Irakli Charkviani (Georgian: ირაკლი ჩარკვიანი) (November 19, 1961 – February 24, 2006) was a Georgian poet, prose writer, and musician, lately known under his pseudonym Mefe (მეფე, "The King"). Charkviani was known for his eccentric image and poetry, and for eclectic music, which spanned alternative rock, electronic music and hip hop.

Charkviani was born into an élite family in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Soviet Georgia. His father, the journalist and diplomat Gela Charkviani is Georgia’s current ambassador to the United Kingdom, and grandfather Candide Charkviani was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Georgian SSR Communist Party from 1938 to 1952. His greatgrandfather was a prominent Georgian artist Mose Toidze.

Charkviani graduated from the Department of Western European and American Literature, Tbilisi State University. His debut in 1976, with the indie rock project Arishi, passed unnoticed, but the later band Taxi had a greater success and recorded the homonymous album in 1988. In the 1980s, several of Charkviani’s lyrics and short stories, noted for their rebellious character, were published in Georgian literary press. Early in the 1990s, Charkviani emerged as one of the leading artists on Georgia’s alternative and electronic scene. Leading the projects Children’s Medicine (1991-2), and Georgian Dance Empire (1993), he performed throughout Georgia as well as abroad, particularly in Moscow and Eastern Europe. Charkviani’s debut solo-album Svan Song was recorded in Germany in 1993 and proved to be a significant influence on the Georgian alternative music of the 1990s. He composed music for the feature film "Orpheus’s Death" in 1995 and went on to record his second album Ap’ren in 1997, followed by the single Sakartvelo in 1999 and the albums Amo and Savse in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Around the same period, he chose the pseudonym of Mefe, meaning in Georgian "the king". Charkviani also authored several poems, stories and a novel, but his music remained the principal source of his popularity.

He died, reportedly of "heart problems",^[1] at his home on February 24, 2006, leaving several unpublished songs which were subsequently released as the album Dzirs Mefe ("Down with the King") in 2007.

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Georgian) The website dedicated to Irakli Charkviani
• (Russian) Чарквиани Ираклий. Kino-Teatr.Ru

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M.O.D. (Method of Destruction) was a crossover thrash band from New York City, fronted by former Anthrax roadie and Stormtroopers of Death vocalist Billy Milano. The band existed from 1986 to 1997, and again from 2001 to 2008.^[1] With M.O.D., Milano sought to continue on the musical path of the bands Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death and Nuclear Assault, mixing shades of hardcore punk with thrash metal and often humorous and politically incorrect lyrics.

History[link]

First four albums[link]

U.S.A. for M.O.D., the band's debut album, was produced by S.O.D. bandmate and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. The first track, "Aren't You Hungry?", a reworking of an unrecorded S.O.D. song, is notable for the lyric "fuck those niggers' charity," referring to the then-common famine relief activism such as We Are the World.

M.O.D.'s second effort, Surfin' M.O.D., was an anomaly, featuring little thrash metal, focusing more on humorous cover songs and a beach party atmosphere. The band would return to their roots on Gross Misconduct, as well as further expand their sound on Rhythm of Fear. It was around this time that Milano performed a reunion show with S.O.D. at The Ritz in New York.

[edit] Devolution, Dictated Aggression and first split

The following releases, Devolution and Dictated Aggression, suffered from poor distribution and going out of print, despite Milano's heavier style and more serious lyrics. The albums were eventually reissued on Blackout Records in 2004.

Following M.O.D.'s split in 1997, Milano reformed S.O.D., who released a subsequent album, Bigger than the Devil, in 1999.

Reunion and second split[link]

In 2001, Milano reformed M.O.D. with a new lineup, and two years later, released The Rebel You Love to Hate, somewhat of a return to Milano's humorous past with jabs at white suburban rap fans and the War on Terrorism. M.O.D. relocated to Austin, Texas, and released the album Red, White, and Screwed in October 2007 through Index Entertainment, and launched a supporting tour in summer 2008. The band played its final show in the United States on September 13, 2008.

Current members[link]

• Billy Milano – vocals, guitar, bass
• Scott "The Rod" Sargeant – guitar, bass, vocals
• Derek "Lennon" Lopez – drums

Previous members[link]

• Tim McMurtrie – guitar
• Louis Svitek – guitar
• Tommy Klimchuck – guitar
• John Pereksta – guitar, bass
• Joe Young – guitar
• Joe Affe - guitar
• Bernard Langendorf - guitar
• Ken Ballone – bass
• Jeff Wood - bass
• Jake Landrau - bass
• John Monte – bass
• Rob Moschetti – bass
• Chris "Dawson Clawson" Dawson - bass, vocals
• David "Ziggy" Reinhardt - drums
• Keith Davis – drums
• Tim Mallare – drums
• Dave Chavarri – drums
• Tony Scaglione - drums
• Darren Verpeut – drums
• Danny "DNA" Burkhardt – drums

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official S.O.D. and M.O.D. fansite
• Official website of Billy Milano - Says it is no longer available due to zombie apocalypse (as of Sept. 27, 2011)
• Official Myspace M.O.D.
• Tony Scaglione's Youtube page
• Tony Scaglione's official MySpace page

Vakhtang "Buba" Kikabidze (Georgian: ვახტანგ "ბუბა" კიკაბიძე, Russian: Вахтанг Константинович Кикабидзе, Vahtang Konstantinovich Kikabidze; born July 19, 1938) is a Georgian and Soviet singer, actor, screenwriter, producer, and composer. He performed in a number of films, among them the main role of a helicopter pilot in the iconic Soviet film Mimino.

The son of a Princess Manana Bagration-Davitashvili,^[1] Kikabidze was born in Tbilisi. He is a People's Artist of Georgia, has been awarded the USSR State Prize and the Order of the King Vakhtang Gorgasali as well as of Nikolai Wondermonger and Knight Cross of St. Konstantin the Great. He was also acknowledged by a number of various music contests and film festivals in the Soviet Union, Georgia and worldwide.

In 1999, his star was embedded on the "Star Square" in Moscow. Apart from Mimino, Kikabidze also performed in a number of other films, including "Don't be Sad" (Ne Goryui), "Melodies of Veriski Quarter" (Melodii Verijskogo Kvartala), "Completely Lost" (Sovsem propaschij). His last film "Fortune" (Fortuna) was directed by the famous Georgian and Soviet film director Georgi Daneliya in 2000.

As a screenwright and director, Kikabidze produced two feature films: "Be Well, Dearest One" (Bud' zdorov dorogoj), which received the top award at the International Comedy Festival in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and "Men and All Others" (Muzhchiny i vse ostal'nye).

During the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war, Kikabidze rejected Russia's Order of Friendship bestowed upon him in July 2008^[2] and cancelled the concert dedicated to his 70th birthday which was to be held at the Kremlin as a protest against Russia's actions .^[3][4]

Vakhtang Kikabidze is married and has a son, Konstantin, and two grandchildren. Vakhtang's wife previously had a daughter, Marina, with her first husband - Guram Sagaradze and a grandson, Giorgi. Kikabidze noble family is from the Kartli region.

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

• "Fortune" (Fortuna) - Russia, 2000
• "Real Men and the Others" (Mamakatsebi) - Georgian SSR, 1985
• "Olga and Konstantin" (Olga i Konstantin) - Russian SFSR, 1984
• "TASS Is Authorized to Declare..." (TASS upolnomochen zayavit...) - Russian SFSR, 1984
• "Morning Without Marks" (Utro bez otmetok) - Russian SFSR, 1983
• "Cheers, My Dear!" (Itsotskhle genatsvale) - Georgian SSR, 1981
• "Till Next Time, Friend..." (Shekhvedramde, megobaro...) - Georgian SSR, 1980
• "Mimino", Russian SFSR, 1977
• "The Lost Expedition" (Propavshaya ekspeditsiya) - Russian SFSR, 1974
• "Melodies of the Vere Quarter" (Veris ubnis melodiebi) - Georgian SSR, 1974
• "Hopelessly Lost" (Sovsem propashchiy) - Russian SFSR, 1972
• "I'm a Detective" (Me, gamomdziebeli) - Georgian SSR, 1971
• "Don't Grieve" (Ar daidardo, Ne goryuy) - Georgian SSR/Russian SFSR, 1969
• "Orera" (Orera, sruli svlit) - Georgian SSR, 1967
• "Meeting in Mountains" (Shekhvedra mtashi) - Georgian SSR, 1966

Director and screenwright[link]

• "Cheers, My Dear!" (Itsotskhle genatsvale) - Georgian SSR, 1981
• "Real Men and the Others" (Mamakatsebi) - Georgian SSR, 1985

Discography[link]

• Pismo drugi. BUBA Records, 1999
• Sekret Schastya. BUBA Records, 1999
• Tango Lyubvi. OST-Records, 1999
• Luchshie pesni. Noks Myuzik 2001
• Grand Collection. Kvadro-Disk, 2002
• Moi goda. Russkoie snabshenie 2003
• Stariki-pasboiniki. Super Music 2004
• Lyubownoye nastroyenie. Nikitin, 2005

Ancestry[link]