I never thought this dude would ever make it to USA Today, but Peter Burns, lead singer of '80's pop band DEAD OR ALIVE, which became extremely popular from the production team of Aitken Stock Waterman, went on TV and said his coat was made of gorilla fur, prompting the British authorities to confiscate his jacket and do tests on it, plus determine its importation. Turned out the jacket was made of the fur of some other monkey (sorry, not Peter Jackson, unfortunately) and not illegal. Naturally, in North America, we can't see the show, unless someone has uploaded it to a server, I'd love to have a watch on what really happened.
The Associated Press called Burns a "former rock singer". That certainly is far from the truth. He was just a pop singer and his records were never played against Ozzy Osbourse. More like next to Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, etc. Aitken Stock Waterman had a magnificent beat back in the early 80's with pop artists like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Samantha Fox, Bananarama, Rick Astley, O'chi Brown, and Dead or Alive.
Gyaos
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http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-02-03-gorilla-coat_x.htm
LONDON (AP) — A former rock singer claimed his coat was made of fur from the endangered gorilla — outraging many in Britain and prompting an investigation. But the shaggy garment turned out to be made of monkey pelts, so the entertainer will not face charges.
Pete Burns of the 1980s band Dead or Alive made his unpopular fashion claim on a reality TV program called Celebrity Big Brother, upsetting fellow contestants as well as viewers.
Investigators seized the coat for testing at London's Natural History Museum, which determined the coat was made from fur of black and white colobus monkeys, police said.
The monkeys are native to Africa, and it has been illegal to import their skins to Britain since 1975, so police next tried to determine when the coat was made.
Judging by its poor condition, a statement from the Crown Prosecutors Service said, the pelts had likely been imported sometime in the 1930s or 1940s.
So while Burns may have committed a fashion crime in the eyes of British television viewers, "there is no evidence to suggest that this garment was imported illegally," the prosecutors' statement said Thursday. The coat will be returned to Burns, they added.
The Associated Press called Burns a "former rock singer". That certainly is far from the truth. He was just a pop singer and his records were never played against Ozzy Osbourse. More like next to Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, etc. Aitken Stock Waterman had a magnificent beat back in the early 80's with pop artists like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Samantha Fox, Bananarama, Rick Astley, O'chi Brown, and Dead or Alive.
Gyaos
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http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-02-03-gorilla-coat_x.htm
LONDON (AP) — A former rock singer claimed his coat was made of fur from the endangered gorilla — outraging many in Britain and prompting an investigation. But the shaggy garment turned out to be made of monkey pelts, so the entertainer will not face charges.
Pete Burns of the 1980s band Dead or Alive made his unpopular fashion claim on a reality TV program called Celebrity Big Brother, upsetting fellow contestants as well as viewers.
Investigators seized the coat for testing at London's Natural History Museum, which determined the coat was made from fur of black and white colobus monkeys, police said.
The monkeys are native to Africa, and it has been illegal to import their skins to Britain since 1975, so police next tried to determine when the coat was made.
Judging by its poor condition, a statement from the Crown Prosecutors Service said, the pelts had likely been imported sometime in the 1930s or 1940s.
So while Burns may have committed a fashion crime in the eyes of British television viewers, "there is no evidence to suggest that this garment was imported illegally," the prosecutors' statement said Thursday. The coat will be returned to Burns, they added.
