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Hal Blaine, the Legendary Drummer Who Played on Every Top 40 Hit You’ve Ever Heard, Dies at Age 90

Roger Friedman
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Hal Blaine, the Legendary Drummer Who Played on Every Top 40 Hit You’ve Ever Heard, Dies at Age 90

The amazing Hal Blaine died today in Los Angeles. He was 90. I was lucky to have met and talked to him over the years. He was the drummer for the Wrecking Crew, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, who put his beat on more top 40 hits than any other drummer in history. Everyone from the Beach Boys to the Ronettes to the Fifth Dimension, Sonny and Cher, and so on are in his debt.

Brian Wilson Tweeted: “I’m so sad, I don’t know what to say. Hal Blaine was such a great musician and friend that I can’t put it into words. Hal taught me a lot, and he had so much to do with our success – he was the greatest drummer ever. We also laughed an awful lot.”

Of course, his most famous moment is the tip off to “Be My Baby.”: It’s one of the most famous openings to any song, and defined Hal’s career. A second might be “Monday, Monday” by the Mamas and the Papas. Imagine a juke box just filled with songs Hal Blaine played on: nirvana.

Hal didn’t just do pop/rock. It’s his drums on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” album. He’s what makes “The Boxer” so doleful and melancholy. He captured the light R&B of the Fifth Dimension in “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” He made Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie” crackle.

Condolences to his daughter, Michelle, and all his friends and family. Hal Blaine was one of a kind.

Here’s a great documentary about Hal well worth watching:

And another

The Sweet Moments You Don’t Want to Miss in “Captain Marvel” and This Hit is One More Piece in a Gigantic Jigsaw Puzzle

Roger Friedman
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The Sweet Moments You Don’t Want to Miss in “Captain Marvel” and This Hit is One More Piece in a Gigantic Jigsaw Puzzle

I’ve just come from seeing “Captain Marvel” at my local Showcase Cinema. I was alone in a huge theater, save one girl who looked like Ally Sheedy in “Breakfast Club.” The theater itself was freezing. Also, “Captain Marvel” is playing next door in a competing theater complex. Maybe everyone was over there.

I went to see Brie Larson. She did not disappoint. Larson was captivating in “Room,” “The Glass Castle,” and “Short Term 12.” With “Captain Marvel,” she proves she can do anything. And with the money from the franchise, she can take chances now on edgy films.

As it is, “Captain Marvel” was made by a pair of directors who are already unusual, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. They’ve some seriously lovely indie films like “Half Nelson” and “Sugar.” They’ve directed episodes of the woefully underpraised “Billions.” You knew they’d make a great movie.

And they have. For girls and young women, “Captain Marvel” will resonate for generations to come. It’s about empowerment, mentorship, and yada yada all those good things.

But it’s also got some sweet stuff for Marvel fans. This film is yet one more piece in a gigantic jigsaw puzzle that’s building to “Avengers: Endgame.” It brings back Nick Fury in the person of Samuel L. Jackson, de-aged, as well as Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson from “Agents of SHIELD.” So we’re getting origin story upon origin story here, which makes Marvel fans twinkle with delight. (I remember when I was a kid, and comic books cost 12 cents. The letters in the back were from fanatics then who were piecing it all together with cellophane tape. I used to think, these people are really nuts.)

Anyway, Stan Lee died right at the last minute since there are many tributes to him in “Captain Marvel” that you don’t want to miss. The movie is dedicated to him. But also the animated Marvel logo opening is a montage of his scenes from past movies. Plus, Captain Marvel runs into him on a bus, where they have an exchange. If I hadn’t been alone in my theater, I’d have clapped.

There’s lots of fun in the “CM” screenplay, too, including a shout out to Brad Pitt. (His kids, who will see the movie, should be impressed.)

But mostly, what you get from “Captain Marvel” and its two post-film scenes is this: the utter devotion these Marvel people have to their mythology, how seriously they take it, and how they can keep referencing their universe over and over. This is what the DC Comics movie people could never figure out. I am in awe of how the Marvel people have built and built thing to this end. After seeing “Captain Marvel” take off like a rocket this weekend, I can only assume “Endgame” will be volcanic when it arrives.

 

Aretha Franklin Tribute Special on CBS Scores 5.3 Million Viewers, Causes Sensation on Twitter, Heads to Emmy Nominations

Roger Friedman
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Aretha Franklin Tribute Special on CBS Scores 5.3 Million Viewers, Causes Sensation on Twitter, Heads to Emmy Nominations

“Aretha! A Tribute” scored 5.3 million viewers on CBS last night, winning its time period. The Grammy show beat everything on NBC, the CW, and Fox for the evening.

The Aretha special was fourth for the evening to “60 Minutes,” “God Friended Me,” “American Idol,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

Nevertheless, the special was quite an achievement on any levels. Neither CBS nor any of the broadcast networks ever show anything like the Aretha special, particularly in prime time. They will show the Country Music Awards and all kinds of other country music programs as well as as specials with pop artists.

But you will never real gospel, R&B at all. That’s usually confined to BET or some other adjunct place. The fact that was this was sold as a Grammy-related special is amazing. A Motown special comes next month. But the “Aretha” tribute should win some Emmy Awards, it was so good. And that’s the work of Clive Davis, Doug Davis, and Ken Ehrlich, who managed to get all those stars to come to the Shrine Auditorium and perform, once through. The whole music business basically came to a stop so it could happen. For that alone they should get Emmys.

Some outstanding performances: Brandi Carlile, SZA, HER, and Yolanda Adams with Shirley Caesar and Fantasia. I know Aretha was smiling down on this show.

 

Watch Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes In a Funky Deleted Musical Scene from Adam McKay’s Oscar Nominated “Vice”

Roger Friedman
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Watch Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes In a Funky Deleted Musical Scene from Adam McKay’s Oscar Nominated “Vice”

Adam McKay’s “Vice” scored Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress. It almost had one for Best Song or Score. There was a musical number McKay filmed with Alabama Shakes’ lead singer Brittany Howard. The number was deleted, not because Howard isn’t great, but because it was one more crazy thing in McKay’s already out of control movie. Some people loved “Vice.” There were many great moments. But it was also everything and the kitchen sink. The whole movie could be divided up into DVD extras, frankly.

Here it is, the “Vice” musical number:

Former MLB Star Jose Canseco Says A-Rod Has Been Cheating on JLO with His Ex Wife, Will Take Lie Detector Test to Prove It

Roger Friedman
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Former MLB Star Jose Canseco Says A-Rod Has Been Cheating on JLO with His Ex Wife, Will Take Lie Detector Test to Prove It

Jennifer Lopez has been engaged to Alex Rodriguez for two days.

Now former baseball star and ex-doper Jose Canseco (briefly on the Yankees) says A-Rod has been cheating on JLO with his ex wife Jessica.

He posted to Twitter, briefly and succinctly: “Alex Rodriguez stop being a piece of shit stop cheating on Jennifer Lopez.” He continued: “I was there a few months back with her when he called her on her phone. Watching World of Dance watching J.Lo text Alex Rodriguez little does she know that he is cheating on her with my ex-wife Jessica poor girl she has no idea who he really is.”

After he got everyone’s attention, Canseco added: “I am willing to take a polygraph to prove that what I’m saying about Alex Rodriguez is 100% accurate.” He also posted his phone number if readers had questions, but it doesn’t accept calls.

Canseco added: “Alex Rodriguez I challenge you to a boxing match or an MMA match anytime you want.”

Canseco was a real star with the Oakland A’s from 1985 to 1992. But he spent the rest of his 20 year major league baseball career floating around with different teams, getting into legal trouble, and so on. He confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs in a book. That much he has in common with A-Rod besides a short stint on the Yankees.

So here we go with Monday’s headline making story. Will Canseco persist in this effort to cause trouble for A-LO or J-ROD? Will they respond? Aren’t we going to get our Plaza Hotel wedding, hosted by Oprah, sponsored by Cracker Barrel?

Listen to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Salaciously Discuss His 14 Year Old Daughter and Roommates at Boarding School, Statutory Rape, And “If a guy wants to be polygamist, that’s kind of his business”

Roger Friedman
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Listen to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Salaciously Discuss His 14 Year Old Daughter and Roommates at Boarding School, Statutory Rape, And “If a guy wants to be polygamist, that’s kind of his business”

MediaMatters is a left wing website. But they’ve got a scoop by Madeline Peltz that will rock your ears back.

Turns out FoxNews’s Tucker Carlson used to call into the Bubba the Love Sponge Show on radio, regularly, from 2006 to 2011. He was hired by Fox News in 2009. Media Matters has found recordings of Carlson salaciously discussing his 14 year old daughter at boarding school, her roommates and so on. There’s a spirited discussion of statutory rape. And Carlson makes this observation: “If a guy wants to be polygamist, that’s kind of his business.’

Carlson and the host discuss potential lesbian activity at Carlson’s daughter’s boarding school.

THE LOVE SPONGE: Next thing you know, [inaudible], what’s going on in the [inaudible] dormitory? Nothing. I don’t got a PSP to play, I ain’t got nothing going on, I ain’t got my mom and dad here telling me that they love me and tuck me in bed. So, here’s Trixie, she wants to explore my body a little bit, so hey, let’s go crazy.

CO-HOST: Wow. You’re a sicko.

CARLSON: If it weren’t my daughter I would love that scenario.

They also discuss statutory rape. Cult leader Warren Jeffs is accused of pimping out teenage girls to older guys.
THE LOVE SPONGE: But where I think you’ve gone wrong is how you’ve downplayed how much of a crime this is, and how you’ve tried, I mean —

CARLSON: Wait, what? Crime is what? Do you know what the guy’s been charged with? I actually do know, because I got the subpoena. I got the indictment.

CO-HOST: Felony rape.

CARLSON: Felony rape, and do you know what he’s accused of doing?

THE LOVE SPONGE: But Tucker —

CARLSON: He’s not accused of touching anybody; he is accused of facilitating a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man. That’s the accusation. That’s what they’re calling felony rape. [crosstalk] That’s bullshit. I’m sorry. Now this guy may be [crosstalk], may be a child rapist. I’m just telling you that arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her. That’s bullshit.

Carlson’s response tonight: “Media Matters caught me saying something naughty on a radio show more than a decade ago. Rather than express the usual ritual contrition, how about this: I’m on television every weeknight live for an hour. If you want to know what I think, you can watch. Anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on and explain why.”

RIP Actor Jed Allan, 84, Veteran Hollywood TV Leading Man, Soap Staple on “Days of Our Lives,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Santa Barbara,” even “Mary Tyler Moore”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Actor Jed Allan, 84, Veteran Hollywood TV Leading Man, Soap Staple on “Days of Our Lives,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Santa Barbara,” even “Mary Tyler Moore”

Jed Allan, a veteran TV actor with a long list of credits, has died at age 84. Allan was best known for playing Don Craig on “Days of our Lives,” and C.C. Capwell on the soap “Santa Barbara” each role for more than a decade.

Allan really has a long list of credits, starting back in 1951. He appeared on soaps then, like “Love of Life,” and “The Secret Storm.”

By the time he became a leading man on “Days of Our Lives,” Allan was already known to TV audiences from dozens and dozens of appearances on prime time TV. Fans of the Mary Tyler Moore show will remember him as the suave anchorman who substitutes for Ted Baxter and dates Mary– a classic episode. He was also a semi regular on shows like “Lassie,” “Adam-12,” and “Love American Style.” He played Ian Ziering’s father on “Beverly Hills 90210.”

Allan’s son wrote on his Instagram page: “So sorry to post the very sad news of my fathers passing tonight. He died peacefully and was surrounded by his family and loved so much by us and so many others.  Thank you for all who are part of this wonderful tribute to my dad on Facebook.” Condolences to his family, friends and coworkers.”

I hope the TV Academy remembers to put his name in the Emmys In Memoriam next September.

Box Office: “Captain Marvel,” First Comic Book Movie Starring an Oscar Winner (and a Woman) Earns Shattering $153 Mil In Opening Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Captain Marvel,” First Comic Book Movie Starring an Oscar Winner (and a Woman) Earns Shattering $153 Mil In Opening Weekend

“Captain Marvel” has set a few records in its opening weekend.

It’s the first ever comic book movie to star an Oscar winner for acting, Brie Larson, who is also a woman. Larson won the Academy Award in 2017 for “Room,” a vastly different kind of film. No other Oscar winner has moved on to comic book films except Ben Affleck. He might be the exception– he won his “Good Will Hunting” screenwriting Oscar many years before he played Batman.  “Argo,” which he directed, won Best Picture four years before “Batman v. Superman.”

“Captain Marvel” had a knockout box office weekend, too. It made $153 million from Thursday previews through today. That brings its worldwide total to $455 million. “Captain Marvel” also is the 18th highest grossing regular weekend.

In other words: it’s a huge hit. Brie Larson is guaranteed at least two more episodes. She joins a rare group of actors who’ve led their own super hero movie, not an ensemble like “The Avengers” or “Justice League.” She and Gal Gadot should be treated to some incredible lunch a spa weekend.

Other box office news: Oscar winner “Green Book” hit $80 million with a lot of life still in it. “The Upside” added a million bucks and closed in on $105 million. Tyler Perry’s “Madea Family Funeral” crossed $45 million and shows no sign of slowing down.

Michael Jackson: Daily Mail Conned by Disbarred Lawyer Once Connected to King of Pop, Lies to Them About Deposition that Never Happened

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson: Daily Mail Conned by Disbarred Lawyer Once Connected to King of Pop, Lies to Them About Deposition that Never Happened

So many lies and just weird stuff floating around the interwebs and tabloids about Michael Jackson right now.

Maybe the worst thing is a March 5th story from the Daily Mail by Ryan Parry and James Desborough. The latter is a disgraced British journo who was caught up in the hacking scandal at the now long closed News of the World.

These gents have bought a pig in a poke from Brian Oxman, who claimed to them he examined Wade Robson, Michael Jackson’s sexual abuse accuser, back in 2005 during the child molestation trial. Oxman, who was later disbarred and cannot practice law (questionable that ever did) told the reporters, and this was printed in the Daily Mail, says that he took “an hours long deposition ahead of Michael Jackson’s now infamous 2005 child molestation trial.”

Alas, as lead defense lawyer Tom Mesereau, who fired Oxman from the trial for myriad reasons, reminds me: there was no deposition of Robson. It was a criminal trial. Mesereau says in an email: “There was no deposition. Only testimony in the trial. Depositions are rarely taken in criminal cases in California.”

The Mail writes: And at each point during his deposition and while sitting on the stand, Oxman says, Robson was ‘adamant’ that Jackson never touched him or any other children.

There was no deposition, however.

Parry and Desborough write that Oxman told them: ‘And I was charged with taking his deposition. I spent many hours talking to him on the phone and cannot tell you how many countless times Robson told me: ”Michael did not do this. This boy (Arvizo) shouldn’t be doing this.”

Yeah, except there was NO deposition.

And Oxman never examined Robson or Jimmy Safechuck. Mesereau examined Robson on the stand. I was there. In the room.

Oxman also presents the reporters with court testimony, which he has indicated to them was from a deposition

But there was no deposition.

Oxman told the reporters: “…it breaks my heart still to this day that a case I lived ate and breathed that Michael was innocent from the start. He should never have even been on the stand.'”

Oxman shouldn’t have been in the courtroom. He fell asleep in open court, intruded in part of the case where didn’t belong. Mesereau fired him in a parking lot after court in clear view of the press, so they’d know what was going on.

I hope the Mail didn’t pay a lot for this story.

Alex Rodriguez, aka A-Rod, Says on Twitter that Jennifer Lopez, aka JLO, Has Said Yes to Marrying Him and Becoming a Public Brand

Roger Friedman
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Alex Rodriguez, aka A-Rod, Says on Twitter that Jennifer Lopez, aka JLO, Has Said Yes to Marrying Him and Becoming a Public Brand

ARod says JLo will marry him.

That’s former Yankee Alex Rodriguez, who missed a year of baseball for doping and lying about it. He will marry Jennifer Lopez, the singer who doesn’t really sing. Together they are a brand. Will they actually marry? I say Yes, at the Plaza Hotel, with a massive media build up. It will last 18 months maximum. That’s my prediction. The wedding should be in the fall. People magazine will buy the rights.

For ARod, is this marriage number 2? For JLo, it’s number 3, right, not counting Ben Affleck and Puffy. I feel hubby no. 2, Marc Anthony, will officiate. People from the Bronx will complain the wedding isn’t at Yankee Stadium or Jimmy’s. No one from the Bronx will be invited. This will be the tone of gossip columns for months to come. JLo will lip synch at the wedding, which will be taped for HBO.

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