{"id":866,"date":"2017-12-12T13:31:04","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T13:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-sonny\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T08:17:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:17:13","slug":"what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-sonny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/2017\/12\/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-sonny\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Talk About When We Talk About Sonny"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sonny1\"<\/a><\/a>A few weekends ago I was driving to Sedona for a girls weekend and my iPod shuffle served up the song \u201cSnow Queen\u201d by Elton John, a song Elton and Bernie Taupin (and others) wrote<\/a> about Cher when she was in her Paris Hilton phase: all paparazzi and no respect. A grandiose idea occurred to me that Cher was a Proustian novel. Actually, my full thought was that Cher was a Proustian novel and Sonny was a Proustian character within it.<\/p>\n

Proust is famous for long, stuffed sentences but there\u2019s another aspect of \u201cIn Search of Lost Time\u201d that applies to Cher, the long scope of the novel over a lifetime and how the characters evolve over the entire piece. In some places, characters seem admirable and plucky and other times pathetic and clueless. Considering Sonny in this context is a good exercise in understanding complexity. He\u2019s not an easy character to define; and from different angles and according to different people you\u2019re likely to hear different stories about Sonny.<\/p>\n

Cher, other ex-wives and his children are probably most likely to see the positive side of him. Other colleagues not as much. It's like those difficult people at work whose children admire them and imagine them as heroes in the office. It\u2019s awkward but it\u2019s also life. People behave differently with different people, within and outside of their private circles.<\/p>\n

From a scholarship standpoint, you try to see the whole picture. Typically, fans will disagree about this, but what good is sycophantism? It\u2019s not really healthy for anyone.<\/p>\n

There are aspects of Sonny that are completely underrated: writing unique cowboy songs, launching unlikely superstars from street waifs and providing them with the skills to sustain an entertainment career spanning over 50 years, parenting, a particularly personal show biz sense that predated reality television by 30 years. He was tough and smart, fashion-fearless and yes, like Cher has said, he had beautiful hands. He was a great cook, too. There's probably a lot more.<\/p>\n

On the negative side, he couldn't sing well, his acting was a bit hammy and not everybody enjoyed working with or for him. I've been mulling over the pros and cons of Sonny all year as books and links about Sonny have come my way.<\/p>\n

Congressional Speech<\/h4>\n

When my parents visited this summer, we watched an Al Franken correspondence dinner speeches from 1994<\/a> and 1996<\/a>. At about 36:20 I shouted out \u201cThere\u2019s Sonny\u201d like I was 7 years old again. You see him prominently walking around with his wife, Mary. Were they late for dinner? Were they on Hollywood time?<\/p>\n

Doing a search for the clip I discovered Sonny himself gave a speech in 1995 at a Freshman Dinner<\/a> (as a newbie congressmen). It\u2019s very bad footage but Sonny makes the other U.S. congressmen laugh. He breaks the ice with that joke about nobody knowing what he went through to be serious and he refers to Cher saying, \u201cRemember the other woman? She wasn\u2019t easy to shake when I wanted to peruse this career." Then he goes on to say that Mary is \u201cway better looking than Cher,\u201d taller and 33."<\/p>\n

Wow. Why be so mean-spirited about your meal ticket, dude? He then talks about wining the Mayoral race in Palm Springs and how the guy he fired (that being the defeated mayor) is his gardener now. Huh. A power joke. He then said he had originally wanted to be a U.S. Senator (instead of a congressman) because the prestige of a Senator eclipsed the prestige of show biz and he admired the power and respect Senators received. Well, at least he's being honest.<\/p>\n

With all humility he says he respects the job, the new environment and he is trying to learn. He talks about how he\u2019s ironically learning a lot from Democrat Barney Frank: \u201cThe guy\u2019s amazing\u2026he does the best Shecky Greene I\u2019ve ever heard, the best I\u2019ve ever seen. Haven\u2019t figured out what you do but it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

His outsider humor was very effective. He goes way over his allotted time. Says he was supposed to do 3 minutes but he does a half an hour. His demeanor reminds me a lot of Chaz.<\/p>\n

Conspiracy Theories<\/h4>\n

A very thorough Cher scholar alerted me this spring to the self-published book Sonny Hit a Tree<\/em> from 2015. There\u2019s a conspiracy theory out on the Internet about Sonny possibly being murdered by political or international operatives. I\u2019ve avoided learning about this conspiracy theory because, well\u2026it\u2019s an awful idea and I hate conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

But I felt, for due diligence, I should check this out. I read the 17-page tract on a camping trip to Conchas Lake last spring. Here's my review: do not buy this book. The conspiracy theory isn\u2019t explained or even mentioned. Sonny is mentioned only once in an introductory letter addressing his widow Mary. The rest is a full plunge into the head of mental illness. One-hundred percent incoherent and rambling accusations that run the gamut from Saddam Hussein to Putin to the L.A. Police Department. It makes you fear for what kind of letters Mary Bono receives these days, let alone Cher. It feels icky on every level.<\/p>\n

Just\u2026don\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\"Langston\"<\/a><\/strong>Sonny's Atmosphere<\/h4>\n

And speaking of self-published, one of the actors from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour<\/em>, Murray Langston, also known as The Unknown Comic on The Gong Show<\/em>, has published his memoirs, a much more coherent book called Journey Thru the Unknown<\/em>. Yes, \u201cthrough\u201d is spelled \u201cthru so you know it\u2019s self published. That and the highly pixelated cover.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long book and not much of it concerning Sonny & Cher, although there are a few glimpses of the show, the social lives of the cast and what they all thought about Steve Martin, which was fascinating. However, Langston is crystal clear about his feelings around Sonny. He didn\u2019t like him. In fact, Sonny makes it into his top 2 list of Hollywood\u2019s biggest megalomaniacs. Langston also says he and Cher were on friendly terms for decades until Langston admitted publicly his true feelings about Sonny.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s never great to hear negative things about a loved one. And yet, Murray Langston does have the right to tell his own truth about a work situation. Interestingly, he did remain close friends with other S&C show alums, Ted Zeigler and Freeman King, until their deaths. And by now it's clear that the cast of the S&C shows did not cohere in an artistic or social sense like the cast of The Carol Burnett Show<\/em> did. There are no show reunions, cast members are absent from DVD reissues. Steve Martin and Bob Einstein don\u2019t talk at all about their experiences on the show. Teri Garr barely does.  It\u2019s not like they\u2019ve all been out trash-talking the show either. They haven't. But the silence adds up and might be one of the reasons the show has been undervalued all these years.<\/p>\n

And the idea of Sonny as a megalomaniac is believable. According to Langston, Sonny always referred to the cast as 'furniture' and 'atmosphere.' Imagine Tim Conway or Harvey Korman putting up with this? And maybe a variety show with a duo is more crowded than a variety show with a solo. Maybe the cast never fully bonded for whatever reason. It\u2019s also very possible that Sonny wasn\u2019t on his best boss behavior. And to see him in this light is far from condemning him entirely. Assistants and colleagues have been slow to come out about this but you read stories in \u201cStrong Enough\u201d by Josiah Howard and from Cher herself<\/a>. The existence of Cher Enterprises kind of speaks for itself. Sonny could be unkind in business. People are complicated, multi-faceted and not everybody had the same experience with your loved ones. Sonny has a very complicated legacy. Can we even get our head around it? It's Proustian.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t go as far as to recommend Langston\u2019s book to Cher fans as the book is mostly not about the TV show era, but Langston has his point of view and it gives the story of the Sonny & Cher shows another perspective.<\/p>\n

\"Sonny-deacon0dark\"<\/a>Sonny as a Cult Classic<\/h4>\n

I was a pretty synchophantic Sonny & Cher fan as kid, even after they divorced. But it was Aaron Spelling shows that eventually killed my fandom of Sonny. They were pretty bad performances….or so I thought. Lately, I\u2019ve been searching for Love Boat<\/em> episodes to capture his four appearances on that Aaron Spelling show. So far I\u2019ve only come across his appearance with Marty Ingels (truly terrible) and his episode as Deacon Dark. As a kid I did like this episode. To me it was an obvious send-up of Gene Simmons in KISS, who Cher was dating at the time: the face paint, the long, protruding tongue, a human being feeling stifled by the gimmick of makeup.<\/p>\n

As I was looking up the show\u2019s air date, (March 17, 1979), I found a whole slew of articles about the Deacon Dark episode. In fact, for many Love Boat<\/em> aficionados, this is their favorite episode. And it\u2019s fascinating to read their comments. They have no context for the Cher\/Gene Simmons reading at all. So they see more Alice Cooper (snakes) in the performance. They're not Sonny or Cher fans. They just like the episode for what it is!<\/p>\n

There's no substitute for actually seeing the episode, but these are the two songs Sonny sings on the show:<\/p>\n

"Smash It<\/a>" and "Now That I've Found Sarah<\/a>."<\/p>\n

From The Deacon Dark Files<\/a>:<\/p>\n

"As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of <\/em>The Love Boat. I am such a big fan, I even watched <\/em>Love Boat: The Next Wave. Yes sir, it's true. If I had to narrow down my favorite episodes, I'd be hard pressed because I just adore them all. However, there is one that keeps popping up in my forever clouded childhood memories that I think is probably the best episode. Ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

On March 17th, 1979, <\/em>Love Boat unleashed Deacon Dark on an unsuspecting audience. The Deacon is a culmination of Alice Cooper and KISS mixed with a whole lot of TV sensibility towards the then-current pop culture crazes. In effect, Deacon is thought to be a dark rock and roll soul, but underneath his satanic pantomime makeup, he's just dying to write a ballad\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

I love every second of it and apparently I'm not the only one. Just today I discovered a Deacon Dark fan page on Facebook! The Deacon lives folks!<\/em>"<\/p>\n

"The Love Boat of Hate! Sonny Bono is DEACON DARK!<\/a>" – this article links to Sonny\u2019s  heated Palm Springs mayoral debate.<\/p>\n

 From \u201cSmash It\u201d: The demented, the dangerous and the disgusting Deacon Dark<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of originality to be found here, of course \u2014 seems to us like the writers Joyce Armor and Judie Neer wanted to parody both 70s-era sensitive schlocky singer-songwriters and satanic heavy metal rock singers \u2014 and the costume and makeup people didn\u2019t have to work too hard to come up with Dark\u2019s garish demonic look either because they pretty much just ripped off KISS bassist Gene Simmons\u2019s full face makeup. The writers also apparently threw in a little bit of Alice Cooper\u2019s stage theatrics too, particularly because it involves fire (Arthur Brown could have been mentioned here too, we suppose).<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, the demonic Deacon\u2019s face makeup seems like it may have inspired or at least prefigured the black and white corpse face makeup favored by Danish black metal bands, or perhaps even the Insane Clown Posse\u2019s Juggalo clown face\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

We hear Backstrom\u2019s alter ego being introduced as the \u201cthe demented, the dangerous, the disgusting Deacon Dark!,\u201d then see him taking the stage to sing his hit song \u201cSmash It!,\u201d which you can watch at the clip at the top (we also learn during the episode that Dark is also known for two other songs: \u201cScreaming Voodoo Devil Boogie Woman\u201d and \u201cStep, Step, Step On Toads\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n

After the performance, Captain Stubing still appears unimpressed: \u201cHe\u2019s no Jerry Vale.\u201d (We should point out here that \u201cThe Love Boat\u201d was one of the only hour-long American-made TV shows that consistently used a laugh track).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also quite a few blogs online where clever writers have created entire backstories about Deacon Dark, including this one<\/a> …(read the entire thing though, it\u2019s pretty great).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It is brilliant. My favorite excerpt:<\/p>\n

"The destruction of Deacon\u2019s works continued down to individual albums and 8-tracks. The only account I\u2019ve ever read of the \u201cevent\u201d was in a old copy of Kerrang! magazine I found, uncatalogued, in the New York Public Library\u2019s Chinatown branch. According to Kerrang!, readers reported strange winds would sweep their Deacon Dark 8-tracks out of their cars; that unorthodox rays of sunlight would melt Deacon LPs and that some albums would simply disappear. I know for a fact my dad owned a vinyl copy of Deacon\u2019s third album, \u201cLuvin\u2019 The Coven,\u201d but I\u2019ve searched his stacks of wax again and again over the years, and the thing is just gone."<\/em><\/p>\n

Deacon Dark has inspired Fan Fiction!! How awesome is that for Sonny. Who knew this episode had such a cult following. It\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n

The Facebook page<\/a>, well, I won\u2019t spoil it. Just scroll all the way down and don\u2019t forget to look in the photo album. It's full of fake album covers and allegedly historical photos. (Do not miss the Jerry Vale joke).<\/p>\n

Okay I will spoil it.<\/p>\n

Here are my favorites (click to enlarge). Just the funniest damn thing I ever did see.<\/p>\n

\"Earlyshows\"<\/a> \"Earlyshows\"<\/a> \"Earlyshows\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Earlyshows\"<\/a> \"1016501_10151700307973395_708120916_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I found the fan fiction completely compelling and it's inspired me to ask you to compare this: Deacon Dark's \u201cSmash It<\/a>\u201d to Def Leppard\u2019s \u201cArgmageddon It<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Punk Rock Sonny<\/h4>\n

And finally, over the last few months we've been watching old 80s videos on MTV. Yes, when the moon hits the mountainside to reveal a keyhole after the thrush trills, MTV plays videos. We watched \u201cPunk Rock Girl\u201d by the Dead Milkmen<\/a> and there was a Sonny reference.<\/p>\n

<\/a> \"Sonny-video-punkrockgirl\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weekends ago I was driving to Sedona for a girls weekend and my iPod shuffle served up the song \u201cSnow Queen\u201d by Elton John, a song Elton and Bernie Taupin (and others) wrote about Cher when she was in her Paris Hilton phase: all paparazzi and no respect. 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