Category: Music (Page 26 of 34)

If You Look at Half Breed in a New Light, You Will See That It Is a Punk Song

January 6, 2011 / Cher Scholar / 2 Comments

Went to the Lancaster Pennsylvania for Christmas to see my parents.

Two things happened over my holiday break. First, on New Year's Eve John and I watched the Marx Brothers' movie marathon on TMC (saving Night at the Operafor a few days ago). John loves the Marx Brothers and watching TMC reminded me how fun it would be to see Cher host late night movies there.

Secondly, on the flight to and from Baltimore, I read a book my friend Coolia gave me for Christmas, Cassettes From My Ex, Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves edited by Jason Bitner.

I guess my generation (X) was the unfortunate cassette generation. I never bought cassette albums myself. My older brothers adamantly taught me that vinyl albums had a far superior audio quality. But blank cassettes I bought in mass amounts to do what my cassette generation did best: make mix tapes for ourselves and all our friends. I made a ton of them and received many in return, all of which I have treasured and saved.

And these days there are many books about our tendencies to make these personal eclectic mix tapes. This latest anthology of mix-tape-stories focuses on cassettes we received from our lost lovers and the love stories steal the show, both bittersweet and fond memories of lost teen-age and young-adult love affairs. I enjoyed every one. The mix tapes themselves were 99% alternative, indie and punk mix compilations.

So imagine my surpirse to find Cher represented twice on mix tapes memorialized in the book. "Half Breed" appears on the 1990 mix Vinnie Angel’s received from an old flame. And "A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done" appears on a mix tape Gretchen Phillips received in 1982 from her girlfriend Teresa.

The Burlesque CD Review

December 4, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

Let me start by saying the soundtrack Burlesque made its Billboard debut at #18 this week. Not too shabby. Not at all. But I have to admit, I was more excited over the clip Cher scholar "Dishy" sent me last week of Cher singing a Christmas version of "One Tin Soldier" from the early 70s.

That's because this is primarily a Christina Aquilera CD. With the exception of Cher's two tracks, this is Aquilera's Yentl. More a star-vehicle than a musical.

Musicals have choruses, duets, themes, overtures.

Entertainment Weekly liked Christina's tracks on this CD better than her earlier "misfire" Bionic. But they accuse Cher's of warbling and never again mention her tracks at all.

I had heard an early bootleg of Aquilera's track #9 "Show Me How You Burlesque" but it was titled "Spotlight" when I heard it. I thought it was a decent track but kind of emotionless and I was curious to see what kind of range the soundtrack would have.

The CD does have a bit of variety, comprised of a few Etta James inspired performances that Christina Aqulera yells through, alternating with camp, groove, and the musical pillars of the movie–dance tracks about burlesque ("Express", "Show Me How You Burlesque" and "The Beautiful People"), which are catchy but all kind of sound alike after awhile.

I think Aquilera has a powerful voice and I have always liked her song choices and overall articstic message. But I don't feel like these songs are the best of her best. I played the CD about three times in the first few days before seeing the movie and my husband John popped his head in to ask what all the yelling was about.

There's a lot of yelling.

But the truly stand out track is Aquilera's torch ballad "Bound To You" (the song to download according to Entertainment Weekly). In a way it's the only emotive moment in the soundtrack.

Then there are two Cher songs, which is the only reason I now own this CD.

"Welcome to Burlesque" – the lyrics to the chorus (according to Cher on David Letterman) were written by Moonstruck screenwriter John Patrick Shanley who did a polish on the Burlesque script. I like the sort of gypsy-sounding violin parts that wind around in the song, but the rest of the instrumentals behind Cher are plodding and mushy and it never quite takes off for some reason. Like the music drags it down and makes it sleepier than it should be. Cher might have been better served singing a copella.

"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" — I was initially highly disappointed to hear Diane Warren was penning this. Her contributions to the Cher canon are not favorites as you may know. And her style is so bombastically unique that her song stands out like a toe among the Aquilera songs.

Which brings us to the point of mentioning how uneven the music to this "musical" is, how seemingly haphazardly the songs were slapped together. Even though I'm not a Warren-fan, it would have been much better if either she or Aquilera had written an actual full score to the movie for musical consistency.

All that said, this Warren song has gotten into my head like an earworm and stayed there. So maybe I like it more than I want to admit. Again, the music behind Cher on this track sounds murky and plodding, too. Which is why the bootleg remixes have been such infectious fun: http://www.youtube.com/user/InfoVectra#p/u/2/sri9f90JwS4

Remixes: http://www.youtube.com/user/InfoVectra#p/u/2/sri9f90JwS4

Burlesque Stuff

November 18, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

There are some "You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me" remixes out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYBaO9VADjU
But I like this one better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhST-TlGk-YEarbuds

Sony has also released Burlesque earbuds for purchase.

And Burlesque T-shirts have appeared on eBay (see below).

The Burlesque Movie Book

October 28, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 4 Comments

And FINALLY… FINALLY I received my Burlesque book! Jesus but this took effort and the patience of some higher power than me. Because I was DYING to get my little hands on it! My first order accidentally went to my old Redondo Beach address. And the forward didn’t work. Calling Amazon and the post office got me nowhere, the book was lost in postal space…so after two weeks I just reordered the darn thing. I was a bit unsure what to expect. People on the Cherfreaks lists here and there were NOT raving about it…in fact they were complaining about the dearth of Cher pics in it.

The book is smaller than your typical coffee table book but I have to say I really like it. It begins with a very generous 3-page introduction by Cher. She talks about her first magical movie experience seeing Cinderella at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in LA and memorizing “A Dream Is a Wish Your Hearts Makes” so she was able to sing it for her parents on the way home. Very cute. She talks about coaching “this beautiful child” Christina Aquilera, Stanley Tucci (Cher agrees with Meryl Streep…although Cher gives no last name, just Meryl…that Stanley never has a false moment in his performances). She calls “K-Bell” a fire cracker, Peter Gallagher wonderful and fun. Eric Dane full of charisma, and Cam Gigandet a sort of James Dean. She talks about writing a scene from the movie and I wont tell you which one but it has to do with her mother and her friends. She says “They were all so beautiful and I was an ugly duckling” a comment which of course reminded me of sad things women continually say on Ru Paul’s Drag Race (of which I’ve been watching reruns I’ve already seen and been crying all over again!).

Cher’s essay reminded me again of how long her professional relationships have lasted. Not the situation of a nasty DIVA. She lists a long line of long-time compatriots, her agent, her managers, the professional advice of David Geffen, her makeup artist, her costume wrangler, and the loooong-time assistant of many-trades Deb Paul. She also thanks newbies like the movie’s Director of Photography Bojan Bazelli (“I will never look this good again”), the movie’s wigmaker Carol Robinson and most incredibly her assistant on set, Jennifer Ruiz (“she’s the girl you want in your foxhole”). It was a very generous of her to use the space to thank everyone.

Christina also adds a forward in which she calls Cher her mentor and working with her a “dream come true.” She ends by saying she thinks the film is something Etta James, Josephine Baker and Bob Fosse would be proud of.

And beyond that, the book is full of tidbits about the making of the movie. Antin defines burlesque as he sees it, and the many stories of it taking nine months of chasing Cher “shamelessly” to make the film. He calls Cher “the coolest chick I’ve ever met." Choreographer Denise Faye talks about how they created organic routines to match the storylines, set people talk about the dramatic look they were going for, inspired by the paintings of LaTour (1st above) and Caravaggio (at right), how they researched the “main character”, the burlesque lounge, and what inspired them. Designers discuss the specialized costumes and wigs, the use of Swarovski crystals, they symbolism of the color red, the use of monochromatic lighting for non-club scenes, the special Christian Louboutin shoes for Christina, the bartenders outfits, and even the zinc bar top. The book talks about who greenlit the movie, what producer gave it credibility, the makeup methodology, how the footlights work to serve the opening scene, how Steve Antin grew up in LA and particularly appreciated the sunlight at Hollywood and Vine. Even the news that Bob Mackie designed Cher’s “Welcome to Burlesque” outfit. This book is like a Burlesque CliffsNotes.

Julianne Hough says “no detail was sparred and nothing is boring.” Alan Cumming says “If you like Cher, you’ll love this movie…this movie is Cher Christmas.”

It’s about time for some Cher Christmas!

Burlesque: Posters, CDs and…Stick Faces?

October 28, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

The soundtrack was first to be released November 16 but then was pushed back to Nov 22 (the film hits theatres November 24). So that’s STILL enough time to memorize all the songs before you see the movie.

The soundtrack track listing was posted as follows:

1. 'Welcome to Burlesque' – Cher
2. 'Something’s Got a Hold on Me' – Christina Aguilera
3. 'Tough Lover' – Christina Aguilera
4. 'Long John Blues' – Kristen Bell
5. 'Diamonds' – Christina Aguilera
6. 'You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me' – Cher
7. 'Express' – Christina Aguilera
8. 'But I Am a Good Girl' – Christina Aguilera
9. 'A Guy Who Takes His Time' – Christina Aguilera
10. 'Bound to You' – Christina Aguilera
11. 'That’s Life' – Alan Cumming
12. 'Spotlight' – Christina Aguilera

LA Times recently did a story (10/11/2010) on real LA Burlesque shows.
http://www.latimes.com/la-ca-burlesque-20101010,0,6250789.story

Burlesqueis alive and well, having gone from 2 shows per month to about 4 a week in Los Angeles.

Lili VonSchtupp, Augusta Avallone, Steve Antin and choreographer on “Dancing with the Stars” and former Pussycat Doll Lindsley Allen are interviewed for the story. (Steve Antin’s sister Robin Antin was a founder of the Pussycat Dolls).

They talked about shows like “Monday Night Tease”, “The Rendezvous” at the King King, and even the famed Actor’s Gang group getting into the fun. Hmm…I don’t think I need to see Tim Robbins stripping…but okay.

LA even has a burlesque school called The Striptease Symposium.

To define burlesque, they used words like vaudevillian, tongue-in-cheek, 18th/19th century European theater, specifically Italian commedia del’arte, French cabaret, pastiche (a form of literary impersonation), definitely with a sense of humor and surprisingly innocent.

Some interesting new movie press items have also been released.

The hand stick faces: do you think this will be a collector's item someday?

And the hot and tangy Japanese poster is out.

The new Japanese website: http://burlesque.jp/
See the trailer with subtitles.

And I wish I was still in LA to see this!! Burlesque ads on the Sunset Strip!! (Facebook's Team Burlesque posted the photo)

And there's a LOT more stuff to comment on…soon!

Who is this Duet and Why Was it Recorded?

October 28, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

In the Oct 22/29 issue of Entertainment Weekly, horror maestro Stephen King reviews the soon-to-be released dvd of the documentary “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)”, calling it “an exploration of the dark side of success that’s hard to watch and even harder to forget.”

I missed the LA screening a few years ago so I still wonder if they discuss Cher’s duet with Harry, the Phil Spector produced single "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" from 1975.

The blog "For the Love of Harry" reviews the song and you can listen along.
http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2008/02/nilsson-cher-love-like-yours-1975.html

RE-UPPED! One of Harry's more obscure major releases, a Phil Spector produced duet with Cher. There's a little bit of confusion about this release, as it originally appeared on a 1975 Warner Brothers promo LP (which sold for $2) called Burbank's Finest: 100% All Meat. It was eventually issued as one of the first of three 45's on Spector's vanity label for Warner Bros., but it went nowhere fast (as did the label). Harry told Creem magazine that the backing track was actually intended for John Lennon's Spector-produced Rock 'n Roll album. Leave it to Spector to make Harry's & Cher's voices sound alike. Nilsson once referred to this one-off duo as "Nilssonny & Cher." The flip side is a Cher solo recording.

Listening to it again, I notice an oddly precious opening to the song (which isn’t atypical of Phil Spector, I guess). Some people hate Cher's three Spector singles from the mid-70s but I think Cher’s strong voice is particularly suited to his hazy, languid arrangements. There are some cool scratchy wails from Cher in the track and some typical Phil Spector eeriness, speaking of which… Al Pacino is set to play Spector in David Mamet’s HBO biopic.

…uh…can't wait for that.

TV Alert: Cher on VMA Tonight!

September 12, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

Cher will be presenting on MTV's Video Music Awards tonight live.See more info at Cher World: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1211

Remember when Cher sang "Main Man" on the VMA's back in 1988, twenty-two f-ing years ago!

Here were all the performers that night:

   1. Rod Stewart – "Forever Young"
   2. Jody Watley – "Some Kind of Lover"
   3. Aerosmith – "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
   4. Elton John – "I Don't Wanna Go On With You"
   5. Bobby McFerrin – "Review of the Balloting Rules & Regulations"
   6. Depeche Mode – "Strangelove"
   7. Crowded House – "Better Be Home Soon"
   8. Michael Jackson – "Bad"
   9. Cher – "Main Man"
10. Chubby Checker & Fat Boys – "Louie, Louie" / "The Twist"
11. Guns N' Roses – "Welcome to the Jungle"
12. INXS – "New Sensation"

I….feel…old. But on the bright side, Cher out-lasted Guns N' Roses and INXS. And Rod Stewart is barely hanging in there.

You can never count Aerosmith out, especially considering all those Blockbuster Soundtracks there are in the world left to do. I wonder if we would have been seeing Michael Jackson on this year's award show had he not passed away last year.

And I bet you will see tonight that jinormous earrings are back in town. It's almost like those 22 years never happened.

Burlesque, Album and Boy Assets!

September 2, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 4 Comments

What a great time to be a Cher fan, huh? With posters like that?

This will look great next to the Tea with Mussolini poster!

And the trailer is up on the youtubes! How fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ilQOFttjG8

On my last night in LA, I got together with my bffs and we watched Witches of Eastwick on Blu-ray. I took the opportunity to show them the trailer…and I have to be honest, they hated it, thought it was full of cliche.

But I…am very excited about it.

She's also still tinkering with her album:

“It really won’t be Believe-ish,” she says. “It will be more…I don’t know how to say it. I can’t put a genre to it. It’s a little bit more real instruments, like guitars and stuff like that.” Don’t get too excited Cher fans: the singer admits she’s still very early in the recording process.

Says Cher, “I just got some of the songs and I’m just learning [them] so I’m kind of at that beginning stage where you’re taking baby steps.”

http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/08/16/cher-new-album-exclusive/

And…and…we got to see Cher out on the town with her beau…how exciting! I like this guy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1304962/Cher-enjoys-movie-date-new-boyfriend-Ron-Zimmerman.html

Updates in Vegas, Love, Charity and Oprah

May 30, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

While convalescing (which entails staying away from the computer, sad to say), I went to see Cher and Barry Manilow in Las Vegas during the first weekend of May. My friends Julie and Dave and Nellie went with us. The opening monologue still went on too long and generally confused Nellie, a Vegas singer and dancer. But the show as a whole was pretty great, especially with the new Bob Seger segment – a seedy rendition of "Fire Down Below" spliced with a fun-loving version of "Old Time Rock and Roll. Cher comes out as a male pimp/gangster (see Mackie sketch below…the real image of it is far more amazing, however) with a gargantuan feather towering over her head. Like in the video "Walking in Memphis" she nearly successfully sublimates her physicality with masculine motions. She appears tinier as a result. Just as when she does Elvis in the video. She quickly transforms onstage into a sexy redheaded moll in a yellow dress for the second song. Great sexy set and a creative and exciting performance. It steals the show for me. She sings "Love Hurts" now from the big pearl.

The set list:

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Laverne segment
Fire Down Below
Old Time Rock & Roll
The Beat Goes On
All I Really Wanna Do
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves
Dark Lady
Half Breed
Don't Leave Me This Way
Take Me Home
Love Hurts
After All
Walking In Memphis
If I Could Turn Back Time
Believe

It was like a high school flashback to see Barry Manilow the next night. Actually, it was not my choice to see Barry. I've long lost touch with his career. But my husband chose Barry over a Cirque show, reasoning that Cirque will be in Vegas forever; Barry may not be with us forever. Since I was a pre-teen I've seen Barry quite a few times, including at the Hilton a few year's back when he first came to Vegas. His show at the Paris casino was very emotional for me somehow. Our tickets upgraded to the orchestra so I was closer than I've ever been and everything was much smaller scale and personal, including a lovely tribute the paintings of the Louvre. He did a breath-taking (literally) rendition of "Weekend in New England" and no fans were asked to sing "Can't Smile Without You" for which I was thankful. It was very sad to think this may be the last time I'd ever see him.

But enough of that…Cher's Got a New Boyfriend!

The news outing started here.

He's a comic and comic book writer. Here's his Wikipedia Page.

He had me at comics.

You can purchase his Ultimate Adventures book on Amazon.

He's also interestingly a Howard Stern co-hort and his dating of Cher has been discussed on Stern's radio show:

HOWARD MIGHT DROP IN ON CHER

Howard looked forward to his weekend trip to LA, saying he might go visit his old friend Ron Zimmerman at his new girlfriend's house: "[I'm] probably going to go up to Cher's Malibu place and hang with her and Ron…Cher doesn't know anything about it." Howard joked that Cher would probably sequester him to a 'safe room': "Ron told me they have a special room for people like me at Cher's house. Like Ron's riff-raff friends."

Cher's New Charity Donation

http://www.peoplepets.com/news/celebrities/cher-bedazzles-a-dog-to-help-homeless-pets/1

Bedazzles a Dog to Help Homeless Pets

The one and only Cher is stepping up to help homeless animals this weekend in the best way she knows how: with outrageous fashions and lots of sparkle! The pop diva is donating this crystal-studded ceramic dog to the Animal Foundation's Seventh Annual Best in Show event. Decorated with 11,520 Swarovski crystals, the dog will be available for auction, with proceeds going to charity.

The flashy canine was all the singer's idea, inspired by the glittery, sequined costumes of her current Las Vegas show. And though many Sin City headliners are donating similar works to the auction, Cher is by far the biggest name to participate.

Best in Show is a fund-raiser that showcases 60 dogs available for adoption from the Lied Animal Shelter in Las Vegas.

Josh and Cher on Oprah!

Oprah arranged a meetup between Cher and her huge fan Josh. I agree with Kitty's comment on the show positng: https://cherscholar.com/cherblog/2010/05/tv-alert-orpah-.html

It was very touching and I thought Josh was amazingly eloquent and possessed. Here is the experience in a nutshell (with a tiny bit of extra footage not seen on the show): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1xQb15ENtk

And finally, an astute Cher Scholar emailed me this clip of Paul Anka singing the song "Flashback" just like Cher sang it on her 1976 I'd Rather Believe in You album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5RzOlDE7mk

Speaking of album, many new Cher album rumors are flying, including one that Cher would sing a new single "Already Been There" on the May 18 World Music Awards. There was no hint of that on the WMA web site and not surprisingly it didn't happen. Cher is also stoking rumors that she will tour again to support the new album, rumored to be released in conjunction with her new movie Burlesque around Thanksgiving this year.

Name Dropping at the Academy of Country Music Awards

April 21, 2010 / Cher Scholar / 5 Comments

D Does Cher plan to lasso some young and defenseless country singer with that chain on her hip?

The funny thing about Cher's Sunday appearance on the ACMA's is the sound of Reba McEntire introducing her. God love her, it came out more like ChhErr.

And Cher got a Standing O from this surprising audience. Well, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that they love a good femme-Elvis when they see one. Awww, they’ll all just closet fans, you know it.

But to back it up, Cher talked about her "country creds." You know, creds…credentials…authenticity. Hmmm. I would have bought it more if she had worn a cowboy hat.

I would seriously like to hear more details about her mom Georgia Holt's gig with “a little band called Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.” Cher also teased us about a duet with “my good friend Merle Haggard (wouldn't that be sweet!); but then she followed it up by saying she had a "hard time wrapping her head around "Haggard & Cher." She also spoke about the first song her mom ever taught her, "Hey Good Lookin."

At the end, Cher introduced Blake Shelton, who performed his No. 1 hit “Hillbilly Bone” with Trace Adkins. Blake had this to say:

“I’ve never met Cher, probably never will, but knowing that she said my name on national television – that’s badass.”

His girlfriend, Miranda Lambert, who scored various awards the same night for Video of the Year, Album of the Year and Top Female Vocalist of the Year, attended the show with her little shelter dog from Ada, Oklahoma, a dog coincidentally named “Cher.” During the show, the puppy waited backstage in the dressing room.

Jeremy Helligar of True/Slant had this to say about Cher's appearance:

Phase Two of Project Cher’s Comeback officially began on Sunday night with her appearance at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, where she’s been performing regularly since 2008. (Phase One was her presenting gig with Christina Aguilera at the Golden Globes in January.) She’s no doubt hoping it culminates with her third Oscar nomination for Burlesque, her first movie since Stuck on You in 2003.

Cher is the kind of star that we simultaneously love and laugh at, so there’s a surge of optimism surrounding her comeback hopes (or maybe that’s just among her gay fans). Though the presence of her more polarizing costar Aguilera means it could go either way, when it comes to Cher, who launched previously successful — and improbable — comebacks in 1979, 1987, and 1998, anything can happen, and it usually does.

Sources:
http://www.okmagazine.com/2010/04/miranda-lambert%e2%80%99s-dog-cher-brings-good-luck/

http://trueslant.com/jeremyhelligar/2010/04/19/a-cher-resurrection-j-lo-redux-what-will-be-the-greatest-comeback-of-2010/

An old People Magazine about Georgia Holt (who's larger story seems like it would be a very interesting tale): http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20071447,00.html

Category: Music (Page 26 of 34)

If You Look at Half Breed in a New Light, You Will See That It Is a Punk Song

The Burlesque CD Review

Burlesque Stuff

The Burlesque Movie Book

Burlesque: Posters, CDs and…Stick Faces?

Who is this Duet and Why Was it Recorded?

TV Alert: Cher on VMA Tonight!

Burlesque, Album and Boy Assets!

Updates in Vegas, Love, Charity and Oprah

Name Dropping at the Academy of Country Music Awards

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