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The stock market is booming today. Except for one stock.
The Dow is up almost 600 points at 2:30pm thanks the Fed rate cut yesterday.
Donald Trump always warned that markets would crash if he wasn’t president. But that’s proven untrue. The only stock bombing is his Trump Media.
Trump Media, a sewage system for haters, has fallen below $15 today. That’s an all time low since the company merged and was revived last winter. It may drop even more before the day is over.
If the stock hits $12, Trump cannot sell any shares. He promised last week that he wouldn’t anyway and praised the horrific content on the site.
But Wall Street watchers are waiting now to see if Trump will renege, screw his investors and sell off. That could happen at any time.
Long before Madonna was a Material Girl living in the Material World, George Harrison defined the term.
The former Beatle created the album, “Living in the Material World” in 1973 as a follow up to his “All Things Must Pass” masterpiece and “The Concert for Bangla Desh.”
Beatles fans were pretty excited to hear “Living in the Material World” because George had finally emerged as a solo artist as big as John Lennon or Paul McCartney. We were not disappointed. The only single, “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” shot to number 1 before the album came, out that set the stage.
Now the 50th anniversary edition is coming in November thanks to George’s amazing wife, Olivia Harrison, and their devoted son, Dhani Marrison. They have done the best job of any family of a passed rock star in keeping a legacy alive. They’ve handled it all with enormous class.
The 50th anniversary edition includes remixes of the album, naturally. There are also a dozen different takes of the songs — never heard before — including Take 18 of “Give Me Love,” which is out today as a featured track.
There’s also a 7″ single included of Harrison’s “Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)” with an all star cast including The Band, and Ringo Starr. Ringo recorded the song for his famous “Ringo!” album, produced by Richard Perry, also in 1973.
The Super Deluxe Edition will have only 5,000 copies, folks. There will be less expensive iterations. But the Super Deluxe sounds hot. According to a press release: “Housed in a rigid slipcase, the box set contains a beautiful 60-page hardcover book curated by Olivia Harrison and Rachel Cooper, with unseen imagery and memorabilia from the era, handwritten lyrics, studio notes, and tape box images. Also included is a 12-page Recording Notes booklet, drawing from original Living in the Material World production notes, photographs, and reel-to-reel session tapes housed in the George Harrison Archive. For the first time, the Harrison archive team offers an in-depth, chronological account of the album’s creation, revealing insights that have never been shared with the public before.”
All the tracks on “Living in the Material World” were FM hits although there was only one single. I always thought “Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long” would have gone to number 1. “Try Some Buy Some” was covered eventually by the legendary Ronnie Spector. The title track could also have been a hit on its own.
The 50th anniversary edition arrives on November 15th. I’d put my order in now. By the way, George donated all the publishing proceeds from the album to the Material World Foundation forever, which he formed to collect and distribute money for the Bangla Desh concert. The Material World Foundation continues to transform lives across the world today.
Lorne Michaels will leave no stone unturned for the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live.”
The season begins September 28th with Jean Smart hosting, and Jelly Roll as musical guest.
“SNL” will return October 5th with comedian Nate Bergatze and Coldplay who are releasing a new album. Will Dakota Johnson be there?
The next week, October 12th, brings Ariana Grande as host, plugging “Wicked.” and Stevie Nicks. Will Stevie dress as a good witch or bad one? Such a great themed pairing. Maybe they’ll sing a duet on “Stop Dragging My Heart Around.” This is very interesting for Michaels, who doesn’t book rock legacy acts. Maybe we’ll see more of them this year. Great idea.
October 19th we get host Michael Keaton, so hot off of the $200 million “Beetlejuice” sequel. Superstar Billie Eilish, looking for Grammy nominations for her “Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Soft ” album will be the musical guest.
Then rounding out the early fall will be a November 2nd show with John Mulaney as host and the very hot Chappell Roan as music star. Wow. Mulaney joked on Twitter, “This is the first I’m hearing of this.”
If these shows don’t get big numbers, what can you do? Michaels is going all out this season, obviously. He’s even signed alumnus Maya Rudolph to play Kamala Harris. Bowen Yang as JD Vance?) We can’t to see what he does with the show’s prime time special next February!
Katy Perry is releasing her 7th album on Thursday night.
Called “143,” it’s her first album in four and a half years, or the time she devoted to “American Idol.”
And while she made a boatload of money with “Idol,” Katy created a problem for herself insofar as her recording career. Her fans moved on to new female pop stars, from Chappell Roan to Billie Eilish, etc.
Of course Katy’s old nemesis, Taylor Swift, has released an endless amount of music in those four years. She stuck with it and built her audience.
In advance of “143,” Katy has released three singles from the eleven tracks on the album. They’ve all flopped, in a row. The latest is called “I’m His, He’s Mine” and it’s just a reworking of Crystal Waters’s famous hit, “Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee).” Perry takes a dance hit about a homeless woman and turns into, well, nothing.
Part of Katy’s problem is that instead of looking for an inspired new sound, she went to her old producer, Dr. Luke. He’s spent the last four years locked in a legal battle with singer Kesha, who accused him of some nasty stuff. Tney’ve recently settled. But Perry’s return to him is not a good luck.
A few years ago, I really liked a Katy Perry song called “Chained to the Rhythm.” I thought it indicated a new interesting direction for her. But I guess it didn’t stick. Will “143” be a dud? We shall wait and see.
Melania Trump’s really pushing the promos for her soon to be published memoir.
On Twitter — not Truth Social — Melania today compares her nude photos in the past to great works of art . She uses pictures of Michelangelo’s Statue of David, for example, as well as Paul Cézanne’s “Bathers,” and John Collier’s “Lady Godiva.”
It’s a unique plan, that’s for sure. I don’t know what those artists would have made a French adult magazine or British GQ. Those photos are not going to be shown in any museums.
Meanwhile, she and Donald continue to post on social media rival, Twitter. Their own Trump Media stock has fallen to $15.66 this morning, an all time low since the company was merged last winter.
John David Souther was 78 and a giant in west coast rock and roll. He wrote so many hits for the Eagles, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and himself. What a shame to report he’s gone.
I was lucky to meet JD a long time ago with his great friend, the actress Mary Kay Place. He was a legend in the rock world as the author of so many monster hits.
The Eagles’ “Best of My Love” was actually the song that broke the group out. He also wrote two other Eagles classics, “Heartache Tonight,” and “New Kid In Town.”
Souther’s duet with James Taylor on “Her Town, Too” was a left field smash, especially because it made it sound like they were talking about Carly Simon, Taylor’s ex.
On his own, JD had a number 1 hit with “You’re Only Lonely.”
Some fans of the TV show, “thirtysomething,” will remember him as inspired casting as the teacher Hope Steadman sort of falls for during her pregnancy.
No cause of death has been given. But condolences to his many fans, friends, and family. JD Souther is an important name in pop history, like Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon. He will be sorely missed.
Donald Trump’s social media stock, Trump Media, dropped another 6.6% today.
Trump is used Truth Social to threaten an overturn of the election if he loses.
He spews: “Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”
Trump actually believes we are a Third World nation. This is because he’s never been to one, and no idea what he’s talking about. If he ever visited any place besides ritzy Palm Beach for a day, he would not survive. He’s insane, and he’s trying to convince his followers — none of whom have been to a truly impoverished or challenged country — that what he’s saying is true.
Oscar and Grammy winning singer Billie Eilish endorsed Kamala Harris today.
Billie and brother Finneas O’Connell tell us who they were made for quite emphatically.
They join Taylor Swift and dozens of other smart, talented people who urge their fans to help save democracy.
People ask, Why listen to celebrities? If you’re singing an artist’s lyrics, and enjoy them, then the artist’s thoughts on anything should connect with you. It’s very basic.
One of the tragic parts of the death of Tito Jackson is that he and brothers Marlon and Jackie had been touring as The Jacksons.
The three brothers recently performed in Munich, and in LA at the Fool for Love marathon show. Their act includes Jackson 5 hits and some of brother Michael’s, like “Rock with You.”
The Jackson have several shows still booked for this year. An insider tells me that the trio was recording music for a possible new album.
Now all of that is up in the air without Tito, who played bass guitar expertly in addition to sharing vocals.
One option might be recruiting Jermaine Jackson, who was part of the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons. Jermaine warred with Michael and has often been in the news for tax problems and a sexual harassment suit.
Jermaine has been living in Dubai for the last few years with his much much younger fourth wife, Mayday Gonzalez. She’s also the mother of his 7th child. (One of his older kids is playing Michael in the new biopic coming soon.)
My source says Jermaine will likely fly in for Tito’s funeral. He also could join Marlon and Jackie to finish the album, and perhaps play some dates. But Jermaine has never been a team player, so the duo may have to soldier on without him.
Meantime, I’m told that the family matriarch, Katherine, who’s 94 and is wheelchair bound, has been told about her son’s death. There’s nothing worse than outliving one child, but two is miserable. As a friend says, “Tito was the nicest one.”
Tito died when he stopped in Gallup, New Mexico, driving from Los Angeles to Tulsa, where he’s been living. I’m told he was driving one of his classic cars when he had a heart attack and pulled over looking for help.
ABC says ratings for their Emmy Awards show brought in a total of 6.87 million viewers last night.
That’s up 54% from January’s delayed 2023 Emmys on Fox. Not bad!
The numbers were up 17% in viewers age 18-49, too. And that was just on ABC, not any of that streaming stuff aka “other platforms.” Very old fashioned!
Some naysayers criticized the show for being boring, but I thought it went pretty smoothly. Eugene Levy and son Dan Levy were perfectly lovely hosts. The tributes to old shows like “Happy Days” and “The West Wing” also came off very classy. I loved the segment with Viola Davis and Christine Baranski. Billy Crystal was given room to speak at length, and he was charming.
Yes, there were few surprises among the winners, although “Hacks” snatching Best Comedy, and Lisa Colon-Zayas winning Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for “The Bear.”
Candice Bergen kind of stole the show with her Dan Quayle joke. And the trio from “Only Murders in the Building”– Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — were a breath of fresh air. So were the four “SNL” performers who roasted an unamused looking Lorne Michaels.
But there’s always something wrong, and as usual it had to with In Memoriam. “Inside Edition” correspondent Jim Moret was pretty unhappy his late father, James Darren, was excluded. Darren starred in big TV shows like “The Time Tunnel” and “TJ Hooker.” He was a star of 60s TV and a huge celebrity.
Moret, who lost his stepfather recently, too, has every right to be upset.
He wrote, “With 200 credits to his name – 150 in television – it is beyond disappointing that #JamesDarren was #snubbed by @theEmmys In Memoriam segment.”
Some people were prematurely upset with the In Memoriam for no reason, as it turns out. Patrick O’Neal ranted an assumption that his father, Ryan O’Neal, would be forgotten. But the “Peyton Place” star was noted right up front.
Also snubbed: Shelly Duvall, although I think of her as a movie person. But really egregious was leaving out Joe Flaherty, a founding member of SCTV. After all, Levy, Short, and Catherine O’Hara — all his lifelong cohorts — were a big party of the Emmys. Not nice.
