Oh dear January, where have you gone. My lame excuses for my blog absences include: a bad cold I caught while making a five-hour drive to find out if my little 2-year old dog friend, Edgar, would like the snow in Mammoth, California; getting bogged down with cleaning my office; and a new job offer. I’m just now getting into the swing of things again with Ape Culture, I Found Some Blog and Cher Scholar. In the meantime, lots of Cher news has gone by my desk. Malibu caught on fire, (Cher’s house was spared, Suzanne Somers’ wasn’t), Cher sold a Palm Springs house, war protests, and yahoo fan posts about Cher pics in The Tabloid That Shall Not Be Named. Were they doctored photos? Also, there were rumblings about what may be going on with Cher headlining in Vegas is 2008? I also just got my new Deadsy CD in the mail. So many things to write about.

Today, I checked the official fan club and it’s still in lock down. I’ve been attempting to join since October 15 of last year (without bothering to email anybody at the site, mind you). I wonder if they are beyond having technical issues with the site. I did read their pretty extensive legal Terms and Conditions a while back. Maybe the issue is one of a legal nature. Or maybe they’re having issues with their Official status. I haven’t heard any news about the situation on the fan posts. Hmmm. It’s a mystery for this lazy detective.

As I was loading all my Cher songs onto my iPod this month (584 Cher songs out of 2951), I did stop to ponder the feminist juxtaposition of two album covers, the cover for Allman & Woman’s Two the Hard Way (1977) and Cher’s It’s a Man’s World (1996) almost 20 years later. The first cover would make feminist cringe and the other would cheer them up a bit. We go from a Surrendered Wife looking pose to something calmly empowering yet defiantly feminine. The Man’s World photo alludes to the power of Eve and the power of women, a subject covered in the James Brown (RIP) It’s a Man’s World title track. A pretty swell evolution… of sorts.
 

I’ve been talking a lot about Cher getting her due respect in the rock community; but as I was uploading all my CDs into my iPod, I came across the 1991 Sonny Bono tribute album Bonograph and it occurred to me something needed to be said about Sonny Bono and the respect he’s never received for some of his better songs. He did write his share of duds and chucklers – really dated material with dorky 60s hipster lyrics. Some more painfully off the mark than others. But he also wrote some clean, moving extended metaphors. I wrote about his whole western motif in the first Cher zine. So I’m glad this CD was made although it’s full of bands that never came to much.

Needles and Pins by Flat Due Jets – Is not quite what I want from the song. The Searchers version was irritatingly happy. Cher’s cover sings it with bass and pathos. The Ramone’s sing it like The Searchers – with that crazy "pinzah" word – but Joey Ramone also taps into something he Searchers don’t – the misery of the song – Cher and Joey Ramone get it.

Laugh at Me – tortured but messy even in Sonny’s version. Otis Ball improves it a bit and ends with a rockin ode to I Got You Babe.

Baby Don’t Go by Charlie Chestermann and The Harmony Rockets – I really like the Sheryl Crow/Dwight Yoakam remake of this – a song I’ve never really liked. This remake is a whiny, harmonica-laden version.

Koko Joe by Ben Vaughn – This is quite an impressive early dig-out that pre-dates Cher. It sounds very dated but interesting in it’s reinterpretation.

Bang Bang by The Frampton Brothers – a silly remake. Lots of covers have been made of this song, including haunting versions by Nancy Sinatra and Stevie Wonder.

Magic in the Air by The Wishniaks – Some these songs are one-step more deadpan than Cher’s renditions if that is even conceivable.

The Beat Goes On –  This is actually a fun boppin version by The Spuds. A cute sax part runs through it. Sure makes Britney Spears’ version sound like a dud. It’s no Herbie Mann, however. Check out iTunes for that.

Our Last Show by Scott McCaughey – better than Sonny’s version. More touching for some reason. You could almost see Gwen Stefani singing it, too.

I Got You Babe – Have you heard The Dictator’s version? I’m sure you’ve heard Cher’s own remake with Beevis and Butthead. Tiny Tim, Etta James, UB40 with Chrissie Hynde? This is the The Cynics take on it. Yeah… I’ve never really heard a bad version.

My Best Friend’s Girl is Out of Sight by Agitpop– This song isn’t a horrible as it sounds like it might be. The original or the cover.

It’s the Little Things by The Skeletons – The best cover in the set. They really bring the song to life.

I Look For You by Peter Holsapple – a deep catalog choice and a nice track with a good contemplative guitar.

You Better Sit Down Kids by What Else – Ick. Trying too hard to not try too hard. This is the only one I fast forward through.

I Just Sit There by Young Fresh Fellows – Sonny trying to be Psychedelic? Young Fresh Fellows make it work. At 10 minutes I think this song is almost 3 minutes shorter than the original. There’s the funny coffee outro, as well.

It’s Gonna Rain by Pink Slip Daddy – This was almost the single instead of I Got You Babe? I can never quite believe it. The song sounds so dated these days. This version is long and repetitive. And Pink Slip Daddy can’t match the funkitude of Sonny & Cher’s old version.

Pammie’s On a Bummer – by The Jimmy Silva Sextet – Headache-inducing intro, outro and everything elso. This song would be a challenge to improve.

Sonny’s message on the liner notes make me wonder if he wasn’t worried these artists were making fun of him with this tribute. He’s so reserved. I don’t think they were, however. There are not, for the most part, kitschy versions. But it is interesting to see how Sonny is always saddled with an association to Cher. Even this CD’s subtitle references her: “Sonny Gets His Share.” Very punny. I miss some of his better, 70s material: ‘Classified 1A,” “Somebody,” and the best of all – “A Cowboy’s Work is Never Done.”

It’s the last week of the 2006 and I’ve been spending my days loading up the new iPod I got for Christmas. As of this minute I’ve loaded 1215 songs. I’m up to Partridge Family in the alphabet.

Meanwhile, I’m watching TV and it’s hard not to avoid all the EndofYear lists on every channel. It’s like a manic week of taking stock of everything that happened last year: who died (Yahoo!), who behaved badly (E!), what where the best commercials (WTBS) and a random sampling of the top women in music (VH1 Classic).

Could it be possible that Cher is slowly clawing her way to the top of these music lists? Okay, it’s only VH1 Classic. Everyone keep their panties on. Who listens to what VH1 Classic has to say? I don’t know…but I was pretty excited that Cher made #11 on the list! Can a ranking near the top be but decades away? Dare we to dream?

I tuned in right as Cher’s "Turn back Time" video was playing to showcase her #11-ness. I missed the intro where they explained their rationale for including her. Did they say it was her vaudevillian versatility? Her comeback kid quality? Her leather and chain-mail image? Her sold out shows? Must know. Will keep checking for repeats of the show.

The list skewed in favor of the 80s: the bottom half included Annie Lennox, Joan Jett, Cyndi Lauper, Chrissy Hynde, Carly Simon, Blondie and Cher. The top half included Donna Summer, Carole King, Janet Jackson, and Mariah Carey. The top three were Aretha Franklin, Whitney and Madonna (#1).

The VH1 Classic message board was sprinkled with complaints about a missing Janis Joplin and Patti Smith. I myself wonder how Carly Simon and Carole King made the list as neither were huge 80s hit makers or video mavens, despite their 70s popularity as singer-songwritters. The more comprehensive VH1 list in 1999 of the Greatest Women of Rock ‘n’ Roll put Cher at a healthy #46. On that list, Madonna was #8, Aretha was #1 and Janis was #3.

The Cher yahoo group just posted a link to a poll for Queen of Pop. Interestingly, they listed Mariah, Cher, Madonna, Kylie, and Britney.

Britney Spears is imploding as we speak, kids. Kylie Minogue is more popular in Europe and Australia, although she has quite a underground of die-hards here. Notice a lack of Whitney Houston on the poll list. Whitney may be on the comeback trail but she’s still an imploded mass herself who has been MIA for a long time. On any list of relevant women of today Whitney is a questionable add, especially so high in the ranking–as VH1 Classic has her. On the other hand, Mariah’s mini-implosion has been forgiven by a recent hit record.  Cher and Madonna are implosion-proof so far. Many wouldn’t give Cher a chance at approaching Madonna’s hold on the tops spots in these ‘best of’ lists.

I say watch out, though. We’re heading in the right direction, list wise.  Click here to see Cher dance the jig.

One night in college I had an epiphany. I realized, quite suddenly, that I didn’t have to define myself by a boyfriend and the end-game to my life wasn’t “married happily ever after.” I could, in fact, take care of myself, answer for myself, and be myself. Luckily, I had some working-women as fellow students to serve as role-models. In graduate school, I jumped into the world of creating and reading zines (underground magazines derived from old fan and punk trades). I came across the modern feminist zines Bust and Bitch which I’ve been reading for many years since. Feminist rock anthologies are now barely starting to mention Cher as a rock chick of note, but rarely do feminists texts mention Cher at all. Although she was on the cover of Bust a few years ago, the article contained little explication of her role or attitudes about feminism.

So imagine my surprise when reading the 10th anniversary issue of Bitch recently and I came across a Cher dis in the article  “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Feminism But Were Afraid to Ask” by Rachel Fudge. Feminist Judith Halberstam, Professor of English and director of the Center for Feminist Research at USC, was asked “What is the most significant accomplishment of the past 10 years [for feminism]?” Halberstam listed a few militant feminist activities of note and then ended by saying, “Apart from that, I was happy when Cher retired…”

Okay…she made a funny. But seriously, it forces me to defend Cher as a feminist. Maybe not a militant feminist, maybe not an academic feminist, maybe not even a self-defined feminist…but Cher has definitely produced an persona of feminism over the years and has ultimately lived a feminist’s life.

Consider Katharine Hepburn again. Her parents produced a child who, by living with feminist intellectuals and activists, internalized the first-wave feminist message. Katharine Hepburn then took the message to pop culture, gave it a living context and boom! The thing was done. By seeing publicity pictures of Katharine Hepburn wearing pants (how outrageous!), feminism was actively defined. Women could see it, understand it subliminally. Although when you asked Hepburn, she poo-poo the idea of identifying herself with second-wave feminism (the 70s ERA movement and Gloria Steinem). Hepburn lived it. Why talk about it?

I would argue that likewise Cher has provided pop culture with similar feminist imagery. Whereas Madonna has engaged feminism in her life through artistic statements, Cher’s feminism is less of a pop-academic endeavor. With Cher, there is more human integration regarding her life as a feminist project.

Evidence of this: Cher historically says what she feels (however unladylike it may come across: see the swearing entry last month). Cher resists being intimidated by male-dominated industries (Rock ‘n’ Roll, Hollywood). Cher has produced independent, single-woman-supportive statements and imagery throughout her career, living mainstream feminism in ways more effective than simply writing a book about it. After all, a picture with pants speaks a thousands feminist words.

Imagery
What she wears part 1: Cher’s androgynous apparel of the 60s and her in-your-face flamboyance (via Mackie-wear from 1971 to the present) has served to mobilize both working class women and a large group of gay men because it encourages us by example to be who we are and express ourselves without apologies.

What she wears part 2: Cher’s paparazzi street-wear from the late 70s and 80s (torn jeans, chain mail, leather) also delivered a message of toughness and show women that you can have duality of personality. Tough one day, feathers the next. You don’t have to be Dolly Parton 24/7. You can walk the streets without makeup and live to tell about it.

Words To Live By
Cher’s mother once implored Cher to settle down and marry a rich man for security. Cher’s reply: “I am a rich man.” Granted, there was a time when Cher was a dependent wife of varying sorts to Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman. The 70s were possibly a big learning curve for Cher as an independent woman which involved emancipation from Sonny and their marriage-as-business, career resuscitation with the help of David Geffen (not known to be a feminist-sympathizer), and struggles in care-taking Gregg Allman (also no paragon of female empowerment; he was once quoted as saying woman have only two uses: making the bed and making it in the bed).

Ah…”making it” — so quaint, so 70s.

Certainly by the mid-80s Cher was not allowing herself be defined by her men. Cher even bulked the romantic establishment by daring to date, and not marry, younger men. It takes feminist balls to do that in a world where women are to this day seeking the older husband to take fatherly care of them.

Cher’s 80s and 90s rock singles and videos also show a strong, sassy woman: "I Found Someone," "Believe," "Strong Enough," "Just Like Jesse James," and "When the Money’s Gone" all portray a first person narrator of power. In fact, the video for "I Found Someone" showcases Cher’s 80s persona of a touch chick fighting for what she wants.

Cher’s movie roles have also been mainly strong examples: Rusty Dennis fighting for her son in Mask, Sissy struggling with mastectomy in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Dolly dealing with lesbian issues in Silkwood, a defiantly single mom in Mermaids.
 
The thing is, Cher is not a 100% perfect feminist. This, I guess, is why her name finds itself on the feminist target list. To some degree it might be the overt sexuality, the circus silliness of her concerts, or finally, the cosmetic surgery. Understandably, cosmetic surgery irks feminists because it undercuts our ability to just be who we are. It contributes to the dirty game of confirming we’re not good enough as a woman of years or a voluptuous woman or someone with a beauty mark when beauty marks just aren’t “in” for this decade. I can’t, myself, blame Cher for this breach of feminism since the problem is so epidemic in an entire generation of women. Hard-core feminists may find it easy to resist even the routine of daily eye-cream applied to ward off wrinkles, but it’s not so easy for the day-to-day feminist soldiers out here. Would it be nice for budding feminists out there if Cher aged like a blues singer? Sure it would. But you can’t misapply her feminist balance because of it.

I don’t often consider outright Cher’s contribution to feminism. But it certainly irks me to see her tallied as a feminist problem. I simply don’t agree. In fact, most female Cher fans I’ve met tend to be working class men and women who respond to Cher’s defiant independent imagery. Five decades of Cher resisting pop-culture obsoletion should speak for itself. She’s a tough broad in many ways where it still counts.