S&M's first cultural ambassador earning her praise for recreating "porn-chic". Humberto Quiroga Lavié pointed out because "Sex" was considered pornographic that helped it to become a bestseller. Steve Bachmann, in his book "Simulating Sex: Aesthetic Representations of Erotic Activity" pointed out that "perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Madonna's sexual phenomenon is the extent to which her book marked a new threshold in the pornographic franchise". McNair wrote in his book that, ""Sex" brought out the personal underground to the surface of pop culture". London art critic Sarah Kent wrote in "Time Out" that the timing of "Sex" was "impeccable. Obsession about the human body was in vogue. Along with Madonna's book were artist Andres Serrano's "cumming shots" and Jeff Koons' "The Jeff Koons Handbook" portraying fairy tale pictures of the artist having sex with his pornographic actor wife, Cicciolina.


title: Sex (book)

text: "Sex" has also become an important book in the LGBT community. Mark Blankenship, of the LGBT-oriented website New Now Next said that "literature changed forever" with the publishing of "Sex". Madonna's portrayal of lesbian love scenes in the book sparked debates about her own sexual orientation. This was an adjunct to her public relationship with comedian Sandra Bernhard with whom she visited lesbian nightclubs and partied. The LGBT community felt it was an important portrayal for them. They debated whether Madonna was "ripping" them off for publicity. Carolin Grace of "Diva" said: "Madonna became meaningful in the early nineties, when "Sex" came out, and at that point lesbian culture was really changing." She felt women were coming out about their sexuality and the book's handling of the taboo issue was "a legacy, our contribution to the show", stressing "[t]he lesbian sub-cultural references borrowed by Madonna aren't our only possessions." O'Brien argues in her book "", the book had a confusing philosophy. According to female critics, who pointed out the vacuousness of Madonna's remarks about porn and abuse, she did not understand that behind the fantasies the "reality is too hard" for a woman to endure, referring to the daily hustles that women have to face in red light districts and brothels. The author felt that despite the courageous premise of genuine exploration of queer sex, the book crossed over into pornography and was a wrong portrayal for the community, while being flippant and commercial. She used the example of the death of pornographic actor Joey Stefano, one of the models in the book, from a drug overdose. Stefano had been thrilled to be a part of the book but was underpaid. Once Madonna and her team were done with the shoot, "they packed up and left the Gaiety... They left behind the mundane reality and the boys who have to deal with it seven days a week". In 2017, Matthew Jacobs from the "HuffPost" wrote that it was "an audacious thesis statement, calculated enough to piss people off but seemly enough to maintain artistic integrity. No one today would dare emulate it", calling it "the most radical career move a pop star has ever made".


title: Sex (book)

text: "Sex" has also become an object of modern culture references. American performance artist Ann Magnuson, who worked with Madonna on the 1985 film "Desperately Seeking Susan", released a parody of the book's photo sessions, where she simulated sex with a giant stuffed bear. In 2010, writer-performer Greg Scarnici released a book titled "Sex in Drag", which featured over 70 images parodying photos in "Sex". In a deleted scene from a 1993 episode ("Krusty Gets Kancelled") of the animated sitcom "The Simpsons", aired as part of "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", Krusty the Clown attempts to market a book like "Sex" to resolve his financial woes. He is seen in a suggestive pose on the front cover. Unlike Madonna, however, Krusty apparently never appeared fully nude, as he quickly claimed that he used a body double.


title: Sex (book)

text: In 2008, "People" magazine ranked Madonna's look and attire at the "Sex" pre-release party as one of her 50 Looks We Can't Forget. In April 2012, a nude picture of Madonna taken by Meisel was put up for sale. An outtake from the book, it features a naked Madonna sporting bleach-blonde hair and dark eye make-up; lying on a bed and partially covered by a sheet, she is smoking a cigarette. An unnamed collector purchased it for almost US$24,000 ($ in dollars). In 2015, "Rolling Stone" included the book on its list of 20 Great Moments in Rock Star Nudity. Author Keith Harris wrote that "no celebrity had ever commanded control over her own naked image so audaciously".


title: MasterChef Australia (series 7)

text: The seventh series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 5 May 2015 on Network Ten.


title: MasterChef Australia (series 7)

text: This series was won by Billie McKay in the grand finale against Georgia Barnes on 27 July 2015. The announcement of the winner was watched by 2.2 million metro viewers, making it one of the most watched shows of 2015.


title: MasterChef Australia (series 7)

text: Shannon Bennett took on the role of guest mentor, guiding contestants participating in Immunity Challenges, the role Kylie Kwong held in series 6. Unlike the sixth series, the advantage for the Immunity Challenge was now handed to the contestant's choice instead of the chef. The use of the power apron was now reduced to one day in a week only and it passed down to the next contestant who excelled in the subsequent challenge.


title: MasterChef Australia (series 7)

text: The Top 24 were revealed on 5–6 May 2015. Prior to the first competition round, Mario Montecuollo was disqualified after his five-month professional kitchen experience violated the show's guidelines of the auditions. The producers investigated the contestant's position as a head chef at his bar in Enmore and discovered that Montecuollo had been working one day a week as a paid cook for five months within the past years. Casual participants were allowed to audition without working previously in a professional kitchen for more than six weeks, ruling him ineligible to compete in the show. He was replaced by Jessie Spiby, who had originally missed out on the Top 24 in the second episode.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Lisa Coleman (born August 17, 1960) is an American musician. She primarily plays piano and keyboards. She was a member of Prince's backing band The Revolution from 1979 to 1986. Coleman is one half of the musical duo Wendy & Lisa, formed with Wendy Melvoin in 1986.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman was born the middle of three children in Los Angeles, California. Her mother was Mexican-American visual artist Marylou Ynda-Ciletti (April 4, 1936 – November 17, 2013). Coleman's father, Gary L. Coleman (born 1936), is an Anglo-American session musician, who in the 1960s and 1970s was part of the collective The Wrecking Crew and befriended fellow musician Mike Melvoin. Their families became close with each other and often played and recorded music together. Lisa formed a close relationship with Melvoin's daughter Wendy, saying once "we've been familiar with one another since we were in diapers".


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: At age 12, Coleman got her professional start as a keyboardist in the bubblegum pop band Waldorf Salad. The band, which also featured her siblings and Jonathan Melvoin, was signed to A&M records in 1973.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: In 1975, Coleman played a small role as a high school pianist in the Linda Blair made-for-TV film "Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic".


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman was 18–19 years of age right out of high school when one of her good friends, Niki Yoergler, who was working as a secretary for Prince's personal manager, Steve Fargnoli, brought her to the attention of Prince. After some convincing on both ends, Yoergler got Coleman an audition and she was hired as part of Prince's backing group in 1980 for his "Dirty Mind" album and tour. Before being so recruited, she had been working as a shipping clerk and teaching piano. She replaced keyboardist Gayle Chapman. Coleman played keyboards for Prince on his "Controversy" and "1999" albums and the three albums as a member of The Revolution, which were "Purple Rain", "Around the World in a Day" and "Parade", and she was also a session player for recordings by The Time and Vanity 6, two side projects of Prince.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman was in a long-term relationship with her musician friend Wendy Melvoin, with whom she collaborated frequently (see Wendy & Lisa for more details). In an interview Coleman states that in 1983, one night when guitarist Dez Dickerson did not show up at soundcheck, Prince asked Melvoin to play his guitar; that same night, Prince invited Melvoin to join the band. Coleman and Melvoin became members of the newly designated The Revolution.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Shortly after the completion of Prince and The Revolution's "Parade" project, Coleman and Melvoin started their own musical duo, which they called the Wendy & Lisa partnership. The Wendy & Lisa musical partnership released five full-length albums for various labels, including Columbia/Sony and Virgin, as well as their own independent imprint.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman and Melvoin continued to work together as film and television composers, and they provided the musical scores for television shows including "Crossing Jordan" and "Heroes", both created and produced by Tim Kring under his Tailwind Productions banner; "Nurse Jackie", which won them an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme; "Prime Suspect"; "No Tomorrow"; "Witches of East End"; and "Touch" for which they received an Emmy nomination. They currently compose the music for NBC's "Shades of Blue".


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: In 2009, Coleman played vibraphone on the Alice in Chains' song "Black Gives Way to Blue", from the album of the same name.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: In April 2009, Coleman gave an interview with "Out" magazine, where she spoke openly about her past romantic relationship with Wendy Melvoin. Coleman has been married since 2004 to Renata Kanclerz. The couple has one child.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman and Melvoin were awarded with an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title in 2010 for their theme to "Nurse Jackie".


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman (and Melvoin) also share the honor of winners of a Grammy and Oscar for being part of The Revolution, as "Purple Rain" won two Grammys, and the Oscar for Best Original Score.


title: Lisa Coleman (musician)

text: Coleman (along with Melvoin) received the inaugural ASCAP Shirley Walker Award in 2014. The Shirley Walker Award honors those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Born into wealthy Polish aristocracy, Poniatowski arrived as a diplomat at the Russian imperial court in Saint Petersburg in 1755 at the age of 22 and became intimately involved with the future empress Catherine the Great. With her connivance, he was elected King of Poland by the Polish Diet in September 1764 following the death of Augustus III. Contrary to expectations, Poniatowski attempted to reform and strengthen the large but ailing Commonwealth. His efforts were met with external opposition from neighbouring Prussia, Russia and Austria, all committed to keeping the Commonwealth weak. From within he was opposed by conservative interests, which saw the reforms as a threat to their traditional liberties and privileges granted centuries earlier.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: The defining crisis of his early reign was the War of the Bar Confederation (1768–1772) that led to the First Partition of Poland (1772). The later part of his reign saw reforms wrought by the Diet (1788–1792) and the Constitution of 3 May 1791. These reforms were overthrown by the 1792 Targowica Confederation and by the Polish–Russian War of 1792, leading directly to the Second Partition of Poland (1793), the Kościuszko Uprising (1794) and the final and Third Partition of Poland (1795), marking the end of the Commonwealth. Stripped of all meaningful power, Poniatowski abdicated in November 1795 and spent the last years of his life as a captive in Saint Petersburg's Marble Palace.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: A controversial figure in Poland's history, he is criticized primarily for his failure to resolutely stand against and prevent the partitions, which led to the destruction of the Polish state. On the other hand, he is remembered as a great patron of the arts and sciences who laid the foundation for the Commission of National Education, the first institution of its kind in the world, and sponsored many architectural landmarks.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski was born on 17 January 1732 in Wołczyn (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and now Voŭčyn, Belarus). He was one of eight surviving children, and the fourth son, of Princess Konstancja Czartoryska and of Count Stanisław Poniatowski, Ciołek coat of arms, Castellan of Kraków, who started as a Lithuanian domestic servant. His older brothers were Kazimierz Poniatowski (1721–1800), a Podkomorzy at Court, Franciszek Poniatowski (1723–1749), Canon of Wawel Cathedral who suffered from Epilepsy and Aleksander Poniatowski (1725–1744), an officer killed in the Rhineland-Palatinate during the War of the Austrian Succession. His younger brothers were, Andrzej Poniatowski (1734–1773), an Austrian Feldmarschall, Michał Jerzy Poniatowski (1736–94) who became Primate of Poland. His two older and married sisters were Ludwika Zamoyska (1728–1804) and Izabella Branicka (1730–1808). Among his nephews was Prince Józef Poniatowski (1763–1813), son of Andrzej. He was a great-grandson of poet and courtier Jan Andrzej Morsztyn and through his great-grandmother, Catherine Gordon, lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, he was related to the House of Stuart and thereby connected to the leading families of Scotland, Spain and France. The Poniatowski family had achieved high status among the Polish nobility (szlachta) of the time.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He spent the first few years of his childhood in Gdańsk. He was temporarily kidnapped as a toddler, on the orders of Józef Potocki, Governor of Kiev, as a reprisal for his father's support for King Augustus III and held for some months in Kamieniec-Podolski. He was returned to his parents in Gdańsk. Later he moved with his family to Warsaw. He was initially educated by his mother, then by private tutors, including Russian ambassador Herman Karl von Keyserling. He had few friends in his teenage years and instead developed a fondness for books which continued throughout his life. He went on his first foreign trip in 1748, with elements of the Imperial Russian army as it advanced into the Rhineland to aid Maria Theresia's troops during the War of the Austrian Succession which ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). This enabled Poniatowski both to visit the city, also known as Aachen, and to venture into the Netherlands. On his return journey he stopped in Dresden.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: The following year Poniatowski was apprenticed to the office of Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski, the then Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania. In 1750, he travelled to Berlin where he met a British diplomat, Charles Hanbury Williams, who became his mentor and friend. In 1751, Poniatowski was elected to the Treasury Tribunal in Radom, where he served as a commissioner. He spent most of January 1752 at the Austrian court in Vienna. Later that year, after serving at the Radom Tribunal and meeting King Augustus III of Poland, he was elected deputy of the Sejm (Polish parliament). While there his father secured for him the title of Starosta of Przemyśl. In March 1753, he travelled to Hungary and Vienna, where he again met with Williams. He returned to the Netherlands, where he met many key members of that country's political and economic sphere. By late August he had arrived in Paris, where he moved among the elites. In February 1754, he travelled on to Britain, where he spent some months. There, he was befriended by Charles Yorke, the future Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He returned to the Commonwealth later that year, however he eschewed the Sejm, as his parents wanted to keep him out of the political furore surrounding the Ostrogski family's land inheritance (see: fee tail – "Ordynacja Ostrogska"). The following year he received the title of "Stolnik" of Lithuania.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski owed his rise and influence to his family connections with the powerful Czartoryski family and their political faction, known as the "Familia", with whom he had grown close. It was the "Familia" who sent him in 1755 to Saint Petersburg in the service of Williams, who had been nominated British ambassador to Russia.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: In Saint Petersburg, Williams introduced Poniatowski to the 26-year-old Catherine Alexeievna, the future empress Catherine the Great. The two became lovers. Whatever his feelings for Catherine, it is likely Poniatowski also saw an opportunity to use the relationship for his own benefit, using her influence to bolster his career.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski had to leave St. Petersburg in July 1756 due to court intrigue. Through the combined influence of Catherine, of Russian empress Elizabeth and of chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Poniatowski was able to rejoin the Russian court now as ambassador of Saxony the following January. Still in St Petersburg, he appears to have been a source of intrigue between various European governments, some supporting his appointment, others demanding his withdrawal. He eventually left the Russian capital on 14 August 1758.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski attended the Sejms of 1758, 1760 and 1762. He continued his involvement with the "Familia", and supported a pro-Russian and anti-Prussian stance in Polish politics. His father died in 1762, leaving him a modest inheritance. In 1762, when Catherine ascended the Russian throne, she sent him several letters professing her support for his own ascension to the Polish throne, but asking him to stay away from St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, Poniatowski hoped that Catherine would consider his offer of marriage, an idea seen as plausible by some international observers. He participated in the failed plot by the "Familia" to stage a coup d'état against King Augustus III. In August 1763, however, Catherine advised him and the "Familia" that she would not support a coup as long as King Augustus was alive.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Upon the death of Poland's King Augustus III in October 1763, lobbying began for the election of the new king. Catherine threw her support behind Poniatowski. The Russians spent about 2.5m rubles in aid of his election. Poniatowski's supporters and opponents engaged in some military posturing and even minor clashes. In the end, the Russian army was deployed only a few kilometres from the election sejm, which met at Wola near Warsaw. In the event, there were no other serious contenders, and during the convocation sejm on 7 September 1764, 32-year-old Poniatowski was elected king, with 5,584 votes. He swore the pacta conventa on 13 November, and a formal coronation took place in Warsaw on 25 November. The new king's "uncles" in the "Familia" would have preferred another nephew on the throne, Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, characterized by one of his contemporaries as ""débauché, si non dévoyé"" (French: "debauched if not depraved"), but Czartoryski had declined to seek office.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: "Stanisław August", as he now styled himself combining the names of his two immediate royal predecessors, began his rule with only mixed support within the nation. It was mainly the small nobility who favoured his election. In his first years on the throne he attempted to introduce a number of reforms. He founded the Knights School, and began to form a diplomatic service, with semi-permanent diplomatic representatives throughout Europe, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. On 7 May 1765, Poniatowski established the Order of the Knights of Saint Stanislaus, in honour of Saint Stanislaus of Krakow, Bishop and Martyr, Poland's and his own patron saint, as the country's second order of chivalry, to reward Poles and others for noteworthy service to the King. Together with the "Familia" he tried to reform the ineffective system of government, by reducing the powers of the hetmans (Commonwealth's top military commanders) and treasurers, moving them to commissions elected by the Sejm and accountable to the King. In his memoirs, Poniatowski called this period the "years of hope." The "Familia", which was interested in strengthening its own power base, was dissatisfied with his conciliatory attitude as he reached out to many former opponents of their policies. This uneasy alliance between Poniatowski and the "Familia" continued for most of the first decade of his rule. One of the points of contention between Poniatowski and the "Familia" concerned the rights of religious minorities in Poland. Whereas Poniatowski reluctantly supported a policy of religious tolerance, the "Familia" was opposed to it. The growing rift between Poniatowski and the "Familia" was exploited by the Russians, who used the issue as a pretext to intervene in the Commonwealth's internal politics and to destabilize the country. Catherine had no wish to see Poniatowski's reform succeed. She had supported his ascent to the throne to ensure the Commonwealth remained a virtual puppet state under Russian control, so his attempts to reform the Commonwealth's ailing government structures were a threat to the "status quo".


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Matters came to a head in 1766. During the Sejm in October of that year, Poniatowski attempted to push through a radical reform, restricting the disastrous "liberum veto" provision. He was opposed by conservatives such as Michał Wielhorski, who were supported by the Prussian and Russian ambassadors and who threatened war if the reform was passed. The dissidents, supported by the Russians, formed the Radom Confederation. Abandoned by the "Familia", Poniatowski's reforms failed to pass at the Repnin Sejm, named after Russian ambassador Nicholas Repnin, who promised to guarantee with all the might of the Russian Empire the Golden Liberties of the Polish nobility, enshrined in the Cardinal Laws.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Although it had abandoned the cause of Poniatowski's reforms, the "Familia" did not receive the support it expected from the Russians who continued to press for the conservatives' rights. Meanwhile, other factions now rallied under the banner of the Bar Confederation, aimed against the conservatives, Poniatowski and the Russians. After an unsuccessful attempt to raise allies in Western Europe, France, Britain and Austria, Poniatowski and the "Familia" had no choice but to rely more heavily on the Russian Empire, which treated Poland as a protectorate. In the War of the Bar Confederation (1768–1772), Poniatowski supported the Russian army's repression of the Bar Confederation. In 1770, the Council of the Bar Confederation proclaimed him dethroned. The following year, he was kidnapped by Bar Confederates and was briefly held prisoner outside of Warsaw, but he managed to escape. In view of the continuing weakness of the Polish-Lithuanian state, Austria, Russia, and Prussia collaborated to threaten military intervention in exchange for substantial territorial concessions from the Commonwealth – a decision they made without consulting Poniatowski or any other Polish parties.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Although Poniatowski protested against the First Partition of the Commonwealth (1772), he was powerless to do anything about it. He considered abdication, but decided against it.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: During the Partition Sejm of 1773–1775, in which Russia was represented by ambassador Otto von Stackelberg, with no allied assistance forthcoming from abroad and with the armies of the partitioning powers occupying Warsaw to compel the Sejm by force of arms, no alternative was available save submission to their will. Eventually Poniatowski and the Sejm acceded to the "partition treaty". At the same time, several other reforms were passed. The Cardinal Laws were confirmed and guaranteed by the partitioning powers. Royal prerogative was restricted, so that the King lost the power to confer titular roles, and military promotions, to appoint ministers and senators. Starostwo territories, and Crown lands would be awarded by auction. The Sejm also created two notable institutions: the Permanent Council, a government body in continuous operation, and the Commission of National Education. The partitioning powers intended the council to be easier to control than the unruly Sejms, and indeed it remained under the influence of the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, it was a significant improvement on the earlier Commonwealth governance. The new legislation was guaranteed by the Russian Empire, giving it licence to interfere in Commonwealth politics when legislation it favoured was threatened.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: The aftermath of the Partition Sejm saw the rise of a conservative faction opposed to the Permanent Council, seeing it as a threat to their Golden Freedoms. This faction was supported by the Czartoryski family, but not by Poniatowski, who proved to be quite adept at making the Council follow his wishes. This marked the formation of new anti-royal and pro-royal factions in Polish politics. The royal faction was made up primarily of people indebted to the King, who planned to build their careers on service to him. Few were privy to his plans for reforms, which were kept hidden from the conservative opposition and Russia. Poniatowski scored a political victory during the Sejm of 1776, which further strengthened the council. Chancellor Andrzej Zamoyski was tasked with the codification of the Polish law, a project that became known as the Zamoyski Code. Russia supported some, but not all, of the 1776 reforms, and to prevent Poniatowski from growing too powerful, it supported the opposition during the Sejm of 1778. This marked the end of Poniatowski's reforms, as he found himself without sufficient support to carry them through.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: In the 1780s, Catherine appeared to favour Poniatowski marginally over the opposition, but she did not support any of his plans for significant reform. Despite repeated attempts, Poniatowski failed to confederate the sejms, which would have made them immune to the "liberum veto". Thus, although he had a majority in the Sejms, Poniatowski was unable to pass even the smallest reform. The Zamoyski Code was rejected by the Sejm of 1780, and opposition attacks on the King dominated the Sejms of 1782 and 1786.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Reforms became possible again in the late 1780s. In the context of the wars being waged against the Ottoman Empire by both the Austrian Empire and the Russian Empire, Poniatowski tried to draw Poland into the Austro-Russian alliance, seeing a war with the Ottomans as an opportunity to strengthen the Commonwealth. Catherine gave permission for the next Sejm to be called, as she considered some form of limited military alliance with Poland against the Ottomans might be useful.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: The Polish-Russian alliance was not implemented, as in the end the only acceptable compromise proved unattractive to both sides. However, in the ensuing Four-Year Sejm of 1788–92 (known as the Great Sejm), Poniatowski threw his lot in with the reformers associated with the Patriotic Party of Stanisław Małachowski, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, and co-authored the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The Constitution introduced sweeping reforms. According to Jacek Jędruch, the Constitution, despite its liberal provisions, "fell somewhere below the French, above the Canadian, and left the General State Laws for the Prussian States (in German: "Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten") far behind", but was "no match for the American Constitution".


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: George Sanford notes that the Constitution gave Poland "a constitutional monarchy close to the British model of the time." According to a contemporary account, Poniatowski himself described it, as "founded principally on those of England and the United States of America, but avoiding the faults and errors of both, and adapted as much as possible to the local and particular circumstances of the country." The Constitution of 3 May remained to the end a work in progress. A new civil and criminal code (provisionally called the "Stanisław Augustus Code") was among the proposals. Poniatowski also planned a reform to improve the situation of Polish Jews.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: In foreign policy, spurned by Russia, Poland turned to another potential ally, the Triple Alliance, represented on the Polish diplomatic scene primarily by the Kingdom of Prussia, which led to the formation of the ultimately futile Polish–Prussian alliance. The pro-Prussian shift was not supported by Poniatowski, who nevertheless acceded to the decision of the majority of Sejm deputies. The passing of the Constitution of 3 May, although officially applauded by Frederick William II of Prussia, who sent a congratulatory note to Warsaw, caused further worry in Prussia. The contacts of Polish reformers with the revolutionary French National Assembly were seen by Poland's neighbours as evidence of a conspiracy and a threat to their absolute monarchies. Prussian statesman Ewald von Hertzberg expressed the fears of European conservatives: "The Poles have given the "coup de grâce" to the Prussian monarchy by voting in a constitution", elaborating that a strong Commonwealth would likely demand the return of the lands Prussia acquired in the First Partition; a similar sentiment was later expressed by Prussian Foreign Minister, Count Friedrich Wilhelm von der Schulenburg-Kehnert. Russia's wars with the Ottomans and Sweden having ended, Catherine was furious over the adoption of the Constitution, which threatened Russian influence in Poland. One of Russia's chief foreign policy authors, Alexander Bezborodko, upon learning of the Constitution, commented that "the worst possible news have arrived from Warsaw: the Polish king has become almost sovereign."


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Shortly thereafter, conservative Polish nobility formed the Targowica Confederation to overthrow the Constitution, which they saw as a threat to the traditional freedoms and privileges they enjoyed. The confederates aligned themselves with Russia's Catherine the Great, and the Russian army entered Poland, marking the start of the Polish–Russian War of 1792, also known as the War in Defence of the Constitution. The Sejm voted to increase the Polish Army to 100,000 men, but due to insufficient time and funds this number was never achieved. Poniatowski and the reformers could field only a 37,000-man army, many of them untested recruits. This army, under the command of the King's nephew Józef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, managed to defeat the Russians or fight them to a draw on several occasions. Following the victorious Battle of Zieleńce, in which Polish forces were commanded by his nephew, the King founded a new order, the Order of Virtuti Militari, to reward Poles for exceptional military leadership and courage in combat.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Despite Polish requests, Prussia refused to honour its alliance obligations. In the end, the numerical superiority of the Russians was too great, and defeat looked inevitable. Poniatowski's attempts at negotiations with Russia proved futile. In July 1792, when Warsaw was threatened with siege by the Russians, the king came to believe that surrender was the only alternative to total defeat. Having received assurances from Russian ambassador Yakov Bulgakov that no territorial changes would occur, a cabinet of ministers called the Guard of Laws (or Guardians of Law, ) voted eight to four in favor of surrender. On 24 July 1792, Poniatowski joined the Targowica Confederation. The Polish Army disintegrated. Many reform leaders, believing their cause lost, went into self-exile, although they hoped that Poniatowski would be able to negotiate an acceptable compromise with the Russians, as he had done in the past. Poniatowski had not saved the Commonwealth, however. He and the reformers had lost much of their influence, both within the country and with Catherine. Neither were the Targowica Confederates victorious. To their surprise, there ensued the Second Partition of Poland. With the new deputies bribed or intimidated by the Russian troops, the Grodno Sejm took place. On 23 November 1793, it annulled all acts of the Great Sejm, including the Constitution. Faced with his powerlessness, Poniatowski once again considered abdication; in the meantime he tried to salvage whatever reforms he could.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski's plans had been ruined by the Kościuszko Uprising. The King had not encouraged it, but once it began he supported it, seeing no other honourable option. Its defeat marked the end of the Commonwealth. Poniatowski tried to govern the country in the brief period after the fall of the Uprising, but on 2 December 1794, Catherine demanded he leave Warsaw, a request to which he acceded on 7 January 1795, leaving the capital under Russian military escort and settling briefly in Grodno. On 24 October 1795, the Act of the final, Third Partition of Poland was signed. One month and one day later, on 25 November, Poniatowski signed his abdication.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Reportedly, his sister, Ludwika Maria Zamoyska and her daughter also his favourite niece, Urszula Zamoyska, who had been threatened with confiscation of their property, had contributed to persuading him to sign the abdication: they feared that his refusal would lead to a Russian confiscation of their properties and their ruin.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Catherine died on 17 November 1796, succeeded by her son, Paul I of Russia. On 15 February 1797, Poniatowski left for Saint Petersburg. He had hoped to be allowed to travel abroad, but was unable to secure permission to do so. A virtual prisoner in St. Petersburg's Marble Palace, he subsisted on a pension granted to him by Catherine. Despite financial troubles, he still supported some of his former allies, and continued to try to represent the Polish cause at the Russian court. He also worked on his memoirs.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski died of a stroke on 12 February 1798. Paul I sponsored a royal state funeral, and on 3 March he was buried at the Catholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. In 1938, when the Soviet Union planned to demolish the Church, his remains were transferred to the Second Polish Republic and interred in a church at Wołczyn, his birthplace. This was done in secret and caused controversy in Poland when the matter became known. In 1990, due to the poor state of the Wołczyn church (then in the Byelorussian SSR), his body was once more exhumed and was brought to Poland, to St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, where on 3 May 1791 he had celebrated the adoption of the Constitution that he had coauthored. A third funeral ceremony was held on 14 February 1995.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Stanisław August Poniatowski has been called the Polish Enlightenment's most important patron of the arts. His cultural projects were attuned to his socio-political aims of overthrowing the myth of the Golden Freedoms and the traditional ideology of Sarmatism. His weekly "Thursday Dinners" were considered the most scintillating social functions in the Polish capital.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He founded Warsaw's National Theatre, Poland's first public theatre, and sponsored an associated Ballet schoolsballet school. He remodeled Ujazdów Palace and the Royal Castle in Warsaw, and erected the elegant Łazienki (Royal Baths) Palace in Warsaw's Łazienki, Park. He involved himself deeply in the detail of his architectural projects, and his eclectic style has been dubbed the "Stanisław August style" by Polish art historian Władysław Tatarkiewicz. His chief architects included Domenico Merlini and Jan Kammsetzer.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He was also patron to numerous painters. They included Poles such as his protégée, Anna Rajecka and Franciszek Smuglewicz, Jan Bogumił Plersch, son of Jan Jerzy Plersch, Józef Wall, and Zygmunt Vogel, as well as foreign painters including, Marcello Bacciarelli, Bernardo Bellotto, Jean Pillement, Ludwik Marteau, and Per Krafft the Elder. His retinue of sculptors, headed by André-Jean Lebrun, included Giacomo Monaldi, Franz Pinck, and Tommaso Righi. Jan Filip Holzhaeusser was his court engraver and the designer of many commemorative medals. According to a 1795 inventory, Stanisław August's art collection, spread among numerous buildings, contained 2,889 pieces, including works by Rembrandt, Rubens, and van Dyck. His plan to create a large gallery of paintings in Warsaw was disrupted by the dismemberment of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Most of the paintings that he had ordered for it can now be seen in London's Dulwich Picture Gallery. Poniatowski also planned to found an Academy of Fine Arts, but this finally came about only after his abdication and departure from Warsaw.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski accomplished much in the realm of education and literature. He established the School of Chivalry, also called the "Cadet Corps", which functioned from 1765 to 1794 and whose alumni included Tadeusz Kościuszko. He supported the creation of the Commission of National Education, considered to be the world's first Ministry of Education. In 1765 he helped found the "Monitor", one of the first Polish newspapers and the leading periodical of the Polish Enlightenment. He sponsored many articles that appeared in the "Monitor". Writers and poets who received his patronage included, Stanisław Trembecki, Franciszek Salezy Jezierski, Franciszek Bohomolec and Franciszek Zabłocki. He also supported publishers including, Piotr Świtkowski, and library owners such as Józef Lex.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He supported the development of the sciences, particularly cartography; he hired a personal cartographer, Karol de Perthees, even before he was elected king. A plan he initiated to map the entire territory of the Commonwealth, however, was never finished. At the Royal Castle in Warsaw, he organized an astronomical observatory and supported astronomers Jan Śniadecki and Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt. He also sponsored historical studies, including the collection, cataloging and copying of historical manuscripts. He encouraged publications of biographies of famous Polish historical figures, and sponsored paintings and sculptures of them.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: For his contributions to the arts and sciences, Poniatowski was awarded in 1766 a royal Fellowship of the Royal Society, where he became the first royal Fellow outside British royalty. In 1778 he was awarded fellowship of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1791 of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He also supported the development of industry and manufacturing, areas in which the Commonwealth lagged behind most of Western Europe. Among the endeavours in which he invested were the manufacture of cannons and firearms and the mining industry.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski himself left several literary works: his memoirs, some political brochures and recorded speeches from the Sejm. He was considered a great orator and a skilled conversationalist.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: King Stanisław Augustus remains a controversial figure. In Polish historiography and in popular works, he has been criticized or marginalized by authors such as, Szymon Askenazy, Joachim Lelewel, Jerzy Łojek whom Andrzej Zahorski describes as Poniatowski's most vocal critic among modern historians, Tadeusz Korzon, Karol Zyszewski and Krystyna Zienkowska; whereas more neutral or positive views have been expressed by Paweł Jasienica, Walerian Kalinka, Władysław Konopczyński, Stanisław Mackiewicz, Emanuel Rostworowski and Stanisław Wasylewski.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: When elected to the throne, he was seen by many as simply an "instrument for displacing the somnolent Saxons from the throne of Poland", yet as the British historian, Norman Davies notes, ""he turned out to be an ardent patriot, and a convinced reformer."" Still, according to many, his reforms did not go far enough, leading to accusations that he was being overly cautious, even indecisive, a fault to which he himself admitted. His decision to rely on Russia has been often criticized. Poniatowski saw Russia as a "lesser evil" – willing to support the notional "independence" of a weak Poland within the Russian sphere of influence. However, in the event Russia imposed the Partitions of Poland rather than choose to support internal reform. He was accused by others of weakness and subservience, even of treason, especially in the years following the Second Partition. During the Kościuszko Uprising, there were rumours that Polish Jacobins had been planning a coup d'état and Poniatowski's assassination. Another line of criticism alleged poor financial management on his part. Poniatowski actually had little personal wealth. Most of his income came from Crown Estates and monopolies. His lavish patronage of the arts and sciences was a major drain on the royal treasury. He also supported numerous public initiatives, and attempted to use the royal treasury to cover the state's expenses when tax revenues were insufficient. The Sejm promised several times to compensate his treasury to little practical effect. Nonetheless contemporary critics frequently accused him of being a spendthrift.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Andrzej Zahorski dedicated a book to a discussion of Poniatowski, "The Dispute over Stanisław August" ("Spór o Stanisława Augusta", Warsaw, 1988). He notes that the discourse concerning Poniatowski is significantly coloured by the fact that he was the last King of Poland – the King who failed to save the country. This failure, and his prominent position, rendered him a convenient scapegoat for many. Zahorski argues that Poniatowski made the error of joining the Targowica Confederation. Although he wanted to preserve the integrity of the Polish state, it was far too late for that – he succeeded instead in cementing the damage to his own reputation for succeeding centuries.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski has been the subject of numerous biographies and many works of art. Voltaire, who saw Poniatowski as a model reformist, based his character, King Teucer in the play "Les Lois de Minos" (1772) on Poniatowski. At least 58 contemporary poems were dedicated to him or praised him. Since then, he has been a major character in many works of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, in the "Rok 1794" trilogy by Władysław Stanisław Reymont, in the novels of Tadeusz Łopalewski, and in the dramas of Ignacy Grabowski, Tadeusz Miciński, Roman Brandstaetter and Bogdan Śmigielski. He is discussed in Luise Mühlbach's novel "Joseph II and His Court", and appears in Jane Porter's 1803 novel, "Thaddeus of Warsaw".


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: On screen he has been played by Wieńczysław Gliński in the 1976 "3 Maja" directed by Grzegorz Królikiewicz. He appears in a Russian TV series.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski is depicted in numerous portraits, medals and coins. He is prominent in Jan Matejko's work, especially in the 1891 painting, "Constitution of 3 May 1791" and in another large canvas, "Rejtan", and in his series of portraits of Polish monarchs. A bust of Poniatowski was unveiled in Łazienki Palace in 1992. A number of cities in Poland have streets named after him, including Kraków and Warsaw.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Poniatowski never married. In his youth, he had loved his cousin Elżbieta Czartoryska, but her father August Aleksander Czartoryski disapproved because he did not think him influential or rich enough. When this was no longer an issue, she was already married. His "pacta conventa" specified that he should marry a Polish noblewoman, although he himself always hoped to marry into some royal family.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: Upon his accession to the throne, he had hopes of marrying Catherine II, writing to her on 2 November 1763 in a moment of doubt, "If I desired the throne, it was because I saw you on it." When she made it clear through his envoy Rzewuski that she would not marry him, there were hopes of an Austrian archduchess, Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743–1808). A marriage to Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden was suggested despite the religious differences, but this match was opposed by his sisters, Ludwika Maria Poniatowska and Izabella Poniatowska, and nothing came of it. The ceremonial role of queen and hostess of his court was played by his favourite niece, Urszula Zamoyska.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: A few historians believe that he later contracted a secret marriage with Elżbieta Szydłowska. However, according to Wirydianna Fiszerowa, a contemporary who knew them both, this rumour only spread after the death of Poniatowski, was generally disbelieved, and moreover, was circulated by Elżbieta herself, so the marriage is considered by most to be unlikely.


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: He had several notable lovers, including Elżbieta Branicka, who acted as his political adviser and financier, and had children with two of them. With Magdalena Agnieszka Sapieżyna (1739–1780), he became the father of Konstancja Żwanowa (1768–1810) and Michał Cichocki (1770–1828). With Elżbieta Szydłowska (1748–1810), he became the father of Stanisław Konopnicy-Grabowski (1780–1845), Michał Grabowski (1773–1812), Kazimierz Grabowski (1770-?), Konstancja Grabowska and Izabela Grabowska (1776–1858).


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: The English translation of the Polish text of the 1791 Constitution gives his title as "Stanisław August, by the grace of God and the will of the people, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Duke of Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlasie, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernihiv."


title: Stanisław August Poniatowski

text: a Sources vary as to whether Konstancja Grabowska and Kazimierz Grabowski were Poniatowski's children. They are listed as such by several sources, including Jerzy Michalski's article on Stanisław August Poniatowski in the Polish Biographical Dictionary. However, Marek Jerzy Minakowski's website on descendants of Great Sejm participants lists neither Kazimierz Grabowski nor Konstancja Grabowska as Poniatowski's children; and for Elżbieta Szydłowska, it lists only Kazimierz Grabowski as Jan Jerzy Grabowski's child.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Control is a 2007 British biographical film about the life of Ian Curtis, singer of the late-1970s English post-punk band Joy Division. It is the first feature film directed by Anton Corbijn, who had worked with Joy Division as a photographer. The screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, was based on the biography "Touching from a Distance" by Curtis's widow Deborah, who served as a co-producer on the film. Tony Wilson, who released Joy Division's records through his Factory Records label, also served as a co-producer. Curtis' bandmates Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris provided incidental music for the soundtrack via their post-Joy Division incarnation New Order. "Control" was filmed partly on location in Nottingham, Manchester, and Macclesfield, including areas where Curtis lived, and was shot in colour and then printed to black-and-white. Its title comes from the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control", and alludes to the fact that much of the plot deals with the notion that Curtis tried to remain in control of his own life, and yet had no control over his epilepsy and pharmaceutical side effects.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Sam Riley and Samantha Morton star as Ian and Deborah Curtis, and the film portrays the events of the couple's lives from 1973 to 1980, focusing on their marriage, the formation and career of Joy Division, Ian's struggle with epilepsy, and his extramarital affair with Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, culminating in his May 1980 suicide. Alexandra Maria Lara plays Honoré, while James Anthony Pearson, Joe Anderson, and Harry Treadaway play Sumner, Hook, and Morris, respectively. The film also features Toby Kebbell as band manager Rob Gretton and Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: "Control" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 where it won several awards including the Director's Fortnight, the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the Regards Jeunes Prize for best first/second directed feature film, and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar. It also received a special mention for the Caméra d'Or prize for best debut feature film. It went on to win five British Independent Film Awards including Best Film, Best Director for Corbijn, Most Promising Newcomer for Riley, and Best Supporting Actor for Kebbell. It was named Best Film at the 2007 Evening Standard British Film Awards, and Greenhalgh was given the Carl Foreman award for outstanding achievement in his first feature film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Ian Curtis and Debbie Woodruff marry in 1975 in their home town of Macclesfield at ages 19 and 18, respectively. Ian retreats from domestic life, preferring to write poetry in solitude. On 4 June 1976 they attend a Sex Pistols concert with Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Terry Mason, who are starting a band. Mesmerized by the concert, Ian volunteers to be their singer. They name themselves Warsaw, and Terry moves into a managerial role with the addition of drummer Stephen Morris. The band debuts 19 May 1977 and soon rename themselves Joy Division. Ian and Debbie finance their first EP, "An Ideal for Living" (1978).


title: Control (2007 film)

text: During his job as an employment agent, Ian witnesses his client Corinne Lewis suffering a seizure. Unsatisfied with the brief mention Joy Division receives from television host Tony Wilson, Ian demands that he put the band on his programme. In April 1978 Joy Division plays a battle of bands, impressing Tony and Rob Gretton, who becomes their new manager. They perform "Transmission" on Tony's programme and sign to his Factory Records label; Tony signs the contract using his own blood.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: In December 1978 Ian suffers a seizure on the way back from the band's first London gig. He is diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed medications that leave him drowsy and moody. Learning that Corinne Lewis has died of a seizure, he pens "She's Lost Control" about her. He begins to neglect Debbie, who gives birth to their daughter Natalie in April 1979. Ian quits his job to go on tour, leaving Debbie to work and care for the baby.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Ian admits to Belgian journalist Annik Honoré that he is miserable at home and considers his marriage a mistake. The two begin having an affair during Joy Division's January 1980 European tour. On returning home, Ian tells Debbie he is unsure if he still loves her. During the rehearsing of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Rob informs the band that they will be departing 19 May for a tour of the United States. Debbie finds evidence of Ian's infidelity and confronts him. He promises that the affair is over, but continues to see Annik during the recording of "Closer" in Islington.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Ian suffers a seizure mid-performance and is comforted by Annik, who admits she is falling in love with him. He attempts suicide by overdosing on phenobarbital but doctors save his life. He continues to perform, but is exhausted by the strain and overwhelmed by the audience's expectations. At a performance at the Derby Hall the stress proves too much and he is only briefly able to go onstage. The audience riots when Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance steps in to cover for Ian, and the gig is ruined. Ian tells Tony that he believes everyone hates him and that it is his own fault. When Debbie learns that Ian is still seeing Annik, she demands a divorce. Bernard attempts to use hypnotherapy on Ian, who then goes to stay with his parents. He writes to Annik admitting his fear that his epilepsy will eventually kill him, and confesses that he loves her.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: On 17 May 1980, two nights before Joy Division is due to depart for America, Ian returns home and begs Debbie not to divorce him. When she refuses, he angrily orders her out of the house. After drinking alone and writing Debbie a letter, he has another seizure. Regaining consciousness the following morning, he hangs himself from the Sheila Maid in the kitchen. Debbie discovers his body and staggers into the street, crying for help. The news of Ian's death leaves the remaining Joy Division members stunned, while Tony consoles Annik. The group gather in a café with Gillian Gilbert, foreshadowing the future of the band. Ian's body is cremated.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Corbijn had been a devout Joy Division fan since the band's early days in the late 1970s. After moving to England, he befriended the band and shot several pictures for "NME", which boosted his career as a photographer. Some of his pictures taken are featured in the film. He also directed the music video for the 1988 rerelease of "Atmosphere". He said that the film overlapped with his own life in some ways. "I had moved to England to be close to that music at the time, and I was very into Joy Division. I worked with them, took pictures of them that became synonymous with their music, and I was forever linked. Then eight years after [Ian Curtis'] death, I did the video for "Atmosphere." So in other people's eyes I was always connected with them."


title: Control (2007 film)

text: "Control" is Corbijn's debut as a film director, and he paid half of the €4.5 million budget out of his own pocket. The film was shot on colour stock and printed to black and white to "reflect the atmosphere of Joy Division and the mood of the era". Todd Eckert and Orian Williams are the producers. Deborah Curtis, Ian Curtis' widow, is a co-producer, along with music mogul Tony Wilson, who died months before the film's release. It had been Wilson who had given Joy Division their TV break on the local magazine programme "Granada Reports", and he also founded Factory Records, which released most of Joy Division's work.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: After the script for the film was finished in May 2005, the film was shot at the former Carlton studios in Nottingham, and on location in Nottingham, Manchester and Macclesfield, England, as well as other European venues. Filming began on 3 July 2006 and lasted for seven weeks. Filming in and around Barton Street (where Curtis lived and died), Macclesfield took place on 11 and 12 July 2006. EM Media, the Regional Screen Agency for the East Midlands, invested £250,000 of European Regional Development Funds into the production of "Control" and supported the film throughout the shoot.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: The final scene of the film is shot in the exact position where Ian Curtis's memorial stone is located in Macclesfield with the camera panning out to reveal the crematorium which can be seen directly from his memorial.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: The Weinstein Company secured the rights to release the film in North America after its success at Cannes. The DVD was released in the UK on 11 February 2008, followed by the Australian DVD on 12 March 2008, and the North American DVD on 3 June 2008.


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Peter Bradshaw, the chief film reviewer for "The Guardian", described "Control" as "the best film of the year: a tender, bleakly funny and superbly acted biopic of Curtis". Prominent American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a three and a half stars rating, out of four, and wrote that "The extraordinary achievement of "Control" is that it works simultaneously as a musical biopic and the story of a life."


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 88% approval rating with an average rating of 7.41/10 based on 112 reviews. The website's consensus reads, ""Control" is a work of art, thanks to its evocative black and white cinematography and sensational performances from Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Even those not familiar with Joy Division can still appreciate the beauty of the film." Metacritic reports the film as having an average score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, claiming the film had "generally favourable reviews".


title: Control (2007 film)

text: However, some reviewers have commented on the film negatively. Ray Bennett from Reuters described "Control" to be a "disappointment" and said the film "features lots of music from that time and has decent performances, but it fails to make the case for its fallen star".


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, two of the founding members of Joy Division, generally praised the film. Morris disputed its accuracy, saying "[n]one of it's true really", but acknowledged the need to bend facts because "the truth is too boring." Hook criticised the preview audience's reaction, saying how at the end of the film "it really hurt and everybody started clapping. It would've been nice to have a dignified silence."


title: Control (2007 film)

text: Hook also remarked that ""Control" is a hell of a lot more accurate than "24 Hour Party People". You can tell that Anton knew us, and he knew us well and he took the original script, which was very English and quite subtly he made it deeper and have a broader appeal so that it would not just make sense to an English audience but to an international audience."


title: Control (2007 film)

text: After viewing the film at Cannes, Hook said he "knew it was a great film and that it would be very well received because, even though it's two hours long, only two people went to the toilet the whole time. In fact, one of them was Bernard [Sumner]. The other one was a 70-year-old woman."


title: Control (2007 film)

text: The Killers cover the 1979 Joy Division song "Shadowplay" on the soundtrack. However, all live Joy Division performances in the film are performed by the actors. The actors contribute a cover of an original Joy Division song ("Transmission") to the soundtrack. Incidental tracks by 1970s artists including David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Buzzcocks are the original recordings. New Order provided the original incidental music for the soundtrack.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at "Rolling Stone", during a tenure that "Reason" later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in "Reason", "Esquire", "Details", "New York", and "Time". He has also made cameos on several films and television series. He is best known for his role at "MTV News" since the 1980s and for appearing in other MTV-related television specials. He has hosted the SiriusXM radio show "True Stories" since 2016.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder was born in Ocean City, New Jersey. He graduated from Ocean City High School in 1963. He spent two years in college "and just hated it." He was drafted into the United States Army and joined its journalism school.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder stated that he "just fell into" his field, elaborating that his "entire journalism background is four weeks... That's it. Nothing else. You can learn journalism in four weeks. It's not an overcomplicated thing. It's very simple."


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder lived in Europe for the next several years, doing what he later called "scandal sheet" "yellow journalism." He returned home to New Jersey at the end of 1972 and worked with a local newspaper and then an Ocean City-based magazine run by the sister of the city's famous writer Gay Talese. He left in the summer of 1976 to work with a free Long Island rock weekly called "Good Times". He received about $200 a week.


title: Kurt Loder

text: After meeting a fellow "music geek," David Fricke, "the two of us began driving into Manhattan virtually every night to wallow in the flourishing punk rock scene at CBGB's, Max's, etc. This was, fortunately, cool with the wives. I mean, we'd still be sitting upright at four in the morning through fist fights, mass nod-outs, and sets by bands with names like Blinding Headache, played to audiences of three people, of which we'd be two-thirds. I don't think I can quite convey how great days those were".


title: Kurt Loder

text: They both joined "Circus" in 1978 and moved to Manhattan. Loder went on to become one of its official editors. The staff had a fun, relaxed atmosphere and considered the magazine to be second or third tier. Loder later said that "Whatever was said to be 'happening' in commercial pop music was... on the cover of Circus. Disco? Run with it. Shirtless teen popsters? Put 'em on the cover... a, shall we say, ardent enthusiasm for pix of nubile youths. Metal, of course, was really the mag's meat." He also remarked that "it was a foregone conclusion that writing of any technical ambition, about new acts of any real excitement or interest, would make it in the mag only by the sheerest accident." Loder briefly experimented with inhalant-based drugs at "Circus"; he stopped after experiencing a "gushing" nosebleed without any feeling left in his face.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder started a nine-year run at "Rolling Stone" in May 1979. RockCritics.com has called him "one of "Rolling Stone"'s most talented and prolific feature writers." While at "Rolling Stone", Loder co-authored singer Tina Turner's 1986 autobiography "I, Tina". He then contributed to the screenplay adaptation for the film "What's Love Got to Do with It".


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder joined MTV in 1987 as the host of their flagship music news program, "The Week in Rock". It was later expanded and renamed to "MTV News" in which he was an anchor and correspondent. Loder was one of the first to break the news of Kurt Cobain's death; he interrupted regular programming to inform viewers that Cobain was found dead. Loder authored a 1990 collection of his "Rolling Stone" work called "Bat Chain Puller".


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder has guest-starred as himself on "Kenan & Kel", The "That '90s Show" episode of "The Simpsons", "Girlfriends", "Duckman", "Saturday Night Live", and "Portlandia". He has appeared in several films. He was also parodied in the "South Park" episode "Timmy 2000". Kurt Loder is well known for his battle with palsy.


title: Kurt Loder

text: In 2011, St. Martin's Press published Loder's "The Good, the Bad and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews", which collected his film reviews from MTV.com and Reason.com.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder identifies himself as a libertarian and summarizes his position as "free love and free markets". He called former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg "a scary guy" and called it "amazing that people don't rise up with pitchforks." Loder opposed President George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election and he believes that "MTV News" played a small role in Bush's loss. Loder believes that his views came from his childhood experiences, saying:


title: Kurt Loder

text: I grew up on the Jersey Shore, on a little barrier island. The Atlantic Ocean was on one side, the bay was on the other. Everyone there hunted and fished and clammed and got crabs out of the bay. And one day my brother told me someone had come down from the Bureau of Petty Harassment or something and they measured the temperature of the water and had decided it was a little too warm and a certain type of bacteria might incubate in it and there was a chance that might harm the clams. And so, from now on, no one was supposed to take clams out of the bay anymore. Which everyone ignored. And no one died. That was before the government got tenacious about this stuff. So I thought that was pretty stupid right there.


title: Kurt Loder

text: In a 1989 live show, Loder saw Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach wearing a T-shirt reading the anti-gay slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead." Loder reacted with an article in which he stated, "In the land of homophobia, if Axl Rose owns the restaurant and Public Enemy are the diners, we have a new busboy." Bach considered Loder's words "complete bullshit," saying that he had only used the shirt to dry himself off and strongly opposes the message on it, and later issued several public apologies.


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder was highly critical of Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko", saying it was "heavily doctored." He argued, "When governments attempt to regulate the balance between a limited supply of health care and an unlimited demand for it they're inevitably forced to ration treatment."


title: Kurt Loder

text: Loder defines news as "anything that's interesting." He is critical of the idea of new journalism and argues that it has been used as a rhetorical shield for lazy journalism. He believes that new technology has fragmented American culture to the extent that no cinematic or musical success can unify it, as with past rock bands such as The Beatles. He also strongly supports copyright laws. He generally considers himself to be supportive of new media despite his role at MTV, once joking, "MTV is part of Viacom, which controls Paramount, and so on and so forth. It's the evil empire."


title: Kurt Loder

text: You shouldn't make friends. It's not a good thing to be friends with people you're covering. There's just no point in doing it. It's tempting, but they're not going to consider you their friend anyway. They just know that you're somebody that can do something for them. So you shouldn't really flatter yourself that they want to be your buddy. They don't... They want you for some reason or other, and you just have to fend that off all the time. And you can't really cover people critically that you're friends with. How would that work? That would be bad. So you always have to keep that in mind.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is the debut studio album by the English-American supergroup Traveling Wilburys, comprising George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. It was released in October 1988 to commercial success and critical acclaim. Although Harrison had long planned to start such a band, the project came about through happenstance. Harrison was in Los Angeles and in need of a B-side for a single from his "Cloud Nine" album, which resulted in the participants collaborating informally on the song "Handle with Care" at Dylan's home. Adopting alter egos as the five Wilbury brothers, they then recorded a full album, produced by Lynne and Harrison. It was the only Wilburys album to feature Orbison, who died suddenly of a heart attack less than two months after its release. The group continued as a four-piece after his death.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: "The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989 and helped revitalise the careers of Dylan and Petty. It has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: In early April 1988, George Harrison was in Los Angeles and needed to record a B-side for a European 12-inch single. Jeff Lynne was also in Los Angeles writing and producing some tracks for Roy Orbison on his album "Mystery Girl" (released posthumously), as well as Tom Petty’s first solo album, "Full Moon Fever". While having dinner with Lynne and Orbison, Harrison related how he needed to record a new track and wanted to do it the next day. Harrison asked if Lynne would help, and Orbison offered his old friend his hand as well, seeing how fun it would be. Needing a studio at short notice, Harrison called Bob Dylan, who agreed to let them use his garage studio. After dinner, Harrison stopped by Petty’s house to pick up a guitar he had left there, and invited Petty along as well. Gathering at Dylan’s Malibu home the following day, Harrison, Lynne, Orbison and Petty worked on a song that Harrison had started writing for the occasion, "Handle with Care". At first, Dylan's role was that of a host, maintaining a barbecue to feed the musicians; at Harrison's invitation, Dylan then joined them in writing lyrics for the song. The ensemble taped the track on Dylan's Ampex recording equipment, with all five sharing the vocals.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: "Handle with Care" was considered too good to be used as a B-side, so Harrison decided to form a band and record another nine songs for an album. The group got together again for nine days in May, recording the basic tracks and vocals at Dave Stewart’s home studio in Los Angeles. Overdubs and mixing were carried out in England at Harrison’s home studio, FPSHOT (short for Friar Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames).


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: Masquerading as the Wilbury brothers, the participants would be known as Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lucky (Dylan), Lefty (Orbison), and Charlie T. Jr. (Petty) Wilbury, with drummer Jim Keltner credited as Buster Sidebury. Harrison was no stranger to the use of alternate identities, as he had adopted them with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and with his plethora of pseudonyms as a session musician, including L'Angelo Misterioso, George O'Hara and Hari Georgeson. During the Beatles' first tour of Scotland, in 1960, he had used the pseudonym "Carl Harrison", in reference to one of his favourite musicians, Carl Perkins. With the Traveling Wilburys, this concept was taken a step further, since the participants' real names do not appear anywhere on the album, liner notes, or the songwriting credits.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: With Harrison having the greatest claim to the band, he signed them to Warner Bros. Records, which distributed his solo recordings, and incorporated their own Wilbury Records label, in addition to producing the sessions with Lynne that spring. Petty subsequently signed to Warner Bros. himself as a solo artist, and one of the company's subsidiaries, Reprise Records, released Lynne's solo album "Armchair Theatre" in 1990.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: According to statements by Harrison in the documentary "The True History of the Traveling Wilburys" (filmed in 1988 about the making of the album and re-released on the bonus DVD included in "The Traveling Wilburys Collection"), the whole band gave various contributions to all songs, although each song was mainly written by a single member; the joint songwriting credit came from the fact that giving individualized credits looked egotistical.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: We would arrive about twelve or one o'clock and have some coffee. Somebody would say, 'What about this?' and start on a riff. Then we'd all join in, and it'd turn into something. We'd finish around midnight and just sit for a bit while Roy would tell us fabulous stories about Sun Records or hanging out with Elvis. Then we'd come back the next day to work on another one. That's why the songs are so good and fresh—because they haven't been second-guessed and dissected and replaced. It's so tempting to add stuff to a song when you've got unlimited time.


title: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

text: However, the publishing credits on the "Collection" book are more revealing about the actual songwriters, as each of the credited publishers belongs to a single member: