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Donald Trump, coward in chief, refuses to participate in a second Presidential debate because it will be virtual. He’s told the Commission on Presidential debates he won’t waste his time. Instead he’ll hold a rally somewhere to infect his followers.
Trump also said in a phone interview this morning with state run Fox News that he hasn’t been tested lately for COVID-19 because he’s “clean.”
Why won’t he debate? Because he doesn’t want the issue of his non payment of taxes to come up. Or to discuss his hospitalization for COVID. Or the fact that COVID has spread through the White House, even to his non-Earthling Nazi aide Stephen Miller.
Trump is also making green screen videos to make it seem like he’s outside the White House, when in fact he’s inside. It’s so fake, it’s embarrassing.
If you’re from New York and grew up in the late 60s and early 70s, Harry Chapin a big name. When all the singer songwriters like Carole King and James Taylor were springing up from the west coast, Harry Chapin was our guy. This was just around the time of Billy Joel and “Piano Man,” when Harry–who no one had heard of– sprung his six minute single, “Taxi,” about getting high in a cab, driving around and running into an old lover, actually became a hit record.
Now a producer named Rick Korn has made a comprehensive and moving documentary about Harry– who died in a terrible car crash in 1981 on the Long Island Expressway– called “When in Doubt, Do Something.” The documentary plays the Hamptons Film Festival on Saturday and is also available for streaming on the festival’s website.
I have a particular interest in Harry Chapin. Around 1991, I went to a wedding where his father, Jim, a famous jazz drummer, was playing with his band. I met all the Chapins who were around at the time and even got them to play at a friend’s wedding in 1992. Harry had already been gone a decade, but I was fascinated by this family of folk singers and talented musicians who grew up in Manhattan and Brooklyn and had American roots back to the 1600s.
Harry was not just a singer with many hits like “Taxi” and “Cat’s Cradle,” story songs. He was also a political activist. His involvement in World Hunger Year or WHY with Father Bill Ayres (not the leader of the Weather Underground) is well known in the New York area. (Bill Ayres had a Sunday night radio on WPLJ for decades that was legendary.) With Ayres, Harry became a devoted activist to the cause of eradicating hunger. His death in 1981 stopped him short of things like Live Aid, but it turns out Bob Geldof — who’s in the film — points to him as a major influence. (Harry’s manager was Ken Kragen, who helped Geldof produce that event and “We Are the World.”) There is also rare footage of a young Bruce Springsteen in concert reminiscing about Harry’s enthusiasm and perseverance.
Well, when you think about it, of course. Springsteen and Billy Joel — also in the film — are considered our tri-state troubadours who made it big. But Harry Chapin, if he’d lived into the media-friendly 80s, would have been the third man in that trio. They all hit at basically the same time and had similar social issue interests.
I don’t know how Korn put this all together because “When in Doubt” covers a large area and a diverse group of people including Darryl McDaniels of RunDMC. I didn’t know that Harry was going to be a documentary filmmaker. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1968. (His uncle was Richard Leacock, who knew?) I also didn’t know that helped out Michael Moore before “Roger and Me,” as a fellow activist. Korn really has a lot to map out, he doesn’t even get into the fact that these Chapins are distant cousins of Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Korn uses some clumsy devices to link a lot of things together, but in the end it all works. He’s got two big stories running like steam engines on different tracks: Harry the singer and pop star, and Harry the serious activist. Chapin was only 38 when he died, leaving 5 kids and a widow, as well as four brothers and band that wanted to keep his legacy alive, as well as Ayers and the whole hunger-poverty movement. That’s a lot.
And then there is the music: there’s a nice section on “Cat’s in the Cradle,” how it’s been referred to or used in films and TV ever since the 70s, not to mention all the other songs. (I used to love “WOLD.”) But again, you see how all the social activist work Harry did resonates today. Hunger and food deprivation has only gotten worse, but Harry left behind mechanisms to fight it.
The Hamptons drive in screening on Saturday is sold out. I almost wish I could be there since the Chapins — when I met them– lived in nearby Sag Harbor. It’s going to be quite a homecoming. I hope this film gets a great distributor or platform and a lot of play. Everyone needs to see it, and to know about Harry Chapin. I can’t even imagine what he’d think of what we’re living through now. It would break his heart.
PS I don’t know how to fit this all in the review, but Harry had a lovely friendship with Pat Benatar, who’s in the film, she’s terrific. He also grew up with Robert Lamm of the group Chicago, also in the film. And there’s rare footage of Harry and his brothers on a folk music show on Canadian television on the same stage as a very young Joni Mitchell.
Kamala Harris certainly fulfilled all of my expectations tonight, and my guess is I’m not alone. I actually clapped and wanted to stand up during her responses to Mike Pence in the only vice presidential debate tonight.
Susan Page of USA Today did a much better job at controlling the candidates during the debate, although she had a lot of help from Harris. The California senator routinely stared Pence down and said, “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.” She would not allowed him to interrupt her.
Even better, Harris at least twice told Pence “I will not be lectured” as he lied about her career as a prosecutor, among other things. Harris has a great side eye, and she gave it to Pence many times. Pence, on the other hand, was busy overtalking Harris and Page, who admonished him many times.
Harris does not suffer fools gladly. Her disdain for Pence was clear, and also amusing. Pence seemed like a sad old man from another century, and culture. He can’t compete with her. And he didn’t.
Pence also suffered from some physical issues. As many on Twitter noted, his eye seemed very red, maybe suggesting an infection. He also had a fly land on his shellacked head and stay there for a bit. It was unclear if the fly was trying to get in or head out of his head.
I guess we’re looking at the syndicated TV ratings now like they’re the I Ching, just to see if Ellen DeGeneres will capsize.
She won’t. So forget it.
Second week back after a rocky first week, “The Ellen Show” was up 50% in total viewers, up to 1.2 million. It was the third highest ranked talk show, after “Dr. Phil” and “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” The audience doesn’t care about the toxic backstage stuff. “The Ellen Show” will keep growing. So much for that.
BTW she ranked fourth in the key demo, up 67% from week 1. Listen, Ellen made mistakes but she’s not stupid. She’s back, with a vengeance.
I’d be more concerned about Drew Barrymore. She was down 14% in her second week. The show grabbed 600,000 viewers. The show she replaced in many markets, “Hot Bench,” was steady at 1.7 million. Fans like my mother just went and found it wherever it’s playing. “Drew” seems like she’s taken too much Prozac. She also says mean things about her mother, which isn’t nice at age 45. Get over it, already.
Me? I’m really keen on Tamron Hall, who’s holding steady, doing a consistent, good job, has a raison d’etre, and was just renewed for a third season. Tamron was screwed by NBC and let go to make way for Megyn Kelly, who everyone hated and cost the network $69 million. Tamron got the last laugh.
R&B legend Sam Moore of Sam & Dave tells me that Johnny Nash, who died this week at age 80, wrote his first hit for the duo long before they got to Altantic Records and had “Soul Man,” and so on.
The song was called “So Nice While It Lasted,” and it charted in 1963 with an A side called “You Ain’t No Big Thing, Baby.” This was when Sam & Dave were signed to Morris Levy’s Roulette Records and not having hits.
Sam and Johnny Nash remained friends all these years, of course, because Sam is friends with everyone. He turns 85 on October 12th.
Here’s the record. The songwriting credit is “Billy” Nash because that was either a pseudonym or someone got it wrong. You can hear Sam’s tenor slicing through the record, a foreshadowing of what would come.
There has always been an unseen wall between Rupert Murdoch’s insanity at Fox News and the genteel world of publishing at Harper Collins books.
That may all change now. Harper Collins has introduced a Fox News imprint at Harper Collins. The first books are from right wingers Pete Hegseth and Shannon Bream. They represent the very fringe edge of Fox News’s daily dance with the truth.
Most Harper Collins authors would never appear on Fox News and certainly not on those shows. So far, over the last couple of decades, Murdoch has managed to keep the crazy away from Harper Collins. But this may be a different story if the books from a Fox News imprint are as untempered as their authors.
For example, Harper Collins has just released a posthumous book by the late beloved Congressman Elijah Cummings with a forward by Nancy Pelosi. I can’t even imagine the things Hegseth and Bream have said on air about Cummings and Pelosi, let alone the entire network of anchors.
Other current Harper Collins authors include Le Bron James, NBC reporter Jacob Soboroff, and Isabelle Allende, no to mention a catalog of authors who would certainly be classified as liberal. And while books by someone like Brett Baier of Fox News come from Harper Collins, they’re not branded as Fox News books or carry that baggage. It will be interesting to see how Harper Collins authors respond to being lumped in with Fox News. Stay tuned.
Two years ago, Kurt Russell played Santa Claus in “The Christmas Chronicles” on Netflix. It was a big hit. His step son Oliver Hudson was the male lead, father of two charming children who got into all kinds of mischief. Toward the end of the movie, Goldie Hawn, Oliver’s mother and Kurt’s life partner, made a cameo appearance as Mrs. Claus.
So you’d think for the sequel, coming November 25th, they’d all be back. But Hudson is missing from the cast list and the credits. He’s out.
Couldn’t they get him for a decent price? No, it looks like his character may have been fed to the wood chipper during the intervening time. His wife (Kimberly Williams Paisley) now now has a boyfriend played by Tyrese Gibson, who comes with a little boy of his own.
And Oliver? He’s starred in many TV series, so he’s fine, he has a very nice career. But even with your parents playing Mr. and Mrs. Claus, casting has changed considerably these days.
The good news is that maybe Goldie, who doesn’t work a lot, has a much bigger role as Mrs. Claus. Anything with Goldie Hawn is really gold.
Meantime, Netflix just sent me a list of Christmas movies that looks to rival Hallmark’s humongous slate of holiday offerings. Like Hallmark, they’ve found a bunch of actors willing to take paychecks in exchange for appearing in wholesome family fun! One of them, called “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” has a cast that includes — are you ready? –Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Ricky Martin, and Hugh Bonneville. That is insane!
Still no “Home for Chanukah” but the irony of “The Christmas Chronicles” is that Goldie is Jewish! Maybe Mrs. Claus reveals that in the sequel! Spin that dreidel!
Eddie van Halen played the memorable guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s instant classic, “Beat It,” back in 1983. Producer Quincy Jones paid tribute to him tonight:
“RIP to the GREAT @eddievanhalen
. Even though it took a couple calls to convince U it was actually me on the phone :) U killed it on Thriller, & your classic
Guitar
solo on Beat It will never be matched. I’ll always smile when I think of our time working together. Eternal
Red heart
& props.”
RIP to the GREAT @eddievanhalen. Even though it took a couple calls to convince U it was actually me on the phone :) U killed it on Thriller, & your classic 🎸solo on Beat It will never be matched. I’ll always smile when I think of our time working together. Eternal ❤️ & props.
Johnny Nash has died at age 80. He wasn’t Jamaican– he was from Houston– but he loved reggae music and was responsible in part for making it popular in the US. In 1972, after a few years of trying to get hits and recording in Jamaica, he hit it big with the reggae inspired, “I Can See Clearly Now.” The song was number 1 for four weeks and has never left the radio. It’s also incredibly popular in commercials.
Nash kept recording and performing, but nothing came close to that popularity. He was quite friendly with Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, aka The Wailers. The follow up single to “I Can See Clearly” was a cover of Marley’s “Stir It Up,” which was a decent hit and is also heard often on the radio some 48 years later.
Reggae was really not known in the US widely until the early 70s. Paul Simon introduced the sound with “Mother and Child Reunion.” But it was Johnny Nash and “I Can See Clearly” that paved the way for Marley et al having so much success. Eric Clapton helped, too, with “I Shot the Sheriff” in 1973.
SO RIP Johnny Nash. Your song is being played somewhere right now.
Eddie van Halen has died from throat and brain cancer at age 65. Could things be any worse?
Such a lovely guy. I spent a great day with Eddie and then wife Valerie Bertinelli at their home 30 years ago. Eddie showed me his Tannoy speakers (he was very proud of them), we discussed home systems, and all the music we mutually loved.,
A few years ago I had the extraordinary experience of being front and center for a Van Halen concert at the tiniest possible club in Greenwich Village. They blew my ears out. There was never so much fun.
Eddie was the most sterling rock guitarist, blistering. All those Van Halen hits and records and album cuts that you cannot stop bouncing your head to, with those riffs rippling through them. This is just terrible news.
