Showbiz411

James Franco is now dabbling in R&B music. Luckily he enlisted Smokey Robinson, who Franco met on a plane for vocals. The song is called “Crime.” It’s the second video Franco’s released this week from the upcoming album, which is recorded under the name Daddy with a music student pal. I’ll take anything with Smokey’s voice on it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYSqEd5dVe0 Here’s the other single, called “Love in the Old Days”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-BhJcdJaE. The truth is, the songs aren’t bad. Which is a surprise. Or maybe not. Franco continues his quest to conquer everything. Soap operas, graduate school, novels. short stories, poetry and now soul music. And he’s doing it.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.