Davy Jones Dead At 66

Just yesterday my friends and I were engaged in a conversation about David Cassidy, which lead to talking about Bobby Sherman and his TV sidekick Wes Stern.  Today we learn that another singing idol of ours, Davy Jones has died of a heart attack in Florida.

 

 Davy was the Brit. He sang Daydream Believer and Valerie. He also sang On The Day We Fall In Love (There'll be birds singin' everywhere And the wind will be blowin' through your hair), but we won't hold that against him.  He made Marcia Brady a very happy girl.  He got a kiss "on the flip side" and sang at her dance.  I saw Davy in a performance of The Real Live Brady Bunch at the Village Gate. They reenacted that episode (I think Jane Lynch played Carol Brady).

Davy had a groovy way of moving and shuffling his feet while playing the tambourine or maracas. I remember him in his cap on the black and white backing of the Monkees first album.  The one where they listed their birth dates, places of birth and height. Davy was the small one.  I saw the band on their first reunion tour.

I was five years old when the Monkees TV show debuted.  I still listen to them today and they hold a very special musical place in my heart.  When I was in first grade I had to go to the hospital for emergency ear surgery.  The nurse wanted lights out and shut the TV off, but the mother of the girl next to me said they have to watch the Monkees and the TV was left on.  I did have to watch the Monkees!   Just out of college as an audience member of David Letterman's show, my friend Kerri and I were chosen to compete for a date with Peter Tork.  Our faces appeared in hearts before the show opening.  A grandmotherly type woman won and had pizza in the green room with Peter.  We got the Monkees greatest hits album. 

Davy and the Monkees will always be ingrained in my music DNA.  Thanks Davy.

Mike Nesmith on Facebook:  David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.  I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels.

Peter Tork:  It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones.   His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to Jessica and the rest of his family.  Adios, to the Manchester Cowboy.

Mickey Dolenz:  Can't believe it...Still in shock...had bad dreams all night long. My love and prayers go out to Davy's girls and family right now.

Tennille & Travolta

Words are not needed.

Don Draper As Hugh Hefner

Mad Men comes back to life on March 25th, the start of the 5th season.  Does anyone even remember what happened in season 4?  I'm really digging into my memory bank to pull something out.




The show's creator Matthew Weiner has said he hopes to give viewers a reward for sticking with the show.

The new poster has gotten plenty of attention.  Weiner in describing the poster said it is “a nonverbal representation of where my head is at and where the show will be.  By the end of the season, I guarantee you’ll know what it is about.”

Don is looking in a store window. His image is part of the scene.  He is part of this scene.  From the looks of the male mannequin my prediction is:  by the end of Season 5, Don becomes Hugh Hefner.  Of note, the Playboy TV series that debuted last year was short lived.

Kenny Rogers Caught In A Joe Vs The Volcano Audit

Kenny Rogers has sued Capitol Records for failing to pay him his owed royalties. TechDirt has a piece on the ordeal.

Rogers originally performed an audit, which took more than a year to get going with Capitol. On many levels he found royalties that weren't paid, some put into a "suspended file", over-charges for a music video, etc. When his negotiations to get paid, went nowhere (in the middle of the ordeal, he found out that people he was working had left the label) and he felt he was being led down a black hole, he sued the label.

He was also questioning where all the money the label received in the settlement suits with companies such as Napster, Kazaa, AudioGalaxy and Grokster went. That money was suppose to be shared with the artists. No one would let him in on where the money was stashed.

The sad thing about this whole process is that Rogers is probably doling out tons of money to accountants and lawyers to get him what should be rightfully his. Unfortunately this "accounting" has been going on since the beginning of the legacy labels. Transparency has never been part of their business practices. I'm in the Gambler's corner. I hope this one pays off.

The Kid is Gone

It's not like it wasn't expected. He had a brain tumor, but that doesn't make it any less sad.

Gary Carter passed away this afternoon. His daughter shared the news on the family website. He will always be known as The Kid to us Mets fans. His upbeat attitude was a counterpoint to the bad boy image that saddled the '86 Mets.

I remember hearing Gary say there is no way I am making the last out of this game. The game he was referring to was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. His hit kept the team alive and allowed them to win it on that more than frequently played error by Bill Buckner. His enthusiasm should have been bottled and sold.

We will miss the Hall of Fame Kid.

Dory Previn, Composer of The Songs From Valley of the Dolls Dies

Dory Previn, who is best known to me for co-writing the songs for the movie Valley of the Dolls passed away at age 86. She will forever be attached to her ex-husband Andre, although he, like Frank Sinatra left his wife for Mia Farrow.

(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls and the movie were big hits in 1967. It's one of my top ten movies of all time. The theme song's lyrics and music greatly portrayed the melancholy, confusion, disgust and yearning for a different life that the main character Ann Welles goes through in the course of the story. The phrasing and unfinished thoughts were a very different take from most pop songs at that time.

Gotta get off, gonna get
Have to get off from this ride
Gotta get hold, gonna get
Need to get hold of my pride

I'm not sure if the song was written that way, or it's the way Dionne Warwick performed it. Judy Garland was originally cast in the film and I think expected to sing the song. Dory has said that the lyrics were inspired by her own struggles with pills.

The highlight of the songs has to be Come Live With Me which is sung by Tony Scotti, who later went on to found Scotti Bros Records. Here is the second performance of the song during the movie which is a duet with Patty Duke. It takes place in a sanitarium and brings the Tony Polar character to life.



John Williams who composed the score for the movie has a interesting post on his site about the music.

Dory Previn went on to release several solo albums, which included her intense lyrics as on the song Beware Of Young Girls. It was written about Mia Farrow.

Whitney Was Barely Cold When Sony Raised Price of The Ultimate Collection

This post on Hypebot reported that the wholesale price of Whitney Houston's The Ultimate Collection was increased by Sony in the early morning hours on Sunday. The record company argues that it was incorrectly priced and therefore they were just correcting an error.

Even if that's the case, the timing is bad and it seems like it's really in poor taste. If they can't break new acts, they raise the prices on the acts who gave their lives strengthening the record company.

Remaining Beach Boys at the Grammys

Just added: The Beach Boys are performing at the Grammys. The lineup includes surviving members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston. They are scheduled to perform with Foster the People and Maroon 5. Does this make me want to watch the Grammys?

Congratulations Giants!

I don't think my palms have sweat that much since game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

BORING

Madonna Halftime = Boring Performance

Kudos to the staging. That was amazing.

Peace Love And Soul

Don Cornelius apparently he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I remember watching Soul Train on Saturday mornings. Don created and hosted the show. It was a sort of ritual to watch Soul Train and American Bandstand. I think musicians lip synched on both shows and got minimal amount of time to speak. There were always people dancing.

Do you remember the SNL skit Samurai Hitman? There are two cabbages which represent Don Cornelius (red cabbage) and Don Kirshner (green cabbage). Samurai John Belushi is being hired to kill them both at a Benihana Restaurant downtown. He demonstrates on the cabbages.

Baseball Is A Wonderful Thing

Going to Tuesday's Bat For BAT (Baseball Assistance Team) benefit dinner was a dream for a Mets fan. The organization's objective is to aid those members of the "baseball family" most in need. They were celebrating 50 years of the Mets.

That's Ed Kranpool with the mic.

It's all about timing and luck. That's me talking about getting Sandy Koufax's autograph, not a player talking about winning a World Series. I was standing at the table and had just gotten Ron Swoboda and Ed Kranpool's autographs, when Sandy Koufax sat down at the end of the table. I handed him my ball and he signed it. Any player will tell you it's all about the timing.


Loved talking to the Glider, Ed Charles. He was the Mets third baseball in '69. We talked about how wonderful that team was and how it was all about pitching and defense. He also told me how much he loved Joan Payson. How many players can say they love their owner? He's a regular at Citi Field.

I seemed to have had a few culinary conversations last night. Keith Hernandez and I talked about Armand's Restaurant and Rusty Staub described the transportation to and from Shea in the 80's, which was the meat van that was used for his restaurant. Players who wanted a ride to Shea met at the restaurant at a designated time. If a player was late, he was on his own to get to the stadium. After about two years of traveling in the "meat van", Le Grand Orange bought a new van with a TV.

Other highlights were talking to Steve Garvey, Jim Palmer, Davey Johnson, Tim Teufel and seeing Randy Myers in a camouflage sports jacket.

Photos courtesy of Al Sartorius

Etta James R.I.P.

Etta James died from leukemia. Best known for the song At Last, James was 73 years old.

The New Goo Goo Dolls

Daniel and the Scandals are from outside of Brighton England. Their first single, I Love You (There You Go I Said It) is reminiscent of The Goo Dolls: great hook, lots of jangly guitars and pop vocals with a touch of rasp. I listened to the song before watching the video.




After watching the video, the song became much more of pop song and reminded me more of a song by PoP, the Hugh Grant fronted band in Music and Lyrics.

Who says visuals don't alter the audio?

Has Bruce Been Listening To New Order?

Maybe I'm crazy, but listening to Springsteen's latest We Take Care of Our Own, I kept hearing the chorus of New Order's Love Vigilantes.

Say No To Congress and Put An End To SOPA

Google, Craigslist, Archive.org, Wordpress, Wikipedia, Peter Gabriel, Reddit and have been blacked out to protest the censorship bill known as SOPA. Google as have other sites, make it easy. Click on their blacked out logo and it leads to a petition to sign. I did it. I've also written many times to my lawmakers, even though the senators from New York were endorsing the bill.

A few months ago, it looked like the entertainment moguls had this one in their pocket. The web and people like us have fought back. It looks like our President has reconsidered, as have others in Congress. They could revisit it and I'm sure they will, but what looked insurmountable could now be a reality.

A Modern Marriage Plot

College wasn’t like the real world. In the real world people dropped names based on their renown. In college, people dropped names based on their obscurity.

That sums up my college years. I graduated a year after the characters in this book. Instead of dropping the names of obscure authors as they do (probably my only criticism of the book), we were citing bands like Protex and The Beat. To further that, Jeffrey Eugenides doesn’t mention much music, but when he does it’s obscure: there was a guy wearing a Plasmatics T-shirt.

The marriage plot was the framework for the novels of Jane Austen and writers of her time. In most cases it would involve a very smart woman, usually too smart for most men, a love interest who maybe all wrong for the character although he/she is in love with that person, madness, the search for spirituality and some family secret that changes a person(s).

Eugenides hits the mark on his modern Marriage Plot. In this case the heroine is actually Mitchell. He’s the one with the most sense, whose heart is longing for Madeleine. She of course is in love with Leonard, the womanizing member of her semiotics class. Leonard has a past that haunts him. Jane would be proud.

The Marriage Plot is a joy as it’s so well written. I don’t know first hand what it’s like to deal with a manic-depressive person but Eugenides uses language that put me in the head and heart of his character.

The solitude was extreme because it wasn’t physical. It was extreme because you felt it while in the company of the person you loved. It was extreme because it was in your head, that most solitary of places.

After reading that I felt a sense of isolation and the struggle of swimming against the tide. The author gets you there. Authors of most of the current fiction I have been reading do not take the time to develop their characters. Plots are lacking and novels are more situation driven. I was thrilled that this book did not go there.

As much as I wanted to shake some sense into Madeleine at times, Leonard is not a complete bad guy. In an interview with Leonard Lopate, Eugenides said originally Leonard Bankhead was the bad boy and then he started sympathizing with him.

It’s amazing to me how well Eugenides got the early 80’s college experience so right. There is a lot of searching and a lot of questioning. For me there was a lot more music, good friends and trips off campus also.

As in a good marriage plot, his characters flirt, fall in love, are in denial and then there’s a revelation. That’s why I liked them so much.

Adele Has A Soul Half-Sister

The production is pulling from those wonderful records by British singers such as Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Petula Clark and Sandie Shaw. Aside: What great names! Interestingly, there wasn't much crossover use of producers for these musicians. The one thing the singers did have in common is recording a Bacharach/David song. Who could resist?

Jessie Baylin's new record Little Spark comes out next week. It will play right alongside Adele. The songs are solid, great vocals and the production as I said lends itself to 1960's pop-soul. Jessie is not British. She's originally from NJ and now makes her home in Nashville (Could Jessie in Memphis be next?). It was produced by Kevin Augunas.



According to Record of the Day, Jessie negotiated her way out of her Verve contract (From my experience in working with them, it was probably a career saving move. They can be a great label, but not for a singer-songwriter.) and made this record with an inheritance from her grandmother. Her label's name, Blonde Rat Records is a tribute to her grandmother. It was her nickname.

The first single Hurry Hurry is so darn catchy. You'll be humming it.




The title track's music invokes the open road. It's the perfect soundtrack for a long drive. Mix that with Guster's Jesus On The Radio and Glenn Campbell's Gentle On My Mind and you are cruising.

A line per track:
I Feel That Too is country tinted.
Love Is Wasted On Lovers has the sway of Hot Fun In the Summertime.
Star Cannon is the closest to a Dusty record.
Dancer is the most upbeat song on the collection.

The album is nicely paced and easy to listen to. It isn't a rock out record, but you could listen to it anywhere and turn it up loud.

The Abbey Goes To War

The much anticipated return of Downton Abbey brought along the tides of war. When we last left off, Lord Grantham had announced at a family party that war had been declared. The show fast forwards 2 years. Most of the players are now immersed in helping England's cause.

As stated in last night's episode, life at Downton Abbey will never be the same again. To exemplify this, there is a mixing of the commoners with the anointed. Edith has taken to farm life. She and her sister Mary are still at odds, but Edith finally has something to occupy her time. I would not have guessed it would be riding a tractor (or the married farmer). Commandeering a tractor has not squelched her dubious side.

Matriarch Violet is still as saucy as ever. She has great banter with Sir Richard, Mary's suitor. She seems to be softening to Isobel, Matthew's mother and distant relative. Isobel is currently one of my favorite characters. You can't underestimate her. She sees a problem and knows how to fix it. She voices her opinion whether it will be popular or not. Who else could convince Lord Grantham to turn the Abbey into a convalescence home for returning soldiers?

We finally meet Mr. Bates wife. The evil looking/thinking Vera. He served time in jail for a crime she committed. He is now serving a life sentence with Vera, which leaves poor Anna without her man. Anna is strong, but unfortunately has to ward off the insipid Molesley.

I'm going out on a limb here to say that Mary and Matthew will be equally hurt by their perspective love interests. It's plain to the audience that they love each other, but Mary's stubbornness may have cost the relationship (for the time being). Both Lavinia (Matthew's fiancee) and Sir Richard have something up their sleeves. Is there no way that Sir Richard, being a shady newspaper man (think 1917's Rupert Murdoch), doesn't have knowledge of her one night with the Turk? These yet-to-be-revealed mysteries will bring Matthew and Mary together.

Have some fun and take a poll on what you think of each character. Just move the character's head to the liked or loathed position.

Here's how I voted:
Favorite dis in the show: When Carson is told they have a visitor and it's Thomas he replies "I've seen him." He doesn't even glace at Thomas and goes about his work.

Favorite Wuthering Heights-like line: Sir Richard in his reasoning as to why he is proposing to Mary, "Because I think very highly of you." Ouch.

Favorite observation on the episode: It comes from the Guardian (don't snoop too much on UK sites or it will spoil it).
The Countess of Grantham's shriek says it all: "Thomas? The footman? Managing Downton Abbey?" The family seat is turned into a convalescent home as Thomas reinvents himself as a sort of first world war male version of Kerry Weaver in ER (complete with "sexual outsider" back story and physical disability).

Quote of the Week

I've long believed that piracy is largely a business model problem not a human behavior problem.

-Fred Wilson

I couldn't have put it better. Fred was complaining that he couldn't get Knicks games on Time Warner Cable as it no longer provides the MSG network. He gives TWC plenty of money for their services and it's not like he's getting rid of his cable. Cable got rid of the Knicks. Can't watch the Knicks through the NBA's pass as they block out New York. In his frustration, he tweeted. He immediately got back replies on where to watch it. He became a reluctant pirate, hence the above quote. If you give consumers what they want and price it fairly, they will pay.

If you're on Twitter, here's his hashtag #screwcable