Category: Music (Page 18 of 34)

OMG…last week was a killer Cher
week and I was soooo freakin busy. I felt like I was on a treadmill running from job to class to The Voice to taking Mr. Cher Scholar to the airport, and all these Cher appearances and juicy album listening parties-for-one.

This month feels like a turning point in a very awful, insane year for me. To review the last five months, in the spring I developed a debilitating three-month allergic reaction to New Mexico, I was out of work for three months in a bad job market, my husband couldn't find a job either and finishing up with his anthropology degree was a massive struggle of scheduling issues. Our hot water heater broke down and we had no heat or hot water for a week, we lost a full tank of expensive propane in a gas leak, a pipe broke and our kitchen flooded, our truck died and no one in Santa Fe could figure out why so we had to buy another car, some animal died behind our office wall, then some other animal died behind our master bathroom wall, then our landlord told us he needed to move into his house and we had a month to move and we ended up moving cities. Then our dog ate rat poison (he's fine now). And that has been my 2013 so far.

On the bright side, this year brought a Cher TV special and a new album. Mr. Cher Scholar finally got his diploma last week and found out the show he is helping out with as Historical Consultant, Quick Draw, got picked up for another season and was the most successful new show on Hulu this year. He spent time back in Los Angeles last week doing historical interviews with the show's star, his friend, John Lehr. Those should air in January.

So fingers crossed. But it is with this frazzled state of mind that I approach this crop of Cher appearances and a new album.

Wow…what a whirlwind of great Cher stuff out last week, too. I love all her appearances this season. She's happy-seeming, she's being asked interesting questions befitting her stature. FINALLY!!!!

VCR Alert: Cher Scholar Dishy notified me today that Cher will be on with Kelly Ripa's show October 1.

The Today Show Appearances

Cher looked lovely on her first morning concert appearance.

You can see the sound check video taken by a fan. The comments of the female fan aggravated with the super-fan were funny to me.

Read the article about Cher's arrival on a hog motorcycle: http://www.mercurynews.com/music/ci_24157697/celeb-pix-cher-gets-hog-ride-today-show

Cher singing "Believe." 

Cher singing "Woman's World" and "I Hope You Find It."

During "I Hope You Find It" you could see Cher
getting  frustrated with the song. This seems to happen more often since Cher has been singing with a net (with voice lessons) versus when she used to sing without a net (on the S&C Show).

I left my TV on after the concert and caught Cher with Kathie Lee
Giffard and Hoda Gotb afterward. Cher stood in the wings breaking into the show to talk about lipstick and thongs. Cher said 45-dollar lip-sh*t better kiss your lips. Kathie Lee and Hoda also ran a "favorite Cher song" poll and "Turn Back Time" won, which Kathie Lee joked should be the theme song of AARP. Kathie Lee talked about seeing Cher in Vegas years and years ago (I'm guessing in the early 1980s/late 1970s) and stating that as a performer, Cher "delivers." Hoda and Kathie Lee are giddy about Cher appearing in concert there, exclaiming "and she's still here!!" Watch the official interview.

Cher admits her new single is a Miley Cyrus cover. She talks about feeling compelled to answer interview questions. She's very self-deprecating (saying she had gotten too happy with the sound of her own voice) and talks about her laryngitis from all the press interviews. She talks about a perfect Cher day and wishing she could ride her motorcycle. I loved the big Cher pics hanging in the background.

Access Hollywood

A visit to Cher's house and she talks about the Russian Olympics. Part 1 and 2.

The David Letterman Show

This was an outstanding interview. First the entrance was divine to the song "Let Freedom Ring." Thank god she was belted in! He eyelashes look great and I love the short, wavy black wig. Her almost-70-year-old gams look amazing! David asked her questions about her history as a major 1960s artist. They talked about the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Definitely one of my favorite Letterman appearances. She makes a hoverround joke. She tells the story about forgetting to do the album (which no fan I've yet spoken to believes is plausible) and about how her record label wasn't hounding her for one. But her manager was. They talk about Janis Joplin and tattoos, Jimi Hendrix, dying for your career, the wrecking crew members, Darlene Love and working for Phil Spector, Sonny getting his nose broken, Paul McCartney still kicking ass, Brian Wilson and twerking. She clarifies that she wasn't apologizing about her Miley comments but shouldn't say everything she thinks. She likes the Milley song and video.

She also sings, "I Hope You Find It" live. I've decided Cher has the pretties eyelids in show business.

This might be a good time to visit her first Letterman appearance back in the early 1980s to notice how far this love-affair has traveled through show-biz time. 

New Video

The lyric video for "I Hope You Find It" was also released last week. I love it! Beautiful.

Print Stuff

I finally read the extended interview for the CBS morning show. Wow, they left out so much good stuff for TV! Much of this was about Sonny, understanding why bands wreck hotel rooms, her outfits and Mackie and more elaboration on what clothes mean, ("…clothes don't do anything. Clothes are nothing. Clothes are pretty. They're just to keep you warm, to keep you cool, or to be attractive…"), and why style became important to her during The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. She elaborates on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the early style of Sonny & Cher. She talks about Colleen and Bridget. She also talks about the temperments of Sonny's children. That was interesting. She talks about paparazzi and the paddle-boarding photo from Hawaii a few years back, working with Bernadette Peters' vocal teacher, about being so honest in interviews (and Meryl Streep being worried about that), working with George Miller, why she didn't think Midnight Run would have worked with her and whether or not she's consciously ever tried image making.

Really good interview. 

Hollywood Life has a nice blurb of a story: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/09/23/cher-today-show-womans-world-new-tour-video/

Macleans

I found an 'old' interview in Macleans from September 8: Cher talks about meeting Eartha Kitt at age 14 and taking mental notes, her famous cover shoot for Time Magazine, media training and the awful Peter Bogdanovich interview. Macleans mistakenly labels that interview being from the Time Magazine of 1975 but it was really the Saturday Evening Post of 1966 (Cher Scholar in action!). She talks about abortion laws, feminism, "The Greatest Thing," loving Pink's song "Dear Mr. President," being ahead of her time with drag queens in her shows, wanting to write her autobiography (hell, yeah), and helping with the upcoming Broadway piece, modern fashion being too subdued, and her alternative comments about fashion and clothes, "Superficial things can be so powerful. They can lift your spirits. I've definitely found a place for them."

USA Magazine

The Cher list of Yahoo posted this amazing thing, 25 Things You Don't Know About Me. I really laughed at this one: "The day I moved out of my home in Holmby Hills, I found a room I never knew existed." I was thrilled to read she had an elephant collection. I have one too that I'm going to sell in a garage sale this spring (along with an eraser collection–I have way too much stuff) and considered for a moment sending Cher the best of my elephants but then, in a reality check moment, I realized she's probably going to be sent a million elephants right about now after admitting that she has a collection of them.

She once crashed in a small plane???? WTF! What the hell happened?? We came that close, Cherfreaks, to the death of Cher??

Balinese!! That's how you spell that.

I love that Deacon Jones taught her the finer points of football. I was working at The Prostate Cancer Foundation when Mike Milken talked Cher into performing for one of his benefits (I wasn't invited, dammit, but I do have a video of it) and my awful boss there hosted a disastrous event with the Fearsome Foursome. I was in charge of wrangling Lumar Lundy, who was a sweetheart although when we first tried to contact him, he kept hanging up on me, thinking I was a zealous football fan…I had no idea who he was. Rosey Grier (who worked with Mike Milken and was very kind to me when I worked there with that lousy boss, and whom I would discuss voting for Fantasia that year on American Idol) had to step in and tell Lamar to take my calls. Anyway, this is just a long digression to say I have a Fearsome Foursome poster signed by all four players and that Deacon Jones hit on my friend Julie at the disastrous event down at Tony Ps in Marina del Rey. I have a picture of all of us there somewhere. That's my memory of Deacon Jones.

My friend Julie as something else in common with Cher. She too cried when she lost a $100 poker chip in Las Vegas.

Twitter Chat

Cher also did a fan chat on Twitter and Reddit has the transcript (I haven't "read it" yet). Thank you to Dishy for sending it to me: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1nc4sk/i_am_cher_ask_me_anything/

8 more days to a new Cher record! Whoo hoo!

I realized today that the last Cher record came out when I was living in Pennsylvania. I've lived in three cities since the last Cher album.

Cher scholar Tyler commented on the last post that Cher will be interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning this next Sunday.

Here is a link to Cher on This Morning years ago promoting her Love Hurts album from the early 1990s. The interviewer calls her the Grande Dame of the pop scene back then! She wasn't even 45 years old yet!

She talks about being the modern day girl in Rumpelstiltskin who wants to spin tears into platinum.

It's finally here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjPWL-23w-w, the first new official Cher video in I Found Some Blog history.

And in honor of the new Cher video, I gathered back together the
group of people who attended my Armenian Dinner and Cher Video party for Cher Zine 3. The group includes one Cherfreak (me), a Cher appreciator (C. Crumpet Swank), Julie (a
friend from Sarah Lawrence College who likes 80s Cher primarily), Julie’s
boyfriend Dave, Mr. Cher Scholar, and Natalie (not a Cher fan and too young to
remember anything before “Turn Back Time”). We can't find the woman named Jewel from the party.

Anyway, Swank started things off with some elaborate comments and pictures he emailed me after watching the video.

Swank

I actually like this video! Props to her for including such a wide range
of women in the video, not just a bunch of attractive 20-somethings. I love the inclusion of the older/old women,
the thin/the fat, the tall/the short, the Down's Syndrome girl, the toothy
Ruthie, all the different nationalities. Mixing up the bodies in sections also
works for me, connecting all the characters despite their external differences.
It's a good device that nods to the unity which serves as the premise of the
song (even if the lyrics are trite).

It must be said, the opening wig is FANTASTIC!  Very,
very cool. It looks best, however, up close when you can see the detail of the
newsprint–the colors, typography, etc. When they pull too far away the
fact that it is newspaper is lost and she ends up resembling an Armenian
komondor:

PERFECT VIEW

NOT SO PERFECT VIEW [freeze video at the ten second mark for
an even better comparison shot]

IT'S A WOMAN'S WORLD

I also kind of wish she had headed over to Cyndi Lauper's
house and borrowed the True Colors skirt for this video, but I know that Cher doesn't like to look, as Joan Rivers would say,
"too matchy-matchy."  A boy can dream though… 

I also like the frizzy orange wig Cher
wears–very nice/unexpected/different, and a great match to the Sanctuary style
dress. She looks like a gorgeous medieval wench/queen.

Other moments I appreciate:  

• @57/58 seconds and 1:04 she looks so happy and relaxed!
• @1:47…some actual physical oomph!
• @2:40-42…"Every–boooooodddddy in the club"…love
  the vocal stretch of the word as she skedaddles through it and the music
  spirals up and up, synched to the visual of her arms making fists [the
  boobs nicely flex here too] and then throwing her arms up into the air, like
  she just don't care…
  
• @2:46-48…the knowing use of the signature "teeth
  & lip lick" punctuated with a droll nod perfectly timed to a climactic
  moment of silence in the song. Very meta. Very witty.
• @2:55…freeze it for the most extreme cheekbones I have
  ever seen in my life. Who is that woman? She's beautiful and scary all at once.

And my favorite two moments: 1:34/5, the old lady with
no rhythm on the right looks like she's having the time of her life, and she
looks beautiful and stylish in her cowl neck sweater and black knee high boots;
and at 2:19 she reappears with the older sexy bald black lady who looks so
fantastic and fierce and rocks her iconic Jody Watley earrings–remember those?

Lastly,  any idea how
they make Cher's skin look so flawless in the
close-ups?  It seems impossible that she could have such perfect skin at
67.  Is there a "live" version of Photoshop? 

Julie

I enjoyed
the video. It is nice to see so many types of women dancing and being
empowered. The sliding body panels reminded me of our childhood toy Fashion
Plates. I used to mix my fashion plates with my monster plates to make very
bizarre creations. 

The point of the video is somewhat blown just by the fact
that Cher refuses to age. I agree – she looks
great – but if she really thinks all types of women are awesome, then why not
allow herself to age? This is kinda like Mary Kay empowering women to be their
own boss and go out and unempower other women by convincing them they need a
lot of makeup.

I love all her wigs especially the newspaper one, although
it’s a bit drag queeny. The song isn't catchy to me and it doesn't have anthemic
power. 

Mr. Cher Scholar

Okay, I'm
definitely getting a Godley and Creme "Cry" mixed with Michael
Jackson's "Black or White" video vibe off of this. Which is okay because
I always felt that Michael Jackson's video was a rip off of Godley and Creme.

Loving the paper wig. I would go out with anybody that wore
shredded newspaper on their head. But no smoking and forget about blowing out
the candles on your birthday cake.

This is why newspapers are better than electronic media. I'd
love to be the paper boy on this route, that lucky sonofabitch.

Just imagining what it'd be like in bed after a night
of drinking. Kind of like making love in a hamster cage. Love it.

Is that Chelsea Clinton?

Also love the straight red wig. It's like something you'd
find in the potpourri section at Michael's. Cut the broomstick off, stick it on
your head, and let's shoot this thing.

I think I just saw my mom.

Honestly, I really love this video. I mean I know Cher never saw any of these people and probably
green-screened her part in her living room, but it really feels inclusive of
ordinary women and people (unlike someone else's video that recently came out).

I also feel like this video and song are primed and ready to
become huge hits overseas. It made me want to be a woman so I could be Cher's waist on top of an old lady's legs. Or maybe
I could have my face on Cher's chest with
Chelsea Clinton's legs.

I noticed there are no Inuit women in this video. Maybe just
an oversight, but even still, Cher may have
some explaining to do on twitter.

Trying to pick out who from this video will go on to other
things…

I don't know what's more discomforting: the people who
aren't really into it or the people who are WAY into it.

Think I just saw my mom again. She seemed like she was WAY
into it.

Dave

I think behind the scenes it's interesting how she can
change her outfits so many times again, just like in her concerts, except this
time it's other people's bodies.  I thought it was fresh, unique, simple,
and I enjoyed it very much.

I also really like her 'print' hair.  kinda feels like
her 'in the news'.

And she has a marvelous plastic surgeon.  She doesn't
AT ALL look plastic, just REALLY REALLY good.

Natalie

Wow she's "green". Her hair is made of recycled
paper.

OMG she looks like a Barbie. Goth
Barbie with that eye makeup. Eco-Friendly Empowered Goth Barbie… watch out
world…

This is a woman's world? Bouncing boobies? Dancing and trying to look sexy?
Seriously?

What animals, plants and minerals were harmed in the making of all those
wigs?? Scratch eco-friendly. 

Cher Scholar

I have to
say I really like this video. At first I did worry that it was too plain but
then I saw Lady Gaga’s video and I’m like, yes…plain is the new interesting. I
love most the Cher close-ups. I love the
makeup, the eyeliner, the wig. Don’t love the newspaper hair outfit (why is
everyone wearing those pants? Are we selling them?), but love the other two
ensembles. Cher can do no wrong while wearing
big hoop earrings. I love all three wigs, the black and white one, the red one
(that can’t help but make me think it’s a tribute to Kathy Griffin).

Cher’s still putting the back of her hand to her face dramatically
like a young ingénue. It’s the bent wrist and teeth lick for the 2000s. In the
end Cher gets more passionate about the song
and that’s when she makes a real connection, (since she’s not doing a Mick
Jagger-gymnastic performance anymore). I loved the plethora of female types. I realize
there’s only so much room in a video but I would have loved more international faces and
cultural outfits (like the Indian woman), and more yoga moves (which kick ass).