He is also half white.
Unless the one-drop rule still applies, our president-elect is not black.
We call him that -- he calls himself that -- because we use dated language and logic. After more than 300 years and much difficult history, we hew to the old racist rule: Part-black is all black. Fifty percent equals a hundred. There's no in-between.
-- Marie Arana, "He's Not Black" (Washington Post).
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Truest statement of the week II
A recent article by Frances Fox Piven in The Nation is titled "Obama Needs A Protest Movement." [10]
I really wonder if that was Fox Piven's chosen title. It sounds much more like something that journal's bourgeois editor Katrina Vanden-Heuvel or one of Vanden-Heuvel's editors would have crafted.
-- Paul Street, "Our Challenge, Not Obama's" (ZNet) and he's the author of the author of Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics.
I really wonder if that was Fox Piven's chosen title. It sounds much more like something that journal's bourgeois editor Katrina Vanden-Heuvel or one of Vanden-Heuvel's editors would have crafted.
-- Paul Street, "Our Challenge, Not Obama's" (ZNet) and he's the author of the author of Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics.
A note to our readers
Hey --
Another Sunday. We feel like this is a strong edition. We also feel like we're about to fall over.
Dallas, as always, was soundboard and link locater and much more. We thank him for all that and more. We also thank Trina of Trina's Kitchen who helped as well and we'll note where she helped shortly. Along with them, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
We thank them all.
Now let's turn to what we have.
Truest statement of the week -- Strong statement and The Washington Post has been the outlet most aware of the way this issue has played out.
Truest statement of the week II -- Paul Street.
Editorial: A step is not marathon -- Trina of Trina's Kitchen worked on this. This was actually an idea she and C.I. came up with and Trina was excited to be working on it Saturday night . . . until her granddaughter got sick. Trina wasn't able to participate and we shelved this for next week. However, she was able to join us early this morning and we quickly wrote this.
TV: The Fairy Tale -- Ava and C.I. In "Highlights," the gang refers to the fact that Ava and C.I. have written one article for this edition, are working on another and have me (Jim) asking for a third. Elaine has a comment (which I laughed at, I'm not mad, she's correct) in "Highlights." This is the piece that they were working on. Thursday's "I Hate The War" finally contained some sort of statement re: John Edwards' scandal. I wanted Ava and C.I. to grab that in some form here. They didn't want to. They finally compromised and included a bit of what I wanted for a third article into this. I thank them. This is an amazingly strong TV piece and not what they planned to write at all. Friday, when I spoke with them on the phone, they were going to do a reality show. What changed? SNL friends begging for Amy's return to be reviewed. They really don't comment on Amy which they both just realized. They toss this out, "Amy made Baby Mama. She was the most inventive and the funniest." SNL's broadcast ended up dictating the form this would take.
Shame 20 years on down the line -- Betty and C.I. wanted this topic covered. So badly, they came prepared. At the pitch session, they had a sketch out of it as a feature, as an editorial, as a round-table topic, as an overview and as the framework we could agree to. We have nothing against the topic. Had we not covered it before, we gladly would have used any framework offered. But we have and we know this can be intense in research and writing which can make it time consuming. The four ways offered did not allow for anything less than an hour of writing (probably more). The pitch that won was this as a short feature. What Dona always asks for. But even better, the pitch allowed us to do some fiction. We liked that idea. It was a different way to go.
Must grab download: DeShannon's Laurel Canyon -- First, we listened to this download all throught the writing session. I happen to love this and am so glad it's the one we selected. Jackie DeShannon's Laurel Canyon, by the way. We had a lot more on this that we edited out. And we probably spent the longest on this because we had so much we wanted to say. I will say, use the links and at least listen to Amazon's snippet previews. See if you don't end up wanting to download. We're not planning to do a tech feature every week. We are planning to do them regularly. Why? Two big reasons. 1) The digital divide means more interest from longterm readers about what's out there even if they don't utilize it. 2) It's a way to write more about musics (and sometimes movies) which is a topic readers always want. We tried to avoid a review that Kat might do (Kat helped write this) because we don't want to copy Kat. So these will be more tech and overview. We were going to do bargains and hope to do that next week. That's what we put on hold after Ty gave us the summary of e-mails (largely with complaints about downloading albums and issues having to do with that).
Dowd to Fey: And when they met, it was murder (Ava and C.I.) -- This was the first piece Ava and C.I. wrote. Is it not incredible. I love it. After it went up, I had a panic moment. Is it "And when . . ."? That's Max tag-line in the opening of Hart to Hart and I thought it would make a good title. (It is what he says and it does make a good title.) I really can't believe how good this turned out (Ava and C.I.'s writing, not my title). Whether Dowd has ticked you off or Fey, there are observations and critiques in here you will love.
Mailbag -- Poor Ty. He picked out ten e-mails with two back ups for this. And the first question went to C.I. because the rest of us didn't even know what article Ty was talking about. That created a problem because that was one of what Ty hoped would be a non-C.I. question/discussion. Ty had to reshuffle and came up with some good ones from his backup pile.
'Whore' is a fitting word -- One feature on hold that we hope to do next week involves language. But "Whore" is the only term for a woman who demands her own privacy (and whose mother demanded it for her growing up) but thinks nothing of invading a private funeral, acting like a mourner and then writing up a really bad article. She now thinks she should be a senator. We beg to differ.
The Miseducation of Katrina vanden Heuvel -- Trina of Trina's Kitchen came in on this. We were winding down when she joined us. I told her I'd check and C.I. asked her to read over this and add anything she wished. Trina ended up simplying two very complex sections and we thank her for that. Dona said her input was more than that but that's all I remember right now, sorry. Trina, it was a pleasure having you work with us on two features this week. Thank you.
CODESTINK -- This was almost a truest, as we note. Then it turned out Jodie Evans had responded and we felt the need to do something with that.
'Iraq deal will not end occupation' (Socialist Worker) -- Iraq's mentioned in mailbag but this is really the Iraq feature and we didn't write it. The planned editorial was going to be Iraq; however, when Trina was able to join us, editorial was the only slot open for the topic of the economy. So this is the Socialist Worker.
Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Ruth, Marcia, Stan, Wally, Cedric, Kat, Betty and Rebecca wrote this and picked out highlights unless otherwise noted. They also grab a question from Ty that wasn't able to fit into the roundtable. We thank them for this feature.
And that's what we have to offer. We'll see you next week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Another Sunday. We feel like this is a strong edition. We also feel like we're about to fall over.
Dallas, as always, was soundboard and link locater and much more. We thank him for all that and more. We also thank Trina of Trina's Kitchen who helped as well and we'll note where she helped shortly. Along with them, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
We thank them all.
Now let's turn to what we have.
Truest statement of the week -- Strong statement and The Washington Post has been the outlet most aware of the way this issue has played out.
Truest statement of the week II -- Paul Street.
Editorial: A step is not marathon -- Trina of Trina's Kitchen worked on this. This was actually an idea she and C.I. came up with and Trina was excited to be working on it Saturday night . . . until her granddaughter got sick. Trina wasn't able to participate and we shelved this for next week. However, she was able to join us early this morning and we quickly wrote this.
TV: The Fairy Tale -- Ava and C.I. In "Highlights," the gang refers to the fact that Ava and C.I. have written one article for this edition, are working on another and have me (Jim) asking for a third. Elaine has a comment (which I laughed at, I'm not mad, she's correct) in "Highlights." This is the piece that they were working on. Thursday's "I Hate The War" finally contained some sort of statement re: John Edwards' scandal. I wanted Ava and C.I. to grab that in some form here. They didn't want to. They finally compromised and included a bit of what I wanted for a third article into this. I thank them. This is an amazingly strong TV piece and not what they planned to write at all. Friday, when I spoke with them on the phone, they were going to do a reality show. What changed? SNL friends begging for Amy's return to be reviewed. They really don't comment on Amy which they both just realized. They toss this out, "Amy made Baby Mama. She was the most inventive and the funniest." SNL's broadcast ended up dictating the form this would take.
Shame 20 years on down the line -- Betty and C.I. wanted this topic covered. So badly, they came prepared. At the pitch session, they had a sketch out of it as a feature, as an editorial, as a round-table topic, as an overview and as the framework we could agree to. We have nothing against the topic. Had we not covered it before, we gladly would have used any framework offered. But we have and we know this can be intense in research and writing which can make it time consuming. The four ways offered did not allow for anything less than an hour of writing (probably more). The pitch that won was this as a short feature. What Dona always asks for. But even better, the pitch allowed us to do some fiction. We liked that idea. It was a different way to go.
Must grab download: DeShannon's Laurel Canyon -- First, we listened to this download all throught the writing session. I happen to love this and am so glad it's the one we selected. Jackie DeShannon's Laurel Canyon, by the way. We had a lot more on this that we edited out. And we probably spent the longest on this because we had so much we wanted to say. I will say, use the links and at least listen to Amazon's snippet previews. See if you don't end up wanting to download. We're not planning to do a tech feature every week. We are planning to do them regularly. Why? Two big reasons. 1) The digital divide means more interest from longterm readers about what's out there even if they don't utilize it. 2) It's a way to write more about musics (and sometimes movies) which is a topic readers always want. We tried to avoid a review that Kat might do (Kat helped write this) because we don't want to copy Kat. So these will be more tech and overview. We were going to do bargains and hope to do that next week. That's what we put on hold after Ty gave us the summary of e-mails (largely with complaints about downloading albums and issues having to do with that).
Dowd to Fey: And when they met, it was murder (Ava and C.I.) -- This was the first piece Ava and C.I. wrote. Is it not incredible. I love it. After it went up, I had a panic moment. Is it "And when . . ."? That's Max tag-line in the opening of Hart to Hart and I thought it would make a good title. (It is what he says and it does make a good title.) I really can't believe how good this turned out (Ava and C.I.'s writing, not my title). Whether Dowd has ticked you off or Fey, there are observations and critiques in here you will love.
Mailbag -- Poor Ty. He picked out ten e-mails with two back ups for this. And the first question went to C.I. because the rest of us didn't even know what article Ty was talking about. That created a problem because that was one of what Ty hoped would be a non-C.I. question/discussion. Ty had to reshuffle and came up with some good ones from his backup pile.
'Whore' is a fitting word -- One feature on hold that we hope to do next week involves language. But "Whore" is the only term for a woman who demands her own privacy (and whose mother demanded it for her growing up) but thinks nothing of invading a private funeral, acting like a mourner and then writing up a really bad article. She now thinks she should be a senator. We beg to differ.
The Miseducation of Katrina vanden Heuvel -- Trina of Trina's Kitchen came in on this. We were winding down when she joined us. I told her I'd check and C.I. asked her to read over this and add anything she wished. Trina ended up simplying two very complex sections and we thank her for that. Dona said her input was more than that but that's all I remember right now, sorry. Trina, it was a pleasure having you work with us on two features this week. Thank you.
CODESTINK -- This was almost a truest, as we note. Then it turned out Jodie Evans had responded and we felt the need to do something with that.
'Iraq deal will not end occupation' (Socialist Worker) -- Iraq's mentioned in mailbag but this is really the Iraq feature and we didn't write it. The planned editorial was going to be Iraq; however, when Trina was able to join us, editorial was the only slot open for the topic of the economy. So this is the Socialist Worker.
Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Ruth, Marcia, Stan, Wally, Cedric, Kat, Betty and Rebecca wrote this and picked out highlights unless otherwise noted. They also grab a question from Ty that wasn't able to fit into the roundtable. We thank them for this feature.
And that's what we have to offer. We'll see you next week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: A step is not marathon
Yesterday, president-elect Barack Obama gave a speech which Peter Baker and John M. Broder (New York Times) describe as offering "the largest public works construction program since the inception of the interstate highway system a half century ago as he seeks to put together a plan to resuscitate the reeling economy." That statement shows more understanding than the left.
Christopher Hayes (The Nation) insists this is "the outline of the stimulus package". How sad. For several reasons including that Barack has supported bail-outs for Fat Cats but the average person will have to slave away in order to get a "stimulus package". Also because this really isn't that.
This will stimulate some individuals pockets. We're not begrudging them that. People need jobs.
John Nichols also calls it a stimulus plan (also at The Nation, but no link to trash). John Nichols has embarrassed himself throughout 2008 but never more so than with a column that reduces the biggest economic issues to a brief aside in a sentence ("a new approach to trade policy").
Our economy is complicated. We could close off from the rest of the world (or try) and simplify it, possibly. We're not recommending that, but, theoretically, it could be staged and it might or might not work.
Barring such a move, we interact with the world. We've done that long before the term "globalization" was invented, let alone tossed around.
Barack's got some public works programs. They will put dollars into the pockets of workers and jobs are needed.
But that doesn't solve anything other than temporary employment.
Why is that?
The only exportable 'manufacturing' industry still holding its head above water is the entertainment industry. Every other sector's been shipped overseas.
How does that matter?
America doesn't make anything (other than entertainment) anymore.
A worker gets X dollars in a country that manufactures nothing? The money Barack intends to circulate (that's not an insult) among Americans turns around and goes right out of the country. And because the US does not manufacture, we have no goods to speak of that bring the money back in.
Yes, we are oversimplifying. But this problem has been obvious for some time and it is, in fact, why we have the current crisis in our economy. So let's keep this as simple as possible.
The housing bubble burst. Yes. And before that, the tech bubble. And what's your point?
Both of those bubbles were supposed to make up for the fact that we had few goods to sell on the international market because manufacturing has been allowed to die decade after decade. The claims for why these production jobs have gone overseas have included "lower taxes!" and "less regulations!" The reality is greed. Greed will allow you to pay someone not just less than they deserve but less than any human deserves. Greed will allow you to destroy another country's eco-system. Greed and a global system that allows the aggressors to set the so-called standards.
The US needs to return to manufacturing items and the world needs fair trade policies.
This isn't an editorial slamming Barack. We're happy to slam him and will continue to do so. But what he's put forward is a way to circulate the US dollars -- already in the country -- back to workers. That's important for workers as a first-step. But without fair trade agreements that protect the rights of people and places and without rebuilding the US manufacturing sector, the step is meaningless. Barack can't implement the other two needed things now. (He's not yet president.) We're not slamming him for that.
But we are calling out the reaction that tries to tell you this is something wonderful, amazing and it's a brand new day!
Cuba re-circulates their dollars through public works programs. Most countries do. But Cuba is denied many markets so all they really do is recirculate those dollars (and dollars sent into the country by family members who have left). Unlike Cuba, the US is not denied markets. It's just made the decision to destroy its own manufacturing sector.
The thing being applauded right now, being treated by some on the left as a second-coming, is basically using American Express to pay this month's VISA.
Cheerleaders on the left need to buy a damn clue.
Christopher Hayes (The Nation) insists this is "the outline of the stimulus package". How sad. For several reasons including that Barack has supported bail-outs for Fat Cats but the average person will have to slave away in order to get a "stimulus package". Also because this really isn't that.
This will stimulate some individuals pockets. We're not begrudging them that. People need jobs.
John Nichols also calls it a stimulus plan (also at The Nation, but no link to trash). John Nichols has embarrassed himself throughout 2008 but never more so than with a column that reduces the biggest economic issues to a brief aside in a sentence ("a new approach to trade policy").
Our economy is complicated. We could close off from the rest of the world (or try) and simplify it, possibly. We're not recommending that, but, theoretically, it could be staged and it might or might not work.
Barring such a move, we interact with the world. We've done that long before the term "globalization" was invented, let alone tossed around.
Barack's got some public works programs. They will put dollars into the pockets of workers and jobs are needed.
But that doesn't solve anything other than temporary employment.
Why is that?
The only exportable 'manufacturing' industry still holding its head above water is the entertainment industry. Every other sector's been shipped overseas.
How does that matter?
America doesn't make anything (other than entertainment) anymore.
A worker gets X dollars in a country that manufactures nothing? The money Barack intends to circulate (that's not an insult) among Americans turns around and goes right out of the country. And because the US does not manufacture, we have no goods to speak of that bring the money back in.
Yes, we are oversimplifying. But this problem has been obvious for some time and it is, in fact, why we have the current crisis in our economy. So let's keep this as simple as possible.
The housing bubble burst. Yes. And before that, the tech bubble. And what's your point?
Both of those bubbles were supposed to make up for the fact that we had few goods to sell on the international market because manufacturing has been allowed to die decade after decade. The claims for why these production jobs have gone overseas have included "lower taxes!" and "less regulations!" The reality is greed. Greed will allow you to pay someone not just less than they deserve but less than any human deserves. Greed will allow you to destroy another country's eco-system. Greed and a global system that allows the aggressors to set the so-called standards.
The US needs to return to manufacturing items and the world needs fair trade policies.
This isn't an editorial slamming Barack. We're happy to slam him and will continue to do so. But what he's put forward is a way to circulate the US dollars -- already in the country -- back to workers. That's important for workers as a first-step. But without fair trade agreements that protect the rights of people and places and without rebuilding the US manufacturing sector, the step is meaningless. Barack can't implement the other two needed things now. (He's not yet president.) We're not slamming him for that.
But we are calling out the reaction that tries to tell you this is something wonderful, amazing and it's a brand new day!
Cuba re-circulates their dollars through public works programs. Most countries do. But Cuba is denied many markets so all they really do is recirculate those dollars (and dollars sent into the country by family members who have left). Unlike Cuba, the US is not denied markets. It's just made the decision to destroy its own manufacturing sector.
The thing being applauded right now, being treated by some on the left as a second-coming, is basically using American Express to pay this month's VISA.
Cheerleaders on the left need to buy a damn clue.
TV: The Fairy Tale
What an interesting week for women. Senator Hillary Clinton spoke on Monday about her decision to accept president-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of State offer and she got attacked repeatedly throughout the week culminating in Saturday's nightmare (we'll get to it) while a spoiled princess decided, even though she's never held elected office, that she should be appointed to the US Senate. And no one said "boo" about that.
Where to begin, where to end?
How about by noting the fact that the press will smear Alaskan governor Sarah Palin every chance they get. They will, in fact, invent things to attack her with. But weren't they strangely silent following Tuesday's election?
We'll join Marcia in noting Fox "News" because the non-reality based community has seized the mainstream. This is Saxby Chambliss, re-elected to the US Senate Tuesday, speaking, "Sarah Palin came in on the last day, did a fly-around and, man, she was dynamite. We packed the houses everywhere we went. And it really did allow us to peak and get our base fired up. I mean, I can't overstate the impact she had down here. When she walks in a room, folks just explode. And they really did pack the house everywhere we went. She's a dynamic lady, a great administrator, and I think she's got a great future in the Republican Party."
The week would end with tired Sarah Palin jokes on broadcast TV. The same broadcast TV that never saw fit to explore Palin's power -- the power they keep insisting (despite all evidence to the contrary) she doesn't have.
Think about that. Think about how they call her an idiot and say she has no influence. They say that about this woman who's been elected to the office of mayor and governor, this woman who was John McCain's running mate this year and their ticket received 46.3% of the popular vote. This woman, who has achieved on her own, is to be mocked, ridiculed and attacked; however, Princess Brat wants to be in the Senate and that's supposed to be okay?
Tina Fey lost another 200,000 viewers Thursday (down 200,000 from the last broadcast) on 30 Rock but more are paying attention to her insane claim that there was nothing sexist about her portrayal of Sarah Palin (one she rushes to tell America that she didn't write! It was Seth! she insists). Tina stammers that saying what she and the program did was sexism was absurd. No one objected to Dan Ackroyd doing Nixon!
Nixon wasn't running for office (or in office) when Akyroyd portrayed him. But was SNL not sexist in 2008?
Hmm . . .
Our personal favorite 2008 skit was Mac Daddy John which aired this fall. Andy Samberg, wearing a wig similar to the one he wears when playing Rahm, sat in a chair by a fireplace for a cold opening, shirt unbuttoned to the waist, stroking his chest hair with one hand while sipping on a glass of booze with the other.
Andy: Hey there, America. Have you forgiven me yet? You know you will. Sooner or later, everyone forgives Mac Daddy John. So I cheated on my wife? So she has cancer? It was in remission! Then. And I said I'm sorry. Don't you love me, America? I just wanted to be president. Real bad. So bad. When I want something, I want it full out. I want it bad. I want it hard.
As the camera zooms in on Andy, we hear a zipper opening.
Andy: Come on, Mac Daddy John needs your support. I got cravings. I got needs. I got [licks lips] wants. Oh-yeah. So I can't be in the Oval Office? It's cool. Mac Daddy John does his best work in the boudoir, you feel me, America? You want to feel me? You want to show some love for me. Come on, baby, I feel bad for what I did. Spank me.
The skit ends as a woman, with a baby on her hip, walks out insisting he's late with a child support payment.
That was so funny and proof of just how non-sexist Saturday Night Live is. They had spent months and months with that sexist stereotype of Hillary as power-mad when, as America would learn over the summer, the power mad person was John Edwards. Conducting an affair while on the campaign trail. Lying about it. Hiding behind his wife's cancer. There's nothing that piece of s**t wouldn't do to become president.
And by doing that skit, SNL proved that they weren't just attacking every woman in a position of power, they would attack men as well and, if a man disgraced himself, they would go after him. With the same anger and scorn they'd aimed at Hillary who, for the record, didn't disgrace herself.
Oh wait. That skit never aired.
That skit was never written.
Hillary was a power-mad bitch in skit after skit but they took a pass on John Edwards. On the entire story. Now when a sitting governor had a sex scandal, SNL was all on it with multiple skits. But a man who has now run for his party's presidential nomination twice, who has been a vice presidential nomination? He's not news. His having an affair and running into a men's room to hide from The National Enquirer isn't comedy gold?
Saturday, Amy Poehler returned to SNL for a brief spell. How brief? That's up to NBC. Her sitcom has no slotted premiere as of yet. That's because NBC has seen 30 Rock lose viewers every week this year and is a bit nervous about another SNL show. So while she waits (and hopes) for NBC to announce an air date, she rejoins SNL allowing it to have two female cast members (eight male cast members).
She opened the show on Saturday and guess who she played? Hillary? Right.
As a bitch? An angry embittered bitch? Right.
And, though the real Hillary has gone out of her way to be positive about Sarah Palin from across the aisle, it was time for the 'fur to fly' as Amy declared, "The question is is my new job better than being governor of Alaska? Yes. Yes, it is."
Amy's Hillary then declared that she wanted to "reflect on Governor Palin's historic" achievement for a moment and, without even a beat, yelled, "Moment over!"
It was time to bring Darrell Hammond out of moth balls so he could do the bad parody of Bill Clinton he does so poorly and Amy's Hillary would declare, "Like vampires, the south and Britney Spears, we will rise again."
Goodness, the way they rip apart Hillary, you'd think she was caught cheating on her cancer-ridden spouse, wouldn't you?
It was time for Fred to do Barack again. What's the point?
That's not intended as an insult to Fred. He does Barack very well. But as we've noted here for a year, they don't write skits for Barack. Barack can't be the butt of the joke. Seth won't allow it.
So there was Hillary ripped apart in the program's first moments and, in the first half-hour, we'd later get Barack. "When I accomplish a mission, there isn't going to be a banner. I'm just going to do it," insisted Fred's Barack in a sketch that had him repeatedly stating, "I keep it cool." Was their laughter? Not really.
Why would there be? Bob Hope did harder hitting political comedy. It's so embarrassing that people on SNL are beginning to joke Seth Meyers goes home each night, puts on a taffy blonde wig, a mole and deep red lipstick, while sighing, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to a photo of Barack.
Saturday Night Live made its name mocking politicians. They made it through 2007 treating Barack with kid gloves and they'll no doubt make it through the end of this year doing the same as well. Don't you try to argue for comedy because Seth will get angry and threaten to show up pantyless and in a white dress.
Sexist Tina Fey wants to argue that Saturday Night Live is fair and plays it fair. What world does that nut case live in?
Amy and Darrell did the cold opening.
Then Chicago Trash John Malkovich was brought out. Who? Exactly. Never carried a film, has no career today. Lacks heat, lacks sex appeal and needs to trim both the hair on his head and the eyebrows. But while once-regular hosts like Candice Bergen and Lily Tomlin aren't invited on, while a woman under 28 still has a better chance of being the host than a woman over 35, there was tired John Malkovich. The man whose chief purpose in life appears to be making William Hurt appear soulful.
Instead of a monologue, he read a story. No, it wasn't funny. The skit fell flat especially at the end. He wasn't funny.
This was followed with a skit starring Fred (Kristen offered two brief appearances and lines) for fart strips -- Breathe Right from the makers of Breathe Easy.
Then it was time for an office party skit. Four men, two women (Kristen and featured player Casey). Followed by Fred as Barack. Four men with lines in a skit that features no women (Vinny Vedecci interviews Malkovich). A digital short starring Kristen (Virgania Horsen Pony Express). Casey and four men in a family skit about twins getting a calculator. (No, it wasn't funny. And a skit featuring Andy that fails to give him even one solid line will always be a badly written skit.) "Weekend Update with Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers." Yet, strangely, despite the introduction, Seth gets to speak first. Joining them are three men. Only Andy is funny. (That could become the mantra of the show: "Only Andy is funny.") Displaying the sexism he's quickly become so noted for, Seth read his joke about a husband and wife team of robbers: "The way it worked was he would rob the homes and she would stand outside saying he was doing it wrong."
How very sad for Seth? He's rather young to be playing it like a crusty, 54-year-old living in 1962. More ugliness from Seth in the story about Laura Bush missing the staff. Background there, the First Lady was asked who she would miss when they leave the White House in January? Her comment have been read (and this is how the joke went) that she's Marie Antoinette. Another reading could argue that she was naming the daily staff to recognize them -- the team that keeps the White House running and receives so little praise. But Seth knew where he wanted to go, Laura Bush was saying they would miss "basically anyone who has put their nuts on their tooth brushes." Yes, in Seth's world, everyone has "nuts." That certainly does explain those persistent rumors of him picking up a transvestite at Hangar Bar.
Next up, a skit called "The Lost Works Of Judy Blume." A male announcer for the skit? Judy Blume and a male announcer? Three women and John Malkovich have roles (a fourth woman shows up later in the sketch but she has nothing to do but sit around). The biggest female role goes to? Did you guess John Malkovich? Is there something really insulting about a spoof of Judy Blume's work featuring a man playing a young girl?
Andy and another male star in a digital short, a music video that already is or will be all over YouTube entitled "Jizzed In My Pants."
John Malkovich reprises his Dangerous Liason's role for J'acuzzi -- a theatrical adaptation set in a hot tub. Two women and John and Andy. (Andy's wearing shorts, for Andy lovers. You have to look closely.)
And that's it. Tina Fey says SNL is not sexist.
Though women make up over 50% of the US population, they had 12 speaking roles to men's 23 speaking roles in the broadcast and only the digital short with Kristin was female driven. In all other skits, the women were the support, existing to set up the punch line or to be the butt of the joke. The strongest female role was, in fact, Gertie -- from the Judy Blume skit and played by Malkovich.
But Tina wants to insist SNL is just wonderful and amazing and fair and non-sexist. Tina, your daughter's going to have to live in the world you're offering denials for.
And that's probably the most interesting thing about the week, some of the ones on TV doing the most damage to women are, indeed, women. Some are named Tina Fey, some are named Campbell Brown. Brown hopes (as does CNN) that she can ride a wave of disgust over the rampant sexism on display in 2008 to success. But Campbell really lacks the basic understanding to grasp what is sexism. Ed Rendall made an intentionally mocking statement about single people. The point was not that a female governor did not have a life because she was a woman. That's not Ed's style and that's not what the remark referenced. But there was dipsy Campbell yammering on about the 'sexism.' We sometimes joke that she's part of a ploy to falsely cry sexism so that real sexism is ignored.
After the election, Campbell took to the airwaves to talk about Sarah Palin. (Yes, we are coming full circle from our beginning.) And a number of indignant drive-by readers e-mailed to say we highlighted Katie Couric's remarks about sexism and we even posted a video of Katie's comments! We, they argued, just like Katie better.
Actually, we do like Katie better and we know Katie. But Couric offered a strong statement against sexism, a strong statement in support of women. Campbell? Her argument boiled down to: 'Sarah Palin's an idiot but if the GOP's unhappy now, they're the ones who picked her!" In Campbell's mind that is a strong statement against sexism. In few other minds, but in her mind, it is.
2008 has been an appalling year and you need to take what's been done to women (repeatedly) and ask what it says about everyone. We're not referring to the motives of those launching the attacks. We're talking about the attacks themselves. For example, Palin, a popular and successful governor, is to be ridiculed as an idiot because of how she speaks? She speaks in a folksy manner. You don't have to like it. You can even send it up in impersonations. But to call her stupid? What does that say the Egghead opinion is of people who stammer, or stutter, or dropped out of school for financial reasons? Marcia pointed out the strong support from her grandparents that Palin has. They like her. They won't vote for her but they like her. As Marcia expressed their feelings, "They're making fun of the way she speaks? I understand what she's saying. She rose to become the governor of a state and they're belittling her. Imagine what they would do to me." Yeah, imagine that.
Because women are the canary in the coalmines. Hate and prejudice aimed at all women could never be aimed at any group of straight men without being called out. It is in navigating how much abuse it can get away with towards women that society sets down its markers for others. And week after week, that remains one of the biggest lessons of 2008. It's not a 'happy' one. We use "interesting," an interesting lesson. And as a society, we can accept it or we can work to change it. We can take offense to the fact that a woman who has never held public office thinks she can bypass the voters and the campaigns to be appointed to the Senate on nothing but her family's name. We can take offense that women like Hillary and Sarah who have worked to get to where they are repeatedly get ripped apart, have their motives and actions questioned. Because a woman who does is always more threatening to our society than a princess who waits to be rescued. The same fairy tales generations grew up on are being retold but presented as fact.
And no one says "boo" about that. As Holly Near has warned, "The war against women rages on, beware of the fairy tale" ("Somebody's Jail," Show Up).
Where to begin, where to end?
How about by noting the fact that the press will smear Alaskan governor Sarah Palin every chance they get. They will, in fact, invent things to attack her with. But weren't they strangely silent following Tuesday's election?
We'll join Marcia in noting Fox "News" because the non-reality based community has seized the mainstream. This is Saxby Chambliss, re-elected to the US Senate Tuesday, speaking, "Sarah Palin came in on the last day, did a fly-around and, man, she was dynamite. We packed the houses everywhere we went. And it really did allow us to peak and get our base fired up. I mean, I can't overstate the impact she had down here. When she walks in a room, folks just explode. And they really did pack the house everywhere we went. She's a dynamic lady, a great administrator, and I think she's got a great future in the Republican Party."
The week would end with tired Sarah Palin jokes on broadcast TV. The same broadcast TV that never saw fit to explore Palin's power -- the power they keep insisting (despite all evidence to the contrary) she doesn't have.
Think about that. Think about how they call her an idiot and say she has no influence. They say that about this woman who's been elected to the office of mayor and governor, this woman who was John McCain's running mate this year and their ticket received 46.3% of the popular vote. This woman, who has achieved on her own, is to be mocked, ridiculed and attacked; however, Princess Brat wants to be in the Senate and that's supposed to be okay?
Tina Fey lost another 200,000 viewers Thursday (down 200,000 from the last broadcast) on 30 Rock but more are paying attention to her insane claim that there was nothing sexist about her portrayal of Sarah Palin (one she rushes to tell America that she didn't write! It was Seth! she insists). Tina stammers that saying what she and the program did was sexism was absurd. No one objected to Dan Ackroyd doing Nixon!
Nixon wasn't running for office (or in office) when Akyroyd portrayed him. But was SNL not sexist in 2008?
Hmm . . .
Our personal favorite 2008 skit was Mac Daddy John which aired this fall. Andy Samberg, wearing a wig similar to the one he wears when playing Rahm, sat in a chair by a fireplace for a cold opening, shirt unbuttoned to the waist, stroking his chest hair with one hand while sipping on a glass of booze with the other.
Andy: Hey there, America. Have you forgiven me yet? You know you will. Sooner or later, everyone forgives Mac Daddy John. So I cheated on my wife? So she has cancer? It was in remission! Then. And I said I'm sorry. Don't you love me, America? I just wanted to be president. Real bad. So bad. When I want something, I want it full out. I want it bad. I want it hard.
As the camera zooms in on Andy, we hear a zipper opening.
Andy: Come on, Mac Daddy John needs your support. I got cravings. I got needs. I got [licks lips] wants. Oh-yeah. So I can't be in the Oval Office? It's cool. Mac Daddy John does his best work in the boudoir, you feel me, America? You want to feel me? You want to show some love for me. Come on, baby, I feel bad for what I did. Spank me.
The skit ends as a woman, with a baby on her hip, walks out insisting he's late with a child support payment.
That was so funny and proof of just how non-sexist Saturday Night Live is. They had spent months and months with that sexist stereotype of Hillary as power-mad when, as America would learn over the summer, the power mad person was John Edwards. Conducting an affair while on the campaign trail. Lying about it. Hiding behind his wife's cancer. There's nothing that piece of s**t wouldn't do to become president.
And by doing that skit, SNL proved that they weren't just attacking every woman in a position of power, they would attack men as well and, if a man disgraced himself, they would go after him. With the same anger and scorn they'd aimed at Hillary who, for the record, didn't disgrace herself.
Oh wait. That skit never aired.
That skit was never written.
Hillary was a power-mad bitch in skit after skit but they took a pass on John Edwards. On the entire story. Now when a sitting governor had a sex scandal, SNL was all on it with multiple skits. But a man who has now run for his party's presidential nomination twice, who has been a vice presidential nomination? He's not news. His having an affair and running into a men's room to hide from The National Enquirer isn't comedy gold?
Saturday, Amy Poehler returned to SNL for a brief spell. How brief? That's up to NBC. Her sitcom has no slotted premiere as of yet. That's because NBC has seen 30 Rock lose viewers every week this year and is a bit nervous about another SNL show. So while she waits (and hopes) for NBC to announce an air date, she rejoins SNL allowing it to have two female cast members (eight male cast members).
She opened the show on Saturday and guess who she played? Hillary? Right.
As a bitch? An angry embittered bitch? Right.
And, though the real Hillary has gone out of her way to be positive about Sarah Palin from across the aisle, it was time for the 'fur to fly' as Amy declared, "The question is is my new job better than being governor of Alaska? Yes. Yes, it is."
Amy's Hillary then declared that she wanted to "reflect on Governor Palin's historic" achievement for a moment and, without even a beat, yelled, "Moment over!"
It was time to bring Darrell Hammond out of moth balls so he could do the bad parody of Bill Clinton he does so poorly and Amy's Hillary would declare, "Like vampires, the south and Britney Spears, we will rise again."
Goodness, the way they rip apart Hillary, you'd think she was caught cheating on her cancer-ridden spouse, wouldn't you?
It was time for Fred to do Barack again. What's the point?
That's not intended as an insult to Fred. He does Barack very well. But as we've noted here for a year, they don't write skits for Barack. Barack can't be the butt of the joke. Seth won't allow it.
So there was Hillary ripped apart in the program's first moments and, in the first half-hour, we'd later get Barack. "When I accomplish a mission, there isn't going to be a banner. I'm just going to do it," insisted Fred's Barack in a sketch that had him repeatedly stating, "I keep it cool." Was their laughter? Not really.
Why would there be? Bob Hope did harder hitting political comedy. It's so embarrassing that people on SNL are beginning to joke Seth Meyers goes home each night, puts on a taffy blonde wig, a mole and deep red lipstick, while sighing, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to a photo of Barack.
Saturday Night Live made its name mocking politicians. They made it through 2007 treating Barack with kid gloves and they'll no doubt make it through the end of this year doing the same as well. Don't you try to argue for comedy because Seth will get angry and threaten to show up pantyless and in a white dress.
Sexist Tina Fey wants to argue that Saturday Night Live is fair and plays it fair. What world does that nut case live in?
Amy and Darrell did the cold opening.
Then Chicago Trash John Malkovich was brought out. Who? Exactly. Never carried a film, has no career today. Lacks heat, lacks sex appeal and needs to trim both the hair on his head and the eyebrows. But while once-regular hosts like Candice Bergen and Lily Tomlin aren't invited on, while a woman under 28 still has a better chance of being the host than a woman over 35, there was tired John Malkovich. The man whose chief purpose in life appears to be making William Hurt appear soulful.
Instead of a monologue, he read a story. No, it wasn't funny. The skit fell flat especially at the end. He wasn't funny.
This was followed with a skit starring Fred (Kristen offered two brief appearances and lines) for fart strips -- Breathe Right from the makers of Breathe Easy.
Then it was time for an office party skit. Four men, two women (Kristen and featured player Casey). Followed by Fred as Barack. Four men with lines in a skit that features no women (Vinny Vedecci interviews Malkovich). A digital short starring Kristen (Virgania Horsen Pony Express). Casey and four men in a family skit about twins getting a calculator. (No, it wasn't funny. And a skit featuring Andy that fails to give him even one solid line will always be a badly written skit.) "Weekend Update with Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers." Yet, strangely, despite the introduction, Seth gets to speak first. Joining them are three men. Only Andy is funny. (That could become the mantra of the show: "Only Andy is funny.") Displaying the sexism he's quickly become so noted for, Seth read his joke about a husband and wife team of robbers: "The way it worked was he would rob the homes and she would stand outside saying he was doing it wrong."
How very sad for Seth? He's rather young to be playing it like a crusty, 54-year-old living in 1962. More ugliness from Seth in the story about Laura Bush missing the staff. Background there, the First Lady was asked who she would miss when they leave the White House in January? Her comment have been read (and this is how the joke went) that she's Marie Antoinette. Another reading could argue that she was naming the daily staff to recognize them -- the team that keeps the White House running and receives so little praise. But Seth knew where he wanted to go, Laura Bush was saying they would miss "basically anyone who has put their nuts on their tooth brushes." Yes, in Seth's world, everyone has "nuts." That certainly does explain those persistent rumors of him picking up a transvestite at Hangar Bar.
Next up, a skit called "The Lost Works Of Judy Blume." A male announcer for the skit? Judy Blume and a male announcer? Three women and John Malkovich have roles (a fourth woman shows up later in the sketch but she has nothing to do but sit around). The biggest female role goes to? Did you guess John Malkovich? Is there something really insulting about a spoof of Judy Blume's work featuring a man playing a young girl?
Andy and another male star in a digital short, a music video that already is or will be all over YouTube entitled "Jizzed In My Pants."
John Malkovich reprises his Dangerous Liason's role for J'acuzzi -- a theatrical adaptation set in a hot tub. Two women and John and Andy. (Andy's wearing shorts, for Andy lovers. You have to look closely.)
And that's it. Tina Fey says SNL is not sexist.
Though women make up over 50% of the US population, they had 12 speaking roles to men's 23 speaking roles in the broadcast and only the digital short with Kristin was female driven. In all other skits, the women were the support, existing to set up the punch line or to be the butt of the joke. The strongest female role was, in fact, Gertie -- from the Judy Blume skit and played by Malkovich.
But Tina wants to insist SNL is just wonderful and amazing and fair and non-sexist. Tina, your daughter's going to have to live in the world you're offering denials for.
And that's probably the most interesting thing about the week, some of the ones on TV doing the most damage to women are, indeed, women. Some are named Tina Fey, some are named Campbell Brown. Brown hopes (as does CNN) that she can ride a wave of disgust over the rampant sexism on display in 2008 to success. But Campbell really lacks the basic understanding to grasp what is sexism. Ed Rendall made an intentionally mocking statement about single people. The point was not that a female governor did not have a life because she was a woman. That's not Ed's style and that's not what the remark referenced. But there was dipsy Campbell yammering on about the 'sexism.' We sometimes joke that she's part of a ploy to falsely cry sexism so that real sexism is ignored.
After the election, Campbell took to the airwaves to talk about Sarah Palin. (Yes, we are coming full circle from our beginning.) And a number of indignant drive-by readers e-mailed to say we highlighted Katie Couric's remarks about sexism and we even posted a video of Katie's comments! We, they argued, just like Katie better.
Actually, we do like Katie better and we know Katie. But Couric offered a strong statement against sexism, a strong statement in support of women. Campbell? Her argument boiled down to: 'Sarah Palin's an idiot but if the GOP's unhappy now, they're the ones who picked her!" In Campbell's mind that is a strong statement against sexism. In few other minds, but in her mind, it is.
2008 has been an appalling year and you need to take what's been done to women (repeatedly) and ask what it says about everyone. We're not referring to the motives of those launching the attacks. We're talking about the attacks themselves. For example, Palin, a popular and successful governor, is to be ridiculed as an idiot because of how she speaks? She speaks in a folksy manner. You don't have to like it. You can even send it up in impersonations. But to call her stupid? What does that say the Egghead opinion is of people who stammer, or stutter, or dropped out of school for financial reasons? Marcia pointed out the strong support from her grandparents that Palin has. They like her. They won't vote for her but they like her. As Marcia expressed their feelings, "They're making fun of the way she speaks? I understand what she's saying. She rose to become the governor of a state and they're belittling her. Imagine what they would do to me." Yeah, imagine that.
Because women are the canary in the coalmines. Hate and prejudice aimed at all women could never be aimed at any group of straight men without being called out. It is in navigating how much abuse it can get away with towards women that society sets down its markers for others. And week after week, that remains one of the biggest lessons of 2008. It's not a 'happy' one. We use "interesting," an interesting lesson. And as a society, we can accept it or we can work to change it. We can take offense to the fact that a woman who has never held public office thinks she can bypass the voters and the campaigns to be appointed to the Senate on nothing but her family's name. We can take offense that women like Hillary and Sarah who have worked to get to where they are repeatedly get ripped apart, have their motives and actions questioned. Because a woman who does is always more threatening to our society than a princess who waits to be rescued. The same fairy tales generations grew up on are being retold but presented as fact.
And no one says "boo" about that. As Holly Near has warned, "The war against women rages on, beware of the fairy tale" ("Somebody's Jail," Show Up).
Must grab download: DeShannon's Laurel Canyon
This week's technology feature is Amazon.com again and downloads but musical ones. Last week's feature on Amazon's downloadable films led to questions and comments regarding the music with several of you with dial-up writing to complain about being unable to download an album in full at Amazon and, if you attempt to do it track by track (a must for dial up users), you pay track by track (99 cents a track) as opposed to the album price which is generally cheaper.
Taking the feedback into account, we put a planned topic on hold and went in search of an album to download that had at least 12 tracks. At least 12? Dial-up users e-mailing asked that we note Rhino: Hi-Five Collections. If you go to Amazon's downloadable albums and see a Rhino: Hi-Five Collection, this is the only thing dial-up users report success with in terms of downloading in full. These are five track collections. Artists with these collections range from the excellent (Joni Mitchell, Roberta Flack, Stephen Stills, Curtis Mayfield, etc.) to the manufactured (the Monkees). You can click here for a listing of Hi-Five Collections and note there are also Hi-Five Collections by genre. These five-track compilations usually cost $3.99 but you can find some on sale for $3.49. (Buying the five tracks individually would cost you $4.95 so this isn't a huge savings -- savings is the focus of our next tech feature.)
Along with needing an album with at least 12 tracks, we wanted it to be something and someone worth highlighting, someone who does not get the cover of Rolling Stone next week (or Jann chatting them up inside the issue) but damn well deserves recognition. Since Jann's always had a thing for cocks, that meant we were looking for a female artist, women being the most ostracized and ignored in the popular music canon.
We also wanted something recorded as an album and not a greatest hits. Other than that, we were open to anything and Jess, Kat, Betty, Elaine and C.I. (our most musically aware) tossed out multiple suggestions. Laurel Canyon caught everyone's attention (C.I. suggestion). The LA canyon was home to many greats in the sixties including Cass Elliot and, in the seventies, would be associated with Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and others. The title alone had our interest. The artist?
Jackie DeShannon. That is her name and that is the correct spelling. Album covers have sometimes missed that point in her illustrious career which may explain Amazon's search results. They have Jackie DeShannon and they have Jackie De Shannon. The misspelling of her last name ("De Shannon") took us to Laurel Canyon. (We went there because C.I. always thinks to try multiple spellings -- see Marica's Ebay commentary from September.) Using both spellings will provide you with 11 different albums (and a deluxe version of one of the eleven) as options to download.
Who is Jackie DeShannon? A singer, a songwriter. As a songwriter, her biggest hit may be "Bette Davis Eyes" (written with Donna Weiss and, recorded by Kim Carnes, held the number one spot on Billboard's pop chart for nine weeks starting May 16, 1981). As a singer, her biggest hit is "What The World Needs Now Is Love" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. As singer-songwriter, her biggest hit is "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" (which she wrote with Randy Myers, and Jimmy Holiday).
While it would be silly to expect the average person to know who Jackie DeShannon is, it's amazing how little coverage she has received in recent years. Like most of her female peers, she's still not been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is an artist who has worked with Barry White, Jimmy Page, Marianne Faithful, Dr. John, Eddie Cochran, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, Bobby Womack and many others.
She is considered to be one of the first artists to grasp that folk could (and should) be melded with the then rock & roll. Her influence in the US and UK has been immense and we're talking about a woman who, performing her early hit, "When You Walk In The Room" (1963) on TV, would do so playing her guitar. Playing her guitar.
Maybe if she fit into the 'chick singer' stereotype, Jackie would get the sort of recognition she's earned? Of course, if she had that recognition, women would be aware that they were rocking out long before 'rock history' gives them credit and maybe that's the point in ignoring her?
Women are regularly ignored. Any 'history' of the genre or era includes every minor male and, to do so, makes room for them by ignoring the women who earned their place in history. But the books allegedly focusing solely on women aren't any better. Rolling Stone's hideous Book of Women In Rock manages to mention Jackie on two pages, in single sentences each. Page 74 notes that Cher recorded "Bob Dylan, Jackie DeShannon, and Ray Davies tunes." Page 76 notes, "Jackie DeShannon went to the Top Ten with 'What the World Needs Now Is Love" and that's it. In full. The Book of Women In Rock? 549 pages of text covering roughly forty years (the book was published in 1997) and that's it?
DeShannon the recording artist moved over to Liberty Records in 1960 and, more importantly for the label, songwriter DeShannon moved over to the label's Metric Music publishing house. Other songwriters at Metric included Leon Russell, David Gates, Randy Newman and Sharon Sheeley. DeShannon and Sheeley would write the Fleetwoods hit song "The Great Impostor" and, for Brenda Lee, the hits "Dum Dum" and "Heart in Hand." Singer-songwriters -- male or female -- were not then in vogue so DeShannon was a songwriter and a singer. In 1963, Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche wrote and produced "Needles & Pins" for her (providing her with her second charting hit). In this song and DeShannon's "When You Walk In The Room," you can hear where music will be headed later in the sixties. (Of Nitzsche, Jackie once said, "Jack understood me, and we shared similar tastes in music. When we were working together, he was so in tune and so sensitive to what I did.") And that is what you call being a musical pioneer. Someone who leads, not someone who follows.
DeShannon would open for the Beatles when they toured in the US in 1964. She spent time in England and she was among the first female solo artists to begin recording albums. For those confused, she recorded albums. She didn't go into the studio and stand before the microphone singing some smattering of songs. She recorded cohesive statements and did so long before Dusty found her way to Memphis. 1967's Are You Ready For This? is among her earliest albums. (Barbra Streisand recorded actual albums from the start of her career. She always had a strong artistic vision. However, Barbra was not part of the rock era during the sixties. Working with Richard Perry on Stoney End, released in 1971, she would join the rock era.)
As the sixties wound down, DeShannon recorded one of the era's masterpieces, Laurel Canyon. This beautifully produced and arranged album features Dr. John, Barry White, Harold R. Battiste Jr. and Russ Titleman among many others. And it features Jackie's classic "Holly Would."
I remember
That to Holly
Ever one was good
No one has ever looked
The way Holly could
She never cared
About herself
Lord, the way she should
No one will ever treat you
Like Holly would
You have to hear Jackie sing the song she wrote in a soulful, husky voice accompanied by Battiste on electric piano, Titleman on guitar, Dr. John on piano, Russ Trainer on bass, Abe Mills on drums (among others playing instruments) and Barry White, Brendetta Davis and Don MacAllister adding backing vocals. If you're not remembering the song or desperate to hear it for the first time yet, Battiste did the arrangement (it's up there with his arrangement of "I Got You Babe" as one of his all time best). As he once famously said, "There are no limits to art."
Listening to 1968's Laurel Canyon, you'll hear Carole King's still to come Tapestry. Jackie's re-imaging classic hits (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "You Really Got A Hold On Me" which features a nice interplay between Jackie and Barry's vocals especially, The Band's "The Weight," etc.) and while some might argue, "Yes, but Jackie didn't write those songs. Carole co-wrote 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?'," Jackie wrote "Come and Stay With Me" and it had already been a hit for Marianne Faithful. She transforms the song (well done by Cher ,among others) and, yes, you do hear echoes of the work Lou Adler and King did on her Tapestry a few years later. In fact, you hear the singer-songwriter phase that will dominate the seventies throughout the album. Again, the term is "pioneer."
And her cover of the classic "Sunshine of Your Love" demonstrates just how much she can do with a song. Other standouts include the title track (written by DeShannon), "LA" (ibid), "Too Close" (written by Shannon, Charles Green and Brian Stone) and the Barry White penned "I Got My Reason." Twelve amazing, cohesive tracks that capture so much passion in their performances.
The CD pairs the album's twelve tracks with eight bonus tracks. These include 1969's "Trust Me" and "What Is This?" which were produced by Bobby Womack. Yes, "Trust In Me" would become a Janis Joplin standard in 1970 (as "Trust Me"), yes, Jackie recorded it before that and with Womack producing. The bonus tracks close out with Jackie's hit "Put A Little Love In Your Heart."
20 tracks? Download and cost?
DSL and wireless required less than six minutes both to download the full album. We can't be more precise because we noticed the wireless download was complete after the fact and when Jim pointed that out, the DSL crew checked their status to discover that they were complete as well. We weren't expecting that fast of a download.
Both groups were using Dell latpops with Windows Vista. If this is your first time downloading from Amazon's music, you'll be asked to install the Amazon MP3 Downloader. Jess notes the computer using DSL had already downloaded that (it has some tracks downloaded for the planned feature that were downloaded two weeks ago) last month and, yet, was again asked to install Amazon MP3 Downloader. The downloading of the Downloader appeared to take longer than downloading the album itself. (About seven minutes on each -- with a lot of griping from Jess that it had already been installed previously.)
Price? If you purchase track by track, you'll pay 99 cents per tune. If you purchase the album in full, you'll pay $9.99.
Problems?
There are no notes with the download. You have no credits (we've pulled the credits from C.I.'s vinyl copy of the album). What about composer? We used the Windows Media Player for playback. In "Library," there are multiple classifications you can pull up tracks by, one of which is "Composer." Only three songs file under "Composer" (three of 20).
Sound quality?
The album is digitally remastered. Furthermore, Betty had a Thanksgiving eve emergency (teens and pre-teens without ear phones, oh my!) and ended up purchasing Jeleez headphones. She loves the sound quality they provide and we do as well, so we'll note these. You can find them for less than $20 at assorted retail and drug stores (in some cases, as low as $11.99). They are comfortable and do not make it feel like some expansive and expanding device has been placed in your ear canal. And, point, they have great sound quality. It sounds like you're in the recording studio with DeShannon.
Most of all you have an incredible album, a hidden masterpiece. Jim made the mistake of using Crapapedia for research and found very little and what he did find was wrong. Why Crapapedia tells their readers the album came out in 1969 is anyone's guess. It came out in 1968 according to the copyright stamp on the vinyl copy. (And C.I. places it as October 1968 but notes "that's a guess.") When they can't even get the basics right, you grasp how hidden this masterpiece has been.
Looking for music that will blow your mind? Download Jackie DeShannon's Laurel Canyon.
Taking the feedback into account, we put a planned topic on hold and went in search of an album to download that had at least 12 tracks. At least 12? Dial-up users e-mailing asked that we note Rhino: Hi-Five Collections. If you go to Amazon's downloadable albums and see a Rhino: Hi-Five Collection, this is the only thing dial-up users report success with in terms of downloading in full. These are five track collections. Artists with these collections range from the excellent (Joni Mitchell, Roberta Flack, Stephen Stills, Curtis Mayfield, etc.) to the manufactured (the Monkees). You can click here for a listing of Hi-Five Collections and note there are also Hi-Five Collections by genre. These five-track compilations usually cost $3.99 but you can find some on sale for $3.49. (Buying the five tracks individually would cost you $4.95 so this isn't a huge savings -- savings is the focus of our next tech feature.)
Along with needing an album with at least 12 tracks, we wanted it to be something and someone worth highlighting, someone who does not get the cover of Rolling Stone next week (or Jann chatting them up inside the issue) but damn well deserves recognition. Since Jann's always had a thing for cocks, that meant we were looking for a female artist, women being the most ostracized and ignored in the popular music canon.
We also wanted something recorded as an album and not a greatest hits. Other than that, we were open to anything and Jess, Kat, Betty, Elaine and C.I. (our most musically aware) tossed out multiple suggestions. Laurel Canyon caught everyone's attention (C.I. suggestion). The LA canyon was home to many greats in the sixties including Cass Elliot and, in the seventies, would be associated with Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and others. The title alone had our interest. The artist?
Jackie DeShannon. That is her name and that is the correct spelling. Album covers have sometimes missed that point in her illustrious career which may explain Amazon's search results. They have Jackie DeShannon and they have Jackie De Shannon. The misspelling of her last name ("De Shannon") took us to Laurel Canyon. (We went there because C.I. always thinks to try multiple spellings -- see Marica's Ebay commentary from September.) Using both spellings will provide you with 11 different albums (and a deluxe version of one of the eleven) as options to download.
Who is Jackie DeShannon? A singer, a songwriter. As a songwriter, her biggest hit may be "Bette Davis Eyes" (written with Donna Weiss and, recorded by Kim Carnes, held the number one spot on Billboard's pop chart for nine weeks starting May 16, 1981). As a singer, her biggest hit is "What The World Needs Now Is Love" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. As singer-songwriter, her biggest hit is "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" (which she wrote with Randy Myers, and Jimmy Holiday).
While it would be silly to expect the average person to know who Jackie DeShannon is, it's amazing how little coverage she has received in recent years. Like most of her female peers, she's still not been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is an artist who has worked with Barry White, Jimmy Page, Marianne Faithful, Dr. John, Eddie Cochran, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, Bobby Womack and many others.
She is considered to be one of the first artists to grasp that folk could (and should) be melded with the then rock & roll. Her influence in the US and UK has been immense and we're talking about a woman who, performing her early hit, "When You Walk In The Room" (1963) on TV, would do so playing her guitar. Playing her guitar.
Maybe if she fit into the 'chick singer' stereotype, Jackie would get the sort of recognition she's earned? Of course, if she had that recognition, women would be aware that they were rocking out long before 'rock history' gives them credit and maybe that's the point in ignoring her?
Women are regularly ignored. Any 'history' of the genre or era includes every minor male and, to do so, makes room for them by ignoring the women who earned their place in history. But the books allegedly focusing solely on women aren't any better. Rolling Stone's hideous Book of Women In Rock manages to mention Jackie on two pages, in single sentences each. Page 74 notes that Cher recorded "Bob Dylan, Jackie DeShannon, and Ray Davies tunes." Page 76 notes, "Jackie DeShannon went to the Top Ten with 'What the World Needs Now Is Love" and that's it. In full. The Book of Women In Rock? 549 pages of text covering roughly forty years (the book was published in 1997) and that's it?
DeShannon the recording artist moved over to Liberty Records in 1960 and, more importantly for the label, songwriter DeShannon moved over to the label's Metric Music publishing house. Other songwriters at Metric included Leon Russell, David Gates, Randy Newman and Sharon Sheeley. DeShannon and Sheeley would write the Fleetwoods hit song "The Great Impostor" and, for Brenda Lee, the hits "Dum Dum" and "Heart in Hand." Singer-songwriters -- male or female -- were not then in vogue so DeShannon was a songwriter and a singer. In 1963, Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche wrote and produced "Needles & Pins" for her (providing her with her second charting hit). In this song and DeShannon's "When You Walk In The Room," you can hear where music will be headed later in the sixties. (Of Nitzsche, Jackie once said, "Jack understood me, and we shared similar tastes in music. When we were working together, he was so in tune and so sensitive to what I did.") And that is what you call being a musical pioneer. Someone who leads, not someone who follows.
DeShannon would open for the Beatles when they toured in the US in 1964. She spent time in England and she was among the first female solo artists to begin recording albums. For those confused, she recorded albums. She didn't go into the studio and stand before the microphone singing some smattering of songs. She recorded cohesive statements and did so long before Dusty found her way to Memphis. 1967's Are You Ready For This? is among her earliest albums. (Barbra Streisand recorded actual albums from the start of her career. She always had a strong artistic vision. However, Barbra was not part of the rock era during the sixties. Working with Richard Perry on Stoney End, released in 1971, she would join the rock era.)
As the sixties wound down, DeShannon recorded one of the era's masterpieces, Laurel Canyon. This beautifully produced and arranged album features Dr. John, Barry White, Harold R. Battiste Jr. and Russ Titleman among many others. And it features Jackie's classic "Holly Would."
I remember
That to Holly
Ever one was good
No one has ever looked
The way Holly could
She never cared
About herself
Lord, the way she should
No one will ever treat you
Like Holly would
You have to hear Jackie sing the song she wrote in a soulful, husky voice accompanied by Battiste on electric piano, Titleman on guitar, Dr. John on piano, Russ Trainer on bass, Abe Mills on drums (among others playing instruments) and Barry White, Brendetta Davis and Don MacAllister adding backing vocals. If you're not remembering the song or desperate to hear it for the first time yet, Battiste did the arrangement (it's up there with his arrangement of "I Got You Babe" as one of his all time best). As he once famously said, "There are no limits to art."
Listening to 1968's Laurel Canyon, you'll hear Carole King's still to come Tapestry. Jackie's re-imaging classic hits (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "You Really Got A Hold On Me" which features a nice interplay between Jackie and Barry's vocals especially, The Band's "The Weight," etc.) and while some might argue, "Yes, but Jackie didn't write those songs. Carole co-wrote 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?'," Jackie wrote "Come and Stay With Me" and it had already been a hit for Marianne Faithful. She transforms the song (well done by Cher ,among others) and, yes, you do hear echoes of the work Lou Adler and King did on her Tapestry a few years later. In fact, you hear the singer-songwriter phase that will dominate the seventies throughout the album. Again, the term is "pioneer."
And her cover of the classic "Sunshine of Your Love" demonstrates just how much she can do with a song. Other standouts include the title track (written by DeShannon), "LA" (ibid), "Too Close" (written by Shannon, Charles Green and Brian Stone) and the Barry White penned "I Got My Reason." Twelve amazing, cohesive tracks that capture so much passion in their performances.
The CD pairs the album's twelve tracks with eight bonus tracks. These include 1969's "Trust Me" and "What Is This?" which were produced by Bobby Womack. Yes, "Trust In Me" would become a Janis Joplin standard in 1970 (as "Trust Me"), yes, Jackie recorded it before that and with Womack producing. The bonus tracks close out with Jackie's hit "Put A Little Love In Your Heart."
20 tracks? Download and cost?
DSL and wireless required less than six minutes both to download the full album. We can't be more precise because we noticed the wireless download was complete after the fact and when Jim pointed that out, the DSL crew checked their status to discover that they were complete as well. We weren't expecting that fast of a download.
Both groups were using Dell latpops with Windows Vista. If this is your first time downloading from Amazon's music, you'll be asked to install the Amazon MP3 Downloader. Jess notes the computer using DSL had already downloaded that (it has some tracks downloaded for the planned feature that were downloaded two weeks ago) last month and, yet, was again asked to install Amazon MP3 Downloader. The downloading of the Downloader appeared to take longer than downloading the album itself. (About seven minutes on each -- with a lot of griping from Jess that it had already been installed previously.)
Price? If you purchase track by track, you'll pay 99 cents per tune. If you purchase the album in full, you'll pay $9.99.
Problems?
There are no notes with the download. You have no credits (we've pulled the credits from C.I.'s vinyl copy of the album). What about composer? We used the Windows Media Player for playback. In "Library," there are multiple classifications you can pull up tracks by, one of which is "Composer." Only three songs file under "Composer" (three of 20).
Sound quality?
The album is digitally remastered. Furthermore, Betty had a Thanksgiving eve emergency (teens and pre-teens without ear phones, oh my!) and ended up purchasing Jeleez headphones. She loves the sound quality they provide and we do as well, so we'll note these. You can find them for less than $20 at assorted retail and drug stores (in some cases, as low as $11.99). They are comfortable and do not make it feel like some expansive and expanding device has been placed in your ear canal. And, point, they have great sound quality. It sounds like you're in the recording studio with DeShannon.
Most of all you have an incredible album, a hidden masterpiece. Jim made the mistake of using Crapapedia for research and found very little and what he did find was wrong. Why Crapapedia tells their readers the album came out in 1969 is anyone's guess. It came out in 1968 according to the copyright stamp on the vinyl copy. (And C.I. places it as October 1968 but notes "that's a guess.") When they can't even get the basics right, you grasp how hidden this masterpiece has been.
Looking for music that will blow your mind? Download Jackie DeShannon's Laurel Canyon.
Shame 20 years on down the line
"Grandma, what's this on top of the box?"
The year is 2028 and you thought you were helping Grandma get a few things out of the attic but you're holding a newspaper.
"That's The New York Times," she tells you. "November 5, 2008. We thought it was going to be historic. A lot of us saved copies."
You study it. Barack Obama. Oh, yeah. You learned about him in high school civics. He wasn't much of a president but he did have symbolic value.
"That's right," Grandma says patting your shoulder. "He was a first! He broke the barrier!"
"Yeah," you agree studying the front page, "that was really something."
But wait . . . What the hell?
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.
"Black?"
Grandma pretends to be busy looking through a box.
"Grandma, Black? This writer, this Adam Nagourney, was he a racist? Who owned this paper?"
"Well . . ." Grandma began, "we . . . We didn't know any better."
"Bi-racial. Bi-racial's the word. What kind of racist newspaper was this? No wonder they all stopped printing. Black? Was there marches to show solidarity with bi- and multi-racial persons?"
"No, a lot of us just pretended like he was Black. It seemed easier that way."
Racist was what it was.
"Grandma, you all got his father was Black and his mother was White, right?"
Grandma nods and looks sheepish as racism lingers all around her.
"But you called him 'Black'? Grandma, I'm ashamed of you."
"We didn't mean any harm, that's just the way we talked."
You can't believe, in 2028, that a mere 20 years ago, it was acceptable for the press organs -- the respected press -- to label a bi-racial or multi-racial person a single race. It was so insulting. You knew about the huge struggles in the last years but you didn't realize, until right this moment how bad things were or that even your own family -- your own family! -- could have been so racist. And look how enlightened this racist Adam Nagourney thought he was while describing a bi-racial person as a single race. Things really were backward back then.
[See also Marie Arana's "He's Not Black" (Washington Post), Betty's "The word is bi-racial," Stan's "All over the place," Marcia's "Sick and tired of it" and Ava and C.I.'s "TV: The Surreal Life stages comeback!"]
The year is 2028 and you thought you were helping Grandma get a few things out of the attic but you're holding a newspaper.
"That's The New York Times," she tells you. "November 5, 2008. We thought it was going to be historic. A lot of us saved copies."
You study it. Barack Obama. Oh, yeah. You learned about him in high school civics. He wasn't much of a president but he did have symbolic value.
"That's right," Grandma says patting your shoulder. "He was a first! He broke the barrier!"
"Yeah," you agree studying the front page, "that was really something."
But wait . . . What the hell?
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.
"Black?"
Grandma pretends to be busy looking through a box.
"Grandma, Black? This writer, this Adam Nagourney, was he a racist? Who owned this paper?"
"Well . . ." Grandma began, "we . . . We didn't know any better."
"Bi-racial. Bi-racial's the word. What kind of racist newspaper was this? No wonder they all stopped printing. Black? Was there marches to show solidarity with bi- and multi-racial persons?"
"No, a lot of us just pretended like he was Black. It seemed easier that way."
Racist was what it was.
"Grandma, you all got his father was Black and his mother was White, right?"
Grandma nods and looks sheepish as racism lingers all around her.
"But you called him 'Black'? Grandma, I'm ashamed of you."
"We didn't mean any harm, that's just the way we talked."
You can't believe, in 2028, that a mere 20 years ago, it was acceptable for the press organs -- the respected press -- to label a bi-racial or multi-racial person a single race. It was so insulting. You knew about the huge struggles in the last years but you didn't realize, until right this moment how bad things were or that even your own family -- your own family! -- could have been so racist. And look how enlightened this racist Adam Nagourney thought he was while describing a bi-racial person as a single race. Things really were backward back then.
[See also Marie Arana's "He's Not Black" (Washington Post), Betty's "The word is bi-racial," Stan's "All over the place," Marcia's "Sick and tired of it" and Ava and C.I.'s "TV: The Surreal Life stages comeback!"]
Dowd to Fey: And when they met, it was murder (Ava and C.I.)
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