Rock to Rocking Chair: A Home for the Golden Oldies

--Rock ‘n’ roll has brought a wealth of enjoyment to its fans, but some early stars have fallen into poverty, according to fellow performers who plan to build a $25-million rock retirement home, museum and theater. The group has collected about $100,000 of the $2 million needed before construction can begin on the complex, to be built near St. Petersburg, Fla. Joey Dee, of Joey Dee and the Starlighters, said his inspiration for the project came from the plight of Jackie Wilson, who died in 1984 without enough money for a tombstone. “(Wilson) was inducted into the (Rock ‘n’ Roll) Hall of Fame as one of music’s most dynamic performers, but he died penniless. Something was wrong,” Dee said. Early rockers often had no pensions or insurance and many of them worked as independent contractors and never paid into Social Security. Dee and a Clearwater, Fla., dentist formed the Starlight Starbrite Foundation to raise money for the facility. Performers involved in the project include Jimmy Beaumont of the Skyliners, Gary (U.S.) Bonds, Lesley Gore, Beverly Lee of the Shirelles, Johnny Maestro of the Crests, Glen Stetson of the Diamonds, Jerry Gross of the Dovells, Joe Terry of Danny and the Juniors, Bobby Rydell and disc jockeys Bruce (Cousin Brucie) Morrow and Wolfman Jack. The credentials committee has decided anyone with a record that reached the Billboard Top 100 chart will be eligible to enter the home. Organizers plan a record album and charity concerts to raise funds.

--Another rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, Chuck Berry, was a no-show at a Manhattan police station. “I came in on my day off for this,” said a disappointed Officer Max Polster of the 13th Precinct, who was to arrest Berry. The Manhattan district attorney’s office had said that Berry would arrive with his lawyer to surrender on third-degree assault charges that he struck a woman in a Manhattan hotel last December. Judge Harold Beeler issued an arrest warrant after Berry failed to appear for a Manhattan Criminal Court hearing in January, Polster said. He said Berry’s failure to show up stemmed from an apparent mix-up between prosecutors and his lawyer.

--Frances Shand-Kydd, the mother of Britain’s Princess Diana, announced that her second marriage is over. “My husband and I have separated, which is a great sadness to us both. No one else is involved. Neither Peter nor I will be making any further statement,” Shand-Kydd, 52, said in a statement. She is married to wallpaper heir Peter Shand-Kydd. Frances Shand-Kydd separated from Diana’s father, Edward John Spencer, the eighth Earl of Spencer, in 1967.