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Mad Men: New Episode Titles Suggest a Fast 1965

Roger Friedman
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Mad Men: New Episode Titles Suggest a Fast 1965

“Mad Men” already flipped through most of 1964. At the end of episode 3 this Sunday, it’s New Year’s Eve 1965.

Now new episode titles worry me. How fast will we go through ’65? Episode 8, of 13, airing on September 12th, is called “The Summer Man.”

But before that, new additions to the “Mad Men” collection include: “The Suitcase,” “The Beautiful Girls,” and “Hands and Knees.” That takes us through Episode 10, with three left still not shot or titled for public consumption.

Meantime, as I reported yesterday, creator Matt Weiner makes his first reference to “Bewitched” this weekend. If you don’t know “Bewitched,” the whole witch business with Samantha and Endorra was not the main story. The real business at hand was the McMahon-Tate Advertising agency, the saga of Darrin Stephens trying to please his clients and his boss, Larry Tate. This all took place in real time back in 1964-70. Larry was often parodied on “thirtysomething.” But on “Mad Men,” the characters are presumably watching the show, and it’s about them. Meta, meta.

Even Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House Can’t Save Warner Music

Roger Friedman
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Even Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House Can’t Save Warner Music

Did you miss the quarterly report from Edgar Bronfman‘s Warner Music this morning? Surprise! They lost a lot of money, had few hits or releases, and made a lot of weird pronouncements.

The excuse for a drop in millions for revenue? “A light release schedule.” Uh huh. But Warner Music did recently announce that Hugh Laurie, the British actor who stars in TV’s “House,” is recording a New Orleans blues album for them. Laurie will follow in the great tradition of other TV stars of the past like William Shatner and David Soul in making important and lasting music.

Bronfman has only reason to be excited about the 4th quarter, which he’s now in: Linkin Park. Their new release will be WMG’s sole hit. Also coming: a dreaded Motown album from Phil Collins, and a new release from Eric Clapton. Otherwise, WMG continues to dine out on Zac Brown, an artist no one east of the Mississippi has ever heard of, and Avenged Sevenfold, which is number 1 this week in its debut but will disappear quickly before Labor Day.

Bronfman made his usual gobbledy-gook comments during the conference call’s interview with analysts. He still can’t say what people at Warner Records do all day. But are there any people left? According to Warner’s SEC filing today:

“The current-quarter operating loss included $9 million of severance charges ($7 million in Recorded Music and $2 million in Corporate) compared to $3 million of severance charges in the prior-year quarter ($2 million in Recorded Music and $1 million in Corporate) (the “Severance Charges”). “

American Idol’s Lythgoe: “Paula is the Glue” — from March 8, 2010

Roger Friedman
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American Idol’s Lythgoe: “Paula is the Glue” — from March 8, 2010

On Monday night, March 8th, I ran into former “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe at Soho House in Beverly Hills.

I asked Lythgoe about the “American Idol” hosts. He told me that he still thought Sir Elton John was the best choice to replace Simon Cowell.

“He’s absolutely it,” said Lythgoe, who also said he though Ellen DeGeneres was still warming up and has yet to show her full potential. He obviously sensed then that she wasn’t a keeper.

And he missed Paula Abdul. “She was the glue that held it together, wasn’t she?” he said wistfully.

Lythgoe wanted Abdul back then, and he wants her back now. It’s sort of instructive to think that Lythgoe has regained control of the show and that this is his agenda. What exactly that means for rumors about Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler is unclear.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2010/03/11/20100311american-idol-producer-elton-still-best-simon-replacement

The Rascals Will Reunite for Tour: It’s A Beautiful Morning

Roger Friedman
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The Rascals Will Reunite for Tour: It’s A Beautiful Morning

The Rascals –one of the greatest rock vocal groups of all time– are getting ready to reunite for a massive tour next year, I am told.

The famous group has not been together since the beginning of the 1970s. What happened? Lots of ego trouble, and infighting. But this past April, Little Steven van Zandt brought the foursome together for a rare appearance at New York’s Tribeca Grill.

The occasion was to raise money for the Kristen Ann Carr Foundation, which is run in memory of the late daughter of rock writer Dave Marsh and his wife, Bruce Springsteen’s co-manager Barbara Carr.

Since then, the Rascals turned up at a Grammy screening of Joe Mardin‘s movie about his late legendary producer father Arif Mardin–who made all those glorious Rascals records. The Rascals, I’m told, have signed a management contract with van Zandt are finally ready to make some music.

The Rascals are Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Dino Danelli, and Gene Cornish. Their dates of operation were 1965-1972, although their biggest hits came in 1967 and 1968. Among them: “Good Lovin’,” “It’s a Beautiful Morning,” “How Can I Be Sure.” “People Gotta Be Free,” “Groovin’,” and “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore.”

The New York born and based group was one of the main acts on Atlantic Records during its heyday. Their records were produced by Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Ahmet Ertegun. The records were so good that the Rascals’ greatest hits, called “Time Peace,” was one of the best selling LPs of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vLX4wKPBuY

Don Hill’s Famous NYC Rock Club Getting Glammed Up

Roger Friedman
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Don Hill’s Famous NYC Rock Club Getting Glammed Up

I first reported exclusively that Don Hill‘s famous New York City rock club was going to be glamorized back on…April 19th.

Others followed without credit.

Well now I am told the deal is done. Nur Khan, of Kenmare Restaurant, and formerly the Jane Hotel, not to mention a long list of beloved New York hotspots, is taking over.

The new Don Hill’s will still retain its funkiness. But Khan has big plans to turn it into a real hot spot. Currently New York is a nighttime desert.

Anyway, here’s the old story from April. And more to come…

http://tinyurl.com/35t6z9z

Wyclef Jean: Haiti Prez Candidate Still Has An Album to Release

Roger Friedman
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Wyclef Jean: Haiti Prez Candidate Still Has An Album to Release

Wyclef Jean is going to announce his candidacy for president of Haiti tomorrow night (Thursday) on “Larry King Live.” It’s not a well kept secret.

At the same time, Jean has an album ready to go for Sony/Columbia called “The Haiti Experience.” He’s been working on it for a while. It’s his last album on his Sony contract.

So the question is, is Wyclef willing to suspend his music career for 5- 10 years to rescue Haiti? “The Haiti Experience” may be his last CD for a long, long time.

It’s so interesting how this story is developing. Who knew that Wyclef Jean never applied for a U.S. passport? All this time he’s retained his Haitian citizenship. He’s traveled the world on a Haiti passport.

But this is clearly what Wyclef was meant to do. Fighting with Lauryn Hill over the Fugees for the rest of the his life would have been a waste of time. It’s been clear to anyone who’s listened to Clef speak on politics, or freestyle rap, that he was destined for big things. His lyrics were never about greed and self love, and ho’s. He was always trying to figure out his role in the world, and in relation to Haiti.

By the way, despite efforts to knock him down with hyperbole and tabloid reporting, Wyclef is in good shape. All the accounting troubles at his charity have been resolved. His dealings with the IRS are quite amicable as well.

Barbra Streisand Gets MusiCares Honor; Gave Away $1.7 Mil in 2008

Roger Friedman
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Barbra Streisand Gets MusiCares Honor; Gave Away $1.7 Mil in 2008

The Grammy Foundation’s sister organization, MusiCares, has named Barbra Streisand its person of the year for 2011.

Streisand will get the star treatment on Friday, February 11th at the music industry dinner. Usually lots of big names come and perform the honoree’s hits. In this case, the night should go on forever.

Streisand follows in the footsteps lately of Sting, James Taylor, Neil Young, Aretha Franklin and Don Henley.

The Person of the Year is honored for being a humanitarian. In this case, the award could not be better chosen. I’ve written before about Barbra’s charitable efforts. She’s really put her money were her mouth is, literally. In 2008 alone she gave away nearly $1.7 million. That’s clean, with just one fee–$100,000–to her friend, Margery Tabankin, who’s the administrator. She’s also committed $4 million to Cedars Sinai Hospital.

Meantime, we can only imagine who’ll be lining up to sing “The Way We Were” (please get Gladys Knight, folks), “Stoney End,” “Guilty” (Barry Gibb, hello?). “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Neil Diamond was honored two years ago), and “People” (Jennifer Hudson killed on this last year at Clive Davis‘s party).

Score a big one for Dana Tomarken at MusiCares. This will be some event.

Beyonce’s Hit Writer Gets a Hit of Her Own

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce’s Hit Writer Gets a Hit of Her Own

Eons ago I broke the story that Beyonce‘s hit song, “If I Were A Boy,” was written by a ghost writer.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,437823,00.html#2

BC Jean, now 21, wrote the song with a producer friend. Then the producer sold the song to Beyonce behind Jean’s back. There was a scuffle over credits. BC Jean wound up getting $250,000 and a recording contract with RCA/J Records. Beyonce got to pretend she had something to do with writing the song.

Now at last comes BC Jean’s first single and it’s a smash. The song is called “Just a Guy.” It’s full of hooks. Thanks to the good work of Clive Davis protege Larry Jackson. This guy knows what he’s doing.

BC Jean’s single comes on September 14th. The album follows in early 2011.

You can also see her perform “If I Were a Boy” here.

Mad Men Makes Its First Bewitched Joke This Week

Roger Friedman
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1
Mad Men Makes Its First Bewitched Joke This Week

“Mad Men” episode 3, Season 4: the show makes its first “Bewitched” joke. Harry notices Don has a layover in Los Angeles on his way to Acapulco. He says he should go to the Brown Derby and find “Bill Asher.” Harry says: “He’ll probably cast you.”

Well, William Asher was the producer of “Bewitched” and husband of star Elizabeth Montgomery. Maybe Don could be Darrin’s evil twin? The clip is on the AMC website.

http://tinyurl.com/299oopd

Meanwhile, Fancast is now showing a different clip from the same episode, called “The Good News.” Apparently the ‘good news’ is that Joan is still capable of getting pregnant. She visits her ob/gyn and discusses having children with that idiot husband who’s now on his way to Vietnam. Why, Joan, why? Divorce him! Matt, kill him! Whatever. Joan also reveals she’s had two abortions. I don’t care. Whatever Joan does is ok with me.

http://tinyurl.com/2e9qvcc

I wrote in the last “Mad Men” item that Joel Murray was so good as Freddie. I didn’t realize he’s Bill and Brian Doyle Murray’s younger brother. He was also a regular on “Dharma and Greg.” He’s great. More Freddie please!

Madonna: Did Kabbalah Send Former Honcho A Warning?

Roger Friedman
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1
Madonna: Did Kabbalah Send Former Honcho A Warning?

I told you a few days ago that Madonna’s unusual pay as you go religion, the Kabbalah Center, added some ominous wording to its 2008 federal tax filing about “whistle blowers.” The Kabbalah Center, and its offshoot charity Raising Malawi, stated Whistleblower policy was being developed for traitors.

Now sources in the Kabbalah Center world tell me that the “whistle blower” wording may have been a warning to former honcho Phillippe van den Bossche. They may be right.

van den Bossche was a higher up in the Kabbalah/Raising Malawi system, earning around $133,000 a year on the books. But he gained notoriety last year when he suddenly quit to be with Tracy Anderson, Madonna’s trainer, in New York. News of his resignation came in September 2009. The federal tax forms with the Whistleblower warning weren’t submitted to the IRS until December.

What did van den Bossche know? According to sources, van den Bossche–on behalf of Madonna– tried to get a proper accounting for the Kabbalah Center’s main charity, Spirituality for Kids or SFK (and this year mysteriously re-branded as Success for Kids). Ugly confrontations went back and forth between van den Bossche and SFK’s accountant at the Kabbalah Center. In the end, millions of unreported dollars were said to have been discovered.

Interestingly, van den Bossche’s resignation from Raising Malawi, Madonna’s charity that she leads for Kabbalah, was rescinded. van den Bossche now runs Madonna’s end of it from New York, where he lives with Anderson. But he is gone from SFK and Kabbalah. “They’re very afraid of him,” says an insider of Kabbalah’s leader Karen Berg, her adult sons, and her close aide de camp, Moshe “Muki” Oppenheimer. “He knows everything.”

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