“I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I shall be born again with a new face and an untried heart.”
Don’t you love that Colette quote? Isn’t that what everyone so desperately wants, a new face and an untried heart? Well, I’m almost certainly not getting either, but I am jetting off to Sweden for a spell. Au revoir, my darlings. Be prepared for an onslaught of ABBA- and Garbo-related posts and photos upon my return.
You know the song “Delta Dawn,” right? If not from Tanya Tucker’s Top 10 country hit in 1972, then Helen Reddy’s No. 1 hit in 1973. Or maybe you know Bette Midler’s cover from 1972′s The Divine Miss M? But did you know the messy story around these three women and their versions?
Alex Harvey, the song’s co-writer (with Larry Collins), first recorded “Delta Dawn” in 1971. Tracy Nelson sang it at the Bottom Line in New York City, which is where Midler first came across it, adding it to her songlist. She performed it on The Tonight Show, and a Nashville producer approached her about signing a recording contract with him. Because Midler was already signed with Atlantic, he threw the song at Tanya Tucker.
Meanwhile, a replica of Tucker’s “Delta Dawn” was offered to Barbra Streisand, who turned it down. So the song went to Helen Reddy (for whom Harvey used to open). Midler went right ahead and recorded her own version of it, which was due to be released to radios in June 1973, but Reddy’s single went out two days earlier. The result? Reddy’s went to No. 1 and Midler had to abruptly switch to the track’s B-side, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” which became a top 10 hit for her.
What I’m saying is, in the 1970s you probably heard “Delta Dawn” a lot.
Here’s where things should get interesting, right? Since NBC basically pressed the reset button on its comedies by canceling all of its freshman entries last week? So what do they have on deck that’s just so good?
Well, in addition to mid-season replacement About a Boy, starring David Walton (remember him? This will be his fifth NBC sitcom in five years, so don’t get too attached), we have stellar entries like the following: Continue reading
I love upfronts week. Part of it is the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new attitude that sees the dross replaced by, if not gold, then definitely shiny new things.
Right now, as I type this, NBC is presenting its new slate of TV shows, of which there will be many since NBC slashed and burned its way through its lineup (bye Whitney!). And maybe we don’t need another vampire show, but if NBC insists that we have one and it doesn’t include a frequently shirtless Alex O’Loughlin, then by all means, have it star Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
I’m not attending the upfronts (though I vow this is the last year I don’t go. I really do love this week!), so let’s just pretend that I’m at NBC’s presentation right now, shall we? Based solely on available artwork, I’m going to tell you all about NBC’s upcoming slate. Continue reading
When one reads a lot of biographies, one is always on watch for signs of sloppy scholarship. Also beware of biographies that have a thesis, because then no matter how well-documented the book, the writing will drive you up the wall. (See: All That Jazz, the Bob Fosse bio, and Female Brando, the Kim Stanley bio.) As it happens, The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollwyood, Diana McLellan’s look at lesbians in Old Hollywood suffers from both. Continue reading
After seeing Bette Midler in the one-woman show I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers on Broadway, I made the executive decision to explore her catalog. Midler is one of many facets of pop culture that I have avoided for years because an ex was heavily invested in it. But as the years drag on and everyone gets older, I’m finding myself less inclined to keep to my self-imposed blackouts. And so one sunny day at home, I fired up Spotify and dug in.
Oh kids, what I have been missing. Her first album, The Divine Miss M, is a perfect distillation of camp (“Leader of the Pack“), sex (“Do You Wanna Dance?”), and a drag queen’s running mascara at three in the morning (“Superstar,” “Am I Blue?”). But it’s Midler’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” on No Frills that I’ve become obsessed with. Continue reading
In the six months and change for which I have had a personal trainer, my most consistent improvement has been in fist bumping. I’ve grown pretty good at it! The trick, I think, is to not be tentative. Just assume your aim is true and pound those knuckles!
I guess I’ve learned some other things, too, but I can’t think of a one right now.
I was tempted to just let my last pack of sessions run out and go on my merry way. Getting up and out of bed and dashing straight to the gym before work three times a week was really taking it out of me, more mentally than physically, but then I started seeing results and it seemed silly to have worked this hard and come this far only to backslide. So I’m still going, still dragging myself over there every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (plus Saturday or Sunday, for my legs! I graduated to solo leg workouts a few weeks ago).
Oh yeah, I remember what else I learned: That I owe everyone who saw me in a tank top prior to this year an apology. I just didn’t know, guys. I thought being slender was enough. I was wrong.
One must draw the line somewhere, and I draw mine at actually subscribing to Mortuary Management Magazine. I requested a sample issue and I get the monthly email newsletter, but I can’t bring myself to write a check for a year’s worth of issues.
But once a month, I question that line in the sand when I read the letter from the editor. Today, for instance, found me bleary-eyed in bed but nevertheless reading aloud choice excerpts—excerpts I’d like to share with you all now! Continue reading
