I Found Some Blog...by Cher Scholar

Plea for a Cher Hit

For the past year or two, my good friend Christopher has been imploring me to escalate a very serious issue facing all of us: the fact Cher may not break the record of having a top ten hit four decades in a row.

As time flies in a surrealist painting, Cher has only months to go before the opportunity is gone. It’s panic time.

Christopher suggests that if this feat is not accomplished by a full-fledged record release producing a hit, then maybe some catchy track could be placed on a movie soundtrack post haste.

Here’s what Christopher has to say specifically:

Mary--

Here's the scoop: 

As far as I can tell there are only 4 artists who have scored Top Ten hits in four consecutive decades. 

Babs [Barbra Streisand] scored Top Ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Paul McCartney did so as well (as a member of The Beatles, Wings and solo).  The hit from the 90s was a belatedly released Beatles track.

As you know, Cher has done so as well.

Aerosmith has pulled off a similar feat, but in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s.  I am willing to bet $$$ that Aerosmith will indeed earn another Top Ten hit in the upcoming "teens" decade, which means Cher will be left in the dust if she doesn't get her ass in gear.

Christopher

This is indeed a serious situation. Will Cher be bested by those skinny Aerosmythites? Indeed, I hope not.
  

Cher at Caesars: Year 2

Again, I had a good deal of fun seeing Cher live in Las Vegas a few Saturday’s ago. Her energy level seemed high and I felt and the crowd was very engaged.

I can always get a good look at the crowd from my last row seat of the orchestra floor which is the best I can ever afford. 

This energy level was interesting considering everyone in the audience was older -- way older -– than us. Me and my bf are 40/43 and we were the youngest people we saw all night until we moseyed on over to Pink Taco at the Hard Rock where we suddenly became the oldest people in the place. Suddenly Vegas felt very segregated.
But the oldies at the Cher show were cheerful and active all night. It was the same show for the most part. No major refurbishments  (as there hasn’t been musically since 1999). There was the addition of “Love Hurts” swapped in for “The Way of Love” which was most appreciated. It was awesome in fact. She did a long American-Idol-length note at the end - really swell to hear. (I seriously love the sound in that joint.)

Cher also added “Let the Good Times Roll”, the aforementioned Caesar and Cleo song, not my favorite song and one she introduced with many disclaimers about inconsistencies in her performing; but she pulled it off nonetheless. It sounded much better than the Internet clip I'd seen.

She seemed to be having trouble with her voice all night, constantly drinking water and touching her throat; but I could only tell one moment where she cracked up a bit. The sound never dropped out.

The bf (who has broken a record here by being the only bf to attend two Cher concerts with me, and four Cher events if you include a Cher Convention dinner in LA and a San Diego’s Gay Men's Chorus Cher revue) said he felt the show was overall much tighter this year and that the acrobatics had been taken  up a notch. And the acrobats had been...a notch. I felt the dancing was a little bit more synchronized. But I also wondered if that was my imagination or wishful thinking.

I sincerely loved the backup singer who did “Disco Inferno.” Again, I always love Cher’s techno-live duet with Sonny –- very moving every time for those of us who were never able to see them perform together. And I feel people don't give her Elvis impersonation (as seen in her “Walking in Memphis" video) enuff ink. She almost disappears into it. And Cher’s big presence disappearing into anything—come on people.

Cher mentions around the Net

Headline: Nicolas Cage grateful to Cher for his Hollywood stardom

Thank you.

My bf was flipping channels and came across Moonstruck the other day and he asked me how the hell Nicholas Cage was miscast in it. I blamed Cher. Bf suggested someone older and more road-weary would have been better. I replied that I agreed but that Moonstruck gave him his break into the "big leagues."

And it’s like Nicholas Cage was listening in!

Nicolas Cage says that he is indebted to Cher for helping him become a Hollywood star. The ‘City Of Angels’ star has said that he is thankful to the singer-cum-actress because she fought to land him a role alongside her in the Oscar-winning movie ‘Moonstruck’.

Studio bosses were not very keen on casting the then-23-year-old Cage as Cher’s love interest in the film.  But it was the ‘Believe’ singer who dug her heels in, and landed him the part of New York baker Ronny Cammareri.

The movie won Cher a Best Actress Oscar, and made Cage an overnight sensation in Hollywood and the actor is eternally grateful. “She really was a champion for me. At a time when people didn’t see me as a romantic actor, she fought for me,” Contactmusic quoted Cage as saying. (ANI)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headline: Wear or Die: Cher's Oscar Fashion Edition

Neither are outfits for the faint-hearted, but what if you HAD to wear one of them - or die? Which one would you choose?

The outfit on the left may look initially more frightening, but the one on the right reveals much more skin. Just to level out the playing field a little, we're going to allow you to ditch the hat/wig/whatever the hell that thing is shown in picture one. Don't say we're not good to you.
What's it going to be, then, readers: which outfit will you wear - or die!

Celine Dion visits Cher

 

 

Celine met with Caesars Palace and AEG/Concerts West executives, watched Cher’s show and then went back to her own former dressing room to meet her successor on Feb. 25. Celine’s team wouldn’t confirm or deny my questions about the reported pregnancy but did send the Cher photo for us to run on Vegas DeLuxe.

Cher Remixes

 http://wickedgayblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/cher-remixes-available-for-download-for.html

"Masterbeat announced today that they just got the entire Cher remixes (DJ, Club, etc.) catalog today and for the first time ever is available for download."

It works similar to iTunes: 99 cents can purchase you one song. As all my remixes are in a basement in Pennsylvania, this might come in handy.

When you visit the site, you can access the entire Cher catalog by clicking the “All Releases” tab. Included with regular album cuts of major CD releases are remixes of:

Believe – of these six remixes, the one I am partial to is the Almighty Definitive Mix. Truthfully, I was one of the rare people on the planet who didn’t love this song. And only played the ADM mix daily during that four weeks of #1 chart-toping that occurred in early 1999 when I was psychically trying to do my part to keep Believe on top.

Paradise is Here

 

  

Love One Another - I was always confused by the fact that I thought "When the Money's Gone" was the major single of this release.

Song for the Lonely

  

All or Nothing

 

D’ove L’amore - did I spell that right? I'm never sure.

  

Strong Enough

 

  

A Different Kind of Love Song

  

The Music’s No Good Without You

  

Heart of Stone

  

Take me Home, the single version and Take me Home the 12” (which was how remixes came out in the olden days of vinyl)

There are a few missing, you'll notice if you are a remix connoisseur, which I am not. But considering these mixes aren't on iTunes, this is a kewl thing. Here's the direct link: https://www.masterbeat.com/#artist/cher

Cher Scholar Interviews Rona Barrett

My bf and I spent one evening watching the new Rona Barrett DVD Rona Barrett's Hollywood, a set of iconic interviews of 70s celebrities.

Honestly, we were struck by how fresh and honest the interviews were in comparison to the stale, stiff Barbara Walters interviews we’ve come to know over the last 25 years. Don't get me wrong: I have loved me some Barbara Walters interview in my day. But seriously, I can't stand The View and haven’t watched a pre-Oscar special in years.

Interestingly, in Rona Barrett’s interviews there are no "million-dollar" questions and yet somehow she gets into a superstar’s comfort zone with graceful civility. Personally, I think this is because she knows how to have a comfortable conversation and celebrities feel at ease. I’m reminded of Jon Favreau’s Dinner for Five shows except without the extra four dinner guests. Which means less grandstanding chat between stars.

My bf thinks Ron's gift is that she sounds genuinely interested.

Cher Scholar JeffRey had this to say about the prospect of watching Rona Barrett's new DVD: it feels like visiting a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.

In the DVD's Cher interview, Rona says she's known Cher since Cher was a "street kid" in the 60s and that she admired Cher because she "had guts" and was honest. The interview takes place after Cher's breakup with Sonny and David Geffen, right as she was falling in love with Gregg Allman. She squeals with affection and like other interviews of the mid-70s, she is unusually unguarded and open. She seems remarkably comfortable. She has striking eyebrows, long eyelashes, glamor nails and uses phrases like "bummed out."

As I watched it I thought what a beautiful mouth Cher had. And those teeth. The Rona Barrett DVD is full of very 70s celebrity teeth, pre-hyper-perfection. I miss Cher's teeth. I do not miss Burt Reynolds' teeth, however. It's also amazing how candid Rona gets asking about sex and Cher talks about how liberated and sexually free she had planned to be after leaving Sonny. However, she just wasn't the type to sleep around. Great interview!

 Many people my age also remember Rona Barrett's fan magazines of the 70s that sat on newsstands right along Picture Screen and Photoplay. Magazines full of Sonny & Cher candid photos and wacky stories. Recently, a friend of mine gave me this copy (cover above; click here to see full image) of Rona Barrett's Hollywood from a celebrity-signing fair in LA.

Inside Cher is on practically every page, but the magazine has two (two!) full-page articles about her as well. The first one discusses the recent calls for censorship on The Cher Show - was Cher dressing too slutty? According to one Ohio TV station manager she was. Fans were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the topic.

Click here to read the full text and fill out the survey. (You may need to adjust your screen resolution.)

Please forward your responses to the comments section of this blog post!

In the back of the magazine there's a second article, this one an interview in color with Laverne. Sweet! Click here to read the full text. When I saw Cher in Las Vegas last weekend, Cher's mock interview with Laverne before Laverne's "I Got to be Me" video reminded me of this article. Laverne deserves more airtime. Cher may have changed. But Laverne stays the same.

Anyway, I had the privilege of being able to interview Rona Barrett last week about the new DVD, her charity foundation and the Rona Barrett magazines.

Click here to read the full interview where she talks about interviewing Cher and Cher's longevity.

L.A.  readers should know that Rona will be appearing for a DVD signing Wednesday, March 25 at  7:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble located at The Grove at the Farmers Market (Fairfax & Third).

New Mashup!

http://torley.com/mashup-katy-perry-cher-believe-in-hot-and-cold

I would classify this as: cute.

 

Blogs: Dancing with the Stars and Dave Barry

Over the last two weeks there has been some blogging Cher activity:

Bloggers think Cher should go on Dancing with the Stars

http://www.mashget.com/most-viewed/2009/03/09/who-should-go-dancing-come-on-cher/

Their argument:

“Cher's used to the outlandish, fringe-filled costumes favored by [the show].”

Hmmm. Weak. Cher did a show where she danced with stars: it was called The Cher Show.  Dancing with the Stars is allegedly scrapping the barrel this season. Cher has better things to do...like coach the upstarts on American Idol.

Dave Barry blogs briefly on Cher

http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/2009/03/why-we-need-str.html

WHY WE NEED STRICTER GOVERNMENT CONTROLS ON CHER: Man Distracted by Cher Shoots Wife

Okay...his post is mostly a one-liner title joke. But I thought it was funny. And I don't usually find him funny anymore.

Here's the actual article on the shooting incident: http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=15671

I’m a bit worried about taking my bf to see Cher’s Vegas show this week now. What if he shoots me accidentally during the Laverne video?

Am I being mean or was it surprising that this incident happened in Murfreesboro Tennessee? And what exactly were this couple watching Cher do that was so distracting they forgot they had a gun in play?

Certainly it couldn’t have been last week's Entertainment Tonight segment.

   

How Tall is Cher?

http://woodenspears.com/how-tall-is-cher/

What’s weird about this page is that its bread crumb links at the top indicate it’s part of a larger website category called “Celebrity Height Information.”  In fact this whole site seems dedicated to the heights of superstars.

But why?

Well, this site claims (and for decades the story goes) that Cher is 5 foot 6 inches. But I ask you, all you fans who have met or seen Cher in person, do you believe it?

Because when I saw Cher at a book signing in 1999, she seemed tiny, at least noticeably smaller than me and I’m 5’6”. Cherwas also described as tiny in many 80s-magazine cover stories that I remember reading.

Every reporter was expecting the tall statuesque Amazon believed to be standing next to Sonny from their television show. But truthfully, she wasn’t much taller than Sonny and he too appeared to be tiny.

It’s a good project to notice how tall Sonny and Cher are (or are not) compared to other people – both on the TV show and in the movie Good Times.

I'm not saying Cher is tiny but look at that picture with Tom Cruise...she needs wig height to come even with that shorty-pants.

How tall is Cher? I don’t really feel like we know the real truth yet, kids.

I’ll Meet You Anytime You Want…In Our Italian Restaurant

A friend sent me a link to one of Christy Bono’s restaurant profiles on Restaurant.com.

Christy, Sonny’s daughter by his first wife Donna, has actually two restaurants in Long Beach.

 

1. Christy’s  (I’ve been to Christy’s and loved it) - here's the menu - http://www.christysristorante.com/files/19721615.pdf

2. Then there’s Bonos - a better designed website but one that plays IGUB annoyingly in the background - here's their menu -  http://bonoslongbeach.com/lunch2.html

I’ll be by soon to try Bono’s Gourmet Mac n Cheese. You betcha.

The photo above is not an actual depiction of Bono family recipes.

  

Discourse on Cher’s Ass and More Captain &Tennile

Cher Scholar Rob sent me two videos recently, The Captain and Tennile song that was written for Cher just prior to her joining with Black Rose (it sounds more like filler to me than something Cher would do): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4nSGvei1aA

And a video of rocker Ryan Adams and Neal Casal  talkin' about Cher’s Ass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYJ02BWesaE

The Cher's ass coversation is pretty funny.

Here are some picture's of Cher's ass to refer to as you are watching the discussion unfold.