Sylvester Mighty Real

, "Step 2." Released in 1978 the 12" single of "(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real)" b/w "Dance (Disco Heat)" shot straight to the top of the club charts and made Sylvester an international disco star. The album reached 28 on the Billboard Pop charts and 7 on the R&B charts. Touring with Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes (Two Tons 'O Fun) as his backing vocalists helped cement his (and eventually their) place in the Disco history books. Born: 9-6-1947 Died: 12-16-1988 of A.I.D.S. at the age of 41.

BEWITCHED

Marilyn Monroe The curse of Monroe lives on

Marilyn at 80: The curse of Monroe lives on
Men are still fighting over the screen star's most lucrative asset - her visual image. By Jonathan Thompson
Published: 30 April 2006
Marilyn Monroe lived in controversy, died in controversy, and now, more than 40 years after her death, the curse lingers on. This weekend, her most profitable legacy isthe subject of no fewer than eight multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Their outcome will decide nothing less than who owns the image of the most potent sex symbol on the planet.
Had she lived, Monroe would have been 80 in June, but her early death at 36, preserving her beauty forever on celluloid, has helped make her's the world's most valuable posthumous celebrity image - worth at least $8m a year. This pot of gold has now provoked a clash between the descendants of four photographers who took her picture, and the ultimate inheritor of Monroe's estate, Anna Strasberg, widow of the star's acting coach and friend, Lee Strasberg.
And, this being a Monroe affair, the image dispute is but part of the constant circus of exploitation that has followed this most vulnerable of screen stars far beyond her Los Angeles grave. Another lawsuit is now under way, launched by those associated with a film about her first husband, Jim Dougherty; the authenticity of many of the 800 items in a Marilyn Monroe exhibition is being contested; newly opened FBI files are stoking the never-resolved rumours of the Kennedys' involvement in her death; and the woman who has already inspired more than 300 books will soon become the subject of a contentious new biopic by Tom Hanks.
But the image rights lawsuits - which centre on publicity rights for the pictures, as well as alleged restraint of trade over their reproduction - are the most valuable of these Monroe properties.
Among the photographs are Sam Shaw's picture of Ms Monroe's skirt billowing over a grate, and Tom Kelley's famous "red velvet" shoot, later to become Playboy's first ever centrefold. The pictures' copyright has always remained with the photographers and then with their offspring, but commercial use of Monroe's image was bequeathed to Strasberg. His third wife, Anna, 36 years his junior, whom he married at 67, six years after the actress's death, inherited them upon Strasberg's death in 1982. She employs US-based image specialists CMG Worldwide to manage the pictures' publicity rights.
It was all so much simpler on the day the legendary Kelley image was originally captured, at the photographer's Los Angeles studio - 27 May 1949. The unknown Monroe was paid only $50 for the shoot, telling the photographer and his wife that she needed the money to pay for the recovery of her car from a nearby pound.
After the shoot, the three went together for a bowl of chilli at a restaurant, while Kelley's brother Bill went to the local Kodak shop, complete with a bottle of Scotch as a bribe to make sure that the risqué portraits were developed. Now this classic picture is one of those at the heart of the legal tug of war taking place in three separate states. It is a struggle that Kelley's son, also called Tom, remains confident of winning.
A photographer himself, Mr Kelley Jnr said he and the other descendants had finally lost their patience with the "bullying" and "greed" of CMG, which had been demanding up to 90 per cent of profits from sales of the images. "I said, you want a showdown? OK, we're going to have it here and now," said Mr Kelley. "We have tried to work with them, but now it's up to the courts to decide. What they stand to lose is all the rights, all the publicity for Marilyn, which is huge. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars here."
His sentiments are echoed by Sam Shaw's daughter, Edie, who was herself very close to Monroe. "Protecting Marilyn and protecting my father's name is always on my mind," she said. "There were only a handful of photographers Marilyn ever worked with and she got very attached to them. She would think it terrible that they're being told they can't use their pictures of her."
The case centres on whether Ms Monroe should be considered a resident of New York or California at the time of her death. If she is judged to have been a New Yorker, any publicity rights died with her on that fateful evening in 1962. If she was a Californian - where she was born and ultimately died - they will remain under the control of her estate for 70 years.
The lawyer representing the Kelleys and the family of one of the other photographers, Milton Greene, is sure the courts will rule Ms Monroe is a New Yorker - potentially demolishing the Marilyn interests of both CMG and Ms Strasberg.
"The factual nub we're going to dance around is Marilyn's domicile at the time of her death," said Surj Soni, speaking from his office in California.
"She died in Los Angeles, but at the time of her death, she lived in New York, she owned an apartment in New York and she was a registered voter in New York.
"After her death, the estate of Marilyn Monroe filed probate and declared she was a domicile of New York City."
But the owner of CMG, Mark Roesler, accused the photographers' families of "trying to hide under a technicality". He said: "The big picture is that Marilyn Monroe left a body of intellectual property rights after she died. My client has the only trademarked rights to the name of Marilyn Monroe."
He added: "Marilyn Monroe knew better than anyone how valuable and marketable her image was. She'd be very supportive of her agents, and appalled that different photographers were trying to rip her off."
The other descendants of the four photographers see things differently. Mr Greene's son Joshua - whose father was perhaps the closest of them all to Monroe, having invited her to live with his family for two years - was particularly outspoken when contacted by the IoS.
"The fact of the matter is that they [CMG] are being greedy and unreasonable. They are like a schoolyard bully, beating his chest," he said.
"We've taken enough crap from these people. It's a game of intimidation and there are laws that protect us against restraint of trade. The fact is that Marilyn hated people like this - it's so ironic.
"Marilyn would take sides with us," continued Mr Greene. "But she would never have let things get to this point in the first place. Obviously it is in everybody's interests to keep her likeness seen.
"We're just trying to turn this curse around."
Marilyn Monroe lived in controversy, died in controversy, and now, more than 40 years after her death, the curse lingers on. This weekend, her most profitable legacy isthe subject of no fewer than eight multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Their outcome will decide nothing less than who owns the image of the most potent sex symbol on the planet.
Had she lived, Monroe would have been 80 in June, but her early death at 36, preserving her beauty forever on celluloid, has helped make her's the world's most valuable posthumous celebrity image - worth at least $8m a year. This pot of gold has now provoked a clash between the descendants of four photographers who took her picture, and the ultimate inheritor of Monroe's estate, Anna Strasberg, widow of the star's acting coach and friend, Lee Strasberg.
And, this being a Monroe affair, the image dispute is but part of the constant circus of exploitation that has followed this most vulnerable of screen stars far beyond her Los Angeles grave. Another lawsuit is now under way, launched by those associated with a film about her first husband, Jim Dougherty; the authenticity of many of the 800 items in a Marilyn Monroe exhibition is being contested; newly opened FBI files are stoking the never-resolved rumours of the Kennedys' involvement in her death; and the woman who has already inspired more than 300 books will soon become the subject of a contentious new biopic by Tom Hanks.
But the image rights lawsuits - which centre on publicity rights for the pictures, as well as alleged restraint of trade over their reproduction - are the most valuable of these Monroe properties.
Among the photographs are Sam Shaw's picture of Ms Monroe's skirt billowing over a grate, and Tom Kelley's famous "red velvet" shoot, later to become Playboy's first ever centrefold. The pictures' copyright has always remained with the photographers and then with their offspring, but commercial use of Monroe's image was bequeathed to Strasberg. His third wife, Anna, 36 years his junior, whom he married at 67, six years after the actress's death, inherited them upon Strasberg's death in 1982. She employs US-based image specialists CMG Worldwide to manage the pictures' publicity rights.
It was all so much simpler on the day the legendary Kelley image was originally captured, at the photographer's Los Angeles studio - 27 May 1949. The unknown Monroe was paid only $50 for the shoot, telling the photographer and his wife that she needed the money to pay for the recovery of her car from a nearby pound.
After the shoot, the three went together for a bowl of chilli at a restaurant, while Kelley's brother Bill went to the local Kodak shop, complete with a bottle of Scotch as a bribe to make sure that the risqué portraits were developed. Now this classic picture is one of those at the heart of the legal tug of war taking place in three separate states. It is a struggle that Kelley's son, also called Tom, remains confident of winning.
A photographer himself, Mr Kelley Jnr said he and the other descendants had finally lost their patience with the "bullying" and "greed" of CMG, which had been demanding up to 90 per cent of profits from sales of the images. "I said, you want a showdown? OK, we're going to have it here and now," said Mr Kelley. "We have tried to work with them, but now it's up to the courts to decide. What they stand to lose is all the rights, all the publicity for Marilyn, which is huge. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars here."

CHER: Back To The Dance Floor!

By Dean Ferguson & Johnny “Lauderdale” Danza...CHER mentioned a few other personal favorites andhighlights and then we asked if there were anyrecordings that she regretted. She thought for amoment and then said, pointedly, “No.” We pressed theissue, albeit gently, just a little bit further byasking if any of her older hits made her shudder whenshe heard them on the radio, but she remainedcheerfully, unshakably steadfast. “I try not toshudder when I hear any of them”, and she clearlydoesn’t care about anyone else’s opinions of themeither. “I remember playing ‘Dark Lady’ for DavidGeffen…and Joni Mitchell was there, and a whole bunchof cool people. And David said, ‘Sweetheart, that songis horrible! Do they have to put it out?’, and I said‘Yeah, Dave…they do!’.” Asked about her favorite songfrom that period, Cher says “I think (it would be)‘The Way Of Love’.It was a really big hit for me, and people reallyloved it. They still love it. I put it back in my showthe last time I toured because people were asking forit.”While still talking about the 1970s, Cher confirmed anoften-repeated industry story concerning VickiLawrence’s blockbuster #1 hit “The Night The LightsWent Out In Georgia”. It had been originally writtenfor her, but Sonny Bono turned it down. “I don’t knowhow Son let me (turn that track down)…I would havedone it if he had wanted me to…if he’d have liked it.Obviously, he didn’t like it.” We then asked how muchcontrol Sonny had over her early 1970s recordings andwe were surprised to learn that he was barely involvedat all. By the time The Sonny & Cher Show took off, hehad turned over the recording controls almost entirelyto producer Snuff Garrett. Cher explained that thetight schedule she was on at the time made Garrett’sefficient style practical, and essential. “I could doa whole album with Snuffy in three days. I’d sing eachsong through two or three times and, if you got it, itwas on to the next one. You have to (understand) whatit was like. We were on the road, I was recording, andwe were doing the Sonny & Cher Show, all at the sametime! I was fried! I did the best that I could(fitting) each obligation into what little time wasalotted.”Many in the industry, ourselves included, had assumedthrough the years that Cher didn’t particularly carefor her biggest hit of the late 1970s, “Take Me Home”.Not true, she told us. She’s as proud of that album asshe is of any of the others, but says that making itproved difficult. “I was kind of cranky at the timebecause (producer) Bob Esty was just such a d—k. Imean, he’s a cool guy now, and he was a nice guybefore that, but at the time he was just a miserables—t. And I really didn’t want to work with him”. Cherattributes Esty’s personal turmoil during that periodto a substance abuse problem that has since beenresolved. “He’s stopped though, and he’s a real coolguy now.”Then, as now, Cher says that she’s always loved dancemusic, just as she has always loved rock & roll. Infact, it’s the labeling, or categorizing of specificmusical genres that she doesn’t particularly care for.“For me, it’s the song, the song itself that makes mewant to do it…not the category or label that you(might want to) put on it. I don’t care about any ofthat. What I care about is the feeling, you know? Theway a song makes you feel. One of my favorite songs is‘Whiter Shade of pale’ by Procol Harem, and I have noidea what that song is about, do you?” We shake ourheads, and she continues. “The point is that itdoesn’t matter. It’s a feeling thing—I feel that songwhen I hear it. When I hear that organ thing play itjust does something (to me) here”, pointing to herheart. She goes on to say that this is how she listensto all songs, and it’s also how she picks them forherself.“I love every song on (the new album) Believe. When Ilisten to this album, I think it’s really consistent,and I’m consistent (on it). I’m more consistent onthis album than I’ve ever been before. I think thatthe songs are all really good, and that my performanceis really good on them.” This matters more to Cherthan one might imagine because, above all else, she’sdetermined to please her fans.She had once been quoted as saying, “It’s not easybeing a Cher fan”, and we asked her what she meant bythat. “Because, in the music business, I’ve never beencool. I’ve always been a hit in spite of it.” She saysthat she’s always had to battle preconceived notionsof who, or what, she was supposed to be, and thelimits that those perceptions placed on her weresometimes difficult to overcome. “When ‘I FoundSomeone’ came out, radio just refused to play us. I(then) did as much TV as I possibly could to letpeople know that the record was out there. I finallyhad to put the video that we made for it into acommercial for Bally Fitness, and that’s how we got itinto people’s minds. Finally, it just got so muchattention, and people started asking for it that radiohad to play it. Before that, radio was just notinterested. Sometimes, it’s amazing to me that I havea recording career at all! It’s just amazing.”Amazing? You bet, but then that’s just one of manydefinitive descriptions that seem apropos when you’retalking about Cher. Resilient is another, andbreath-taking another still. We doubt that any commercial endorsements will be necessary this time.The buzz on Believe is…well, unbelievable! And so isCher. WE BELIEVE!

Cher's comments

From Dean Ferguson & Johnny Lauderdale Danza ...After more than three decades of hits, an artist likeCher could be expected to rest comfortably on thelaurels of a catalog that already includes some of themost indelible pop anthems of all time. Think again.Somehow, as a recording artist, she’s managed toremain relevant, reinventing herself time and timeagain. And now she’s at it again. Her new album,Believe, is a knockout, with the blockbuster titletrack currently exploding on both sides of theAtlantic (it debuted at #1 on the UK pop chart!).Produced primarily by the METRO team’s Mark Taylor &Brian Rawling (with an able assist from Junior Vasquezand Todd Terry) the album has USA Today proclaimingthings like “This is not your parents’ Cher”. That, ifanything, is an understatement. With the album justhitting store shelves as we go to press, the buzz isunprecedented.The remixing talent roster on the first single alonereads like a Who’s Who of cutting edge club fare(Almighty’s Martyn Norris & Jon Dixon, Xenomania,Wayne G, Club 69), yet it’s still, unmistakably, aCher record.The press, both industry and popular, have been quiteenthusiastic in their coverage of the new album, eventhough Cher herself told us that she’s long sincestopped paying attention to such matters. She had notread the Entertainment Weekly review (“I don’t readthose things”) when we spoke to her for this story,but she couldn’t help laughing when we pointed out howreviewer Beth Johnson had closed with the line ‘yougotta love how her Cher-ness shines’. And indeed itdoes. “I want to remain relevant and do work thatstrikes a chord…but at the same time, I don’t want tomake a record with too many intentions beyond pleasingmy fans.” We sat down recently with Cher in her NewYork hotel suite and, for the better part of an hour,talked with her about the new album, and the ups anddowns of her incredible career in music. First,though, a little background:JUST THE FACTS: Born Cherilyn LaPierre on May 20, 1946in El Centro, California, Cher got her start in theindustry working with future husband Sonny Bono as abackup singer for producer Phil Spector. After anunsuccessful attempt at recording as a duo under thename “Caesar & Cleo”, Cher recorded her first solotracks under the names "Bonnie Jo Mason” and“Cherilyn”. Then, in 1965, as Sonny & Cher, the duo’sfortunes skyrocketed with the slew of hits thatstarted with “I Got You Babe”. They were married atthe time, divorcing in 1974 just as their weekly CBStelevision series was at its peak. Though she reunitedprofessionally with Bono briefly in 1975, Cher wasalready involved in an expanded solo career.THE BEAT GOES ON: By 1977, a subsequent two-yearmarriage to musician Greg Allman had also ended, andso had her 1970s pop chart hit streak. Despite areturn to the Top Ten in 1979 with “Take Me Home”, itwas evidently the right time for Cher to explore othercreative avenues. She went on to emerge as one of themost acclaimed film actresses of the 1980s, winningthe Best Actress Oscar in 1987 for Moonstruck. Herheart, though, was never far from the music.“Acting is like having a party at your house, andhaving to do all the work”, quips Cher on thepublicity blurb that accompanied pre-release presscopies of her new Warner Brothers album, Believe. Shegoes on to describe the difference between her twoprimary career paths by adding, “Music is like beingat someone else’s house. I don’t have to worry aboutit. I just get caught up and carried away”.THE PEAKS: A unique blend of panache and tenacity hasalways kept Cher’s musical inclinations sounding freshand vital when many of her contemporaries falter. Towit, her earliest solo hits (circa 1966 and 1967)shared chart space with similarly successful singlesfrom pop divas Petula Clark, Nancy Sinatra, Lulu, andBobbie Gentry. By the 1970s, however, those otherladies had become, in terms of pop music relevance,little more than archival footnotes while Cher’s hitstreak began a second faze in the wake of thetremendous popularity of The Sonny & Cher Show. From1971 to 1974, when high-profile chart competitorsincluded Roberta Flack, Carole King, Helen Reddy,Gladys Knight, Melanie, and Carly Simon, Cher wasreestablishing her own Top 40 credentials with hitslike “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves”, “Half Breed” and“Dark Lady”. She re-defined herself once again as thedecade closed, emerging in 1979 at the height of thedisco craze with the timeless dance anthems “Take MeHome” and “Hell On Wheels”. The latter track, featuredon the Roller Boogie soundtrack, effectively capturedthe innocuous pleasure of the phenomenal late 70sroller-skating craze, which Cher herself had a hand inpopularizing. Cher’s Billboard chart sorority sistersat that point in time included Gloria Gaynor, AmiiStewart, Donna Summer and Anita Ward.Fast forward to 1988, when pop music’s leading ladiesincluded Debbie Gibson, Expose, Tiffany and PaulaAbdul. For Cher, it was time to get down to businessonce again. Newly signed to Geffen Records, Chersucceeded in establishing a new identity as a seriousrock and roller. It was a crown that she’d worked longand hard to capture, and with it came her mostimpressive string of hits to date. Michael Bolton, JonBon Jovi, Desmond Child, and Richie Sambora (of BonJovi fame) produced her first Geffen album, simplytitled Cher, and it yielded her 13th, 14th and 15thTop 40 Billboard chart hits. First up was “I FoundSomeone”, a scorching rock-and-roll ballad (originallyrecorded by Laura Branigan) that subsequently becameCher’s first top ten pop hit in over eight years.It was followed in quick succession by the BonJovi-penned smash “We All Sleep Alone” and thechart-topping “After All”, a duet with Chicago’s PeterCetera. She followed the Cher album a year later withan equally prolific set called Heart Of Stone. Inaddition to the title track, which became hereighteenth Billboard Top 40 hit, this album yieldedthe top ten singles “Just Like Jesse James” and “If ICould Turn Back Time”. The latter track, aninternational #1written and co-produced by DianeWarren, quickly became one of Cher’s biggest hitsever.Her 19th Billboard Top 40 solo hit came a year laterwith “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)”, ahighlight from the Mermaids soundtrack, a film inwhich she also starred. Though she’d rack up hits #20(“Love & Understanding”) and #21 (“Save Up All YourTears”) before the year was through, it was evidentlytime to turn the page once again.THE VALLEYS: Six years would pass before the releaseof her next album, revealing yet another side of Cherboth to herself and to her insatiable public. Beforeentering this current phase, however, it’s worthtaking a moment to note some of the more intriguing‘in-between’ projects---recording projects, thatis---that have escaped all but the most die-hard Cherfans’ attention. Over the years, these have includedsome of her most interesting recordings of all.A number of ill-fated projects for Warner Brothersthat began when her tenure at MCA Records ended in themid-1970s have gone on to become not only cultclassics, but highly-prized collectibles as well. Casein point is an album called Stars, featuring anamazing rendition of “Geronimo’s Cadillac”. Althoughit’s been out of print for years, it is generallyconsidered one of her best, and demand for pristinecopies of the album remains high. Equally rare is anincredible single called “A Love Like Yours” from thesame period that reunited Cher with producer PhilSpector (with whom Sonny & Cher had started over adecade before). Spector tested, but never released,this particular single with the intention of using itto launch his own, short-lived Warner Brothersspecialty label. It was a one-off duet on which Cherwas teamed with Harry Nilsson (“We were just coming into do backup…the song was supposed to be for JohnLennon”). Their spur-of-the-moment recording, however,turned out to be brilliant (it contained one of thecatchiest choral hooks ever recorded) but legalcomplications prevented it from ever hitting themarket. Both the single and the Warner/Spector vanityimprint disappeared quickly and were forgotten.Cher’s only studio venture with second husband GregAllman is also part of the long lost Warner Brotherscache. Though the album they recorded together, Allman& Woman, is decidedly unremarkable in terms of itsbeing any sort of recording landmark for Cher, itcontains a deliciously boisterous love song called “ILove Making Love To You” that holds up incredibly wellalmost two decades later. Allman basically sleepwalksthough his part, but Cher’s enthusiasm is soirresistibly infectious that she all but carries thetrack by herself. If the Allman & Woman set was meantto bolster Cher’s rock & roll credibility, itbackfired. Her own fans’ response was lukewarm atbest, and the Allman contingent (both press andpublic) considered the project downright blasphemous.The press was only slightly kinder to Cher’ssubsequent pairing with Meat Loaf on “Dead Ringer ForLove”, the controversial title track of the latter’swidely panned second album. Over the years, Meat Loafhimself has steadfastly defended his choice of Cherfor the ‘girl part’, insisting then and now that shewas the only one capable of delivering the power andpassion that the track required. Dead Ringer, thefollow-up to Meat Loaf’s groundbreaking Bat Out OfHell album, is only now getting the respect itdeserves.Next came the Casablanca years. Cher’s one and onlytop ten hit between 1974 and 1988 was the title trackfrom the first of her three Casablanca albums, Take MeHome. Though the track and the album both proved to bewildly popular, Cher was reportedly less than fond ofthe finished product (“Not true”, she told us, butmore on that later). The final two albums in herCasablanca deal, the uneven pop set Prisoner Of Loveand an ambitious, self-titled album from aCher-fronted rock & roll band called Black Rose, wereboth commercial disasters.When her next album, the brilliant I Paralyze set(released on Columbia in 1982) also failed to click,Cher told us that she thought her recording career wasdefinitely over. It would be six years before anyonecould persuade her to give it another try, and eventhen she did so reluctantly. Still, deep down, partof her has always been ready to Believe. She wasanxious to talk about her new album, so that’s whereour conversation began.We started by asking her what made her decide to do adance album this time. “You know, I love this album(and) I’m very proud of it but I can’t take any of thecredit. It wasn’t my idea at all. Rob Dickens, thehead of Warner Brothers-UK, said to me, ‘Cher, I thinkyou should do a dance album’ and at first I resistedit. I said ‘oh...ah…No, I don’t wanna do that’.”Fortunately, Dickens persisted. He persuaded her to atleast listen to some of the new songs he’d found, andshe agreed. “He sent me these songs…and there were twothat I really loved. One was “Dov’e L’amore” and theother was “Strong Enough”,” both of which were writtenby the METRO team. “He then suggested that I come toEngland to work with these boys, and so I did”.The ‘boys’ in question here are, as we mentionedbefore, the METRO team leaders, Mark Taylor and BrianRawling, who produced most of the album, andsongwriter Paul Barry. “It’s hard to explain how METROworks. I mean, it’s like…‘What is METRO?’ Brian runsthe office, and keeps everybody enthusiastic. Mark isthe engineer, and Paul writes the songs. Paul justkept writing songs (and) Mark and I would recordthem…in the tiniest studio I’ve ever seen!” As therecording sessions continued, the album’s focus beganto take shape. “Before I knew it, it had turned into adance album”.The first song actually recorded for the album was“Strong Enough”, and it is definitely one of Cher’spersonal favorites. “Rob told me that he said to theboys ‘I’m gonna give you a chance to produce Cher. Iwant you to write a song for Cher…you know, a ‘Chersong’, and “Strong Enough” is the song they came upwith”. That track, in particular, has the kind ofundeniably catchy, retro-disco flavor that Cherherself favors when she goes out to a club. “If I’mgoing to go dancing, I wanna go on a night whenthey’re playing ‘70s hits, because that’s my favoritemusic to dance to”. As far as the new album isconcerned, Cher likes the fact that several tracksseem to capture that same disco-era essence. “It’s notthat I think this is a ‘70s album…but there’s athread, a consistency running through it that I love.It’s more obvious on certain tracks than it is onothers, especially “Strong Enough”.” She told us thatMark had tried approaching the track from severaldifferent, more contemporary angles before admitting,begrudgingly, that it worked best when they did it theway Cher suggested, meaning “the way they did it inthe old days”. That meant real strings and thedramatic, a capella-into-slam dunk disco punch ofclassic hits like “I Will Survive”. “That was the onlyway to get into that song. The boys tried a wholebunch of different ways to do it (but) I told them itwasn’t gonna work”. Cher says that they finally “bitthe bullet”, and did it her way. The results, ofcourse, speak for themselves, with “Strong Enough” isemerging as the near-universal choice for the nextsingle release in Europe.Surprisingly, Cher said that a different track wouldprobably be selected as the next American single.“Music seems to be a little different over here…so Icouldn’t say for sure what the next single might be.But “Believe” was just the obvious choice for thefirst single everywhere. It’s the best song on thealbum”. The evolution of the album’s chart-chargingfirst single, with its infectious, sing-a-long chorusand ear-catching vocal flutter, is a story in itself.“We had done the song, and we loved the chorus, butthe verse was just s—t”. Later, while soaking in abathtub, Cher herself came up with the line ‘I’ve hadtime to think it through, and maybe I’m too good foryou’, and suddenly the whole song made sense.Additionally, Cher told us that the track’s uniquevocal hooks were inspired by a similar sound effectthat she’d heard on an album by Roachford.She met with some initial resistance, however, whenshe tried getting the boys to experiment with her ownvocal tracks in the same way. Finally, they relented.“Mark got busy (in the studio) and first he added thecompression to the first part of the vocal so that itsounds kind of like its coming out of an old radiospeaker. And then we started screwing around with thepitch machine (for that ‘fluttering’ vocal effect). Weput that on, looked at each other and said, ‘That’sit!”Cher knew instantly that she had nailed it. “From thatmoment on, it was my favorite song. I said ‘I’mcalling the album Believe, and “Believe” is going tobe the first single.” Still, others involved neededsome convincing. Rob Dickens, for one, tried his bestto dissuade her, arguing that to him it just didn’tsound like a Cher record.“Rob tried to talk me out of using ‘that weird thing’on my voice, and finally we all had a big meeting.”Cher sat down with with everyone involved in theproject and said, “Alright, you guys. I understandwhat you’re saying…I understand that at first itdoesn’t sound like me--but eventually it does—and, ifyou want to change the mechanical stuff…I want you toknow that it will be over my dead body’. We nevertalked about it again.”Suffice it to say the ‘mechanical stuff’ stayed, andlast month the single debuted at #1 on the UK popchart. “It had been 33 years since the last time thathad happened to me (with Sonny & Cher’s “I Got YouBabe” in 1965)…. I was pretty excited. We were at aBlockbuster in Italy when we heard”. Her manager,Billy Sammeth, was waiting in the car when Cher gotthe call on her cell phone. “I was banging on thedoor, going ‘We’re #1! We’re #1!’ but he couldn’t hearme.” She continues, saying that he just went‘yeah-yeah-great’, but still had no idea what she wastrying to tell him. “Then he understood, and we wereall jumping around. The people around us probablythought we were insane…but eventually they understoodwhat we were talking about. Then everyone was jumpingaround. It was great.”With “Strong Enough” already locked up as the next UKsingle, we asked again what she thought the nextAmerican single might be. Cher said that it might be“Dov’e L’amore”. Interestingly, “Dov’e L’amore” is aSpanish song with Italian lyrics, and we asked Cherhow that came to be. “When the boys wrote “Dov’e”,there was an Italian restaurant next door---thereweren’t any Spanish restaurants around---and they justkept running to the guy in the restaurant who spokeItalian and said ‘tell me how to say this’, and ‘howdo you say that?’, and that’s how they wrote it.” Shelaughs, continuing. “And I love the Gypsy Kings, so wegot one of the Gypsy Kings to do the guitar work.” Wethen asked if what we’d heard about Madonna’s fondnessfor the track was true. “When Madonna heard the song,she called Liz (Rosenberg, of Warner Brothers-US) andthen Liz called me. She said that Madonna insistedthat “Dov’e” had to be the next single and that, if itwas, she wanted to direct the video.” Otherpossibilities include “All Or Nothing” (“I really lovethat song”), “Taxi Taxi” (a thumping, Chicago-styledhouse track produced by Todd Terry), and the set’slone Junior Vasquez contribution, “The Power” (“It’skind of a strange song, but I really like it. There’sjust something about it…”).The new album also contains a reworked version of her1989 hit “We All Sleep Alone”, and we were curious asto why she chose to revisit that particular track.“Because (at first) they were talking about re-doing‘Bang Bang”, and I was just soooo over ‘Bang Bang’---Imean, I’d just done it and done it (so many times)that I didn’t want to do it again.” Then herhairdresser suggested reworking “We All Sleep Alone”into a dance song and she liked the idea. “I sent itto Todd (Terry), and he said, ‘oh yeah, I’d muchrather do that…and so we did it.”The original version of “We All Sleep Alone” comesfrom the period in her recording career that Chersays, prior to now, had always been especiallysignificant to her. We asked her about that period,her Geffen label ‘hit years’, and specifically 1989 to1992. “It was my favorite time as a singles artist,because I was getting to do songs that I reallyloved…. songs that really represented me, and theywere popular!I loved ‘I Found Someone’, ‘If I Could Turn BackTime’, ‘Main Man’…. It was really an exciting time forme. I loved working with Jon (Bon Jovi) and Richie(Sambora), and I loved getting back into the musicbusiness after so long.”Although this period produced more consecutiveBillboard Top 40 hits than any other in her career,Cher initially resisted going back into the studio.She eventually succumbed however, to thegentle-but-persistent pressure of producer JohnKoladner and her long-time friend David Geffen.“I had just come off three movies…I mean back to back,literally, without any days off. I did Witches OfEastwich, Moonstruck, Suspect, and then the album,just like that. John Koladner was so up (for thealbum). He was just so great. I was supposed to recordbefore I started the movies…and he waited for me”. Shesmiles softly, recalling how she kept trying to talkhim out of it. “I said, ‘Why are you pressing me withthis? Why are you bothering? Nobody’s going to beinterested. My singing days are over…they’re OVER!’but he just said ‘no, no, no…’ and kept pushing.”We then asked how she and Koladner had met in thefirst place, and she recalled their auspiciousintroduction with a hearty laugh. “I remember thefirst time I saw him.I was at some music awards thing with David (Geffen),and John was sitting five or six rows in front of us.He just kept turning around and looking at me.Finally, I said to David, ‘Who in the f—k is that guy,that weird guy? And why is he looking at me?’. Davidsaid ‘Oh, that’s John Koladner. He works for my labeland blah-blah-blah-blah. Then, all of a sudden, Davidsays ‘You know, John thinks that you need to besinging again…”.Though Cher had been linked romantically with DavidGeffen by the press at one point, he’s actually atreasured friend. Talking about him prompted us to askif working with a husband or lover enhanced orhindered a recording project. “Oh, I think itdefinitely enhances it. I’ve worked with husbands,lovers…and I just worked with my son (on a cover of“Crimson & Clover” that son Elijah Blue produced foran upcoming Sire Records soundtrack project). As aproducer, Cher says that her son was especially fun towork with. “He was so sweet…he said, ‘Mom, don’t worryabout it, just relax, everything’s gonna be fine’…andit was!” Cher is also fond of the album she recordedwith Elijah’s father, Greg Allman. “I loved being inthe studio with Gregory. I loved making that albumwith him…but it didn’t stand a chance, did it? I mean,everybody hated that we were together, didn’t they?The album didn’t stand a chance.”When prompted by some ten-second sound bites weprovided (on a miniature boom box that we brought withus to the interview), Cher took the time to look backat some of the other ‘hits that got away’. We startedwith a snippet of “I Paralyze”, and proceeded fromthere. Listening intently, she begins singing alongwith herself and says, smiling broadly, “I’m sorry,that was just such a good song! I loved ‘IParalyze’…RuPaul said that it belongs on my next‘Greatest Hits’ album” (Note: there is one,forthcoming, from Geffen). Written and produced byJohn Farrar (the man responsible for OliviaNewton-John’s “Physical”), this 1982 Columbia labelrelease is one that Cher says she would like tore-record someday. Ditto “Rudy”, a Phil Spector-styledpop ditty from the same period that somehow fellthrough the cracks in spite of an enthusiastic singlereview in Billboard. “That was a good one…I rememberliking ‘Rudy’ a lot. I had a lot of fun recording it.Like ‘Turn Back Time’, this is the kind of song thatpulls you up. I think ‘Believe’ is kind of like thattoo.Cher continues, reminiscing about about other personalfavorites of hers. “I loved making the Stars album(Warner Brothers, 1977). I loved ‘Geronimo’sCadillac’. I wish I’d been a better singer thenbecause I would have done a better job on it. I hadthe emotion, but I didn’t quite have the control thatI needed. Also, I just got so tired of people makingfun of my vibrato that I worked really hard with myteacher to control it, you know? To be able to get ridof it at will.” Other songs that, popular or not,remain close to Cher’s heart include “Save Up All YourTears” (“Nobody liked it but me”) and “Do What YouGotta Do”, which she recorded with Greg Allman.“There’s a song that Sonny wrote for me called “WhereDo You Go”---I loved that song. Another reallyfavorite favorite record that I did was with Genie(Simmons), a Kiss song called ‘A World WithoutHeroes’."

BESSIE SMITH

Remembering Bessie Smith
by Gail Jarvis
September 26th is the sixty-fourth anniversary of the tragic death of famous blues singer, Bessie Smith. The eighth child of a poor black family in Chattanooga, Bessie began singing on street corners for pennies when she was less than 10 years old. A local club operator heard her; offered her $8.00 a week to sing at his tavern and so her career began.
But this is not the forum to explore her professional life as a singer and entertainer, although her story makes fascinating reading. What I want to discuss is how her death was exploited for greed and to further a political agenda.
In the years following Bessie Smith’s death there were conflicting accounts of how she actually died. What is known is that after a late night performance somewhere in Mississippi, probably Natchez, Bessie headed for Memphis in a car driven by her boyfriend, Richard Morgan. In 1937 there were no expressways and Route 61 was a typical poorly lit, winding two-lane road. Near the outskirts of Clarksdale, in the early morning hours of that September day, their car, being driven at a high rate of speed, crashed into the back of a truck stopped on the side of the road.
Several rumors began circulating regarding the cause of her death: she was killed upon impact, she was taken to a hotel where she died; she died in an ambulance en route to a hospital, and she was taken to a white hospital that refused to treat her because she was black and so she died as the ambulance tried to locate a black hospital.
Record company executive, John Hammond, had a recording contract with Bessie (more about that later) and was also her producer at the time of her death. Hammond published an article in Downbeat magazine stating, as a fact, that Bessie died because she was refused treatment at a white hospital in Mississippi. He then had her recordings reissued knowing that there would be a demand for them created by her untimely death and the racially tinged circumstances surrounding it.
Years later, as we entered the 1960s, the civil rights movement was taking on more momentum and the entertainment industry was churning out depictions of victimized minorities. Film and TV scriptwriters as well as playwrights like Edward Albee were searching for material for dramas portraying racial discrimination. Albee knew he had hit pay dirt when he came across Hammond’s account of Bessie Smith’s death. It had all the ingredients he was looking for; the unnecessary death of a critically injured black woman caused by the bigotry of heartless white Southerners.
In 1960, Albee’s one act play "The Death of Bessie Smith" premiered in New York. Albee painted Bessie as the ultimate victim trying to survive in the segregated South. In the final scene Bessie’s distraught lover stands in the admissions department of a white hospital begging to have her admitted. A spiteful white nurse, speaking with an exaggerated Southern accent as demanded by the stage director, refuses to admit Bessie because she is a Negro. So Bessie dies and audiences probably left the theater feeling outrage against white Southerners.
Luckily the facts surrounding Bessie Smith’s death were investigated while participants and witnesses were still alive. Here, as Paul Harvey would say, is the rest of the story.
Immediately after Bessie’s car crashed into the back of the truck, another car, coming from the opposite direction, arrived on the scene. The driver was Dr. Hugh Smith, a white physician en route to join friends for an early morning hunting trip. Dr. Smith found Bessie in an extreme state of shock, bleeding profusely, one arm nearly severed and several ribs broken. He dispatched Richard Morgan to get an ambulance while he tried to stem the loss of blood and stabilize her condition.
While Dr. Smith was attending Bessie, another car crashed into the back of his parked car. Dr. Smith could see that the occupants of the wrecked car, a white couple, were slumped over and splattered with blood. But he continued his ministrations to Bessie until he and the ambulance team had gingerly placed her into the ambulance. Then the frantic doctor turned his attention to the injured white couple.
Albee and others wanted the nation to think, that, after being refused treatment at a white hospital, Bessie died while her ambulance raced across the State of Mississippi desperately trying to find a black hospital. But Clarksdale’s black hospital was less than a mile away from the white hospital. And there would have been practically no traffic at that early morning hour so the trip could have been made in a matter of minutes.
But Bessie Smith was never taken to a white hospital. In the segregated South of that time no ambulance driver would have taken a black patient to a white facility. And, according to testimony from the doctor and bystanders, the ambulance headed directly to the black hospital rather than the white one. In all probability, Bessie died from shock and loss of blood before she reached the hospital.
To his credit, John Hammond withdrew his claim that Bessie was refused treatment at a white hospital. He admitted that this was just one of several rumors floating around and he knew nothing about the actual facts surrounding Bessie’s death. Edward Albee knew that Hammond had changed his story but he also realized that the first version would make better theater. Playwrights are entitled to a certain amount of artistic license but Albee shouldn’t have deliberately scripted an untrue version of Bessie’s death.
The recording contract that Hammond negotiated with Bessie was, to put it mildly, unusual. Obviously, Bessie Smith was not well versed in financial transactions and was happy to be signed to a record company. But her strange contract contained a "no royalties" clause. Bessie was paid $30 for each recording she made and all the royalties were paid to John Hammond. It is estimated that Hammond earned over $60,000 on the sale of Bessie Smith’s recordings. In today’s dollars this amount would be about five times as great.
Bessie Smith is still an icon for feminists because of her struggle against a patriarchal and discriminatory society. Lesbian groups consider Bessie a heroine because of the bisexuality that she made no attempt to hide. These organizations continue to mythologize Bessie and spread Albee’s version of her death.
But those who have taken time to research the matter have repudiated Edward Albee. Chris Albertson’s fine biography "Bessie" is a factual account of the singer’s life and death. Also, in Frank Kofsky series Black Music, White Business the truth about Bessie is covered in a section called "Why let a little thing like death interfere with exploitation?"
This is just one of many incidents during the last few decades where the usual scapegoats, white Southerners, were falsely maligned in order to further a political agenda. The unethical exploitation of both Bessie Smith and white Southerners proved to be highly profitable for John Hammond and provided Edward Albee with a powerful political stratagem.
"The Death of Bessie Smith" was making headlines at a time when Congress was discussing legislation to combat discrimination. I maintain that Albee’s play as well as other similar politicized dramatizations not only influenced the political climate of the early 1960s but also helped shape legislators’ votes. It was in this political environment that Congress passed the far-reaching Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this bill Congress focussed on short-term benefits, ignored long-range consequences, and included sections that applied only to Southern states.
In the 1970s, rock singer Janis Joplin was shocked to learn that Bessie Smith was buried in an unmarked grave. A campaign to raise money for a proper memorial was undertaken and requests for donations were sent to all those who had been associated with this greatest of all blues singers. John Hammond contributed $50.

Jayne Mansfield

In 1967, Jayne's life was still moving at full speed. "I will never be satisfied," she said in an interview. "Life is one constant search for betterment for me." Her time was split between a Southern nightclub tour and the production of "Single Room, Furnished," a drama that would become her last film. "Furnished" was directed by Matt Cimber, who Jayne met on the set of "Bus Stop" and later married. On June 29, Jayne was riding in front with Ronnie Harrison and lawyer Sam Brody on the way from a Mississippi nightclub engagement. Her children, Mickey Jr., Zoltan and Mariska sat in the back. As they rounded a curve on a dark stretch of road, the car slammed into a slowed semi. Though the children survived with minor injuries, everyone sitting in the front was killed instantly.

Raquel Welch

"I couldn't stand that my husband was being unfaithful. I am Raquel Welch -- understand?" -Raquel Welch

Monroe & French imagination

Published: September 5, 2006

PARIS, Sept. 4 — Marilyn Monroe never visited France, and even at the height of her fame in the United States she might not have wowed Parisians. After all, with her dyed blond hair and splashy red lips, she seemed so American. And in the 1950’s and early 60’s, France had its own pouting sex kitten in the sultry form of Brigitte Bardot. But now, while Ms. Bardot is a largely forgotten figure who, at 71, devotes herself to promoting animal rights, Monroe has finally caught the French imagination, not as a sex symbol, not even as a symbol, but as a work of art: beautiful, tragic, forever 36 years old.

Brad Pitt's gay vow

Brad Pitt will marry Angelina Jolie when all gay couples in the US can legally tie the knot.

The 'Ocean's Thirteen' actor - who lives with the 'Tomb Raider' actress and their three children, four-month-old Shiloh, Maddox, five, and 18-month-old Zahara - has continually dismissed reports about the couple marrying.

Brad, however, insists the pair will tie the knot when US law is changed to allow same sex marriages throughout the country.

He told Esquire magazine: "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able."

Newman & Redford

CLARK GABLE

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