July Ramblin'

When the swine flu - I'm sorry, the H1N1 virus - was first announced in the spring, I was feeling bit peevish about the pundits who seemed to think that the government - actually world governments - were making too much of the disease. Frankly, i think it was due to lack of understanding of the nomenclature. We don't know what a Level 6 (pandemic, declared weeks ago) feels like. We understand gradations of temperature, the difference between a Category 1 and category 3 hurricane or a 3.6 earthquake vs. a 6.6. Anyway here's John Berry's 2009 WHITE PAPER ON NOVEL H1N1 (PDF). Barry wrote the book The Great Influenza about the 1918 flu epidemic: "Three of the preceding four pandemics, 1889, 1918, and 1957, show clear evidence of some fairly intense but sporadic initial local outbreaks scattered around the world.

"The novel H1N1 virus seems thus far to be following the pattern of those three pandemics, and it seems highly likely that it will return in full flower. If the virus is fully adapted to and efficient at infecting humans, this would occur soon, possibly during the influenza season in the southern hemisphere or possibly a few months later in the northern hemisphere. The 1918 and 1957 viruses both exploded in September and October in the northern hemisphere, even though this is not the influenza season.

"If the virus needs further adaptation to become fully efficient in infecting humans, that could be delayed, quite possibly a year or two later. It seems very unlikely that this virus will peter out."
***
Got this e-mail: Black Male Teachers - Do you know any Black males who are seniors in high school who want to go to college out of state for "FREE" ? Several Black Colleges are looking for future black male teachers and will send them to universities/colleges for 4 years FREE .

The 'Call Me MISTER' program is an effort to address the critical shortage of African American male teachers particularly among South Carolina 's lowest performing public schools . Program participants are selected from among under-served, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities...

Visit here for more details and the online application or call (800) 640-2657.

But if you GO to that page, you'll ALSO read "Please read this memo regarding an email hoax that provides misinformation about our program."
It has been brought to our attention that an erroneous e-mail, rife with inaccuracies and misinformation about the Call Me MISTER Program, is making its way around the country. Said e-mail makes such false claims as “South Carolina HBCUs offer FREE TUITION” and our program is for “African American MALES ONLY”, neither of which is true. While we do offer tuition assistance and book support, plus a small stipend to defray other associated costs of attending college, we DO NOT now offer, nor have we ever offered, a full scholarship.
Myths need to be debunked.
***
Lean times in L.A. County leave no money for the dead. This is a story about more people opting for cremation. As someone heavily influence by Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death, I applaud the trend, even if it's being done out of economic necessity.
***
On a lighter note, from Yahoo! Food: 5 Summer Food Mysteries Solved. I KNEW the ice cream one to be true.
***
My wife and her class saw the movie The Yes Men last weekend. "Shocking and funny," she described it. as it turned out there was an article in the local paper about the movie's follow-up, now playing on HBO and perhaps coming to a theater near you.
***
Paul McCartney returns to the Ed Sullivan Theater as he appears on Letterman, 45 years after his first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Paul at Citi Field, NYC.
***Amusing and even educational. Church Advertising
***
This video was made in the Antwerp, Belgium Central (Train) Station on the 23rd of March 2009. With no warning to the passengers passing through the station, at 08:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing 'Do, Re, Mi' began to play on the public address system." As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances.
***
A final goodbye for S. Palin, YouTube fodder from last year, but what they hey.

ROG

And Gordon

One of the very first albums I ever bought from the Capitol Record Club -11 albums for only one cent! (But read the fine print) was BIG HITS FROM ENGLAND AND USA: one side had two songs each from BEATLES, BEACH BOYS, and PETER & GORDON, the other side, 2 songs by NAT KING COLE and CILLA BLACK, plus "Tears and Roses" by AL MARTINO. I probably still have it upstairs in the attic.

The intriguing thing I discovered as I actually looked on the record's label was that Lennon-McCartney were listed as composers not only of the Beatles' songs, Can't Buy Me Love and You Can't Do That, but also of the songs of Peter & Gordon, A World Without Love and Nobody I Know. It took me a while to catch up on the Beatles' trivia that Peter, the one with the glasses, was the brother of Paul's girlfriend Jane Asher. Peter & Gordon recorded a number of Lennon/McCartney (really Macca) tunes such as I Don't Want To See You Again and Women, attributed to Bernard Webb to see if the songs were moving because of the Beatles' connection; based on its chart action, maybe they were.

Peter later became a prolific record producer for James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, among others.

But what of Gordon Waller after the 1968 breakup? According to Gordon's website, he also stayed busy in the music business, with an extensive, if not commercially successful discography.

He also had opportunities to sing with his old mate from time to time. Gordon Waller died of cardiac arrest on July 17 at the age of 64. Peter writes:

Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend – let alone to tolerate.

He was my best friend at school almost half a century ago. He was not only my musical partner but played a key role in my conversion from only a snooty jazz fan to a true rock and roll believer as well. Without Gordon I would never have begun my career in the music business in the first place. Our professional years together in the sixties constitute a major part of my life and I have always treasured them.

We remained good friends (unusual for a duo!) even while we were pursuing entirely separate professional paths and I was so delighted that after a hiatus of almost forty years we ended up singing and performing together again more recently for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. We had a terrific time doing so.

Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo.

I shall miss him in so many different ways. The idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humour or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms.

I'd read on one of the sites that the duo was originally billed as Gordon & Peter. It's tougher when you're after the ampersand.

World Without Love:

***
There was this old Shake 'N Bake commercial - do they still make that stuff?- and this girl with a STRONG Southern accent says, "And I Haiped!" Which is supposed to be "helped". Brian Ibbott's recent Kinks Koverville, er Coverville was a topic I suggested in honor of Ray Davies' 65th birthday last month. I also pointed out the Tom Jones version of Sunny afternoon, which he played to, so far, positive reaction, I'm surprised to note. ROG

Macca and Ebert

It's James Paul McCartney's 67th birthday.


I continue to like about 50% of Macca's output. Never really warmed to the Fireman album as I did Chaos and Creation. But I LOVED this bootl unauthorized recording of Paul doing Beatles songs someone sent me. Some are straight covers, but others, notably Yesterday and Hey Jude are just plain goofy; in the former, rabbits are mentioned.

There's always one story in Beatlefan magazine that I treasure. The March/April 2009 edition is no exception. Bruce Spizer did a tribute to Alan Livingston. Don't know who he was? He was the one who signed the Beatles to Capitol Records. The bare facts of his life are reflected on the Wikipedia page, but not his personality. As Livingston's widow recalled, he was the one who recognized the group's full potential and put the resources of Capitol Records behind the group. Here's a different, less in-depth Livingston interview. But his career ran from Bozo to Sinatra and from Beatles to Star Wars; he was president of entertainment at 20th Century Fox when the movie was being developed. Livingston died on March 13, 2009 at the age of 91 and without him, you might not have heard of Paul McCartney.

It's also Roger Joseph Ebert's 67th birthday. I used to watch Ebert & Roeper religiously, and before that, Siskel & Ebert. Lately, I've been more interested in his non-film essays than his reviews. His recent essay about death is a prime example. Always engaging.

Happy birthday, Paul and Roger.
ROG

Songs That Move Me, 40-31

40. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart - the Supremes.
Much of Motown lived on the bottom, and this did too, but had lots of other elements, including a great vocal.


39. Got to Get You into My Life - the Beatles.
The Fabs get soulful. I'd play the (US) Revolver album once through this song, then, if my parents weren't home, play the song again very loudly. This made Tomorrow Never Knows particularly noisy.
Feeling: hopeful.


38. Barabajagal - Donovan (With The Jeff Beck Group)
It's jazzy, it rocks, it has those sexy female vocals.
Feeling: love IS hot.
HERE.

37. Hurt-Johnny Cash
If I included my feelings about the video, this would be even higher, maybe even Top 10. Still that insistent keyboard is quite affecting.
Feeling: sadness.
HERE or


36. Season Of Hollow Soul - k.d. lang.
Very sad, very autumnal song from her pop breakthrough album, Ingenue. Unfortunately, this anime video cuts off.
Feeling: hollow.


35. Church-Lyle Lovett.
I feel like I've BEEN to church after this. The second song from the CD named after the sixth, seventh, and eighth books of the Bible, Joshua Judges Ruth.
Feeling: righteous.
HERE.

34. Maybe I'm Amazed-Paul McCartney.
A song on the first solo LP as good as anything his old group did. the bridge and the end are especially strong.
Feeling: joyful.


33. Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
Of course, there's that quintessential opening hook. But it's also the shared lead vocals, the oddly effective harmony, and the Blue Moon bridge.
Feeling: good.


32. ‘Til I Die - Beach Boys
While the verse and chorus structure is evocative, it's the end part stating the title, and the vocals wrapped around it that is most moving.
Feeling: reflective.
HERE.

31. Can’t Get Next to You - the Temptations
After David Ruffin left the group, it was the wisdom of producer Norman Whitfield to cop the shared vocals motif from Sly Stone, to great effect.
Feeling: mind-blowing.

ROG

Macca's Route 66

I saw this PETA ad in some magazine recently.

Made me at least think about my carnivore ways.

I love this old piece on Paul McCartney and Jack Kirby.

Paul's still out there playing. Recently he did a benefit concert in Ukraine. One of the songs he sang in Ukraine, of course, was Back in the USSR. Here's an interesting cover:


One of my favorite Paul songs with his first group:


Paul turns 66 today. Happy birthday.

***
Willie Randolph was 86'd by the NY Mets. Yes, the team is better than the record, but I almost never favor in-season managerial replacements.
***
I was watching ABC News last night, and the segment they showed in observation of Cyd Charisse's passing happened to be this first piece I found on YouTube searching by her name, from about 50 seconds in, and running just over a minute. It also features some other dancer of note:

I remember seeing her well past her prime, probably on some awards program, and she STILL had great legs.

ROG

Songs That Move Me, 100-91

100. As - Stevie Wonder.
This song is good until it gets to the "preach" segment; then it's transcendent.
Feeling: as though I were at a revival meeting.


99. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor.
Based pretty much on the strength of the vocal alone. That octave leap on "Nothing", e.g.
Feeling: longing.


98. No More Tear-Stained Makeup - Martha and the Vandellas.
I wish I could find the lyrics to this Smokey Robinson-penned tune on the Internet, because there's a lyric couplet in the second verse has a line that's really a mouthful. On the Watchout LP.
No More Tear-Stained Makeup -Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
HERE.
Feeling: Like singing along.

97. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow - Foggy Mountain Boys.
The hit from O Brother Where Art Thou. It's the quality of Dan Tyminski's vocal, along with the harmony vocals and the instruments, that work for me.
Feeling: what a hoot!


96. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - Santana.
The first part wouldn’t have made the list, but that the second half seals the deal. I may have become aware of Santana from the Woodstock movie, which I sat through twice.
Feeling: transcendent.


95. Papa Was a Rolling Stone - the Temptations.
It is that lengthy, luscious introduction that Dennis Edwards acknowledges added a bit of an edge to his voice when he finally got to sing "It was the third of September."
Feeling: that I can finally exhale when the vocal comes on.


94. Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
Such a musically delicate song for such moving lyrics.
Feeling: doubt.


93. Cannonball - the Breeders.
It was loud and infectious. But what made it is the modulation of key early on. On a 4-song CD.
Feeling: I'm alive.


92. Takin' It To the Streets-the Doobie Brothers.
The first song I heard with the Michael McDonald vocal. It became a more predictable sound eventually, but when I first experienced it, it felt fresh. From the first greatest hits LP.
Feeling: as the title says.
HERE.
Also, this version from No Nukes.


91. What's That You're Doin’- Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder.
It came out at a point in the early ‘80s that Stevie started getting squishy (I Just Called to Say I Love You), so this was more to form. Much better than the OTHER Wonder/Macca song on the Tug of War album, Ebony and Ivory.
Feeling: Stevie's back!

ROG

Beatles' TV Alert

On A&E, Sunday, February 3, 2008

7 a.m. BIOGRAPHY: The Beatles' women
A look at the women--some celebrated, some forgotten--who influenced the lives of the Fab Four and were often the muses behind some of the Beatles' greatest songs. Includes portraits of Yoko Ono, Linda Eastman, Pattie Boyd, Barbara Bach and Heather Mills. Plus, we look back at May Pang, John Lennon's lost weekend companion; Cynthia Lennon, his first wife; Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's posh girlfriend during the band's heyday; Maureen Cox, Ringo's first wife; and Olivia Trinidad Arias, who married George in 1978. TVPG | cc
8 a.m. Paul McCartney: Live at the Olympia
They are known among fans as the "secret concerts." In 2007, Sir Paul McCartney took his band to a few small select venues around the world to play the most intimate, raw, and stripped down shows of his storied career. The shows have already become legendary. The most spectacular of all the performances was in Paris at the Olympia Theater in October. 43 years earlier the Beatles had played a series of concerts at the venue and for the 2007 show McCartney revisited the Beatles songbook, as well as playing solo hits and some tracks from his Grammy-nominated album "Memory Almost Full." TVPG | cc
9 a.m. Private Sessions: Ringo Starr "Ringo shares a private look into his career."
This morning, in an in-depth exclusive interview, former Beatle Ringo Starr chats with host Lynn Hoffman about his incredible career. His music, as a solo artist and as a Beatle, is permeated with his personality, his warmth and humor and his exceptional musicianship, which have given us songs we all know and love. Starr reflects about what it was like being part of the world's most adored and famous group; his solo career; and his touring the globe with his All Starr Bands. TVPG | cc

9 A.M. for the premiere of the Ringo piece?? If you miss it, the Ringo piece will be repeated at 4 a.m. on Sunday, February 10.


ROG

Top 10 5 Albums of 2007

I only got 13 albums that came out in 2007, all CDs, as opposed to downloads or vinyl. Unlike the movies I didn't see, this fact does not particularly distress me as much as it might, since I did download some individual cuts as well as older albums I had on vinyl.

So coming up with a Top 10 seemed silly. I will discuss all of them, but then give you my Top 5, which is pretty soft.

Across the Universe SOUNDTRACK - It's OK. Too much of it sounds the same. Didn't see the movie, though, and that might have helped. I love EDDIE IZZARD doing Mr. Kite, though.

Like A Hurricane-Neil Young Tribute, Uncut Magazine. Pretty good actually, though invariably uneven.

It's Not Big, It's Large- Lyle Lovett. As I wrote here, I like it, but haven't played it in over a month. Might rank higher when I hear it again.

Memory Almost Full-Paul McCartney. I liked it, especially some of the latter songs. The cut that explains the meanings of the songs really enhanced the album for me.

Magic-Bruce Springsteen. I enjoyed it quite a bit actually, but with a couple of exceptions, it sounds as though it could have come out a decade or more ago.

Live In Dublin-Bruce Springsteen. This lives heavily on the songs from the Seeger Session of 2006 that I loved so much. Works well here, too, plus some great reframing of the Springsteen oeuvre, and a surprise or two.

We'll Never Turn Back-Mavis Staples. Lefty Brown turned me onto this album, and it was in constant rotation in the summer, one track in particular.

Photograph: the Very Best of Ringo Starr. Quite possibly all the Richard Starkey I'll ever need. A mostly known commodity going in, and some good songs. Beatlefan magazine posed the question a couple months ago whether Ringo, as a solo artist, deserved to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; I'd say no, as commercial success, and is largely not a criterion.

And now, my Top 5:

5) West- Lucinda Williams. This might be is a hard album to love for me. Sometimes the lyrics are weak, sometimes the music, though usually at least one element is outstanding. Some of the lyrics are as nonsensical as Dylan’s most obtuse. There’s a 9-minute quasi-rap song that somebody on Amazon called the WORST SONG EVER. But when it clicks, it really works for me. It's no "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road", but it is a worthwhile effort about loss.

4) Dirt Farmer - Levon Helm. – Maybe I’m a sucker for a feel-good story. Helm, the voice of the legendary group The Band, survived throat cancer, but he was unable to talk, let alone sing. But with treatment, he was able to do both. And this album, which sounds like The Band mixed with the music of the group's roots, is outstanding. His daughter Amy, who sings with the group Olabelle, is also present here.

3) Chrome Dreams II-Neil Young. What Nik said about the eclectic nature of the project. BTW, Tosy once had a post about the longest and shortest album cuts. He and I had the same Dylan cut as the longest, but Ordinary People on this album at 18 minutes surpasses that. (I have since discovered that I have a 20-minute live version of Frank Zappa's Don't eat the Yellow Snow.) Here's a review from the United Methodist Church website!

2) Raising Sand- Alison Krauss/Robert Plant. Actually, I bought this for my wife for Christmas. I always buy Alison Krauss for my wife for Christmas or her birthday when she has a new album out. While there were some duets that sounded more like her fare, there's at least one cut that's louder than anything on any Krauss album I've heard. In any case, it works because of genre-bending song selection and a great production by T-Bone Burnett. The more I hear it, the more I like it.

1)I’m Not There SOUNDTRACK- (Nik: this is how I write every day - I just quote other people.) As Nik says, compilations are tough, but this one works exceedingly well, even though I didn't see this movie yet, either.

The album I'm most likely to get, sound unheard, based on everyone else's reviews: LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver.

ROG

FAME Question

Since David Bowie's birthday is coming up Tuesday, I had fame or Fame on my mind.


Someone's Twitter page recently read that he could not believe that someone didn't know Vincent Price. I do. There's a real generational chasm about fame.

A recent cover of Us Weekly indicated that Heidi Montag called off her wedding to Spencer because of behavior MTV failed to show. Trouble is, I had no idea who Heidi Montag was, or whether she looks better after undergoing "a lip enhancement procedure." Or who Spencer was.

I understand that Fergie, who was/is in the group Black Eyed Peas 1) is engaged to some hunky TV star and 2) peed in her pants this year, but I don't know the details of either.

When I heard that Britney Spears' sister got pregnant, I didn't appreciate why a big deal was being made until I discovered that Jamie Lynn Spears is the star of a Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 where she plays a role model for young girls.

And who the heck is Tila Tequila that Tom the Dog hates so much?

Conversely, people who used to be generally famous aren't anymore. The average 13-year-old doesn't know who Walter Cronkite, once "the most trusted man on television" is.

I remember that about 30 years ago, Andy Rooney had a series of specials. On one of them, or maybe on his regular 60 Minutes gig, he posited who he thought was famous, his definition being that people in a wide range of ages would know. Paul McCartney, yes. Michael Jackson, pre-Thriller, pre-nose job, pre-sex trials, was not. So, Johnny Knoxville of Jackass doesn't quite make it now.

1) Who used to be famous but isn't anymore because a new generation has come up that doesn't remember him/her?

2) What are the criteria for what makes someone famous? I think it's a long career that transcends their initial niche: Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods in sports, e.g. or Oprah Winfrey in talk. Showing up in a lot of popular TV shows and/or blockbuster movies: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Will Smith.

3) Who might become famous? One can never tell, of course, but Miley Cyrus a/k/a Hannah Montana, seems to have the possibility. Heck, even I know her.

ROG

Sorta Like When Gilbert Met Sullivan

One of the very first albums I owned, from the Capitol Records Club, was something called Big Hits of from ENGLAND AND USA: one side contained two songs each from BEATLES, BEACH BOYS, and PETER & GORDON for "the kids", the other side, two songs by NAT KING COLE and CILLA BLACK, plus one by AL MARTINO for "the grownups." The intriguing thing I discovered is that Lennon-McCartney were listed as composers not only of the Beatles' songs, Can't Buy Me Love and You Can't Do That, but also of the songs of Peter & Gordon, A World Without Love and Nobody I Know. I wasn't then up on the Beatles' trivia that Peter was the brother of Paul's girlfriend Jane Asher.

So, I have a LOT of music written by John and Paul. Some of it the Beatles didn't even release, or appeared for the first time on the Anthology series, including the album pictured, the Songs Lennon & McCartney Gave Away. I read somewhere, though I've never confirmed it, that there were over 100 non-Beatles L&M songs.

What's the cause of this nostalgic look? Why, today is the 50th anniversary of the meeting of John Winston Lennon and James Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden fête held at St. Peter's Church. Liverpool. John's Quarrymen were playing, and after the gig, Ivan Vaughan, a mutual friend, did the intros. Paul showed John what he could do on the guitar, soon joined The Quarrymen, and the rest, as they say...

The bulk of the non-Beatles Beatles songs I own range from classic (Joe Cocker on a few tunes) to banal (The Brady Bunch on Love Me Do) to awful (Elvis doing Hey Jude). I've listened to a LOT of versions of their songs recently, from classical to Latin to soul. There are remakes of entire albums, including my most recent acquisition, Meet the Smithereens, a very competent, but hardly essential, redo of Meet the Beatles, which, annoyingly, attributes ALL of the songs to Lennon & McCartney; George Harrison wrote Don't Bother Me and Meredith Wilson wrote 'Til There Was You. Thanks to Fred Hembeck for turning me on to several of these.

The funniest, and by that, I mean the funniest L&M song that wasn't intended to be funny, has to be Mitch Miller and the Gang doing Give Peace a Chance; that straight-laced, but well-sung, choir doing the chorus, while the lead vocalist doing the verses, and lines such as "Stick it to the man." This is as goofy as some of those old Dragnet shows, where Joe Friday confronts "the hippies". (And yes, I know Give Peace a Chance was Plastic Ono Band, but the songwriting credits were still citing John and Paul.)

So, happy anniversary to a partnership that, thanks to technology, has managed to recreate their music into this century.

Folks, I'd love you share your lists of favorite and least favorite songs written by Lennon-McCartney, and who performed them.
***
Johnny B. directed us to a series of articles about Paul and the Beatles; the part 3 best encapsulates the magic which was the Beatles.
***
Yes, I watched Larry King last week, when Paul, Ringo, Yoko, and Olivia were on. I don't think he's a great interviewer, but the occasion, the first anniversary of the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE, was...nice.
***
Ringo, the eldest of the four Beatles who made it big, turns 67 tomorrow.
ROG

The Great 28

Twenty-eight years ago today, Lynn Moss made an honest man out of Fred Hembeck, a story he's written about here (June 23), here (June 23), here, and ESPECIALLY here. Kudos to you both. Go to Fred's MySpace blog and send them your best wishes.
***
And speaking of Mr. Hembeck, he e-mailed to remind me that Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia are set to appear on Larry King's CNN show June 26 (9 pm Eastern, 8pm Central) to discuss the first anniversary of Cirque de Soleil's Fab-inspired "Love" show. Incidentally, my wife went to the Cirque de Soleil show "Delirium" this week in Albany with a friend of hers, while I stayed home with Lydia. She said it was very good, but that she needed to watch some more MTV or something, because of all the frenetic movement.
***
The other music-related thing I'll be taping this week is "Paul Simon: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song". On my local PBS station, it airs Wednesday at 9 pm, and features a bunch of folks singing the songs of Simon. It was taped last month.
***
I've never golfed in my life, yet I was intrigued by last weekend's piece in the Wall Street Journal, The Problem With 'Par'; If players at this weekend's U.S. Open can't hit the target score, who can? by John Paul Newport (June 16, 2007). Specifically, this paragraph:
"The notion of par has always been somewhat mushy, and is further confused by the word's other English-language usages. In most PGA Tour events, for instance, subpar scores are par for the course. Unless, of course, a pro is feeling physically subpar, in which case he might shoot above par. On the other hand, only amateurs with decidedly above-par skills can ever hope to post subpar scores."
***
If I lived in the Los Angeles area, I think I would apply for this job out of sheer curiosity:

The following position is available at E! Networks:
Job Title: Researcher
Organization: Research
City: Los Angeles
State: CA
Full-time position with benefits providing research, public records and ready reference.

Description: Provide entertainment research in support of all Comcast Entertainment Group units (E!, Style, G4, E! Online, International) including the following:
* Supply in-depth story and background research to assist writers and production staff.
* Locate court documents for legal backup.
* Access public records to locate individuals and track assets.
* Review copyright and trademark records to establish ownership and locate rights holders.
* Answer “ready reference” questions.
* Vet scripts for accuracy and perform fact checking.
* Help maintain both conventional and digital archives and databases.
Skills: College degree required; experience working in a library, archive or research setting; excellent organizational skills; extensive understanding of online databases, particularly Lexis/Nexis; excellent writing, spelling and grammatical skills; ability to work well under pressure; interest or experience working in the entertainment field a plus.
E! Networks is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Contact Gina Handsberry at E! Entertainment. Please direct all inquiries to her at ghandsberry@eentertainment.com. She writes, on a listserv I access:
"This is not a media research position (i.e., we do not analyze Nielsen data). Rather, it is a show research position (we provide content research for the programs on the network) and would be well suited for a librarian, information professional, or anyone who has experience doing research for journalistic endeavors. It's not an easy position to fill, so I thought a post here couldn't hurt!"
ROG

Why I Own Three (count 'em, 3) Paula Abdul Albums

I was at the Olin family reunion; the Olins are my wife's mother's people. They were having their international family event, which they have every lustrum. In 2001, the event was held in my hometown of Binghamton, NY. (The 1996 event was in Fargo, ND; the 2006 in eastern Washington state; 2011, somewhere in Ontario.)

One event was an auction. Many of the items were handmade items, or family treasures; I know Carol got a much-coveted family cookbook with typed or hand-written recipes from various members of the tribe. One lot, though, was for a bunch of mostly classical CDs, maybe 10 or 12 of them. I bid on them, but I was outbid by one of Carol's cousins in her late teens. Truth is I probably could have put in a pre-emptive bid, but it didn't seem sporting to overbid a poor high school student. She was really happy to get a dozen classical albums for $20, but what the heck was she going to do with three Paula Abdul CDs? She looked SO pained, so apoplectic, that I bought them from her, for $8 or $10, which she appreciated at a couple levels: she was rid of the albatross AND the albums she REALLY want were even cheaper.

I was recalling this as I finished my annual playing of my entire collection of Paula Abdul albums - Forever Your Girl, Shut Up and Dance (The Dance Remixes), and Spellbound, in anticipation of today, Paula's 45th birthday. I don't care what you say: I really like Straight Up. The rest of it: eh, not so much. I didn't really go through a phase of eighties divas - Paula, Taylor, Madonna, Expose, and Gloria - like some people I know.
***
I've had a long-standing affection for the Traveling Wilburys and have Volumes 1 and 3, now out of print. I'm having a hard time thinking about buying the re-release, despite Nik's appealing review. So, I decided to go to You Tube and watch a couple videos, including the star-laden Wilbury Twist, at lunchtime yesterday. But by 9 p.m. EDT yesterday, the Twist video that I saw only hours earlier was "no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group"; it's part of the new collection. However, what remains on You Tube is the 2007 version, with more George, Bob, Tom, and Jeff. No Wonder Years kids, Milli Vanilli, Cheech Marin, Whoopi Goldberg, or Woody Harrelson, but the John Candy/Eric Idle intro remains.
***
A link to reviews of Paul McCartney's new album, Memory Almost Full. A couple of them have links to the music and/or videos from the album.

ROG

Macca and Ebert

Paul McCartney, star of that new iTunes commercial for "Dance Tonight", turns 65 today, so I've been thinking for a couple years, ever since I saw Johnny B. do it, that I should come up with a list of my favorite post-Beatles McCartney songs. This is a little trickier than to make a list of, say, my favorite Beatles songs, for there are huge gaps in my 1980s and 1990s collection. I've never owned, and don't really know, Pipes of Peace, Press to Play, or Broad Street. That said:

1. MAYBE I'M AMAZED from McCartney. I heard Paul was going to be on Ed Sullivan. I was disappointed that it was just a video, but not in the song.
2. MY BRAVE FACE from Flowers in the Dirt. I recall that it was Elvis Costello who encouraged Macca to play the bass like Beatle Paul.
3. JET from Band on the Run. A rollicking good time. Love the bridge.
4. WHAT'S THAT YOU'RE DOIN' from Tug of War. Admittedly, more for Stevie Wonder, whose output in the early 1980s was, let's say, less interesting to me - "I Just Called to Say I Love You", anyone? - but also pointed out Paul's funky side that I loved in "Got To Get You Into My Life" and "Lady Madonna". BTW, that OTHER McCartney/Wonder song is also on that album, but not on this list.
5. HI,HI,HI, a 1972 single. Goofy song that I loved in part because so many people got bent out of shape over it ("high, high, high").
6. FLAMING PIE from Flaming Pie. Describing a piece of John Lennon's early 1960s witticisms.
7. OO YOU from McCartney. Sparse but rocking tune. Love the vocal.
8. LOOKING FOR CHANGES from Off the Ground. This is his rant about saving the animals from testing. I like that:
"I Saw A Cat With A Machine In His Brain
The Man Who Fed Him Said He Didn't Feel Any Pain
I'd Like To See That Man Take Out That Machine And Stick It In His Own Brain
You Know What I Mean"
9. BAND ON THE RUN from Band on the Run. Anthemic.
10. WE GOT MARRIED from Flowers in the Dirt. In a minor key, it's a wonderful juxtaposition between the optimism of the lyric and the moodiness of the melody.

If I were to pick my next ten, there would be several from that first album, a few singles, and maybe JENNY WREN from Chaos and Creation.
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I should also note that Roger Ebert also turns 65 today. He has long been my favorite movie critic, not because his name is Roger (though that doesn't hurt), and not because I always agree with him, but because he's so aware and honest with his personal biases that I usually know that I'll like a movie he disliked and vice versa. He's been having some medical issues over the past couple years, but appears to be on the mend.
ROG

25 things

Tosy has got me sussed.

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss... was probably done perfunctorily.

2. I am listening to... a lot of Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and the B groups they used to be in.

3. I talk...more often than not with a filter of appropriateness.

4. I want...a couple more hours per day to read and play. I need to play.

5. My best friend(s)...with a few exceptions, don't live around here, so I see them rarely.

7. The weather is... wet, but pleasantly so.

8. I hate it when people...are inconsiderate. My current pet peeve involves the bus kiosks around two of our hospitals, St. Peter's and Albany Med. The hospital employees use the kiosks to smoke their cigarettes during their breaks, then go back work.

9. Love is... as strong as death. That's a lyric in a church anthem, from the Song of Solomon, and it always gets to me.

10. Marriage is... not for the meek.

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking... someone stole my invention. In all likelihood, it didn't happen.

12. I'll always... remember the things I should have done more than the things I did do.

13. I have a secret crush on... oh, golly, any number of people. However, I haven't watched a program because a person was on it since I watched Sisters for Sela Ward.

14. The last time I cried was... watching Flashpoint last week. It was a CBS News special about reporter Kimberly Dozier's near death experience in Iraq from an IED. Her soundman and cameraman died, as did a soldier and his translator.

15. My cell phone is... missing.

16. When I wake up in the morning... I start ruminating about what needs to be done. Then I end up doing a list of things not on the list at all.

17. Before I go to bed... I often play Internet backgammon.

18. Right now I am thinking about... caffeine.

19. Babies are... statements of optimism in a sometimes miserable world.

20. I go on MySpace... almost never, even though I have a page.

21. Today I... answer a bunch of question about a blog I helped initiate last week.

22. Tonight I... hope to watch one of those episodes from six weeks of Scrubs, Earl or the office. That was on my list LAST week; saw one Earl.

23. Tomorrow I... go play racquetball in the morning, if the three-year old and I get out of the house in time.

24. I really want to... get a massage.

25. Someone who will most likely repost this? I haven't a clue; Eddie could.
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Don't steal beer in Montana
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"I know I don't know most celebs in real life, and therefore shouldn't go throwing haterade at them left and right ... but man, I cannot stand Paris Hilton." - Jen Hubley, About.Com. Haterade - I like that.
ROG

"A splendid time is guaranteed"

It was 20 years ago today: Sgt. Pepper came out on CD, honoring the 20th anniversary of the release of the Sgt. Pepper LP. I bought the LP sometime in June 1967 for $3.67 at W.T. Grant's, and while I wasn't immediately overwhelmed by the music - I was, eventually, especially "Getting Better" and "Fixing a Hole" - I did realize that the album was something special.

It was the cover, often parodied (see here, starting with 240) - but this will change as more titles are added) and all the cool stuff enclosed in the package, such as the sergeant stripes - I still have that sheet SOMEWHERE.) The lyrics actually being listed indicated that they were (gasp!) IMPORTANT.

With very few exceptions, it seems as though the idea of The Album - i.e., a collection of songs designed to be put together as a coherent whole - is endangered. If Sgt. Pepper were released today, would the individual cuts get downloaded, thus missing the impact of the coherent whole?

There have been few covers of songs from Sgt. Pepper, save for Joe Cocker's classic rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends", that have really stood out for me. Recently, I was able to hear the MOJO recording of the package, which didn't send me. Bill Cosby, on his "Hooray for the Salvation Army Band" album did a cover of the title tune, with female backup singers: strange.

One exception is the take of Sgt. Pepper by a group called Big Daddy. "With a Little Help from My Friends" as "Chances Are" by Johnny Mathis. "Mr. Kite" turned into Palisades Park". "A Day in the Life" as a couple Buddy Holly tunes. And possibly my favorite, "Within You Without You" as a beatnik send-up. Good stuff.
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JEOPARDY answer from 5/15/2007 under YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED for $600: "Title of the 1965 Beatles No. 1 hit song that is a calendrical impossibility." Response below.
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Am I going to be going to Starbucks to get the new Paul McCartney album on June 5? Well, it does sound intriguing, but I'd like to hear a review or two beforehand. Macca's last album, 2005's "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard", which I have, was pretty good, so history would suggest he's due for another dud. But I'll keep a good thought. Here's the first video. BTW, I have a copy of the Macca interview in the June 4, 2007 New Yorker.
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A link to the Smithereens' "I Want To hold Your Hand. And another link, in case the first one goes away.
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J question: What is "Eight Days a Week"?


ROG

The twins

"In the 1960's, there were two groups on Capitol Records - one American, the other British - whose name began with the letters 'B-E-A-.' Each of these groups featured a bass playing songwriter born in June of 1942, and each group made records that have withstood the test of time to become classics of popular culture."

I started delivering the Press, the Binghamton evening and Sunday morning newspaper, back in the days when there were actually evening newspapers, in 1964 or early 1965. (The M-Sa morning paper was the Sun-Bulletin; the two papers subsequently merged into a seven-morning Press & Sun-Bulletin.)

So, I had money of my own. Naturally, because I wanted to get all of the Beatles albums (I had some singles), I joined the Capitol Record club in 1965. My first album was Beatles VI, and I worked backward and forward from there, including this weird mostly talk album called The Beatles Story. I got Something New relatively early in the process. I distinctly remember getting Meet the Beatles in STEREO, which was a problem, because I only had a MONO player! There were directives about not playing a stereo record with a mono needle, lest you wreck the album. I didn't play Meet the Beatles for weeks, then I did, and it SEEMED OK...

I also got Daydream by the Lovin' Spoonful, Herman's Hermits' Greatest Hits, the Hollyridge Strings performing Beatles tunes, some instrumentalist named Billy Strange, and, of course, BIG HITS FROM ENGLAND AND USA. One side had two songs each from BEATLES (England), BEACH BOYS (USA), and PETER & GORDON (England), the "kids" side; the Peter & Gordon cuts, not so incidentally, were by Lennon & McCartney. The other side contained 2 tunes by NAT KING COLE(USA) and CILLA BLACK (England), plus "Tears and Roses" by AL MARTINO (USA), the "adults" side. I probably still have it upstairs in the attic.

Thus, my very first album I owned that featured the Beach Boys was on an album that also featured the Beatles. "I Get Around" was a great song that I had heard on the radio. But it was the other song, "Don't Worry Baby", a lovely ballad with exquisite harmonies that I don't think I had been familiar with, which really intrigued me. I'd heard many of the beach/girls/cars songs on the radio, but this was something special.

So when it became available, I bought the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. As Paul McCartney noted, "Pet Sounds was my inspiration for making Sgt. Pepper's...the big influence. That was the big thing for me (in 1966). I just thought, 'Oh, dear me. This is the album of all-time. What are we going to do?'" Eventually, Paul gave a copy of Pet Sounds to all of his children. At the end of 1966, a year-end poll in one of England's music papers found The Beach Boys topping The Beatles as the #1 vocal group in the world.

And, of course, the Beatles' Rubber Soul, one of my next record club purchases, inspired the Beach Boys' would-be legendary SMiLE, the album with a 37-year gestation period, finally released last year by the primary songwriter.

So, here's to Paul McCartney, whose 63rd birthday was two days ago, and Brian Wilson, whose 63rd natal day celebration is today. Twins separated only by 48 hours and 6000 miles.

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And speaking of vintage music, the 25th Annual Old Songs Festival is this weekend at the Altamont Fairgrounds near Albany. There was a stretch when I used to go every year, but that pattern has been altered. We PLAN to attend this year, and I hope to meet up with a friend (SKA) I haven’t seen in about three years.

Of course, yesterday, for Father’s Day, we PLANNED to go out miniature golfing, but then Lydia fell asleep on her mother’s lap for two hours, then she was hungry, then she needed changing, etc., etc. Was it Bobby Burns who said something about plans and rodents and people?