Looking for Rock World’s Secrets

Rock music has always gone hand-in-handcuff with crime, from Chuck Berry’s Mann Act bust in the ‘50s to threats of a Spice Girls reunion in this decade. The list of slaying victims ranges from Marvin Gaye and Bobby Fuller to John Lennon and Sam Cooke.

So what sordid cases do they dig up on “Secret History of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” an hourlong would-be expose airing at 10 tonight on Court TV? Guns ‘N Roses fires its drummer. Ronnie Spector gets ripped off for royalties. Did you hear that Charles Manson befriended the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson? And how about Jose Menendez, who before being slain by his sons in Beverly Hills, signed Menudo to RCA Records, which somehow links him to unsubstantiated rumors that the young singers were molested by unnamed associates?

Despite its title, much of the show concerns civil cases, such as singer Spector’s court fight with ex-husband Phil Spector over royalties from the Ronettes’ hits that he produced. And Guns ‘N Roses’ Steven Adler details how he was deceived into signing away his share of GNR income when he was dethroned from the drum stool.

What do lawyers for Phil Spector and Guns ‘N Roses have to say? Don’t ask. At least the show didn’t ask. Or they don’t tell us if they did.

KISS’ Gene Simmons (without KISS makeup) morosely introduces each segment of the show, which also includes a glancing blow at rap entrepreneur Suge Knight. Of all the colorful malfeasances associated with the latter, the one that “Secrets” focuses on is the time he allegedly held Vanilla Ice by the ankles over the side of a high-rise hotel balcony. He was doing it to get some papers signed, not in retaliation for “Ice Ice Baby.” Now that was a crime.