Did you happen to catch “Wonder Years Wednesday” last night on ABC???
Billed as part of “Return to Wonder”
Wednesday, the 2021 reboot (7:30 pm) was squeezed between episodes of “The
Goldbergs,” featuring Dan Lauria (Wonder Years Dad Jack Arnold) at 7 pm, the
return of Fred Savage (Kevin Arnold) on the 8 pm episode of The Conners and an appearance by Danica McKellar (aka
Winnie Cooper) on Home Economics at 8:30 pm. They even managed to squeeze in a new Adam
Goldberg video tribute (called “The William Penn Years, accompanied by the
graphics of “The Wonder Years,” as well as a new interpretation of their theme
song, “With A Little Help From My Friends.”)
YOWZAH!!!
Damn ... what a WONDERful night!!!
(We still have to binge-watch the original
series start to finish one of these days!) kk
I think you handled what has to be considered a
fairly delicate situation quite well the other day when you addressed Brian
Wilson’s vocal skills (or lack thereof) these days in concert. As Forgotten Hits always has, you call ‘em as
you see ‘em … which is what we’ve all come to expect. There isn’t one of us out here that doesn’t
hate to see their music icons struggling through their later years while trying
to preserve the memory of what they once were.
It’s a battle they can’t win … and it’s a shame as, in this regard, I
agree with you, that both the audience AND the artist suffer in the long run.
Tim Houghton
To me (and especially
in the case of a Paul McCartney and/or a Brian Wilson, who both prided
themselves on delivering nothing but extreme perfection their whole careers), I
would find it difficult to go out there every night and deliver a sub-standard
performance. However, that sub-standard
performance is most likely the best they can conjure up at this stage of their
careers. And, I think (much like Elvis),
their fans have come to accept them for both who they were … and who they are
now … because the musical legacy left between those two stages is nothing short
of amazing and will never go away.
I can argue that, from
my perspective, McCartney probably should have hung it up years ago … but then
the guy goes out and releases two #1 albums during the past five years … so what the
hell do I know?!?! (I still don’t see much of a marketplace for Brian’s new “hits
performed solo on the piano” album however … not even for diehards!!!)
It really boils down to
a level of “acceptance” … and I think I may be coming up short in this
department. I prefer to remember both of
these artists at their best … and just don’t want to see them tarnish that image. (Not unlike our recent Burton Cummings /
Randy Bachman review from a few weeks ago.) I felt the same way about Muhammad Ali fighting beyond his prime. He had already proven everything he ever needed to prove after winning the heavyweight title for the third time. Rest on those laurels and preserve the legacy.
All of that being said,
can you even imagine what 2022 might be like if artists like Paul McCartney and
Brian Wilson … and John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen … teamed up for
mega-tours (providing our overall health situations have improved by this point)?!?! Now THAT’S the way to go out and call it a
career … ‘cause how do you ever top THAT???
(kk)
Thank you for
posting the live Brian Wilson video. I Love
It!
Ken Voss
Kent,
Talking about past rock and rollers who are
currently on tour with their voices not quite up to par reminds me of something
I saw on television many years ago.
I can't remember the singer's name but he was
a guest one night on Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW. He came out and talked with
Johnny for a few minutes and then Johnny asked him to sing a song, or possibly
one of the songs he recorded that was a hit. He declined because he admitted
his voice was not what it used to be. He said he wanted his fans to remember
him as he was, not as he was now with his voice.
Again, I can't remember the name of the singer,
but it was someone we all would be familiar with.
Larry
And I guess were I in
that same position, I would most likely elect to do the same. I would want every performance to have the
potential to be one of my best … and wouldn’t want to send anybody home
disappointed or with a bad memory.
Perhaps once you achieve icon status, the audience becomes that much
more forgiving. (kk)
A brand new trailer for
the Peter Jackson film “Get Back” was released earlier this week … and it truly does
look amazing.
Anticipation is at an
all-time, fever pitch high right now.
(The film premiers on Disney+ over three nights during the Thanksgiving
Weekend, November 25th, 26th and 27th. It’ll run close to six hours and was
culled from 57 hours of video footage shot during January of 1969 that's beenlocked
in a vault ever since.)
The quality looks
absolutely amazing … and, as promised, we see The Beatles having FUN together during an era that has traditionally been believed to be the worst of times in the
band’s career.
There are SO many funny
moments and smiles contained in this brief clip as the group prepares for what
was thought at the time to be a live concert event presenting their brand new album
of fourteen songs. (I love the part
where, in 1969, Paul says “Fifty years from now, the rumor will be that The
Beatles split up because Yoko sat on an amp.”
Who knew?!?!?) It also shows John
Lennon, reportedly the most disenchanted member of the band, as being in favor
of performing live again. (It had been
three years since The Beatles played at Candlestick Park in their last concert
appearance. The film’s eventual rooftop
performance … which will now be shown for the first time ever in its entirety …
would go down in history as the last time The Beatles performed live together
as a band.)
The brand new “Get Back” book was also finally released last week after more than a year of delays and it’s absolutely beautiful, jam-packed with photos and a diary log of each day’s events during filming. (Peter Jackson’s forward, explaining how he came to discover and love the music of the band, is nothing short of brilliant.) To be given unlimited access to all of the material available in order to make this film … and then being able to take the time to meticulously going through it all in order to edit the perfect historical document of their work process, growing from a two hour theatrical release to a six hour cable mini-series is going to be fascinating to watch.
Macca made more news
this week when he referred to The Rolling Stones as just a blues cover band,
compared to The Beatles. (McCartney made
similar comments on Howard Stern’s show last year, prompting Mick to retaliate
with “That’s
so funny. He’s a sweetheart. There’s obviously no competition.”)
Jagger described the really big difference between the two bands
as The Rolling Stones being a “big concert band," stating that The Beatles "broke up before that business started. The touring business for real didn’t start
until the end of the Sixties. That’s the
real big difference between these two bands. One band is unbelievably luckily,
still playing in stadiums, and the other band doesn’t exist.”
Considering that The Beatles played for less than thirty minutes during their live shows in the '60's, Mick's on point with this one. (Of course today McCartney's right up there with the best of them, regularly performing 2 1/2 hour shows all the time.) The issue of no longer being able to perform the music they were creating in the studio live at the time has also often been cited as a factor (not to mention the grueling pace of touring in the first place.) Today, recreating those sounds on stage are second nature, thanks to all of the technology advancements made during the past 55 years. (And yet The Stones still manage to do it with just guitar, bass, keyboards and drums!)
McCartney also put the blame for The Beatles' break-up squarely on John Lennon's shoulders last week, explaining that John had announced that he was leaving the band but was then asked to keep things hushed up by Allen Klein to see if he could put together a better royalties deal before an official announcement was made. (This makes Paul's 1969 Yoko comment even funnier in light of all the flack she's taken over the past 50+ years.)
Promoting his new two volume book of lyrics (which includes a Beatles song never recorded), Paul also turned his attention to one of the songs he, George and Ringo were given by Yoko Ono to finish up for The Beatles Anthology series called “Now And Then.” (This is one of the John Lennon demos that Yoko gave them to add their voices and music to, under the production of Jeff Lynne, as “The Threetles” for the Anthology film. We got to hear “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” but the third track never materialized.)
This is news to me … I’VE always heard that the third track was
supposed to be a full band version of John's “Grow Old With Me,” a track that appeared
on Lennon’s posthumous album release “Milk And Honey” … but apparently THIS is
the track they never got ‘round to finishing.
Macca now says that he’d like to finish it …
“It
didn’t have a very good title, it needed a bit of reworking, but it had a
beautiful verse and it had John singing it … but George didn’t wanna do it.”
George
described it this way: “It’s fucking rubbish.” (lol)
After listening to a bootleg demo of the tune, I’ve got to agree with
him … WAY beneath Lennon’s abilities as both a songwriter and singer.
Jeff Lynne chimed in with, "The song had a chorus but is almost totally lacking in
verses. We did the backing track, a
rough go that we really didn't finish."
I’m not sure what McCartney hears here that would make him want to devote any more time to this effort. I can’t imagine it holding much appeal to his or The Beatles’ audience, other than the novelty of a “new” Paul and John vocal and composition. (kk)
And Mick Jagger’s been in the news nearly every day of The Stones’ tour as well, showing up at karaoke bars to sing “Honky Tonk Women” or crashing bachelorette parties … this guy knows how to have fun incognito. (Although I have a really hard time believing that a mobile bachelorette party, packed with young, beautiful women partying hard and out for a good time would so willingly welcome an 80 year old stranger onboard to join in. If anything, I’d expect the reaction to be one more of “Get out of here, you creepy old man!” ... and perhaps even a call to the police! Lol) kk
The Go-Go’s are coming … to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame …
and tickets are available to the public!
They’ll be at the PNC Stage on Friday, October 29th,
at 12 Noon for an interview and book-signing appearance. (They’re being inducted into The Rock And
Roll Hall Of Fame this year … so this is just the icing on the cake!)
Per the official announcement, "The entire band ... yes, all of them ... will be here ... and both events are free! … but you have to reserve a special event ticket in advance.
Here's where you can do that: The Go-Go's Interview & Book Signing / 2021 Inductee Signature Panel Dedication | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com)
Falling into our “Is That Really Necessary” category this
morning comes news that Asia will be releasing a 10-CD Box Set of live performances
from the early ‘80’s, including 2-CD full concerts recorded in Buffalo, NY
(1982), Worcester, MA (1983), Sao Paulo, Brazil (2007), Tokyo, Japan (2008) and
London, England (2010). (In that Asia
never released a live album during their hey-day, wouldn’t ONE “best of”
concert sufficed???) The timespan
encompasses the group’s very first tour in 1982 through several “reunion” shows
spread throughout the rest of the decade.
Street date is November 26th.
(kk)
Richard Marx has just been booked to perform at The Arcada Theatre on Friday, February 11th, 2022. Tickets will go on sale THIS FRIDAY (tomorrow, 10/15) at Noon … The Arcada Theatre Tickets (etix.com)
(He’ll also be appearing at Ron’s new Des Plaines Theater
the night before)
I just finished his book.
(I’ve always been a fan and Marx tells SO many great stories in the book
… the shame is, the thing I ended up likely LEAST about it is Richard Marx
himself … and that’s a shame … because he is such an incredibly talented guy.)
Still, I have to recommend it as it does make for a great
read.
Stories
to Tell: A Memoir: Marx, Richard: 9781982169428: Amazon.com: Books
We saw Marx a few years back at The Genesee Theatre and it
was a great show … COMPLETELY solo yet he pulled it off perfectly. This new show just may be enough to get me to
leave the house next February!
(lol)
This weekend, Loverboy (10/15) and Tommy James and the
Shondells (10/17) are scheduled to appear at The Arcada.
(kk)
It’s official … William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself, is
now the oldest person to ever travel thru space.
The Shat described the experience as "unlike anything they described, unlike anything
I've ever seen."
Thanking Blue
Origin founder Jeff Bezos after returning to earth from his ten minute flight,
90 year old Shatner told Bezos, "What
you have given me is the most profound experience. I'm so filled with emotion about what just
happened. I just I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain
what I feel now — I don’t want to lose it. It’s so much larger than me and life
… It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness
of life and death. Everybody in the
world needs to do this. It was so
moving." (kk)
William
Shatner says space was 'unlike anything I've ever seen' | Fox Business
Omnivore Recordings has announced a new 24-track collection
of Trini Lopez’s Rare A- and B-Sides Reprise Singles, 1962 – 1970, due out
December 3rd. (Unless you’re
a true diehard fan, you likely won’t recognize any of these titles … but
they’re exactly as advertised.
Only two of these ever charted (“Made In Paris,” #113 in
1968 and “Up To Now,” #123 in 1967) and, as you can see, they only managed to
“bubble under” at best. But you DO get
his track from the film “The Dirty Dozen,” in which Trini starred in 1967.
Still, during that same timeframe, Trini managed to score
five National Top 40 Hits: “If I Had A
Hammer” (#3, 1963), “Kansas City” (#23, 1963), “Michael” (#36, 1964), “Lemon
Tree” (#20, 1965) and “I’m Comin’ Home, Cindy” (#39, 1966).
The new CD Track List:
1. A-Mer-I-Ca
2. Let It Be Known
3. I’ve Lost My Love for You
4. Regresa a Mi (Return to Me)
5. Mi Felicidad (Little Miss Happiness)
6. Made in Paris
7. Pretty Little Girl
8. Up to Now
9. The Bramble Bush
10. The Ballad of the Dirty Dozen
11. Together
12. Master Jack
13. Malagueña Salerosa
14. Something Tells Me
15. El Niño Del Tambor (The Little Drummer Boy)
16. Noche De Paz (Silent Night) / Let There Be Peace
17. Love Story
18. Five O’Clock World
19. You Make My Day
20. Time to Get It Together
21. Mexican Medicine Man
22. Su-Kal-De-Don
23. There Was a Crooked Man
24. Let’s Think About Living
Trini died last August
(2020) of Covid complications. (kk)
From Tom Cuddy …
Bing Crosby's heirs
sell stake in estate to boost his work
https://www.local10.com/entertainment/2021/10/11/bing-crosbys-heirs-sell-stake-in-estate-to-boost-his-work/
And this closer from Chuck Buell …
