Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry

We’ve been brought up on tv crime shows and police procedurals…in about 45 minutes, a crime is committed, evidence gathered, suspects identified and arrested, sent to trial and either convicted or acquitted. In real life, though, it doesn’t work that way. When we learn of a horrific crime, it occupies the news cycle for days, weeks, and even months as the case plays out…but then, inevitably, something else comes along, and we move on before the story of that crime is complete. Has the case gone cold?... Did anyone ever get arrested?...was there a conviction?... If so, what happened at the trial?... Did anyone go to jail?... And if someone is in prison, what’s their status? In short, was justice served?... Much of the time, we don’t know because no one ever follows up…and if they do, these new details get lost in the constant deluge of information that comes up every day. I’m ac, and this is episode 67 of “uncharted: crime and mayhem in the music industry”…and over the life of this show, we’ve talked about dozens of cases, most of which have been resolved…but some of these tales just keep on going. Time for some updates, resolutions, and conclusions to some very infamous crimes from the world of music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when one man changes not just how we hear music...but the way we experience it? Meet Augustus Owsley Stanley III...also known as “Bear.” He wasn’t just the Grateful Dead’s sound engineer; he was the underground chemist who produced millions of doses of LSD, fueling the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s and beyond. Owsley’s obsession with purity...in concert sound, and pure acid... transformed live music forever. From the birth of the legendary “Wall of Sound” PA system to the secret labs that churned out the most potent LSD on the planet, this is the long, strange trip of how Owsley Stanley became a folk hero, a criminal mastermind, and an audio pioneer... all at once. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Nelly Furtado’s million-dollar gig for the Gaddafi family to Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Jennifer Lopez entertaining corrupt regimes...why are some of the largest global music superstars performing private shows for some of the world’s most notorious figures? Some artists were duped, others donated their fees, and a few embraced the payday...all while dealing with the moral complexities of music, money, and power. This is episode 52 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry.” The inside story of playing gigs for dictators, oligarchs and criminals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1970s were a dangerous time in Ireland. An era known as “The Troubles” began in the late 1960s. It was protestants vs. Catholics, British loyalists against Irish unionists, the British army vs. the IRA, the UDA, and other groups… There were bombings, assassinations, guerrilla campaigns, and roaming paramilitary groups, both official and unofficial. It saw civil disobedience, riots, mass protests, segregation, and many, many deaths…more than 3500 people, mostly civilians, died before things calmed down in the late 90s. July 31, 1975, was one of the bloodiest nights in the history of Irish music…in fact, it rivals some of the worst violence against musicians outside hits involving drug cartels in Mexico and South America…and people are still looking for answers. I’m Alan Cross, and this is episode 50 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”. This is the story of what became known as “The Miami Showband Massacre”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The influence of organized crime extends everywhere…drugs, loan-sharking, protection rackets, shakedowns, gambling, prostitution, money laundering, waste disposal—and the music industry. It’s not something we hear about so much anymore…but in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, it was very much a thing…and if you were operating in the music business during those decades, you would have come across Morris Levy. He liked to project the image of the savvy businessman, an entrepreneur running a successful record label who was also a philanthropist, raising money for charities like opera companies and children’s hospitals. But sitting atop his pyramid of companies, Levy stole money from artists, shook down record retailers, laundered money, cheated record pressing plants, and threatened people who got in his way…his influence was far, far greater than the size of Roulette would indicate. If you wanted to stand up to Morris, you had to be careful…there was a .38 in his desk drawer and he had several associates on the payroll that carried baseball bats in case a meeting turned difficult…and if that didn’t scare you, there were his silent backers in the mafia. With this backroom help, Morris was able to get his way with everyone from young emerging singers to—believe it or not—John Lennon. Levy ran his corner of the music business his way for decades—until he couldn’t. This is part two of “Morris Levy: music’s most mobbed-up man”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You don’t get much more Rock Star than Ozzy Osbourne. Through more than 50 years, his wild persona and crazy behaviour not only made him an icon of rock 'n' roll, but also a larger-than-life cultural figure popular with three or four generations. Given the abuse that he inflicted upon himself, it’s a miracle that he made it to age 76. On this edition of Uncharted, we’re going to trace the insanity that was Ozzy from birth to death. And you can’t do that without honouring his music. He will be rightly remembered as the Godfather of Heavy Metal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices