70 Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Musician Joe Jackson is 70 (11 Aug)

“You gotta have no illusions.”

Musician Joe Jackson was considered one of those “angry young men” in the pop scene that straddled the 1970s and 1980s. I first heard his music on WQBK-FM, Q 104 in the Albany area, a station I listened to constantly for about a decade.

I bought several of his earlier albums on vinyl and a few of the latter ones on CD. Here are some of his songs.

Down To London, from Blaze Of Glory, 1989. My friend Rocco and I saw him perform at the Palace Theatre in Albany in 1989. After sharing maybe one or two earlier songs, he announced that he would play the album’s first six songs. He threw in a few familiar songs and then launched into the last six songs of the album. Much of the audience just walked out of the auditorium. They didn’t leave the building but went to the concession stand or whatnot. Many didn’t return until he started playing songs they recognized. It’s a good album, which I purchased, but the performance ticked off the audience unnecessarily.

Captain Of Industry (Overture), from the Tucker soundtrack, 1988

A Slow Song, originally from Night and Day, 1982 – I had a buddy named Mary Margaret who loved this song. She particularly liked the live version from the 1980/86 album, which came out in 1988.

I’m The Man, from I’m The Man, 1979 – a frenetic song about a guy willing to sell you anything. I love the way he sings “yo-yo.”

One More Time, from Look Sharp!, 1979, has a running bass line that I love.

Sunday Papers, from Look Sharp! , 1979 speaks to the sensationalist media, which needs to get the story first, even if it’s wrong. I like that reggae beat.

Nineteen Forever, from Blaze Of Glory, 1989

A couple of title songs

Look Sharp, from Look Sharp!, 1979- “You gotta have no illusions. Just keep going your way, looking over your shoulder.”

Beat Crazy, from Beat Crazy, 1980 – I love the contrast between the Graham Maby melodic line and Jackson’s harder response.

Jumpin’ Jive, from Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, 1981 – “on the Jersey side.” This is a Cab Calloway song. I loved this album and bought a copy for my mother for her birthday or Christmas one year, thinking she would enjoy it, with songs by Louis Jordan and others. She did not. It was one of those”fail” presents.

Stepping Out, from Night and Day, 1982 – a wonderful anticipatory song

Is She Really Going Out With Him, from Look Sharp!, 1979. This song appears thrice on his 1988 album Live 1980/86. One version was an a cappella dop wop.

Cancer, from Night and Day, 1982. Such a cheerful, danceable song

You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want), from Body and Soul, 1984 – a Latin feel and a great slap bass

Fools In Love, from Look Sharp!, 1979. “Are there any creatures more pathetic?” I definitely could relate!

Joe Jackson turns 70 on August 11.

Folks born in October 1953

a J5 connection

Before I turn to folks born in October 1953, I should note that I missed September altogether.

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (S 4) played Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. He was also in Roots and played the father Joe Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream.

Amy Irving (S 10) I saw in several movies, including Honeysuckle Rose, Yentl, and likely others. But I also HEARD her singing voice as Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Rita Rudner (S 17): “Beginning her career as a Broadway dancer, Rudner noticed the lack of female comedians in New York City and turned to stand-up comedy, where she has flourished for over three decades.”

This exercise is for one year only. It mentions people born the same year as I was.

The month in question

Christopher Norris (O 7). “She is probably best known for her portrayal of nurse Gloria “Ripples” Brancusi in the television series Trapper John, M.D.” I watched the show, although the linkage to MASH was tenuous at best.

Tony Shalhoub (O 9). I know him mainly from the TV series Wings. I’ve seen him in Barton Fink, Primary Colors, and other films. But the little I’ve seen of Monk and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel makes me think I should start watching them.

David Morse (O 11) When I first started watching St. Elsewhere in 1982, I thought Morse’s character, Dr. Jack “Boomer” Morrison, was the star because he had many of the early scenes. I soon learned it was more of an ensemble show. Since then, I’ve seen him in many TV and theatrical films.

Greg Evigan (O 14). I never saw an episode of B.J. and the Bear. But I did see a few episodes of My Two Dads. He had previously appeared on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease.

Also in The Jacksons

Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson (O 15) is the third child and second son of Joe and Katherine. He and four of his brothers were the Jackson Five. Although a guitarist, he wasn’t allowed to play on Motown sessions. “His guitar work did not debut until he and the Jacksons left Motown for CBS Records in 1976.” He’s primarily a blues musician these days.

“In 2016, he had his first commercially successful solo single on the Billboard charts with “Get It Baby”, featuring Big Daddy Kane from his album Tito Time, becoming the ninth and final Jackson family sibling to place a solo single on the charts.”

Bill Nunn (O 20): I saw him as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing and Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man film trilogy. He died on September 24, 2016, from leukemia.

That Star Trek guy

Robert Picardo (pictured – O 27): He was Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years and Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series China Beach, for three seasons simultaneously. He’s best known as the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager.

Desmond Child (O 28): Born John Charles Barrett, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“His list of accolades includes Grammy awards, 70 Top 40 singles, and songs that have sold over 300 million albums worldwide.

“Child’s career has been highlighted by a stunning array of diversity. His collaborations run the gamut… from Bon Jovi & Aerosmith to Ricky Martin… from KISS to Kelly Clarkson… from Cher to Alice Cooper.”

You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi

Angel – Aerosmith

Living La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin

Love on a Rooftop – Desmond Child

Performer John Hiatt turns 70

“I’ll be there to catch your fall”

I’ve been listening to John Hiatt for nearly four decades. So enamored with his music was I that I wrote a post about him when he turned 54. Since then, I’ve got the albums The Open Road (2010), Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns (2011), and Terms of My Surrender (2014).

His sixth album I have on vinyl. Hiatt said, “I always kind of look at Riding with the King (1983) as the first album where I really put it all together.” And that’s probably true. Warming Up to the Ice Age (1985) failed commercially, and Geffen dropped him from the roster. Bring The Family (1987) was his first Billboard 200 album and is probably my favorite.

Slow Turning (1988) has such great songs that several were covered by other artists. Indeed, LOTS of artists have covered his songs, many of which I own. A small list: Sure As I’m Sitting Here (Three Dog Night), Across the Borderline (Willie Nelson), Thing Called Love (Bonnie Raitt), When We Ran (Linda Ronstadt), and Riding With The King (B.B. King and Eric Clapton).

My wife and I saw him at the Troy (NY) Music Hall in 2003.

Twelve songs

Here are a dozen John Hiatt tunes. If I were to pick my favorites, almost half would be from Bring The Family.

The Tiki Bar Is Open – the title track. Someone on a video wrote of John that he “has remained a fringe artist all these years despite his incredible songwriting skills and emotive and highly recognizable vocal style. He just keeps putting out amazing stuff year after year.”

Trudy and Dave – Slow Turning. My mom was named Trudy. I had a whimsical thought that mom had run off with another guy. “They’re out of their minds.”

Real Fine Love – Stolen Moments.

Feels Like Rain – Slow Turning.

Crossing Muddy Waters – the title song. I think songs from this acoustic album were performed by Hiatt on A Prairie Home Companion c. 2000.

The Most Unoriginal Sin – Beneath This Gruff Exterior. This was recorded by Willie Nelson in 1993, a full decade before Hiatt put it on the end of an album.

She Loves The Jerk – Riding With The King.

Slow Turning – the title track. Namechecks Charlie Watts.

Shredding The Document – Walk On. The lyrics are a bit dated – Larry King, e.g. – but I LOVE the harmony on the chorus.

Perfectly Good Guitar – the title track. Apparently, this ticked off Pete Townshend for a time.

I Don’t Even Try – Riding With The King. A variation on a familiar pop hook.

Have A Little Faith In Me – Bring the Family. When I made a mixed tape for my now-wife Carol, this was the centerpiece.

Bio

My friend Rocco read a biography that he really liked, Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story by Michael Elliott. It is “a long-overdue, in-depth biography of Americana’s most enigmatic characters,” according to the review in Americana UK.

The writer touched on every studio album that Hiatt did and gave some great insight into what made it happen even the one live album, Rocco reports.

Christine Baranski of Buffalo turns 70

Diane Lockhart

I’ve enjoyed the performances of Christine Baranski for many years. She was the best thing in the sitcom Cybill (1995-1998) as the sophisticated Maryann Thorpe. But I, and most people, know her as the smart and calculating Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife and its successor series, The Good Fight.

In a CBS Sunday Morning interview from January 2022, “Correspondent Mo Rocca asked Baranski, ‘Why do you think so often you’ve been cast as intellectual, sophisticated, high-status characters?’

“‘Because I’m sophisticated and intellectual!’ she laughed. ‘I don’t know! It makes me laugh, because when… people really look up… Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills, and where I come from?’

“Yes, Baranski is a proud Buffalonian, the daughter of Virginia and Lucien Baranski, who grew up steeped in her family’s Polish culture.”

That’s it. Even when she’s the snarky friend in Mamma Mia or the haughty reporter in Chicago – “Understandable! Understandable!” – she has that upstate New York rootedness. Her father died when she was eight. She attended Catholic school for 12 years, including an all-girls high school.

Mame

In Town and Country, she described sharing a room with her grandmother, “who had been an actress in the Polish theater. ‘I grew up with an Auntie Mame kind of personality. She was vivacious,’” and she passed on a love of the stage to her granddaughter…

“‘By the time I was 17 or 18, I was acting in not only plays in high school, but I got into this workshop and was doing street theater and performing with kids from all over the city. I was from a very insular kind of life. And suddenly, I was performing with Black kids and Jewish kids and it blew my world wide open.’

“Around that time, she read about the Juilliard School, and pinned the article to her wall, thinking: ‘This is where I want to go.'” But as she noted in the New Yorker, she was initially waitlisted. “I had my teeth capped and would do a series of syllable and ‘S’ exercises. Then I returned to New York for an audition and did nothing but pages of ‘S’ words, and they let me in. So I would say I got in by the skin of my teeth.”

More upper-crust

Nathan Lane spoke of his “the Birdcage” co-star, “She is a consummate actress and professional and a great deal of fun.” He only regrets that they didn’t have more scenes together in their new project The Gilded Age. Christine once again plays that upper-crust role, the moneyed Agnes Van Rhijn.

I think she is quite centered, not just because of her background. Probably it’s because she was a working stage performer before her television career started in her forties. Though she had been encouraged early on to change her name to something less ethnic, she never did.

Christine Baranski turns 70 on May 2.

70: Mark Evanier and Laraine Newman

Connie Conehead

Mark Evanier by Gage Skidmore found in Wikipedia — Mark Evanier by Gage Skidmore, found in Wikipedia

I have been following the blog of Mark Evanier since 2004 or 2005. But he’s been producing News From ME since December 18, 2000. He was a kid who cared – OK, obsessed – about comic books, and has written comics or about comics and related business for most of his life.

Mark had the very good fortune to become an assistant to Jack Kirby, from whom he learned a tremendous amount, not just the creative aspect but the visionary nature of “the King.” Mark attended every San Diego Comic-Con from the beginning until COVID, and none since, except online. He has directed animated TV shows. As a result, he knows a large number of imaginative folks in the comic book industry and show business.

Evanier is a historian of the industry. He has worked on the reprinting of his all-time favorite comic strip, Pogo by Walt Kelly, and he was a Pogo fan even before he met and went out with Walt’s late daughter, Carolyn.

Mark has been a gambler in Las Vegas and a magician, pretty good at them apparently, though he’s soured on the former. He is also an expert on his favorite movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. His 30+ year practice of feeding stray cats ended in 2021.

In memory of

Mark always notes the deaths of creative people who you and I may have never heard of or had forgotten, obscure comic book artists, unsung animators, working actors, comedians of the past. He’s been involved with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. “The award goes to someone whose body of work has not been properly rewarded in terms of credit and/or compensation.”

He posts a link almost daily of a notable segment of an old Ed Sullivan segment, an obscure music video, a comedy routine, film clips of Los Angeles or Las Vegas back in the day, or occasionally interviews he’s involved with. Guesting on Sid Krofft’s weekly Sunday afternoon video podcast on Instagram. Talking with film critic Leonard Maltin. Chatting with his best male friend, Sergio Aragonés, with whom he works on Groo the Wanderer.

Mark’s blog has regular segments. Dispatches From the Fortress of Semi-Solitude addresses how he’s been coping with the pandemic; fortunately, as a writer, he’s used to working alone. He’s a fan of Costco, where he can buy in bulk.

Personal history

Tales of My Childhood, Tales of My Father, and Tales of My Mother are obviously biographical. Mark notes: “I am of Jewish heritage but only on my father’s side. Because my mother was Catholic and both families frowned on two such people getting married, they basically raised me to be nothing in particular. This has worked out a lot better than folks who are devout to one faith or another would probably admit.”

He likes to post Hannukka videos during the season and find several ways to spell the holiday. His caring father hated his job but stayed to provide for the family. Most of the stories about his mother that I recall involved the last decade of her life when she could barely walk or see, as he helped provide for her care.

He writes occasionally that there are “Things I Don’t Have An Opinion About,” especially when people think he should. Conversely, he can be fascinated by the fluctuating price of, say, a certain package of Planters Salted Cashews on Amazon.

Here’s a quiz he completed in October 2021.

Live from New York

Laraine Newman at Comic Con 2011 — Cartoon Voices II – Room 6A, Sunday 11:30-12:45 Comic Con 2011

Laraine Newman is best known for being one of the original members of the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975-1980), creating characters such as Connie Conehead and the Valley Girl Sherry. But long before that, in Los Angeles at the age of 19, she and “her older sister Tracy were founding members of the comedy troupe The Groundlings — which has become a launchpad for numerous SNL cast members.”

In her audio memoir, May You Live in Interesting Times – here’s one story – she says her career has been, “modest but steady and extremely fulfilling.” Much of her current employment has involved doing voice work, including Garfield segments voice-directed by her friend Mark Evanier, twenty minutes her senior. He reviewed her memoir quite favorably; he wanted MORE than the nine hours she provided. Check out a photo of the two of them together.

In fact, you couldn’t do much better keeping up with Laraine Newman than to search News from ME for her name. She shows up quite frequently. Also, check out these videos.