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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Oh, and scroll down to see the new banner Tim made! Thanks!
Reader Music Review
The Mamas and The Papas
By Dave Romm
If ever anyone made a deal with the devil for instant fame, money and love only to have her soul cruelly taken at the height of her fame, it was Cass Elliot.
From the folk scene in the late 50s to early 60s, musicians formed groups and broke up and reformed. One web of interrelationships is chronicalled by the song Creeque Alley, but it's weirder than that. By 1964 the Beatles had arrived, shifting pop from folk to rock, and journeymen folksingers John Phillips, Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty went off to the Virgin Islands for a change, chased by groupie Cass Elliot who "followed them, primarily to be with Doherty.... 'Cass and I had a very strange releationship,' he reports. 'She wanted my parts.'" (These and all other quotes from the liner notes of Creeque Alley: The History of the Mamas and Papas, sadly out of print.) "John says he changed his mind about Cass when her voice changed: 'She had always been about two tones too low for my arrangements,' explains John. 'She just couldn't get there. Michelle has a very high voice. Sort of a coloratura. I needed a really strong alto. Cass's sound was perfect but the range was wrong.' Then one day, while wandering around a construction site, Cass was hit by a copper pipe. 'She was in the hospital for about three days with a concussion,' says John. 'I don't know if her sinuses cleared or what, but her voice got higher. It was just what we needed.'"
Once Cass was in, things happened fast. They left (got kicked off) the island, rand into Barry McGuire (of Eve of Destruction fame), hooked up with producer Lou Adler (one of the founders of the Dunhill label). Barry recorded California Dreamin' for his album, but they also recorded a version with Denny singing lead, and that's the one that charted. Their version was released in November 1965, just 19 weeks after being recorded, very fast in the music biz, and quickly became a hit. Said Denny, "David Crosby [then of the Byrds] stopped me on the street and said 'Congratulations!' I didn't know what he was talking about." The first album by the Mamas and the Papas, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, was released in January 1966.
After years of hard work, they were an overnight success. The group had no lead singer and didn't play instruments, but their sound was unique. They rehearsed constantly. "By all accounts, including his own, Phillips was a taskmaster in rehearsal and an 'obsessive tinkerer' in the studio." On the other hand, their newfound fame and money let them throw great parties. "The Mamas and the Papas were having so much fun at home that, by John's estimate, in the two-and-a-half years the group was together, they played only 30 concerts." John said, "'We always lost money [on tours]. The room service bill would be eight billion dollars, and Cass would invite the entire city of Chicago to breakfast.'" They went on Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand.
"It all looked like so much fun. But inevitably, there were problems." Problems included an affair between Michelle and Denny. Nothing in show biz quite dies, and there was a 1971 album that didn't do well, but in reality their commercial career was between their first album in January of 1966 and their fourth (fifth, counting a compilation of their first three) in April of 1968.
Dave's Observation: About 18 months. That's how long you bake in the limelight. Everyone may get 15 minutes of fame, said Andy Warhol, but if you have real talent and are lucky you get a break, and your time on top seems to last about a year-and-a-half. Use it. For every Paul Simon or Rolling Stones who has a career that last decades, there are a hundred who last a few albums and a thousand who barely make it into public consciousness at all. For better or worse, it's your defining moment in the sun. Life is a vector: It has direction and strength... and inertia. You can cruise on your reputation, grow from it or try something new; all have been tried with varying results. Up to you.
The only member of The Mamas and Papas to hit the bigtime in a solo career was Cass Elliot. "A popular TV personality, she hosted The Tonight Show no less than a dozen times, and her her own television show, Don't Call Me Mama Anymore. ('She always hated being called Mama Cass,' says Michelle.)" And then she died. Reports that she had died from drugs or choking on a ham sandwich were untrue; she had a heart attack. For many, her death proved that her flaws outweighed her talent. The devil had lived up to his contract: She had fame and fortune with her boyfriend and ultimately showed that she was greater than him or any of her friends... and he took her away, stealing her soul: She is still known as Mama Cass, and had no life beyond the wording signed in blood.
"Today, the three Mamas and Papas are each flourishing", said the liner notes in 1991. Denny carved out a career in Toronto, "writing songs and acting in theater". Michelle was on Knot's Landing among other acting roles. John went into a tailspin, got hooked on drugs and did them with his daughter Mackenzie (of One Day At A Time fame) before drying out and toured with a new version of the band until his death in March 2001. I've never quite decided: Is it Rock and Roll Hell to have to sing the same hits over and over to people who have one chrystalized image of you from your past, or is it Rock and Roll Heaven to be appreciated for your genius and reap the rewards of your best work and have the the adulation of fans?
No one can say if there is a Devil or if Cass Elliot signed a contract or if there is a Devil who bothers with paperwork. Still, pick your life:
Before a brief set of links to CDs still available, I'll leave you
with this parting thought:
"I always wanted to be somebody, but I
see now I should have been more specific." -- Lily Tomlin
The Mamas & The Papas: Quick discography of essential albums with notes; more complete discography and rarities (and prices) and a Mama Cass discogrophy. It doesn't have Once Was A Time I Thought, but the Greatest Hits available at amazon.com (and likely others) has most of my favorites: Dancing Bear, Dedicated to the One I Love, Twelve-Thirty, Monday, Monday, California Dreamin', etc. All the Leaves Are Brown, also from amazon.com, has all those including Once Was A Time I Thought and many others on a two disk set.
Dave Romm is a conceptual artist with a radio show and a web site and a very weird CD collection. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here.
Reader Suggestion
Chainsaw Dubya
From Marianne M
Bartcop.com edition of May 31 has a pic of Bush standing among the trees in Sequoia National Park with a chainsaw.
This link shows Bush at the Crawford Ranch with a chainsaw!
'Intelligence Failure'
~~ Marianne M
Thanks, Marianne! That's a good one!
He's Been Even Busier Than Usual!
The Worried Shrimp
The Newest - Deficit Dubya #34
Deficit Dubya - The Series
Toon Reviews
Scroll down & check out The Worried Shrimp's 'Pissant Of Texas'.
Reader Request
Re: 'Dark Angel'
From Ali
I'm not sure if anyone around here cares that Dark
Angel was cancelled by the idiots at FOX. At any rate
I'd thought I'd send this page here so anyone who
carese and sign the petition and help out. Thanks!
~~ Ali
Save Dark Angel
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Guess the advertisers are gonna be happy that it's major-market basketball.
Started to watch 'The Hamptons' (the 2nd part is on tonight [Monday])...jeez, what a piece of work. It was made under the auspices of
ABC News. Looks like the network is trying to allow the producer to write off a beach house & a load of perks (that more than likely
didn't 'trickle down' to the ones who actually did the work). Wonder if it's a 'step-stool production'? Any first-semester junior college
class in TV production would have provided better work. Boo. Hiss.
Watched most of the 'Tony Awards'. Will have pictures up on the Tuesday page.
Tonight, Monday, it's 4 reruns on CBS - 'King Of Queens', 'Yes, Dear', 'Raymond', and 'Becker'. '48 Hours' follows.
On a rerun Dave (from 4/30/02), the guests are Debra Messing, Incredible Dog Challenge, and Wilco.
Scheduled on fresh Craiggers is comic Comic Greg Fitzsimmons.
NBC has a 90-minute rerun 'Fear Factor' - a 'special' celebrity version, then the return of 'Spy TV' (at least it's fresh), and then a rerun 'Crossing Jordan'.
Scheduled on fresh Jay are Bernie Mac and Garbage.
On a rerun Conan, the guests are Jeremy Iron, Marc Maron and David Feldman.
Carson Daly is TBA - To Be Announced.
ABC reruns 'The In-Crowd & Social Cruelty With John Stossel', and follows with the 2nd half of 'The Hamptons'.
Scheduled on fresh Bill Maher, the guests are (Radio Talk Show Host) Kennedy, (Author) Helen Caldicott, (Musician) David Crosby), and (Republican Strategist) Randy Tate.
The WB has reruns of '7th Heaven' and 'Angel'.
Faux has reruns of 'Boston Public' and 'Ally McBeal'.
UPN has 4 reruns - 'The Hughleys', 'One On One', 'The Parkers', and 'Girlfriends'. And in one of the most brilliant
programming moves in a decade, they are moving their news up an hour, and showing reruns of 'Seinfeld' and 'Frasier' opposite the network newsmagazines and dramas.
On the horizon, 'The Osbournes' return Thursday night
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
The 2-Paul Tour
Bono & O'Neill
The Irish rock star and the U.S. treasury secretary joked and argued their way across Africa for 12 days, raising awareness of the problems faced by the world's poorest continent.
U2's Bono, the passionate liberal wearing designer wraparound glasses, and Secretary Paul O'Neill, the pragmatic conservative in business suits, were nicknamed
"the odd couple" as they visited African hospitals, schools and businesses.
Most of the people the pair met had never heard of either man, but they're happy for the attention and hope the high-profile trip brings more help for Africa's
troubles. Those with experience dealing with the international community doubt it will.
Throughout the tour, where they shook hands with AIDS victims and hugged orphans, the two debated and joked. O'Neill, 66, sometimes put his arm around Bono,
42, and described how they had bonded.
"We feel the United States has totally distorted African development, whereas people like Bono, he's trying to find out what the people really need," said Opa Kapijimpanga,
coordinator at the Zimbabwe-based African Forum for Debt and Development.
The fact that few Africans had heard of Bono was irrelevant, Kapijimpanga said.
Half the continent's 340 million people live on less than $1 a day. Experts say African economies would have to grow 7 percent a year to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015,
but the chance of many succeeding is unlikely. Last year, the continent achieved overall growth of 3.4 percent.
"For us I think the only interest is in the treasury secretary in terms of whether the United States can be persuaded to provide some more funding to Uganda," said Vincent
Edoku, chairman of the Uganda Debt Network. "I heard about the treasury secretary but didn't know he was coming with that Bono man."
Bono & O'Neill
Useful Link
A Handy How-To
How To Give The Finger
To Set the Nation Singing
Queen Elizabeth
Britain's Queen Elizabeth will set the nation singing to the Beatles' classic "All You Need is Love" on Monday as she joins her subjects in celebrating
half a century on the throne.
The queen will kick off a national music festival to celebrate the rich variety of cultures, not just across her country but throughout
the 54-nation Commonwealth of mainly former British colonies by setting in motion a ceremonial metronome.
That tune will again feature at the end of the Party at the Palace pop concert, which will set the seal on a series of street parties across the
country and as far afield as the British Antarctic Survey Rothera research base.
The line-up for the concert is a who's who of British popular music during the queen's first 50 years on the throne, during which she has seen her
popularity hit rock bottom before climbing back to its current heights.
Queen guitarist Brian May who will open Monday's concert with a rendition from the roof of Buckingham Palace of "God Save the Queen."
The concert will include former Beatle Paul McCartney, gothic rocker Ozzy Osbourne, Latino heartthrob Ricky Martin, Welsh diva Shirley Bassey, aging
crooner Tony Bennett, soulman Joe Cocker, Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin and new star Will Young.
Renowned South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will add a Commonwealth touch, while drummer Phil Collins keeps the beat and Rod Stewart
lends his throaty vocals against the backdrop of the orchestra from the Royal Academy of Music.
George Martin, the man who helped create the sound of the Beatles -- Britain's most famous musical export -- has been the creative light behind the
concert which has been put together by musical director Michael Kamen.
On Tuesday, the last day of the four-day gala, the queen will attend a service at St. Paul's Cathedral followed by a vast parade of 20,000 people including
a Hell's Angel biker called Snob and the world's largest gospel choir of 5,000 people.
And in New York, lights on the vast New York Empire State Building landmark, will shine gold and purple between sunset and midnight on Tuesday to mark the occasion.
Queen Elizabeth
Saturday Night
MTV Movie Awards
Actress Winona Ryder touches her breasts during the 2002 MTV Movie Awards taping June 1, 2002 in Los Angeles after actor Adam Sandler joked with Ryder asking her to answer
the one question on people's minds, a reference to her arrest on shoplifting charges last year, but instead asked if her breasts were real and could he touch them, to which
she responded yes. Ryder and Sandler, co-stars of the upcoming film "Mr. Deeds", were presenters at the show which will be telecast June 6 in the United States.
Photo by Fred Prouser
At The North Pole
Caroline & Ann
Britain's Caroline Hamilton (L) and Ann Daniels pose for photographs as they reach the North Pole June 2, 2002. The two British explorers, who braved snowstorms and frostbite, have made
the record books in becoming the first all-woman team to trek to both Poles.
No Typecasting Here...
Bob Knight
Basketball coach Bob Knight, known for his explosive temper, is scheduled to appear alongside Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler in the upcoming movie "Anger Management."
The film, scheduled for June 2003 release, is about a mild-mannered businessman, played by Sandler, who is accidentally sent to an anger management help group. The group
is instructed by Nicholson's overly aggressive character.
Other sports personalities known for their tempers are scheduled to make cameos in the film, including John McEnroe.
Bob Knight
Deadly Impact On Advertising
Wal-Mart
Larry W. Freels, publisher of the Kirksville (Mo.) Daily Express, has been a newspaperman for 40 years, except for one five-year period when he worked for a company that newspapers
have come to fear and loathe: Wal-Mart.
As a store manager, Freels saw from the inside looking out how the arrival of a Wal-Mart can cheer consumers but devastate a small town's retail area -- and leave the local paper
scrambling to make up lost advertising revenue. "Oh, God, yes, I was a manager for the store in St. Robert, Missouri, and then I opened a new store in Fairfield, Iowa. We hurt
that town, too," he says.
When Freels started with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 1986, his store was buying a few newspaper inserts. Soon, though, new marching orders came down from corporate headquarters in
Bentonville, Ark. "As far as advertising in the paper," Freels says, "you can't, you'd better not. First they said, 'You can't advertise without your district manager's
permission.' Then they said, 'You can't do it, period.'"
For the complete story on Wal-Mart and the newspaper industry, visit
www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1501039.
Wal-Mart
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
To Portray Marion Barry
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx will star as former Washington mayor Marion Barry in an HBO biopic titled "Livin' for the City: The Marion Barry Story" that Leon Ichaso will direct, sources said. The project
will begin shooting late summer or early fall in Baltimore and Washington.
Chris Rock, who riffed on Barry in his 1997 HBO stand-up special "Bring the Pain," is executive producing the project with Joan Fields and Tracey Kemble.
Barry served three terms as mayor of Washington until 1990, when he left office in shame after being videotaped by the FBI seducing a woman and smoking crack cocaine at
the Vista International Hotel. The incident resulted in the end of his third marriage and a six-month sentence in federal prison. Barry staged a comeback when he was elected to his
fourth term as mayor in 1995.
Jamie Foxx
Part 1
El Salto del Colacho
A man dressed as El Colacho whips children prior to El Salto del Colacho, The Jump of the Colacho, in the village of Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos, northern Spain, Sunday,
June 2, 2002. The Colacho represents the devil who takes away the evil from the babies as he jumps over them in this medieval custom to celebrate Corpus Cristi.
Photo by Denis Doyle
Part 2
El Salto del Colacho
Carlos Esteban Estebanez jumps over six babies during El Salto del Colacho, The Jump of the Colacho, in the village of Castrillo de Murcia, Spain, Sunday, June 2, 2002. The Colacho
represents the devil who takes away the evil from the babies as he jumps over them in this medieval custom to celebrate Corpus Cristi.
Photo by Denis Doyle
Part 3
El Salto del Colacho
A priest blesses babies during El Salto del Colacho, The Jump of the Colacho, in the village of Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos, northern Spain, Sunday, June 2, 2002. The Colacho
represents the devil who takes away the evil from the babies as he jumps over them in this medieval custom to celebrate Corpus Cristi.
Photo by Denis Doyle
Informative Link
13myths.org
13myths.org
Bites Bullet at "The Agency"
Gil Bellows
Gil Bellows is a field casualty at The Agency.
The former Ally McBeal costar, who played CIA field officer Matt Callan on CBS' rookie series, won't be back for its sophomore year. According to trade reports, the actor's exit was a
mutual decision, now that producers plan to move the show in a different creative direction.
The Agency's May 9 cliffhanger season finale featured Bellows' character on a hostage rescue mission in Tashkent. And sure enough, there was a hail of bullets--leaving it unclear who was
dead or alive. (At that time the episode was filmed, Bellows' fate reportedly had not been decided.)
Why the departure? Sources cite a change in the focus of the hourlong drama, shifting toward inside-the-beltway politics rather than out-in-the-field CIA action.
The show also suffered from such lackluster ratings--not surprising as it was scheduled Thursdays opposite NBC's long established hit ER--that it was something of a surprise that it even
received a second chance. Next fall, the show moves to Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Another reason for the second chance: The Agency is an in-house CBS production, in partnership with Universal Television and Das Boot and In the Line of Fire director Wolfgang Petersen's
Radiant Productions. Another recent change has included the exit of show creator Michael Frost Beckner, but he's expected to continue as a consultant to producers Petersen, Gail Katz and Shaun Cassidy.
Gil Bellows
BartCop TV!
6th Annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade
Sao Paulo
A giant rainbow banner is streched out among thousands of revelers during the 6th annual Sao Paulo Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, June 2, 2002.
Organizers expect more than 300 thousand revelers this year in South America's largest gay parade.
Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills
Ordered to Pull Ads
China TV
A state television station has been ordered to stop airing advertisements with foreign celebrities, an official newspaper reported Sunday.
The ads on China Central Television are to be pulled following this month's World Cup soccer competition, said the Beijing Times, a tabloid published by the Communist
Party's flagship People's Daily newspaper. Chinese are enthusiastic soccer fans and CCTV is broadcasting the event to the world's largest television audience.
Famous faces from South Korea, the United States, Canada and other countries have been big stars in the ads.
A number of celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan also star in ads targeting Chinese consumers, but it wasn't clear if their spots would be affected.
China TV
Interesting Link
Top 100 Corporate Criminals
Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990's
From 'The Worried Shrimp'
The Pissant Of Texas
Breaking Up
Heidi & Tom
Rumor has it Heidi Fleiss and Tom Sizemore won't be reconciling. A spy spotted a moving van outside Sizemore's Beverly Hills home the other day.
The former Hollywood madam wants no part of the actor after he got through a movie shoot in Vancouver allegedly with the help of some call girls — just
like those Heidi used to peddle.
"She's tired of his lying and his abusiveness," a Fleiss friend says.
Heidi & Tom
Saturday
Wiener National
A dachshund named Cooper, left, makes a mad dash for the finish line Saturday, June 1, 2002, during a 50-yard trial at the seventh annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener
National, at Los Alamitos Race Course in Los Alamitos, Calif. In the background is Maya.
Photo by Damian Dovarganes
Snarky Gossip
Bing & The Barbi Twins
More on Steve Bing, who is accused of having fathered babies with both Lisa Bonder Kerkorian and Elizabeth Hurley. A pal of buxom "Barbi Twins" pinups, Shane and Sia, tell us they went on some "fun" double
dates with Bing and actor Judd Nelson in the early '90s. Surprised by the girls' demure demeanor and their refusal to let him come to their house in Malibu, the secretive Bing blindfolded them and took them
to his house in Bel-Air instead. But he never got anywhere with either one. These days, the sisters have a "final" pinup calendar coming out in July, as well as a coffee-table book of their nudes.
Bing & The Barbi Twins
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Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Very freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite quotes...
Scroll down for lots of addys to pick from (or 'from which to pick', for the truly anal retentive).
