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Auctioned Cher Will Need Home

April 2, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 3 Comments

Bad economic times sometimes mean good wax-statue-buying opportunities for you: The Hollywood Wax Museum is selling off its curios.

To view auction items go to: http://www.profilesinhistory.com/new/

Click auctions on the top menu
Then choose "Spring 2009 Wax Auction"

Cher is #74.

Her description:

Multi-talented actress and singer Cher was crafted by Hollywood Wax Museum curator Ken Horn, who was her personal make-up artist for a year. He sculpted the head in wax with portrait painted in oil. Horn also custom-made a replica of her elaborate jeweled Oscar gown, originally created by famed fashion designer Bob Mackie. Measures 6 ft. tall.

Estimated sale price: $2000 – $3000

Like the only other wax figure I’ve seen of Cher (Madame Tussaud's in NYC): lame!

Cher Mention in a Joy Harjo Play

April 2, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

I love literature…so you know I really love to find Cher references in literature.

My bf and I went to see a play at the Los Angeles' Autry Museum of the West. It was basically a one-woman show (with funky musical accents added by the fabulous – and fabulously sexy — guitarist Larry Williams) depicting Joy Harjo's early life story. Harjo is a pretty major poet of Mvskoke Nation descent.

According to her story (which she said was loosely biographical), her father was an alcoholic who eventually left the family, her mother was a thwarted singer who clung to abusive husbands and Harjo herself struggled through life on her own.

The title of the play does the show no service; the story is much more realistic and gritty than Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light implies and is more about the identity and social struggles of a young native American growing up in the 60s and 70s with a harsh home life and a poetic soul.

Harjo seamlessly splices together musical moments with direct storytelling interlaced with Native American parables. Every parable works as an effective punctuation to points she is making about her struggles to find meaning in heartache and feelings of abandonment.

Line by line, sheer poetry. It was amazing to watch. At the end, Harjo passed out gifts for audience members, a gesture of thank you for coming. I felt a pressure in my chest, realizing the show was over. Than I realized, that was my heart spinning!

I was moved and inspired. Doesn’t happen every day.

I purchased Harjo's poetry collection The Woman Who Fell From the Skyand on the back cover feminist-powerhouse-poet Adrienne Rich descirbes Harjo's writing as "precise and unsentimental." And this was the power of her show. It was stunningly stark and the “Spirit Helper,” hollering, props and songs all served to say something deeper about her main points, instead of ornament them in a stereotypically new-agey way.

So about the Cher reference…Harjo describes an episode during her young adulthood, partying sometime during the 1970s outside with some cross-dressing Native Americans, which is an amazing image in itself. One "Navajo drag queen" is spangled out in a flamboyant dress and is drunkenly trying to celebrate the birthday of Cher. He eventually gets arrested and in avoiding arrest herself, Harjo meets the father of her children.

I'm not yet widely read on Harjo, but here is a poem from an anthology that I really loved, a poem that was also the title of one of her collections, She Had Some Horses

http://www.renaissanceindian.com/Joy%20Harjo.asp

The last lines seem both Zen-sounding and still Mvskoke philosophy.

She had some horses she loved.
She had some horses she hated.

These were the same horses.

You need to read the entire poem to feel its momentum and strength.

Here's another review of the show which has left LA and is moving to other points across the United States.

Doubletakes: Impersonators, Covers and Album Art

April 2, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 6 Comments

Notes on impersonations

Yes, this 400 pound Cher requires a double-take, if not a spit-take. I actually applaud this interpretation, which shows no boundaries in embodying a Cher attitude.

Notes on covers

Cher scholar Tyler found this remake of Cher's hit "We All Sleep Alone" The fellow really enunciates every single syllable. I'm getting a contempo Christian vibe from him, although he calls himself a folk-pop crooner. It's pleasant enough with the teeth of the song as I'm used to it seem to have fallen out.

Notes on alternate album covers

Cher scholar JeffRey forwarded me some awesome photos of alternate album covers as seen out there in the wild. You may have seen some of these in used store record bins from time to time, if searching through those is your bag (it happens to be mine).

Cher, 1971
I love the full photograph cover, you get so much more Cher face in your face. However, I can see why they’d want to add the hit titles as a selling tool, like they used to do before album-wrap stickers were invented.

The Best of Cher Volume I
This came out in the early to mid-70s and tere was even a volume II. I love the picture of Cher talking on a phone. How normal is that? But green? Is this the alien import?

Cher's Golden Greats
This was Cher's first solo compilation. And you know I love that picture because I dedicated a zine to it. They're both interesting. One has Cher looking larger and more steely-eyed. The other is more demure. Both show off her awesome rocks and those happy yellow flowers.

What are your thoughts?

Cher Talks About Dancing with the Jackson 5

April 2, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

Follow the link below for a short video of Cher dancing with the Jackson 5 on The Cher Show; and below that is audio of Cher talking about the experience.

I notice on these commentaries (from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, for example), her initial memories go right to the clothes she was wearing or some aspect of putting together the outfit. I think this is why she would be a breathtaking judge on Project Runway. And likewise here, Cher remembers Bob Mackie telling her she was getting too thin. She also remembers how challenging it was for her to learn the J5 moves (it took her all day) but how fun it was to work with so many people on those variety shows.

What the devil is that fellow doing in the foreground?

http://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/2009/03/28/cher-ing-memories-of-a-young-michael-jackson/

Plea for a Cher Hit

March 26, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

For the past year or two, my good friend Christopher has been imploring me to escalate a very serious issue facing all of us: the fact Cher may not break the record of having a top ten hit four decades in a row.

As time flies in a surrealist painting, Cher has only months to go before the opportunity is gone. It’s panic time.

Christopher suggests that if this feat is not accomplished by a full-fledged record release producing a hit, then maybe some catchy track could be placed on a movie soundtrack post haste.

Here’s what Christopher has to say specifically:

Mary–

Here's the scoop:

As far as I can tell there are only 4 artists who have scored Top Ten hits in four consecutive decades.

Babs [Barbra Streisand] scored Top Ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Paul McCartney did so as well (as a member of The Beatles, Wings and solo). The hit from the 90s was a belatedly released Beatles track.

As you know, Cher has done so as well.

Aerosmith has pulled off a similar feat, but in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. I am willing to bet $$$ that Aerosmith will indeed earn another Top Ten hit in the upcoming "teens" decade, which means Cher will be left in the dust if she doesn't get her ass in gear.

Christopher

This is indeed a serious situation. Will Cher be bested by those skinny Aerosmythites? Indeed, I hope not.

Cher at Caesars: Year 2

March 26, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

Again, I had a good deal of fun seeing Cher live in Las Vegas a few Saturday’s ago. Her energy level seemed high and I felt and the crowd was very engaged.

I can always get a good look at the crowd from my last row seat of the orchestra floor which is the best I can ever afford.

This energy level was interesting considering everyone in the audience was older — way older -– than us. Me and my bf are 40/43 and we were the youngest people we saw all night until we moseyed on over to Pink Taco at the Hard Rock where we suddenly became the oldest people in the place. Suddenly Vegas felt very segregated.
But the oldies at the Cher show were cheerful and active all night. It was the same show for the most part. No major refurbishments (as there hasn’t been musically since 1999). There was the addition of “Love Hurts” swapped in for “The Way of Love” which was most appreciated. It was awesome in fact. She did a long American-Idol-length note at the end – really swell to hear. (I seriously love the sound in that joint.)

Cher also added “Let the Good Times Roll”, the aforementioned Caesar and Cleo song, not my favorite song and one she introduced with many disclaimers about inconsistencies in her performing; but she pulled it off nonetheless. It sounded much better than the Internet clip I'd seen.

She seemed to be having trouble with her voice all night, constantly drinking water and touching her throat; but I could only tell one moment where she cracked up a bit. The sound never dropped out.

The bf (who has broken a record here by being the only bf to attend two Cher concerts with me, and four Cher events if you include a Cher Convention dinner in LA and a San Diego’s Gay Men's Chorus Cher revue) said he felt the show was overall much tighter this year and that the acrobatics had been taken up a notch. And the acrobats had been…a notch. I felt the dancing was a little bit more synchronized. But I also wondered if that was my imagination or wishful thinking.

I sincerely loved the backup singer who did “Disco Inferno.” Again, I always love Cher’s techno-live duet with Sonny –- very moving every time for those of us who were never able to see them perform together. And I feel people don't give her Elvis impersonation (as seen in her “Walking in Memphis" video) enuff ink. She almost disappears into it. And Cher’s big presence disappearing into anything—come on people.

Cher mentions around the Net

March 26, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 0 Comments

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 Dion visits Cher

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.

Cher Remixes

March 26, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 8 Comments

http://wickedgayblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/cher-remixes-available-for-download-for.html

"Masterbeat announced today that they just got the entire Cher remixes (DJ, Club, etc.) catalog today and for the first time ever is available for download."

It works similar to iTunes: 99 cents can purchase you one song. As all my remixes are in a basement in Pennsylvania, this might come in handy.

When you visit the site, you can access the entire Cher catalog by clicking the “All Releases” tab. Included with regular album cuts of major CD releases are remixes of:

Believe – of these six remixes, the one I am partial to is the Almighty Definitive Mix. Truthfully, I was one of the rare people on the planet who didn’t love this song. And only played the ADM mix daily during that four weeks of #1 chart-toping that occurred in early 1999 when I was psychically trying to do my part to keep Believe on top.

Paradise is Here

Love One Another – I was always confused by the fact that I thought "When the Money's Gone" was the major single of this release.

Song for the Lonely

All or Nothing

D’ove L’amore – did I spell that right? I'm never sure.

Strong Enough

A Different Kind of Love Song

The Music’s No Good Without You

Heart of Stone

Take me Home, the single version and Take me Home the 12” (which was how remixes came out in the olden days of vinyl)

There are a few missing, you'll notice if you are a remix connoisseur, which I am not. But considering these mixes aren't on iTunes, this is a kewl thing. Here's the direct link: https://www.masterbeat.com/#artist/cher

Cher Scholar Interviews Rona Barrett

March 21, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 7 Comments

My bf and I spent one evening watching the new Rona Barrett DVD Rona Barrett’s Hollywood, a set of iconic interviews of 70s celebrities.

Honestly, we were struck by how fresh and honest the interviews were in comparison to the stale, stiff Barbara Walters interviews we’ve come to know over the last 25 years. Don’t get me wrong: I have loved me some Barbara Walters interview in my day. But seriously, I can’t stand The View and haven’t watched a pre-Oscar special in years.

Interestingly, in Rona Barrett’s interviews there are no “million-dollar” questions and yet somehow she gets into a superstar’s comfort zone with graceful civility. Personally, I think this is because she knows how to have a comfortable conversation and celebrities feel at ease. I’m reminded of Jon Favreau’s Dinner for Five shows except without the extra four dinner guests. Which means less grandstanding chat between stars.

My bf thinks Ron’s gift is that she sounds genuinely interested.

Cher Scholar JeffRey had this to say about the prospect of watching Rona Barrett’s new DVD: it feels like visiting a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.

In the DVD’s Cher interview, Rona says she’s known Cher since Cher was a “street kid” in the 60s and that she
admired Cher because she “had guts” and was honest. The interview takes place after Cher’s breakup with Sonny and David Geffen, right as she was falling in love with Gregg Allman. She squeals with affection and like other interviews of the mid-70s, she is unusually unguarded and open. She seems remarkably comfortable. She has striking eyebrows, long eyelashes, glamor nails and uses phrases like “bummed out.”

As I watched it I thought what a beautiful mouth Cher had. And those teeth. The Rona Barrett DVD is full of very 70s celebrity teeth, pre-hyper-perfection. I miss Cher’s teeth. I do not miss Burt Reynolds’ teeth, however. It’s also amazing how candid Rona gets asking about sex and Cher talks about how liberated and sexually free she had planned to be after leaving Sonny. However, she just wasn’t the type to sleep around. Great interview!

Many people my age also remember Rona Barrett’s fan magazines of the 70s that sat on newsstands right along Picture Screen and Photoplay. Magazines full of Sonny & Cher candid photos and wacky stories. Recently, a friend of mine gave me this copy (cover above; click here to see full image) of Rona Barrett’s Hollywood
from a celebrity-signing fair in LA.

Inside Cher is on practically every page, but the magazine has two (two!) full-page articles about her as well. The first one discusses the recent calls for censorship on The Cher Show – was Cher dressing too slutty? According to one Ohio TV station manager she was. Fans were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the topic.

Click here to read the full text and fill out the survey. (You may need to adjust your screen resolution.)

Please forward your responses to the comments section of this blog post!

In the back of the magazine there’s a second article, this one an interview in color with Laverne. Sweet! Click here to read the full text. When I saw Cher in Las Vegas last weekend, Cher’s mock interview with Laverne before Laverne’s “I Got to be Me” video reminded me of this article. Laverne deserves more airtime. Cher may have changed. But Laverne stays the same.

Anyway, I had the privilege of being able to interview Rona Barrett last week about the new DVD, her charity foundation and the Rona Barrett magazines.

Click here to read the full interview where she talks about interviewing Cher and Cher’s longevity.

L.A. readers
should know that Rona will be appearing for a DVD signing Wednesday, March 25 at
7:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble located at The Grove at the Farmers Market (Fairfax &
Third).

New Mashup!

March 12, 2009 / Cher Scholar / 1 Comment

http://torley.com/mashup-katy-perry-cher-believe-in-hot-and-cold

I would classify this as: cute.

I Found Some Blog

Page 82 of 109

Auctioned Cher Will Need Home

Cher Mention in a Joy Harjo Play

Doubletakes: Impersonators, Covers and Album Art

Cher Talks About Dancing with the Jackson 5

Plea for a Cher Hit

Cher at Caesars: Year 2

Cher mentions around the Net

Cher Remixes

Cher Scholar Interviews Rona Barrett

New Mashup!

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