The Local Bird and Bee

The Beatles Golden Age

2012-02-20T19:18:00.001-08:00

The Beatles have lots of eras: Mop Top Beatlemania, Psychedelic and The Apple/Hippie eras are the categories I think of. And each era has its own sub-categories. One of those being what I call 'The Golden Age'.

The Golden Age is a part of the Mop Top Beatlemania era, but the later bit. It started in November 1964 with the release of the single 'I Feel Fine/She's a Woman' and ends with Revolver.

'I Feel Fine' ushered in a new sound, and the track opens with feedback (arguably the first time anyone had used it on a record). Gone was the cheeky 'Mersey' sound. The B-Side, 'She's a Woman' was new, too. Paul McCartney provided a bluesy vocal unliike anything we'd heard him do before.

For the the next 20 or so months, The Beatles not only released top-notch songs that proved they were not just a fad or flash in the pan, but they had an image that was both cool and friendly enough that kids, teenagers and adults could all agree to love them at the same time.

Prior to this Golden Age, some considered them outrageous with their long hair and screaming fans. Serious music folks thought of them as being too simplistic and without any depth.

After the Golden Age, they were too 'far out' and controversial. Drugs, the Marharihsi and Yoko Ono. For some, it was a bit much.

1965 was probably their 'perfect' year, with the singles 'We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper', 'Eight Days a Week' and 'Yesterday' and LPs Beatles VI, Help! and Rubber Soul.

1966 was also a knockout, with 'Nowhere Man' and 'Paperback Writer' as hit 45s, but they hit a snag with the famous butcher cover on Yesterday and Today and when John Lennon said they were 'more popular than Jesus'.

And while most people thought the Lennon comment was taken out of context (or that he was probably right or at least had a point), The Beatles were no longer viewed as wholesome. At the same time, and only a few months after the butcher cover scandal, their psychedelic era began with the last track on Revolver. Lennon sang 'of the beginning' as the song and LP faded out. But it was really the end of that Golden Age. In early 1967 with 'Strawberry Fields' and a new look (facial hair for all and National Health glasses for John) we knew things would never be the same. They didn't want to just hold our hands anymore.

It was inevitable and don't get me wrong. 'The White Album' is my favorite Beatles' LP. But I do get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I think back on when the movie 'Help!' and songs like 'Every Little Thing' were what The Beatles were.

'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and Foster The People

2012-02-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

Foster The People did a fantastic job with their Beach Boys tribute Sunday night on The Grammys. They performed 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and their singer/guitarist, Mark Foster, well, this kid just popped out of my TV screen. The band has that star quality, energy and sense of fun that I'm a sucker for.

As a musician myself, I know how tricky Beach Boys songs are. They seem simple enough until you actually sit down with a guitar or bass and attempt to play one of them.

Another band, the well known Maroon 5, also did a Beach Boys number, 'Surfer Girl', and while it was pretty darn good, I have to give the nod to Forster The People as not only pulling off a better performance (especially the vocals), but for doing a song that is more complex.

I don't know anything about this Foster The People group, but I just ordered their CD and am hoping it's half as good as what I saw on The Grammys.

Sunday, February 9th, 1964

2012-02-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

It was in Portland, Oregon. A modest two bedroom apartment in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood. A single mom and two boys, one six (me) and one nine (my big brother, Mike).

Mom propped us up in front of the TV and said, 'This is important'. I'd heard about The Beatles. Probably even a song or two on the radio. But I was fuzzy on who these guys were. Mom said that this was 'Like the first time Elvis was on television.' Even I knew Elvis. He was on all the magazine covers and was part of the culture, even for a six year old. We had a few of his albums. For some reason, G.I. Blues was the one that sticks out in my mind.

Then on that grainy black-and-white TV, they came. Opening the show with 'All My Loving'. Little did I know it would lead to a life long love affair with those four shaggy haired boys. To me, they weren't really boys. They were men. But not like the men I knew in real life. Those men were stern and mean and had short hair and no time for the kind of fun and silliness these 'Beatles' seemed to be having.

Over the next 48 years, I followed their triumphs and tragedies while I had my own ups and downs. In the 60's, thanks to a generous Mom and having an older brother, we had all their records and loads of fan magazines and saw their movies and TV appearances. When I was on my own, I kept up the obsession, buying all of the solo albums and books. No matter how down-and-out or broke I was, I could always scrape up enough dough to buy that new George Harrison album or latest 'insider' book.

Now my musical tastes are pretty eclectic. Punk, Classical, R&B, Country, Jazz...pretty much anything. I was playing a movie soundtrack the other day and it had that cornball number, 'Believe it or Not (Theme from Greatest American Hero') on it and I said to a friend, 'I love this song' and they were surprised that something so square would appeal to me. Me, the guy who loves the Dead Kennedys.

And I have The Beatles to thank. Because if they taught me anything, it was to 'do your own thing', no matter what anybody says or thinks. And they taught that to me not just with their music but with how they lived what they said.

I like what I like. Whether it's 'The Waltons' or Dawn of the Dead. Glen Campbell or The Sex Pistols. Thanks, Beatles. It's hard to imagine a world without you..

Lana Del Ray and the SNL Debacle

2012-02-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

Poor Lana Del Ray. Or maybe not. Her so-called 'debacle' on SNL in January may be the greatest unplanned publicity stunt since the Sex Pistols called Bill Grundy 'a dirty effer' live on a British morning TV show.

I saw the SNL episode before it became a controversy and I actually said to meself, out loud, 'That was pretty cool'. She has a weird voice and persona, which I dig (I like weird) and the band and the song and arrangement were interesting.

Millions of people who never heard of her have watched the YouTube clip and I understand her CD is selling like hotcakes.

I watched the performance again thinking, 'Did I miss something?', and no, I didn't. I suppose she's just not everybody's cup of tea.

When bands like Florence and The Machine are getting all kinds of hype and being embraced by the masses who think they are edgy and alternative, I watch her/them and I feel nothing.

Lana Del Ray, on the other hand, is truly different. There's something fascinating about her and that strange voice. And while I don't plan on running out to buy her album, I just might.

Lee Meriwether - Mainy

2012-02-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Lee Meriwether was always one of my main baby boomer era heart throbs. That is, a 'mainy'.

I don't know if it was just kismet or her personal choices, but whatta resume! She was in two of best TV shows of the 60's (a guest star on 'Star Trek' and a semi-regular on 'Mission: Impossible'). She's the Catwoman in the Batman TV based movie. And in my opinion she rates as the second best Catwoman ever (Julie Newmar is #1 and sorry Michele Pfeiffier, but you're #3 in my book),.

She was a regular on 'Time Tunnel', and yeah, the show doesn't hold up so good, but back in 1966 it was a huge deal for a nine year old like me. And even though she wore a lab coat in virtually every scene, she was still hot.

She was also Miss America in 1955 representing California. And on a personal note, Lee grew up in San Francisco the city I've called home for the past 25 years.

Lee starred and guest starred in a ton of shows and is among those groovy actors, who are now often forgotten or overlooked, that kept popping up everywhere back in those glorious days!

The Greatest Name Ever?

2012-01-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hakan Loob.

A hockey player who was with the Calgary Flames back in the 1980's. I wish my name was Hakan Loob.

More Ringo on Sirius

2012-01-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

I heard most of the Sirius 'town hall'. As I mentioned before, I'm a bit fed up with Ringo's 'grumpy old man' persona. More specifically, the things that irk me about Ringo are:

A) He doesn't seem to care that he's there. Getting Russell Brand to do the interview was a big deal and the main reason I wanted to hear it. But he doesn't acknowledge that and acts like the whole thing is a chore.

B) He tells the same stories we've heard a million times ('During the rooftop concert, I was hoping they would drag me off my drum stool.')

and C) He doesn't seem happy when people compliment his drumming. He just acts like (again), that it's a chore to even respond. Why not say the truth. that for years he really took it on the chin over his style. He supposedly couldn't do a fill. Wasn't technical enough. But the style is perfect for the Beatles, and on the later albums especially, really compliments the music. The fact that John Lennon and George Harrison, who could've hired any drummer in the world, picked him to play on their solo albums is proof enough that he's good. In recent years, a lot of top flight musicians (Dave Stewart, Phil Collins) have come forward saying how good he really was.

Looking back on his solo career, Ringo had some cool albums and hits. And I loved those early singles, 'It Don't Come Easy' and 'Back off Boogaloo'. And the albums Beaucoups of Blues, Ringo and Goodnight Vienna are great. But after that, he never did anything very interesting. Yeah, there was a good song here and there, but he's a novelty act. And three decent albums and a few singles is about what you would expect.

After his album sales slipped and he started jumping from one record label to another, he would've been better off sticking to drumming for other people and being in films. And that very first 'All Star' line-up was great. Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Dr. John. But the subsequent tours had fewer true 'all stars' and Ringo is not front man material. He seems uncomfortable when he's not behind his kit.

On the other hand, if Ringo chooses to make records and sing, I'd rather he did that than do nothing at all. As a Beatles' nut, I'm always interested. But I'd have more respect for him if he would've called it quits after Bad Boy or Stop and Smell the Roses. And I just wish he seemed a little more grateful and enthusiastic instead of the guy who posts videos on his website saying 'No more autographs! Do not send any more items for me to sign! They will be thrown away! Peace and love.'

Ringo on Sirius

2012-01-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today Ringo Starr had a 'town hall' meeting on Sirius. It was hosted by Russell Brand and Don Was.

Let's face it. Ringo is just a grumpy old man now. He's been that way for a while, and even though I want to pretend he's just having a bad day, it's turned into a five year long bad day. It's not like he's a monster, but he keeps talkin' that 'peace and love' stuff but seems rude to the audience and even to Russell Brand.

I only listened to about half of the show and will give more details if I catch the encore.

Ringo's solo career doesn't matter. Except for a couple of early albums and singles, everything he's done is pretty meaningless. And he was always more interesting as an actor than a singer.

Oscars: Why Nine Best Picture Nominees is Stupid

2012-01-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

It's stupid because there's only five Best Director nominees. It's highly unlikely that a movie not nominated for Best Director would win Best Picture. It only happened once in my lifetime, and that was in 1989 (Driving Miss Daisy).

And with Nine nominees, it's even less likely!

And if you look at the Best Screenplay nominees, you can get an even better idea of who will win Best Picture. But don't strain yer brain. The Artist is a lock.

Would Don Draper brown bag it?

2012-01-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Somebody at work asked me why I don't ever pack a lunch? Why do I always go out? I said, 'Well, I do pack a lunch about twice a year. Usually right after Thanksgiving and I bring a turkey sandwich.' But I end up eating it at 10AM and go out for lunch anyway.

'Besides,' I said. 'Would Don Draper pack a lunch? Would James Bond (when he's doing office work at the Secret Service HQ) brown bag it? Would Captain Kirk pack a cheese sandwich or try out the alien cuisine?'

I think we know the answer. Packing your lunch is not cool. It's a Momma's Boy move.

Elizabeth Montgomery - Mainy

2012-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, my buddies I used the term 'mainy' to describe an actress or pin-up gal we especially liked. It was slang for a 'favorite' or 'main gal'.

For whatever reason, the term stuck and spread to other friends, and some of us still use it. As in a recent conversation with an old Portland friend where I described Kate Winslet as 'a mainy'.

Without a doubt, my #1 Mainy was always Elizabeth Montgomery. And not just because she was so damn good lookin'. If that was a qualifier, all mainys would be Super Models.

'Betwitched' was on the air pretty much my entire childhood. So it wasn't until the later seasons and syndication that I began to appreciate her. I think I also saw all of her TV movies and she made a lot of them.

But it was as Samantha that I fell for Elizabeth. And not because of the witchcraft gimmick. It was because she was smart, sweet, mischievous and sexy.

What's cool about her, too, is that she made a flawless transition from the popular curvy body/hair flip look of the early 60's to the thin body/straight hair look of the late 60's. Both looks suited her, but I preferred the later look like in this interesting promo shot for 'Betwitched's' last season (when they put it up against 'All in the Family'...talk about culture clash).

I always loved the episodes where she played her lookalike cousin Serena. Playing opposite of sweet Samantha, Serena was a wild hippie and played sitar and talked about her 'guru'. Fun stuff. And seeing Liz play the sexy dark haired, mini-skirt wearing character was turn-on.

Elizabeth Montgomery is the only person I ever wrote a fan letter to. And I got an autographed picture back (I still have it and it's a real signature to boot). I also saw her in the early 90's performing the play 'Love Letters' in a small theater in San Francisco. It was a thrill to see her in person. And yes, she was still great looking.

Karl Malden and 'The Streets'

2012-01-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

I always dug TV shows filmed on location. There's something about shows produced away from the company town that gives them a flavor all their own. And I'm not talking about shows filmed in Canada that are supposed to be someplace else (like 'Smallville' which is supposed to be in the American mid-west). I mean shows where the location is part of the concept, like 'Hawaii Five-0' or 'Miami Vice'.

There's also 'road' shows like 'Route 66' and 'Movin' On' that have that same edge. Still another category is a sort of hybrid, like 'Northern Exposure' that was filmed near Seattle but was set in Alaska. And while 'Northern' doesn't qualify as a 'true' location show, I imagine filming in Alaska was next to impossible. But it does have that non-Hollywood production feel to it.

The original 'Hawaii Five-0' is probably the best of the bunch (I'm not a big fan of the new series, but it's okay). A close second is the 70's Quinn Martin series, 'The Streets of San Francisco'.

Watching 'Streets' now, I'm struck my how damn good Karl Malden is.

Malden came to Hollywood from Broadway, where he played Mitch in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. He won the Oscar for the same role in the movie version, and remained a close friend of Marlon Brando for the rest of their lives.

Part of 'The Group' of naturalistic actors, Malden's Mike Stone character is one of TV's best. I really believe that this guy grew up in a tough San Francisco neighborhood, that he loves the City, his job and his daughter. And that he lives and dies with every Giants baseball game (the show often ends with some light moment of Stone cringing over the latest Giants outcome or trying to score tickets).

Malden's co-star, Michael Douglas (who Stone constantly refers to a 'Buddy Boy'), is also good, but you can see the difference in commitment during simple 'exposition' scenes. Malden is always 'on' whereas Douglas is just mouthing the words.

Another great thing about 'Streets' for me personally, is that I lived and worked in the City since the late 80's. Seeing the 1970's San Francisco is a blast. It's amazing how quickly some things change. I actually saw an episode recently where you can see a skyscraper under construction that I later worked in.

And in interior scenes are really cool. Getting a look inside the homes and apartments is a blast. I just saw an interior that had a 'sparkling popcorn' ceiling. Remember those?

The first two seasons of 'Streets' on are DVD. Check it out, pilgrim.

The Cartwrights Without Adam

2012-01-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

I was talking to an old pal who recently got hooked on TVLand's 'Bonanza' reruns. And like me, he noticed that his enjoyment of the show dramatically drops off after Pernell Roberts left.

There are some excellent post-Adam episodes. But for some reason, the TVLand package does not include the famous 'Lost Episodes', which have some of the best sans-Pernell scripts. But the show did lose some of it's appeal after he left, and I think answer to 'why' is clear if you ask yourself this simple question:

'Which Cartwright would you either want to be or want as a husband/boyfriend?'

I think the majority of people would answer 'Adam'. He was the most intelligent, the most grounded, he played guitar and read poetry, and was attractive in a manly way that 'Little' Joe wasn't. And while 'Bonanza' didn't have a 'star', they all shared equal time, status and billing, Pernell was the 'leading man' of the show.

So by taking away the character that most viewers either consciously or unconsciously fancied themselves as being (or being with) really damaged the show. And his 'replacement', Candy, while physically resembling Adam, was nothing like him. Candy was a simple ranch hand. An outsider without any depth.

Another unanticipated ramification of Roberts leaving was that it changed the Michael Landon character. He obviously would have 'grown-up' even if Pernell had stayed, but Landon had to fill the 'leading man' role. And the affect was that it made fun-loving 'Little' Joe seem kinda mean sometimes.

Richard Harris

2012-01-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

It's hard to imagine that for a few years in the late 60's/early 70's, Richard Harris was not only a big movie star, but had a hit record and was a sex symbol. At least my mom thought so.

But in 2012, looking at the cover of his Grammy nominated album A Tramp Shining (that included his mega hit, 'MacArthur Park'), it's hard to image the 40-year old, puffy, balding, red-faced bloke as being a 'sex symbol'. And check out the Lennonish sideburns!

Just when 'MacArtuhr Park' was topping the charts, Harris appeared on the 'Mike Douglas Show' for a week (Douglas had a neat tradition of having a co-host for an entire week. John and Yoko did in 1971). My mom watched every episode and so did I. Of course, 'all things British' were cool then. And the reason our moms liked him was that he was their age (40ish), sang well-written sad love songs, and made romantic/serious films (versus James Bond fare). He was a Brit they could be into. The gig as co-host of the Douglas show, the most middle-America talk show of the day, is proof enough.

Harris was riding high off of the film (and soundtrack LP) Camelot about a year before 'MacArthur Park' and he made two movies afterward that I really dug. Ironically, both westerns and both with the words 'A Man' in the title: A Man in the Wilderness and A Man Called Horse.

Harris made a few more albums with less and less success and his film work turned mediocre. Ten years after his heyday, he was making crap like The Wild Geese and Orca.

An interesting Beatles related fact: 'MacArthur Park' was the first #1 record with a running time over seven minutes. The Beatles 'Hey Jude', released just a few months later, was also over seven minutes and an even bigger hit.

Harris is an obscure footnote now. Probably better known for his role in the 'Harry Potter' films where he was just a brittle old man. It's not the way I want to remember him. Because for one brief shining moment in that great late 60's/early 70's era, when celebrities were a little more real, a little more earthy, he was a star!

John and Yoko on Dick Cavett

2012-01-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

Finally bought the Cavett 'John and Yoko' DVDs. My Christmas present to myself.

I've seen these a number of times before. I saw them when they were originally shown (I was a young teen) and taped them when VH1 showed them years ago. But like any good interview, you forget stuff and it's fun to watch them with Cavett's new intros.

There are three shows, two from September 1971 and one from May 1972. Forty years is a long time, but what strikes me is how 'grown-up' the show is compared to popular talk shows of today. It's really a dead format...that is, a talk show that is smart, funny, in-depth, silly, inquisitive, and Cavett has a killer band with drummer Bobby Rosengarden. In other words, it's not a one-note style. The talk shows today are either purely entertaining, like Letterman or Jimmy Falon, or informative, like Charlie Rose or CSPAN's Book-TV interviews.

Back in the 70's even Johnny Carson would sometimes get serious. Not a lot, but he would have on writers and politicians and let actors and musicians actually talk about issues of the day. Merv Griffin even more so. And of course there was 'Tomorrow' with the great Tom Snyder, who would have a wide range of guests from night to night.

These Cavett DVDs make me nostalgic for that kind of show. Cavett starts off with some jokes. Then he brings out John and Yoko and proceed to discuss a variety of topics including The Beatles, Women's Lib, American Indians and in-between the serious moments, they trade jokes and puns. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

They only perform songs on the third show. With Elephant's Memory they do 'Woman is the Nigger of the World' and 'We're all Water'. Both great underrated songs. And Elephant's Memory do a great job as back-up.

The biggest 'time warp' moments come when discussing Women's Lib; Cavett offers to light Yoko's cigarette which leads to the conversation. It's funny how the shows make me think we've regressed in everything EXCEPT women's place in society.

I think most of these interviews are on YouTube, but buy (they are pretty cheap) or Netflix them. I'd like to see Cavett release more and the more they sell the more they will put out.

Cee Lo Green 'Imagine' Lyrics

2012-01-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

Apparently some people are upset with the lyric change Mr. Green made to 'Imagine' at a New Year's Eve broadcast. I have no idea who Cee Lo Green is (I think he has something to do with a reality show) but I think it's must ado about nothing.

If you haven't heard the details, he changed the 'and no religion, too' line to 'and all religions true'.

First off, I truly believe that if John Lennon was alive, he could've cared less. Lennon flubbed and changed his lyrics all of the time when performing, so he obviously didn't hold them are sacred. He even changed the 'Imagine' lyrics from 'a brotherhood of man' to the mouth-full 'a brotherhood and sisterhood of man'.

Looking at the intention of the original lyric, I believe he 'imagined' a world where, if there was 'no religion', we would be focused on the here and now.

Like all intelligent people, he was suspect of organized religion, but that wasn't the point of the lyric. In 'Working Class Hero' and puts 'religion' in the same category as 'sex and TV' as something that keeps us 'doped'. In 'God', he says that 'God is a concept'. But I don't recall him ever saying in an interview that he was a full-blown atheist.

The 'Imagine' line was not meant as a jab. Besides, he believed in karma, which is no crazier than any other unprovable belief. He was spiritual guy. He believed in magic and astrology and numerology and meditation.

Like most of us, he believed in something. But it's personal. And it's a mystery. And if you had asked him 'do you think it's possible that all religions are true?', he would've said 'maybe'.

Movie Talk

2011-12-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

My friend and fellow blogger Mark Verheiden has some interesting comments on the decline of movie theater audiences. His blog was sparked my Roger Eberts' column regarding the same subject (see Mark's link to read both).

I think the #1 reason, one that Ebert mentions, is 'choice'. For those of you old enough to remember, when megaplexes first appeared the idea was that they would show a 'variety' of movies. That is, they would have the current blockbuster (maybe on a couple of screens), a comedy, a love story AND one or two 'art house' flicks. But as we all know, the megaplexes only show a small number of 'art' films. It's usually around Oscar and Golden Globe time (like now) when something like Black Swan gets a bunch of nominations.

I live 12 miles from the San Francisco city limits. There are a couple of megaplexes near my home, but I have to go to the city to see anything remotely 'arty'. It's no big deal, because I can be in the city in under 30 minutes minutes by car or take BART and pop out of the station in the middle of downtown in less than an hour (that's door-to-Market Street).

There used to be a theater nearby that would show foreign/art films, but it closed a few years ago. And it was a lousy theater anyway. One of those multi-screen jobs that had once been a single theater with crazy cock-eyed seats.

Mark Verheiden talks about going to an Imax theater in our home town of Portland and says it was a good experience. We have the Imax thing here and I don't dig them but I can see the appeal. I do like the 'grown-up' theaters (not sure what the industry term is). We have one in San Francisco, a Sundance theater, where you can reserve seats that are big and comfy and they show arty films as well as hits. They even sell cocktails that you can bring in and some of the seats have little tables (kinda like an old fashioned school chair/desk thingy) to sit your goodies on. If I had my druthers, I would go there for every movie I see. But it's too little too late.

Like the bricks-and-mortar book and record stores, movie theaters have already lost their audience. They're not coming back. I can buy a book on Barnes and Nobles website for less than they sell the same thing at the actual Barnes and Nobles store. The price should be the same (I don't mind or consider the extra sales tax I have to pay if I go to the store. That's fine. I'm not that much of a miser). But unless you need the book right now, you'd have to be a dolt to pay more to have to leave your house, drive to the store, hunt around for it and then wait in line to give them your money versus push a few buttons on your computer and a few days later have the book sitting in your mailbox.

What were they thinking? Do they actually want the bricks and mortar stores to go away? It kinda seems that way. The problem, as with record stores versus online, is that you no longer 'browse' or are 'surprised' by something. You only buy stuff you already know you want or like.

Movie theaters have a similar problem. I can stream or get the DVD through Netflix or do On Demand and watch movies on my giant Hi-Def TV sitting on my own couch for less than it costs to see it in a theater. Most people (especially older or sophisticated movie-goers who like grown-up/arty flicks) don't care if they have to wait weeks or even months to see it. They don't need to see it NOW. That's pretty much the only advantage to theaters. I can't watch The Artist at home this weekend, so I'll go to the theater. And I'll go to the Sundance theater where people behave themselves and I can reserve a seat.

Fab Four

2011-12-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

What if the Beatles had been five guys instead of four?

Four seems like the 'magic' number for groups. The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Monkees...even the Rolling Stones had four core members while that fifth spot kept changing from Brian Jones to Mick Taylor to Ron Wood.

And it's not just rock bands. The most popular TV show of the 1960's, 'Bonanza', featured four characters. And when Pernell Roberts left, they even replaced him with the ranch hand Candy.

The most popular team comic book of the 1960's was 'The Fantastic Four'. Okay, maybe 'Justice League of America' sold more, but the FF fans were more devoted and Marvel's second biggest success ('Amazing Spider-Man' sold more).

I think one of the reasons for the success of having 'four' people/characters is because once you get to five or six, the audience loses track of them. If you have to name the Beach Boys, you stumble to remember the fifth. Same with 'Star Trek'...if you think of the principle characters, you pause after Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty. You have to actually 'think' about it. Whereas John, Paul, George and Ringo just rolls off the brain.

Maybe it has something to do with the four points of a compass. Or the four seasons.

I remember once reading that if you show somebody a group of objects, the maximum number they can count without actually 'counting' them is five. I suppose that means that a bunch of people can't do it beyond four.

Whatever the reason, I do know that when I'm trying to remember the characters in the Dirty Dozen or The Seven Dwarfs I have trouble. But the names Ed, Lewis, Bobby and Drew come right out when I think of Deliverance.

'Jerry Lewis Method to the Madness'...I don't see any method at all

2011-12-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Maybe I was misreading the promos or foolishly hopeful, but it seemed to me that this Jerry Lewis special on Encore was supposed to be a somewhat serious examination of his films. He is, after all, a truly gifted and successful director and there should be a decent retrospective of his work while he's still alive to discuss it.

I have no idea what the purpose of this documentary is. It told me nothing new and i don't care what Alec Baldwin or Richard Lewis think about Jerry. Although, I was surprised and pleased to see that Woody Harrelson is a HUGE Jerry fan, even to the point of saying, 'If you don't like Jerry Lewis, I have no interest in hanging out with you.', which is pretty cool. But it has nothing to do with Jerry Lewis. Woody Harrelson, yes.

I've read a lot of Jerry books and the best I've come across the 'The King of Comedy' by Shawn Levy. It came out about ten years ago. Read that and skip this thing.

That is unless you want to watch people talking about how great Jerry is and see recent footage of him telling jokes that are sexist and in bad taste and an embarrassment. To think I was actually looking forward to this stinker.

Beach Boys 50 Year Reunion

2011-12-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

I see the remaining members of the Beach Boys will be reuniting for a tour and are already recording an album. The line-up: Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnson.

Brian and Mike ARE the heart and soul of the band. Like John and Paul. A 'reunion' without those two isn't a true reunion. Although, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnson are HUGE talents. I don't know enough about David Marks to comment, but he is an 'original' member and was on the first few albums and I assume he must have some talent as a singer/guitar player or Brian would not have kept him around for long.

I've written about the Beach Boys here before, and I think they are not only one of the greatest bands, but really important. The Beach Boys did what few musicians do. They changed things. Like Elvis, The Beatles, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, The Sex Pistols, Ramones and Nirvana (and there are others), they upped the ante.

And their story and history is so damn interesting. Like the Beatles, it has a huge cast with all the ingredients: Heroes and villains, beautiful women, triumph and tragedy, death and madness, drugs and enlightenment, money and success...and unlike the Beatles, they also were 'real' family.

I'm looking forward to this reunion. Good or bad, it will be fun and exciting to see them together again.

Fifty years. Man, I feel old.

Poppo

2011-12-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

The other morning I turn on the TV. It's 5:30AM and 'Dobie Gillis' is on. And there's William Shallert, who I first saw as a kid playing 'Poppo' on the Patty Duke show. I always dig 'The Patty Duke Show'. It was a real tribute to early 60's teenage American life. 'Patty digs the rock 'n roll', the theme song said.

Later that night, I see Shallert again on a new TV movie, Stephen King's 'Bag of Bones'. A 45 year time warp!

I must admit, it's nice to see Shallert still around. A lot of the folks I grew up watching in movies and TV and musicians, too, seem to have died on me or vanished.

I Googled Shallert and he's 89, which kinda surprised me. I thought he'd be older!

One of the things I remember about him was that as a kid, I would scan the TV Guide and more than once saw that 'William Shallert' was guest starring on some show. So I would tune in expecting to see Captain Kirk. And then I'd go, 'Oh it's Poppo!' I no longer have that problem as I have figured out the difference between Shallert and Shatner, but HEY, I was just a kid!

'Boardwalk Empire' Is Now

2011-12-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

Popular culture has always reflected the tone of its society. Movies, especially genre oriented films like horror, science fiction and westerns are obvious examples. Lots of books have been written about how they mirror the mood of the times.

Music, too, is a reflection of us. The malt shop/doo-wop of the 50's sang simplistic songs of a post-war goody-goody suburban America. In the 60's, lead by Bob Dylan and The Beatles, we got serious, and the music more complex and adult.

Television is perhaps the most blatant mirror. It's disposable, mass produced, and unlike music, which can be murky and symbolic and poetic, television shows are more obvious statements than songs are.

In the 60's, during the height of the Cold War, we were inundated with 'spy' shows. In the 70's, during a rare liberal wave, we saw shows like 'All in the Family' and 'MASH' that not only exclaimed left-wing ideas, but portrayed right-wingers as fools and nincompoops (Archie Bunker and Frank Burns).

For the last decade or so, we have seen numerous shows depicting criminals, for example, 'The Sopranos'. But not only are these shows about criminals, they are criminals that are in cahoots with the government. Tony Soprano had politicians in his pocket.

In 'Breaking Bad', Gus, the king-pin drug dealer, has the Feds on his side. On 'Weeds', the mayor of Tijuana is a mobster. 'Boss' and 'Damages' and 'Boardwalk Empire' and 'Big Love'...all these shows portray government officials as crooks and gangsters and killers.

In the 60's, we were lead to believe that 'spy' shows were fantasy and common sense told us that the adventures of our TV heroes was no reflection of the real CIA or KGB agents, who's jobs were probably more about pencil pushing than action. But in retrospect, the truth about what the CIA and KGB were up to is probably even more frightening than anything Napoleon Solo or Jim Phelps were doing.

The current theme of shows that tell us the world is run by crooks and that everything revolves around power and blackmail and money and violence seems outlandish. But I think that we'll look back and think how shows like 'Boss' were accurate in the ways of the world. Sure, they are overblown and simplistic compared to real life. But could it also explain the Wall Street crisis? And the scandals of Cain, Spitzer and Weiner? And how the President's hands are tied, no matter who he/she is? Just maybe.

The only 'Wheel' Western: The Men From Shilo

2011-11-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

'Wheel' shows are shows with rotating series under the same 'umbrella title'. Like 'NBC Mystery Movie' that had 'Columbo' one week, 'McMillian and Wife' the next, and 'McCloud' the one after that. Then the rotation would start again. This is not to be confused with 'Anthology' shows like 'Twilight Zone' or 'Alfred Hitchcock' or 'Police Story' where each week had a unique story with the same tone and format, but no 'rotating' characters.

Other 'wheel' shows were 'The Bold Ones', 'Four in One', and the original, 'The Name of the Game'.

But there's one that gets forgotten in the discussion, that is a western called 'The Men From Shilo'. It was actually the final season of 'The Virginian'. They decided to change the title and have stories showcasing four characters. Two from the original, The Virginian and Trampas, and two new characters: A fish-out-of-water Englishman (with a butler in tow) played by Stewart Granger who buys Shilo Ranch in the first episode, and Lee Majors as Tate, a drifter of few words with a Fu Manchu mustache. This was Majors pre-Bionic Man and post-'Big Valley'.

Doug McClure also sports a mustache and Drury has grown out his sideburns. An attempt to reach a younger audience, I suppose.

For some reason, 'The Men From Shilo' is not part of 'The Virginian' rerun package seen on Encore. So when the DVD came out, I got it and, like a lot of things we remember liking 40 years ago, it's not that good. The best thing about it is the theme song by Ennio Morricone, who wrote a bunch of those spaghetti western songs. I don't know what I was expecting. I never was much of a 'Virginian' fan anyway, but had some vague memory of kinda liking 'Men From Shilo'. The show actually is better than 'The Virginian', but for me, that's not saying much.

They kept the same time slot, the same 90-minute format, and the ratings were not bad. But it was canceled anyway. Maybe part of the famous 'rural purge' of 1969-1972 when shows with either a rural theme or that appealed to rural or older audiences were canceled even if the ratings were strong.

A not so interesting James Drury/'Men From Shilo' inside story: Years ago, when I lived in San Diego, I worked with a woman who had worked for an 'answering service' that had James Drury as a client. She said he was a super nice guy. When 'Men From Shilo' came out, she talked to him one day and told him flat out that she didn't like the new format. Drury was surprised and asked 'why not?'. To which she replied, 'I don't know. I just don't like it'.

As I said, a 'not so interesting' story, but it's the only one I got!

'Girl Happy' : The Greatest Elvis Movie (Yes, I Really Mean It!)

2011-11-23T22:50:00.000-08:00

Girl Happy is not a guilty pleasure. I have plenty of those. Like watching 'The New Zoo Revue' because Emmy Jo wore short skirts, leather boots and was a turn-on.

Before I celebrate Girl Happy, we need to define the term 'Elvis Movie'.

If I say 'Elvis movie', certain things pop into your head: A 'beach party' flick where Elvis has some cool job like helicopter pilot, race car driver, or musician. He gets involved in some nutty comedic plot, sings mediocre songs, gets in a fist fight or two, and is surrounded by a bevvy of pretty girls.

His early films, when he still had notions of being in league with Brando, James Dean or Tony Curtis, were pretty darn good: Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole (Elvis' personal favorite).

But they are not 'Elvis Movies'.

The first 'Elvis Movie' was G.I. Blues. He tried a few more 'serious' flicks after that, but then came Blue Hawaii. It was so successful, and sold so many soundtrack albums, the formula was born. For the next eight years, he would make two, sometimes three 'Elvis Movies' a year.

Some were awful (Harum Scarum) and some were decent (Follow That Dream). But in 1965 came a gem called Girl Happy. It has all the typical ingredients (a beach, music, girls, fist fights, etc), but this one got it right.

The plot's not important. Let's just say Elvis is in a band and the story takes place in Fort Lauderdale. It's the chemistry of the cast, the director and the great songs that makes Girl Happy shine. Shelley Fabares and Mary Ann Mobley, both vying for Elvis' attention are great personalities and gorgeous. And for good measure, we get the sexy and REALLY underrated actress Nita Talbot playing a stripper.

The guys who play in Elvis' group, Gary Crosby, Joby Baker and Jimmy Hawkins are perfect. They actually seem like a real band. Cosby is especially good and I love the way he handles the bass guitar and fakes singing the low notes on 'Wolf Call'.

There's not a bad song in the bunch and the performances seem natural. The male characters are in a 'band' after all. It's not Elvis as a helicopter pilot who suddenly breaks into a tune every ten minutes.

I especially like 'Spring Fever', where the boys are driving to Florida singing about the fun that awaits. It cuts back and forth from them to Shelley and her girlfriends in another car, singing the same song. It's a unique and innovative scene and encapsulates the joy of youthful anticipation from both points of view. The editing is brilliant.

The movie also LOOKS great. The set of the motel is especially well done. It looks as good as anything in a Hitchcock or Kubrick film. And everything has that bright 1960's color you don't see anymore. It just JUMPS at you.

It's filled with great character actors: Harold Stone as Shelley's gangster dad, Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester) as a cop, John Fielder as the Motel Manager. And lots of familiar faces in tiny parts. Like the fat college kid who yells for Elvis to sing 'Wolf Call'. I've seen him a million times. And according to IMDB, Kent McCord and Dan Haggarty (Grizzly Adams) are in it, too, though I've never noticed.

Other highlights: Elvis in drag and a Red West vs. Elvis fist fight.

The superiority of this movie over other Elvis flicks probably has a lot to do with the director Boris Sagal (Katey's dad). He gets the comic timing right and got the cast to do their best and look fantastic. Sagal directed a TON of TV and movies and it was his only Elvis flick. Most Elvis movies (the lousy ones) were directed by Norman Taurog, who did a lot of Martin and Lewis movies, too, and in most of them, somehow managed to make those two talents seem dull.

1965 was a nice year for rock 'n' roll movies. A few months after Girl Happy, the Beatles came out with Help!, which is my favorite Beatles' flick. Hmmm....Girl Happy over King Creole. Help! over A Hard Day's Night...maybe I'm just a contrarian.

Beatles in Las Vegas

2011-11-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

I've stayed at the Sahara in Vegas a few times. I somehow knew that the Beatles' had stayed there, but didn't know much more than that. When I was at the pool, I'd think, I wonder if Ringo had a dip here. It is one of the older hotels on the Strip and probably hasn't changed all that much.

Well, finally some news about their visit to Vegas in the Summer of '64. Check out the 'Beatles News' link on the right and you'll see some pics. The Beatles are looking super cool in them, especially John in his RayBans.

'Walls and Bridges'

2011-11-14T21:59:00.000-08:00

Last time I wrote about the Imagine album. Along with Walls and Bridges, they are my two 'go to' Lennon albums. They are the most accessible, and not surprisingly, the best sellers (as I mentioned before, Double Fantasy is 'officially' the best seller, but that's because the record sold like crazy after Lennon was murdered a few weeks after it's release. Initially, the sales were so-so.).

Walls and Bridges isn't as strong as Imagine, but it's a very cool album. Recorded during his separation from Yoko, it's got a few songs about his feelings about the loss and break-up but not too many. And unlike Plastic Ono Band, which, face it, is a one-note wallow of his fear and anger, Walls and Bridges has a wider range of styles and emotions.

His Yoko songs are 'What You Got' a pissed off rocker, 'Going Down on Love' the matter-of-fact opening bluesy number with nice percussion and 'Bless You', an interesting point-of-view choice where he's singing to 'whoever' is Yoko's new partner (not that there was one, but it's a neat idea for a song).

The best song on the LP is '#9 Dream', which I suppose you could say is about Yoko, but not in an obvious way. It's haunting, dreamlike and best of all, very Beatleish.

What I also dig about this album, is that while he mopes about Yoko in some songs, he also sings about dealing with it and his 'new' woman, May Pang. 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night', a big hit at the time, is a nice change of pace for Lennon. Instead of 'feeling your own pain', he's telling us to relax and that 'it's all right'. Elton John plays piano and sings harmony. Some critics claim the reason the single went to #1 is because it 'sounds' like an Elton John song. But I disagree. In fact, I think they have it backwards. Elton John sounds (or sounded) like The Beatles, which is one of the reasons he was so popular. He came along when they broke up, and like The Beatles, he was a Brit doing American-style music. He filled the void they left.

"Surprise, Surprise' is another May Pang tribute with my one of my fav lines: 'I was blind, she blew my mind'.

'Beef Jerky' is interesting in it's own way as it is (as far as I can recall) the only time Lennon did an instrumental (not counting a chorus shouting 'Beef Jerky' at the breaks). And I love the title. Very much in keeping with his infatuation with food images like strawberries, cranberry sauce and mustard.

The only two 'weak' songs, 'Old Dirt Road' and 'Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out' are still nice tunes and redeemed with clever lyrics.

I wish Lennon had done more albums like Imagine and Walls and Bridges. That is, albums that weren't as self-indulgent as Plastic Ono Band or Sometime in New York City. Don't get me wrong. I love those albums, and Plastic Ono Band is his masterpiece. But it lacks the energy and excitement of a Beatles album. Something that Imagine and Walls and Bridges gives me if I decide to take them for a spin.

'Imagine', the album

2011-11-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

John Lennon only released six 'real' albums: Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, Sometime in New York City, Mind Games, Walls and Bridges and Double Fantasy.

And while Plastic Ono Band is a masterpiece and one of the most important albums ever (not just Beatle related, but one of the greatest ever), you have to be in the mood for it. It's not something you throw in the CD player on the way to work like you would a Beatles' album.

For that kind of experience, I turn to my two 'favorites', Imagine and Walls and Bridges.

The funny thing about Imagine is that the title song is actually kind of a drag. I'm not a fan of Lennon's 'anthem' songs like 'Power to the People' or 'Give Peace a Chance'. They're too obvious and not all that interesting. And Imagine's closer, 'Oh Yoko' is, while catchy, also leaves me a bit cold.

But the stuff in the middle. Wow. What a great, very 'listenable' album. 'Jealous Guy' is perhaps the best song he ever wrote and has a fab performance not only vocally, but musically it's perfect. Especially the bass by Klaus Voorman.

'I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier' is a punked up hip update of 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and has a great rhythm and does what Plastic Ono Band failed to do: Make an unnerving song fun to listen to. Yoko's influence can be heard in his quivering vocals, which he does much better than she did. And singers like Johnny Rotten would do a few years later.

'It's So Hard' is a number where Lennon finally does what McCartney always could do so much better. That is, digging deep into the roots of authentic old school rock 'n' roll or R&B or whatever you want to call it. It's the real deal. Lennon must have loved this one, too, because, along with the title track, it's the only one on the album I recall him ever playing live.

The rest of the numbers I love, too. 'Crippled Inside', funky honkytonk with cynical (but fun) lyrics, 'Gimme Some Truth', another pre-punk punk song with lyrics that are even more poignant today than they were in 1971 ('just a pocketful of hope'), 'Oh My Love' is as good as any of the 'true' love songs he did with the Beatles. His jab at McCartney, 'How Do You Sleep?' could rate a whole blog entry on it's own. But take away the back story and it's still a great song (and I believe Lennon's statement that the song was as much about himself as it was about Paul). 'How?' is another example of him doing what Plastic Ono Band couldn't do; a song about fear and confusion but equally inspiring as it is depressing.

It's no accident that Imagine was his biggest seller while he was alive. Yes, Double Fantasy sold more but that's because Lennon was murdered three weeks after it came out. It barely cracked the Top Ten originally. Imagine, on the other hand went #1 all over the world and continued to be a solid seller over the years.

I Never 'Got' Andy Rooney

2011-11-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

I never understood the appeal of Andy Rooney. He would do the coda of '60 Minutes' and talk about the stuff in his desk (which was pretty much the same stuff in anybody's desk), the price of coffee (and how the size of the coffee cans has evolved. Thanks, Andy) , or some meaningless study of the different kinds of hats people wear with equally meaningless comments like: 'What's with all these hats?'.

Getting punk'd by Ali G. (Sasha Baron Cohen) really showed how cranky he was. If you haven't seen it, it's probably on YouTube. To briefly recap, Ali G. asks absurd questions like 'How come the media doesn't report an airplane crash before it happens', and Rooney just gets mad. The fact that he didn't 'get it', that it was a put-on, showed me how humorless and out of touch he was.

And to top everything off, in his final good-bye '60 Minutes' segment, Rooney proceeded to talk about how he hates being recognized and thinks that people that write to him are dumb.

If Rooney truly hated being recognized and had such contempt for his fans, he either should have quit the show or at the least kept his dislike for celebrity to himself. Besides, I don't even buy it that he didn't like being recognized. People who want to be on television, whether it's the star of TV's biggest hit or an extra in the background of a commercial, really do WANT to be on TV.

Andy Rooney may have in fact been the luckiest man in show business. His observations were neither interesting, funny or insightful. They were the musings of a creepy misogynist. And while he claimed to have 'left wing' leanings, I don't recall him ever actually 'doing' anything besides complaining about stuff (that didn't ever matter) and going to football games.

Let it Be and Magical Mystery Tour on DVD

2011-10-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Word is that Let it be and Magical Mystery Tour will finally be 'officially' released on DVD. MMT in 2012 and Let it be in 2013 (with extras!).

It's about time and a little late considering the DVD market is going away in favor of streaming...kind of like the remastered CDs of the Beatles canon coming out after the CD market petered out.

Funny...the vinyl format was around for over 50 years before CDs took over (with a brief hiccup when cassettes were the best selling format in-between). And VHS lasted about 20 years before DVDs came along. Now, CDs and DVDs are both basically dead or dying.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

2011-10-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

The HBO doc by Martin Scorsese is pretty damn good. I've watched it a bunch of times now, and it's full of great interviews and insights by an all-star cast. Scorsese did manage to get EVERYBODY to participate in this thing.

Paul and Ringo provide some nice bits, but the best stuff is from folks like Jackie Stewart, Klaus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Phil Spector and Olivia Harrison that give us info that we haven't heard a million times before.

A touching moment comes from Ray Cooper who can't even discuss George's death. It still hurts him after ten years and is painful to watch.

A lot of the clips are leftovers from the 'Anthology' interviews, which is fine with me. I enjoy those clips.

One of the most interesting segments is a minute or so of Paul and George signing piles of legal documents that have something to do with the Beatles break-up. They are both really uptight and obviously just want to get it over with and can barely look at each other. From their haircuts, it appears to be from about 1973.

I always thought George was the most mysterious Beatle. That is, he was the hardest one to figure out. It might be because he was the most normal. That might sound strange considering his Indian/Spiritual quest, which on the surface doesn't seem normal. But it's no different than what millions of other people do in their own way.

After all, aren't there millions of 'self help' books out there? And don't the majority of people in the world seek some kind of religion or method of dealing with life? The fact that he was a Beatle, and his quest was public, and that he had the money to indulge it in a big way, just makes it seem bigger than it was. It was really no different than your sister-in-law deciding to become a Catholic. That kind of thing happens everyday.

I do wish there was more interviews with his two brothers who make only a fleeting appearance.

Cool to see some footage of the 1974 'Dark Horse' tour, which I'd never seen before.

Overall, it's a 'must see' for Beatle nuts and an important piece of the material out there concerning them. I only wish it was about two hours longer.

William Shatner's 'Searching for Major Tom'

2011-09-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

I heard a few snippets of Shatner's new album on 'The Howard Stern Show' the other day. They played bits of his renditions of 'Iron Man' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and it's even more awful that you could possibly imagine it to be.

Howard and Robin were wondering 'Is Shatner in on the joke?' and they decided that he obviously is. And with Shatner being a frequent guest on Stern's show, I think they should know.

I agree, because if he isn't 'in on it', he would have to be insane.

Shatner is always hocking something. A book he didn't really write. A documentary he didn't really direct. This album is him cashing in on the train wreck of recordings he made 40 years ago. Songs like 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man', which WERE NOT meant to be funny. The monumental awfulness of them, and Shatner not realizing it, is what made it so hilarious. It was one of those 'You HAVE to hear this' phenomenons.

But Shatner's being 'in on the joke' of his new offering misses the whole point. It's like if Ed Wood made a bad movie on purpose.

Let it Be Movie

2011-09-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

So when in the heck are they gonna re release the Let it be movie!? There are plenty of outtakes floating around on YouTube. This one is especially weird. Paul seems all coked up (or something is making him act nutty).

There's actually an even longer version, but the sound is scratchy. This shorter version has better quality. But you can search for the five minute clip.

Check it out, and surf YouTube for other oddball Let it be stuff. There's one of them jamming with Yoko The clip is minus George, who according the what I've read, had 'quit' earlier that day over his argument with Paul over his guitar part on 'I've Got a Feeling'. And as he left, he made the now famous quip, 'See you 'round the clubs.' I'll have to remember that the next time I walk out of somebody.

But in the meantime, dig this crazy clip. John and Paul seem to be enjoying themselves. Ringo is his usual laid back self. But you can see George is thinking, 'This is an incredible waste of my time'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_kFa1QxCa4

Sept 13 in Beatle History

2011-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

Two A-List Beatle Kids were born this day. Zak Starkey, in 1965 and Stella in 1971. I remember when Zak popped out, and seeing the newspaper pic of Ringo and Mo holding baby Zak (I was only about eight years old meself).

I don't have any clear memory of Stella's birth, but it is worth noting that the name 'Wings' was conjured up by Paul during the 'difficult birth' of the future fashion designer. He had a 'vision' of angels with wings. Better than the other names he was considering; Turpentine or The Dazzlers.

Zak has gone on to be a super success as a drummer playing for The Who and Oasis.

Two Beatle kids who made it big! You gotta love 'em. I wonder if they send each other an email on this day every year? It would be nice.

Oh, and Paul's son James was born on September 12, 1977. Almost made it a three-peat.

'Who Is Harry Nilsson?'

2011-09-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

The new documentary 'Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)' is a fascinating, in-depth portrait of the man, and is full of interesting Beatles info.

Nilsson's relationships with Ringo and John are explored and we get insight into some great stories, like the famous Troubadour 'Smother Brothers' incident. They even get Dick and Tommy to talk about. Dick still seems pissed off. I never liked him anyway. I always thought he was a lousy straight man and even lousier bass player.

There was some facts I'd never heard, like how Derek Taylor gave all of the Beatles copies of a Nilsson album and that John and Paul actually called Harry to tell him how much they liked it. Lennon even cracks the joke to the press that 'Nilsson is my favorite group', which is an old Beatles' gag they used a few times before about 'Our favorite American group, Sophie Tucker' (Which I think was meant to be a joke about Sophie's weight...Harry wasn't fat at that point, but it's still funny).

We get some clips of Ringo and Harry running around to the tune of Harry's 'Best Friend' (from the TV show 'Courtship of Eddie's Father') and some of their 'Son of Dracula' film, a movie I've never seen.

And lots of behind the scenes footage of Ringo drumming for Harry on the Son of Schmilsson album.

May Pang and Yoko Ono also are interviewed but the better interviews come from Mickey Dolenz, Jimmy Webb, Van Dyke Parks, Richard Perry, and Harry's third wife, Una.

Netlfix this sucker. It's really worthwhile. I wouldn't kid you.

Peter Asher: The 60's and Beyond

2011-08-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

I saw the Peter Asher show 'The 60's and Beyond' at the Razz Room in San Francisco the other night.

Great show. It's mostly Peter talking and some film clips, but he also performs the Peter and Gordon hits and has a super tight;/very good band. The keyboard player was one of the later members of Badfinger, and he sang a great version of 'Day After Day'. I talked to him briefly after the show, and he was friendly enough. But he had that arrogant keyboard player vibe. I talked to the bass player, too, and he was cool.

Anyway, the show is super fun for a Beatles' nut like me. Asher is a major 'inner circle' Beatles' guy. His sister was Paul's main squeeze during most of the 60's, he was an Apple producer, and he even lived with Paul for years on the upper floor of his parent's house.

He more or less 'discovered' James Taylor and makes a funny remark about the song 'Something in the Way She Moves'...'George Harrison liked it so much he used the title for the first line of a song'.

That 'pinch' by George, as well as 'Taxman'/'Batman' similarities always made me question his denial of the 'He's So Fine' business.

If Asher comes to your town, check it out! I'm sure it'll be on cable or DVD at some point, too.

Cable Killed The Telethon

2011-08-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry to see Jerry Lewis no longer hosting the Telethon. But for me, one of the biggest Jerry fans on the planet and someone who made watching the Telethon a ritual, I don't really care.

The Telethon lost it's appeal when cable TV took over and local TV lost its identity.

You see, the Telethon, with Jerry or no Jerry, was really a local show. It's about the firemen and kids in your town talking about money they raised during the 'cut aways' from Las Vegas. It was about seeing your name on the 'Wall of Stars' if you gave $20 and the local news and weather people telling you to call in.

The local channel (in my case, KPTV in Portland) was part of Jerry's 'Love Network', and there was a lot of hype and interest in the show as Labor day approached.

And during Labor Day, local kids and teenagers would have impromtu car washes or go door-to-door of their neighbors and bring the money to the local station. That kind of thing seems impossible now. But when there was only five TV channels, and everybody was home for Labor Day...not so impossible.

It was about the only time of the year (at least for us from 'smaller' markets) that TV was on between the hours of 2AM and 6AM.

I don't mourn the loss of the local TV. It's neither a good or a bad thing. But it did kill the Telethon. And that happened about 20 years ago.

'Summer Rain' Lyrics Always Bugged Me

2011-07-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

The Johnny Rivers' song, 'Summer Rain' contains a line that always bugs me when I hear it. The line is:
'And the jukebox kept on playin' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

Here's the deal. Sgt. Pepper didn't have any singles, and jukeboxes only played singles. So the lyric doesn't make any sense.

There is another verse where he sings: 'Everybody kept on playin' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Okay. That makes sense. But no jukebox, in 1967, played Sgt. Pepper.

Glad I finally got that off my chest after 40 years.

Why I Quit Watching 'Reality' Shows

2011-07-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

The last straw was when I watched an episode of 'Hardcore Pawn'. The woman who was 'fighting' with the store owner was dragged out of the place, and you could see her wireless mic stuffed in her pants.

These shows are all fake. Including the paranormal and celebrity ones. There are exceptions, of course, like 'Cops' which is pretty real. But for the most part, all of the 'drama' in shows like 'Ax Men' or 'Ghost Hunters' and 'Pawn Stars' is fake.

I don't have any problems with the 'Competition/Game' shows, like 'Survivor' or 'American Idol'. I actually think 'Survivor' is a great show. And the fact that a lot of the contestants are would-be actors and models doesn't bother me. That's been going on forever. Contestants on the old 'Dating Game' were wanna-be actors, some of whom are now household names.

But regarding the 'job' or 'celebrity' shows, I'd much rather watch something like 'An American Family' or 'Cops', which can have dull or boring moments, but are at least 'real'.

And if I see one more promo of some overweight macho man, giving a tough guy look into the camera and crossing their arms, I might throw something at my TV.

Beatles vs. The Beach Boys

2011-07-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Back in 'the day', I wasn't too keen on The Beach Boys. Compared to The Beatles, they seemed dorky. I didn't hate them. But I didn't buy their records. Even 'Good Vibrations'.

Then, over the years, I would hear the famous story of how 'Rubber Soul begot Pet Sounds begot Sgt. Pepper'. And Paul McCartney would always mention Pet Sounds as being a great album and 'God Only Knows' was 'the greatest love song ever'.

And I once read, I don't remember where, that The Beatles thought of The Beach Boys as 'peers' because they existed before them. Whereas they considered The Rolling Stones and The Who and the other British Invasion groups as riding their coattails.

I eventually got Pet Sounds and started to listen to friends about how great the Beach Boys were. I got converted and became fascinated with their music and their story. There is a aura of mystery about them. The whole Brian Wilson thing and how he wrote and produced but stayed behind the scenes. It's as if John Lennon stopped appearing with The Beatles, but still wrote songs and sang on their records.

Their use of studio musicians is odd. Bass players, drummers...positions that bands don't normally fill with other players. And unlike The Beatles, where I can always tell who's singing, I still have a hard time differentiating who sings what. I can recognize Mike Love, but that's about it.

I'm currently really digging some of their later albums. Friends, 20/20, Sunflower...and what is perhaps one of the strangest, 'love it or hate it' albums ever, The Beach Boys Love You.

I only really 'discovered' The Beach Boys about 20 some years ago. And I'm so glad I did. The amount of material and the crazy soap opera story of the band is endless fun fun fun.

Bad TV Shows that 'Look' Good

2011-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Two shows that 'look' great but are essentially unwatchable are two oldies, 'Daniel Boone' and 'Lost in Space'.

Interestingly, both shows started off in black and white and were actually better before they went to color. Better stories. More action, more adult. However, they look so great in color, I'm always tempted to watch them when they pop up on TV ('Daniel Boone' is currently on Retro TV, but I haven't seen 'Lost in Space' anywhere for a few years).

The color, the lighting, the costumes and sets on both of those shows are SUPER. But the stories? Ugh. The acting is also weak with a few exceptions. Billy Mumy and Jonathan Harris are good in 'Space', and I always dug Patricia Blair on 'Daniel Boone'. She's not only great looking, but a decent actress. But she's hardly in the show.

A friend suggested 'Gilligan's Island' as another candidate, but I think 'Gilligan' is actually a good show. So there.

When I'm 69

2011-06-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

Our Paul turned 69 on June 18th.

When I was a kid, I liked Paul the best. Maybe he was more 'kid friendly' than John. But I think it was because he was left-handed, like me. I even took up the bass because of him. But who knows why or how we pick a 'favorite' anything?

As I got older, I liked John better because he was more interesting. But I still loved Paul. And for all of his faults; the occasional clunker of a song, the weird 'competition' he still has with John, his notorious reputation as a miser...I still have to admire the hell out of the guy. He's one of the best natural musicians of the last 50+ years and he never seems to tire of writing songs and performing.

The Beatles, John and Paul in particular, really did change the world. Even if you take away the whole 'spirit of the Beatles' thing, their music and their influence on other musicians was a tidal wave that continues to saturate all of us. God bless you, Macca. And I hope you live to be 100. At least.

The First 'Real' Solo Album: 'McCartney' 1970

2011-06-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

Contrary to belief, the Beatles didn't 'officially' break-up until eight months after Paul released his first album, titled simple, McCartney.

As a hardcore Beatles' fan in early 1970, I knew the end of the Beatles was near. I could feel it coming. However, I'll address that year-long saga in a later blog.

Right now I want to talk about this album, since it's been re-released with goodies and extras and remastered, etc. etc.

It was April 1970. My first experience with the album was when 'The Ed Sullivan Show' presented a 'video' of 'Maybe I'm Amazed'. It consisted of photos mostly taken from the album's gatefold. I don't recall what I thought of the song. I may have already heard it on the radio. I was more interested in looking at the pictures.

The album had been released a few days prior to the Sullivan show, and before I knew it, my older brother (also a Beatles nut) had an 8-Track copy. Since the only 8-Track player we had was in his car, I only heard it a few times before I actually got a copy of the LP myself. But I do remember him not liking it much, and I was feeling a bit unsure about it, too. I wanted to like it, but compared to the Beatles last album, Abbey Road, it seemed lacking.

To make matters worse, the Let it be album came out a few weeks later, and that made McCartney seem even more half-assed. My brother so disliked McCartney that he somehow was able to exchange it for an 8-Track of Let it be at the local Fred Meyer store. That pretty much sums up the general feelings the public had about McCartney at the time. That is, it sure a'int as a good as a Beatles' album.

After I got my own copy, I carefully studied the gatefold montage of photos (taken mostly by Linda). I thought Paul looked pretty good in some of them...the one where he's drinking from a straw, the guitar shot, holding Heather and him lurking behind some kind of flowers. But I didn't like the one of him picking his nose or the shot where he looks like he's wearing a dress and holding a purse. The Beatles were my heroes. And like some of the 'White Album' poster pics, I was turned off by images that weren't in keeping with my idea of them. They were supposed to be cool and handsome. And while 'goofy' was acceptable since humor was one of their greatest assets, I didn't like seeing them semi-naked, picking their noses or in 'drag'. Now keep in mind, that I was 13-years old. Now I see the pictures in a different light. But I still hate that nose picking one.

After a number of 'listens' (it always takes a few before you know if you like something or not), the McCartney album began to grown on me. I especially dug 'That Would Be Something', 'Every Night', 'Junk' (both versions), 'Oo You', 'Teddy Boy' and of course, 'Maybe I'm Amazed'.

And the 'in-betweeners', instrumental stuff, seemed to fit. It didn't strike me any different than some other Beatles' filler like 'Wild Honey Pie', 'Her Majesty', 'Flying', or the weird interlude on the 'White Album' where he sings "Can you take me back where I came from...". They were nice short bits that gave the album an overall mood and tone that I enjoyed. But I didn't like the heavy breathing on "Kreene-Akore'. At the time, I was probably embarrassed that my Mom might hear it coming from my room and think, "What the heck is that!?". But in retrospect, I still think the song would've been better off without it.

The only song I truly dislike is 'Man We Was Lonely'. But even Beatles albums had at least one number I wasn't crazy about.

As time passed, I became very fond of the McCartney album and also remember that it was a big hit. Throughout the early 70's, I would often hear someone (not a Beatlefanatic) say 'I really like that Cherries album' (which is what we called it because of the cover). Or the Bowl of Cherries album.

And speaking of the cover, it has become my favorite album cover of all time. Not just Beatles-related cover, but the best album cover ever. The black/white/red colors are wonderful. The way the cherries are placed and their shadows...magnificent! I never tire of it. I have a framed copy of it hanging in my house and it always makes me feel good whenever I look at it.

McCartney has a nice, mellow groove. But it's not corny. It rocks when it has to and isn't 'weak' or monotonous (save for the aforementioned 'Man We Was Lonely'). It's unique in an unassuming way.

It's still one of my favorite solo Beatles records and I continue to play it on a regular basis. It might not be up to par with Abbey Road, but I would say it is as good or better that any number of comparable albums from that same era from people like James Taylor, Neil Young or Simon and Garfunkle.

Leo McKern and Jane Asher

2011-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

I Netflixed 'Rumpole of the Bailey' the other day. The show stars the late great Leo McKern who played the evil (and bumbling) villain Clang in the Beatles' second (and my favorite) movie, Help!.

So I'm watching the second episode, 'Rumpole and the Alternative Society', and the I'm thinking, 'Boy that guest star sure looks like Jane Asher'. And sure enough, it was!

The show was filmed in 1977, nearly ten years after her break-up with Paul, and 12 years since McKern worked with the boys on Help!. I assume they probably had met during the whole Help! experience. Probably at the premiere or some kind of run-in at the studio...can't say for sure, but I'm guessing so.

I wonder if they discussed their Beatles past? I would be surprised if they did, since both were extremely professional actors, and being the two leads in a talky script probably didn't give them a lot of time to chit-chat. But it is fun to speculate.

And in another bit of kismet, the episode revolves around Jane's character arrested for a pot bust! A problem that Sir Paul faced so many times that we've lost count.

What Paul McCartney Should Do

2011-06-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

Stop playing all the 'hits' at concerts. How about some obscure Wings or Ram tunes? After backing off from Beatles songs back in the early solo days, now there's too many of them. And I'd rather hear the original recordings of 'Get Back' or 'Hey Jude' anyway.

But it would be cool to hear 'Long Haired Lady' or 'Big Barn Bed'.

Stop making albums until the material is more interesting. The new songs are dull and uninspired. Write some stuff with Elvis Costello again. That was the last time the tunes really had something. And get Ringo or Joe English on drums. Or Denny Seiwell, even. Those guys really understand Macca music.

And finally, do something different. I don't know what exactly. Something besides a concert or a new CD. A TV Special maybe. Or a small comedy bit in the next Hangover movie.

Or even better, a drama. One of those grimy English 'estate' movies like Harry Brown or Fish Tank. Playing the 'dad' or the 'shop keeper' in an independent/quality flick would be a cool move.

Keir Dullea and 'The Starlost'

2011-06-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

I Netlfixed the first four episodes of this 1973 Canadian sci-fi show recently.

The show is actually better than I remember when I watched it as a teenager. Yeah, the special effects are bad and the fact that it is on video tape makes the costumes and props look cheap. It looks like one of those old live action Saturday morning shows, or the original 'Dark Shadows'. And like 'Dark Shadows', I even saw a boom mic in one shot.

HOWEVER, I have to say, that for a show with a budget that didn't allow for much more than the characters standing around talking, it ain't bad. The writing is actually pretty darn good. It's a bit like the original 'Star Trek' without a budget.

After all, if 'Star Trek' was filmed on video, had no money for a decent soundtrack or props and sets or for going on location, it would pretty much the same thing as 'Starlost'. That is, Kirk and company confined to the ship and dealing with villains is sparkly costumes.

And the acting in 'Starlost', while sketchy at times, is generally good. They hired decent guest stars who seem to be giving it their all, and Keir Dullea, while awkward doing those rare 'action' sequences, does have that 'star power' certain people have that makes you want to watch him no matter what they're doing.

'Starlost' may be remembered as a great failure. So bad that creator Harlan Ellison walked away and used the pseudonym 'Cordwainer Bird' for his onscreen credit. But like 'Space:1999', it's interesting, if not great, and much better than garbage like the original 'Battlestar' or 'Buck Rogers'.

The Best of All in the Family with Henry Fonda

2011-05-26T20:49:00.001-07:00

Tonight I watched TVLand's showing of the 'All in the Family' episode, 'The Best of All in the Family'. It originally aired as a one hour 'special' hosted by Henry Fonda. It was shown around Christmas 1974 during the shows fifth season. It was also the 100th episode.

I remember watching it back in 1974, but tonight was the first time I'd seen it in 36 years. It was weird to see Fonda hosting, introducing clips and making meaningless commentary about the characters and social impact of the show. Fonda seems like a hired-hand and disinterested in the whole thing. He even makes a hackneyed closing, 'I hope you enjoyed watching these clips. I know I did.' Talk about insincere. Sheesh.

I suppose CBS thought that hiring an actor with Fonda's pedigree would reinforce the notion that 'All in the Family' was an important show. But we already knew that. It would've been better to get someone who really dug the show and was enthusiastic about it.

This fifth season was 'Family's last gasp. At the beginning of the sixth season, Mike and Gloria moved next door and had a baby, which is always a bad move. Shows seem to die when there's a birth.

The show limped on for years, but I lost interest. I still watched it I suppose, but I knew they were beating a dead horse.

After the show ended, they had the horrible spin-off, 'Archie Bunker's Place', where Edith is mostly absent but still referred to. Eventually, we're told she died of a stoke. Real laugh it up stuff.

Even worse was the spin-off 'Gloria' which only lasted one season. Mike had moved to a commune and abandoned Gloria and their son, which was totally out of character for Meathead. It also had the depressing affect of destroying the whole back-story of the original show and what I think was their message: You don't pick your family (or in-laws), and even though you clash with each other, you stick it out. It was, after all, called 'All in the Family'.

I like to forget those spin-offs and episodes after Mike and Gloria moved into the Jefferson's old house. I'll stick with those earlier seasons and am still impressed by the quality of the writing and acting and I love the funky sets and general ambiance of the show.

But it was interesting to see this Henry Fonda retrospective. I was drawn to it first out of the nostalgia of seeing it again after all these years, and then fascinated by the awkwardness of the way it was presented.

Ringo: 'The Beatles Were Lucky To Have Me'

2011-05-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ringo's making some headlines with this recent statement.

And I think he has a point. But the truth is they were all lucky to have each other.

They had the perfect package. John, the punk/genius. Paul, the musical savant. George, the perfect third voice for their harmonies. Ringo, the solid back beat and 'everyman' character.

There's a lot of other ingredients to the Beatles franchise, but when they got Ringo, it all came together. Paul says so in the 'Anthology' documentary.

And you have to remember, too, as Ringo points out in his recent statement, that he was in a band that was pretty big, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He left a successful, polished act for a rough around the edges smaller band. But he recognized that the Beatles were on the way up and Rory had probably peaked. And he dug their music.

But I do think he's right. Ringo brought a lot to the image. Think about the movies. Can you picture Pete Best in A Hard Day's Night? Hard to imagine.

Red Rose Speedway 1973

2011-05-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

In April 1973 I was 15 years old and Nixon was President. The Beatles had only been busted up for a couple of years, but it seemed like centuries since they had been together. But a new Paul McCartney album was coming out in April. So there was hope.

The Beatles solo work had been a bit sketchy in those 1971/1972 days. The Concert for Bangla Desh seemed more like a great opportunity missed than the great event it was supposed to be. Sometime in New York City was a challenge. As if John and Yoko were daring us to buy their records no matter what was on them. Ringo's 'Back off Boogaloo' 45 was a weak follow-up to 'It Don't come Easy' and his movies 200 Motels and Blindman were unwatchable.

Paul's previous album, the somewhat confusing Wild Life, was a bomb with the critics. But in the meantime, he had released a kick-ass single called "Hi Hi Hi', so maybe this new album was going to be good?

I still remember buying Red Rose Speedway from a local chain called 'Everybody's Records' in Southwest Portland. And it was really cheap, being new and all. I think it was something like $3.19.

We'd already heard the big hit, 'My Love'. Another one of Paul's love ballads. Good for the mainstream fans, and I was happy to see him selling records. But it wasn't what I was after.

But I really dug the first cut 'Big Barn Bed', which began with a little leftover refrain from the Ram album...'Who's that comin' 'round that corner? Who's that comin' round that bend?'. Linda's back-up vocals were growing on me and were definitely part of the Paul/Wings sound. And that photo of her on the booklet inside, all lit in red, straddling a motorcycle with a little knee showing was sexy. I think I decided I liked Linda at that point.

And while the critics were tough on Red Rose Speedway, I remember that my friends and I played the hell out of it. 'Get on the Right Thing', 'When The Night', 'Loop (1ST Indian on the Moon', 'Hands of Love' and 'Power Cut' are all great songs and along with 'Big Barn Bed' capture that early Wings sound that at it's best, was sincere and charming and gave us a glimpse of a band as a 'work in progress'. They were far from perfect. Even the guitars seemed a little out of tune sometimes. But it was real. And that's what rock and roll is all about, right?

In 1973, John and Yoko were playing political court jesters. Ringo was stumbling around not sure if he was a film star or a 45s hit maker. And George was out of his league, being grandiose by releasing triple disc LPs and not being shy about his religious beliefs. But they would all eventually find a comfortable niche and produce some damn good albums during the rest of the 1970's.

But Paul was getting back to his roots. Starting a band from scratch and touring and trying to find his way. Red Rose Speedway was the last time one of his records would sound a bit amateurish. And maybe that's one of the reasons I love it so much.

Paul and Jane the 'White Album'

2011-05-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Geoff Emerick's book, he had an interesting insight into Paul's work on the 'White Album'.

As all Beatle fanatics know, the early albums, Please Please Me through Rubber Soul were dominated by John Lennon. This is also true of their singles. Revolver was pretty even in the John/Paul contest. But starting with Sgt. Pepper through Abbey Road, Paul became the dominate one. EXCEPT for the 'White Album'. So why did Paul lose a step midway through his creative peak?

Some theories are that he was busy running Apple. Being the only true Beatle workaholic, he was distracted with company business and helping out Apple artists, like Badfinger and Mary Hopkin. And you read stories about Paul overseeing mundane details around the Apple office like checking on the quality of the toilet paper in the bathrooms.

Another theory is that John Lennon, feeling energized by a new life with Yoko, felt that it was time to take back the band.

But Emerick has another idea. He says that Paul was down in the dumps over his break-up with Jane Asher. The timeline fits. The relationship was strained for months, but they didn't officially split until the summer of 1968, which is when the 'White Album' was being recorded.

I suppose Paul's weak output on the 'White Album' was due to a lot of things, but the whole Jane Asher deal makes sense.

Not only does John have more songs on the album, but Paul doesn't have any of his usual show-stoppers. Sure, 'I Will' and 'Blackbird' are lovely and all that, but not there's nothing on the album that matches 'Fool on the Hill', 'Eleanor Rigby', 'She's Leaving Home' or later tunes like 'Let It Be' or 'Long and Winding Road'. No home runs. Yeah yeah, I know, 'Hey Jude' came out a few months before the 'White Album' and it's their biggest hit ever, but I'm just saying...his most famous song on the bloody 'White Album' is 'Ob-la-di Ob-la-da', and that, like Lennon said, 'Is Granny music'.

Geoff Emerick's Book

2011-05-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

I've read a ton of Beatle books. Hell, I remember back when the Hunter Davies 'The Beatles' and Epstein's 'A Cellerful of Noise' were the only ones out there!

Out of the hundreds published since, I've only read about a dozen I would revisit, and this one by Abbey Road Studios engineer Geoff Emerick, titled 'Here There and Everywhere' qualifies.

The book re-enforces some of the things we've always suspected of the individual Beatles:

John had the most talent as a singer and composer.

Paul was the most professional and hard working.

George was a weak guitarist and often flubbed his parts. Although, he made a huge leap on the Abbey Road LP both as a writer and guitarist.

Ringo's presence in the studio was pretty much that of a sideman. But even as the weakest member, he was perceived as A BEATLE not only by the EMI staff, but by his band mates as well.

But the most interesting aspect of the book is getting a real insight into the day-to-day activities of recording and being around the Beatles. One minute he's waxing poetic on their immense talent and the next he's complaining about how difficult they are to work with.

He also paints a pretty bleak picture of the Abbey Road facility itself and the 'suits' who ran it. It's amazing that the biggest act in show biz continued to work in such a old-fashioned place.

Goldhat Rocks!!

2011-05-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

I love this guy. He teaches and plays guitar online and the dude is such a great player. His singing is a bit sketchy, but hey, it makes him even more lovable.

And his love of Beatles' music is contagious. Check him out on YouTube or his own site at:

http://www.goldhat.net/

Why Hulk Make Lousy Movie and TV Show

2011-05-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have a theory. Movie franchises or TV shows where the heroes are either 'lost' or 'on the run' are usually lousy.

There are exceptions, of course. There always are. For example, 'Kung Fu' and the new version of 'Battlestar Galactica' were good shows. And comedies like 'Gilligan's Island' don't suffer from the premise of the heroes being behind the eight ball. Same with semi-comedic shows, like 'Alias Smith and Jones'.

Shows where the hero has a 'secret' is another category (like 'Smallville') but those don't have the same issues as protagonists who are 'in trouble'.

But look at all those Irwin Allen shows, where the premise has the heroes in a jam. Or shows like 'Lost' or 'Star Trek: Voyager'. They start out kinda good, but get tired. The jury is still out on the AMC show 'Walking Dead', which I really dig, and hopefully it will be one of those exceptions.

The 'Planet of The Apes' movies are sucky and depressing. The first one was good, but I never cared for the sequels. I watched them. I wanted to like them. But I didn't.

The Universal movie monsters, like Frankenstein and Wolf Man, had huge success but petered out after a couple of sequels.

We like our heroes to be heroic. We want to be like them. The Jason Bourne movies are interesting, but how long can you keep up the whole amnesia thing? James Bond, on the other hand, can go on forever.

Which brings me to The Hulk. The reason the Bill Bixby show and the movies are bad is because the hero is tragic. He's like Frankenstein with super-powers. The Thing in the Fantastic Four, a similar character, has a tragic element. But he's likable. The Hulk is just a dumb, angry guy who has the entire US Army after him. Who wants to watch that?

The old comic book (the Herb Trimpe, 1960's stuff) was good, but comics are a different ballgame. Marvel comics from that era were all about the art, the snappy dialogue and the supporting/guest characters and of course, the villains. And besides, it was a 12-cent/15-minutes a month investment. We weren't expecting much in the first place.

Macca Takes The Plunge

2011-05-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

It's official. Paul is engaged to American gal pal Nancy Shevell.

The Beatles have good luck with American women. The marriages to Linda, Olivia and Barbara all seemed to work out. And even Yoko, who was Japanese but adopted New York as her home years before she met John and continues to live there, sort of qualifies. The marriages to the Brit women all seemed to fizzle: Cynthia, Patti, Maureen and (ugh) Heather. Paul also split with another English lass, his longtime love Jane Asher back in 1968.

And while I'm happy for Macca, I have to wonder why, at his age, they didn't just slip into a Justice of the Peace office and get it over with?

I understand why they are getting hitched. They're in love and he's old fashioned. And considering his immense wealth and age (he'll be 69 in June), it's probably better for Nancy to make it all neat and legal.

But it just seems odd to me for two people, who have both been married before, have been together for years now, who are 51 and 68 years old, and who are worth about a billion dollars, to be 'engaged'. It's not like they have to figure stuff out. Just do it, Paulie.

Now if Paul and Nancy get hitched in the next few weeks, I take it all back!

'I Spy' with my little eye...a BAD tv show

2011-04-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Retro TV has been showing 'I Spy' which I hadn't seen since I was a kid. I didn't like it then because (or so I thought) Bill Cosby wasn't 'funny' in it. Actually, he's funnier than I recall, but in a droll way, unlike his stand-up routines which were sorta 'wild and crazy' back then.

'I Spy' has bad camera work, bad sound and cheap sets. The stories are dullsville and so are the villains. The show's main purpose seems to be Culp and Cosby acting 'cool'. There is the occasional interesting female guest star (your basic Susan Oliver types), but not interesting enough to salvage the awful scripts.

Like a lot of 60's shows, the best thing about it is the theme song and opening credits. But it's all downhill from there.

Pink Floyd: Animals

2011-04-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Pink Floyd had a nice run with the four LPs Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. But where Dark Side and Wish You Were Here are great, they are a bit vague regarding their meaning. And The Wall is far too pretentious for my taste, although I still kinda like it. But Animals. My God, what an album! The music is tight and dramatic and the 'theme'...the 'concept', hits the bulls eye. A tirade against capitalism and the mindless masses, and using Animal Farm as a template, it never fails to both entertain and inspire. I saw the Animals show back in '77 in Portland with all the props and stuff, which was cool, because it always added a bit of fun to an otherwise grim and depressing piece. But that's what all great albums, films and books do. That is, have a bit of a laugh to break the tension.

Elvis Stole Black Music

2011-04-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here's another thing people just made up and is probably based on something Sam Phillips said. Before he 'discovered' Elvis, Phillips supposedly said, 'If I could find a white singer who has a black sound, I'd make a million dollars.' But the fact that he said it, or thought it, shows that he recognized the racism of the record buying public, not that he himself, or Elvis, was out to loot the black sound. Music, like any creative endeavor, is always being influenced by other stuff. Brian Wilson totally copped the harmony sound of the The Four Freshmen. But the Four Freshmen got the sound, or part of it, from somebody else. It's baby steps. Nothing is created in a vacuum. You could say that The Beatles 'stole' American music. Or British Punk bands 'stole' from the Ramones. The whole notion of 'stealing' music implies some kind of plot. Like Elvis, this dirt poor white kid from Memphis, sat around and concocted this grand scheme of copying black singers in his plan to reinvent the music industry. As if.

Besides, if nobody 'stole' anything, we'd still be playing wandering minstrel songs like Allan-a-Dale from those Robin Hood stories.

Elvis liked black music and culture. He hung out in the black neighborhoods, bought his clothes at the black shops and listened to their music. And Memphis is the 1950's was the natural place for the cultures to melt together and spawn a person like Elvis.

More Stuff People Make Up

2011-04-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here's some more baloney floating around out there: Ringo Starr Is A Lousy Drummer. This supposed 'fact' has been spouted by know-it-alls and know-nothings since the Beatles first hit the big time. The truth is, Ringo was a much sought after drummer in the Liverpool scene before the Beatles got hold of him. He's got a solid, steady beat, hits the drums hard and was a perfect fit for the group. His 'tumbling down the stairs' fills are unique and much imitated. If you doubt his skill, check out his work on 'A Day in the Life'. And note the wimpy drumming on 'Back in the USSR', where Paul plays the drums. The song would be much better with Ringo on the skins. I would even go so far as to say that rating the Beatles as musicians, Ringo is second to Paul. That is, Ringo is a better drummer than George or John were as guitarists.

Match Game

2011-03-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Once in a while I catch 'Match Game' on the Game Show Network. It's a loving tribute to the early/mid-70's, which contrary to general opinion, was actually a pretty cool era. It was like the 60's without the violence. 'Match Game' was a huge hit back then and had a daytime and nighttime version. It made Richard Dawson a star, and the other regulars, Bret Summers, the fab Charles Nelson Reilly and host Gene Rayburn had a super chemistry. The clothes, the 70's references, the sitcom stars and comedians are a groovy snapshot of the time. I also dig seeing the (somewhat forgotten) women I had a crush on as a teenager like Joanne Pflug and Mary Ann Mobley. And some of the women who I barely noticed back then I find surprisingly sexy now. Like Elaine Joyce and Fannie Flagg. But the best thing is the references to 70's culture. Lots of Godfather and Jolly Green Giant jokes. I heard one today that cracked my up:

'TV Guide Listing: Tonight, Cannon blanks an elephant'.

Why Did The Beatles Break Up?

2011-03-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

When people find out I'm a Beatles nut, they sometimes ask me this. I'd rather they ask 'What's your favorite album?' or 'What do you think of their movies?' because that's more fun to talk about.

But the simple answer to the 'break-up' question is that old saying:

'Familiarity Breeds Contempt'.

It wasn't Yoko or the death of Brian Epstein. And it wasn't drugs or that they were going in 'different directions musically'. It was that they were just plain sick and tired of each other. Like marriage and roommates, you start out like peas in a pod and can end up not being able to stand being in the same room with the other one.

And it's show-biz tradition. Whether it Dean and Jerry or Mick and Keith or Laverne and Shirley.

For those of us who were around during the Beatles' career, we saw it coming because they started doing 'solo' projects. But it didn't make it any less sad or diminish our hopes for a reunion.

I think the reason it seems tragic is because of what they represented. Not politically or as the spokesmen for the 'love generation', but because they had been so tight. 'The Four Headed Monster', Mick Jagger called them. They had the same haircuts, same clothes, and the same sense of humor. And even as they changed, they'd all morph at the same time. We, especially the male fans I think, envied that and wished we could be in a gang like The Beatles. So when they called it quits, we all thought, 'Sheesh. If those four end up bickering and suing each other, what hope is there for the rest of us?'

They initially were bonded by their tunnel vision focus on 'making it'. Then when they became the most famous act in the business, they bonded over the shared experiences and pressures. When they moved to London, there was the 'Liverpool' thing that kept them close and the 'Londoners' at arms length. Geoff Emerick talks about that in his book. And it was definitely true with the wives/girlfriends, too. Cyn and Maureen were a duo as were Jane and Patti.

But those things eventually fell away and became less important. John Lennon said that it got to a point with the Beatles, where it would be like 'My life is a misery because you got the tambourine part wrong!'. Like when you want to kill your roommate for leaving the butter out.

But the truly surprising thing about it is that it took them as long as it did to break-up. After years of spending nearly every day together, and factoring in the money and egos and yes-men whispering in their ears, it's amazing they didn't split even sooner.

Stuff People Just Make Up

2011-03-18T13:58:00.001-07:00

It isn't just Fox News and politics. People just make stuff up all of the time. Here are some examples of things I've actually heard friends and acquaintances say:

'The Beatles were all on drugs when they made their records'.

Okay, there is a smidgen of truth to that, but it's pretty much a myth. The Beatles rarely took drugs when they were in the studio making music. Ringo says so in the 'Anthology' documentary and everything I've read backs it up. Yes, drugs influenced their song writing. But so did a million other things.

'Ayn Rand named names at the McCarthy hearings':

I'm no fan of Ms. Rand's influence on the current economy. But I do find her fascinating and have read numerous books about her as well as her own writings. Regarding the McCarthy hearings, she did testify, but did not name names or inform on colleagues. She talked about a film, Song of Russia, that she felt was misleading in its cheerful portrayal of Russia.

'Stanley Kubrick was a misogynist':

I suppose people are misinterpreting Kubrick's messages because they have a predetermined idea of what a movie is supposed to be. That is, the main character is someone we like or identify with. But Kubrick's films are unique. They are pessimistic and unconventional. 'Good guys' are rare, and usually buffoons. Kubrick's world is pretty much all bad. And if anything, they show how much he actually hated men, not women.

The Cream Rises to the Top

2011-03-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

There's a notion out there that the 'super stars' of the world got there because of a 'break' or 'good luck' or who they slept with.

But I think that when talking about the 'best of the best' in the entertainment world, whether it be music, sports, writing, movies or television, that those who have certain ingredients are destined to find success. I'm not talking about 'celebrities' like Paris Hilton or Snookie. I mean people like Leo DiCaprio, Gwenyth Paltrow, John Grisham, Tim Lincicum, and Eminem.

Yes, the majority of actors and musicians who find success get lucky. There's a lot of work involved, too, but some stumble into a hit show or A-List rock band because of luck. After all, somebody has to play the wacky friend who gets a few lines every week on 'Big Bang Theory' and a lot of people could do it. And somebody has to be the bass player in U2. A lot of musicians could pull it off. Those kinds of jobs are breaks and a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

But even if they aren't your cup of tea, you can't dismiss the elite super-stars as being just lucky. It takes ambition and talent (and the 'it' factor if you're an actor or singer). And they also have to be responsible and cooperative. There are a lot of talented and ambitious people who could've been famous, but they're nut jobs and can't work well with others.

This idea of stardom being a fluke is based on the fact that a lot of this stuff looks easy. But even being an 'average' musician, actor, pro athlete or writer takes a lot of practice.

I've often heard a would-be writer call a talk-show with a famous novelist guest and ask 'How do I get published?'. The fact that they even have to ask the question proves they are not that dedicated or ambitious. Someone who lives and breathes writing already has some clue as to how to bust into the industry because they hang out with other writers, and publish things in small magazines and online. And they've read all of the writing magazines and 'how to' books. If they're not doing that stuff, what makes them think they could get a novel published let alone be the next Stephen King? Yet people do. But they are generally people who mearly have an 'idea' for a book and they read a lot and think they could do it, too.

The people who run the 'business', be it sports or show business, are scouring the world for that next super-star. If there's money to be made, they will find them. But those potential super-stars have to have those one-in-a-million gifts. They can't just want it. Or think they have it.

IMDB: Wha' Happened?

2011-03-04T08:42:00.001-08:00

I used to love IMDB. It was my 'go to' site when I needed to find out some trivial thing I was either curious about or couldn't remember. Like when a friend of mine and I spent two hours trying to remember Katie Holmes' name and we finally had to look it up. Ever play that game? You refuse to go online and make your brain recall a fact you know you know. Good exercise for the noodle.

But back to IMDB. I realized I wasn't using it as much because they changed the interface. It's way too busy. Graphics everywhere, images moving around, text that's 'continued' somewhere else and they've managed to turn a perfect little site into a big mess.

Not sure what their game plan is. I suppose they're trying to get into the streaming/Netflix business...I dunno. Seems like everybody is trying to ride the coattails of gool ol' Netflix these days. Good luck IMDB. And Bhuy Bye!

Charlie Sheen: Winning

2011-03-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Charlie Sheen obviously faked his 'drug test'. Just how he did it doesn't really matter, but there's no chance in hell that he doesn't have (at least) some pot in his system.

I watched his '20/20' interview and he looks totally shot. He's only 45 and looks like a 55 year old junkie. He's obviously an addict and so far gone that he will be dead, in a mental hospital or in prison before long. Unless, of course, he gets sober. But that's about as likely as his returning to the small screen anytime soon.

I Dig George Harrison

2011-02-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

Today is George's birthday! I put his first five solo albums on shuffle (the proper ones, not the 'experimental' stuff), and am digging it.

Louis Prima 'The Wildest!'

2011-02-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

I first became aware of Louis Prima because of his work as the voice of 'King Louie' in the Jungle Book. His tune from that flick, 'I Wanna Be Like You' was always a favorite of mine.

I just got his 1957 gem The Wildest!, and man, it cooks hotter than a Red State meth lab!

'Banana Split For My Baby' (a bonus on the CD) is probably my favorite. It also has his medley 'Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody' that David Lee Roth covered back in the 80's. Louis' version is much better.

Ax Men: Gabe Rygaard is a Bad Actor

2011-02-15T17:49:00.001-08:00

I kind of like 'Ax Men' on the History Channel. I suppose it's cuz I'm from Oregon and enjoy the scenery. And watching the guys work so hard at such a dangerous job can actually be inspiring. It makes it a desk-jockey like myself feel guility about complaining about much of anything.

But this Gabe Rygaard and his phony baloney acting has really got to me. The last straw was a recent episode where his dad secretly hires Gabe's arch enemy from another logging crew.

Gabe, you need some acting lessons, son. Your nose-to-nose confrontation with JD Jeremiah was embarrassing even for a reality-show. Especially one that is 'sort of' real.

The Sunset Limited

2011-02-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

If you have HBO, check out this super production starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. I've watched it twice now, once when it was first shown Sunday night, and again the next day using 'On Demand'.

This is a freaky, disturbing drama with two guys hashing out the 'meaning of life' debate. And the ending, like all great stories leave us with more questions than answers. Who won the argument? Who lost? And what the eff was that all about?

Are the characters 'real'? Who knows?

Tommy Lee Jones wants to die. He blames his death wish on the death of the things he loved most ...music, books, art...and I think that's the core of the story. He describes those things, which he once thought were indestructible, as fragile and now lost in a world of shit.

So true. And while the writer of the piece, Cormac McCarthy, is most likely talking about highfalutin culture, I feel the same sense of loss in pop culture, which was riding so high for such a long time.

If you had asked me in 1970, 'What do you think pop culture will be like in 2011?', I don't think I would've guessed it would be a cesspool of loud violent movies, television programs that pretend to be 'real' but are actually people pretending to fight and exhibit crude behavior, and a music scene without heroes or melodies.

But the irony of 'The Sunset Limited', a television production, is that television has actually improved over the last ten years or so. A sort of 'Silver Age', if you will. And while 99.9% of movies, novels and music suck for actual grown-ups, television offers a lot of well written shows that actually seem to care about character and message and manage to be entertaining. Yeah, there are still fake 'reality' shows and tons of crap but you also get gems like 'The Sunset Limited'. Check it out, Pilgrim!

Oscar Predictions 2011

2011-02-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Since I'm not in a pool this year, I thought I'd post my picks here. I'll also tell you who I would like to win, which is different than a prediction.

I'm not going to list the nominees...you can find those on oscars.org.

BEST PICTURE: The Social Network will win. Like 1976's All The President's Men, it captures the time and place and a milestone of not only history but of how people see the world. All The Prez's lost to Rocky, and that was okay. The Prez movie was overshadowed by it's high-profile cast. As far as competition goes, The King's Speech seems to be the only contender, but I'm thinking that's an old-school Best Picture. I think we've moved on and the Academy are picking more interesting movies lately (The Departed, No Country for Old Men, Hurt Locker, etc.).

I also think Social Network SHOULD win. It's my fav of the nominees.

BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth will win simply by process of elimination. Bridges won last year, Franco won't win because the amputation scene is a turn-off, Bardem has a dark horse shot, but he already won a Supporting Oscar a few years back and Eisenberg won't win because he does such a good job, it doesn't seem like acting. I LIKE Eisenberg cuz it's a tough part and he pulls it off.

BEST ACTRESS: Natalie Portman will win because the Oscars are dominated by a bunch of old geezers who wanna see a hottie win an award. Besides, she deserves it. MY PICK, TOO.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tough one. Everybody says Christine Bale, but I thought his performance was to hammy and the movie itself wasn't gritty enough to make me believe he was crackhead or in prison. Hell, that crackhouse was nicer than some sober people's apartments. I'm going out on a limb and picking Geoffrey Rush to win, even though he won ages ago for Shine. I think King's Speech is an 'actors' movie, which is why they'll toss those awards at it and ignore it for directing, writing and best picture. I LIKE Mark Ruffalo. He's always good and deserves it.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tough one. I'm picking Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, which is a close-second for me in the Best Picture category. She gives a performance unlike anything I've ever seen and the Oscars love a new kid. Amy Adams is also good and should have a shot. I LIKE Hailee myself

DIRECTING: Gotta go with Social Network again. The movie looks great and even though I love the Coen's, they have enough Oscars. MY PICK, TOO.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: King's Speech might win, but it's too weird to give the writing award to a movie about a guy who stutters. And it's not that interesting of a script. Like I said, it's all in the acting. I say they toss the bone to The Fighter. Great dialogue, nice pace, complicated story told really well. I LIKE Another Year, which may be the most interesting movie of the year.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Social Network. My pick and will win. If I had to bet on one sure thing, this is it. The writer Aaron Sorkin is a big cheese in Hollywood and taking such a seemingly dull subject and turning it into a script that unfolds like a creepy Hitchcockian thriller is amazing.

Come Back, Little Sheba

2011-02-10T15:17:00.001-08:00

Watched this film on Turner Classics last night. What a great little movie. Shirley Booth (who I always hated in that awful TV show 'Hazel'), is fabulous. She played the role on Broadway and Burt Lancaster is her alcoholic hubby.

Super cast. A super young Richard Jaeckel, who I always dug especially in Sometimes a Great Notion and the Dirty Dozen. The guy was in everything and always good. He even played Archie Bunker's gay buddy in an 'All in the Family' episode (you can imagine Archie's reaction).

Terry Moore is also great and a real cutie pie.

The story is perfect. The symbolism of the lost dog (Sheba) is inspired. Check it out, Pilgrim!

New Rule: Stop Saying "It Was Like Something in a Movie"

2011-02-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, so maybe I'm beating a dead horse here. Or maybe I should send it to Bill Maher for his 'New Rules' segment. But please, stop saying EVERYTHING is like something in a movie! I hear it almost everyday. It's ridiculous!

I heard Nancy Grace say it on 'The View' the other day when she described her doctor telling her she had (or might have) cancer ("He took me in his office. It was like a scene from a movie").

And a local newscaster said it when he described a huge pile of snow on the roof of a truck colliding with an overpass ("It looks like a movie stunt").

First off, it's really lazy because you could say it about anything. For example, "I ordered a glass of beer. It was like something from a movie".

And second, WHAT MOVIE!? If you're describing a specific scene from a specific movie MAYBE it's okay. Like "I was driving really fast and flew over a hill and bottomed-out like the car chase scene in Bullit."

But this generic term for anything horrible or spectacular is just plain dumb. Stop it.

'Band of Brothers' Leader Dies at 92

2011-02-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

I read that Richard 'Dick' Winters of 'Band of Brothers' fame died the other day. I was a big fan of the show and the book, and decided to break out the DVDs when I heard the news and watch a few.

Two days later, I had watched all ten episodes again, including the 'extras' disc.

What a great show. I would put it up there with 'Star Trek', 'The Sopranos' and 'The Honeymooners' as one of the best television series ever. Produced by Tom Hanks and Spielberg after their success with Saving Private Ryan, they tried it again with 'The Pacific' recently, but that show pales in comparison. It was pretty good, but it lacked great characters and some of the episodes were kind of dull (like when they go on leave to Australia...yawn).

Maybe it's just that the war in Europe makes for better story telling. But whatever the reasons, 'Band of Brothers' doesn't have one boring episode. Hell, it doesn't even have one boring scene.

My favorite 'Brother' is Donald Malarkey. I dig him because, like me, he's an Oregonian. He's still alive and lives in Salem. He's played by an actor I really like, Scott Grimes. Grimes played 'Archie Morris' during the last few seasons of 'ER' and was great in that role, too.

Rest in peace, Captain Winters.

The Masked Marauders

2011-01-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school, we had a record player in art class. One of the few records we had laying around was The Masked Marauders. It's a 1969 'spoof' on the super-group concept and has Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan impersonators. The band itself is actually pretty good. You can read all of the details on Wikipedia.

I musta heard that album a few dozen times and always loved it. For some reason I never got my own copy. Never ran across it in a record store or even knew anybody who had it. I never even knew who brought it to school. It was just there.

About a month ago I finally got a copy off eBay. It's funny, cuz even though it's been almost 40 years since I've heard it, I remembered every note, every syllable and drum beat. Weird how we retain that stuff. Hell, I can't remember my neighbor's last name or my own license plate.

If you've never heard the Masked Marauders, check it out! It's a fun listen and I know Rhino released it on CD a while back. But get the vinyl if you can. It has that great warm 'record' sound CDs can't seem to duplicate.

"It was like something in a movie!"

2011-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've said before and I'll say it again.

I HATE it when people say 'It was like something in a movie!'. Usually something like an explosion or car wreck. How come nobody says that when it's something non-violent like a child holding a kitten or a reunited couple embracing at the airport? Those things happen in movies, too.

It's always something violent and disturbing. And now you even hear newscasters say it. I heard it this morning when some gas line exploded.

It's bugs me for a few reasons. One, it's not accurate. An explosion is not like something in a movie. It's the opposite. A MOVIE explosion is like a REAL explosion. But when people see a big KABOOM, the FIRST THING they think is 'it was like a movie'. How sad. How weird we've become.

It also tells me that people tend to automatically associate anything violent with the movies. Is it that movies are super violent these days or is it that POPULAR movies are violent? I think it's a bit of both. Me, I avoid violent/action movies generally. I used to like 'em but now that everything is CGI, it doesn't interest me. I might as well watch a Jonny Quest cartoon if I want to see animated action sequences.

People are so insulated from the real world that their point of reference is all from TV shows and movies. You even see it in books now. I was reading some piece of shit sci-fi novel a friend recommended and literally, EVERY OTHER PAGE had some reference or comparison to 'Star Trek' or some other pop culture thing.

So many people spend the majority of their day looking at a computer, a TV screen or a handheld device, that they identify everything with what they see on a screen. Nobody can ride the bus or take a walk or even sit in the room with other people without checking their iPhones or the TV or computers. People can't even walk the fifty feet from their car to their house without yappin' on their cell phones.

And hey, I love TV and technology as much as the next guy! But we're heading into dangerous territory people.

Take a walk and look around. Pick up a guitar and play it. Read a classic novel (using a REAL book and not some 'device'). Talk to an actual person, even if it's just the check-out guy Safeway. Smell the roses people! Look around. Spend some time in your own head. The world is a fascinating place. Cuz when it's all said and done, and your breathing your last breath, it won't be that funny YouTube video or Tweet you remember. It will be moments with family and friends and a gorgeous spring day or snow covered field. Just like in the movies.

Beatle Questions Part 4

2011-01-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

Here are the last few Beatles' questions sent by a faithful reader....

16. What's the name of Dhani's band? Have you heard his CD? I've heard he sounds like George.

Answer: The name of the band is 'Thenewno2' and I think I listened to some of it online once, but it obviously didn't grab me cuz I don't remember anything about it. I don't know if he sounds like George, but George's real strength was as a back-up singer anyway. So 'sounding like George' is not such a great thing really. George was great at harmonies, which is why, I think, he alone survived all of the John & Paul reshuffles during the early days. Also, he 'looked the part' and 'fit in'. His guitar playing was never great and it was his ability to sing that kept him in the band.

17. What's your favorite Paul album?

Answer: I like pretty much everything up to Tug of War, which was his first LP after John's death. I think John's passing affected his song writing because he was never as good after that. The competition between them never ended and I think he always had the thought 'what will John think?' in the back of his mind. Or, 'what will John say to the press about it when they ask him?'. It could also be a coincidence that his talent dropped off after 1980/81, but I think it's too big of a coincidence.

As to what my favorite Paul album is, it probably changes depending on what day you ask me. My top ones are McCartney, Ram, Wild Life, Band on the Run, Venus and Mars, Wings Over America, Back to the Egg, and Tug of War.

Band on the Run is regarded by pretty much everybody as his best, but I think I would have to choose Ram. It was his first 'proper' album after the break-up and doesn't have a lousy song in the bunch. I would put Venus and Mars as #2. The others are all pretty close on my likeness meter.

18. How was his stuff on Chaos and Creation?

I thought it was bad. Like any new Paul album, I put it in my car CD player and listen to it over and over until I decide whether I like it or not. Sometimes it takes a few listens for them to grow on you. After listening to Chaos about ten times or so, I realized it was horrible and I'll probably never play it again as long as I live.

19. What year was Thrillington?

For those who don't know, Thrillington was Paul's instrumental version of Ram. I said I wouldn't look stuff up for these questions, but I cheated on this one. I knew it was a number of years after Ram and i was right...it was 1977 (Ram was 1971). I actually really like it. Of course, as I said above, Ram is probably my favorite Paul album, so it makes sense. One of the few McCartney off-shoot projects that's actually a hit with me. His other stuff, Liverpool Oratorio, Fireman and his other experiments don't do it for me. But Thrillington is damn cool.

That's it on Beatles questions....send more faithful readers. I enjoyed it!

Beatles Questions Part 3

2011-01-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

More questions from a reader...

11. I read years ago that morgue workers video taped Lennon's body being placed in the oven during his cremation in a Rolling Stone story called 'Ghoulish Beatlemania'. Any truth to it?

Answer: Not sure why anyone would be interested in seeing something like that or even knowing about it. I never heard that story, and I haven't heard of the Rolling Stone article. I know that there was a photo of Lennon's body leaked to the Enquirer and I think Yoko even used the photo in a video. But it wasn't all that ghoulish. He just looked like he was sleeping.

12. Have you ever heard of a McCartney band called Suzy and the Red Stripes? They had a single called 'Walking in the Park with Eloise', a Jim McCartney song (Paul's dad). The flip side was a Linda song called 'Cook of the House'. What do you think of the songs?

Answer: You are mixing up your fake McCartney bands. Suzy and the Red Stripes was the 'band' on a single with a Linda song called 'Seaside Woman'. The other one, 'Walking in the Park' was by Wings under the name The Country Hams. 'Cook of the House' was on Wings at the Speed of Sound album and I think it was a flip side of one of the singles from the album.

I think I've heard 'Seaside Woman', but have no memory of it. 'Cook of the House' is a cute little number. But not outstanding. The Country Ham stuff is dull. Barely worth a listen. I think they are on one of the Wings' CDs as 'extras'.

13. If Yoko and Linda were given the Krell intelligence test from Forbidden Planet, who would score the highest IQ?

Answer: I don't remember the Krell test, although I've seen Forbidden Planet a few times. But regarding their I.Q., I would say that Linda was more intelligent. Comparing the many interviews I've heard and read over the years, Linda just strikes me as being smarter.

Also, her photography, which requires technical skills as well as talent, I think outshines anything Yoko ever did in regards to showing brains. But Yoko seems to be smart regarding money management. She's done a good job with John's fortune and investments. She comes from a family of bankers, so she might have a good head for money.

14. Which Lennon son has more musical talent, Sean or Julian?

Answer: I like Julian's Volatte album and think it shows talent as a singer and writer. I've never been impressed with any of Sean's stuff. And Julian seems to have more of the 'it' factor. That is, I'd rather watch Julian perform than Sean.

15. Same question concerning Paul's son James and George's son Dhani.

Answer: James hasn't really done much. He plays guitar a little on some Paul albums, but I don't think he's all that good. I think I listened to some of Dhani's stuff but cant' recall. I did seem him play at the 'Concert for George' a few years back, but the most impressive thing was how much he looks like a young George.

And regarding the Beatle kids in general, the most talented and successful of the bunch is obviously fashion designer Stella McCartney. Which I think shows that while the Beatles' kids do have 'creative genetics', trying to do something musical is probably not the way to go. Although, Zak Starkey is a pretty good drummer. But so are a million other guys.

...more Q & A next time!!!

Beatle Questions Part 2

2011-01-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

More of my friend of a friends questions and my 'off the cuff' responses. Some morbid territory here, so be warned. But hey, I don't shy away from 'em!:

6. What do you think of McGear, Mike McCartneys' Wings album? Have you ever heard his records with Scaffold, like 'Lily the Pink'? Does one have to be British to find any humor in Scaffold?

Answer: If I have heard McGear, I don't remember it. Never been very interested in brother Mike. But it's interesting you call it a 'Wings' album, because I think it features, besides Paul, Denny and Linda, performances by what is considered the best Wings sidemen (Joe English, Jimmy McCollough). I don't know 'Lily the Pink' but do remember a nonsense number called something like 'Thank You Very Much' that was a minor hit. I kinda liked it.

Regarding 'do you have to be British' to get it, I don't think that is really valid. Something's either funny or it isn't. I remember telling a British friend how much I hated that sitcom 'Are You Being Served'. PBS was showing it constantly. I thought it was dumb and not funny and he said 'Well, you have to be British to get it'. But the fact that PBS kept showing it proved that SOME Americans liked it. And besides, I like Python and Peter Sellers and lots of other British comedy, and some of the references I don't get but it doesn't matter. It's still funny. I don't think you have to be a redneck to like that 'Get 'er Done' jerk. I hate it but I'm sure plenty of 'city folk' find it funny.

Oh, and I much mention that I actually met Mike McGear ages ago when he was in San Francisco promoting his book of photos (I think it was called 'The Macs'). I didn't buy the book or have anything for him to sign, but it was literally a block away from where I was living so I went there and got his autograph and shook his hand. I've lost the autograph, but it was just an excuse to see him. He was friendly.

7. Which Beatle wife had more musical talent, Yoko or Linda?

Answer: Great question! I actually think Linda had more natural musical talent but Yoko had more ambition. Yes, Linda was not a great player but she has a nice voice (I love her vocals on Ram and Wild Life) and helped write stuff (like the middle 'What does it matter to ya?' bit on 'Live and Let Die'). For someone who was reluctant to 'join a band' she did a fine job. I've tried to teach friends to play simple things on the guitar or drums and they couldn't do the most basic stuff.

Yoko never really 'played' anything except whacking on an old drum nobody could hear anyway. She supposedly could play piano but I don't recall ever seeing her do it. Her singing is really 'performance art' and not singing. But I do like some of her stuff, like 'We're All Water' from Sometime in New York City. Great tune and great lyrics. But it's also very childlike, which pretty much describes all of her music. Kids can make up songs, too, and if you had John Lennon helping, it might come out okay.

Linda actually sang real harmony and played the keyboards and co-wrote pop songs. You might not like her stuff, but she pulled it off, which ain't easy. Hell, some people think John Denver's stuff is super. I can't stand him.

8. Linda was out horse riding at their Arizona ranch a day before she dies. Was her death euthanasia?

Answer: I don't really dwell on that sort of thing and don't know. The McCartney camp is pretty quiet about her last days and there was some mystery around where she died. But it doesn't really interest me.

9. What happened to John Lennon's cremated remains? Is it in Yoko's closet?

Answer: Again, I don't care much about that kind of thing. John Lennon's dead body doesn't interest me. But I think the whereabouts of his ashes are unknown.

10. Lennon/Ono aide Fred Seaman supposedly sold Lennon property, unpublished songs, recordings, etc. Has any of it surfaced?

Answer: I didn't follow the Fred Seaman story that closely but I know that Yoko did sue him and he got into some trouble for 'stealing' photos and notebooks/diaries, etc. The guy sounds like a creep. Another Lennon hanger-on who took advantage.

Beatle Questions Part 1

2011-01-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

A friend of a friend fired me off a list of 15 Beatles questions. So to kill to birds with one stone, I'll answer them here. I'll do it in bits and hopefully get to all of them soon. There are some good ones...

1. Who wrote 'In My Life', John or Paul? If it was Paul, is there any other examples of a song writing dispute between them? Is there any other examples of John doing lead vocal on Paul song? Has Paul ever performed a John song in concert? If Paul wrote 'In My Life', why hasn't ever done it in concert?

Answer: First off, for all of these questions, I'm not going to research this stuff because that would be cheating.

I know that the only song besides 'In My Life' in 'dispute' is 'Elenor Rigby'. John claims to have written most of the lyrics whereas Paul says he wrote most of them.

Regarding 'In My Life', Paul says John had most of the words and that he (Paul) wrote the music. John says Paul helped with the 'middle eight' (or break). Problem with that statement is that 'In My Life' doesn't have a 'middle' bit except for the piano solo which is by George Martin. But, as the question insinuates, it was odd for Lennon-McCartney to write a song in the classic sense of one writing the lyrics and the other writing the music. It never really worked like that with them. So that would make one think John wrote most of it and Paul is wrong. However, it does SOUND like a Paul song (kinda like 'We Can Work It Out'). John's melodies were not fluid like 'In My Life' is. His songs center around one, two or three notes (usually). My conclusion is that I think Paul's story is probably correct. He wrote the melody and John probably forgot or got it mixed up with another song (hence the 'middle eight' error in his statement). BUT, the fact that he never does it live, makes you question if Paul did indeed write it.

And no, I can't think of any other instance of either of them writing a song that the other one sang lead on. But since it was John's lyric, I suppose it is his song, too.

Paul has done 'Give Peace a Chance' live. And I recently read that he did 'One After 909' in concert at the Apollo in NYC. He does do a George song ('Something') live. On the flip-side, John did 'I Saw Her Standing There' with Elton John in 1974.

Interestingly, George performed 'In My Life' in his 1974 concerts. Maybe he wrote it!?

2. Have you ever read John's poem 'Toy Boy' and what do you think about it?

Answer: No. Never even heard of it.

3. On Let it Be (Naked) 'Fly on the Wall', George and Paul refer to Brian as Mr. Epstein. Did they usually refer to him so formally?

Answer: I don't recall the 'Fly on the Wall' reference, but it seems like I've heard them call him 'Mister' in other conversations/interviews. I think it may be a combination Liverpudlian jokey way of talking as well as making sure the listener isn't confusing him with another 'Brian'.

4. What's the story behind Paul and Jane Asher's break-up? They were together for years then suddenly split. Do they speak? Why was Paul, a multi-millionaire, living at Jane's home with her family?

Answer: Jane caught Paul in bed with another woman when she walked in on him at his St. John's Wood house. I think it was Francie Schwartz, who he 'dated' around the 'White Album'. Jane broke it off immediately. But I think it was going to happen anyway. Paul didn't dig the fact that she was a working actress and not looking to settle down and be the typical Liverpool-style wife.

I don't think they speak, however, it's hard to believe that there hasn't been some occasional communication like a congratulations note or something. Plus, her brother Peter worked for Apple and still has some contact with Paul (I assume). Paul has mentioned he appreciates how she has never written a 'tell all' or cashed in on the 'Beatles/McCartney' connection. Jane is probably my favorite 'Beatle Girlfriend/Wife'. I like Linda a lot, too.

I think he lived with the Ashers simply because he needed a place and was hardly ever home anyway and it was offered to him. He was too busy and lazy to buy a house at the time. It was easy and fits his 'everyman' side. That is, he's as likely to ride in a city bus as he is to fly in a private jet. So 'crashing' with the Asher for a year or so was no big deal.

5. I seem to remember Paul writing a book of poems and stories perhaps to compete with John's books. This was 10-15 years ago. What did critics say about it?

Answer: Yes, it was about 10 years ago. It was around the time he was griping about the 'Lennon-McCartney' credits and wanted them reversed on songs he wrote (or mostly wrote). Yoko nixed the idea, and Ringo also came out against it. Paul backed off. The book was not well received. I never read it. Like his 'paintings', no one really cares.

More answers next time, folks!!

Spider-Man Movie

2011-01-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

I hear that instead of making a Spider-Man 4 movie, they are going to reboot the franchise and start all over again with a younger Spidey and origin story.

C'mon! How many times I have to see the 'radioactive spider/Uncle Ben' tale!? I saw it on the old ABC cartoon, the lousy TV version from the 70's, other newer cartoon versions and not to mention reading the story retold in the comics a bunch of times. Let's just get on with fighting Kraven, the Lizard and the othe villians they haven't gotten around to. And dealing with his girlfriend, money and secret identity problems, which is really what Spider-Man is about anyway.

If they couldn't get Tobey MacGuire, or whatever their issues were with doing a fourth film, just recast it. The Bond franchise got it right by just changing the actor every ten years or so (thank God they also had the good luck that 007 doesn't have an 'origin' story).

And Gwyneth Cried...

2010-12-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

I really like Gwyneth Paltrow. She's not only a fine actress, but she's gorgeous and classy and charming and makes cool choices when it comes to movies. Seven, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums, Shallow Hal, Iron Man...a very diverse body of work that doesn't reek of 'career move' like the canon of movies by other actress of her status.

It seems like her agenda is to make pictures that have scripts she likes or because of the people attached to them. And most of them are pretty good. Of course there are a few clunkers, but I must say that the worst thing I experience watching one of her movies is boredom. I never feel that her films are 'awful' or 'stupid', which is more than I can say for the careers of Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, Hillary Swank or Sandra Bullock. I'd put Gwyneth up there with the two Kates...Winslet and Cate Blanchett. That is, actresses who are smart enough to know a good script from a bad one and are more interested in acting than creating a persona that is in itself more like a franchise than a human being.

But I had to cringe when I read an article about her new picture, Country Strong, where she talks about learning to play guitar for the role and how '..my hands were cramping and bleeding. I cried five times. It's really effing hard.' Yes, Gwyneth. Learning to play any instrument is hard, and can make your body hurt. But how much blood was there, really? I'm a musician and play guitar and bass and drums and know hundreds of other folks who do as well. I don't remember there being a lot of talk about 'bleeding'. Or crying.

I guess you could blame the interviewer who might have grilled her about the guitar playing...maybe it's not something she would've offered up if she hadn't been pressed on the matter. Who knows?

But more interesting than her cry-baby speech was what she said about taking guitar lessons. She took them from a session player and when the interviewer asked her if husband Chris Martin (of Coldplay fame) helped her out, she laughed it off saying, 'Yeah, like he has time to teach me guitar.'

Huh? I mean, didn't Paul McCartney (who is/was much more famous than Mr. Martin could ever hope to be) teach his wife to play keyboards and even encourage her to perform with him? What's the matter Chris? Can't spend an hour here and there showing Gwyneth a few tricks of the trade? Sheesh. If she was my girl, I'd teach her.

The Fallen idol

2010-12-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

As a Baby Boomer, I grew up loving all things British. Music, movies, television, novels...you name it. Old or new, it was all good. I think the Brits lost their luster for me after the punk scene. Nothing outstanding has come from them since. Not that anything outstanding has come from the USA either, although I think our movies and TV are better these days.

I Netflixed a great oldie recently called The Fallen Idol. I put it in the queue cuz it won the 1948 British equivalent of the Oscar for Best Picture.

It stars Ralph Richardson as a diplomat's butler, who gets in trouble with the cops and is seen mostly through the eyes of the diplomat's son who adores Richardson. With groovy twists and turns, gorgeous sets and photography, it's one of those great soggy old British movies from that black and white post-War/pre-Carnaby Street period. I love that era. When a man would come home to his pipe, BBC radio, a crossword puzzle and a cuppa.

And it's directed by Carol Reed, who followed it up with The Third Man. Nice run, Mr. Reed.

Beatles on iTunes...Finally

2010-11-22T07:47:00.000-08:00

I think the best quote was from Ringo. When asked what he thought about The Beatles catalog finally being available on iTunes, he said, 'Now people will stop asking me about it.'

I've always preferred the Beatles on vinyl because that's the original format. It's like old comic books. I'd rather read the actual comic than a reproduction in a nice coffee table book. But at the same time, the coffee table is more convenient. Same with iTunes.

But you do lose the organic connection. The cover of Rubber Soul, for example, looks a lot better when it's BIG!

The Sgt. Pepper's cover, gatefold, back cover, psychedelic insert and cut-out 'goodies' were as much a part of the original experience as the music. I know that may be hard to believe in the 21st century when every image known to man is available at the click of a few buttons.

Back in the Summer of Love, 1967, when I was a kid growing up in Portland, Oregon, we only had five TV channels (and one of them was PBS which was LAME!), only a couple of rock and roll radio stations and most rock magazines and books were strictly marketing tools aimed at teenagers. The stories would be silly features and goofy photo ops. You had to dig deep to find an actual important piece of info. And the Beatles were rarely on television. So getting that Pepper album, with all the great graphics, was a really big deal.

And the listening experience was also different. Side One was a different experience than Side Two, and depending on your mood, you would choose which one to play. Or choose both. Or both in reverse order. Whatever.

Yes, I know you can't go home again. But I'm just saying...The Beatles took a lot of time and care into the packaging and sequence and we've lost that now and with CDs on the way out, even the miniture versions will fade away, too. And don't give me that, 'But you can download the images' bullshit. It's not the same as sitting on your couch and listening to the record while you go over every detail of the album cover.

But I'm glad they finally got the music on iTunes. Now people will stop asking me about it!

AMC Does it Again!! 'Walking Dead' Is Great!

2010-11-09T14:52:00.001-08:00

Gotta hand it to AMC. The cable network itself was like the walking dead some years ago. I remember when they first started up in the salad days of cable, and they were kinda cool, showing some good old commercial free movies. Then they started showing commercials. I remember that I was turned off and tuned out. So did a bunch of my friends.

Then they started making original shows and my initial thought was 'This is gonna be lame'...but who woulda thunk it!? The shows are damn good. 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad' are super.

Finally caught up with their newest, 'Walking Dead' and loved it. I was a 'mad man' when the first episode was over! (So much better than the recent Zombieland movie, which had a few good moments but was mostly dumb and more interested in style than story).

The only thing that kinda bugged me was the fact that the hero was in a coma when the whole zombie thing happened. It's a direct rip-off of 28 Days Later. But I'm gonna give them a pass since it doesn't really matter now that the story is in motion.

The rip-off reminds me of when 'The Sopranos' started on HBO and it had the same premise as the Billy Crystal picture Analyze This: 'The Gangster Meets the Psychiatrist'

But in retrospect, 'The Sopranos' and Analyze This have about as much in common as "Gilligan's Island' and 'Lost'.

The Vocal Stylings of Paul McCartney

2010-11-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Although John Lennon is a better 'rock and roll' singer, Paul has a much bigger range of styles. Way bigger.

First off, there's the sweet Paul ('Mother Nature's Son') and the black/R&B Paul ('Long Tall Sally'). As a matter of fact, Paul's the only Beatle who could do the 'black thing'. Can you imagine Lennon or Harrison doing something like the break in 'I've Got a Feeling' ("All these years I've been wandering around, wondering how come nobody told me", etc.)?

Lennon said he thought Paul should've let him do the vocals for 'Oh Darling', which while interesting, is completely wrong. It's totally a Paul vocal.

And while we're at it, Paul did a lot of other styles, often on obscure tunes. The 'frog in throat' vocal on 'Tomorrow' (from Wild Life), the screaming on 'Monkberry Moon Delight', the falsetto on 'Girlfriend' as well as funny voices like on 'Uncle Albert' and 'Famous Groupies'. He could also throw in a country twang like on 'Sally G' or 'Rocky Raccoon'.

And there's a lot more odd-stylings from Paul, like 'She's a Woman', for example.

I'd like to see him do more of that kind of thing on his newer songs. But I guess we can't have everything.

June Cleaver

2010-11-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

When Barbara Billingsley died a few weeks ago, the morning news carried the story. The reporter mentioned 'Leave it to Beaver' of course, but added, "In 1980 Billingsley took a comic turn in the movie Airplane!".

Thanks. I didn't know 'Leave it to Beaver' was a drama.

Janine Turner

2010-11-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

I really liked Janine Turner as 'Maggie' on 'Northern Exposure' back in the day. She's a well-known right-winger, but I don't hold that against her. Hell, I love John Wayne even though he was a Vietnam hawk and hated hippies.

I can enjoy an entertainer regardless of their personal life or politics.

But I was stuck by the irony of her recent appearance at a Sarah Palin rally in Alaska.

I assume the reason Ms. Turner was there was because she was in a show that was set in Alaska. However, 'Northern' was actually filmed in the state of Washington, not Alaska. And I doubt if Janine has ever spent any significant amount of time in Alaska.

So here you have a celebrity who played a character in a show that pretended to take place in Alaska on stage with another celebrity who is pretending to be an average soccer mom.

The New Hawaii Five-0 Review (Hawaii Five...NO!!!)

2010-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I have a major problem with the new 'Hawaii Five-0' that premiered last night on CBS. The story itself was below-average, but that's not my problem. I just can't figure out why they decided to remake 'Hawaii Five-0' in name only!?

The only thing resembling the old show are: (#1) The title (#2) The theme song, and (#3) The names of the characters.

It also takes place in Hawaii and they use the catch phrase 'Book 'Em Danno' but those would be redundant to similarities I already pointed out (see #1 and #3).

Why go to all the trouble to acquire the rights of one of the most famous and successful TV shows of all time and then make a completely different show? They don't even use the term 'Five-0' in the pilot (it ends with them arguing about what to 'call themselves'...a truly dumb scene that only shows the lack of chemistry between the actors).

Remakes are tricky. But if you're remaking a show that was successful like 'Hawaii Five-0', there seems to be only two ways to go. You either do a 'Next Generation' type of series that exists in the same 'universe' as the original show but with new characters: It's 2010, McGarrett and his crew are gone but not forgotten and the 'new' guys are still fighting the good fight. The tone of the show is more modern, but similar.

Or do a true remake: Exact same premise and characters as the old show but with a 2010 take.

The new 'Hawaii Five-0' has done neither. Instead, they have decided to go the 'Battlestar Galactica' route. That is, take the most basic idea and names of the characters and change everything else.

It worked for the new 'Battlestar' because the original show was a good 'idea' with lousy execution. The new 'Battlestar' took a dumb kiddie show nobody remembers or cared about and turned it into a hard-hitting respectable fan favorite.

Unlike the original and forgotten 'Battlestar', 'Five-0' was a huge success and aired for 12 years. Whatever you might think of it, 'Five-0' was a big deal. It's part of American pop-culture. It had big ratings and everybody knew about it even if they didn't watch TV.

Here's how they dropped the ball on this new version:

THE PREMISE: Five-o is no longer part of the state police. They're some vague 'anti-terrorist' force. Isn't that kind of limiting? Terrorists are always the same. Sweaty, five o'clock shadow, foreign accent, insane, suicidal, fanatic...are they going to do that every week?

THE STORY: The 'Pilot' is a 'revenge' tale about McGarrett's murdered dad. The old show RARELY gave us any glimpse of McGarrett's personal life. We didn't even see where he lived or what he did besides fight crime. And the plots hardly ever revolved around the characters and only did so after the show had been on a while and we got to know and like them. In this new one, McGarrett's dad is murdered in the first five minutes. Who cares!? He looked like a Tea Bagger anyway. Good riddance!

THE TONE: The old show was tense and serious. Very little joking around or personal belly aching. The new one has McGarrett mourning his 'dead daddy' one minute and cracking wise with Danno the next.

THE CHARACTERS: They in no way resemble the original ones. So much so in fact, that they actually seem to have purposely made them the complete OPPOSITE.

Kono, formally an overweight, somewhat lethargic ex-beach boy, is now a gorgeous/hip surfer girl.

Chin Ho, an older Charlie Chan-type with too many kids to count and in the sunset of a long and illustrious career is now a single, handsome ex-cop who got kicked off the force for being corrupt (he denies it).

Danny Williams, the dedicated young Haole cop and all around 'nice guy', is an unhappy, divorced, wise-cracking cop who hates Hawaii and only moved there to be close to his ex-wife and kids.

Steve McGarrett, the 'by the book' leader is now an out-of-control rule breaker.

Even the way the show treats Hawaii is all wrong. The old show had respect for the culture, history and people. You actually learned stuff about Hawaii by watching it. This new version mocks the locals and makes 'shaved ice' jokes.

The one good thing about the new show is Scott Caan as Danny Williams. He's fun to watch and makes the guy playing McGarrett completely disappear. Which is not a good thing.

'Survivor' Moves to Wednesday

2010-09-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

I see 'Survivor' is moving to Wednesdays after over ten years as a Thursday night staple. This pretty much ends my habit of Thursday being my big TV night.

Remember when NBC called Thursday 'Must See TV'? It was a great 20-year run of shows I loved like 'Cheers', 'Friends', 'Scrubs', 'Will and Grace', 'Frasier', 'Seinfeld', 'ER' and a bunch I didn't like but had huge ratings like 'The Cosby Show'.

And even though NBC pretty much owned the night, 'Survivor' made it a 'must see' night, too. It's the only 'non-scripted' show I like (I think 'non-scripted' is a more accurate term than 'reality' because there's nothing about 'Survivor' that resembles 'reality'. You could actually say that a show like 'ER' was more 'real' than 'Survivor').

It's a great show because it's a great 'game'. Not only are the challenges fun, but the psychological aspects are complex. Because while the main goal is to eliminate the other players, usually through trickery and lying, the final goal is to get the majority of the same people you lied to and betrayed to pick you as the winner.

I also love the scenery and think Jeff Probst is terrific.

Oh, and again, regarding Thursday TV viewing, I recall that the first six or so episodes of 'Northern Exposure' (CBS) were also on Thursday night as a summer replacement (remember those?).

The only thing left really is '30 Rock'. I used to like 'The Office' but don't really care about it much anymore. 'Parks and Recreation' is okay, but Thursdays will never be the same. The end of 'ER' was huge, but 'Survivor' moving to Wednesdays is the last nail in the coffin.

South Pacific: The Book, The Musical, The LP, The Movie

2010-09-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered 'South Pacific'. It all started about a year ago when I attended the musical when a new production was playing in San Francisco. I thought it was super. So I Netflixed the movie and loved it, too.

Now I'm reading the James Michener novel that was the genesis of both and think it's Michener's best. I was never a big fan of his, but this book (actually titled 'Tales of the South Pacific') is a real winner.

I even got a copy of the original Broadway production on vinyl.

I wasn't completely unaware of 'South Pacific'. I'd heard some of the songs. 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'Bali Hai' and 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair' (which I first recall as a shampoo commercial!), but I'd never seen the film, much less the play. And yeah, some people will say 'it's corny', but so what. There's a big difference between 'good corny' and 'bad corny'. Like Frank Capra movies are 'good' and fluff like 'Touched By An Angel' are bad.

The world of entertainment is diverse. And you just like what you like. You can't fight it.

So after I have another listen to 'South Pacific', I think I'll put on an old Dead Kennedys album.

Why No Baby-Boomer TV Shows on Cable!?

2010-08-31T18:22:00.001-07:00

With 500 channels, how come I don't see very many old TV shows on cable? Even the so-called 'TV Land' channel offers only a handful of old programs. Seems like they used to have stuff like 'Leave it to Beaver', 'The Munsters' and 'Brady Bunch'. Now it's mostly 'newer' shows like 'Home Improvement' and 'Roseanne'. At least they still show 'Bonanza' and 'Andy Griffith' but that's about it.

And the 'SyFy' channel, which in my opinion should be airing classics like 'The Invaders', 'Outer Limits' and the Irwin Allen shows, doesn't seem to be showing anything old.

Cable is inundated with crappy reality shows about phony ghost hunters, pawn shop owners and prefab celebrities. I know someone who worked on one of these 'reality' shows, and I know for a fact that they are totally fake. Most everything is manufactured. And besides, a half-hour show gives you about 10 minutes of material because they show the same clips at least three times each episodes.

You'd think that with all of the programming they need to fill, a rerun of 'Hawaii Five-0' or 'That Girl' would attract SOME viewers. And are they really all that expensive?

I'm not sure if it's due to online streaming that allows Netflix and Hulu folks to show a lot of old TV, or the fact that the 'owners' of the shows want to sell DVDs. But like most baby-boomers, I haven't got around to hooking up my TV to the internet and I have no interest in watching TV on my computer. And I'm not going to buy the DVD of 'Adam 12' even though I would love to watch it.

As someone who LOVES to watch TV, I'm truly shocked at the fact that the thing I think of as 'Television', i.e., dramas and comedies, is pretty much absent from the huge selection of cable channels out there.

Hard Candy

2010-08-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Caught this really cool movie on cable called Hard Candy with Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. So rare these days to see a smart intense and grown-up thriller. And especially one where the plot is more-or-less believable with a satisfying pay-off.

I see the director, David Slade, also directed another cool film 30 Days of Night, an underrated horror flick.

But then I see he also directed one of these dumb Twilight movies...oh well. I guess what John Lennon said is true: To become a success in show biz, you have to humiliate yourself and become the thing you hated in the first place.

The PT 109 Movie Is Awful

2010-07-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

I caught most of the movie PT 109 on Turner Classics today. What a lousy movie. It doesn't lack for production value and looks really good. Photography, sets, location, costumes...it's all great. And a great cast of 60's character actors including Robert Blake, Robert Culp, James Gregory and Norman Fell. And of course, Peter Parker's dad, Cliff Robertson as JFK.

But it the most lackluster, slow moving piece of crap! The 'action' scenes of Kennedy and his boys fighting it out with the Japanese as they rescue some marooned Marines is ridiculous. No one seems to be in a hurry to either shoot back or get away.

And when a rescue plane flies over our heroes, they can barely muster a wave as the plane doesn't see them and disappears in the distance.

The scene where the 109 is split in half by a Japanese destroyer was recreated by yours-truly for a school assignment using toy boats and army men. As I recall, it went over pretty well. And was probably a lot better than this sleep inducing film.

Jack Webb, The Beatles and Charles Manson

2010-07-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

I just plowed through the entire second season of 'Dragnet' on DVD. What a weird, freaky show that was. When I was a kid, I watched it but didn't consider myself a 'fan'. But looking at them now, I am fascinated with the strange world Jack Webb created.

Part of its weirdness is born from the uninteresting fact that Webb made the show as cheaply and quickly as possible. But there are a lot of 'cheap' shows out there that are boring or unwatchable. Somehow Jack Webb, like the B-movie oddball Ed Wood, made something that was unique and wonderful in its brevity, low-budget and tone.

The sets are spartan, the plots incredibly simple and he uses the same stable of actors over and over. The color has that nice bright 1960's look (you never see shows lit like 'Dragnet', 'Star Trek' or any multitude of shows from that era). And the opening scenes of LA ('This is the city..') are funny because of the amount of smog in the air. It's like the opening of some post-apocalypse sci-fi flick.

There's one episode ('The Big Departure') where Friday and Gannon bust some teenagers who have stolen a bunch of camping gear and supplies that they plan on using to create their own 'society'. Kind of like a commune or a benign Manson Family. One of kids is even called 'Charlie' and sort of resembles a young Manson.

What's strange is that around the same time, The Beatles began working on the 'White Album' which would 'inspire' the Manson Family and their 'Helter Skelter' rampage.

I wonder if, along with hearing the 'White Album', Manson saw that 'Dragnet' episode? Afterall, with only three TV channels, a lot of people also saw 'Dragnet' every week. I know I was exposed to both The Beatles and Jack Webb. And so were all of my friends. Was Manson, or members of his 'family', inspired by the 'Dragnet' kids who wanted to depart the establishment and start their own world?

Either way, it's a great example of how the media of the 60's, while extremely limited compared to today, gave us such diverse offerings as 'Dragnet' and the 'White Album'. And as different as they are, at the same time they are alike in their 'weirdness'. 'Dragnet', a surreal two-dimensional look at law-and-order and the 'White Album', the Beatles' only LP you could call 'spooky'. A total departure from their 'mop-top' persona.

And in a subliminal way they both would, or could, inspire and speak to someone like Charles Manson and his followers, as well as a regular kid in the sixth grade. Like me.

Close Encounters of the Ringo Kind

2010-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

So a Beatle turned 70 yesterday. Makes me feel kinda old. Ringo's birthday reminded me that I've been in Ringo's presence four times. In 1965 when my family saw the Beatles' get off an airplane at Portland International Airport. In 1966 at the Beatles' concert in Seattle. And twice seeing Ringo's All-Star band (early 90's probably).

But there was one 'encounter' that I also remember. I was about 10 years old and my family was taking a vacation to 'Hollywood'. We were in a tour bus driving along a main drag and the tour guide said, 'It looks like a film crew up ahead!' and as we approached I thought 'There's Ringo!'. But then the guide pointed out that it was actually Sonny Bono. Years later I realized that they were filming Good Times, the awful Sonny and Cher movie. I recognized Sonny's clothes and the location. I didn't notice Cher that day, or the director of that classic, William Freidkin, who would later go on to direct The French Connection, The Exorcist, and one of my personal favorites Sorcerer.

The Lost Beatles Album

2010-07-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the United Artists version of A Hard Day's Night yesterday. Nearly half of the tracks are George Martin instrumentals and like the Capitol version of Help!, fans (and the Beatles themselves) felt these LPs were inferior to the British versions which were released sans the instrumentals.

But to me, someone who grew up with this record, I really dig it. For some reason it's never been released on CD. So for us North American baby-boomer fans, it's a 'lost album', which is too bad. There's something really charming about the instrumentals, and in retrospect, I think it was a good move. It made the record more accessible to 'grown-ups'. It sure didn't affect the sales any. It was a huge hit.

There are other 'lost' US albums, but Hard Day's Night is the biggie. Vee Jay's Introducing the Beatles has never made it to CD, but it's basically the same record as Capitol's Early Beatles which was released on CD with the 'Capitol Albums Vol. 2' set (yes, there are a few tracks missing on Early, but the songs are now available on other CDs). Also never released on CD, the pretty much horrible The Beatles' Story which is only interesting from a historical perspective. I even hated it as a kid.

You can buy vinyl copies of the American A Hard Day's Night for pretty cheap at used record stores, and there was also a cassette. So go get a copy, dust off that turntable or tape player and give it a listen. It's a fun record.

Paul's Favorite Beatles Songs

2010-06-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

According to a recent interview, Paul's favorite Beatles' songs are 'Blackbird' and 'Here, There and Everywhere'.

He doesn't elaborate much (at least in the article I read), but I think they are interesting choices. I'm glad he didn't say 'Hey Jude', 'Let it Be' or 'Yesterday'.

'Blackbird' is one of his best 'White Album' songs. And since the 'White Album' is probably Paul's weakest Apple-era album (it's much more a 'John' album), 'Blackbird' is a decent choice. More interesting than similar tunes like 'I Will' and 'Mother Nature's Son'. But I think 'Helter Skelter' is his 'White Album' high-point.

'Here, There and Everywhere' is a super tune, but I think 'For No One', also on Revolver, is better and maybe his best lyric ever.

But again, I'm glad he went with songs that weren't singles and in the case of 'Blackbird', somewhat obscure (although, I can only think of about five or six Beatles songs that could truly be called 'obscure'...e.g., 'You Know My Name', 'Flying', 'Inner Light').

I think Paul is looking at the songs not as 'recordings'. His musician/composer mind is probably analyzing them as notes, lyrics, chords, harmonies...and when you think of them that way, the two he picked are quite good and perfect in their own way. Complex but seemingly simple. Sweet but not too sweet in the way 'I Will' is.

Personally, I think 'Fool on the Hill' may be his best. At least that's how I feel today. Tomorrow it might be 'Wild Honey Pie'.

Get Over Yourself, Pixar!

2010-06-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Pixar this, Pixar that. Living in the Bay Area where the company is based, you'd think they'd cured cancer. It's just cartoons. Yeah, I like them. I like them a lot. But I also like 'The Flintstones' and 'Yogi Bear'.

They keep running an ad on CNBC for a Pixar documentary and it shows Steve Jobs, or some nerd that looks like Steve Jobs (I think it's him...he did own Pixar for five minutes a while back, right?) and he says: 'Even we didn't have a clue about how successful it would be.'

What an arrogant ass! 'Even we'. Just think about that for a moment. 'We' who are so great and can predict everything.

And besides, that's just a lie. They spent years making these movies, hired the #1 movie and TV people to do voices...c'mon. Don't act so surprised.

And nobody knows what will sell anyway! If they did there would never be failures. All movies, TV shows, songs, games, hats, shoes, politicians...everything would be successful.

But it doesn't matter. Pixar is just a branch of Disney now. They're just part of the Wall Street bunch trying to act like they're still edgy.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly!

2010-06-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

I dropped that old saying on someone the other day and got a big laugh. And then I got to thinking about some other old 60's and 70's phrases like 'Keep on Truckin', 'Make Love Not War', 'You Bet Your Bippy', 'Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out' and 'Beam Me Up Scotty'...there's a million of 'em.

Is it me, or have we kind of stopped using these kinds of sayings? More specifically, phrases that everybody knows and are either benign, promote a positive spirit (peace/youth/mind expansion) or finally, simply funny.

Is it the fact that the age of connecting with like-minded people via bumper stickers, posters and t-shirts has gone away with the advent of technology (Blogs, Twitters, Facebook, etc.)?

I guess there are some new ones like 'More Cowbell' (not exactly 'new', I know). But unlike 'Beam Me Up Scotty!', which you can actually use in a conversation, 'More Cowbell' doesn't mean anything (even if you've seen the SNL sketch which most people haven't).

Nerd vs. Cool

2010-06-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

People seem to be confusing 'Nerd' with 'Cool' these days. Not sure how it started. Maybe it was when when dot.comers started to look like John Lennon (the glasses John Lennon, not the Fab one).

But when I hear someone say 'Rachel Maddow is cool!', I think NO! I like Ms. Maddow. But she is not cool, and besides, she's a self-proclaimed 'nerd'. They say 'Steve Jobs is cool!' or the new 'Iron Man movie is cool!'. NO NO NO. Nothing to do with computers or comic books is 'cool'. Doesn't mean it isn't good or great, but let's stop calling everything we like that's slightly off-beat 'cool'.

Maybe it's because there's not a lot of 'cool' stuff and people these days. Elvis and Brando were cool. So was Marilyn Monroe. I suppose Bruce Springsteen is (even though I don't care for his stuff), as well as George Clooney and Kate Winslet.

But this blog is supposed to be about the Beatles. So were they cool? Yes, their 'group personality' was cool. But as individuals, not so much. John, Paul and George were cool for the first year or so after the break-up. But when John became a 'house husband', Paul became 'Wings' and George showed up at the Bangla Desh Concert with that billy-goat beard, they lost it. John got it back the last year of his life. At least he was 'looking' cool. Paul had it briefly when he teamed with Elvis Costello (although Costello himself is NOT cool. Too nerdy). And George got it back when he teamed up with the Wilburys and did the Cloud Nine LP.

Ringo? For some weird reason, Ringo became cooler after the break-up. I think it was because he went from being the 'dumb one' to an 'ex-Beatle'.

USA Honors Paul McCartney

2010-06-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

For some reason, this whole deal rubs me the wrong way. Yeah, I like Obama, and I don't think it's a 'bad' thing. But I actually find myself avoiding reading and watching clips of it.

The United States government has not been friendly to the Beatles. Especially ex-Beatles (except Ringo, who seemed to be able to avoid drug busts). I don't have to give you the history, but John Lennon especially was targeted by the government as a trouble maker and they made his life miserable for it. Paul and George also had problems getting permission to tour in the USA because of pot busts.

As a kid in the 60's and 70's, I remember how The Beatles were hated by the establishment. Now it's all lovey-dovey. I suppose I should just consider it 'water under the bridge'. But remember this: Paul McCartney refused to attend the Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of legal issues over EMI royalties with the other two (and Yoko). He thought it would be hypocritical to get up on stage and smile when they were suing him.

So isn't it also hypocritical to accept honors from a country that illegally went after his ex-partner? Nixon and the all-powerful FBI were out to get Lennon. A rock star. An entertainer. Outrageous.

Yeah, I know. It's all about 'change' and I dig that. But Paul's a British citizen. Is the ham in him so big that he doesn't see the irony of getting up and performing for the leader of the USA? It would be one thing to accept some award, shake his hand, maybe even sing 'Michelle' to the missus in private as a cute tribute. But it's so staged and weird. I wonder what Lennon would've done? I KNOW what Johnny Rotten would do...

John Lennon is Definitely John Lennon

2010-06-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

I was reading an old artsy-fartsy magazine, circa 1969 the other day. It has an interview with John and Yoko. The interviewer, who met with George Harrison the same day, had one of the best, concise descriptions of John Lennon I've ever read. Upon meeting him, she says: 'Unlike George Harrison who looks like someone who looks like George Harrison, John Lennon is immediately and definitely John Lennon.'

There's so much in that brief statement. About John, about George, about celebrity and the power of personalities. Super.