Playboy April 2001

COVER STORY At the Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas the slots are hot—and so are the girls. "It's wild here," says cocktail waitress Brandi Bagley. Brandi gives us an intimate tour inside—a show you won't see in Vegas. For our cover, Arny Freytag shot January 2001 Playmate Irina Voronina while our Rabbit played a rock anthem. FEATURES 82 SUN RISE Sam Phillips created rock and roll at his tiny Memphis recording studio. We asked the legends of music to sing the praises of Sun Studios. Then we asked ourselves: Could Elvis, Johnny and Jerry Lee have sprung up anywhere else? BY JAMIE MALANOWSKI 94 PLAYBOY PROFILE: BISHOP JOHN SPONG'S BULLY PULPIT John Spong is an Episcopal bishop who would ordain women, allow gay marriages and shake up organized religions. Let us pray. BY WARREN KALBACKER 97 CENTERFOLDS ON SEX: PETRA VERKAIK Wild hair and makeup and wearing badass black boots help Petra prepare for her favorite role: supervixen. 104 BEING SPIKE JONZE The director of Being John Malkovich and co-creator of MTV's Jackass is one crazy dude. We have 13 pieces of evidence. 127 THE YEAR IN MUSIC Our readers send shouts out to Eminem and Belle and Sebastian. Ozzy is enshrined in the Playboy Hall of Fame. 128 MUSIC BUZZ Matt Pinfield, the first name in underground music, has an ear for cool sounds. For PLAYBOY, he singles out bands that have slipped through the cracks of the industry hype machine. 132 JAPANESE TRASH TV Imagine a world where naked babes answer trivia questions from a hot tub and must stand up to hit their buzzers. In Japan, that world is called prime time. 134 20Q WYCLEF JEAN Fugee mastermind and solo star Wyclef Jean is riding on the success of his second solo CD. The Haitian emigre carries a small ax and writes redemption songs—but he can still appreciate a good lay. BY CHRISTOPHER NAPOLITANO 136 IN THE EYE OF NAPSTER'S STORM The cunning system of trading songs online sent big corporations into cardiac arrest. But it inspired awe in music enthusiasts. Founding developer Jordan Ritter describes what it was like to foment a revolution. BY TIMOTHY MOHR FICTION 120 MY LIFE IN HEAVY METAL Like Cinderella sang, you don't know what you've got till it's gone. But even then you're hot always sure what it was—or why you let it go. BY STEVE ALMOND INTERVIEW 67 METALLICA Only seven bands have sold more albums in the U.S. than Metallica. But its members still strike the defensive crouch of outcasts. And still they rage against the machine—Napster's machine, that is. BY ROB TANNENBAUM PICTORIALS 88 SPRING BREAK When college girls head to the beach, they leave their books—and bikinis—home. We took pictures. 106 PLAYMATE: KATIE LOHMANN The Scottsdale knockout was the only girl on her high school wrestling team. Pin us, Katie. 140 THE GIRLS OF THE HARD ROCK CASINO They work a round-the-clock backstage bash. It's only rock and roll, but we like it—especially in the nude. NOTES AND NEWS 17 THE WORLD OF PLAYBOY Kid Rock plays golf Lennox Lewis, Hef on the View. 18 ROCKIN' AT THE MANSION Doobie and Righteous brothers, Brian Setzer and 'N Sync harmonize with Hef 57 THE PLAYBOY FORUM Abstinence education scams, sex-book sales charts. 171 PLAYMATE NEWS Playmates in music videos; Alan Cumming's favorite Playmates. DEPARTMENTS 3 PLAYBILL 21 DEAR PLAYBOY 25 AFTER HOURS 36 WIRED 44 LIVING ONLINE 49 MEN 51 MANTRACK 55 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR 118 PARTY JOKES 156 WHERE AND HOW TO BUY 175 ON THE SCENE 176 GRAPEVINE 178 POTPOURRI LIFESTYLE 98 PLAYBOY'S SPRING AND SUMMER FASHION FORECAST Comfort is the key in warm weather. We carry it off with style. BY JOSEPH DE ACETIS 122 NAKED BIKES Motorcycles flaunt their raw power. BY JAMES R. PETERSEN REVIEWS 33 MUSIC Everclear, Dot Com Blues, Enya and Joe Haydn. 38 MOVIES It's Oscar time—here's our list of the best. 41 VIDEO Big-band era on DVD, road movies. 48 BOOKS Bob Dylan, Stoned, the history of music censorship.