Sad Cher-related story as Phil Spector loomed so large in early S&C history and Cher's first recordings as a backup singer and emerging solo artist in the early to mid-60s.
Category: Peripherals (Page 17 of 21)
My parents are visiting for the first time in three years, first time since I've been living in sin with my bf–to help with wedding stuff. We're going to visit the place who may be selling us our program paper, visit the wedding site and getting the house fixed up a bit. So I'll be MIA here for the next two weeks. After that we have a store-load of links to catchup on.
It went virtually un-remarked on but Chastity celebrated her 40th birthday this past March 4. (I had to look that date up – for some reason I thought she was a April baby.) Like me, Chastity was born in 1969. I still recall how put-out I was the she was, in fact, older than me. I have no idea why that mattered to my 8-year old self. I must have felt she was America's little sister–since obviously Sonny & Cher were our fantasy hipper alt-parents.
Turning 40 is an awesome milestone–but even moreso if you were born in 1969. Myself, I always felt a bit charmed to have been born that magical year.Editor Kit Rachlis of LA Magazine in a recent "letter from the editor" spoke about what a historic year 1969 really was. She says
“2009 is the 40th anniversary of something significant…By any measure, 1969 was momentous. With Woodstock, the counterculture—a small bohemian movement scattered around the country—reached critical mass and found its emblem. The Tate-LaBianca murders confirmed what everyone should have known: Violence and manipulation swam alongside all that peace and love.”
Kit catalogues the fury that was 1969: Woodstock, The Tate-LaBianca murders, first manned mission to land on the moon, the November march against the Vietnam War (more than 500,000—then the largest demonstration in U.S. capital history), and she even lists one of the most momentus but completely unreported events of that year – the invention of the Internet and the first message sent from a UCLA computer.
The company the coordinates the technical aspects of the Internet is my major employer right now; and the publishing revolution enables me to research news articles and encyclopedic entries on Armenia yesterday without going to a library, meet Cher fans for the last 10 years without having to wait for conventions, buy a new Cher CD release while sitting on my couch with my pajamas and slippers on, and blog about what I think of it to youse guys.
As Kit says “everyone on the planet has been affected by the Internet.”
And yet Kit tells the story of how disinterested the Smithsonian was in collecting that very first computer that sent that very first Internet communication-–for years the Smithsonian didn’t see its value!
Kit states: “In our mania to make predictions and sweeping pronouncements and top-ten lists…to come up with instant analysis, whether on TV or in blogs, we invariably reflect our blinkered view. We adhere to a conformity we’re not alert to.”
And then she quotes film critic Steve Erickson who says in the same LA Magazine issue
“…the most radical notion of all is that a great movie…is still great even if it has no audience.”
We didn’t notice how great the invention of the Internet was and to some degree I don’t think we still fully grasp it even now. But in many ways, it is not our task to fully grasp it – it’s just our task to play
it out.
My 40th birthday will arrive this summer. I am looking forward to it. I'm proud of my battle scars and I do feel wiser and stronger and happier and more appreciative of moments and less willing to put up with bullshit. I’m even more convinced today than I was when I was a little girl watching The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and thinking that Chastity was younger than me that Cher records are great, even though they don’t have a full-fledged audience yet and even though institutions and critics like the Smithsonian don't get it yet. 😉
I’m 40 now. I know some things.
Ceremony
Chastity's band of the early 90s, here's their video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucugm3L-X-A
Alfie
Cher's version of the title song in Alfie trailer:
http://www.jaman.com/movie/Alfie-1966/0utguYlm0LHg/
MWARARS
The 45 download of Sonny & Cher's "Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer"
http://brackattack75.blogspot.com/2009/04/sonny-and-cher-mama-was-rock-and-roll.html
I really don't see why the bother of listening to the "radio edit" of this song. I mean, if you get tired of the opus half way through, just turn it off.
What Cher was thinking when she recorded this rock opera is one of the Cher scholar mysteries of all times.
Headline: Nicolas Cage grateful to Cher for his Hollywood stardom
Thank you.
My bf was flipping channels and came across Moonstruck the other day and he asked me how the hell Nicholas Cage was miscast in it. I blamed Cher. Bf suggested someone older and more road-weary would have been better. I replied that I agreed but that Moonstruck gave him his break into the "big leagues."
And it’s like Nicholas Cage was listening in!
Nicolas Cage says that he is indebted to Cher for helping him become a Hollywood star. The ‘City Of Angels’ star has said that he is thankful to the singer-cum-actress because she fought to land him a role alongside her in the Oscar-winning movie ‘Moonstruck’.
Studio bosses were not very keen on casting the then-23-year-old Cage as Cher’s love interest in the film. But it was the ‘Believe’ singer who dug her heels in, and landed him the part of New York baker Ronny Cammareri.
The movie won Cher a Best Actress Oscar, and made Cage an overnight sensation in Hollywood and the actor is eternally grateful. “She really was a champion for me. At a time when people didn’t see me as a romantic actor, she fought for me,” Contactmusic quoted Cage as saying. (ANI)
Headline: Wear or Die: Cher's Oscar Fashion Edition
Neither are outfits for the faint-hearted, but what if you HAD to wear one of them – or die? Which one would you choose?
The outfit on the left may look initially more frightening, but the one on the right reveals much more skin. Just to level out the playing field a little, we're going to allow you to ditch the hat/wig/whatever the hell that thing is shown in picture one. Don't say we're not good to you.
What's it going to be, then, readers: which outfit will you wear – or die!
Celine met with Caesars Palace and AEG/Concerts West executives, watched Cher’s show and then went back to her own former dressing room to meet her successor on Feb. 25. Celine’s team wouldn’t confirm or deny my questions about the reported pregnancy but did send the Cher photo for us to run on Vegas DeLuxe.
A friend sent me a link to one of Christy Bono’s restaurant profiles on Restaurant.com.
Christy, Sonny’s daughter by his first wife Donna, has actually two restaurants in Long Beach.
1. Christy’s (I’ve been to Christy’s and loved it) – here's the menu – http://www.christysristorante.com/files/19721615.pdf
2. Then there’s Bonos - a better designed website but one that plays IGUB annoyingly in the background – here's their menu – http://bonoslongbeach.com/lunch2.html
I’ll be by soon to try Bono’s Gourmet Mac n Cheese. You betcha.
The photo above is not an actual depiction of Bono family recipes.
To begin with I must say I feel a tad creepy discussing this subject. And not just for that fact that I have no idea what I’m talking about. Usually I’m fine with talking out my ass. But this rumor ranks high on the sad and creepy meter all on its own and I would rather not go there.
Unfortunately, everyone is asking me about it this week. So here goes.
This is actually a relatively old story – the version I just read appeared in April of last year in a very mainstream Australian newspaper:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23483093-12377,00.html
Why has it taken so long to get on the radar of Americans…if it’s such a credible story (argument 1).
This is the jist of it:
SONNY Bono, former husband and singing partner of superstar Cher, was clubbed to death by hit men on the orders of drug and weapons dealers who feared he was going to expose them, a former FBI agent claims.
Private investigatorand former FBI agent Ted Gunderson (why can’t I get Fargo out of my head now?) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Gunderson) is the one who put forth this theory … to the Globe tabloid. So that should tell you something right there (2). It's still just a tabloid story at this point. Brief searches on Ted Gunderson brought up battles he’s had with late-night paranormal-themed radio show host Art Bell. We're still in tabloid zone here.
The article has Gunderson using terms like “ruthless assassins.” Which is a bit dramatic for credibility (3).
But all that aside, let's think through what could have happened? It’s said Sonny was an experienced skier; but he was also allegedly addicted to pain killers. It’s possible he was impaired by painkillers and had a skiing accident, although online reports of autopsy deny there were any substances in his system.
What’s true and what’s not? I’m not a criminologist. I’m not even a Sonny scholar. More just a plain old Sonny student. But still…
Although I didn’t follow his congressional career closely, I didn't think his big issues were drugs and weapons dealing (4). My understanding was his personal issues were trying to save Palm Springs' Salton Sea and the extension of copyright lengths, a bill that passed and became known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.
He was on the national security and judiciary committees, where he dealt with immigration, trade and crime legislation. But larger perspective people: he served under two full terms and so it's hard to believe he would have earned enough power and influence to be a target, especially in comparison to more senior Republican congressmen who were more outspoken on those issues…or any other celebrity congressmen who might have been targets for their positions on drugs and weapons. So it’s hard to see Sonny Bono as a big target for assassination (5).
And we’re also talking about a huge cover-up of an assassination in a public space. It would be hard to clean up so much possible evidence (6)…hit men ski tracks everywhere, witnesses seeing hit men skim Sonny off the trail. I’m no criminologist as I said, but I have watched plenty of episodes of First 48 (Go Memphis!). Drug dealers are assassinating people in Miami all the time on that show and they leave tracks in park grass.
So there are my 6 reasons to doubt the story. Not that I’m saying I know for a fact it isn't true. Far be it from me to understand the darkest corners of my governmental dramas with drug and weapon’s lords. Maybe Traffic the movie part 2 can connect the sordid dots I find to be missing with the story so far.
Maybe Sonny's voting record tells another story:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b000622/
Apparently Bette Midler is not selling tickets to her Vegas show as well as Cher's Vegas show is.
I’ve been debating this issue for the last few days. I’m thinking Bette’s crowd may be older or of a more confined age range and that Cher has had a more recent radio hit (1999 – not so recent when you think about it, but compared to Bette it is). Bette hasn’t had but one really monster hit or two (I can only think of "The Rose" and "Wind Beneath My Wings") and ticket buyers may be shopping for value, in other words a hit-packed show.
Not great news though as this works against Cher fans’ theory that Cher should do more of an art show.
Sonny Palms Springs Film Festival Vision:
Here's an excellent essay from mydesert.com from Bruce Fessier on The Palm Springs Film Festival highlights through the years, the celebrity drama, the very immediate impact Sonny's death had on the 1998 festival, and the big successes in showcasing some awesome movies.
I actually forwarded this article to two of my film-buff friends because the more I read the piece the more I realized it was an awesome Netflix list of great foreign and independent films of the last 20 years.
Also, it illustrates how important the festival momentum depended on fiscal management, donors, and gala events with red carpet attendance.
And how many films launched there went on to win Oscars:
"It illustrated how the festival circuit begins at Sundance and ends at Palm Springs just before the Oscar nomination announcements."[Fessier]
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090104/EVENTS01/901020330/-1/lifestylesfront
The Sonny Stamp
I had a late-Christmas party last night with some friends (we were all too busy over the actual holiday to meet). We met at West Coast Subs in the Palms area of LA for boba and dinner and this is where my friend Christopher informed me that Cher and Mary Bono Mack were joining forces to petition for a Sonny Bono memorial stamp.
Awesome.
Shorenuff, Liz Smith confirms:
Cher, the one and only, tells us that she is lobbying the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate her late ex, Sonny Bono, with his own stamp.
Cher says she would join forces with Congresswoman Mary Bono-Mack, who was married to Sonny at the time of his death, to make this honor a reality. And the U.S. Postal Service is keen to the idea. One high-up said, “A Sonny Bono stamp would be a lot of fun, especially if Cher would attend the dedication for it.
First of all: the one and only? – that phrase is dated, pointless and dorkey. By now there are actually many other Chers in the world. I know this because their blog entries clog up my RSS feeds.
Oooh…I’m envisioning sending oodles of mail with Sonny stamps. Do you think it will be 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s Sonny?
Stamps above from the site Stamp Magnets: http://stampmagnets.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?type=search&search=minor&minor=Entertainers+-+Music&shop=stamp-search&amount=10&num=20
So it was an emotionally busy and exhausting week in the United States in general and in California in particular. My office was off in Cairo Egypt working on tweaking-the-Internet-meetings and our web team did a record amount of work on the website. That left me with little free time or energy. Between that and Election Day, which not only included the incredibly awesome election of Barak Obama for U.S. President (and I must say I supported Obama as a potential president back when I saw him speak at the DNC back in 2004. Not to brag but…) but the surprising passage of proposition 2 in California which ensures larger cages for farm animals and the heartbreaking constitutional challenge to gay unions.
The ironic combination of those three election results has not been lost on us here in California with the bitter commentary that we expanded the rights of chickens while stomping on the rights of our gay community. In defense of the chickens, I must say I know of no animal rights activist who did not support gay marriage. The problems for proposition 8 were, to my mind, as such:
- Misleading proposition language on the ballot: many folk believed a Yes vote meant they supported gay marriage, not that they supported a ban on gay marriage. This confusing language is usually intentional on the part of the proposition’s proponents. They try to trick you into voting for stuff: get educated before you vote, people.
- Allegedly large amounts of money spent from the Mormon Church in support of the ban on gay unions. If this is true, it's a bit ironic considering other Christian challengers to gay marriage always claim a slippery slope which would lead to a Mormon-style bigamy. Gay haters (or Gayters as I like to call them) make strange bedfellows.
- Other homophobia in various communities.
And although this sucks royally, we have to keep supporting our community with each next step. This is no time to give up. This morning on the Stephanie Miller Show, the commentary-duo Frangela was on the air discussing the alleged lack of support in this proposition from the African-American community, calling on African-American civil rights leaders such as Al Sharpton to speak out against the proposition. Angela V. Shelton (one half of Franglea) has long been an advocate for gay rights and stated unequivocally that “No one is free until we’re all free.”
In other news this week:
While I was waiting for someone at the bookstore to come out and help me find a book on the city of Redondo Beach, I picked up a copy of the new Tony Curtis autobiography American Prince. I leafed through the index to find Cher references.
I never really liked Tony Curtis, ever since I saw him on The Tonight Show years ago when he stated he thought his current hot, young girlfriend was even prettier than his daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis.
On many levels — a dipwad, I thought.
But anyway, Curtis talks about Sonny & Cher on one page of his new opus. He talks about Sonny wanting to buy his house (but which one? Didn’t they end up buying two of his houses? One on St. Cloud and one on Carrolwood — see pic above, both in Bel Air?). Curtis also talked about being a guest on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour when S&C were in the process of splitting up (remember his “Detective Fat”?). Curtis casually sympathizes with Sonny and says the breakup was basically over Cher’s ambition and her not wanting be part of the act anymore, 'cos it was holding her back. And if I remember correctly, this was Sonny’s version of events as well. But not the version many Cher biographers put forth.
Curtis taking this side is not surprising since I recall him appearing occasionally in Sonny’s post-Cher social circle lists. And it’s somewhat disappointing that Curtis plays that down in this book, like he was some disinterested bystander an all.
And dude, you title your book American Prince? Could the book be that credible? Okay, I admit my tastes veer more toward Tony Manero than Tony Curtis. But in any case, this all reminds me of that old James Taylor/J.D. Souther song, “Her Town Too”:
She gets the house and the garden
He gets the boys in the band
Some of them his friends
Some of them her friends
Some of them understand
Lord knows that this is just a small town city
Yes, and everyone can see you fall
It's got nothing to do with pity
I just wanted to give you a call
It used to be your town
It used to be my town, too
