That was the short-lived message House leadership sent to lawmakers over the break, as the “on-hold” music that so many constituents hear when they call their congressman was switched from patriotic tunes to smooth jazz standards — or, as one lawmaker complained, “elevator music.”
The switch was quickly reversed, though, following complaints and controversy.
A spokesman for House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard, who reports to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Tuesday that after a three-week trial period constituents will once again hear patriotic favorites while on hold.
“The music was changed during recess as a pilot program in an attempt to offer offices a choice of hold music,” said CAO spokesman Jeff Ventura. “But based on the feedback we received, the old music was preferred and we reactivated it today.”
We have about one day to go before we get to celebrate the birthday of the greatest country on Earth, the United States of America. Many of us were simply lucky enough to have been born here, having had brave and adventurous ancestors. Many of you made the decision to leave your country of birth and become Americans. All of us, no matter how we came to receive such a great gift, owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who made this nation possible.
In honor of President Washington and all the Founders, and to treat all of us as we head into our holiday, here is a video from 1991 of Whitney Houston singing our National Anthem at Super Bowl 25 during the first Gulf War. Music has power and when delivered so beautifully, it reminds you of its transformative nature. Houston was at her peak and delivered not only one of television’s greatest moments, but certainly one of the best renditions of the Star Spangled Banner ever. Truly, it is one of the most exquisite performances ever recorded. Whitney is back, btw, and has a new single out, proving that getting Bobby Brown out of her life was the best thing she ever could have done. It will be good to have her back.
Enjoy, everyone, and God Bless America. I love us.
For some odd reason, the song “Just a Gigolo” is stuck in my head today. It’s an old tune, dating back to the 1920’s, covered by countless artists over the years (see Wikipedia for details). In 1956 the original song was merged with another old song, “I Ain’t Got Nobody”, and David Lee Roth brought the hybridized version back onto our national radar in 1985.
Four years ago, we suffered through an extravaganza of an inauguration, and the people who bitterly complained about the $50 million expense are now wildly cheering for the upcoming $150 million orgy of adulation. I suggest you turn off the TV and let the mob have its fun. But if you find yourself trapped and compelled to view more than a few seconds (maybe in a bar with a video feed, or maybe at the home of a kooky liberal relative, or maybe some deranged lunatic abducts you at gunpoint and subjects you to the Ludovico technique, except with pictures of Obama substituting for Beethoven’s concerts)…well, I think David Lee Roth’s video will serve as a quickie antidote. On the surface, it’s a silly bit of MTV fluff. But it addresses the fleeting nature of fame and flash, and mocks our pretentions. Watch it with a smile, but remember it as a lesson. And don’t begrudge the fools their day, but neither should you take them too seriously.
The Mozart portrait is a 200-year-old painting of a man in a red coat, only now identified positively as Mozart. The new image of Bach is not old, but new–modern laser technology has been used to build a portrait of Bach using his skull. Both are amazing and show us more of the humanity of men who gave the world the miracle of God’s voice in the guise of music.
A portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that lay unidentified for more than 200 years has been proved to be authentic, according to an expert on the composer.
Professor Cliff Eisen from London’s King’s College has spent more than a year trying to confirm that the picture was of Mozart, who died in 1791. He said: “This is arguably the most important Mozart portrait to be discovered since the composer’s death.” Its significance came to light after it was bought by a US collector in 2005.
“This is the most complete likeness of Bach we can achieve from the information we have,” says the forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson.
Commissioned by the Bach Haus museum in the musician’s home town of Eisenach, Wilkinson has spent a month reconstructing the “true face” of the maestro at the Centre for Forensic and Medical Art in Dundee, where – apart from archaeological recreations of Pharaoh Ramses II and Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) – she is usually involved in crime cases, rebuilding faces out of remains found everywhere from back gardens to war zones.
Using a bronze casting of Bach’s skull (made by the Leipzig anatomist Wilhelm His a century ago), and a portrait painted four years before his death in 1750 at the age of 65 – as well as documents hinting at his health, weight and fondness for beer and schnapps – Wilkinson has created the most definitive image of the composer yet. It is, she believes, about 70 per cent accurate: his friends, apparently, would have recognised him right away. “We made a laser scan of his skull,” says Wilkinson. “From there, we recreated all the muscles of his face, taken from our muscle database. Using the detail of the bone, we then recreated his facial appearance.” Documents describing Bach’s eye problems, including what were possibly cataracts, allowed medical artist Caroline Needham to add the final touches that give Bach a human look.
My friend Andrea has a new show tonight (Saturday) as well as next week, March 13-16 in Los Angeles at The Gardenia . This show is selling out, but you still may be able to get in this evening for drinks and the show. I’m guessing dinner may already be sold out. If you miss it tonight, you can make plans for the added dates next week. Here’s the coverage from the Los Angeles Times. To make reservations, contact The Gardenia at 323-467-7444.
Put down that martini and whip out your notebook: Cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci has just taken the stage and there might be a pop quiz on the Great American Songbook.
“How many of you here know where the song ‘As Time Goes By’ originally comes from?” she’ll ask an unwary audience, as hands shoot up. “Wrong! It’s not from ‘Casablanca.’ It’s from ‘Everybody’s Welcome,’ a 1931 Broadway show you’ve never heard of!”
And how about the plot thread linking virtually every movie that Fred Astaire made? “He falls in love at first sight in all of them,” the singer tells another audience, brandishing film posters, yellowed newspaper clippings and other memorabilia to prove her point…
The work goes beyond her annual gigs at the Gardenia, the Oak Room at New York’s Algonquin Hotel, San Francisco’s Plush Room and other high-profile nightclubs. Marcovicci, a longtime Studio City resident, has mentored several young singers who have adopted her “history and singing” approach. She’s also taught master classes in cabaret in several U.S. cities and has made 17 recordings.
She casts an intense dramatic spell in live sets, drawing on her background as a stage, television and movie actress (Marcovicci starred opposite Woody Allen in “The Front,” a 1976 film about blacklisting). But her painstaking research into the history of pop songs can also lead to moments of wicked onstage humor.
Ike Turner, the legendary American musician who was perhaps better known for his abusive relationship with his former wife, Tina Turner, than for his contribution to the history of rock’n’roll, died at his home in San Diego last night at the age of 76. It was not immediately known what caused his death.
Tina Turner declined to comment on her former husband’s death. “Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made,†said her spokeswoman, Michele Schweitzer…
It was Turner’s relationship with a mixed-race Tennessee girl called Anna Mae Bullock, that came to define his public image — much to his later despair and frustration. [His despair?!] [...]
The relationship with Tina was doomed, with Turner allegedly cheating on his wife and becoming addicted to cocaine. The drug addiction culminated in his allegedly beating his wife before a concert in Dallas in 1976. Tina Turner later described how she fled with only 36 cents and a petrol station credit card and spent months in hiding…
His career recovered slightly in his twilight years but many found his denials of abuse towards his wife unconvincing. In his 2001 autobiography, Taking Back My Name, Turner wrote: “Sure, I’ve slapped Tina. There have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her.â€
There’s magic in music. Part of that magic is in the lyrics, and I’m one of the people that actually listens to words. I recently found there were two alternate sets of lyrics to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
It started with the original bittersweet lines, sung by Judy Garland for the wartime “Meet Me in St. Louis” (see this clip). Later, Frank Sinatra “improved” the song with a layer of sugarcoating. Sinatra’s are the “popular” lyrics you’re more likely to encounter. But if you pay attention to the endless parade of Christmas music, you’ll probably experience both sooner or later.
Madonna, now in her 50th year, and not being kicked to the back of the tour bus
For anyone who would let themselves go and make the excuse it’s because we’re menopausal, or “getting old,” or “we can’t/don’t have to compete anymore,” or “life is made for the Under-50 set.” And for every 29-year old out there panicking bout turning 30: Get over it! Take good dose of this, the subject of whom is now 49, and will be in her 60th year as her deal ends:
LOS ANGELES – Madonna intends to sign a $120 million recording and touring deal with live entertainment promoter Live Nation Inc. and leave her longtime record label at Warner Music Group Corp., a person familiar with the contract negotiations said Wednesday…
Under terms of the proposed deal, Madonna, 49, would receive a signing bonus of about $18 million and a roughly $17 million advance for each of three albums, the person said. A portion of the compensation would involve stock, the person said…Live Nation also would have to pay $50 million in cash and stock to promote Madonna’s tours, according to the Journal, which broke news of the deal on its Web site Wednesday afternoon.
I’m not a fan, to say the least, of everything Madonna does, but you have to give her credit as a woman and performer who understands how to adapt and remain relevant and powerful in an industry not known for being kind to women of any age. Kudos to her and the message a deal like this sends to every woman, especially as it comes on the heels of the Warner Bros. decision to excise women (all women) from the lead of any of its films.
**Bumped up. After missing her last week, Kirsten Price will be on today’s Tammy Radio. Here is the video of her new song for your viewing and listening pleasure.**
In “Freedom” from Kirsten Price we’re asked what we’re going to do with our freedom–a question not only for those for whom it is brand new (like the 53 million people we’ve liberated since 9/11) but for us who have had the beautiful challenge of it everyday of our lives. Watch the video. It’s great music, a terrific message and comes with the bonus of the girl singer being especially hot.
It’s not difficult to see why this young British singer/songwriter is a rising star. Kirsten will be on Tammy Radio Saturday at 4:30pm PT (7:30pm ET) live to talk about this new video and its message. I will inevitably get down to the serious business of teasing her about her British accent, all the while making her talk more so we can enjoy it. Fun will be had by all. Won’t you join us?
It seems as though the worm has turned enough where there is now so much completely frightening stuff to require Sweet God No! as a regular feature on Tammy Blog. Today’s case in point:
The cover of Celine “Let them touch those things for once!” Dion’s new album. She looks like Medusa cast in a new Cirque du Soleil show. She also looks like she’s going to hurt us, and not in the nicest way.
The Tiny Gay Squirrel says: “Hey, leave her alone. My cousin Marty lives in that hair.“
While I see proof everyday in the world around us, it especially became obvious in the voice of Luciano Pavarotti. As all of us reflect on the impending 9/11 anniversary and how it represents the depraved, here is Pavarotti, an example of how God shows himself in humanity. Here he is in 1998 singing what is no less than his signature, “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot.” For you young people, consider this is a live performance by a man who had no need for studio tricks or enhancement, and even represents him when some believe his voice was in decline.
For this sad and reflective weekend, Pavarotti reminds us how beautiful the human condition truly is.
The classic recording of Turandot comes from Sutherland and Pavarotti in 1972. Click on the image below for the Amazon page for the recording. 1972 was the year of his debut at the Met in New York. I was 10 years old, and remember hearing him in an interview. From that point on, I was slightly less interested in the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and much more curious about the glorious sound of opera. Yes, shades of the geek emerging even then. Truly, it was Pavarotti’s artistry that helped me to appreciate the beauty and transcendence of music. And, if I may say, he’s one of the many reasons why I’m proud to be Italian.
There was a time, not quite 100 years ago, when the B-52s were the hot band and you might even hear Lena Lovich played on the radio (which still had the dial thingy. No digital push buttons for us!).
Well, after 15 years of a hiatus, the B-52s have just finished up a new album. My prediction: either very, very good or very, very bad. Yes. I am Miss Cleo. I hope it’s good.
Fifteen years after their last album of new material, The B-52s are wrapping up work on their next one.
The quirky dance-pop outfit, which burst onto the new wave scene in 1979 with songs like “Rock Lobster” and cracked the pop charts in the late ’80s with the party classics “Love Shack” and “Roam,” returned to their hometown of Athens, Ga. to finish recording the as-yet unnamed record…
Schneider said the 11 new tracks will maintain the B-52’s danceable, party vibe but will showcase some new directions for a band that, along with R.E.M., helped put Athens on the map as a hotbed of alternative music.
“There’s more electronica on it,” he said. “It’s up-tempo and a bit sexed-up. It’s sexier than ever.”
The Tiny Gay Squirrel says: “Hey, leave her alone. My cousin Marty lives in that hair.“
Drug-Addict, Wife Beater Ike Turner Dies
by Maynard on December 13, 2007 · 8 comments
Good riddance. Via the controversial New York Post headline, if a freak like Turner is going to ‘beat’ a woman to death, let it be like this.
‘No comment’ says Tina Turner as Ike dies
As I said, good effing riddance.
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