Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Was I halucinating, or did Kalodner state in a magazine or online posting (not long ago) that he had recently seen Axl (in NY with Merck--JK and Merck are good friends and work together), and that he "looked like a rock star again?"  Thank you in advance.



 ;)

John Kalodner, a former A&R man for Geffen, has spoken about Axl Rose and Guns N'Roses in the this month's edition of Classic Rock.

The excerpt from Classic Rock reads;

Kalodner was also at Geffen during the astonoshing rises of both Guns n'Roses and Nirvana. Of GN'R he says: "When I saw them at Santa Monica Civic for the first time I knew they'd be huge. Nobody could quantify exactly how big, but you know when your singer comes out in a kilt, they know you have balls. Axl could sing and wasn't afraid of anything."

Kalodner is one of only a few people who have met Axl recently: "I saw him in the Sanctuary office a month ago. This guy walked by and says: 'Hello, John'. It was Axl. And he looked great - like Axl The Rock Star again'. He did those last shows and he just wasn't himself any more."

Unfortunately the meeting didn't throw any light on the long running saga of GNR's Chinese Democracy album, and Kalodner remains as uncertain as everyone else over whether it will be released - or even finished. He mentions that the New York Times did a whole article on the making of that album, and says "All of it was true. They did spend all that money, and they've been working on it since I left Geffen - 11 years ago!"

If Kalodner was still at Geffen, does he think money would continue to be shovelled into Chinese Democracy?

"Well, I wasn't their A&R man," he says. "But if we were talking about a Journey or an Aerosmith record, then definitely not. But with someone as unpredictable as Axl, anything's possible. I honestly couldn't speculate."


I found this at sp1at.com

It was posted in September 2005.

But I'd get the original magazine article if I were you since sp1at.com was the old GNR rumor board and still is known for "printing rubbish" according to Merck, so I really don't believe anything they post there as they usually and do rewrite stuff to make it look like it was "heard/reported first at sp1at.com"

Thank you.  Does anyone know who was present at Sanctuary's meeting last Monday?  Any Tom Zutaut or Jon Kalodner sightings? 

Jon retired last November/December as far as I know. Anf I haven't heard anything about Tom in a few years now.

Well, Kalodner might have retired from his daytime "gig," but from what I have read, he is very involved with many projects in a consultative/contractual basis. 

Im not sure, But I know I remember reading he retied because of his health. As a matter of fact I read it around the time that all those people were let go from Sanctuary.

Do you know if it was a "health" retirement, or if that was just a convenient way to cover for Sanctuary's inability to pay him for his services anymore?  Interesting, do you know Jon?  I don't, but know a few people who have met him--apparently an eccentric, brilliant man! 

A little OT, but I do know he was very interested/hopeful for GNR reunion around 2003.  Mentioned that they had the potential to still be one of the most relevant bands of the rock era and to make another great record.  IMHO, GNR need's at least one more great record to move onto the same level as Aerosmith, Zepplin, The Stones, U2, etc.

IM not sure if it was a cover or not and I don't know him personally. But yes he is a very brilliant person, and he knows talent when he sees it.