Sunday, December 21, 2025
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Famed Author of Songs Like “Piece of My Heart” and “Twist and Shout” Gets Deserved Award in Bizarre, Off Calendar Stealth Ceremony

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Um, the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony takes place every June, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

But last night, an off calendar unadvertised event happened at 54 Below, the cabaret club below the fabled Studio 54, now Roundabout Theater.

The late Bert Berns was inducted posthumously, which is fine. Berns wrote a lot of hits including The Isley Brothers’ “Twist and Shout” and Janis Joplin’s (and Erma Franklin’s) “Piece of My Heart.” Berns was a key part of Atlantic Records in the 1960s before starting his own label, Bang Records. He died much too young, at age 37 in 1968.

Berns has major fans who never knew but support his work to this day including E Street Band leader Stevie van Zandt, who helped produce an off Broadway musical about him called “Piece of My Heart.”

van Zandt was on hand last night, along with Paul Shaffer, who hosted the event, rocker Steve Miller, and a smattering of local rock music luminaries. There were some live performances, too, by Broadway performers who’d appeared in the musical. There were also some folks from the SHOF board, but president Linda Moran was a no-show (she hasn’t missed an event since 1932), as was titular group chief Nile Rodgers, who was probably on tour somewhere exotic.

Why wasn’t Berns inducted back in June? Or even nominated? Why didn’t they wait until next June? Did they think Ahmet Ertegun would find out? It’s all very cloak and dagger. A press release insists that the SHOF regularly inducts members posthumously, but that has not been the case in the past.

Well, whatever, as they kids say. Congrats to Bert’s family. He certainly should have been in the SHOF a long time ago. His other hits include either writing or co-writing “Hang On, Sloopy,” “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” “Tell Him,” “I Want Candy,” “Cry to Me,” “I’ll Be a Liar,” “Cry Baby,” and “Heart Be Still.” 

Anyway, Erma Franklin was one of Aretha Franklin’s two very talented sisters. She recorded “Piece of My Heart” and had an R&B hit with it before Janis and Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Jane Fonda, Marisa Tomei, Rosanna Arquette, Sanaa Lathan, Mark Ruffalo Lead All Star Reading Next Month in NY of New Work by Eve Ensler

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Eve Ensler, a remarkable playwright who invented The Vagina Monologues, calls herself “V” now.

But for the purposes of publicity, most fans know her as Eve Ensler.

V has written a new work called “THIS IS CRAZY!,” a bold, funny, and moving new play to benefit The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).  The play will get a one night reading at New York’s Symphony Space in memory of someone who many of us knew and really liked, Chris Huvane.

“This is Crazy” features an extraordinary cast including Jane Fonda, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo, Sanaa Lathan, Rosanna Arquette, Lois Smith, Rachel Hilson, Olivia Oguma, Colette McDermott, Derrick Delgado, Luke Ferrari, Doireann Mac Mahon, Clarence Maclin, and Mohammad Saleem. The production, directed by V, brings together the acclaimed artists for a series of monologues, each offering a raw, personal perspective on mental illness and the emotional and social complexity of the human experience. 

“THIS IS CRAZY!” is produced by Ruth-Ann Huvane, mental health advocate and NAMI National Board Member. Chris was her brother-in-law, a respected Hollywood manager and partner at Management 360, renowned for his warmth and dedication to his clients. He managed a high-profile roster including Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie, Julianne Moore, Zoey Deutch, Zach Braff, and Henry Winkler. He is sorely missed.

Tickets are now on sale for the benefit performance here. To learn more about NAMI, THIS IS CRAZY!, or ways to support, visit Nami.org/ThePlay

Legendary Judy Collins Shakes Up Cafe Carlyle with Intimate Show of Songs, and Inside Stories About Dylan, Leonard Cohen

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Judy Collins is at New York’s famed Cafe Carlyle for the next three nights, and then all next week.

She is a legend you don’t want to miss, whether she’s singing the original version of “Both Sides Now” or telling stories about Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

Before she sings Cohen’s “Suzanne,” she reminisces about how she literally grabbed and recorded the song the minute after he played it for her in 1965.

Dylan she remembers as Robert Zimmerman, a skinny kid in the mid west who sang Woody Guthrie songs and wasn’t very good. Years later in Greenwich Village, he asked Collins why she wasn’t writing her own songs after having hits with everyone else’s. That changed everything.

By the way, there is no retirement in sight. She’s trying out a song called “Dreaming About Democracy,” which she just co-wrote. She received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album in 2023 for her album “Spellbound,” which was her first to feature all-original material.

Collins says she’s 86 but doesn’t look it or sound it. She appears with her guitar and a pianist on the Cafe Carlyle stage and transfixes the audience. She is also a well trained classical pianist who is mesmerizing when she sits down to play a couple of her own compositions including the extraordinary, “The Blizzard,” about love and loss in her home state of Colorado.

It’s the voice, though. It’s a clarion bell, that rings rich with colors and subtext. She has high notes that still thrill. She told me before the show that after she performed at the Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a woman said: “We’ve never heard anyone sing like that in the Temple.”

You bet they hadn’t. Collins loves trying her legendary voice out at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, too, where it soars like an eagle through the cavernous church.

Collins has never gone away, but she’s having a Renaissance right now. She tours and does gigs for at least two thirds of every year. Her show at the Carlyle is a mix of humorous and sometimes disarming stories mixed with the songs, like “Send in the Clowns” and “Amazing Grace.”

Collins has her own amazing grace, connecting with the audience — which by the way had a lot of young people. Taylor Swift, all the other songbirds that now crowd the charts and stadiums? Judy Collins is the blueprint, and don’t forget it.

Justin Bieber Segway Rides in Underwear as No Singles Chart from New Album, “Swag II” Sells Just 6,000 Downloads This Week

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Whoever’s managing Justin Bieber has no control at all.

Bieber has now released a single album and then a double album containing the single album.

That’s 44 tracks. Only one, “Daisies,” has had some attention.

But no tracks from the second “Swag” album have charted anywhere after nearly a week in release.

“Swag II” opened at number 1 on Friday morning last week and is now number 8. “Swag I” is gone from the top 100.

Hitsdailydouble.com says “Swag II” had just 6,000 downloads this week.

Meantime, Bieber’s social media posts are starting to remind us of Brittany Spears’ most concerning work.

In the latest series, Bieber is riding around on a Segway wearing nothing but his underwear.

In other handmade videos, he’s sort of singing karoake of himself in what looks like a cheesy disco. His voice — he’s no Tony Bennett, let’s put it that way. It sounds like a cat is being strangled.

Where is all this going?

Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Assassinated During Utah College Speaking Engagement, Trump Announces on Social Media

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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been assassinated at a Utah college during a speaking engagement. 

Kirk, 31, went around the country raising the temperature at college campuses rallying young people to the ultra right. He was an acolyte of Donald Trump.

— see below: Kirk was already dead at 4:17pm Eastern time per @walshfreedom–

Trump just wrote on his social media: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”

When Kirk was shot, it was said he was in critical condition. But another right wing activist, @Joewalsh, wrote about an hour earlier:

“He was like a son to me. Even though we were on opposite sides of the political divide these past 7yrs, I still considered him a son. I’m broken for him & his family. And I’m scared for this country. Neither side has a monopoly on political violence. But most people on both sides won’t acknowledge that. And if we don’t get off this dangerous road of hate, America will not stay together.”

A lot of people who read this site have different political views than Kirk. But this was a human being with a family. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in political discourse. Condolences to his family.

For more information, head to cnn.com.

Frightening Box Office: “The Conjuring: Last Rites” Speeds to $100 Million After Just 6 Days in Theaters

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Fastest movie to make $100 this year?

Has to be “The Conjuring: Last Rites.”

Today the horror film starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson hits $100 million. It’s been six days since it debuted.

It’s just a cheap horror film, but obviously “Last Rites” has fans. Not critics, who have it at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not audiences, who gave it a C+ with 79%.

Never undersell cheap thrills. And these days, anything to take our minds off of rising grocery and gas prices, the threat of war, a lying White House. Wait, is it 1973 all over again?

Are these really last rites? Doubtful. Somehow, “The Conjuring” will rise again, no doubt.

Hilary Duff Getting the Star Treatment from Atlantic Records Despite Selling Only 2,040 Downloads This Year

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Strange things are going on at Atlantic Records.

A record label that needs to develop new artists is putting a lot of time and money into Hilary Duff.

The 37 year old celebrity hasn’t released a record in 10 years. She was never a big pop star, but when she was younger Duff had a couple of hits 15 years ago.

Duff is best known as the star of TV shows like “Lizzie McGuire” and “Younger.”

But a singing sensation?

According to Luminate, Duff has had 2,080 downloads in 2025 thus far. All her sales, including streaming, bring her to around 28,000. There has been no crushing mandate for a new Hilary Duff record.

According to the blitz of reports about her new deal with Atlantic, Duff also has a documentary in the works. What is it about? The trials and tribulations of having a nice smile?

I don’t get it. I do see she has the force of Creative Artists Agency behind her. Someone is putting up money to make all this happen. I do wish her well. She’s a bright addition to any sitcom. She should have one of her own.

But the big deal they’re making of the music contract? Headscratcher. There are so many deserving musicians out there with careers that need promoting. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone — whatever they are — actually Tweeted today: “Hilary Duff Returning to Music Career. Thank God.”

WTF? I must have missed something here. Does this mean Lindsay Lohan is next?

Report: Barron Trump, Still Unseen, Living in Washington DC at White House, Maybe Attending College Classes in New York Remotely

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Does anyone remotely know what’s going on?

The NYPost reports that Barron Trump is not attending “another NYU campus,” as previously reported.

The Post — which gets fed by Trump PR — says Barron is living in the White House.

So he can’t possibly be attending classes at NYU’s Stern School of Business unless it’s all being done by live video.

Maybe he’s taking a correspodence class.

It’s impossible to commute from Washington to DC even three times a week even by private plane. Even if your father has stolen billions from the American people.

The Post also says Barron’s done that “to be close” to his parents, and that Melania is taking a big role in being First Lady.

The former Slovenian model is rarely if ever seen with Trump. She didn’t even go with him to the US Open. She makes rare appearances, and waves like she’s Eva Peron on a balcony.

As for Barron, this is a sad story. You can actually feel bad for him, whatever his personal problems are, he has no opportunity to be a college kid.

Kennedy Center Staff Numbers Drop by 18%: 31 Top Jobs Open That No One Wants, From Publicity Director to, Shuttle Bus Driver

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Exclusive: Evidently no one wants to work at the Kennedy Center.

They’re currently listing 31 jobs on LinkedIn, from Senior Vice President Artistic Programming ($340,000 per year) to Shuttle Bus Driver ($19.25/hour) and everything in between.

Director of Public Relations for the Center in general is open. So is Director of Production and Orchestra Operations for the National Symphony. There are a number of jobs open with the NSO, and several in accounting for the whole operation.

You’d think in this job market in the arts there would be candidates lined up around the block for all these jobs.

But since Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, not only have ticket sales and subscriptions dropped. The Center is clearly not a desirable option for qualified staff.

For that first job, only 88 people have applied since it was posted, only eight today. That’s not much for such a high paying position. And no progress has been made finding a new Director of Public Relations, Non Classical. The job was posted at least a month ago. Today, 1 person applied.

No one wants to work there. According to a LinkedIn chart, staffing was steady for a long time around 875 people. Today it’s down to 730. That’s all due to Donald Trump, job provider.

New Movie Announcement: “Travolta comes to ‘Ed’ following work on projects like Die Hart, Mob Land, Paradise City, and Gotti”

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John Travolta can only dig down to the center of the Earth for his next bad movie.

Deadline.com says it’s called “Ed,” and it’s about AI chauffeur who runs people down.

Chet Hanks is his co-star.

Deadline writes, with a straight face: “Travolta comes to Ed following work on projects like Die Hart, Mob Land, Paradise City, and Gotti.”

I did a spit take. That is dry humor.

Going on right now in Atlanta:
“Currently in production in the Georgia capital, the film centers on a sentient AI chauffeur bot that escapes the lab and begins killing reckless drivers under the guise of public safety. Its grief-stricken creator must stop the carnage before the machine evolves into the embodiment of AI gone bad.”

You cannot make this stuff up.