Def Jam South is the southern division of Def Jam Recordings. The label is best known for launching the career of Ludacris and his Disturbing tha Peace group and label. In 2003, the label shut down but was relaunched in 2005. They have also jump-started the career of Young Jeezy.

Company history[link]

Beginnings[link]

In the late 1990s, hip hop's main popularity moved from West Coast hip hop and East Coast hip hop to Southern hip hop. Founder of NY Label Def Jam Russell Simmons wanted to capitalize off of the success of southern rap. He recruited Scarface, a southern rap legend and former member of the Geto Boys to be the head of the label and, by 1999, the label was established. Also in 1999, an Atlanta DJ named Chris Luva Luva began rapping under the moniker Ludacris and released his debut solo album Incognegro independently on his own record label Disturbing tha Peace. Scarface listened to the album while visiting Atlanta and made a deal to distribute Ludacris and his DTP label through Def Jam. Ludacris became one of the biggest stars in the hip hop market and would lead the label to great heights. Despite this, Island Def Jam could not afford to finance the label anymore so they shut it down in 2003.

Revival through Jeezy (2005-present)[link]

In early 2005, Def Jam announced that they were relaunching the label and that Ludacris and DTP were returning along with new act Young Jeezy and his Corporate Thugz Entertainment imprint. Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy would release his debut album, which would go platinum and revive the label. New releases from the DTP camp kept the label on the radio and gained them more recognition than they ever had in their previous run. In 2006, they were able to reach a distribution deal with Slip-n-Slide Records to release albums from their artists signed from that point on. In December 2005, Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh announced that he was leaving that label. Fresh was quickly signed on to become the new CEO of Def Jam South. Scarface would end up leaving the label in 2003, returning for a one-album deal. As of 2009, DJ Khaled has been appointed president of the label.^[1]

Artists[link]

• DJ Khaled
• Ludacris
• Young Jeezy
• Playaz Circle
• Rick Ross
• Lil Scrappy
• The-Dream
• Ace Hood
• U.S.D.A.
• Young Zasta

References[link]

1. ^ "DJ Khaled Wants Hits -- Not Beef -- As President Of Def Jam South". Shaheem Reid. MTV Networks. February 19, 2009. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1605328/20090218/dj_khaled.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 

Thomas Gold (May 22, 1920 – June 22, 2004)^[2] was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London).^[2] Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady state' hypothesis of the universe. Gold's work crossed academic and scientific boundaries, into biophysics, astronomy, aerospace engineering, and geophysics.

Early life[link]

Gold was born on May 22, 1920 in Vienna, Austria to Max Gold, a wealthy Jewish industrialist (pre-war) who ran one of Austria's largest mining and metal fabrication companies, and German former actress Josefine Martin. Following the economic downfall of the European mining industry in the late 1920s, Max Gold moved his family to Berlin, where he had taken a job as director of a metal trading company.^[3] Following the start of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's anti-Jewish campaigns in 1933, Gold and his family left Germany because of his father's heritage. The family traveled through Europe for the next few years. Gold attended boarding school at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz in Zuoz, Switzerland, where he quickly proved to be a clever, competitive and physically and mentally aggressive individual.^[4] Gold finished his schooling at Zuoz in 1938, and fled with his family to England after the German invasion of Austria in early 1938. Gold entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1939 and began studying mechanical sciences.^[5] In May 1940, just as Hitler was commencing his advance in Belgium and France, Gold was sent into internment as an enemy alien by the British government. It was on the first night of internment, at an army barracks in Bury St Edmunds, that he met his future collaborator and close friend, Hermann Bondi.^[6][7]

Gold spent most of his nearly 15 months of internment in a camp in Canada, after which he returned to England and reentered Cambridge University, where he abandoned his study of mechanical sciences for physics.^[6] After graduating with a pass degree in June 1942, Gold worked briefly as an agricultural laborer and lumberjack in northern England before joining Bondi and Fred Hoyle on naval research into radar ground clutter near Dunsfold, Surrey. The three men would spend their off-duty hours in "intense and wide-ranging scientific discussion" on topics such as cosmology, mathematics and astrophysics.^[8] Within months, Gold was placed in charge of constructing new radar systems. Gold determined how landing craft could use radar to navigate to the appropriate landing spot on D-Day and also discovered that the German navy had fitted snorkels to its U-boats, making them operable underwater while still taking in air from above the surface.^[3]

Work at Cambridge[link]

Immediately after the war, Hoyle and Bondi returned to Cambridge, while Gold stayed with naval research until 1947. He then began working at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory to help construct the world's largest magnetron, a device invented by two British scientists in 1940 that generated intense microwaves for radar detection. Soon after, Gold joined R. J. Pumphrey, a zoologist at the Cambridge Zoology Laboratory who had served as the deputy head of radar naval research during the war, to study the effect of resonance on the human ear. He found that the degree of resonance observed in the cochlea were not in accordance with the level of damping typical with the viscosity of the watery liquid that fills the inner ear. In 1948, Gold hypothesized that the ear operates by "regeneration", in that electromechanical action occurs when electrical energy is used to counteract the effects of damping.^[9] Although Gold won a prize fellowship from Trinity College for his thesis on the regeneration and obtained a junior lectureship at the Cavendish Laboratory, his theory was widely ignored by ear specialists and physiologists, such as future Nobel Prize winner Georg von Békésy, who did not believe the cochlea operated under a feedback system.^[10] In the 1970s, researchers discovered that Gold's hypothesis had been correct – the ear contained microscopic hair cells that operated on a feedback mechanism to generate resonance.^[7][9]

Steady State theory[link]

Gold began discussing problems in physics with Hoyle and Bondi again, centering on the issues over redshift and Hubble's law. This led the three to all start questioning the Big Bang theory originally proposed by Georges Lemaître in 1931 and later pioneered by George Gamow, which suggested that the universe expanded from an extremely dense and hot state and continues to expand today. As recounted in a 1978 interview with physicist and historian Spencer R. Weart, Gold believed that there was reason to think that the creation of matter was "done all the time and then none of the problems about fleeting moments arise. It can be just in a steady state with the expansion taking things apart as fast as new matter comes into being and condenses into new galaxies".^[11]

Two papers were published in 1948 discussing the "Steady State theory" as an alternative to the Big Bang: one by Gold and Bondi, the other by Hoyle. In their seminal paper, Gold and Bondi asserted that although the universe is expanding, it nevertheless does not change its look over time; it has no beginning and no end.^[11][12] They proposed the perfect cosmological principle as the underpinning of their theory, which held that the universe is homogenous and isotropic in space and time. On the large scale, they argued that there "is nothing outstanding about any place in the universe, and that those differences which do exist are only of local significance; that seen on a large scale the universe is homogeneous."^[13] However, since the universe was not characterized by a lack of evolution, distinguishing features or recognizable direction of time, they postulated that there had to be large-scale motions in the universe. They highlighted two possible types of motion: large-scale expansion and its reverse, large-scale contraction.^[14] They estimated that within the expanding universe, hydrogen atoms were being created out of a vacuum at a rate of one atom per cubic meter per 10⁹ years.^[15] This creation of matter would keep the density of the universe constant as it expanded. Gold and Bondi also stated that the issues with time scale that had plagued other cosmological theories – such as the discrepancy between the age of the universe as calculated by Hubble and dating of radioactive decay in terrestrial rocks – were absent for the Steady State theory.^[16]

It was only until the 1960s that major problems with the Steady State theory began to emerge, when observations apparently supported the idea that the universe was in fact changing: quasars and radio galaxies were found only at large distances (therefore existing only in the distant past), not in closer galaxies. Whereas the Big Bang theory predicted as much, Steady State predicted that such objects would be found everywhere, including close to our own galaxy, since evolution would not occur at great distances.^[12] In addition, proponents of the theory predicted that in addition to hydrogen atoms, antimatter would also be produced, as with cosmic gamma ray background from the annihilation of protons and antiprotons and X-ray emitting gas from the creation of neutrons.^[12]

For most cosmologists, the refutation of the steady-state theory came with the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965, which was predicted by the Big Bang theory.^[17] Stephen Hawking said that the fact that microwave radiation had been found, and that it was thought to be left over from the Big Bang, was "the final nail in the coffin of the steady-state theory."^[18] Bondi conceded that the theory had been disproved, but Hoyle and Gold remain unconvinced for a number of years. Gold even supported Hoyle's modified Steady State theory, however, by 1998, he started to express some doubts about the theory, but maintained that despite its faults, the theory helped improve understanding regarding the origin of the universe.^[7]

Accidental panspermia[link]

Gold suggested a "garbage theory" for the origin of life which was an accidental panspermia, the theory says that life on Earth might have spread from a pile of waste products accidentally dumped on Earth long ago by extraterrestrials.^[19]

Astrophysics research[link]

The Arecibo Observatory, established by Cornell University and the National Science Foundation during Gold's tenure as director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research.

In 1951, at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, Gold proposed that the source of recent radio signals detected from space was outside the Milky Way galaxy, much to the derision of radio astronomer Martin Ryle and several mathematical cosmologists. However, a year later, a distant source was identified and Gold announced at an International Astronomical Union meeting in Rome that his theory had been proven. Ryle would later take Gold's argument as proof of extragalactic evolution, claiming that it invalidated the Steady State theory.^[20]

Gold left Cambridge in 1952 to become the chief assistant to Astronomer Royal Harold Spencer Jones at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceux, Sussex, England. While there, Gold attracted some controversy by suggesting that the interaction between charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field in creating magnetic storms in the upper atmosphere was an example of a collisionless shock wave.^[21] The theory was widely disputed, until American scientists in 1957 discovered that Gold's theory held up to mathematical scrutiny by conducting a simulation using a shock tube.^[7]

Gold resigned from the Royal Observatory following Spencer-Jones's retirement and moved to the United States in 1956, where he served as Professor of Astronomy (1957–1958) and Robert Wheeler Wilson Professor of Applied Astronomy (1958–1959) at Harvard University.^[17] In early 1959, he accepted an appointment at Cornell University, which had offered him the opportunity to set up an interdisciplinary unit for radiophysics and space research, and take charge of the Department of Astronomy.^[22] At the time, there was only one other faculty member in the department. Gold would serve as director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research until 1981, establishing Cornell as a leading hub of scientific research. During his tenure, Gold hired famed astronomers Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, helped establish the world's largest radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Cornell-Sydney University Astronomy Center with Harry Messel. In addition, Gold served as Assistant Vice President for Research from 1969–1971 and the John L. Wetherill Professor of Astronomy from 1971 until his retirement in 1986.^[23][24][25]

The discovery of a pulsar with 0.033 second period in the Crab Nebula led to the acceptance of Gold's theory on pulsars.

In 1959, Gold expanded on his previous prediction of a collisionless shock wave, arguing that solar flares would eject material into magnetic clouds to produce a shock front that would result in geomagnetic storms. He also coined the term "magnetosphere" in his paper "Motions in the Magnetosphere of the Earth" to describe "the region above the ionosphere in which the magnetic field of the Earth has a dominant control over the motions of gas and fast charged particles ... [which was] known to extend out to a distance of the order of 10 Earth radii".^[26] In 1960, Gold collaborated again with Fred Hoyle to show that magnetic energy fueled solar flares and that flares were triggered when opposite magnetic loops interact and release their stored energy.^[27][28]

In 1968, a Cambridge radio astronomy postgraduate student Jocelyn Bell Burnell and her doctoral adviser Antony Hewish discovered a pulsing radio source with a period of 1.33 seconds. The source – which was termed "pulsar" – emitted beams of electromagnetic radiation at a very short and consistent interval. Gold proposed that these objects were rapidly rotating neutron stars. Gold argued that due to their strong magnetic fields and high rotational speed, pulsars would emit radiation similar to a rotating beacon. Gold's conclusion was initially not well-received by the scientific community; in fact, he was refused permission to present his theory at the first international conference on pulsars. However, Gold's theory became widely accepted following the discovery of a pulsar in the Crab Nebula using the Arecibo radio telescope, opening the door for future advancements in solid-state physics and astronomy.^[29] Anthony Tucker of The Guardian remarked that Gold's discovery paved the way for Stephen Hawking's groundbreaking research into black holes.^[8]

Relationship with NASA[link]

Bootprint of Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon. Aldrin photographed this bootprint on July 20, 1969, as part of investigations into the soil mechanics of the lunar surface.

From the 1950s, Gold served as a consultant to NASA and held positions on several national space committees, including the President's Science Advisory Committee, as the United States tried to develop its space program. At the time, scientists were engaged in a heated debate over the physical properties of the moon's surface. In 1955, he predicted that the Moon was covered by a layer of fine rock powder stemming from "the ceaseless bombardment of its surface by Solar System debris".^[22] This led to the dust being jokingly referred to as "Gold's dust".^[30] Gold initially suggested that astronauts would sink into the dust, but upon later analysis of impact craters and electrostatic fields, he determined that the astronauts' boots would sink only three centimeters into the Moon's surface. In any case, NASA sent an unmanned Surveyor to analyze the conditions on the surface of the Moon. Gold was ridiculed by fellow scientists, not only for his hypothesis, but for the approach he took in communicating NASA's concerns to the American public; in particular, some experts were infuriated with his usage of the term "moon dust" in reference to lunar regolith.^[31] When the Apollo 11 crew landed on the Moon in 1969 and brought back the first samples of lunar rocks, researchers found that lunar soil was in fact powdery. Gold said the findings were consistent with his hypothesis, noting that "in one area as they walked along, they sank in between five and eight inches". However, Gold received little credit for his correct prediction, and was even criticized for his original prediction of a deep layer of lunar dust.^[22] Gold had also contributed to the Apollo 11 mission by designing the stereo camera used on the Moon.^[22]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Gold was a vocal critic of NASA's Space Shuttle program, deriding claims that the agency could fly 50 missions a year or that it could have low budget costs. NASA officials warned Gold that if he testified his concerns before Congress, his research proposals would lose their support from NASA. Gold ignored the warning and testified before a Congressional committee headed by Senator Walter Mondale. In a letter to NASA administrator James C. Fletcher, George Low wrote that "Gold should realize that being funded by the Government and NASA is a privilege, and that it would make little sense for us to fund him as long as his views are what they are now".^[32] Gold recalled the aftermath of his testimony in a 1983 interview with astronomy historian David H. DeVorkin:

I had a very hard time with NASA, year after year. I got some more money, but eventually it fizzled out, after three years or so after this event. My applications, which previously each year had always gone through very smoothly, were turned down. I would then have to go to Washington, discuss it with them. and I then would get a certain fraction of it resurrected. For several years running this happened, and then eventually it fizzled permanently, and I've not tried to get any money out of NASA since.
...
I was certainly regarded as persona non grata with NASA after that. I had a very hard time. Shortly after that Noel Hinners became the Space Science administrator, and he used to joke about it and say, "Oh. Tommy's got to come to his annual pilgrimage to Washington," and regarded it as very funny, but then he'd always give me some money. But always clearly as a persona non grata.^[33]

Origins of petroleum[link]

Tube worms feeding at base of a black smoker hydrothermal vent.

Gold first became interested in the origins of petroleum in the 1950s, postulating a theory on the abiogenic formation of fossil fuels. Gold engaged in thorough discussion on the matter with Fred Hoyle, who even included a chapter on "Gold's Pore Theory" in his 1955 book Frontiers in Astronomy.^[24][34] In the late 1970s, just as the United States faced another major energy crisis, Gold resurrected his work on petroleum. In 1977, a research submarine near the Galapagos Islands discovered a number of thriving ecosystems down on the ocean floor, living alongside hydrothermal vents. Later expeditions found that these vents were host to a number of organisms, including giant tube worms and albino crabs, that survived off of heat-loving chemosynthetic microbes. The discovery of life near this adverse environment led Gold to reconsider the established interpretation of biogenic petroleum formation. Gold believed that "biology is just a branch of thermodynamics" and that the history of life is just a "a gradual systematic development toward more efficient ways of degrading energy".^[35]

He began his investigation by studying how earthquakes facilitated the migration of methane gas from the deep Earth to the surface.^[36] He speculated that a large enough earthquake would fracture the ground, thus opening up an "escape route" for gas. Gold believed that this would explain the number of unusual phenomena associated with earthquakes, such as fires, flares, Earthquake lights and gas emissions. With his colleague Steven Soter, Gold constructed a map of the world depicting major oil-producing regions and areas with historical seismic activity. Several oil-rich regions, such as Alaska, Texas, the Caribbean, Mexico, Venezuela, the Persian Gulf, the Urals, Siberia, and Southeast Asia, were found to be lying on major earthquake belts. Gold and Soter suggested that these belts may explain the upward migration of gases through the ground, and subsequently, the production of oil and gas fields.^[36][37]

Gold theorized that since petroleum and its component hydrocarbons were present across the entire universe, there was no reason to believe "that on Earth they must be biological in origin".^[35] Gold proposed that fossil fuels were trapped inside the core of the Earth in randomized molecular form nearly 4.5 billion years ago. Over time, the extreme heat of the core "sweated" the rocks that contained these molecules, pushing them up through the porous layers of the Earth. As they move up toward the surface, the hydrocarbons fueled the development of large microbial colonies, which served as the basis for life on Earth. The migrating fossil fuels collect biological remnants before becoming trapped in deep underground reservoirs.^[35] Soon after Gold started publishing his theories, researchers discovered a number of ecosystems functioning under "conditions of heat and pressure once thought impossible to sustain life". In addition, Gold discovered that the location of major oil-producing regions in the Middle East and southeast Asia was defined by large scale patterns in surface geology and topography, such as deep fault lines. He also pointed to the abundance of helium in oil and gas reserves as evidence for "a deep source of the hydrocarbons".^[36] Moreover, a few oil reserves thought to have been exhausted were suddenly generating vast amounts of crude oil^{[citation needed]}. From this, Gold proposed that the Earth may possess a virtually endless supply – suggesting as much as "at least 500 million years' worth of gas" – of fossil fuels.^[38][39]

Drilling in Siljan[link]

Sweden's Lake Siljan is a large lake created from an eroded impact crater that was formed by a meteorite impact about 370 million years ago. It was at this lake that Gold proposed as the most likely place to test the hypothesis on the origin of petroleum because it was one of the few places in the world where the granite basement was cracked sufficiently to allow oil to seep up from the mantle.

Gold began testing his theory in 1986 when, with the backing of a group of investors, Vattenfall and the Gas Research Institute, he commenced efforts to drill a deep borehole – named Gravberg-1 – into the earth near Lake Siljan in search of abiogenic gas in the mantle. The region was the site of a large meteor crater, which would have "opened channels deep enough for the methane to migrate upward" and formed deposits in caprock just a few miles beneath the surface.^[40] He estimated that the fractures near Lake Siljan reached down nearly 40 kilometres (25 mi) into the earth.^[41]

In 1987, approximately 900 barrels (140 m³) of drilling lubricant disappeared nearly 20,000 feet (6,100 m) into the ground, leading Gold to believe that the lubricant had fallen into a methane reservoir.^[42] Soon after, the team brought up nearly 100 liters of black oily sludge to the surface. Gold claimed that the sludge contained both oil and remnants of archaebacteria. He argued that "it suggests there is an enormous sphere of life, of biology, at deeper levels in the ground than we have had any knowledge of previously" and that this evidence would "destroy the orthodox argument that since oil contains biological molecules, oil reserves must have derived from biological material". The announcement of Gold's findings were met with mixed reactions, ranging from "furious incredulity" to "deep skepticism".^[43] Geochemist Geoffrey P. Glasby speculated that the sludge could have been formed from the Fischer–Tropsch process, a catalyzed chemical reaction in which synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is converted into liquid hydrocarbons.^[44] Critics also dismissed Gold's archaebacteria finding, stating that "since micro-organisms cannot survive at such depth, the bacteria prove that the well has been contaminated from the surface".^[45] Geochemist Paul Philp analyzed the sludge and concluded that he could not differentiate between the samples of sludge and oil seep found in sedimentary shale rocks near the surface. He reasoned that oil had migrated from the shale down to the granite deep in the ground.^[46] Gold disputed Philp's finding, believing that the oil and gas could have just as easily migrated up to the surface: "They would have it that the oil and gas we found down there was from the five feet of sediments on the top – had seeped all the way down six kilometres down into the granite. I mean, such complete absurdity: you can imagine sitting there with five feet of soil and six kilometres underneath of dense granitic rock, and that methane produced up there has crawled all the way down in preference to water. Absolute nonsense."^[45]

In light of the controversy surrounding the sludge and possible drill contamination, Gold abandoned the project at Gravberg-1, calling it a "complete fiasco", and redesigned the experiment by replacing his oil-based drilling lubricant with a water-based one.^[47]

The drill hit oil in the spring of 1989, but only collected about 80 barrels (13 m³). Gold stated, "It was not coming up at a rate at which you could sell it, but it showed there was oil down there." The drill then ran into technical problems and was stopped at a depth of 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi). The hole was closed, but a second hole was opened for drilling closer to the "center of the impact ring where there was even less sedimentary rock". By October 1991, the drill hit oil 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) into the ground, but many skeptics remained unconvinced of the site's prospects.^[41][48] One skeptic, Christer Akerman, the chief geologist of the Geological Survey of Sweden, remarked, "[t]here is every reason to stay calm and await the analysis of what they have found. The point is also that they will have to find commercially viable amounts, and it may be a long time before we know if they do."^[49] Geologist John R. Castaño concluded that there was insufficient evidence of the mantle as the hydrocarbon source and that it was unlikely that the Siljan site could be utilized as a commercial gas field.^[50] Some skeptics countered Gold's claims by suggesting that the oil found was actually contamination from the drilling.^[30]

The Deep Hot Biosphere[link]

Gold modified his hypothesis and presented it in a 1992 paper "The Deep Hot Biosphere" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,^[51] Gold suggested that coal and crude oil deposits have their origins in natural gas flows which feed bacteria living at extreme depths under the surface of the Earth; in other words, oil and coal are produced through tectonic forces, rather than from the decomposition of fossils. At the beginning of the paper, Gold also referred to hydrothermal vents that pump bacteria from the depth of the Earth towards the ocean floor in support of his views.

Gold also published a book of the same title in 1999, which expanded on the arguments in his 1992 paper and included speculations on the origin of life.^[52] He has been accused of stealing the abiogenic theory outright from Soviet geologists who first published it in the 1950s.^[53] Although he later credited Soviet research, it is claimed that he first published a paper on the abiogenic theory in 1979 without citing any of the Soviet literature on the subject.^[54] Gold's defenders maintain^{[citation needed]} that these charges are unfounded: they say that, after first formulating his views on petroleum in 1979, he began finding the papers by Soviet geologists and had them translated. He was both disappointed (that his ideas were not original) and delighted (because such independent formulation of these ideas added weight to the hypothesis). They insist that he always credited the Soviet work once he knew about it.^{[citation needed]}

According to Gold and the Soviet geologists who originated the abiogenic theory, bacteria feeding on the oil accounts for the presence of biological debris in hydrocarbon fuels, obviating the need to resort to a biogenic theory for the origin of the latter. The flows of underground hydrocarbons may also explain oddities in the concentration of other mineral deposits.

In short, Gold said about origin of natural hydrocarbons (petroleum and natural gas): Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology (as traditional view would hold), but rather geology reworked by biology

Academic legacy[link]

Carl Sagan, hired by Gold after Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1968.

Throughout his academic career, Gold received a number of honors and distinctions. He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1948), the Royal Society (1964),^[2] the American Geophysical Union (1962), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974), and the American Astronautical Society, a member of the American Philosophical Society (1972), the United States National Academy of Sciences (1974) and the International Academy of Astronautics, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1986).^[55] In addition, he served as President of the New York Astronomical Society from 1981 to 1986.^[23] Gold won the John Frederick Lewis Prize from the American Philosophical Society in 1972 for his paper "The Nature of the Lunar Surface: Recent Evidence"^[56] and the Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1979.^[55] In 1985, Gold won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, an award whose recipients include Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi, Martin Ryle, Edwin Hubble, James Van Allen, Fritz Zwicky, Hannes Alfvén and Albert Einstein.^[57] Gold did not have a doctorate, but received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cambridge University in 1969.^[58]

Astrophysicists Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge remarked that Gold "was one of the outstanding physicists of his time" and that his "versatility was unmatched".^[59] In his foreword to Gold's book The Deep Hot Biosphere, theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson stated, "Gold's theories are always original, always important, usually controversial – and usually right."^[60] He has been accused of plagiarism numerous times, however, by Russian scientists as well as American ones, and even a Canadian, with substantial evidence.^[54][61] In particular, in the area of petroleum geology, it seems that many in the Western hemisphere are under the impression that the theory of abiotic formation of petroleum, right or wrong, was originated or developed substantially by him, as evidenced by the foreword above, since he often did not properly credit his sources in this area of research (including this book).^[61][62][63]

In the journal Nature, Hermann Bondi wrote "Tommy Gold will long be remembered as a singular scientist who stepped into any field where he thought an option was being overlooked. He was also unusual in working mainly theoretically, but using little mathematics, relying instead on his profound intuitive understanding of physics."^[22] Stanley F. Dermott wrote "Tommy was a handsome, charming and generous man and a loyal colleague who formed many long-lasting friendships. A witty and articulate speaker, he was regarded by some as a scientific maverick who delighted in controversy. In reality, he was an iconoclast whose strength was in penetrating analysis of the assumptions on which some of our most important theories are based.^[64] Anthony Tucker of The Guardian said, "Throughout his life he would dive into new territory to open up problems unseen by others – in biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, or geophysics. Controversy followed him everywhere. Possessing profound scientific intuition and open-minded rigour, he usually ended up challenging the cherished assumptions of others and, to the discomfiture of the scientific establishment, often found them wanting. His stature and influence were international."^[8] Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould labeled Gold as "one of America's most iconoclastic scientists".^[35] Gold has been derided by geologists, such as Harmon Craig and John Hunt,^[35] who are strongly opposed to Gold's abiogenic petroleum theory. Others had even started campaigns to prevent Gold from publishing his findings.^[35]

Personal life[link]

Gold married his first wife, Merle Eleanor Tuberg, an American astrophysicist who had worked with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, in 1947. He had three daughters with her – Linda, Lucy, and Tanya. After divorcing her, Gold married Carvel Lee Beyer in 1972.^[3][7][8] With her, he had a daughter Lauren.

Thomas Gold died at the age of 84 from complications due to heart disease at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, New York. He was buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Ithaca.^[23] At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, four daughters, and six grandchildren.^[30]

See also[link]

• Abiogenic petroleum origin
• Gold universe
• Astronomy
• Astrophysics
• Petroleum
• Theoretical astrophysics

Selected publications[link]

• Pumphrey, R. J.; Gold, T. (1947), "Transient reception and the degree of resonance of the human ear", Nature 160 (4056): 124–125, Bibcode 1947Natur.160..124P, DOI:10.1038/160124b0, ISSN 0028-0836 .
• Pumphrey, R. J.; Gold, T. (1948), "Hearing. I. The Cochlea as a Frequency Analyzer", Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, Biological Sciences 135 (881): 462–491, Bibcode 1948RSPSB.135..462G, DOI:10.1098/rspb.1948.0024, ISSN 0080-4649, http://www.jstor.org/stable/82558 .
• Gold, T. (1948), "Hearing. II. The Physical Basis of the Action of the Cochlea", Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, Biological Sciences 135 (881): 492–498, Bibcode 1948RSPSB.135..492G, DOI:10.1098/rspb.1948.0025, ISSN 0080-4649, http://www.jstor.org/stable/82559 .
• Bondi, H.; Gold, T. (1948), "The Steady-State Theory of the Expanding Universe", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 108: 252–270, Bibcode 1948MNRAS.108..252B, ISSN 1365-2966, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1948MNRAS.108..252B .
• Gold, T. (1955), "Instability of the Earth's Axis of Rotation", Nature 175 (4456): 526–529, Bibcode 1955Natur.175..526G, DOI:10.1038/175526a0, ISSN 0028-0836 .
• Gold, T. (1959), "Motions in the Magnetosphere of the Earth", Journal of Geophysical Research 64 (9): 1219–1224, Bibcode 1959JGR....64.1219G, DOI:10.1029/JZ064i009p01219, ISSN 0148-0227 .
• Gold, T.; Hoyle, F. (1960), "On the origin of solar flares", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 120: 89–105, Bibcode 1960MNRAS.120...89G, ISSN 1365-2966, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1960MNRAS.120...89G .
• Gold, T. (1962), "The Arrow of Time", American Journal of Physics 30 (6): 403–410, Bibcode 1962AmJPh..30..403G, DOI:10.1119/1.1942052, ISSN 0002-9505 .
• Gold, T. (1969), "Rotating neutron stars and the nature of pulsars", Nature 221 (5175): 25–27, Bibcode 1969Natur.221...25G, DOI:10.1038/221025a0, ISSN 0028-0836 .
• Gold, T. (1971), "The Nature of the Lunar Surface: Recent Evidence", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 115 (2): 74–82, ISSN 0003-049X, JSTOR 985848 .
• Gold, T. (1979), "Terrestrial sources of carbon and earthquake outgassing", Journal of Petroleum Geology 1 (3): 3–19, DOI:10.1111/j.1747-5457.1979.tb00616.x, ISSN 0141-6421 .
• Gold, T.; Soter, S. (1980), "The deep earth gas hypothesis", Scientific American 242 (6): 155–161, ISSN 0036-8733 .
• Gold, T.; Soter, S. (1982), "Abiogenic methane and the origin of petroleum", Energy Exploration & Exploitation 1 (2): 89–104, ISSN 0144-5987 .
• Gold, T. (1992), "The deep, hot biosphere", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 89 (13): 6045–6049, Bibcode 1992PNAS...89.6045G, DOI:10.1073/pnas.89.13.6045, ISSN 1091-6490, PMC 49434, PMID 1631089, http://www.pnas.org/content/89/13/6045.full.pdf+html .
• Gold, T. (1999), The Deep Hot Biosphere, New York: Springer, ISBN 0-387-98546-8 .

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bernstein, Adam (June 24, 2004), "Theoretical Astrophysicist Thomas Gold Dies at 84", The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1122-2004Jun23.html, retrieved June 18, 2009 .
• Bondi, Hermann (July 22, 2004), "Obituary: Thomas Gold (1920–2004)", Nature 430 (6998): 415, Bibcode 2004Natur.430..415B, DOI:10.1038/430415a, PMID 15269755 .
• Bondi, Hermann (June 29, 2004), "Professor Thomas Gold: Astronomer of brilliant ideas and wide interests", The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-thomas-gold-730663.html, retrieved June 22, 2009 .
• Burbidge, Geoffrey; Burbidge, Margaret (2006), "Thomas Gold, 1920–2004", Biographical Memoirs (United States National Academy of Sciences) 88: 1–15, http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/tgold.pdf .
• Cole, Simon A. (1996), "Which Came First, the Fossil or the Fuel?", Social Studies of Science 26 (4): 733–766, DOI:10.1177/030631296026004002, ISSN 0306-3127, JSTOR 285660 .
• Dermott, Stanley F. (2004), "Obituary: Thomas Gold, 1920–2004", Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 36 (5): 1673–1675, Bibcode 2004BAAS...36.1673D .
• Glasby, Geoffrey B. (2006), "Abiogenic Origin of Hydrocarbons: An Historical Overview", Resource Geology 56 (1): 85–98, DOI:10.1111/j.1751-3928.2006.tb00271.x, ISSN 1344-1698, http://static.scribd.com/docs/j79lhbgbjbqrb.pdf .
• Mitton, Simon (2004), "Gold, Thomas (Tommy) (1920–2004)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, http://seti.sentry.net/archive/bioastro/2008/May/0060.html, retrieved 2009-06-13 .
• Pearce, Jeremy (June 24, 2004), "Thomas Gold, Astrophysicist And Innovator, Is Dead at 84", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/us/thomas-gold-astrophysicist-and-innovator-is-dead-at-84.html, retrieved June 18, 2009 .
• Ringle, Ken (November 1, 1999), "A Scientific Heretic Delves Beneath the Surface", The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/daily/heretic110199.htm, retrieved June 23, 2009 .
• The Telegraph (June 25, 2004), "Thomas Gold", The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1465406/Thomas-Gold.html, retrieved June 14, 2009 .
• Tucker, Anthony (June 24, 2004), "Thomas Gold: The science maverick who challenged establishment thinking – and quite often turned out to be right", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1245819,00.html, retrieved June 14, 2009 .
• Tytell, Eric D. (June 27, 2004), "Astronomer Thomas Gold, renowned for originality, dies at 84", The Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001966449_goldobit27.html, retrieved June 23, 2009 .

External links[link]

• The Origin of Methane (and Oil) in the Crust of the Earth (Thomas Gold) U.S.G.S. Professional Paper 1570, The Future of Energy Gases, 1993
• Brown, David (November 2002), "Gas Origin Theories to be Studied", AAPG Explorer (American Association of Petroleum Geologists), http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2002/11nov/abiogenic.cfm .
• Gold, Thomas (November 1, 2000), Thomas Gold, Cornell University, http://web.archive.org/web/20021004123112/www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tg21/index.html, retrieved June 25, 2009 .
• Oil Doesn't Come from Squashed Ferns and Fish??, Suburban Emergency Management Project, June 23, 2004, http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=182, retrieved June 25, 2009 .
• Segelken, Roger (June 23, 2004), "Thomas Gold, Cornell astronomer and brilliant scientific gadfly, dies at 84", Cornell University News Service, http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/June04/Thomas_Gold_obit.hrs.html, retrieved June 25, 2009 .
• Kenney, J. F.; Shnyukov, Ac. Ye. F.; Krayushkin, V. A.; Karpov, I. K.; Kutcherov, V. G.; Plotnikova, I. N. (2001), "Dismissal of the Claims of a Biological Connection for Natural Petroleum", Energia 22 (3): 26–34, http://www.gasresources.net/DisposalBioClaims.htm .
• Clarke, Tom (December 9, 2002), "Goldmine yields clues for life on Mars", Nature News, DOI:10.1038/news021209-1, http://www.nature.com/news/2002/021209/full/news021209-1.html, retrieved June 25, 2009 ^{[dead link]}.
• Hot Stuff: Iron-Reducing Archaeon Respires to Greatness, National Science Foundation, August 14, 2003, http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0384_feature.htm, retrieved June 25, 2009 .
• Rose, Walter; Pfannkuch, Hans Olaf (May 1982), "Unconventional Ideas About Unconventional Gas", Proceedings of SPE Unconventional Gas Recovery Symposium, Society of Petroleum Engineers, DOI:10.2118/10836-MS, ISBN 978-1-55563-668-5, http://www.spe.org/elibinfo/eLibrary_Papers/spe/1982/82UGR/00010836/00010836.htm .
• Proskurowski, Giora; Lilley, Marvin D.; Seewald, Jeffery S.; Früh-Green, Gretchen L.; Olson, Eric J.; Lupton, John E.; Sylva, Sean P.; Kelley, Deborah S. (2008), "Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field", Science 319 (5863): 604–607, DOI:10.1126/science.1151194, PMID 18239121, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/319/5863/604 .
• Oral History Transcript — Thomas Gold, American Institute of Physics Niels Bohr Library & Archives, http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/28197.html, retrieved June 19, 2009 .
• Thomas Gold interview
• Thomas Gold Publications - Harvard

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Shawty Redd (born Demetrius Stewart) is an Atlanta-based, Grammy nominated record producer,^[1] rapper, and songwriter. In November 2007, he gained fame when he produced "Sensual Seduction", the first single from multi-platinum rapper Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin'. In addition to being a hit, it marked the official mainstream acceptance of this young producer’s return to a more complex Hip-Hop sound, one which borrows from other genres and utilizes a full spectrum of instrumentation. “In Atlanta, we were already known to do records like this, going back to the days of Kilo Ali and Raheem The Dream,” he explains “And everyone said that type of music wouldn’t come back in style. By Snoop doing it, he made it okay for everyone else to do it.” Prior to the West Coast co-sign, Shawty Redd, who always considered himself as much artist as producer, kept his more experimental tracks to himself.^{[citation needed]}

When Redd landed his first placement at age seventeen, his success had already been a long time in the making. Like many influential artists, Redd was first introduced to music through religion as a child. By the age of 6 he was playing multiple instruments, including the piano and drums. Already his life’s passion, music became his salvation. It wasn’t long before trouble found him and, when granted a second chance, Redd made a promise to his Grandmother that he would not need a third.

His career in music began soon after, when he landed an internship with event promoters Twin Productions. In addition to learning the ins-and-outs of stage and sound set-up, the position allowed him to interact with some of the most successful southern artists of the time. In 2000, at the age of 17, Shawty Redd produced Atlanta artist Drama’s entire debut album, the RIAA-certified gold selling Causin' Drama, which spawned the hit single “Left, Right, Left.” He parlayed his success with Drama into opportunities for his protégés the 404 Soldiers and a placement on the soundtrack to 2001’s Save The Last Dance.

Soon thereafter, Redd forged a friendship with label owner turned reluctant rapper Young Jeezy. Driven by each other’s determination to attain success, the two opened a new chapter in Atlanta’s musical history.^{[citation needed]} At a point when Redd felt he might be ready to abandon the business of music, Jeezy approached him with an offer to purchase some tracks. Those twelve track became Jeezy’s critically acclaimed mixtape, Streetz Iz Watchin’, which catapulted the rapper to mainstream attention and a deal with Def Jam Records.

Redd’s signature sound became synonymous with “trap” or “dope boy music.” With production credits for artists like Gucci Mane and Maceo, as well as some of the most popular tracks on Jeezy’s label debut Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, including “Trap or Die,” “Air Forces,” and “Get Ya Mind Right,” it wasn’t long before he found his multi-layered, drum-laden style imitated. His popularity in the South also led to placements with Pastor Troy, Eightball & MJG, and on Young Jeezy’s sophomore effort The Inspiration. By 2006, he found it necessary to expand his production repertoire to incorporate his musical upbringing, creating more melodious songs like Black Jak’s “Ride and Swerve.” and Big Kuntry King’s debut single “Da Baddest". At the end of 2006, Shawty Redd met recording/mix engineer Seth Firkins at Hot Beats Studio in Atlanta GA. Firkins' style with mixing blended seamlessly into Redd's "Bass-Heavy" productions. Quickly, Firkins became Shawty Redd's personal engineer, traveling from studio to studio while maintaining Redd's reputation as the pre-eminent "Trap Producer".^{[citation needed]}

Shawty Redd continues to celebrate milestones in his career. In addition to landing the second single on Kuntry’s album, My Turn to Eat’s “We Here,” Shawty Redd is the man behind Jeezy’s “Who Dat”, the third single from 2008’s The Recession. He has also been working with Ludacris, Lil Jon, The Clipse, Hurricane Chris, Yo Gotti, Kia Shine, Nina Sky and Shawty Putt on their latest projects.

Solo career[link]

• By The End Of The Night (feat. Big Kuntry King)
• Drifter (feat. Big Gipp and Snoop Dogg)

Production discography[link]

From [1]

2012[link]

Rick Ross - God Forgives, I Don't

• "Finals" (feat. Meek Mill & Gunplay)

2011[link]

Pusha T - Fear of God 2: Let Us Pray

• "Amen" (feat. Kanye West & Young Jeezy)

Young Jeezy - The Real Is Back

• "Win Win"

2010[link]

Lil' Jon - Crunk Rock

• G-Walk (Feat. Soulja Boy)

Gucci Mane - The State vs. Radric Davis

• Heavy

Gucci Mane - Burrrprint (2) HD

• Parked Outside

Yo Gotti - Live from the Kitchen

• Look in the Mirror
• Look in the Mirror (Remix) (feat. Wale, J. Cole & Wiz Khalifa)

Young Jeezy - The Last Laugh (mixtape)

• All White Everything (feat. Yo Gotti)
• Jizzle (Feat. Lil Jon)
• Let Me Handle My Business
• Rap Game
• Amen
• Last Laugh
• Game Over
• Do It All Again (feat .Slick Pulla, Yo Gotti)
• Strip Club
• Trippin (feat. Slick Pulla)
• Don't Stop
• Pressure on

2009[link]

Hurricane Chris - Unleashed

• I'm Back

Young Jeezy

• Trap Files

Gucci Mane - The Cold War Series - Guccimerica, Burrussia, Great Brritain

• Nerd
• Hush Ya Mouth
• Good Money
• Break Ya Self
• I Am Legend
• Foreign
• Dangers Not A Stranger

2008[link]

Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin'

• Sexual Eruption

Young Jeezy - The Recession

• Who Dat featuring Shawty Redd

Gucci Mane - From Zone 6 To Duval (mixtape)

• Nickelodeon
• Run Tell Dat(Workin)
• Pussy Puller
• That What It Is
• My Rim Dancin
• H2O
• So Much Money
• Hot Damn
• Pampers
• Can't Keep Up

2007[link]

Gucci Mane - Back to the Trap House

• Stash House

2006[link]

Young Jeezy - The Inspiration

• Hypnotize
• U Know What It Is
• J.E.E.Z.Y

2005[link]

Gucci Mane - Trap House

• Trap House
• Pyrex Pot
• Corner Cuttin
• That's My Hood
• Brick Man
• Two Thangs

Young Jeezy - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101

• Thug Motivation 101(Intro)
• Gangsta Music
• Bottom Of The Map
• Get Ya Mind Right
• Trap Or Die
• That's How Ya Feel

BONUS TRACK:

• Air Forces
• Ova Here (Feat. Bun B)

References[link]

Lex Luger
Ring name(s)	Lex Luger[1] The Narcissist[1] The Total Package
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Billed weight	265 lb (120 kg)[2][3]
Born	(1958-06-02) June 2, 1958 (age 54)[2][3] Buffalo, New York
Billed from	Chicago, Illinois[1]
Trained by	Bob Roop[2] Hiro Matsuda[2] Barry Windham
Debut	September 1985[2][3]
Retired	September 18, 2006

Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl (born June 2, 1958),^[2] better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy. He is best known for his work with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Among other accolades in professional wrestling, Luger is a three-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once; a record-tying five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who owns the record for consecutive days and most total days spent as champion; and the 1994 WWF Royal Rumble winner (with Bret Hart). Readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1993.

Football career[link]

Luger attended high school and played football in Orchard Park, New York. He then attended Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship, but transferred to the University of Miami after his freshman year. A talented soccer player and lifelong fan of English soccer team Manchester United, Luger considered changing sports for some time but eventually decided his skills would be better suited to football. After sitting out the 1978 season, he started the 1979 season as a defensive tackle until his scholarship was terminated. He was joined at Miami by Jim Kelly, Jim Burt, Mitch Guittar, and Fred Marion among others. Upon leaving Miami, he played professional football for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He then signed with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but never played in a game and thus is not listed on their all-time roster, though he did spend the entire 1982 season on the team's injured reserve list with a groin problem incurred during training camp. He returned to the Packers training camp in 1983, but he was released before the regular season began. In 1984, Luger finished his football career playing in the United States Football League for the Memphis Showboats. He also played for the Jacksonville Bulls and the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL, where he was a teammate with future WCW rival Ron Simmons.^[2]

Professional wrestling career[link]

NWA Florida (1985–1986)[link]

In 1985, Luger met Bob Roop at a celebrity golfing event in Florida and was given the chance to get into professional wrestling as Roop was greatly impressed with Luger's powerful bodybuilder physique. Roop arranged for Luger to be trained by Hiro Matsuda,^[2] who had previously trained Hulk Hogan and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Luger adopted the ring name "Lex Luger", being a fan of the comic book villain Lex Luthor, and made his in-ring debut in September 1985. He was featured alongside Percy Pringle and Rick Rude.^[4]

Luger began wrestling in the NWA Florida territory. He got his first victory on October 31, 1985 against Ed "The Bull" Gantner and won the Southern Heavyweight Championship from Wahoo McDaniel the next month.^[5] On September 1, 1986, he fought NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair for the title at a show Battle of the Belts, which resulted in a 60-minute draw. As a result, Flair retained the title.^[2] Towards the end of his run in Florida, Luger was involved in a steel cage match with Bruiser Brody, where Brody stopped cooperating, leading to Luger leaving the match.^[2]

National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling[link]

Teaming and feuding with the Four Horsemen (1987–1989)[link]

In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett's World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner, with the nickname "The Total Package" and began using "The Human Torture Rack", an Argentine backbreaker, as his finisher.^[3] He was first booked as an associate to Ric Flair's "Four Horsemen" stable until Ole Anderson was kicked out and he became an official member of the group.^[2] Luger started wrestling as a heel.^[3] His first big feud was with Nikita Koloff, whom he defeated for his first NWA United States Heavyweight Championship on July 11, 1987.^[3] Manager James J. Dillon threw a chair over the top of the cage while the referee, Earl Hebner, was down. Luger knocked Koloff unconscious with it and then lifted up Koloff in the Torture Rack. A revived Hebner then dropped Koloff's arm three times with no response and awarded Luger a submission victory.^[6]

He held the title until NWA's first pay-per-view event Starrcade in November, when he dropped it to Dusty Rhodes in a steel cage. This loss set the stage for Luger leaving the Four Horsemen, as manager Dillon's interference cost Luger the match. A steel chair thrown in by Dillon was dropped by Luger and Rhodes DDT'd Luger on it prior to pinning him for the win.^[7] Luger left the Four Horsemen in 1988 after he and his stablemates (Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Dillon) were the sole wrestlers left in a Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal and Dillon asked the other wrestlers to eliminate themselves so he could win. Although Blanchard and Anderson complied, Luger refused and eliminated Dillon, leaving the Horsemen in the process.^[2]

Luger turned babyface and befriended Barry Windham, his former Florida ally. They formed a tag team, dubbed "The Twin Towers". "The Twin Towers" first teamed on March 27, 1988 at Clash of the Champions to defeat Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.^[8] Only a few weeks after the title win, a swerve took place in the NWA with Windham suddenly turning on Luger during a title defense (against Blanchard and Anderson) and joining Luger's former stable, The Four Horsemen.^[3] Days later, the Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament was held with its first night in Greenville, South Carolina. A partner-less Luger was teamed with Sting (whose partner Ronnie Garvin had been kayfabe injured) and the impromptu team won the entire tournament, defeating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals.^[9]

Luger continued his feud with the Four Horsemen and Windham. He began hunting their leader Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At the June 8 edition of Clash of the Champions, it was announced that Luger would challenge Flair for the NWA title at The Great American Bash on July 10 in Baltimore.^[3] The contract was signed on a yacht with Flair delivering the line "You gotta make it to Baltimore..." to Luger.^[3] As Luger arrived at The Clash in a limousine he was attacked by The Four Horsemen, leaving him (kayfabe) injured and bleeding in the parking lot on live television.^[3] While Luger had Flair in the "Torture Rack" and Flair was about to submit, the match was abruptly stopped by the referee who cited (kayfabe) "Maryland State Athletic Commission" rules about a cut that had opened up on Luger's forehead "bleeding excessively".^[2][10] Luger faced Flair in many rematches across the country, never winning the title. The Luger/Flair feud came to an end after December's Starrcade 1988: True Gritt where Flair pinned Luger in a rematch main event for the NWA title by illegally using the ropes.^[11]

United States Heavyweight Champion (1989–1990)[link]

He was then matched up against old foe Barry Windham at The Chi-Town Rumble winning his second NWA United States Heavyweight Championship from him.^[12] Luger defended the U.S. Championship regularly. One of his major title defenses was against Jack Victory in a dark match on the April 2, 1989 edition of Clash of the Champions.^[13]

He teamed up with Michael P.S. Hayes against Barry and Kendall Windham in a match which saw Hayes turn on Luger, setting himself as a contender to the U.S. Title.^[14] Hayes defeated Luger for the US title at WrestleWar 1989: Music City Showdown when a surprise appearance by Hayes's ex-Freebird teammate Terry Gordy helped cost Luger the match.^[3] Luger regained the U.S. Title from Hayes in a rematch a couple of weeks later, beginning a heel turn when he broke the rules by pulling Hayes's tights while pinning Hayes to win the match.^[15] The turn became "official" shortly after, when on the June 14 edition of Clash of the Champions, Luger attacked the popular Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat after Steamboat had defeated Terry Funk by disqualification.^[16] Luger and Steamboat faced each other at The Great American Bash in July with Luger winning by disqualification after Luger refused to wrestle Steamboat until the match's no-disqualification clause had been waived.^[17]

Flyin' Brian Pillman challenged Luger at Halloween Havoc 1989: Settling the Score for the US Title, which Luger won.^[15] He also defeated Pillman in a rematch on the November 15 edition of Clash of the Champions to retain the title and end the feud.^[15] After the main event of the card, which saw Ric Flair and Terry Funk in an "I Quit" match, Luger made a surprise run in, attacking both Flair and Sting, who had come out to save Flair from a post match attack by The Great Muta.^[18] December's Starrcade featured an "Ironman" tournament between Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta.

Though Sting eventually won the tournament, Luger was the only participant to go undefeated (Sting got pinfall victories over Muta and Flair, giving him the most points to win the tournament).^[19] This elevated Sting to the status of No.1 contender for Flair's world title. With Sting and Flair set to square off at WrestleWar in February, Luger was booked to defend the U.S. Title against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on the card. A legitimate injury to Sting, however, caused the entire booking of the card to get changed. Luger was elevated to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. An injured Sting appeared in Luger's corner during the match, eventually being attacked by Ole and Arn Anderson. When Luger left the ring to help Sting he was counted out, giving the match to Flair.^[20] The idea here was to build Luger up as a "changed man" that had "gained self-respect" by saving Sting. Luger challenged Flair across the country in rematches. In the final match of the feud, a few months later at the innaugural (and only) Capital Combat event in Washington, DC, another screwjob finish occurred where Luger won by disqualification against Flair in a steel cage match when the cage rose up from the ground and outside interference marred the match.^[2]

In mid-1990, Luger's focus went back to defending his U.S. Championship while the NWA focused on Sting and his reign as World Heavyweight Champion. When Stan Hansen entered the company and the two of them feuded for a brief period of months, Luger eventually dropped the title to Hansen at Halloween Havoc,^[21] though he won it back at Starrcade 1990: Collision Course beginning his fourth NWA United States Heavyweight Championship reign.^[22] Luger's third title reign lasted a total of 523 days, making him, the longest reigning United States Champion in history.^[23] WCW withdrew from NWA in 1991 and the U.S. Title was renamed the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Luger started a feud with Dan Spivey, whom he defeated at WrestleWar to retain the U.S. Title.^[24] Following their match, Nikita Koloff suddenly appeared to attack Luger, reigniting their feud from 1987. It did not last long, however, as Koloff found himself being pushed into an angle with Sting instead of Luger, which began at SuperBrawl I: Return of the Rising Sun when Sting and Luger challenged The Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team Championship.

During the match, Koloff interfered and hit Sting with a chain, which was intended for Luger.^[25] Luger again began to challenge Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after becoming No.1 contender by defeating The Great Muta on the June 14, 1991 edition of Clash of the Champions.^[26] With the history of "screwjob finishes" between Flair and Luger, their title match was set to be contested at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match with the added stipulation that, should Flair get disqualified he would lose the title. The match never occurred, however, as Flair began to have disagreements with Jim Herd, the head of WCW, over his future and salary. He eventually quit the company (being "stripped" of the title in the process) and took the World Title belt with him.

World Heavyweight Champion (1991–1992)[link]