The album is called “25.” It comes out November 20th. Adele says it’s a “make up record.” via Twitter, natch. Click on the box below to read her remarks:
Bradley Cooper’s “Burnt” Serves Up A List Movie Premiere Including Jim Ignatowski
There were a lot of well known peeps at the premiere of John Wells’s “Burnt” Tuesday night. Some came for the screening at MoMA, others popped into the after party at Mario Batali’s Otto Restaurant at One Fifth Avenue.
Of course, stars Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys made the scene. But I also ran into two greats– Christopher Lloyd of “Taxi” and “Back to the Future” fame, and the amazing Paul Sorvino. I asked Chris Lloyd what he thought Jim Ignatowski might be up to if a rumored “Taxi” reunion ever took place. We surmised he might be a big shot at Apple or in the Silicon Valley, a billionaire. You never know.
Also spotted: Bradley Cooper’s “Elephant Man” costars Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola (who came with wife Emily Mortimer). But they just missed Brad, who left early for a cool after after party in Chelsea.
Also ran into Jill Hennessy and husband Paolo Mastopietro. They tell me that since Jill’s first Cutting Room show, she’s been booking shows like crazy and selling out (in addition to being a semi-regular on “Madame Secretary”– producers make her a regular already!). Jill has shows coming up in L.A., Nashville, and Santa Fe. Don’t miss her.
More tomorrow from our Paula Schwartz on “Burnt.” Happy to say Matthew Rhys finally gets to act with his real Welsh accent. “Burnt” opens October 30th…
Watch-Listen: The Beatles “Revolution” Original Video, Remastered, New Audio Mix
Here’s “Revolution” as you’ve never heard it, remixed and remastered with a video unseen until now.Just listen: if all of the new “1 + 1” album sounds like this — amazing. Giles Martin has done an outstanding job. The album hits us November 6th. Get really good headphones for this release– Grado, Sennheiser, AKG, Master and Dynamic– no Beats– or try to listen on a real stereo, not a compressed iTouch or phone.
from the press notes:
Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and filmed on the 4th September 1968 at Twickenham Film Studios. Restored and remixed for The Beatles 1 Video Collection, which is available for pre-order at thebeatles.com.
“Plugging directly into the Abbey Road desk and pushing the needles into the red achieved the fuzz-guitar sound. According to George Martin “We got into distortion on that, which we had a lot of complaints from the technical people about. But that was the idea: it was John’s song and the idea was to push it right to the limit. Well, we went to the limit and beyond.”
“I did the slow version and I wanted it out as a single: as a statement of The Beatles’ position on Vietnam and The Beatles’ position on revolution. For years, on The Beatles’ tours, Brian Epstein had stopped us from saying anything about Vietnam or the war.”
Ben Stiller: Late Mom Anne Meara “Had No Patience for Donald Trump”
Actress comedian writer Anne Meara got a beautiful send off this afternoon at a star studded memorial service on Broadway. Among those who toaster her at the Eugene O’Neill Theater were husband Jerry Stiller, kids Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller, and stars like Liam Neeson, Bob Saget, 89 year old actress Charlotte Rae, director Peter Farrelly, singer Peter Yarrow, writer Donald Margulies, “Sex and the City” producer Michael Patrick King, and the Stillers’ Nantucket neighbor Judy Collatz. In the audience: Cynthia Nixon, Larry David, Robert Klein, and dozens of others.
The nearly two hour presentation was elegant, funny, and funny as Meara’s many fans paid tribute to her sense of humor, her great heart, and her salty tongue. The “F” word was dropped many times, often quoting Meara herself.
The very last speakers were sister and brother Amy and Ben Stiller, who obviously adored their mother.
“I find myself imagining how she’d react to things going on in the world, like this whole Trump thing,” Ben Stiller said. “She had no patience for Donald Trump, ever since he closed down the 72nd exit to the West Side Highway. I continually hear her saying Putz in my head. Weirdly I feel closer to her because of this so I’m enjoying watching him,” he paused. “I’m also realizing how truly, deeply I love her, so deeply and how much her life has filled me, and her shadow has loomed over me. And that’s what you want from a parent, that there’s no hiding from their imprint.”
The final speaker was Jerry Stiller, Meara’s lifelong partner in comedy and marriage. Ben and Amy stood on either side of Stiller, who’s a little fragile now and white haired at 88 years young.
Jerry recalled that their 60 plus appearances on “Ed Sullivan” may have been because Sullivan was married to a Jewish woman– and he probably related to the Stiller and Meara marriage which was also Jewish and Irish.
Stiller said at one point after they skyrocketed to success Meara insisted they have kids. “Either we have kids or it’s over,” Meara told him. “And Bingo,” he said, pointing to his kids. “We had two kids, and I was the father of one,” he cracked, sending the memorial audience into convulsions.
Among the performers: a musical number that featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jody Eisenstein-Miracle, Ben Stiller’s actress wife Christine Taylor and their daughter Ella singing “The Body Electric” from the movie “Fame,” which featured Meara.
“She was more than just a comedian and actress, she was something so far up there that someday we’ll all know all about it,” Jerry concluded.
Legendary Singer Merry Clayton Lost Both Legs in 2014 Car Accident, But Is Prevailing
Merry Clayton– it’s been well known in the music world that she lost both of her legs in a terrible auto accident in June 2014. I’ve known about it for some time but didn’t write it because Clayton was recovering and in rehabilitation.
Today, the news is buried in a short piece in the New York Times because Merry is receiving the Clark and Gwen Terry Award this week at the Apollo Theater. She will accept on a video, and not in person.
Merry is one of the most amazing people in the world, as well as a terrifyingly gifted singer. Of course, Merry was featured in the Oscar winning film “20 Feet from Stardom.” Prior to that a lot of people didn’t know it was she who sang on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and had lent her voice to dozens of hits as a back up singer.
Over the last year I have heard of the many friends in the music biz who’ve helped her including Carole King. Now that the news is out, I hope everyone– everyone including MusiCares and the Grammys– will celebrate Merry’s life and career. I know she will overcome this obstacle and come roaring back with that wonderful spirit and voice.
Viva Merry Clayton!
Watch the New “Star Wars” Trailer and Get Excited: This is Going to Be Big
Color me officially psyched for “The Force Awakens.” The new “Star Wars” trailer is very exciting. Everyone’s in it, they all look great. Will this be the biggest movie ever? Very close, certainly. Nice to see Han Solo and Princess Leia sort of like Ma and Pa Kent. Can’t wait for more! JJ Abrams is on deck for a monster! PS Who is that new Darth Vader, er, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)? Hmmmm….And where is Luke Skywalker?
Denise Rich Rocks Patti LaBelle, OneRepublic, Usher, Nick Cannon for Annual Angel Ball
Denise Rich raised about three and a half million dollars last night at the annual Gabrielle’s Angel Ball, named for her beloved daughter who passed away in 1996. After a couple of years of downsizing, the Angel Ball was back last night in force, with roughly 900 guests at Cipriani downtown dressed in their formal best and rocking to Patti LaBelle and Ryan Tedder with One Republic.
And the guests were truly A list: Heidi Klum, Clive Davis, Nikki Haskell, Ivana Trump, Sam Moore, Nick Cannon, and Star Jones just to name a few. Usher put in a long appearance and greeted everyone. James Carville and Mary Matalin were there, along with race car driver Jeff Gordon, and sponsor host Lorraine Schwartz, the most popular jeweler since Harry Winston.
Denise’s faithfuls were there, like Michelle and Frank Rella, and Michelle Herbert, as well as philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, Steve Boxer of Phillippe restaurant, newscaster Felicia Taylor, pr magnate Norah Lawlor, and so on. The evening honored NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian and Amy France, Mary Kitchen and Compass Lexecon Co-Founder Jon Orszag. My old pal Alicia Quarles, who looked like a million bucks, did a lot of emceeing. At one point, she proposed marriage to a stunned Patti LaBelle to raise money for research. Patti got a kick out of that, but declined graciously.
There was talk of those K people may turning up, but they didn’t (which was wise considering their situation). Also, Cipriani was bursting at the seams this year as the silent auction separately may have yielded around $2 million.
Heidi Klum, whom I’ve known since long before “Project Runway” turned her into a fashion mogul, brought along a young man (whose parents I know quite well) as her “date.” She said, “This is my side piece!” Tell the tabs. It was all for fun.
Like TJ Martell, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research is the real deal. I remember in the first years when Denise started it, we all thought it was a reason to gather celebrities and have a party. But this foundation produces results, particularly in children’s cancers and leukemia. It’s one of the few annual events like this where the vast number of people in the room stop and listen to the survivors’ speeches. Nicely done.
PS Patti sang the crap out of “Lady Marmalade.” Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic is the real thing. He sang some of his hits and played keyboards with OneRepublic. They’re a tight band and real musicians.
photo c2015 Showbiz411
PBS Latest to Turn Against Bill Cosby, Says They’ll Run Eddie Murphy Impression
PBS says in a statement: “PBS, WETA, and the program producers are in the process of turning last night’s The Mark Twain Prize live event into a broadcast show. Our intention is to include Mr. Murphy’s acceptance speech in its entirety. In order to comply with FCC regulations regarding profanity, audio bleeps will be used as necessary.”
This is sort of the final crushing blow to Cosby, who was a PBS stalwart for decades on programs like “The Electric Company.” It’s also a blow to him from the Kennedy Center, which has awarded him both the Twain prize and Kennedy Center Honors. The decision whether or not to include Eddie’s impression– which in its entirety is scathing and funny– was from both institutions.
Cosby had already lost all his educational institutions and sponsors. These were pretty much the last two. Even new depositions won’t sting as badly as this.
Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable” Falls 81.9% in Second Week, Follows Duran Duran, Prince
UPDATED with better math, but still maybe the biggest drop since before Madonna.
Janet Jackson– what have we done for her lately? Her “Unbreakable” album debuted last week at number 1 and sold 105,000 copies. Everyone was excited. I know I was. She got great press and great reviews.
But week 2 is a bust. “Unbreakable” fell 81.9%, from Number 1 to Number 7, and dropped to 19.3K copies. Ouch! Janet takes the record of biggest percentage drop from Madonna’s “MDNA.”
What happened? Well for one thing “Burn it Up,” the second single, with Missy Elliott, didn’t click anywhere. There was a brief buzz and then………….
Janet isn’t alone among 80s stars who can’t move product. Duran Duran’s “Paper Gods” came and went in the blink of an eye. And Prince’s recent album also sputtered out within two weeks. It’s hard out there!
It’s hard even if you’re a contemporary star. We still don’t know what happened to Sam Smith’s James Bond theme song, “The Writing’s on the Wall.” It died on impact with the real world. The single appears only on the “soft rock” radio chart at number 24, with almost no airplay.
Rupert Murdoch Off Twitter for 13 Days– Have Sons Yanked His iPad?
UPDATE OCT 21st: Whither Rupert?
UPDATE OCT 20th: Still no Tweets from Mr. M, Day 12.
OCT 19th: Rupert Murdoch, where are you? The head of News Corp and 21st Century Fox etc has not posted to Twitter since October 8th. That’s 11 days with no Rupert.
Have sons Lachlan and James yanked his iPad? The last time Murdoch fell silent on Twitter was for a month from December 22, 2013 to January 24, 2014. Otherwise, he is almost a daily poster.
Of course, his last round of Tweets landed Rupert in hot water. He offered that Ben Carson would be a “real” black president as opposed to President Barack Obama, who is very much a black man and a black president.
Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 8, 2015
Murdoch’s Tweets started a firestorm. It’s not the first time Murdoch’s Tweets have met with anger, but this was something else. He posted the next day:
Apologies! No offence meant. Personally find both men charming.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 8, 2015
All the posts are still there, but Rupert has not added a word since then. Unfortunately, last June Murdoch’s sons got rid of their father’s assistant, an inveterate Tweeter named Natalie Ravitz. She was very good at handling Murdoch’s social media, and often put up photos of her boss or notice of what he was up to so fans of the 84 year old didn’t worry. But Ravitz is now long gone. Murdoch may be too!
Meantime, no word from the Daily News’s publisher Mort Zuckerman. Since I wrote that he has been MIA mostly for the last few months, there has been silence. I wrote that story on October 1st. Zuckerman turned up on October 7th on Lou Dobb’s show on Fox Business. Fox? The same Fox owned by his rival, Murdoch? Yes indeed, and not long after a Zuckerman editorial appeared in the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal. Are the two beleaguered tabs getting ready to merge? We’ll see…