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Sony is finally getting to release “The Gold Experience” featuring Prince’s number 1 hit from 1995, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.”
It’s streaming right now on Spotify and other platforms! See below.
Back when Prince left Warner Bros. to become a glyph, he released “Most Beautiful Girl” and “The Gold Experience” through an indie label. The label, owned by Al Bell, the legend of Stax Records, had the rights so the song — which was a late career number 1 smash — remained outside of the Prince catalog, as did the album.
But now it seems the song and the album it came from have been reunited — streaming right now and physically on June 18 on CD and LP. Sony is even doing a special gold double LP pressing on Legacy. On Amazon,the original CD sells for eighty-seven dollars!!!! So glad I bought it back in ’95. There was never a vinyl pressing. This is a big score for Legacy.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today that the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards will be an international affair, with celebrations planned in both London and Los Angeles on March 13th, 2022.
The press release doesn’t say it, but this is a decided move on the awards chess board in relation to the British Oscars, or BAFTA. Those awards are being given out a few hours earlier in London.
Originally, the CCA’s were supposed to take place on January 9th. But the pandemic was raging and the date had to be moved. Now actors who were nominated by both groups have to choose between Los Angeles, and being seen all over the world, or London, and few people knowing about it. I’d pick L.A.
Hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer, the star-studded Critics Choice Awards gala will broadcast LIVE in the U.S. on The CW and TBS on Sunday, March 13 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT – check local listings) and will also be seen in many countries around the globe.
The Los Angeles awards ceremony will be held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel, while stars in London will gather at the Savoy Hotel for a late night soiree that will be an integral part of the live telecast.
“The role of the Critics Choice Awards in the entertainment world has grown exponentially over the past quarter century,” notes CCA CEO Joey Berlin. “When the pandemic made us move our show date from its traditional kick off in January into the heart of the awards season, we felt the need to add a second stage in London to make sure that all our honorees would have the opportunity to participate in the live telecast. Two parties, two networks, two hosts – it’s going to be a heck of a night – on two continents!”
As previously announced, Billy Crystal will receive the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala, and Halle Berry will be presented with the SeeHer Award.
It’s been about two weeks since Carly Simon was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
So where’s she been?
Recovering from knee surgery. Ouch!
I finally caught up with her today. How’s she doing? “Coming along, I have two physical therapy sessions a day!” she said.
Luckily, she’s got a lot of people around her including son Ben Taylor, who lives nearby on Martha’s Vineyard, and her boyfriend. Dr. Richard, of 16 years.
What about the Rock Hall? She literally was having the surgery when the announcement was made. “I can’t believe all the support I’ve gotten,” she told me. “Emails, letters, phone calls. People can’t believe I wasn’t already in.”
It can only be hoped that the nominating committee will choose to include her with the five or six finalists this time around. Carly’s official career is now in its 52nd year, believe it or not. (She started young.) Her first hit was the haunting ballad, sweeping anthem, “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard it Should Be” in 1971. She followed that with “Anticipation” in 1972– fifty years ago right now.
But it was the following year that Simon released her landmark album, “No Secrets,” with “You’re So Vain” and “The Right Thing to Do,” produced by Richard Perry. That was also the year she married James Taylor. From then on there were many top 10 hits including “Mockingbird” with Taylor, “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain,” the James Bond Oscar nominated “Nobody Does it Better,” “You Belong to Me,” “Jesse,” “Coming Around Again,” and the Academy Award winning “Let the River Run.”
There was also an opera “Romulus Hunt,” and three albums of standards that became classics: “Torch,” “My Romance,” and “Moonlight Serenade.”
Carly Simon has been an inspiration to so many female stars in recent generations. Janet Jackson sampled “You’re So Vain” for her hit, “Son of a Gun.” Taylor Swift asked her to a guest star on her tour a few years ago. In 2004, a whole movie starring Brittany Murphy, called “Little Black Book,” was designed around Simon’s songs.
Simon is the only major singer songwriter of her generation to be in the Rock Hall yet. Carole King came in this year. James Taylor and Joni Mitchell got in earlier. So the time is now, now, now.
Carly told me she’s hoping to make it to Clive Davis’s 90th birthday in April in New York. It’s all about the knee, of course. I have every confidence she can do it. Four years ago she ventured out to Los Angeles for Davis’s pre-Grammy gala and blew everyone away. In June 2020 she and her band appeared on Clive’s Zoom gala live from her barn and performed “It Was So Easy” and “Anticipation.”
But, as the song says, these are the good old days.
You can cast your vote for Carly on the Rock Hall site here.
The big Valentine’s Day rush was great for Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me.” The rom com went up to $3 million on Monday.
But the fall off yesterday was an ouch.
“Marry Me” dropped 66% on Tuesday, to just a tad over $1 million. That’s less than it made on any of the preceding three day weekend.
Now “Marry Me” has $12 million total. Luckily, it’s low budget enough that it might not hurt so bad. But the rest of the story has not been told.
We can watch “Marry Me” on Peacock, by the way. And why not? The good news is that the title track of the album is number 5 on iTunes, and the album is number 12. It ain’t over til it’s over!
Larry Charles has directed a two part documentary about Larry David, airing on March 1st on HBO. Charles is the long time director of both “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I’m a little surprised Robert Weide isn’t involved. But this is it. Will they include clips from “Sour Grapes”?
Here’s the description:
For over three decades, award-winning producer/writer/comedian Larry David has been one of TV’s defining talents. Now, this insightful two-part documentary finds the 74-year-old sitting down with friend/director Larry Charles for a peek behind the proverbial curtain, as David gets candid about his personal and professional highs and lows, from his humble beginnings as an unfunny Brooklyn kid to becoming America’s favorite misanthrope. In between reflecting on his bumpy road to success – and hit series “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” – David shares his thoughts on everything from metaphysics to parenthood. Genuine, hilarious, and eye-opening, THE LARRY DAVID STORY shines a new light on the infamous cynic who remains a singular voice in comedy today.
The pleasures of “Schmigadoon” are known not only to the viewers of Apple Plus TV but also to the American Film Institute. The AFI included the the musical comedy mini series on its list of top TV show this year.
So now I’m hearing that the follow up will be called “Schmicago,” and parody the long running Kander-Ebb-Bob Fosse musical. I’m assuming “Schmicago,” like “Schmigadoon,” will run for six episodes.
Cecily Strong, who just finished a sold out run in “The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe,” stars with Keenan-Michael Key, along with Jane Krakowski, Fred Armisen, Kristen Chenoweth, Oscar nominee Ariana DeBose, Alan Cumming, Tony winner Aaron Tveit, etc. If they’re doing a take on “Chicago,” I sure hope they include Bebe Neuwirth and maybe even Catherine Zeta Jones.
Strong, meantime, returns to “Saturday Night Live” when the famed sketch show returns on Saturday, February 26th or March 5th.
We’ve seen two episodes of Season 4, and they are spectacularly inventive, witty, and charming. They drop on Friday on Amazon Prime.
Everyone is back even Jane Lynch, briefly, although it looks like she’ll be seen in future episodes since she’s desperate for Susie (Alex Borstein) to represent her again. Her show stopping scene is preceded by one with David Paymer. So you know we’re on the right track.
When we last saw Midge and Susie they’d been fired by Shy Baldwin. Midge (the sensational as ever Rachel Brosnahan) had “outed” him at the Apollo Theater, so his manager (Sterling K. Brown) axed them from the tour. Midge had used her contract as collateral for a loan with her father in law (Kevin Pollack) so she could buy back her apartment on the Upper West Side. To complicate matters, Susie — after gambling away all of Midge’s money– set fire with her sister to their dead mother’s house to collect the insurance money. Now investigators are looking to this, denying her the payment.
I’ve told you all this here, in a conventional way. Midge returns to Queens to give her parents all this bad news, but they are headed to Coney Island. She winds up telling them on the Wonder Wheel in a sequence that deserves writing and directing Emmy Awards for Daniel Palladino. It’s just brilliant and smart, and you’re grateful such a thing of beauty still exists.
This is Season 4, but it’s only 1960: “Mrs. Maisel” began in 1958. The clothes remain a character unto themselves, as does old world New York. Midge’s dad, Abe, has gone to work for then-new Village Voice as a theater critic. That’s Tony Shalhoub, curmudgeonly effervescent as always. Joel (Michael Zegen) is trying to hang on to his Chinatown nightclub. And Midge is looking for a way to restart her career after the Shy debacle. By the end of episode 2 she finds a new venue, but we are asked by Amazon to keep it a secret. At least until Saturday.
Amazon will drop two episodes a week instead of the whole bundle at once. I’m glad about this. Each installment has to be savored. What I liked about these first two episodes is that Amy Sherman Palladino and husband Daniel have tried to rein it all in without getting overly broad. “Mrs. Maisel” borders on self-parody at times because it’s become such a paradigm. The acting remains top notch. It’s a zany show, with hints of “You Can’t Take It With You” at every turn. But the quality is still there, and I can’t wait to see where all these people take us.
One spoiler: we do know that the finale takes place at Carnegie Hall because the show filmed there last year and we all know it. But what happens and who’s involved? That remains a happy mystery.
PS Kudos to the rest of the cast. Caroline Aaron is a hoot and a half as the “real” Mrs. Maisel. Marin Hinkle is warmly nutty as Midge’s mom. And nice to see Chris Eigemann as Abe’s editor at the Voice.
On Monday night, Julian Fellowes’ “Downton America” soap opera drew 604,000 viewers. Every week has seen an increase since the costume drama debuted a month ago. That’s an 11% increase over last week, although the key demo dropped 16% (maybe because of the Olympics).
As a reward, HBO has renewed the show for a second season.
The fourth episode was a decided improvement over its predecessors, that’s for sure. The first couple of installments were very clunky in their set up. They also looked not cheap exactly but poorly made. “The Gilded Age” was intended at first for NBC, and looked like it.
But episode 4 seemed a little more sure footed and less glare-y. (They’ve got to work on the lighting.) The highlights are Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, and Louise Jacobson, not to mention Morgan Spector. Baranski and Nixon almost seem like they’re in a different show, but that maybe because of their theater training.
There’s also a thrill seeing so many Broadway stars coming and going. You can’t get enough Audra McDonald. Michael Cerveris seems like he’s about to get a mystery storyline. Next week Nathan Lane makes an appearance. He’ll either chew all the chinoiserie in one bite or give us a good chuckle. It could go either way.
Best scene this week was with the two butlers from “old” and “new” money discussing the placement of table settings. A lot of times this show seems very “on the nose” but that one worked.
The Coachella Music Festival will not have any COVID restrictions for the thousands of fans who turn up for two weekends in April.
The festival is headlined by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and Kanye West aka Ye. They will likely be delivered in Zip Loc pouches to the stage, then whisked out of there to safe locales.
But the throngs of fans who attend will not be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. No one will have to wear a mask, either. According to the website:
“In accordance with local guidelines, there will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at Coachella 2022”
The website does offer a COVID warning, so they’re covered if you get it or die from it. You can’t blame Coachella, because they warned you: “COVID-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. There is an inherent and elevated risk of exposure to COVID-19 in any public place or place where people are present and there is no guarantee, express or implied, that those attending the festival will not be exposed to COVID-19”
Got that? Come at your own risk. Read the bold faced print — and I bold faced it, they didn’t:
“All attendees agree to follow festival policies (including health and safety policies) and posted instructions while at the festival. According to the CDC, older adults and people of all ages with serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk of death or severe illness from COVID-19. All attendees should evaluate their risk in determining whether to attend the festival. By entering the festival, attendees voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and confirm that they will adhere to local quarantine mandates and the CDC quarantine requirements”
Dave Davies and brother Ray, of the Kinks, have notoriously not gotten along for a hundred years. The result is that the Kinks broke up, missed hundreds of opportunities, have a catalog strewn all over the place and disorganized.
But tonight Dave says he and Ray worked together today on some Kinks video footage. From the photo, it seems no one was harmed. If only these guys could get it together before they can’t anymore. They were such a great and important group. Cross fingers to quote one of their best songs, something better is beginning.
The Holy Grail of Prince has arrived.
This sounds pretty, pretty, pretty good.
