Call it an identity crisis. First came Marilyn Manson's transformation from Satan's whipping boy to unisex albino glam alien. Now, he seems hell-bent on reaffirming his hell-raiser status. Or is he? |

According to the New York Post, Manson and his group caused an estimated $25,000 damage to their dressing rooms at the Poughkeepsie Civic Center and four rooms in a Sheraton hotel this weekend. Manson mananger Tony Ciulla, however, disputes the dollar amount.

"Once again, when it comes to Marilyn Manson, the media have taken a story and given it a life of its own. The reality was, there was damage to a phone. The total damage they were charged for was under $1,000, and that was inflated hotel prices." Ciulla didn't have a figure for the dressing room damage, but stressed the reported damage there was exaggerated, too. Neither the hotel or the Civic Center management could be reached by press time...

How very rock & roll, yes, but you reckon Keith Moon would have taken a pictures of all the damage, turned them over to hotel management and dutifully paid for his wanton destruction? Hell no. Then again, Moonie never wiped his arse with an American flag, as Manson did at Monday night's show in Manhattan, so we reckon the two balance
out . . .

The Ska world has bid farewell to another longtime member -- Roland Alphonso. The sixty-seven-year-old tenor saxophonist for the Skatalites died Friday, Nov. 20 after slipping into a four-day coma brought on by a seizure. Alphonso initially collapsed onstage on Nov. 2 at the Key Club in West Hollywood. He was listed in critical condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he died early Friday morning. Friends, family and fans can pay their respects to Alphonso this Friday during a viewing and memorial service at Trinity Methodist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. Alphonso will be laid to rest on Saturday at the Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn. Condolences should be directed to David Lane & Floyd Gilmour Funeral Services, One Remsen Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11212 . . .

The RSN Staff (November 24, 1998)