Category: Books (Page 1 of 2)

Cher is Cookin’

September 20, 2023 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

Christmas is Coming Early This Year!

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Cher set a release date of October 20 for her Christmas album and unveiled a series of covers. And those covers seem to just keep coming. I suppose everyone has to draw their own line on how many different covers they need of Cher’s Christmas album.

On October 28 I’m starting a road trip to get to a family reunion in Cleveland. I should have my copies by then because guess what’s going in every family swag bag! Whoo-hoo! (They’re all also getting pistachio wine from Las Cruses.)

Anyway, Cher has been keeping quiet on the track listing of Christmas songs and regarding names of any duet partners, but in all the kerfuffle of the pre-order announcements, Amazon’s special-cover (my clear favorite of the three, by the way) was leaked with the little sticker on it. So now we know: Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, Michael Bublé, Tyga and Cyndi Lauper.

I actually keep those little stickers from my Cher albums and CDs. I once drove a friend to Las Vegas from LA and this person opened my CD case for Heart of Stone, the sticker fell out, we lost it and I’m still upset about it.

Last week on social media, we saw pictures and clips of Cher’s house all decked out with Christmas trees and poinsettias and Cher was sitting with Darlene Love.

This duet is pretty awesome for a few reasons. For one, Cher and Darlene Love are longtime friends. When Darlene Love was in financial trouble, Cher hired her for one of her concert tours.

Also, they both sang on the famous Phil Spector Christmas album back in 1963 (Darlene Love soloing and Cher as part of the backup crew) so they have Christmas history together.

And finally because Darlene Love has done some of my favorite Christmas songs, her Home Alone song and the fun one she did with Ronnie Spector.

Apparently the new clip is for an upcoming episode of The View but it seems too early to be shooting appearances for future talk shows. But maybe Cher will start promoting the album in October. Would it be hard to whip up a Christmas TV special like Mariah Carey does? Easy, right?

Darlene Love and Cher through the years:

We know the song “Silent Night” won’t be on the album. Cher has said that about a million times. She also likely won’t redo anything she’s already done (my 2021 breakdown of Cher Christmas moments).

To find all the formats and covers: https://cher.lnk.to/Christmas

Recent Interviews & News

A really good recent interview was in the Hollywood Reporter. They call her “the world’s most recognizable mononym.”

On Music and Movies:

The most common quote she gets from strangers is still, “Snap out of it.” She still gets that “over and over!”

Last week, people were reporting Cher’s name has shown up under the IMDb.com entry for a film called Hail Mary, a football movie staring Jennifer Aniston. Her character name is Roxy Fields. I’m getting a football franchise owner vibe on that.

We found out Cher just sold her music catalog to Irving Azoff. “Well, everybody’s doing it. (Laughs.) I get to keep everything from Believe on, so I’m fine with it.”

In captions on the article we find out October marks the 25th anniversary of “Believe” and April the 35th anniversary of Moonstruck.

About auto-tune, Cher says she had a hard time with the song and producer Mark Taylor kept asking her to sing the verses better until she finally said, “If you want it better, get somebody else” and stormed out. This is artistically preferrable to walking out over a broken manicured nail as would have happed in 1972.

She says, “the record company didn’t want to do it. They said, ‘You can’t tell who it is.’ I went, ‘Yes, I know, that’s the beauty of the whole thing!”

Let’s just sit with that for a minute. Imagine having a voice so identifiable that you feel disappearing from it to be beautiful. Just think about that for a minute.

On Elephants, Ukraine:

Cher is still working to save Billy, the LA Zoo elephant (and the elephant that started her captive animal advocacy). It’s so shocking that the zoo has been confronted with so many recommendations and that 40 other U.S. zoos are phasing out elephants but they refuse to budge. Cher says it took five years of legal work to save Kaavan from Islamabad. And Billy is still showing psychological distress so she’s not giving up on him. She’s asking people in Los Angeles to “bombard the [LA] city council” because “the citizens of LA essentially own the zoo but don’t have the authority to influence the decision making.”

She talks about saving six lions, a panther and a tiger from Ukraine right before the war broke out. “We left the bear, so we had to sneak back in with a big pickup truck and get him out during the war.”

On the war itself, she says, “We’re helping them fight the war so that Russia doesn’t go in and take all the NATO countries. I don’t think a lot of people in Congress understand or realize that, but [the Ukrainians] are doing us a service.”

She also talks about her first dog, Pansy, and her beloved cat Mr. Big who she rescued while on tour at a two-day stop in Detroit.

On Twitter:

She laments the changes on Twitter, the disabled Tweetbot that was helping her dyslexia. “I went to Threads, so I’m on both now. I used to love going on Twitter.”

Me too, Cher. Me too. I’m using Facebook now but there are many more ramifications. I even have much better feedback on Facebook but that’s not the point. I miss talking to strangers.

On Cherlato:

During the Hollywood Reporter interview the Cherlato truck was at the Taylor Swift concert. Cher says they have many flavors but the truck can only support about five at a time. Her favorite is chocolate. “I’m pedestrian,” she says. “When I saw the [edible] gold cones, I almost lost it. I wanted to wear them as earrings.”

On Her Life Stories:

The interviewer, Mikey O’Connell, asks her if she’s still amazed that a news story transpires whenever she leaves her house (my paraphrase). Cher talks about bad periods in her career, periods that would make anyone else give up. “I didn’t quit,” she says.

When asked about performers she likes, she refuses to use her position to single out anyone “because there are so many great people right now. When you single out one of them, it just diminishes everyone else that’s working.”

That’s a good answer.

She’s starting over with her bio-pic. That doesn’t sound good. I hope she’s not been firing a succession of directors. But in any case, she says “we’re going to have to wait [for after the strikes]. I’m not going to go against my people.”

She keeps saying “my people.” I don’t think she means that in the royal sense, but like in “my squad.”

Her autobiography is still not done. The big problem with these projects, she says, is how long her life has been and how hard it is to squish it down into a story. That is a challenge.

Her House:

She finally explained why she’s been trying to sell her beautiful Malibu house. “You can’t be flexible in this house — as much as I love it.” I think this means it stifles her decorating creativity.

Someone did a little article solely about Cher’s Malibu entryway: https://www.homesandgardens.com/celebrity-style/cher-entryway

There was also a Good Morning Britain interview where we find out that Mama Mia doesn’t even have a script yet. And Cher is not committed to it. On this interview she claims she’s never had duets on her albums. That might sound odd when she had a Peter Cetera duet on Heart of Stone and all of those with Gregg Allman and Sonny duets. I think she means she hasn’t made it a habit on every album or hasn’t done The Duets Album, like Tony Bennett.

Cher’s Tuna Pasta Salad

In other Cher cooking news, way back my sister-in-law Susan sent me an article online about Rock-and-Roll recipes that included Cher’s tuna pasta salad and wanted to know if it was any good. So I dug out my Cooking with Cher cookbook and found the same recipe there and made it.

So this was back when the fad was to make everything fat free. People aren’t doing this anymore. Michael Pollan has said in his book In Defense of Food that the fat-free craze just made us fatter. And we need some fats as it turns out.

The recipe tasted….well fat free.

I still hope we’ll get a Sonny cookbook someday and a maybe new more-fat-ful Cher cookbook.

Cher….and Other Fantasies

I’ve finished reviewing the final TV Special from the 1970s. It took a long time, was often hard to describe and this one had a lot of context:

https://www.cherscholar.com/cherand-other-fantasies/

Programs for The Cher Show

June 14, 2023 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

I keep hearing rumors that the US traveling-version of the Broadway musical The Cher Show is set to launch. Fall 2023 is the latest story. But the show’s own site still lists the old start date of Fall 2021!

The Broadway version of the show opened on December 3, 2018 with Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks and Miraela Diamond as the three Chers, and when I went to see it in January of 2019, the programs weren’t available yet. Which seemed incredible since any fan would want a program to a Broadway show, at minimum.

And then I forgot about it. So it was a long time, (maybe even after the show closed), that I ordered my copy from the online store.

When the traveling UK show started up in 2022, their program was ready right away and I mailed away for a few of their show’s artifacts.

These programs are very different. The shows were different. Different cast, sets and costumes. And I think their programs reflect those differences.

The Broadway program has a beautiful design, the three stylized Cher drawings, very colorful incarnations. There’s a emoji-strewn message from Cher inside. The program is maybe a little too much like a Cher concert program; it has the mandatory two-page collage of her record album covers. Always impressive to see, but not entirely germane in this book. There are shots of the cast, with quotes and song titles to situate them in the show. There’s a big centerpiece, fold-out of the Bob Mackie costumes. On the one hand, this almost puts too much emphasis on the clothes, (Mackie here calls the costumes “get-ups”), but in light of the dead, old critics view in the 1970s that Cher was “just a clothes hanger,” this doubling-down feels alright.

There are lists of Cher’s hits and awards, Bob Mackie sketches for the show, (little art pieces themselves). One-hundred costumes were created for the show, including a recreation of the hole-fit which Mackie always calls Swiss Cheese. Mackie retells the story of meeting Cher and what a young “sprite” she was back then. How daring she has always been.

There are some great shots of the sets. But one of the best things about this programs is the list of accolades about Cher.

TV producer Flody Suarez talks about germinating the idea 17 years prior. (Didn’t the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour producers Chris Bearde and Allan Blye once try to mount a Sonny & Cher musical back in the 1980s or 90s?)

Suarez went to New York and met people who knew people on Broadway who got the show hooked up with stage producer Jeffrey Seller and Rick Elice of another successful jukebox musical Jersey Boys. He says Rick Elice demanded great performers and nice people. With Cher involved, it was easier to get Bob Mackie involved.

And what about Cher? Suarez talks about her power, her vulnerability, tenacity, kindness and originality.

In Rick Elice’s notes, he talks about a visit from Cher in the summer of 2015 when his life was at its lowest ebb due to the death of his long-time partner, how Cher helped him through it. He talked about Cher as “a minister” who is “attentive to people.” Someone who is kind, thoughtful, fun, generous, surprising, full of variety.

The choreographer Christopher Gattelli talks about Cher as an inspiration, her confidence, strength and resilience. He sees her as a kick-ass singer and actress and a goddess warrior.

Music supervisor Daryl Waters talks about hearing “Gypsies Tramps and Thieves” as a young music nerd and dissecting it. He calls Cher caring, funny, poignant, irreverent.

(These are some good words.)

Director Jason Moore talks about trying to create an old variety show set and how they tried to pick the songs that would tell Cher’s life in less than six hours. He felt the theme of the show was about facing fears in order to grow and be stronger. Oh, and glitter. Glitter with intimacy and authenticity, how they tried to embody Cher’s essence without impersonation.

He sees Cher as “a beautifully complex woman, larger than life and a deeply authentic human being, spectacular, extravagant, intimate and emotional.”

Set designers Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis talk about wanting an over-the-top look of glamour (because we want to see Cher big and strong) but also intimate sets (because we want to see her up-close and vulnerable). Cher has covered so many years and so many mediums, they said. She’s “fierce.” They wanted to use mirrors to highlight the multiple Chers, sometimes struggling through the fragmentation of the world. They needed flexibility with the lighting and they didn’t want to upstage the “get-ups.” They call the show a “kaleidoscopic ride through a psychological closet.”

Lighting designer Kevin Adams talks about bringing together a contrast between the dark-haired Cher and the big bright spectacle.

It often seemed the US show struggled to show Cher’s legitimacy (or a jukebox musical’s legitimacy for that matter). The UK show never seemed to face such a struggle, more willing did their press seem to just just let go and have some Cher-fun. This might be because the UK show traveled and the US show was ensconced in the Great White Way.

As I’m working on a Katharine Hepburn project at the moment, I can’t help but be reminded of the differences between her Broadway and London Shakespeare reviews similarly. You’d think if anyone would be overly serious about Shakespeare…except the US critics couldn’t get over Hepburn’s New England accent doing Shakespeare and the London critics couldn’t care less. They loved seeing Hepburn do Shakespeare.

So it was much more pleasant to watch the UK show publicity unfold. And I love the Broadway Chers but casting people of color was brilliant. (The three UK Chers were Millie O’Connel, Danielle Steers and Debbie Kurup.)

Their program has ads in the front and back advertising jukebox musicals about The Osmonds, Tina Turner, an unfortunate musicalization of Pretty Woman, and the choreographer Oti Mabuse’s own show. This program goes more into the biography of Cher (because maybe they’re not as familiar with it?) which calls Cher a “rock and roll survivor…a prize fighter.” The bio goes into Sonny’s unfaithfulness and how he absconded with all their money . It states Cher’s freedom cost her over a million dollars.

There’s a page of movie highlights where Cher talks about being a bumper car (“I won’t stop.) This program also talks about Cher’s iconic impact on LGBTQ, her struggles with alienation, mistreatment and marginalization. They talk about her sass and style, how she tells it like it is, her survival. They point out her role as a lesbian in the movie Silkwood, her relationship to her son Chaz and how she supported drag queens back to her 1979 show that brought the art of drag into the mainstream, the influence of her style on people like Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus.

There’s a page of celebrities praising Cher: Gwen Stefani (who credits Cher for making us strong and true to ourselves), Beyonce, Sarah Paulson, Christina Aguilera and Rob Halford, whose comments are the best and most specific. He says she has the “most beautiful voice…beautiful, beautiful texture in her voice.”

The production notes in this version talk about the show’s color palette, how Rick Elice made a visit to Cher’s own closet to generate ideas about the story, (and being in the closet is such a wonderful metaphor here). Set designer Tom Rogers talk about wanting to avoid making the show “a soulless presentation of her songs.”

What’s great about this program is the 4 pages of behind-the-scenes rehearsals, it gives list of acts and numbers, longer credit pages (like a Playbill), all the actors and dancers, everyone’s Tweet handle, 5 pages of the creative bios and 1 page of production credits.

Although I love the design of the Broadway program, it’s very slim in information and beyond words, doesn’t take you behind the curtain. It feels bare bones compared to the thicker, more outgoing UK program.

I’m looking forward to what the traveling US show programs will look like. Fingers crossed that even happens.

Information about both shows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cher_Show_(musical)

Cher Mags, Shows, Movies, Music, TV, Fashion, Merch

November 28, 2017 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

What a Cher year it's been, starting all the way back in January with "Prayers for this World." It's a bit overwhelming and I can't believe I haven't blogged since Halloween! My own Fall has been crazy with three sets of house guests and the production of a new political poster for the my art action group ArtBrawl (we decided on a name last summer). We also recently launched a Facebook page that has been tracking our goings-on. Two weeks ago we started screen printing.

For Cher this seems like a critical mass era where she’s producing a plethora of new things, all while older work is getting re-evaluated constantly (her fashion, songs and movies).

Tributes

Bob's Burgers did a tribute to Cher on their Halloween episode. Technically Linda is dressed as a "Cher-iff," a sheriff dressed like Cher (or Cher with a badge).

Linda explains her costume as having “handcuffs, a badge and a body that just refused to age!” She also wears a diminutive cowboy hat. “OH, I LOVE her!” she says and then says to Bob, “Snap out of it! From the movie!”

Linda stays in her Cherfit for the whole episode. The outfit is basically the Turn Back Time V-fit with extra Linda coverage, darker stockings and the leather jacket and Cher’s own latter-day boots. I appreciate that the cartoonists put Cher in the original Turn Back Time V-fit and not the concert version hole-fit that everyone now associates with the song.

Some clips:

– Linda explaining the costume
– The family trick-or-treating

While searching for show clips I also came across this story about Ellen wearing the hole-fit version a few years ago. They're very different outfits and now when Bob Mackie talks about designing the Turn Back Time outfit I have no idea which outfit he's talking about.

Magazines

Closer magazine came out with a Cher tribute issue in November which is pretty good. Some new pictures and stories inside. There have also been some new online articles about Cher like these on motherhood and retirement.

Cher scholar Tyler also located this Travel Girl article on Cher: http://travelgirlinc.com/cher-glamorous-gorgeous-still-going-strong/

Charity & Social Causes (Twitter)

Cher has been busy with social and charity causes. She's working with Ben Stiller and others to get supplies to Puerto Rico:

Cher also took part in an auction for veterans on Veteran's Day.

And (thanks to Tyler again) here's a found clip of Cher's interview at the One Young World Conference where she launches Free the Wild and talks about how she's been working with Bob Geldof's manager to launch the animal rescue charity. She talks about her fake fur and a few rescued elephants. She also says the song "Walls" was from "Believe" producer Mark Taylor.

In the Twittersphere, Papermag has also offered "A close reading of Cher and Rihanna’s Twitter Exchange"

Cher Shows

Las Vegas: There's Las Vegas and then there's the original Las Vegas. I went to them both in the last few months. The older one is actually in New Mexico, an old west town rougher than Tombstone. Mr. Cher Scholar got his masters in archaeology there a few years back (which is why we live in New Mexico now). We took Mr. Cher Scholar's brother to The Plaza Hotel there to do some ghost hunting. Mr. Cher Scholar's brother even has ghost hunting gear. There also happened to be a Halloween party there that night.

A few weeks later we went to the other Las Vegas where I finally saw the November 11th Classic Cher show. Our seats were not as close as the cancelled show seats we had in spring, but they ended up being better seats than I thought. Cher opened her monologue with "You've probably planned a long time for this." Tell me about it! I was shell shocked the whole weekend worried about a cancellation. Sigh. Sometimes I think I just want it too much. Cher talked about mid-era Sonny & Cher days working show rooms and living in Motel 6 like motels with Cher attempting to cook their diners in the rooms.

It was a great show. I particularly liked the new graphics for "Walking in Memphis" and "The Shoop Shoop Song."

I really loved the faux Cher Vegas sign. So retro and fun!

News about the show:

Las Vegas Sun article about best shows in town.
Cher also recently released tickets for 2018 spring dates.
An interview with Cher’s lady bass player Eva Gardner, daughter of Kim Gardner (thanks Tyler for this too!). Gardner says she doesn't usually experience sexism from her peers, but an older generation of men who are not used to seeing women playing and would rather talk about her legs than her craft.

Broadway Show

There's a page for the Chicago shows of The Cher Show. It would be nice to see a bit more of the performers involved and a better logo. An article from Junkee on the show which captures a lot of her tweets related to it.

Cher Music

"Ooga Boo" is now for sale and when you buy through smile.amazon.com, money goes to charity.

Cher did an interview for the BBC ostensibly about her new song "Walls" but the interview is kind of fluffy and truncated before we get to discussing the song.

Music History

Cher scholar Robrt found this 2016 commercial that uses Cher’s 1967 song “It All Adds Up Now.”

Cher scholar Tyler found this clip of Cher lip synching her way through "I Found Someone in chain-mail-fit"

Cher Movies

It was announced that Cher will play the part of Meryl Streep's mom (in flashback) in the sequel to the movie version of Mama Mia.

Movie History

A great article about Witches of Eastwick seen from 30 later.

Television History

My favorite Cher wig is the multi-bun. It's best seen on The Carol Burnett Show. Here's a clip of the sketch.

I heard news that the Get TV Cher shows were coming back. But there's no sign that they will air any new episodes. Last night they played the same Christmas show they aired last year. This run of shows has been mildly disappointing.

But we can console ourselves with this: Cher scholar Tyler located an opening segment of Laugh In with Sonny & Cher. See Sonny in his groovy scarf. And wow! Some Cher eyelashes there! Cher also gets on a bike. Here's another Laugh In segment with Cher and Tim Conway.

And the full episode of Sonny & Cher on The Glen Campbell Show.

And another tribute to Sonny & Cher on David Letterman 30 years ago!

Fashion Influence, Peripherals and Stuff

Ode to an Idol: https://www.image.ie/fashion/in-ode-of-an-idol-the-iconic-and-timeless-wardrobe-of-cher-88368

The New York Times ran a story about a republican mayoral candidate who happens to be a big Cher fan.

Cher is planning to release more Christmas merch on her site soon. See the products on her Twitter. It looks like the themes will be Chercophanie and Black Rose. You can still buy scarves, too!

Tons of Cher Scholarshiping

September 14, 2017 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

Over the summer I did a bit of Cher scholarship and some awesome scholarship came to me.

Chart Masters

One of the most exciting things was this analytics data Cher scholar Aurélien sent me, this study conducted by the site Chart Masters. I love this nerdy stuff! Numbers have been crunched to combine physical sales, compilation and live album sales with digital sales to get a better understanding of a song or artist’s overall popularity. For longtime Cher fans, there aren’t many surprises in this report, but it's still fascinating nonetheless, especially the streaming aspect. Madonna fans in the comments took great umbrage with the new Cher moniker “goddess of pop” (was this a fan label or a press one, I never did know). This week my friend Ann suggested the title "the Nefertiti of Pop Music," but the article suggests possibly a more accurate alternative moniker: the “Godmother of All Divas.”

Something to keep in mind, these statistics don’t take into account Cher's popularity in movies, television programs or any other products and these diminutive sales might prove that Cher’s true popularity lies more in other products beyond music, which makes the longevity of her career making music (to date: 1964-2017) and the Billboard record breaking stats all the more mysterious.

Ranking of Top Albums

The first section lists the sales of albums, both physical and digital. I’ve re-ordered the list by top albums by total world sales. However, early 60s and 70s albums numbers were hindered by the fact that apparently few people invested in buying full albums (is this true?) and there weren’t many international sales. The deep catalog is also severely compromised by the fact that almost a decade of Cher’s output has never been officially released digitally (on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube).

Believe – 11,800,000
Heart of Stone – 6,000,000
Love Hurts – 3,500,000
Cher (1987) – 2,050,000
Burlesque Soundtrack – 1,375,000
Look at Us – 1,300,000 (the best of 60s albums)
Living Proof – 1,125,000 (said to be bomb because it landed next to Believe but it doesn’t seem awful, like other Cher bombs below)
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves – 1,000,000 (strong comeback for the time)
It’s a Man’s World – 850,000
All I Ever Need Is You – 700,000
Half Breed – 600,000 (half of Gypsies)
Closer to the Truth – 600,000
Take Me Home – 550,000 (not as good as Half Breed)
All I Really Want to Do – 450,000 (second best of the 60s)

Ranking of Albums That Didn’t Do So Well

Foxy Lady – 375,000
The Sonny Side of Cher – 325,000
Dark Lady – 300,000 (I was surprised at this low ranking considering the album had a #1 hit attached to it; but maybe being in the middle of a highly publicized divorce with the sad end of a popular television show compromised its chances. But it’s nutty to me that Foxy Lady outperformed it.)
Cher (1966) – 250,000
With Love, Cher – 250,000
Wondrous World of S&C – 250,000
In Case You’re in Love – 250,000
Good Times Soundtrack – 150,000
Stars – 125,000 (sad results for three of Cher’s best albums, Stars, Backstage and 3614 Jackson Highway)
Backstage – 100,000
3614 Jackson Highway – 100,000
Bittersweet White Light — 100,000
Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer – 75,000
I’d Rather Believe in You – 75,000
Prisoner – 75,000
Cherished – 50,000
Two the Hard Way – 50,000
I Paralyze – 50,000

Single Rankings

The single “Believe” is a legitimate phenomenon and all the more so for Cher being 52 at the time.

Believe – 7,020,000
I Got You Babe – 2,870,000
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves – 2,370,000
Half Breed – 1,850,000
If I Could Turn Back Time – 1,780,000
The Shoop Shoop Song – 1,710,000
Bang Bang – 1,570,000
Dark Lady 1,510,000
The Beat Goes On – 1,360,000
Baby Don’t Go – 1,300,000
All I Ever Need Is You – 1,290,000
Little Man—1,270,000 (I’m very surprised this song made the list; I always assumed it was a minor hit.)
Strong Enough – 1,170,000
A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done – 1,140,000
Just Like Jesse James – 1,010,000

Take Me Home doesn’t even make the list. Due to the funkiness of the disco era where they were counting 12-inch singles and chart rankings based on units shipped, the single was certified Gold and it charted #8 on the U.S. Billboard chart.

Other songs that charted in the U.S. but did not make the sales list: After All, Walking in Memphis, The Way of Love, You Better Sit Down Kids, I Found Someone, We All Sleep Alone, All I Really Want to Do, Love and Understanding, and Heart of Stone.

I found it interesting that even for streaming statistics on old catalog albums that have been released digitally, the blips that did occur in sales were usually for single releases, even non-successful singles, for instance a song like “Carousel Man.“ Sometimes music companies make strange choices for singles, (“Sing C’est La Vie” instead of “I Got You Babe” being a famous example of Sonny having to fight the ideas of Ahmet Ertegun at ATCO). You’d think streaming would even the playing field a bit, especially for young people who don’t have the cultural memory of what those unsuccessful single releases even were. According to MJD, this is because most users on Spotify rely on playlists, which just reinforce the "best" of an era.

Some of the charts also have misapplied orphan songs that really belong in another artist category, (Cher versus Sonny & Cher), are actually from soundtracks or live albums or may just be bootlegs.

The brutal summary is that Cher has a dead catalog compared to other artists Chart Masters has studied. I don’t know how she compares to other artists her age or other artists who began releasing material in the 1960s, (besides The Rolling Stones and the Beatles). But Chart Masters does list the records she has broken: longest span between two hits (she’s 8 years ahead of Michael Jackson), oldest artist to have a top Hot 100 song, “Believe” is also the most successful album from an artist over 50, and she’s one of the few artists to win an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Cher in Music Guides (It's Never Pretty)

I posted this article a few months ago (http://www.ninjajournalist.com/entertainment/secrets-cher/) but I revisited it over the summer. I like the thematic dissections of Cherness and the article points out that the Burlesque soundtrack was nominated for Grammy. Really? It was and it also won the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association Campy Film of the Year. It must have been a camp-free year. They also call out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Good!

But the article doesn’t debunk the silly rib removal story, passes an impersonator photo off as Cher, in once place Cher is spelled “share,” and the article claims S&C sang harmonies. They really didn’t. In one place it says Cher excelled in school despite her dyslexia and then later states she always got Cs and D.

Most interestingly, the article quotes writer Nicholas E. Tawa to say Cher’s voice is “bold, deep, and with a spacious vibrato.” That sounded like a rare compliment so I looked up the attribution. In his book Supremely American: Popular Song in the 20th Century (2005) Tawa spends a paragraph on Cher. Here’s the excerpt from Google books.

One small paragraph full of so many common inaccuracies about Cher.

“During the seventies, too, a new kind of performer came into view – the chameleon, always ready to adapt his or her public personality and tailor a singing style to suit the prevalent fashion.”

This is both true and not true. Sonny, Cher's first producer, was a bona fide folk rock artist. He picked the material and he didn’t change in the 1970s. He just handed Cher over to producer Snuff Garrett and so her music style changed. Cher never endorsed adult contemporary and fared only adequately with it (aside from 3 #1 hits), considering how long she was assigned this style by producers). Cher critics are constantly having it both ways. Tawa sees Cher as an exploiter of styles and cynical chameleon (when actually she felt powerless at the time to choose her material). Tawa even admits further down that some artists are “steered hither and yon.” But he must not be thinking of Cher here.

Tawa calls Cher a “case in point” of someone “who gave careful consideration to advancing her career.” If you’re a real student of Cher, you know her career is not Madonna-esque. It was always a fly-by-the-seat music career with occasional attempts at steering, some of which worked, but most of which did not.

The Chart Master’s study above proves all this. As I said in my comments there: “Cher has never been a successful pop star in comparison (to Madonna) and yet she is consistently accused of being simultaneously too popular and calculated (by rock artists who never have pop hits) and not being popular and calculated enough (by fans of young pop hit-makers). This survey proves she is neither calculated nor popular. Which just makes her icon status all the more mysterious and remarkable.”

From Tawa, this is poor scholarship:

“In order to prove irresistible to her audiences, she had her nose and teeth straightened, her teeth capped, her breasts firmed up, and her body reshaped” and that this is why she succeeded.

First of all WTF does having your body reshaped even mean? That could simply mean twelve months at the gym. Secondly, Cher did have her nose and teeth done in her mid-40s, starting at her third decade of her career after the bulk of her music career was ostensibly over with. Those were fixes for her acting career, beyond the scope of this book on popular music. Other body amendments were allegedly made after pregnancies or in the 1990s and beyond. Tawa implies that she did all this as a young woman in order to make it in the music business. His chronology is completely off base but he plunges ahead with his conclusions.

When he lists her music styles, he includes 60s folk-rocker (true), pop-rock (true), wailed power ballads (is wail really the word one would use if Cher weren't a woman? Does Bon Jovi wail?), disco numbers (true, but why are disco songs always called “numbers”?), New Wave glitter rock queen in the early 80s (one album of New Wave that was as far as queen-dom as you could possibly get, see album's ranking above), punk (ah, no), an exponent of arena-rock (ok maybe), and in a later reincarnation tried hip hop (is this a reference to It’s a Man’s World?). He leaves out dance (or as some would say Eurotrash) and the biggest hit of her career.

The Poet Scholar

A while back I posted the text of a poem called “Cher” by Dorianne Laux, who does a lot of pop culture pieces. The poem made the rounds again on a fan site and I decided to give it a closer reading and research other comments about it. There are some factual errors in the poem. And I hate to a Nelly-Nit-Pick but…a poem is all about particulars so…

Cher's labeled as tall. I guess she was perceived as tall on television but in reality looks tiny.
Laux says “before the shaving knife/took her…before they shoved/pillows in her tits” –Cher has never had huge breast implants, only breasts lifts…and even if she has had some, they are not quite “pillows inserted.” That was a huge recurring joke on the television shows, how flat Cher was. She may be bustier now…but not at a pillow level.
In general the language is vague and presents a weak ending that doesn’t really say anything: “singing in a sloppy alto/the oldest, saddest songs.”

But there are some really great lines too:

“bony shoulders draped/with a curtain of dark hair”
“nonexistent butt…I wanted to wear a lantern/for a hat”
“throaty panache, her voice/of gravel and clover, the hokum/of her clothes….bullet-hole navel….her crooked/teeth, hit-and-miss beauty” – all this stuff is great, if sometimes backhanded.

The poem originally appeared in a book called The Book of Men in 2011 but Laux re-published it in a book with her husband called Duets (2017). Laux says,

"All the poems are about music and musicians. I love rock ’n’ roll and pop music so my poems feature Cher and Dolly Parton, Mick Jagger, and Paul Simon. And Joe loves jazz and the blues so his poems are about Bo Diddley and Lightnin’ Hopkins, Ray Charles and Monk, among others.

And here:

"I’ve written poems about some of the icons of my time (Cher, Mick Jagger, the Beatles), and I’ve written poems about the artist Manet and his subject, Olympia, a failed poem about Van Gogh’s room in Arles. Those are obvious influences. But I think other influences are subtler and more profound. The music of my time included the harmonic complexities of Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, the rough-edged energy of the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin, the lonely solo of Otis Redding singing “Dock of the Bay.” This is a music I try to bring to my poems and look for in the poems of others."

The Cher poem is singled out here:

In “Cher,” the entire poem is a list of descriptors both plain and precise. Only two verbs activate the poem—and it’s the same verb—“wanted.” The movement comes in the swivels, the mini voltas that spin the poem along its axis. And, of course, how fitting to write a catalogue poem about J.C. Penney’s. It is as if the form was made for such a poem.

And here is a quote saved from Laux's defunct blog:

"Laux wrote "Cher" after he husband Joe Millar gave her 10 words and told her to use them while saying something she'd wanted to say but hadn't. Laux took the chance to talk about her Cher envy."

So okay that makes sense. Cher envy. It doesn't even need to be based on reality. My bad.

How Does Cher Sound to a Classically Trained Musician?

And finally, my most favorite scholarshipping over the summer: a new interview and research project!

Musician Todd Grossman, a classically trained musician and teacher, took some time to discuss Cher and her oeuvre, her strengths and flaws all from a more professional perspective.
We talked about Cher’s 60s sound, ticks of self-consciousness, and an objective review on what’s still messy in her catalog and what was maybe overlooked.

Check it out!

The Idiom of The Beat Goes On

And now the research! I hear the phrase “the beat goes on” spoken as a common idiom constantly on the radio and I read it in print articles, attached to stories that have nothing to do with Sonny or Cher. And I started to wonder what people think this phrase means and how popular it might have become since 1967. I started a survey and found the phrase in lyric tributes, in Internet and scholarly articles and news stories, as book, album and movie titles, made into random images. Then I explored a possible etymology that predates Sonny’s lyric.

Check it out!

The C-Word, Best Foot Forward, Cher History and Thanksgiving

December 1, 2013 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

I just spent an hour working on this post and my Firefox crashed. For the love of God! But my arms are shot and so it’s mostly lost forever. Here is a slim overview of what I said.

Cher scholar Robrt sent me a message reminding me about a good photo of Cher’s feet from the 1970s. I loved this photo as a child: the hair, the tan, the feet, the hand posture, the look, the accent over the E.

Cher scholar Michael sent me an email discussing the negative implications of Cher using the C word. I never got around to covering this last week. I was so wrapped up in talking about the ironic response. I do support people “taking back” negative word meanings. Gay and queer are a good examples of reclaimed words. Third wave feminists believe they can reclaim the words bitch, slut and whore, disemboweling them of their power to offend. However, not everyone agrees words can be reclaimed of their power to hurt. And when groups do try to reclaim words, this can cause confusion between culture groups. For instance, when gay men say something is “so gay” or when black men use the N word, many people can't understand the nuances of one group owning rights to certain words. However, I do believe language is always in process and undergoing change. I do think Cher meant to use the word pejoratively thought (much like Alec Baldwin last week when he used the f**g*t word). She meant the word to be insulting. In this case, we have to ask ourselves, why is this meaning assumed to be negative? Why is a woman’s va-JJ such a bad thing it can so easily be hurled as an insult by men and women?

I’m reading a book now by Kim Addonizio where she discusses writing about sex and the glam-box (my new term). She says the c-word comes from the Middle English word cunte. Middle English. Huh.

Another friend also sent me word of Cher’s comments about Thanksgiving:

"Thanksgiving is a day to see family, eat food together and watch a movie…Not 2 celebrate the beginning of a GREAT Crime… We gave them Blankets laced w/ Smallpox,” Cher concluded.

This is interesting to me in light of my raised consciousness while working at the Institute of American Indian Arts last year. Some hot button issues in that community, (issues mainstream American is completely oblivious about), would be Thanksgiving and wearing their ceremonial clothing as costumery. I don’t know how Indian activists feel about Cher’s representations as Indian over her career; but I do think that since she has that history of costumery, because she claims Indian heritage, this is a positive statement from her about American Indian consciousness and makes available a high level of public awareness.

So after I questioned Lady Gaga’s ability to do variety TV last week, she goes and does a Thanksgiving special with the Muppets. I had no idea and didn’t see it. Was she any good? The ratings were bad according to reports. I wonder if American might be suffering brand confusion with Gaga (similar to what American experienced with Cher between her Vegas shows, Sonny & Cher on TV and the Allman & Woman and Black Rose products and tours). Gaga did topless photos in V Magazine. She releases a meta-single called “Applause” and then does work with the Muppets. Is she an adult or all-American act?

Am loving the new Cher bio. Am very impressed with the copious amounts of research and interviews Howard has done. Am learning a lot and finally, another Cher historian who cares about surname spelling!

For next week: Cher on Vivement Dimanche — see the clip on Cher News.

New Book on Cher Dolls

July 28, 2013 / Cher Scholar / 2 Comments

Cher scholar Tamara Lorenz Hampton has produced a book about one-of-a-kind outfit creation and over 10 years of doll art and collecting in her book The Fabulous World of Cher Dolls.

The book is intended to help serious collectors "determine what they have" and "how to display, decorate, and create" for your dolls.

The book is on sale for $125 on Lulu, a price that probably reflects the full-color production of an indie book.

Recap of Woman’s World Press Tour

July 21, 2013 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

The Accolades:

After decades of dissings, then surprised condescension at her success in the 1980s, then the
1990s of affected interest with the turn into occasional accolades and credit,
the excitement of this round’s interviewers is palpable. I’m chalking it up to
the inarguable facts of her career piling up and The Cher Show kids finally finding their asses in interviewing seats.
It’s truly extra-ordinary and Cher is responding with
her grown-up voice and is downright verbose in her responses.

One of my favorite pile-ups of accolades was from SoSoGay,

“Before Beyonce,
before Gaga. Before Rhianna and before Katy. Before Britney, Christina, Cyndi
and Celine. Before Whitney and Mariah, and before Madonna. Before colour
television, before the Vietnam War, before man walked on the moon. Before the
decimalized pound. Before everything, before time immemorial…There was Cher….this shimmering vestibule of unrelenting
fabulousness….her sparkling tsunami.”

Ed Brody, the author, tells me Burlesque was amazing and to get over myself. I laughed at that. I wish I could. But that’s the cross a scholar bears.

Here’s more overview of the love:

A Cher fan said
she was coolest person ever since he can remember (Watch What Happens/Andy Cohen)
Andy Cohen said as a kid he watched The Cher Show and “when she came down the
ramp, life, hope, goose bumps, gave me fairy dust, inspiration” came too. He said Cher
was putting to bed all the kids in America. (Watch What Happens/Andy Cohen)
Anderson Cooper said he grew up adoring Cher—and
his mom (Gloria Vanderbilt) said Cher was her
fantasy daughter. Kelly Ripa is also a fan. One caller said he had to get high
to talk to Cher (Watch What Happens/Andy Cohen)
Dan Taylor called her the female artist of rock
and roll, the iconic lady (WCBS).
On Sirius/XM radio’s Studio54 channel, the hosts Marc Benecke and Myra Scheer were very
excited. (I just got a new car so have free XM for 3 months or something–whohoo!). In
their intro, they played “The Shoop Shoop Song,” “Believe,” Turn Back Time,” and
“Woman’s World” clips. On the Town Hall interview with Cher,
(the inaugural), Myra noted that she was Steve Rubell’s executive assistant at Studio 54 in New York City.
They called her major star, a guiding star, a role model with 250 world-wide
awards in music, TV and film, including a Golden Globe, an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy,
and a hit song in every decade “since 1910” Cher joked. At the first break,
they played “Take Me Home” (and noted the song was on the Studio 54 album). The next
break “Turn Back Time.” The next break “I Found Someone” (and here a salamander
crawled up our faux-bedrock wall and stopped to listen). The next break “Believe,” “Strong
Enough” next and during the final break “Women’s World.” Many of New York’s straight men asked questions
during this interview and I love how straight men in NYC love her. You don’t see this so much in LA and the Midwest.

Candidness: Cher seemed so much less guarded in her face, body, and with her words.

The New
York Times said what they used to say about her in the 1980s, “In this age
of rigidly controlled star-bots, no topic seemed to be off-limits (except her
relationship status).”
She appeared on The Today Show with Savannah Guthrie, (perky like Katie
Couric) and was so nice and comfortable in her PJs. After the interview,
Guthrie gushed about Cher to her co-anchors, calling Cher
an unassuming charmer. I was impressed how easily Guthrie could kid with her.
On Z100, the DJ played “Does Cher Care” asking Cher irreverent questions about Paula Dean (Cher feels she’s not
misunderstood, just wrong), Sandra Bullock’s new movie trailer: is it
overexposed, will it be good? Is Cher even interested (Cher said it looks
cool), about the never-ending cupcake craze (Cher said it sucked to begin with and
prefers Hostess cupcakes), should Snowden be punished or kicked out of China/Russia?
(Cher said this was above her pay grade).
Andy Cohen launched CherMaggedon with a plethora
of games, including Truth or Cher—the Truth
question being who her greatest lovers were (She said they’d all been
exceptional. Andy said “That’s a list!” and she answered, “Not a long list but a
good list.” He got her to admit Tom Cruise in the top 5 when prompted). In the
Dare, Andy Cohen quoted Moonstruck
and asked Cher to slap him while saying “Snap
out of it.” In another segment Gypsies Tramps and Tea, Andy Cohen asked for
Cher’s opinion on: Elvis (didn’t know him), Whitney (didn’t know her), Nick
Cage (he’s crazy but I love him), Meryl (my idol), Phil Spector (he’s crazy and
only paid me $25 for a year’s work), Michael Jackson (I have TMI!), Tom Cruise (He wasn’t
a scientologist then and they were hot and heavy for a minute), ever having a lesbian lover?
(who hasn’t). She said she stole a horse when I was 13 and took it to Santa Ana. If she could
meet anyone? She’d ask Jesus “Dude, what’s the deal?” Her favorite decade was the
80s (so much fun, could go naked swimming). On her bucket list? (I thought she said to build
Balobgese house but is that right??). Her best movie role was Moonstruck.
Does she have a boyfriend? (The moment anyone knows, you don’t have one; so she
keeps that on the low down now—that’s a great answer actually). For the Jackal of the Night: Cher picked Senator Ted Cruise because he’s an a-hole who
doesn’t like gays or foreigners. According to Andy, the show said “Cher” 29 times – which was a record.
During Andy Cohen’s Aftershow, he asked her what
sent she would use for a scented candle (Uninhibited); she says she watches
CNN/MSNBC. Anderson Cooper made a surprise appearance and said Cher calls in all the time to help people but low key (that she did so
with Hurricane Katrina). They asked her about the Supreme Court decision on gay
marriage (about time, she said) and they tried to play Kiss, Marry, Shag with
her (with Quaid who she’d say she’d marry and Nicholson & Cage but she
never finished the list.) They ran a Hair Chertrospective at the end.

Cher was great fun through all these shenanigans.

The New Album:

On Live Chat NY, Cher
said the video wouldn’t be released until September (which is very strange since
a video might have helped the single). Cher
said the newspaper wig was her wigmakers idea and kinda a nightmare. She said
her favorite songs on the album are “Lie to Me” (a Pink song), “My Love” (a
future single), Take It Like a Man” (a future single), and Dressed to Kill.”
She said she recorded “Woman’s World” in an hour (on Z100 she said the song sang itself) and
she co-wrote the song “Lovers Forever” which is actually old and was written for the movie
Interview with a Vampire. She said
the album has dance, rock and ballads and she hopes it will generate three videos.
On Z100 Cher said recording is still scary and
tenuous and she is not Cher fan, that recording studios are not her favorite place to be, that she feels more confident
on stage (where I shine) because she feels she’s a good entertainer (vs. a singer).
To Andy Cohen, Cher
said Lady Gaga didn’t like their duet but that she felt it was good. Cher said this was her best album and her best songs and she loved that she didn’t have to lower her keys.
WCBS noted that this is her 26^th
album. She said here it was very eclectic with dance, ballads, a country song, and
some funky banjo in one song and a U2-sounding 9/11 song called “Sirens.”
On XM she talked about the writing of “Woman’s
World.” As she said in “Believe”-era interviews, there’s no overt personal connection to the song. She said the writer was a guy and
his idea was that women are strong and now demand their rights. (In this light,
I think the setup suffers from slight condescension, which isn’t the writer’s fault, but a generational interpretation, ex: we don’t need men to tell us this.) Myra said the song was
very “I Will Survive of the 21^st Century.” (I thought that label should
have been applied to the song “Strong Enough” with its 1970s sound). Cher
said the song was like “Believe” in that she didn’t like the second verse,
which was too similar to “Believe.” Cher said
she won’t cry twice, which is why in “Believe” she added the more empowering line: “Maybe
I’m too good for you.” She wants to show that women are resilient. Myra said although Cher
didn’t write it, she owned it. Cher’s mom said
that about her The Voice performance.

Old Songs:

On Live Chat NY, Cher
said she turned down “Turn Back Time” around 1000 times and then did the song
in an hour. She said her favorite song of her own is “Song for the Lonely.” The
interviewer said she loves “Baby Don’t Go”
and Cher said that was a great song and very definitive Sonny & Cher.
On Z100 the DJ said Cher
has embraced change through the eras vs. musicians who say “this is the kind of
music I make” and aren’t flexible. Cher said
she gets bored and likes to try new ideas. Cher
said she can’t think of anybody my age who
is making records to get on the charts or anyone who performs onstage with no clothes.
(She’s so funny!) They talked about “Believe” and auto tune and the vocoder and pitch machines. I get confused during such tech talk.
On WCBS, Cher
says she almost threw away “Believe” although she thought it was a “beautifully
constructed idea.” She talked about the first time she heard herself on the
radio, for her song “Baby Don’t Go.” They were at her mom’s house where their managers
were living (because they were all poor). They were in the living room listening
to KFWB and had all been calling on all their phones to the radio station to get it played. Cher said it was an out of body experience with everybody
screaming when the song came on. They said they all wanted to go to the Cadillac
dealership with bag full of money and buy a Cadillac.
On XM, Cher
said she hasn’t a clue about her longevity in the business. She agreed with a
fan that she liked the “Walking in Memphis”
video and was the first to play Elvis. (Like originally? Like in 1971, which is
my theory that she’s been doing Elvis since then?)

General Music:

On Live Chat NY, Cher says she Pink, Adele, and Amy
Winehouse; On XM she said she still has her favorite go-to song (but said
it makes no sense) as Procol Harem’s “Whiter Shade of Pale.” SoSoGay reporter
mentioned that her song from Not.Com.merical, “With or Without You” taps into
that Procol Harem sound.

Movies & Broadway:

According to Live Chat NY, Cher has no word on the
status of Drop Out or Bet and Flo, movies once listed on her IMDB page. For her
next movie, she seeks a non-glamorous role in an independent film. She says she
will never do Shakespeare.
She also says she got her Silkwood offer on a Wednesday matinee of her Broadway show, Come Back to the 5 & Dime, and she liked
doing a play, found it comforting. (Live
Chat NY)
She said Broadway was not easy but you get an immediate reaction. (XM)
According to Live Chat NY she’s still writing
for her Logo show.
The DJ of Z100 told Cher
he used to watch Mask over and over with
his sister. On Z100 and XM, Cher said she was
sick during the offer to do Thelma &
Louise but that what belongs to you comes to you. She regrets not being able to do it but feels it
was meant to be “Sue’s” part.
Andy Cohen during his Aftershow asked Cher if she keeps in touch with the Mermaids daughters, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. Cher says they grew up and she hasn’t seen them lately. She
said “Noni” went through a strange period but seems back on track and she
remembers sneaking Christina M&Ms during the shooting when directors
thought Christina was too chubby and banned them from her trailer. Cher
said she loved the family-feeling of movies and talking to the tech people. She said
she had a great time on Burlesque.
On WCBS, Cher
retold the story about a crowd laughing at her name during the Silkwood preview (Nichols told her the
previews were out and she went to a Tom Cruise movie in Westwood to see it with
her sister and her manager, Billy Sammeth). She said it was organic laughter and therefore
pretty painful. At the eventual premiere the audience clapped at her name in
the credits.
On XM, Cher
admitted not knowing how’s she’s persevered in a youth-oriented film industry. Myra calls her fearless. Cher said you evolve. Mark said she has communication
with audience. Cher said she is likable. She
said her most memorable moment was winning the Oscar. It was amazing to her since
it took so long to get an acting job. She said Robert Altman was such a rebel. Mike Nichols told her when he saw the Saturday matinee about the
character of Dolly that they couldn’t find anyone for the role before they found Cher and so they we were just gonna
write her out; Mike said, “She’s a lesbian, but really lovely.” A fan asked if
she would do more musicals? She said she wasn’t planning any but she enjoyed
singing in a film.
One fan on XM commented on her sexy glamor and
sensitivity in movies from Moonstruck
to Jimmy Dean. Cher
joked that she could multitask. She said, I am who I am for better or worse, a
lot of worse. She said she likes play in her work and that sometimes she stops
doing it when she feels she has nothing to offer.

Twitter & Star
Fights:

On Live Chat NY, Cher
admitted on Twitter it’s hard to read jokes and emotions, saying, “Words can’t
see a smile, can’t get emotions.” She said she tweets in the middle of the night
like a vampire. To Andy Cohen she says she’s good with Madonna.
Andy Cohen asked her about Nicki Minaj throwing
shade on her. She said people come and go. Snap!

Exercise & Free
Time:

On The
Today Show Cher says for free time, she sees friends, goes to the Bahamas,
paddle boards, goes hiking, or somewhere
like Nepal.
On XM she talked about working out, working her
“ass off” now because when you’re older it gets harder. But she was always into
sports and running as kid, climbing trees. She had “so much energy.” Official exercise started for her during The Sonny
& Cher shows where she took a dance class during their lunch breaks.
She said you have to change it up to trick your body. The same exercise stops
working. Now she does yoga, pilates, weights and the trampoline to music, bouncing,
she says, makes her happy.

Outfits:

In the New
York Times, Cher said her favorite dress
was the Oscar Snub Dress: “If you could have seen it up close. It was cashmere,
the beading was beautiful, they made earrings and the headdress was exquisite.
It was impeccable. It was beautifully done.” (And Cher
would know a headdress). She also stated “Camp is in the eye of the beholder.”
On The
Today Show she said she doesn’t mind people hating what she wears.
On Andy Cohen she wore space platforms shoes and
black and white geometric jacket and pants. Cher
scholar Robrt Pela noted that this outfit matched the back cover of Sonny & Cher’s In Case You’re In Love album.
She stated her that her favorite outfits where the Oscar dress, and her first
Indian “costume,” and the “Turn Back Time” outfit (Which one? The concert hole fit or the
video V fit?)
On XM, a fan asked what her outfit inspirations
were. She said her first inspiration was Bob Mackie. She loved that her
friend said her hair on The Voice
looked like a chicken from the 4H club. She says she has a good humor about it. But she said the outfit
and wig didn’t translate on the show (I agree: too many cuts and closeups). Cher said art should provoke conversation, not that she
can say my hair was art, but she was going for Luxe Punk.

Concerts:

On LiveChat NY, Cher talked about
her first live appearance in bowling alley and Sonny pushing her on stage. She
said about her Caesars shows: “They were
very staid.” (New York Times) and that
fans couldn’t afford the show so there was an older, low energy audience. She came
to understand “you don’t get to decide how they’re gonna enjoy it. They get to
decide.” She said on tour she saves her voice and doesn’t talk, lives like a
nun. She said in the 1960s people threw
rings on stage, in homage to the fact she had rings on every finger (I did not
know that.). She said “Song for the Lonely” is impossible to sing and she didn’t
tape Caesars show. (Live Chat NY)
The New
York Times was with Cher at the Marquee
during a very long wig change. Manager Lindsay Scott was asked, “How much of
his life is spent waiting for Cher to change
her outfit and get trussed up?” “A good amount.”
In the Marquee video itself, Cher
made a speech about when she was uncool and a has-been, “you guys have always
been there.” Cher watched some drag queens/impersonators
dance to a mix of her songs and she danced and sang along, smiling.
On Z100 she said she might tour next year. The
DJ asked her about seeing all those cell phones now at shows. She said smart
phones weren’t around yet during her farewell tour years.
During the Macy’s 4^th of July
Spectacular, I loved the long hair and the pants. Is that chain mail back in
action? Mr. Cher Scholar made many positive remarks, (She looks cool here,
looks younger, like the big hoops, she looks great). The women in audience
really seem into it. Cher smiles a lot and
throws out sultry looks. She did lip sync but in the bootleg pre-tape, you can
hear her singing. She comments about dressing age-appropriate (not quite yet; age appropriate would be dressing like Helen Mirren above…can you believe they’re less than a year apart in age?). She talks about her choreographer, Doriana
Sanchez, and about getting free M&Ms vs Dr. Pepper backstage.
Cher announced
she’ll be performing a Today Show
concert on September 23. The hosts said to “expect a legendary crowd.”
Cher said her least
favorite song to do live is “Jessie James.” She talked about touring with sonny
in early 70s on the club circuit where they had to cook in our room but used
Chastity in act; She used to lead the orchestra. (Watch What Happens/Andy Cohen)
On XM, Cher
said hearing her records again, she felt they sound better. For live shows you
need to speed them up because the audience needs excitement. She said singing
live is a crap shoot. She said sometimes her musical director Paul Mirkovich changes up arrangements. A fan asked if there was a drag queen better
than she was? She picked Elgin Kenna and called him a genius artist.

TV Shows:

To Andy Cohen, she talked about Farrah Fawcett’s
appearance on The Sonny & Cher Comedy
Hour. “She had tits and I didn’t” so Farrah got all the crews attention.
She said one of her favorite things with
Sonny was the Raymond Burr blooper (long form) and on XM she said the blooper
was “so us.” She also agreed she loved her West Side Story performance. She
said there were 14 costume changes on her show with Sonny.
On WCBS, she said her appearance on The Voice was awful and scary. Before
the show she told her mom she would either be the greatest reinvention of herself
or it would be “get thee to a nursing home.”

Family & Friends:

Cher said her mom would be a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Chaz was great
performing in “30 Minute Musical” (Live Chat NY), the episode spoofing Independence Day and Chas played the
president. (Watch What Happens/Andy Cohen)
Cher said Sonny’s
funeral was very Italian with everybody cooking. “The only person not there was
Son.” Cher said they didn’t sing to Chaz at
bedtime, they read her stories. (Watch What
Happens/Andy Cohen)
ON WCBS, Cher said her mom’s best advice was to never
litter and that Cher has never seen Chaz better
in his life.
On XM someone asked for Cher’s
advice to new artists. Cher said entertainment
and fame are so different now, everyone has an immediate clothing line (I
wonder how Sonny would have operated in this era). Cher
said Sonny instilled in her the idea never to believe in a no. She said she should
have stopped years ago when all signs pointed to no, but like a bumper car she
keeps going, it’s in her family DNA. She said far more talented people don’t
make it. She hears friends saying older people should move over to give the
kids a shot, but the women in her family are not moving out of the way.
On XM they asked her for her best personal and
professional decade. She said all decades have had their over parts and have
also spiked up. “They said I reinvented myself but it was untrue…I’m just me.”
She couldn’t decide on a best decade, saying the 1960s were the beginning, the
1970s had the TV show, the 1980s had the movies and was the best decade
personally.
On WCBS Cher said she was still working with Children’s
Craniofacial Association.
In The New
York Times, Cher said Robert Camilletti was
her easiest relationship and of her two husbands, Sonny she was most attached
too: “It wasn’t like anything before or after. And it wasn’t all roses. It was
very Russian roulette.”
On XM she said her true love was Robert Camilletti and Ronnie Zimmerman was the one who could make her laugh so hard she cried.
XM asked her for advice for parents. She said I’m on twitter with your
kids. She said it’s hard to stop telling your kids what to do but you need to think of them as people and cut
them some slack and do fun stuff with them. You’re not just there to boss them around. But teenagers
are crazy. You need to guide them more because you worry about them all the time. Her mom told her never
lie, litter, or talk back. But she learned to drive when she was 11 and her mother assures her she was
a mercurial child. “Chaz was an angel all the time. Elijah is like me.”

Her Character:

Calls herself mercurial (Sirius/New York Times) and says
her worst habit is worrying too much (Live Chat NY). If she could go back in
time as superpower to meet an Egyptian whose name I couldn’t catch or to send the
paparazzi into space (Live Chat NY). She said her biggest obstacle is her up
and down moods and she works to stay in the center and not be over emotional
(WCBS).
On XM she was asked if she would change anything
she’s done. “How long do we have,” she asked and then said the truth would be too
personal. She believes what belongs to you comes to you.

Plastic Surgery:

In the New York Times,
Cher admits her limited movie offers might be due to her wrinkle-free visage,
that her look might make it “hard to be anyone but Cher.”
She said this idea “didn’t feel very good. But it was true. I get that. I
understand that.” She was also asked about Chad Michaels allegedly having
surgery to look more like her: “If it doesn’t bother him, it doesn’t bother me.
I don’t feel creepy. I don’t.”

A Book:

To Andy Cohen, Cher admitted she once wrote “a half-assed book.” But before she write the bigger book, people have
to die off. She said she and friend, Paulie, talk about it all the time.

Shy Kid to Superstar:

My iPod shuffle served up the Sonny & Cher b-side “Hello”
during Cher’s big June/July press push. I was
taken by how far she’s come in her confidence.

We’ve also come to a point of critical mass in her career, where no one (including Cher herself) can pretend this is her first album, movie or project and dismiss or ignore all the preceeding history. I love it when she talks about experiencing showbiz over so long a period of time and, as you can see, all these interviews reflect the breadth of her work, from live shows to TV shows to music albums to being a fashion icon. It’s all here.

Reconfigured Cher Book?

February 25, 2013 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

I've was off from Cher Scholaring for a few weeks while I did some local book talks for Why Photographers Commit Suicide and then hosted some girlfriends for a Sarah Lawrence reunion weekend in Santa Fe. I talk all about it in my other blog, Big Bang Poetry.

While I was gone, this new Cher book popped up in our Cher Universe, All I Really Want to Do by Daryl Easlea and Eddi Fiegel. Now these are the same two writers who put out the You Haven't Seen the Last of Me coffee table book on Cher last year through Barnes and Noble.

So is this book a retread of that one? A rehashed book with some fixes? Or a brand new book?

Disturbingly I'll have to purchase it to find out.

For an excerpt.

To buy.

CHER BOOKS!

October 26, 2011 / Cher Scholar / 5 Comments

Oh my God…three (THREE!) Cher books are on their way!!!

Now I love books. And I'm a Cher fan. So Cher books make me crazy!!!

Available now: You Haven't Seen the Last of Me by Daryl Easlea and Eddi Fiegel. Found out about this book on the Yahoo list. It's only found at Barnes and Noble for some reason, not Amazon:

Daryl has also done books on Madonna and Beyonce. This looks mostly like a photo book. I just ordered it yesterday.

The comic book Female Force Cher by Mark Shapiro is out December 27 on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.

Cher News blog commented astutely that Cher's 90s hair and 80s costume on the cover don't match. I totally agree. I am chalking this up to the artistic privilege of the comic-book artist but there's a nerdy part of me that looks forward to finding these anomalies throughout the comic.

This is what Cher scholars do.

It looks like a new biography is coming May 15, 2012, Cher: Strong Enough by Josiah Howard.

http://www.amazon.com/Cher-Strong-Enough-Josiah-Howard/dp/0859654842/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319651065&sr=1-1

This is a mystery book and it promises to be somewhat slim at 240 pages but is promising some "exclusive interviews with Cher and those she has worked with on- and off-stage."

Get reading!

Rock Seen by Bob Gruen

September 18, 2011 / Cher Scholar / 2 Comments

Ahhh, the sweet smell of almost-respect.

Entertianment Weekly's September 2nd issue includes a review of music-photographer Bob Gruen's new book of rock icons.

The snapshot review is titled "Legends on the Loose" and the five examples of representative legends chosen to showcase are Debbie Harry on Coney Island in 1977, The Ramones on their way to CBGB's in 1975, KISS posing for an album cover in 1974, John Lennon in Yonkers in 1975 and…wait for it…Sonny & Cher in the picture to the left taken on Lexignton Avenue in New York City in 1973.

Melissa Maerz calls the book "a disarmingly natural look at icons like Blondie and Cher before the era of the posed rock-star portrait kicked in."

Don't they look groovy?

But what a list of heavyweights to be included with. In the last decade, Cher's been making it into more and more of these lists of "legends." Like the theory of Starstruck, The Business of Celebrity suggests, it's all about who you're seen with.