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Saturday, September 6, 2008

U.K. coverage of Led Zeppelin's award inspires word of the week: 'gong'

In U.K. reports, I keep seeing the word "gong" used as a synonym for "award," as in "Led Zeppelin received the Outstanding Achievement gong at Tuesday's GQ awards ceremony."

Evidently, this is like a trolley or a lift: They mean different things over there compared to how they're used on my side of the Atlantic.

Maybe I deserve a gong myself since I figured this out from context clues.

Here's one example from the print media. A small GQ write-up here quotes both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on the frequency of awards throughout their career.

Page says:

"In our day we never got any."
Plant invokes the magic word, adding:
"The thing is, when the temples get grey, the gongs start coming in thick and fast."
You said it, man. Long live the gong!

On a completely different note, the first review I've seen trickle in from the world premiere of the guitar documentary "It Might Get Loud" in Toronto a few hours ago says this:
"Could this movie possibly live up to the hype? My friends, this movie lived up to everything I thought it would be ... and then turned it up to eleven."
Read the whole piece here.

Could a gong be in the future for Davis Guggenheim? I've already quoted Bob Thompson of the National Post here, who foresees an Oscar.

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at 4:41 AM

About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

Do you have a news tip to share with Steve? Do you have something you would like him to write about? Would you like to book him for a speaking engagement? He can be contacted by e-mail at Steve at LedZeppelinNews.com.

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