December 19th – OK. In an effort to keep up with
the rampaging calendar and get back on track I offer a bumper edition of
pop/rock music information with knee-jerk reaction to the actions of jerks,
with or without knees, and what occurs to me as I read meritorious notes of the
great and good in our entertainment world, plus my second Desert Island Disc; gosh you must all be on the edge of your
seats…ready to make a rapid exit.
Pet hates? I’d like to think that, if I have any success in
life (time’s running out, oldie) that I’ll have earned it. When the film, Nine To Five came out on this day in 1980
it was seen as a usable, light, frothy comedy that was masquerading as
something more serious, but never quite made the pantheon of films that altered
our social structure. As part of the cast and an accredited C&W star, Dolly
Parton got good billing and considering it was her first film outing she
acquitted herself tolerably – let’s face it with a cleavage of those
proportions she was hardly going to fade into the background even working
alongside seasoned pros such as Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.
As is the way with these things, the film reared its ugly
head once more as a musical ’cept this time the major marketing tool was all
about Ms. Parton. Remember, she was just a cast member of the film; hadn’t
written the screenplay had just composed and sung the credit music… I worked on
the gig which was an easy on the eye lightweight piece of stage comedy,
like…well, just like the film. Added nothing to what we already knew and so
added nothing to our daily struggle to buy a cauliflower. The show opens with a
video of Ms. Parton on a disc-shaped screen flown M/S/C as she extols the
virtues of a piece of theatre-chicanery as if it was a solo project. Her photo
figures hugely on all the marketing and posters for the show and, of course,
the song is the centre-piece of the musical numbers used in the gig. Verdict?
Well, she was the life-and-soul of the movie but as far as the stage
play/musical goes, using her as a vehicle (or vee-hickle) is a somewhat dubious
practice (the sell point seems to intimate that she's actually going to be there, on stage....yeah, right, Dolly Parton in some hick-town theatre...yeah...whatever) that’s creeping more and more into theatre over the past ten or so
years; shows sold on the premise that Queen Victoria slept here.
SECOND DESERT ISLAND DISC –
Not in any particular order and as at 15/10/13
2) Keep On Rockin’ in
the Free World – Neil Young – From the album Freedom – Recorded 1989 – Neil Young/Lead Guitar & Vocals –
Chad Cromwell/Drums – Rick Rosas/ Bass Guitar – Frank Sampedro/Guitar & BV
– Ben Keith/BV
This one has also made a previous visit here. For me the
perfect rock song; political, futuristic, frightening. A musical painting of
landscapes one would rather not walk through and as much against rock ‘n’ roll
as for it. Nothing less than brilliant; if you listen to this and then not want
to jump up immediately and run away to join a rock band then I suggest you check
your pulse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI8XVJiqHdc
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