WITH SPOILERS FROM LAST NIGHT “Mad Men” Episode 4 (technically), Season Five: Don Draper gets the flu and a fever, and dreams of cheating on new wife Meghan with one of his old flames, Andrea– a one night stand (or less) that occurred during his marriage to Betty. Is Don a sex addict long before such a thing existed? Maybe. In his fever dream he strangles Andrea and pushes her dead body under his bed. In “Mystery Date” we get the second dream sequence in a row this season, Last week, in “Tea Leaves,” Betty dreamed she was dead, and watched her kids, husband Henry and her mother in law eating breakfast in funereal black. Now Don dreams of having sex with this woman he runs into– the “mystery date.” Peggy has a mystery date, too, of a different nature–inviting home Dawn, Don’s new black secretary, when she needs a place to sleep. Figuring as a plot point is Richard Speck’s July 1966 massacre of Chicago nurses. Where “Tea Leaves” at least had fun with references to “Bewitched,” the Rolling Stones, and George Romney, “Mystery Date” has a grimness to it. It also serves to get rid of Joan’s annoying husband, Greg (Sam Page), who re-ups with the army in Vietnam. Joan throws him out. Also, the new copywriter, Michael Ginsburg (Ben Feldman), who everyone thinks is a “genius”–exhibits warming signs of disloyalty and ambition. He may be Trouble. “Tea Leaves” was an A, “Mystery Date” is a B for now, unless it turns out to mean more than we know right now.
Laura Nyro: Rock Hall Reverses Itself, Invites Her Son to Accept Award
I’ve been telling you here and on Forbes.com that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wouldn’t invite or acknowledge the only child of Laura Nyro to their induction ceremony in Cleveland on April 14th. Well, good news, it’s a Passover-Easter miracle. Joel Peresman, president of the RRHOF Foundation, has informed Gil Bianchini that’s there’s been a change of heart. Gil and significant other (mother of his one year old twin girls), has been invited to sit with the stars and celebrities at the Cleveland event. He’ll also be called up to the stage, where Bette Midler will introduce him and give him his mother’s award.
It’s a happy ending. I don’t know all the details yet, but suspect that Bette Midler and Jann Wenner had a hand in making this happen. So, that’s great. Bianchini was young when his mother died. He’s a sweet who’s just now understanding how incredibly talented, important, and influential she was. As he told me recently, “I just thought of her as my mother.”
This may be a turning point for the RRHOF–doing the right thing. I hope so. For people who love rock and pop, and respect its history, we want the Foundation to be on the good side of things. Now maybe, too, Bianchini can get his mother’s personal effects from Nyro’s former executor, Patti Di Lauria, without having to go to court.
In the meantime, over the weekend, look up Laura Nyro’s many recordings, and the classic covers of her songs by the 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Barbra Streisand among others. Hopefully some of them will show up this summer for the Lincoln Center outdoor concert tribute to Nyro that’s also being planned.
Sean Penn, Ben Stiller Take the A List Downtown
So where did Jake Gyllenhaal head on Monday night after the Paul Newman tribute? Spies say Gyllenhaal headed downtown to the Mercer Hotel. It’s the same place where Catherine Deneuve her daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, went after the former’s tribute across Lincoln Center plaza for the Film Society. Mother and daughter ran into Gyllenhaal, who had a table in the bar lobby with Sean Penn, Ben Stiller and Kanye West, among others. The Mercer is again the hot spot late at night, topping the Waverly Inn. Stars are looking for hangouts. New York has not been this hangout free in years. Long gone are the days of places like Moomba, Bungalow 8, Lot 61, the original Bowery Bar, Nell’s (back in the day), Studio 54, or even famous Elaine’s. The city is ripe for a hot spot, that’s for sure. Meantime, Google chief Eric Schmidt was spotted in the audience at the Rainforest Foundation concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday with a comely blonde companion. He didn’t attend the dinner later at the Pierre Hotel or go backstage during intermission with Sting, Bill Clinton, and Meryl Streep…Celebrating milestones: tonight, Sirio Maccione, famous owner of the famous Le Cirque, celebrates his 80th birthday with a gala at the restaurant…Record biz legend Clive Davis had his 80th last night at the River Cafe in Brooklyn with friends and family including superstar Aretha Franklin…Whit Stillman’s “Damsels in Distress” opens tomorrow. It has a very respectable 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. I loved it in Toronto. But it had a stealth, miserable premiere in New York and lacks any kind of marketing campaign. Toss it in with “Friends with Kids,” another film that woulda, coulda. They’ll be great rentals.
Whitney Houston: Coroner Did Find Cocaine, Spoon and Mirror in Hotel Room
The L.A. County Coroner has played Whitney Houston’s death a little fast and loose. After several weeks, thanks to the Smoking Gun, we now have the full coroner’s report. And contrary to earlier reports that there were no drugs found in Whitney’s hotel room, there was indeed cocaine, a spoon, rolled up paper for snorting, and a mirror with cocaine residue. The investigator found “a spoon with a white crystal like substance in it, a rolled up piece of white paper from off the top of a counter…, I also collected remnants of a white powdery substance from out of a drawer and the bottom of a mirror in the same drawer…”
Listen: it’s no fun reading Whitney Houston’s autopsy. It’s absolutely horrifying that this is how her life ended. Thanks to the autopsy we know she had scars, breast implants, and kinds of personal stuff no one should ever be privy to. But it’s the cocaine that raises all the questions: it’s all over her room, yet manager and sister in law Pat Houston told Oprah Winfrey should knew nothing about it. Remember? Whitney was “chasing a dream.” Some dream. The cocaine is not hidden–it’s all over the place. Someone has some explaining to do.
It’s just not possible that Whitney’s current drug problem had gone undetected. Her blood tests show that she was full of coke. Why was she left alone if the people around her knew the situation?
Here’s the report: http://i.cdn.turner.com/dr/teg/tsg/release/sites/default/files/assets/whitneyhouston111pdf.pdf
Sting, Trudie Styler Raise Millions for Rainforest
What a night for the 20 plus year Rainforest Foundation: Trudie Styler produced her biennial all-star fundraiser at Carnegie Hall, probably the best ever with Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, Roseanne Cash, Esperanza Spaulding, Vince Gill, Bruno Mars, opera great Bryn Terfel, Rita Wilson, Meryl Streep, and Channing Tatum with his gorgeous dancer wife Jenna, and special guest Bill Clinton. They raised millions more for the preservation of the Rainforest and its indigenous people.
So many highlights but probably no one will ever forget Elton John singing ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ while Channing Tatum, wearing a vest and no shirt underneath, plus a black bowler, danced around him as if he were in the show, ‘Chicago’. It was hilarious. Jennifer Hudson, of course, blew the doors off the building singing ‘And I’m Telling You’ from ‘Dreamgirls’. It wasn’t so easy: sitting front and center were none other than Clive Davis and Aretha Franklin. Tom Hanks sat above everyone in a theater box, watching wife Rita belt out tunes. It turns she is a mighty fine singer; her album comes out in May from Decca. Tom was beaming, Later, at dinner at the Pierre Hotel, some paid $26,000 at auction for Hanks to record their voice mail messages.
Styler, who directed the show, spoke urgently and passionately about the needs of the people of the rainforest. The other key speaker was Bill Clinton, who can motivate any crowd. He told me that Hillary could be in the White House in 2016. ”I’m getting in trouble this week,” he laughed. Clinton stayed at the Pierre a long time, talked to everyone, and signed everything. He’s a charmer, that’s for sure.
But back to the show, called ”Songs of the Silver Screen”. Sting had a surprise hit with the dark theme from MASH, called ‘Suicide is Painless’. Steep was a standout on ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ and the two performed a duet of ‘Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off’. During the intermission, Clinton told Trudie and Sting how much he loved Roseanne Cash’s version of ‘Ode t Billie Joe’. ”That song was a big deal when it was released,” he recalled. The hits just kept on coming all night, with each artist spot-on. You know that every two years Styler picks these people because their live performance skills are so exact. James Taylor’s voice soared the hall on ‘Shall We Dance’, and he twirled Rita Wilson around the stage. When Elton John sang ‘Rock Around the Clock’ and Bruno Mars did ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, the whole cast – from Sting to Streep to the dancing Tatums – did the Twist. The staging worked because all the performers sat in director’s chairs on stage through the three hour show.
Revlon chairman Ronald Perelman – who underwrote the night – came with his wife Anna and daughter Samantha, accepting kudos on the birth of his 8th child. Sting was happy to see his old record company boss, Jerry Moss. Aretha Franklin was tickled to meet Bryn Terfel, who praised her recording of ‘Nessum Dorma’. Famed New York Times photographer snapped some shots of Trudie Styler with actress daughter Mickey and actresss stepdaughter Kate, then asked me: ”Who were those girls with Trudie? Are they models?” Three more Sumner kids were on hand, as well, leaving just Sting’s eldest son Joe, who’s in LA awaiting the birth of his first child. Sting, 60, is about to become a grandfather. ”I didn’t think I was ready.” he told me before the show, ”but then they told me, and I am ready.”
Here’s the rundown of the show:
Part One
If I Only Had A Brain – Sir Elton John/Sting/Meryl Streep
Somewhere Over The Rainbow – James Taylor
I Can’t Stop Loving – Vince Gill
All I Have To Do Is Dream – Vince Gill/Rita Wilson
Dream The Impossible Dream – Bryn Terfel
Moon River – Sir Elton John
Ode To Billie Joe – Roseanne Cash
Unchained Melody – Bruno Mars/Sir Elton John
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Meryl Streep/Sting
Ol’ Man River – James Taylor
Singing In The Rain – Sting
Speech – Trudie Styler
And I’m Telling You – Jennifer Hudson
Part Two
When You Wish Upon A Star – Meryl Streep/Sting
Roxanne – Bryn Terfel/Channing Tatum/Jenna Tatum
Suicide Is Painless – Sting
Everybody’s Talkin’ – Roseanne Cash
Shall We Dance – James Taylor
Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend – Sir Elton John
Pretty Woman – Vince Gill
The Weight – Jennifer Hudson
Be Bop A Lula – Sting
Rock Around The Clock – Sir Elton John
Jailhouse Rock – Bruno Mars
You Can’t Always Get What You Want – All
Happy Birthday, Doris Day, Still America’s Sweetheart
It’s Doris Day’s birthday. I think she’s 88. On the phone she sounds like springtime. I had the great honor of interviewing her for Parade magazine last winter, one of the few interviews she’d done in years. I still can’t get over it. Here’s the link: http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2011/12/doris-day.html. No one realizes how important Doris is to the history of film and pop music. I do hope the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will do the right thing this coming year and give her the Lifetime Achievement Award. Miss Day does not like to fly, but she might make the exception. I’ll be she would tape something for them at her home in Carmel. But just watch “Love or Leave Me” or “The Man Who Knew Too Much” or any of her comedies from the late 50s and early 60s. She is brilliant. You can buy her new album and read all about her animal rights foundation at www.dorisday.com.
Bebe Buell Lets Hiro Ballroom, Johnny Ramone Go Out with a Bang
The Hiro Ballroom is no more. The great space in the bottom of the Maritime Hotel in the meatpacking district closed on Saturday night, but with a bang. The final featured performers were the Bebe Buell Band, and they rocked the place one last time to its rafters. Buell also dedicated the performance to the late Don Hill, who died exactly one year ago. Since then, his famed eponymous rock club has been shuttered and readied for yuppie occupancy, granite kitchens, baby changing tables, etc. It was only one night earlier that Buell paid a visit to the former CBGB’s–now a John Varvatos store thanks to greedy landlords–for the launch of Johnny Ramone’s posthumous memoir, “Commando.” Johnny’s widow, Linda, is touting the book, and Bebe was joined by rock elite including Elvis Costello, Bob Gruen. Mick Rock, Glen Ballard, and Legs McNeil. Long live the Ramones! Bebe’s terrific new album is available on line http://www.bebebuell.org/
Madonna Pumps Up Album Sales Artificially– MDNA is DOA
Madonna‘s “MDNA” album is expected be the number 1 album in the country this week. Final numbers will come in later today.
But in fact, Lionel Richie, with nearly 200,000 copies of his “Tuskegee” album sold–his best debut in 20 years or m0re–could post a valid complaint. It turns out that a hefty number of “MDNA” albums weren’t sold the usual way. Madonna’s label, Interscope, and Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, bundled the album with her ticket sales. For every ticket sold online to Madonna’s upcoming shows, purchasers automatically receive a copy of “MDNA.” They get a link to a free purchase on ITunes, or they can send in their mailing address for a physical CD. It doesn’t matter if the concert ticket is $52 or $350. It’s a smart marketing move for Interscope. It unnaturally inflates sales, and uses “MDNA” for what albums have become–souvenirs, or loss leaders.
The real money is in the live show anyway. No one knows yet how many of “MDNA” sales will be attributed to the Ticketmaster giveaway, but numbers will probably be broken out in the next couple of days.
Here’s the wording from Ticketmaster’s website: Get “MDNA” with your Ticket- Madonna is having a huge party and everyone’s invited. For every ticket purchased online, you’ll receive your choice of a digital or physical copy of Madonna’s new album MDNA. Prior to the album release on 3/26, you’ll receive an email from Ticketmaster with redemption instructions. If you purchase your tickets on or after 3/26, you’ll receive your email within 48 hours. Offer is valid for United States residents & events only. Please note: This offer is not valid for tickets purchased through Official Platinum Seats or TicketExchange.
This is not the first time this has been tried. In the past, both Bon Jovi and Tom Petty had “bundles” with CDs and tickets. They just weren’t as successful. One source tells me that their pick up rates weren’t necessarily that high. “Not everyone takes the CD,” says the source, although it seems unlikely that customers who want a ticket to see an artist don’t also want their new music– as it’s already included in the price of admission.
Billboard wrote about this not too long ago. “This sort of ticket/album promotion has been used in the recent past by such acts as Bon Jovi and Tom Petty. The latter’s “Mojo” album saw a No. 2 debut on July 3, 2010 — thanks to a fair number of customers who got the album via a ticket purchase. The same goes for Bon Jovi’s 2007 No. 1 album “Lost Highway.” The only sales that will count towards Billboard’s charts are those where the customer opted to receive the album.”Information Not Found | Billboard.com
Is it fair to artists on the chart who didn’t “bundle”? Last year, retailers and others objected when amazon.com did a 99 cent promotion with Lady Gaga for her “Born this Way” album. But Interscope (again Interscope) sold their bulk of CDs in first two weeks. The amazon promotion inflated Gaga’s sales by 440,000 copies to 1.1 million. And then sales tapered off. The Richie album, by the way, is “hot.” So the real test will be whether “MDNA” has legs beyond the promotion.
Secret Emails Show How Rock Hall Shafted Inductee Laura Nyro’s Son
I told you a couple of weeks ago how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–with over $90 million in assets according to its form 990–wouldn’t invite Laura Nyro’s only son to its April 14th induction ceremonies in Cleveland. Gil Bianchini is Nyro’s only child, and is the official heir to her estate. But Nyro–who wrote many hits like “Stoned Soul Picnic” for the Fifth Dimension and “Stoney End” for Barbra Streisand–died in 1999 of cancer. The following year, her partner, Maria Desiderio, also passed away from ovarian cancer. Desiderio turned the estate over to a friend, Patty DiLauria, who had no connection to Bianchini or, really, Nyro. She has refused to give Bianchini any of the personal possessions of Nyro’s left to her by Desiderio.
Meantime, the Rock Hall has sold Bianchini two $100 tickets in the back of the hall for the induction ceremony. Bianchini has to pay his own way to Cleveland and put himself up. Filmmaker Frazer Pennebaker, whose dad, DA Pennebaker filmed Nyro for his famous “Monterey Pop” documentary in 1968, has offered to donate $500 to Bianchini to offset his costs.
And now we have emails between Jann Wenner, who essentially controls the Rock Hall, Joel Peresman, the Rock Hall Foundation’s president, and Bette Midler, who’s performing Nyro’s songs and accepting the award on her behalf. Read from the bottom to to the top you can see Wenner asking Peresman what is going on with Nyro’s induction. Peresman replies that he’s dealing di Lauria “who I believe was Nyro’s partner”–which isn’t true–and that Nyro disinherited her son–also not true. Wenner then conveys these untruths to Midler, who is caught in the middle of this thing. If Midler remains true to form–she’s a mensch–she’ll insist that Bianchini come up on the stage and take his mother’s award. Laura Nyro wrote: “And when I die, and when I’m gone, there’ll be one child born, to carry on, carry on.” I think she meant it.
PS From the emails it looks like there’s a problem with the family of the late Freddie “Texas Cannonball” King, who’s also getting a posthumous award.
The emails:
From: Jann S Wenner
Date: Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 8:18 PM
Subject: FW: <no subject>
To: Bette Midler
This is the info you asked about.
This is a policy question for the Hall of Fame, not for the individual presenter nor the inductee’s heirs or estate.
—— Forwarded Message
From: Joel Peresman
Reply-To: Joel Peresman
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:10:49 +0000
To: Jann S Wenner
Subject: Re: <no subject>
I told you about this awhile ago along with the Freddie King family situation. We have dealt for a number of years with woman named Patty De Laura who I believe was Laura’s partner but is the person who Laura entrusted and gave her estate and all of her materials too and she dis inherited her son. Patty has always lent us things of Laura s and we are just about done on the agreement with Patty to get all of Laura s materials.We offered this fellow two tickets to attend if he wanted to but nothing to do with coming on stage. Patty is our guest but she also is not coming on stage. Sort of the same with Freddie King. Lots of people came out of the woodwork as sons and daughters but only one we have dealt with before who has materials she is giving us and will attend but not come on stage. We will need to fill Bette in on this as there won’t be a person to come on stage and “accept” the award.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
From: Jann S Wenner
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:38:52 -0400
To: Joel Peresman
Subject: <no subject>
What is the story on Laura Nyro’s son. Is he being excluded from the ceremony? Tell me what’s up.
http://blogs.forbes.com/rogerfriedman/wp-admin/post.php?post=1133&action=edit&message=1
Sting’s Rainforest Auction Preview: Madonna, Springsteen Specials
Tuesday night’s Rainforest Foundation show and dinner will feature some very cool auction items. Here’s a preview. If you haven’t gotten a ticket to this amazing evening at Carnegie Hall, it may be too late. Elton John, James Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, and of course Sting will be performing–as well as Meryl Streep. who’s going to sing her heart out. Revlon is underwriting the event, and Trudie Styler is the masterful producer.
Here’e the auction preview:
Bid on a rare rock ‘n roll treasure – a Gibson Acoustic Electric J-200 Custom Sunburst Guitar –
from Keith Richards’ personal collection and signed by both Keith & Mick Jagger !
WHO’S THE BOSS?
You will be, when you become the proud owner of a signed Fender Telecaster
by New Jersey’s famous son Bruce Springsteen!
The winner will receive four VIP tickets to Madonna’s sold-out concert
at Yankee Stadium on September 8, 2012
PLUS:
•One parking space at the venue
• Access for four to an exclusive, pre-concert party
• Official tour program
• Exclusive tour gift
• Specially designed concert shirt
• Limited edition tour poster