Drugs influenced music former Beatle says

Drugs influenced musicformer Beatle says
LONDON -- Paul McCartney says he got no thrill from heroin, but found cocaine more to his liking for a time, reports The Associated Press.
"I tried heroin just the once," McCartney said in an interview published Wednesday in the Daily Mirror newspaper about his drug use in decades past.
"Even then, I didn't realize I'd taken it. I was just handed something, smoked it, then found out what it was.
"It didn't do anything for me, which was lucky because I wouldn't have fancied heading down that road," the former Beatle was quoted as saying. The full interview is published this week in Uncut magazine.
McCartney's drug use has resulted in at least one brush with the law. A planned Japan tour in 1980 was derailed when the singer was arrested at Tokyo's airport for possession of marijuana and later deported.
Despite enjoying cocaine for a time, he said he eventually turned against the drug.
"I did cocaine for about a year around the time of 'Sgt. Pepper,'" he said, referring to The Beatles' 1967 album.
"Coke and maybe some grass to balance it out. I was never completely crazy with cocaine. I'd been introduced to it and at first it seemed OK, like anything that's new and stimulating.
"When you start working your way through it, you start thinking: 'Mmm, this is not so cool an idea,' especially when you start getting those terrible comedowns," McCartney said. He confirmed that drugs influenced some of the group's songs.
"A song like 'Got to Get You Into My Life,' that's directly about pot, although everyone missed it at the time," McCartney said.
Rabbi disputes havingMadonna speak for Jews
NEW YORK -- Not everyone is impressed that Madonna has reinvented herself, reports MSNBC.com.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the former friend and adviser to Michael Jackson, has attacked the Material Mom, calling her a slut and a vulgarian.
In a startling essay for SomethingJewish.Co.UK, the rabbi blasts Phillip Berg, the head of the Kabbalah Centre, for letting the Material Girl be the religion's highest-profile spokesperson.
"Earth to Phillip Berg: Do us all a favor and dump Madonna as your principal spokesperson," Rabbi Boteach writes. "Sorry to be so crass, but Madonna is a slut. Yes, she may sing, and she may dance. But she is famous for being a slut. And no religion dare have a slut as its principal representative."
Not surprisingly, Madonna's rep reacted strongly.
"I find Rabbi Boteach's comments regarding Madonna frightening," said Liz Rosenberg. "His vile attacks on her character and as an artist are staggering for someone who professes to be a religious person. ... I suggest this man take a look at his own character and what problems he may have that would make him feel that he should make statements about a truly beautiful human being that he does not know in the slightest."
Bonsall arrested
BOULDER, Colo. -- Brian Bonsall, the youngest member of the Keaton clan on television's "Family Ties," was arrested last week on suspicion of drunken driving.
Bonsall, 22, was arrested early Friday by police who said they saw someone vomit out the passenger side window of his car. Asked how much he had to drink, Bonsall responded, "Plenty," then failed a roadside test.
Police said a blood test showed he had "excess alcohol content" but did not disclose the exact amount.
Bonsall, who lives in Boulder, starred as Andy Keaton for three seasons on the NBC sitcom in the late 1980s that helped launch the career of Michael J. Fox.
Today's birthdays
Actor Tony Curtis is 79. Musician Boots Randolph is 77. TV producer Chuck Barris is 75. Actress Irma P. Hall ("The Ladykillers") is 69. Rock singer Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) is 65. Singer Eddie Holman is 58. Musician Too Slim (Riders in the Sky) is 56. Singer Suzi Quatro is 54. Singer Deneice Williams is 53. Rock musician Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd) is 52. Singer Dan Hill is 50. Actor Scott Valentine is 46. Country singer Jamie O'Neal is 36. Singers Gabriel and Ariel Hernandez (No Mercy) are 33. Actress Lalaine ("Lizzie McGuire") is 17.