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Category: Music (Page 18 of 35)

Strong Enough Biography: The Pre-Breakup 1970s

February 13, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Sonny and CherIn the new biography, Josiah Howard covers how Sonny & Cher went from “50,000 screaming kids to 25 unimpressed adults" singing in nightclubs, living as "professional guest stars on talk shows."

This is the first book that delves into detail about how the skits and segments of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour came into being and from where all the players came from. The book also explains more of the creation of Cher's Laverne character. One of my favorite stories was how they had to bribe 250 people from the farmers market next to CBS Studios with food to attend the first taping. Howard also summarizes the initial reviews of the show and the types of fan mail the show received. Hair guru Gary Chowen said the show was about 3 things: Cher’s put downs, fashion, and hair. Chowen even elaborates on the odd ways the hair constructions were put together.

Seeing as I had just seen the Sandy Duncan episode (and noticed something vaguely discomforting about it), I was amazed to read that Cher and Sandy Duncan had then fought over Duncan's come-on to Sonny and that Truman Capote had made a pass at Sonny as well (Philip Seymour Hoffman RIP). It was also fun to read about visitors to the set, like Sammy Davis Jr., over from taping All in the Family, the POW, Ronald Reagan, and more about S&C's mysterious 21-room mansion on the old-Hollywood Owlwood compound. 

The book also lists Cher's occasional award nominations, from the Grammy for best pop performance by a duo for the Sonny & Cher Live album by duo to the best pop vocal performance nomination for "Gypsies Tramps & Thieves," and Howard elaborates on the vocal changes Cher was going through, losing her “teenage angst whine” and taking on a “new sultry, low-register, contralto accentuated by a dancing vibrato.” Howard also details more about the Bittersweet White Light album including the discrepancies on the back cover credits and he interviews the songwriters to some of Cher's biggest hits of the early 1970s, hearing their later-day opinions of her versions. He also captures some interesting old reviews, including the fact that Rolling Stone Rolling Stone thought her voice (with its country sound) was attractive and that Creem loved "Dark Lady."

   

Music I Got for Christmas and How it Relates to Cher

January 25, 2014 / / 3 Comments

I had a late Christmas exchange two weeks ago and I've been listening to some really good stuff I received on CD. CDs! So old fashioned, I know.

Kt Dido 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

I received both the debut albums of K.T. Tunstall (Eye To The Telescope, 2004) and Dido (No Angel, 1999). While reading about them I discovered that K.T. Tunstall had badmouthed Dido in frustration after being told she sounded like her. She said Dido can't sing. Then she apologized and said she didn't want to get into a media war with anybody.

Considering Tunstall and Dido really don't sound that alike and considering their media images are so different (as the publicity shots above depicts), I can both see Tunstall's frustration; but I can also see she was taking herself a bit too seriously. It reminds me of Cher, not because she jumps into media wars and then expresses regret after the media machine exploits it, (although I was reminded of that), but because Cher has the flexibility to be both a tough-cookie and a sex-pot. She doesn't have to diss other women artists on that level.

I honestly don't think these women are even in the same category. I love the ethereal, highly-ornamental pop sound of Dido and the more stripped-down, but still rocking sound of Tunstall. I probably liked more of Tunstall's tunes overall, but her vague lyrics (vague even in attempts at being poetic) left me somewhat dissatisfied. "Under the Weather" is a good example of this. She's close to saying something but from a safe distance. But I still like it. And although I liked only about two-thirds of the Dido album, her lyrics were less opaque ("Hunter" and "My Life" being favorites), although they were less ambitious.

PinkI also received that old 2006 P!nk album I'm Not Dead. This is the album with "Dear Mr. President" on it that Cher likes. Honestly, this seems like an entire album written for Cher in mind with songs like "I'm Not Dead," "Nobody Knows," "Cuz I Can," "I Got Money Now," and "Conversations With My 13-Year Old Self." The album is about a woman living the rich life and how criticism, men, and loneliness all play into it. A great album.

 

 

Mm 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also received the new album by Steve Marting and Edie Brickell, banjo-filled bluegrass called Love Has Come For You. I thought I would hate this album because I have a love-hate relationship with Steve Martin predating my knowledge that he ever even worked for Cher and I've never much liked Brikell since the 1980s and her annoying, free-spirited, faux-bohemian performances. But thankfully, she's over that now and not singing like street-urchin, Amy-Grant lookalike. I liked these tunes, these lyrics and nothing surprised me more than to read a thank you to Martin Mull in the credits for providing the piece of art you see between Mull and Brickell in the above picture which is a version of what is included on the album cover art.

If you've been a good Cher Zombie, you've been reading all about Steve Martin and Martin Mull working together as writers and rarely-seen performers on Cher's solo variety show. They are noticably absent in the interviews of the book and you have to wonder if they are all still friends. Maybe they were both busy. All I know is there is a great lyric by country-artist Mike Stinson that says, "I got your message when I never got your call." Interestingly, Steve Martin and Martin Mull are still in touch, at least in friendship through a love of fine art.

JbI also received the 2012 debut album by new singer Jake Bugg and this is a winner on all levels. Wall-to-wall great tunes in the same retro-stylings the British and Aussies are exploring right now, from Amy Winehouse to Adele to Daniel Merriweather to the Nosiettes to this set of rockabilly and alt rock and country.

 

 

BdLate last year I also received a four album set of Blossom Dearie. In many ways her sassy style and clever lyrics remind me a lot of Nellie McKay. She sings a version of Cher's oft-covered song, "More Than You Know" that is tasty. For some reason, the song "The Riviera" also reminded me of Cher and her days of appearing on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. She also does "Teach Me Tonite," a song Sonny & Cher sang as one of their TV show openers. One of my favorite songs by her is this quirky song, "Rhode Island is Famous for You." 

 

Cher Over the Holiday Break

January 19, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Elton-chershowBefore Christmas, my husband and I watched the SCTV Christmas Episodes on DVD. I’ve been interested in this video ever since I spent the last year watching old variety shows and trying to get an intellectual handle on the genre. My only experience of SCTV as a variety-show parody is from the performances of the hilarious Juul Haalmeyer Dancers, a very camp and hilarious send up of variety show dance troupes. Watch a five-minute documentary on them: http://vimeo.com/82136213).

RickmoranisIn one SCTV episode there is a very funny parody of a piano-duel between Liberace and Elton John that originally aired on Dec 18, 1981. Elton John, played by Rick Moranis, is dressed in what strikes me as a spoof of the outfit and he wore on the Cher show premiere and special from 1975. (See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgH286eOni4).

For Christmas, Mr. Cher Scholar and I (plus the dogs) drove to Pennsylvania to see my parents. It was cheaper and more fun than flying. We stopped along the way in Fort Smith (for historical work Mr. Cher Scholar is doing for the show Quick Draw), Memphis and Nashville. Definitely want to go back to Nashville and see a show and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

PodunkWe played the iPod shuffle for three days both ways. That was plenty of time for the song “Podunk” to come up. I have always been confused by this song and what it was trying to do. Mr. Cher Scholar thankfully did some scholarin and cleared up the mystery for me. He said that Cher and Sonny are actually doing impersonations of Mae West and W.C. Fields. Oohhhhh. But you all probably knew that already. So ok, that makes it mildly better.

SadieTruly, I am a fan of Cher’s Mae West impersonations, both her straight-out Mae West and her Sadie Thompson version. In fact, I think her Mae West is an essential component of her oeuvre of characters on those variety shows and, on top of that, emblematic of the larger media character she came to be. I believe in some ways this song "Podunk" is a very raw precursor to those impersonations. I just think she got better and more organic the next decade.

The Byrds version of “All I Really Want to Do” also came up on the iPod shuffle and I was able to think more about why their version failed in competition with Cher’s in 1965. I think there are definitely tonal problems with the Byrds version. Their version is too crisp and neat for one thing, almost bourgeois neatness, if you can accept the Byrds as bourgeois for a moment. Cher’s version is rougher, more Dylanish, hippie-er, scragglier, much more believable as a hippie/feminist creed coming from Cher. Which brings me to my second point: this song needs to be sung by a woman. It sounds like a creepy manipulation coming from a man. “Suuuurre you just wanna be my friend. Uh huh. Friends with benefits.” From a woman it sounds like an emancipated idea/argument. For these two reasons, Cher’s versions comes across as more authentic.

Over the break I also received this message from my friend Julie about a Cher tweet, She said:

I was looking at something else on twitter so decided to take a look at Cher’s page. This is my favorite one.

.@manthon25 U Haven’t LEARNED!! EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE–My Grandma Picked Cotton,My Mom Scrubbed Flrs,My Shoes had Holes–,I SING IN ARENAS

Cher also popped up in one of my dreams. I was driving a car and she was in the passenger seat complaining to me about how many factual errors this blog contains. I was complaining back to her that perfection is impossible and any attempts to be perfect are paralyzing. This excuse brings to mind a quote Mr. Cher Scholar just gave me from Ben Franklin, (“He who is good at making excuses is rarely good at anything else.”). Anyway, I was discussing with one of our LA friends who visited last week that fan/celebrity meetings seem impossibly stressful and who would want to do it because I would expect a similar dressing-down about my blog’s inaccuracies in person (and that would pretty much rob the fun right out of it). Besides, I’ve always said I'm a fan of the stuff, my activities are rebelliously unofficial and unsanctioned and I have never looked to my celebrity-obsession as a role model or idol. Although, ever since that Miley Cyrus fiasco, I have been brushing my tongue.

On eBay, I purchased recently two magazines from Argentina called Holofote (which means "spotlight"), one on Cher and one on Sonny & Cher (Cher's is entitled, “Cher Super Musa”) and honestly they were too expensive for their size and the very little verbiage they contained (which is all in Portuguese). But for some reason I like them because I like to see how Cher comes across in other cultures. There are 18 pages of photos in each booklet but they are not in any chronological order, which bugs the scholar in me. It looks to be a fan production of "PHOTOS MARAVILHOSAS."

MoonstruckdvdCher-related Christmas presents included this odd ornament-packaged version of the movie Moonstruck and this button ("Ask Me About Cher") which looks like legitimate tour or label produced Cher paraphernalia. My friend bought it at Rockaway Records in Silverlake and he said it was perfect for my Cher Scholar “duties.” He closed the note with this post script: “All I see is Reeeeeeeeeed.” 

ButtonAnyway, I hope you had a good winter break. I came home from Pennsylvania with a cold and have spent the last few weeks hosting out-of-town guests. I’m back in the saddle and ready to blog about the latest Cher bio, Strong Enough. However, I have so much to say about it that I’m going to take it in small chucks: childhood, the 1960s, the 1970s, etc. Can’t wait to get started.

   

Cher Puts Fans in the Driver’s Seat with New Set List

December 8, 2013 / / 1 Comment

 

Set

If you are on the mailing list of Cher.com (which you should be if you are any kind of Cher zombie, Cher freak, Cher crew or Cher lovely), you received an email yesterday about visiting her new tour site and ranking 18 of the 50 listed songs to make your voice heard regarding her upcoming set list.

The voting page is a user-interface-friendly ranking list that even has a weighted top-5 mechanism.

I am continually impressed by Cher’s social media worker-bees. This was not only a generous gesture on Cher’s part, but a totally amazing fun thing to play with. I was chatting away like a Chatty Kathy Cher Zombie while my husband watched snowy football all afternoon, rooting for his Kansas City Chiefs.

Here was my ranking and reasoning (for those interested).

First of all, I did not vote for Turn Back Time, Believe or Dressed to Kill because I figured they would probably end up in the show anyway. Of those three, I would like most to see Dressed to Kill because I think Cher’s team would create a good visual segment and interesting costumes for this.

I also didn’t pick songs I may have liked but have already seen many times before, like The Power, Half Breed, Dark Lady, and Take Me Home.

  1. AllAll I Ever Need is You –  This is one of my absolutely favorite Cher songs, and one of my very top Sonny & Cher songs along with United We Stand and Somebody (all from the same record of 1972). Have never heard Cher sing this song live and would love to hear her sing a Sonny & Cher song she hasn’t done in a long while.
  1. Alfie – What a dreamy thing to hear Cher sing this song after all these years. A overlooked fan favorite.
  1. Sirens – One of my newest favorite Cher songs. I know Cher doesn’t love the ballads as much as the high-NRG songs but the world-wide consensus is that Cher does an unbeatable torch song. This was proven yet again on the new album.
  1. Welcome to Burlesque – Yes, I didn’t love this movie but I feel Cher herself knows more about burlesque, vamping, femme fetals and sexy performance than Steven Antin did and could really do a good visual presentation to salvage this song.
  1. Love Is The Groove—I thought a lot about this one. Cher has done this one live before I believe (was it in Europe?) but the song has such a good energy about it and might coincide well with the Zen-ness in Cher’s life.
  1. Favorite Scars – another favorite of the new album, this song actually made it on my annual best-songs (mostly alternative) of 2013 list I do every Christmas.
  1. Walking in Memphis – I know we’ve seen this one off and on in shows, but it’s such a fun, fan favorite. Even non-Cher-fan friends of mine love her version of this song. It never tires.
  1. The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore – This song was a recent hit with my husband on a car-ride to Kansas City. I think this would be fun, campy song to see done over the top.
  1. Taxi Taxi – I think this too was done before in a medley with Love is in the Groove but it has such ethereal lyrics. Would love to see it for myself in a big Cher shew.
  1. Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves – Of all of Cher’s narrative 1970s number one hits, this one really best holds up in the test of time: the most unique, superbly crafted, full of political hypocrisy and so, so beautiful – a perennial fan favorite. Can’t miss with this.
  1. AlfieI Got You Babe – Has Cher even done a full tribute to this song in concert since the 1970s? It would be good to see that. Also, if this is truly Cher’s last venture in touring, it would be a lovely full-circle moment to close with this song, her first hit.
  1. Song for the Lonely – I think Cher said this one was a hard one to sing so I didn’t place it up toward the top (afraid it would be discarded early on) but similar to Walking in Memphis, fans love this song and non-fans love it too. My non-fan friends actually love it more than Believe.
  1. Real Love – Love the 1970s kitsch of this song, an underdog choice.
  1. Love One Another – Nominated for a Grammy and would love to hear it live.
  1. Dov'è l'Amore – Good for some multi-cultural flavor.
  1. Save Up All Your Tears – My favorite Cher power ballad. Her best version of “Strong Enough/Woman’s World/grrrl-power kick-ass-ness.
  1. Many Rivers To Cross – I love Cher's version of this. Recently added it to an album of Jimmy Cliff I made up for my Dad. Although I first decided “loved it but seen it”…it might be interesting to hear Cher revisit this song again after 20 years.
  1. Bang Bang – The same can be said with this song. I don’t much want to revisit it again with the same ole same ole 1980s arrangement. But this song is one of Sonny’s most re-recorded. It’s arguably his masterpiece if one must judge it by how many diverse artists keep re-recording it and how they can deftly mould its moods.

See my ranking: http://tour.cher.com/my_set.php?me=276563

Create your own: http://tour.cher.com/set.html

In other news:

Cher News (via Boston Q) was kind enough to excerpt Cher’s favorite albums list and Top 10 Cher Commandments from Q Magazine. Homework for our next meet-up (which due to Christmas duties, may be a little while): http://www.chernews.blogspot.com/2013/12/q-magazine-interview-chers-10.html

       

Recap of Cher’s Mentoring on The Voice

October 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

ChervoiceCher was on the most recent four episodes of The Voice as a mentor. She may come back on later in the season to do a duet with Blake. It looks like they were teasing around that idea in some of the interviews. Stay tuned.

In any case, I am disappointed at the lack of coverage Blake Shelton's contestants received in the last four episodes, which made for a dearth of Cher appearances as well.

The first episode showed some saucy Cher interactions. The second episode showed less stern but fewer clips, the third show same, and by the fourth show, we didn't even get to see one full Cher segment! In fact, for all four coaches, (Blake, Christina, Cee Lo and Adam), they all showed segments at about 2-to-1 everyone else compared to Blake, meaning for every one session they showed of Blake and Cher, they showed two from everybody else. And they never caught up! Not only is this a disservice to his contestants and their air-time (we never get to know them in recaps), but we barely got to see any Cher compared to Ryan Tedder, Miguel, and Ed Sheeran (and much of their advice was boring, sorry to say). In the fourth episode, we just received one lousy recap. I missed it believing it was a teaser for the next segment. I had to catch it again on Hulu. WTF!

Mr. Cher Scholar and I were left to wonder if Blake's contestants made bad performances, if there wasn't enough Cher advice to mine into enough clips (I doubt that because we saw out-takes of more good stuff), or if Blake is getting short-shift because he's already won three times.

In any case, here is a recap of the Cher advice (paraphrased) that appeared on the show:

Episode #7

  • Don't just sit on your ass and push a button (that was a freebie to Blake)
  • To hit a high note that seems beyond you, think high.
  • Sometimes you have to learn harmony like it is the melody. Cher admits she's not got at this either.

Episode #8

  • If you're gonna riff, know where you're gonna end up.
  • If you do a bad note, do something else to make the audience forget the bad note.

Episode #9

  • Sometimes if you have a powerful voice, you can over-depend on it.
  • You can be too cerebral and aware of yourself and how you're doing.

Episode #10

  • We need to see your eyes to see your emotion.

Cher also had advice for breath issues and using or not using your body or the mic to get at notes. Blake introduced Cher as "y'all's adviser" when they came in for their sessions and they all had flabbergasted faces. Most surprisingly, bearded-country-guy was the biggest Cher fan, apart from Blake himself. I noticed Cher tapping when she hugged the contestants and she called them chickadees. One contestant noted: "When Cher gives you notes, you listen."

MTV breaks down their view of all the mentors.

 

Cher Outside

October 27, 2013 / / 1 Comment

HopeI want to take some time to say I really love this CD single cover. For many reasons: I love the new Cher name font (I got sick of the old one), I love the hair, makeup, shoes, those awesome pants!

But I love that the photo is outside!!

Finally, some outdoor Cherness. I love this so much better than yet another studio shot of Cher (like the nwe album cover). Even if we have to see Cher outside at twilight in her own backyard, so be it. I love the sunset, the birds, the shadows….all of it.

I don't know, maybe I just like the idea of Cher getting some Cher-air.

More Cher-a-palooza 2013

October 19, 2013 / / 0 Comments

ChiefsThe great Cher train rolls on! Cher maintained her top ten status for week two (#8) with her album and then fell to #11 last week. My Billboard-watching friend thinks she can get back into the top ten next week. He says there was a barrage of new albums debuting last week she had to compete with.

Last weekend I went to the Chiefs game in Kansas City with Mr. Cher Scholar. He is a huge Chiefs fan and recently commented on the fact that both of our obsessions begin with "Ch." This is why I love him. Anyway, as he is so supportive of my freakish Cher obsession, I am committed to supporting him with his Chiefs obsession. Although I know nothing of football, I take it the game went very well by all the hollering and the Chiefs, now 6-0, did something I was told was extraordinary by pushing back the Oakland Raiders to a 3 and 48 which (don't laugh too hard if I get this wrong) means that it was their 3rd down and they had 48 yards to go.

Anyway, of note to Cher fans, the Chiefs cheerleaders did a cheer set to a large chunk of Cher's "Woman's World" and it was a pleasure to see fat, drunk men in the row ahead of us doing some girly dance moves.

I also
Bewitchedheard Cher in the supermarket yesterday and I almost couldn't place the song! This was because it was her "Bewitched" duet with Rod Stewart which I have never listened to fully because I am allergic to Rod Stewart.

Cher's special video, Dear Mom, Love Cher, also came out last week. There is 20 minutes of extra footage being Cher's original birthday video for Georgia. Much is clarified in this extra footage, Georgia's experience in Oklahoma bars, her father's struggles with her in Los Angeles. There are many, many more family photos here. I really enjoyed them, especially the Cher and Georgia beach photo marked "Cher was afraid of the ocean."

Cher also talks about her favorite tracks from Georgia's album and listening to their duet I finally hear a younger Cher voice circa late 1970s/early 1980s. Cher is amazed she can't remember cutting the duet in light of the fact that she remembers everything, like falling off the stage. When did this happen?

I also enjoyed Cher talking about country music with her mom. When they hug, Cher does Cher-tapping. Cher also does this when she hugs contestants on The Voice. In Cher Zine 1, I talk extensively about Cher tapping.

The Perth Now interview was good. Cher talks about listening to old albums and songs, twitter haters, her love of Pink's "Dear Mr. President," her support of still using auto-tune, and her appreciation of Cher impersonator Charlie Hides.

In the iTunes fan interview  Cher talks about why she sequenced the album the way she did. She doesn't like albums where the slow and fast songs are intermixed. And although I do prefer that, I appreciate Cher's intentions for the sequencing. She talks more about her plane crash but not when it was.

I tracked down the Gianni Morandi video on Cher's forum and it wasn't that great. However, the German appearances were:

I love, love, love that Cher prop on the Wetten Dass performance, the whole set was gorgeous. Listening to a translated interview was too hard and early on I dismissed the old guy sitting next to her as some grumpy German. This turned out to be Harrison Ford.

MolinaMy friend Julie sent me this interesting Q&A from Mail Online. Cher talks about something very mean Sonny said to her when they split. Sonny was so complicated, it's frustrating to either like him or dislike him. She talks about getting lost in the woods as a child, her love of Alfred Molina (I'm so there), her longtime fear of being poor and ending up in a sad LA apartment, and her feelings about Downton Abbey.

If you haven't seen this video, go there right now: Australia’s Sunday Night interview with Rahni Sadler. It's a great, long interview in the vein of Barbara Walters.

I finally read the Readdit interview. It was mostly annoying navigating her answers around all the inane chatter. She talks more about saving someone from a mugger with Meryl Streep, her feelings about Madonna, about Sonny as a ghost, about loving her Richard Avedon and Normal Seeff photos and her Estudio Machado and Cicala Morassut photos (see beow), why Elvis was an inspiration, about motherhood and what isn't "all about me" in Chaz's transformation, among many other fly-by topics.

Lastly, Cher was on two segments of The Voice last week. I was on the road Monday and missed that episode. But you can always catch them on Hulu, along with this extra clip. You can also see Cher's mentoring interview here.

Cherblake

First of all, Cher looked great. I thought she was edited a bit school-marmishly cross, especially in the teasers.

Rolling Stone accused her of chewing out contestants and scolding them:

"Cher is not messing around when it comes to being an advisor to Blake Shelton's team on The Voice. After meeting bluesy Monika Leigh and single dad Ray Boudreaux, the iconic singer dug into them during rehearsal for the second night of the battle rounds.

When Ray's voice cracked on a high note and he said he "hoped" he could hit it on the day of the big performance, Cher sternly replied: "You shouldn't have to worry about, on that day can you do it? You should be able to know that you can do it."

And the tough love didn't stop there. When Monika sang the pairing's battle song, "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad, differently than rehearsed, Cher called her out on it: "If you're gonna riff, make sure you know where you're gonna end up." When Monika asked for an example, Cher snapped, "Well you sing it different every time. I don't mean to play it safe, but you've got this one chance – be secure before you go there."

Cherstare2I think this editing led to the brouhaha about a tiff between Cher and Blake as seen in the supermarket rags this week. Cher is intimidating. She gives you that crazy Cher stare. I wonder if she picked this up from the crazy Sonny stare. And I admit to never wanting to be on the scolding end of it. I got scared when she used that stare in the tennis scene from Witches of Eastwick! Watch the full scene.

But Cher and Blake have professed their mutual love to each other in various interviews. And Blake gives it back plenty. My favorite was when he asked her to list her favorite Adam Levine songs. I want to talk more about her advice later on, after more episodes air. She gives good tough-love and contestants really seem to take her words to heart.

Would I ever sing in front of Cher? Hell to the no.

More Cher news I have yet to consume:

from Cher News:

from Cher World:

Enjoy chickadees!

New Estudio Machado photos:

Normal_photo2010vanity_14

New Cicala Morassut:

494390-a9f5b1f8-2713-11e3-abe3-b1f1d77b1129

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More TV Appearances (VCR Alerts)

October 8, 2013 / / 2 Comments


Cher-blondeThe Voice

Stay tuned for Cher appearances next week. If you been watching the show, you've seen the previews which have provided some saucy Cher moments. You can see her deliver such tips and barbs to Blake Shelton as "I've been busy working…I haven't been sitting on my ass pushing a button!" and telling a contestant if you do a bad note, do something big to make them forget you did a bad note. And if you are trying to sing a high note, think high. I can't wait for more of this.

 

 

Kelly & Michael
Kelly1

Kathie Lee and Regis have now morphed into Kelly and ex-Giants player Michael Strahan. I actually like this combination. You can see Cher's appearance in three clips:

This has been a season (forget that, a half a year!) of great Cher interviews, maybe the best Cher interviews ever. But the Live! with Kelly and Michael appearance went beyond the pale. 

First of all Kelly Ripa is a bona fide Cher fan, and a thoughtful Cher fan as well, meaning she tries to deconstruct her fan-ness.
Which is something the literary-trained Cher Scholar was raised to do. I'm sure my college professors expected me to do more service to the high literary arts but…what can I say?. I love this about Kelly Ripa but it seems pretty intense for Cher. 

In the backstage interview, Cher looks almost palpably overwhelmed by the onslaught of Kelly's insistent affections. And what normal, non-narcissistic, person wouldn't be. Cher's response is understandable and all the more amazing that she doesn't "eat it all up." That's some character there.

CherpicWhen Cher walks out to the official interview, she steps to personally shake hands with people in the crowd and
the response is overwhelming. It's like she's attained a Queen status. Forget about some kind of Goddess of Pop. I feel we've left that station months ago. Goddess implies a kind of free-floating greatness which is admired from afar. But that's not what we're seeing here. We're seeing people feeling an intense Elvis-like emotional connection and treating her like…well like royalty. I wonder how unsettling that might be for Cher to be the underdog for so long and to finally break out like this…again and larger than ever.

But speaking as a fan of almost 40 years, (which is nothing: I have Cher friends who've been fans for 50 years), the adulation is long past its overdue date. In any case, the responses from the hosts who interview her and the audiences has all been way beyond
Believe-era responses.

In the interview, Cher talks about a childhood friend named Della and sharing a hair brush
(love those childhood stories!). They play a game called Would You Share (what's with all these Cher games this year?? Not that I hate them or anything). While Mr. Cher Scholar was working late in our office, Michael made a very funny joke about sharing a bathtub and I heard Mr. Cher Scholar bust out laughing in the other room.

In the backstage interview, Cher talks about being mentored by Sonny. She also talks on stage about her experience mentoring singers on The Voice for two days and how unexpectedly attached she became to the contestants, and how surprised she was how much she knew about performing and had such good advice to give. I hope she liked it well enough to keep doing it. From hearing Barry Manilow talk about mentoring on American Idol, it seems so fulfilling and positive.

Billboard

If you haven't heard already, Cher's album hit a debut spot of number three, the highest debut of her solo career. So impressive. My friend sent my this interview link from Billboard. I haven't watched it yet. I haven't even finished the fan chat interview yet either or all the links below!I've had a cold and am talking this crazy-intensive University of Pennsylvania online poetry class that sucks up like 4-5 hours of my evenings. But I will catch up!

I did buy the vinyl copy
of the album this week and the Japanese version is available as well.

I also bought my tickets this week to see Cher in Phoenix. I've never seen an opening night before, but this was the closest city I could reasonable get to, considering I am living in the middle of a desert.

More Cher News

from EuropeCher World:

Cher News:

Pics from Cher's album party:

   

Reviews of New Cher Album

September 29, 2013 / / 2 Comments

TargetcoverWhat a daunting task. Approaching my first Cher album on a blog post. The ritual of listening to a new Cher album and reading the liner notes is one of my favorite Cher things to do. But how many times do you need to listen to a new album before reviewing it? My friend asked me that last week and I didn't have an answer.

As it is, I've listened to it about six or seven times. And a few days ago I went online to read the reviews, which stretch the gamut from perfect to flawed-but-okay.

Cher Zombies who love dance mostly love it entirely. Cher Zombies who yearn for country, rock or torch seem to like it well enough. And some Cher fans feel even a bad Cher song is a good Cher song. I kinda feel this way to some degree although I like to categorize. I'm a sorter by nature and so within the parameter of even a bad Cher song being a good Cher song, some Cher songs are surely better than others.

First I'll summarize my reaction to some music reviews out there:

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Cher Appearances for Closer to the (VCR Alert)

September 29, 2013 / / 1 Comment

CherlaceOMG…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.


TodayThe 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


Lettermanbanner

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/

ChertourpsoterThe Tour Announced!

Last but not leased, tour dates were released!

Visit Ticketmaster or Cher's tour page.

The closest place for me to see the tour is in Phoenix which will be opening night.

The competition to get Cher concert tickets always makes me nervous. I've never enjoyed the day tickets go on sale.

What if I can't get good tickets? What if it sells out? What if I oversleep that day or my Internet goes down?

When I was a kid, I used to go down to the department store to get concert tickets, wait in line at 5 am for tickets to go on sale at 10 am. Those were the days of standing in the cold and worrying about line butt-inskies. We always got good seats that way, though. Now you're fighting with the pushy cyber-masses.

 

Cher Appearances for Closer to the (VCR Alert)
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