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classic-laugjhing-hollywood · 3 years

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Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931.

Leaving home at the age of 14, Dressler built a career on stage in traveling theatre troupes, where she learned to appreciate her talent in making people laugh. In 1892, she started a career on Broadway that lasted into the 1920s, performing comedic roles that allowed her to improvise to get laughs. From one of her successful Broadway roles, she played the titular role in the first full-length screen comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), opposite Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. She made several shorts, but mostly worked in New York City on stage. During World War I, along with other celebrities, she helped sell Liberty bonds. In 1919, she helped organize the first union for stage chorus players.

Her career declined in the 1920s, and Dressler was reduced to living on her savings while sharing an apartment with a friend. In 1927, she returned to films at the age of 59 and experienced a remarkable string of successes. For her performance in the comedy film Min and Bill (1930), Dressler won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She died of cancer in 1934.

Marie Dressler's original name was Leila Marie Koerber. She was born on November 9, 1868, Cobourg, Ontario. She was one of the two daughters of Anna (née Henderson), a musician, and Alexander Rudolph Koerber (b. April 13, 1826, Lindow, Neu-Ruppin, Germany – d. November 1914, Wimbledon, Surrey, England), a German-born former officer in the Crimean War. Leila's elder sister, Bonita Louise Koerber (b. January 1864, Ontario, Canada – d. September 18, 1939, Richmond, Surrey, England), later married playwright Richard Ganthony.

Her father was a music teacher in Cobourg and the organist at St. Peter's Anglican Church, where as a child Marie would sing and assist in operating the organ. According to Dressler, the family regularly moved from community to community during her childhood. It has been suggested by Cobourg historian Andrew Hewson that Dressler attended a private school, but this is doubtful if Dressler's recollections of the family's genteel poverty are accurate.

The Koerber family eventually moved to the United States, where Alexander Koerber is known to have worked as a piano teacher in the late 1870s and early 1880s in Bay City and Saginaw (both in Michigan) as well as Findlay, Ohio. Her first known acting appearance, when she was five, was as Cupid in a church theatrical performance in Lindsay, Ontario. Residents of the towns where the Koerbers lived recalled Dressler acting in many amateur productions, and Leila often irritated her parents with those performances.

Dressler left home at the age of 14 to begin her acting career with the Nevada Stock Company, telling the company she was actually 18. The pay was either $6 or $8 per week, and Dressler sent half to her mother. At this time, Dressler adopted the name of an aunt as her stage name. According to Dressler, her father objected to her using the name of Koerber. The identity of the aunt was never confirmed, although Dressler denied that she adopted the name from a store awning. Dressler's sister Bonita, five years older, left home at about the same time. Bonita also worked in the opera company. The Nevada Stock Company was a travelling company that played mostly in the American Midwest. Dressler described the troupe as a "wonderful school in many ways. Often a bill was changed on an hour's notice or less. Every member of the cast had to be a quick study". Dressler made her professional debut as a chorus girl named Cigarette in the play Under Two Flags, a dramatization of life in the Foreign Legion.

She remained with the troupe for three years, while her sister left to marry playwright Richard Ganthony. The company eventually ended up in a small Michigan town without money or a booking. Dressler joined the Robert Grau Opera Company, which toured the Midwest, and she received an improvement in pay to $8 per week, although she claimed she never received any wages.

Dressler ended up in Philadelphia, where she joined the Starr Opera Company as a member of the chorus. A highlight with the Starr company was portraying Katisha in The Mikado when the regular actress was unable to go on, due to a sprained ankle, according to Dressler. She was also known to have played the role of Princess Flametta in an 1887 production in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She left the Starr company to return home to her parents in Saginaw. According to her, when the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company came to town, she was chosen from the church choir by the company's manager and asked to join the company. Dressler remained with the company for three years, again on the road, playing roles of light opera.

She later particularly recalled specially the role of Barbara in The Black Hussars, which she especially liked, in which she would hit a baseball into the stands. Dressler remained with the company until 1891, gradually increasing in popularity. She moved to Chicago and was cast in productions of Little Robinson Crusoe and The Tar and the Tartar. After the touring production of The Tar and the Tartar came to a close, she moved to New York City.

In 1892, Dressler made her debut on Broadway at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Waldemar, the Robber of the Rhine, which only lasted five weeks. She had hoped to become an operatic diva or tragedienne, but the writer of Waldemar, Maurice Barrymore, convinced her to accept that her best success was in comedy roles. Years later, she appeared in motion pictures with his sons, Lionel and John, and became good friends with his daughter, actress Ethel Barrymore. In 1893, she was cast as the Duchess in Princess Nicotine, where she met and befriended Lillian Russell.

Dressler now made $50 per week, with which she supported her parents. She moved on into roles in 1492 Up To Date, Girofle-Girofla, and A Stag Party, or A Hero in Spite of Himself After A Stag Party flopped, she joined the touring Camille D'Arville Company on a tour of the Midwest in Madeleine, or The Magic Kiss, as Mary Doodle, a role giving her a chance to clown.

In 1896, Dressler landed her first starring role as Flo in George Lederer's production of The Lady Slavey at the Casino Theatre on Broadway, co-starring British dancer Dan Daly. It was a great success, playing for two years at the Casino. Dressler became known for her hilarious facial expressions, seriocomic reactions, and double takes. With her large, strong body, she could improvise routines in which she would carry Daly, to the delight of the audience.

Dressler's success enabled her to purchase a home for her parents on Long Island. The Lady Slavey success turned sour when she quit the production while it toured in Colorado. The Erlanger syndicate blocked her from appearing on Broadway, and she chose to work with the Rich and Harris touring company. Dressler returned to Broadway in Hotel Topsy Turvy and The Man in the Moon.

She formed her own theatre troupe in 1900, which performed George V. Hobart's Miss Prinnt in cities of the northeastern U.S. The production was a failure, and Dressler was forced to declare bankruptcy.

In 1904, she signed a three-year, $50,000 contract with the Weber and Fields Music Hall management, performing lead roles in Higgeldy Piggeldy and Twiddle Twaddle. After her contract expired she performed vaudeville in New York, Boston, and other cities. Dressler was known for her full-figured body, and buxom contemporaries included her friends Lillian Russell, Fay Templeton, May Irwin and Trixie Friganza. Dressler herself was 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).

In 1907, she met James Henry "Jim" Dalton. The two moved to London, where Dressler performed at the Palace Theatre of Varieties for $1500 per week. After that, she planned to mount a show herself in the West End. In 1909, with members of the Weber organization, she staged a modified production of Higgeldy Piggeldy at the Aldwych Theatre, renaming the production Philopoena after her own role. It was a failure, closing after one week. She lost $40,000 on the production, a debt she eventually repaid in 1930. She and Dalton returned to New York. Dressler declared bankruptcy for a second time.

She returned to the Broadway stage in a show called The Boy and the Girl, but it lasted only a few weeks. She moved on to perform vaudeville at Young's Pier in Atlantic City for the summer. In addition to her stage work, Dressler recorded for Edison Records in 1909 and 1910. In the fall of 1909, she entered rehearsals for a new play, Tillie's Nightmare. The play toured in Albany, Chicago, Kansas City, and Philadelphia, and was a flop. Dressler helped to revise the show, without the authors' permission, and in order to keep the changes she had to threaten to quit before the play opened on Broadway. Her revisions helped make it a big success there. Biographer Betty Lee considers the play the high point of her stage career.

Dressler continued to work in the theater during the 1910s, and toured the United States during World War I, selling Liberty bonds and entertaining the American Expeditionary Forces. American infantrymen in France named both a street and a cow after Dressler. The cow was killed, leading to "Marie Dressler: Killed in Line of Duty" headlines, about which Dressler (paraphrasing Mark Twain) quipped, "I had a hard time convincing people that the report of my death had been greatly exaggerated."

After the war, Dressler returned to vaudeville in New York, and toured in Cleveland and Buffalo. She owned the rights to the play Tillie's Nightmare, the play upon which her 1914 movie Tillie's Punctured Romance was based. Her husband Jim Dalton and she made plans to self-finance a revival of the play. The play fizzled in the summer of 1920, and the production was disbanded. In 1919, during the Actors' Equity strike in New York City, the Chorus Equity Association was formed and voted Dressler its first president.

Dressler accepted a role in Cinderella on Broadway in October 1920, but the play failed after only a few weeks. She signed on for a role in The Passing Show of 1921, but left the cast after only a few weeks. She returned to the vaudeville stage with the Schubert Organization, traveling through the Midwest. Dalton traveled with her, although he was very ill from kidney failure. He stayed in Chicago while she traveled on to St. Louis and Milwaukee. He died while Marie was in St. Louis, and Marie then left the tour. His body was claimed by his ex-wife, and he was buried in the Dalton plot.

After failing to sell a film script, Dressler took an extended trip to Europe in the fall of 1922. On her return she found it difficult to find work, considering America to be "youth-mad" and "flapper-crazy". She busied herself with visits to veteran hospitals. To save money she moved into the Ritz Hotel, arranging for a small room at a discount. In 1923, Dressler received a small part in a revue at the Winter Garden Theatre, titled The Dancing Girl, but was not offered any work after the show closed. In 1925, she was able to perform as part of the cast of a vaudeville show which went on a five-week tour, but still could not find any work back in New York City. The following year, she made a final appearance on Broadway as part of an Old Timers' bill at the Palace Theatre.

Early in 1930, Dressler joined Edward Everett Horton's theater troupe in Los Angeles to play a princess in Ferenc Molnár's The Swan, but after one week, she quit the troupe. Later that year she played the princess-mother of Lillian Gish's character in the 1930 film adaptation of Molnar's play, titled One Romantic Night.

Dressler had appeared in two shorts as herself, but her first role in a feature film came in 1914 at the age of 44. In 1902, she had met fellow Canadian Mack Sennett and helped him get a job in the theater. After Sennett became the owner of his namesake motion picture studio, he convinced Dressler to star in his 1914 silent film Tillie's Punctured Romance. The film was to be the first full-length, six-reel motion picture comedy. According to Sennett, a prospective budget of $200,000 meant that he needed "a star whose name and face meant something to every possible theatre-goer in the United States and the British Empire."

The movie was based on Dressler's hit Tillie's Nightmare. She claimed to have cast Charlie Chaplin in the movie as her leading man, and was "proud to have had a part in giving him his first big chance." Instead of his recently invented Tramp character, Chaplin played a villainous rogue. Silent film comedian Mabel Normand also starred in the movie. Tillie's Punctured Romance was a hit with audiences, and Dressler appeared in two Tillie sequels and other comedies until 1918, when she returned to vaudeville.

In 1922, after her husband's death, Dressler and writers Helena Dayton and Louise Barrett tried to sell a script to the Hollywood studios, but were turned down. The one studio to hold a meeting with the group rejected the script, saying all the audiences wanted is "young love." The proposed co-star of Lionel Barrymore or George Arliss were rejected as "old fossils". In 1925, Dressler filmed a pair of two-reel short movies in Europe for producer Harry Reichenbach. The movies, titled the Travelaffs, were not released and were considered a failure by both Dressler and Reichenbach. Dressler announced her retirement from show business.

In early 1927, Dressler received a lifeline from director Allan Dwan. Although versions differ as to how Dressler and Dwan met, including that Dressler was contemplating suicide, Dwan offered her a part in a film he was planning to make in Florida. The film, The Joy Girl, an early color production, only provided a small part as her scenes were finished in two days, but Dressler returned to New York upbeat after her experience with the production.

Later that year, Frances Marion, a screenwriter for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio, came to Dressler's rescue. Marion had seen Dressler in the 1925 vaudeville tour and witnessed Dressler at her professional low-point. Dressler had shown great kindness to Marion during the filming of Tillie Wakes Up in 1917, and in return, Marion used her influence with MGM's production chief Irving Thalberg to return Dressler to the screen. Her first MGM feature was The Callahans and the Murphys (1927), a rowdy silent comedy co-starring Dressler (as Ma Callahan) with another former Mack Sennett comedian, Polly Moran, written by Marion.

The film was initially a success, but the portrayal of Irish characters caused a protest in the Irish World newspaper, protests by the American Irish Vigilance Committee, and pickets outside the film's New York theatre. The film was first cut by MGM in an attempt to appease the Irish community, then eventually pulled from release after Cardinal Dougherty of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia called MGM president Nicholas Schenck. It was not shown again, and the negative and prints may have been destroyed. While the film brought Dressler to Hollywood, it did not re-establish her career. Her next appearance was a minor part in the First National film Breakfast at Sunrise. She appeared again with Moran in Bringing Up Father, another film written by Marion. Dressler returned to MGM in 1928's The Patsy as the mother of the characters played by stars Marion Davies and Jane Winton.

Hollywood was converting from silent films, but "talkies" presented no problems for Dressler, whose rumbling voice could handle both sympathetic scenes and snappy comebacks (the wisecracking stage actress in Chasing Rainbows and the dubious matron in Rudy Vallée's Vagabond Lover). Frances Marion persuaded Thalberg to give Dressler the role of Marthy in the 1930 film Anna Christie. Garbo and the critics were impressed by Dressler's acting ability, and so was MGM, which quickly signed her to a $500-per-week contract. Dressler went on to act in comedic films which were popular with movie-goers and a lucrative investment for MGM. She became Hollywood's number-one box-office attraction, and stayed on top until her death in 1934.

She also took on serious roles. For Min and Bill, with Wallace Beery, she won the 1930–31 Academy Award for Best Actress (the eligibility years were staggered at that time). She was nominated again for Best Actress for her 1932 starring role in Emma, but lost to Helen Hayes. Dressler followed these successes with more hits in 1933, including the comedy Dinner at Eight, in which she played an aging but vivacious former stage actress. Dressler had a memorable bit with Jean Harlow in the film:

Harlow: I was reading a book the other day.

Dressler: Reading a book?

Harlow: Yes, it's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?

Dressler: Oh my dear, that's something you need never worry about.

Following the release of Tugboat Annie (1933), Dressler appeared on the cover of Time, in its issue dated August 7, 1933. MGM held a huge birthday party for Dressler in 1933, broadcast live via radio. Her newly regenerated career came to an abrupt end when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1934. MGM head Louis B. Mayer learned of Dressler's illness from her doctor and reportedly asked that she not be told. To keep her home, he ordered her not to travel on her vacation because he wanted to put her in a new film. Dressler was furious but complied. She appeared in more than 40 films, and achieved her greatest successes in talking pictures made during the last years of her life. The first of her two autobiographies, The Life Story of an Ugly Duckling, was published in 1924; a second book, My Own Story, "as told to Mildred Harrington," appeared a few months after her death.

Dressler's first marriage was to an American, George Francis Hoeppert (1862 – September 7, 1929), a theatrical manager. His surname is sometimes given as Hopper. The couple married on May 6, 1894, in Grace Church Rectory, Greenville, New Jersey, as biographer Matthew Kennedy wrote, under her birth name, Leila Marie Koeber,. Some sources indicate Dressler had a daughter who died as a small child, but this has not been confirmed.

Her marriage to Hoeppert gave Dressler U.S. citizenship, which was useful later in life, when immigration rules meant permits were needed to work in the United States, and Dressler had to appear before an immigration hearing. Ever since her start in the theatre, Dressler had sent a portion of her salary to her parents. Her success on Broadway meant she could afford to buy a home and later a farm on Long Island, which she shared with her parents. Dressler made several attempts to set up theatre companies or theatre productions of her own using her Broadway proceeds, but these failed and she had to declare bankruptcy several times.

In 1907, Dressler met a Maine businessman, James Henry "Jim" Dalton, who became her companion until his death [Death Record 3104-27934] on November 29, 1921, at the Congress Hotel in Chicago from diabetes. According to Dalton, the two were married in Europe in 1908. However, according to Dressler's U.S. passport application, the couple married in May 1904 in Italy.

Dressler reportedly later learned that the "minister" who had married them in Monte Carlo was actually a local man paid by Dalton to stage a fake wedding. Dalton's first wife, Lizzie Augusta Britt Dalton, claimed he had not consented to a divorce or been served divorce papers, although Dalton claimed to have divorced her in 1905. By 1921, Dalton had become an invalid due to diabetes mellitus, and watched her from the wings in his wheelchair. After his death that year, Dressler was planning for Dalton to be buried as her husband, but Lizzie Dalton had Dalton's body returned to be buried in the Dalton family plot.

After Dalton's death, which coincided with a decline in her stage career, Dressler moved into a servant's room in the Ritz Hotel to save money. Eventually, she moved in with friend Nella Webb to save on expenses. After finding work in film again in 1927, she rented a home in Hollywood on Hillside Avenue. Although Dressler was working from 1927 on, she was still reportedly living hand to mouth. In November 1928, wealthy friends Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neurmberg gave her $10,000, explaining they planned to give her a legacy someday, but they thought she needed the money immediately. In 1929, she moved to Los Angeles to 6718 Milner Road in Whitley Heights, then to 623 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, both rentals. She moved to her final home at 801 North Alpine in Beverly Hills in 1932, a home which she bought from the estate of King C. Gillette. During her seven years in Hollywood, Dressler lived with her maid Mamie Cox and later Mamie's husband Jerry.

Although atypical in size for a Hollywood star, Dressler was reported in 1931 to use the services of a "body sculptor to the stars", Sylvia of Hollywood, to keep herself at a steady weight.

Biographers Betty Lee and Matthew Kennedy document Dressler's long-standing friendship with actress Claire Du Brey, whom she met in 1928. Dressler and Du Brey's falling out in 1931 was followed by a later lawsuit by Du Brey, who had been trained as a nurse, claiming back wages as the elder woman's nurse.

On Saturday, July 28, 1934, Dressler died of cancer, aged 65, in Santa Barbara, California. After a private funeral held at The Wee Kirk o' the Heather chapel, she was interred in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

She left an estate worth $310,000, the bulk left to her sister Bonita.

Dressler bestowed her 1933 Duesenberg Model J automobile and $35,000 to her maid of 20 years, Mamie Steele Cox, and $15,000 to Cox's husband, Jerry R. Cox, who had served as Dressler's butler for four years. Dressler intended that the funds should be used to provide a place of comfort for black travelers, and the Coxes used the funds to open the Coconut Grove night club and adjacent tourist cabins in Savannah, Georgia, in 1936, named after the night club in Los Angeles.

Dressler's birth home in Cobourg, Ontario, is known as Marie Dressler House and is open to the public. The home was converted to a restaurant in 1937 and operated as a restaurant until 1989, when it was damaged by fire. It was restored, but did not open again as a restaurant. It was the office of the Cobourg Chamber of Commerce until its conversion to its current use as a museum about Dressler and as a visitor information office for Cobourg.[66] Each year, the Marie Dressler Foundation Vintage Film Festival is held, with screenings in Cobourg and in Port Hope, Ontario. A play about the life of Marie Dressler called "Queen Marie" was written by Shirley Barrie and produced at 4th Line Theatre in 2012 and Alumnae Theatre in 2018.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dressler has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1731 Vine Street, added in 1960. After Min and Bill, Dressler and Beery added their footprints to the cement forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, with the inscription "America's New Sweethearts, Min and Bill."

Canada Post, as part of its "Canada in Hollywood" series, issued a postage stamp on June 30, 2008, to honour Marie Dressler.

Dressler is beloved in Seattle. She played in two films based on historical Seattle characters. Tugboat Annie (1933) was loosely based on Thea Foss, of Seattle. Likewise Hattie Burns, in Politics (1931), was based on Bertha Knight Landes, the first woman to become mayor of Seattle.

Dressler's 152nd birthday was commemorated in a Google Doodle on November 9, 2020.

#marie dressler #classic hollywood #classic movie stars #golden age of hollywood #early film #silent era #silent hollywood #silent movie stars #1910s movies #1920s hollywood #1930s hollywood #comedy legend #hollywood legends

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cvrsxn · 4 years

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hello friends!! i haven’t played carson in a few years, so i’m basically writing a bio from scratch while drunk. we shall see how this goes lol

(JORDAN FISHER, CISMALE) - Have you seen CARSON JAMES? CARSON is in HIS SENIOR year. The MUSICAL THEATER MAJOR is 22 years old & is a CANCER. People say HE is ADAPTABLE, LOYAL, SUBMISSIVE and DETACHED. Rumors say they’re a member of WINTHROP SOCIETY. I heard from the gossip blog that HE’S LYING TO HIS DAD ABOUT WHERE HE’S GOING TO SCHOOL AND WHAT HE’S GOING FOR.

trigger warning: death

basic info

full name: carson robert james

birth date: july 7, 1998

pronouns: he/him

hometown: assaria, kansas

sexuality: bisexual

height: 5′9″

eye color: brown

hair color: brown

build: athletic

tattoos: none

piercings: none

style: because he’s on the low end of the totem pole in terms of status, he tries to look his best even if he can’t afford to look as good as the rest of campus

favorite color: blue

favorite food: burgers

zodiac: cancer sun, sagittarius moon, virgo rising

mbti: infj

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

enneagram: type 5 wing 4

temperament: melancholy-phlegmatic

alignment: true neutral

carson was born to rob and sylvia james, the middle child and only boy. because of that, it was always his destiny to someday take over the family car repair shop. james automotive was the sole reason people stopped in assaria, being as much of a drive-through city as it is, but the james family kept a good amount of business being the only mechanic within a 30 mile radius. carson was working under the hood of some practice junkers his father kept around by the time he was six, and it wasn’t just holding the flashlight. he wasn’t terrible at it, but it definitely didn’t come naturally to him like his little sister, katie. as much as carson loved his father, the man was very stuck in his ways -- stereotypical gender roles and all.

as for his mother, the most important thing to her was keeping music in their lives. if she didn’t have one of her favorite records playing, she was humming while she washed the dishes or tittering at the piano. she taught all of her children to play at a young age, and music spoke to carson in a way that cars didn’t. music was always for fun or relaxation or church, though; he never would’ve imagined having a career in music. and after sylvia’s untimely passing, music seemed to leave the house altogether.

besides church and working at james automotive, the only activity carson was allowed to participate in was baseball. being a diehard royals fan, rob was perfectly fine with his son cutting back hours at the shop when baseball season rolled around. and carson was good; the best third baseman the school had seen in over twenty years. he had universities scouting him left and right, but carson’s path was set. he’d finish an associates in business at the local community college, and then he’d work in the repair shop for the rest of his life. at least, that was the plan, before carson’s older sister, felicia, stepped in.

felicia had left the midwest for the east coast, and she was determined to get her brother out of kansas if it was the last thing she did. with katie’s help, they put together a “demo reel” of carson singing in the church choir and randomly around the house, complete with a scene katie had convinced carson she needed to practice for class. under the guise of a weekend trip to see his sister, felicia had set up an audition with yates university (and a few other schools for good measure). on raw talent alone, carson managed to make it into every single program. the only problem was telling his dad.

if carson had actually told his dad he wanted to major in musical theater, rob wouldn’t have even laughed; it would’ve just been a flat out “no”. his sisters swooped in again and convinced rob that carson had received a baseball scholarship to a nearby university, one that happened to have a top-notch business program. rob was a bit skeptical, but ultimately took their word for it. luckily for carson, rob never had the time to make a visit to campus, so they’ve been in the clear.

it was a long road trying to catch up to the rest of his peers in the theater department. the curriculum seemed to be set for people who already had at least a base knowledge in every area, and carson was still tripping over his feet in his jazz shoes. there were few who worked harder than him, though, and after his first year, he was able to hold his own. he still had a long way to go if he was going to compete with the people who just kept getting better, but if this was what he wanted to do, he was going to put his all into it.

at some point during his first two years, carson met and dated a girl (wc submitted to the main!!) and they were very serious, but for reasons that can be plotted out she broke his heart and it took him a long time to get over it. he started getting bigger roles in mainstage productions and that became his full focus. he couldn’t afford to get distracted.

as a senior, he’s really hit his stride. he’s performing better than he ever has, and he can even keep up in his dance classes. he finally feels like he can really do this, but he has no idea how he’s going to tell his dad after he graduates.

wanted connections will be posted tomorrow probably, since it’s after 10 and i have to be up in six hours for work 😬 like this post and i’ll come find you during free time at work though!!

#yatesintro #this got................so long i'm so sorry alskdjf

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boggirlsummer · 3 years

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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Since I know y’all are dying to hear what I was up to in the brief period of time Taylor and I were apart -

I started my illogical series of journeys back and forth across the country with an Amtrak ride to Missouri on the Southwest Chief. Luckily, the checked baggage is not a myth and I was able to give them my heavy suitcases and not worry about them again til Kansas City.

The train was almost full (we had a herd of tween Boy Scouts join us somewhere in New Mexico), so I had an older lady in the seat next to me the whole time. She came in with pretty chaotic energy, playing videos on her phone with no headphones (something that I quickly realized drives me insane lol) and ended by taking her pills with a Red Bull and telling me way too much about her family history at about 6:30 in the morning.

During the daylight part of the trip I took over a table in the observation car and just looked out the window and did a bunch of watercoloring. Very chill.

We still had to wear masks for the whole ride which made it a little difficult to sleep, but got used to it after a awhile.

After two full days on the train, I got to KC and hung out with my family for a few days. So nice to see everyone again, but it makes me sad that my grandparents once again don’t feel safe going to very many of places because of covid. Even though they regularly disagree with the beliefs and policies of their conservative neighbors and the governor, I’ve never seen them or my mom so frustrated and angry with their fellow Missourians. People in my hometown continue not to wear masks in public spaces and the vaccination rate for adults is hovering at around 40%. One of my grandparents’ friends was hospitalized for 18 days after going on a trip with one of his so-called friends who lied about being vaccinated. The unvaccinated man later died of covid.

But anyway, nothing new to say on that front, I know I’m generally preaching to the choir. Just can’t really leave that part of the picture out when it’s so ever present (especially since my grandma keeps the TV local news on all day lol).

Luckily, we were still able to do most of our usual activities - going on walks where the air feels thick enough to cut and listening to the buzz of the cicadas (or locusts, are they the same thing?), eating zucchini muffins, talking about traffic and new businesses in town, and watching Law and Order SVU.

After only a few days with promises to return soon, I headed out on a bus (Jefferson Lines aka midwestern Greyhound I guess?), to Minneapolis to meet up with Taylor. Looking back, choosing the 10 hour bus ride instead of an hour and a half long flight to save a little money didn’t make the most sense. However, I just entered the TikTok time warp and the hours flew by.

On one of our short breaks, almost everyone got off to get food from Burger King. I stayed on since I was supplied with muffins and planning on eating dinner with Taylor. The girl sitting behind me noticed I didn’t get off and offered me some of her food, which I declined but thought was really sweet of her. Inspires me to be a bit more generous and perceptive of people’s needs.

#Spotify

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papermoonloveslucy · 6 years

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TOAST OF THE TOWN aka THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW

“A Tribute to Lucy and Desi” (S3;E8) ~ October 3, 1954

Directed & Choreographed by John Wray

Ed Sullivan (Himself / Host) was a preeminent television variety show host who is best remembered for hosting his own show, at first titled “Toast of the Town” but later simply known as “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which became a staple of Sunday night viewing for millions of Americans from 1948 to 1971. As such, his name was often mentioned on “I Love Lucy” and Lucille Ball's subsequent sitcoms. He introduced America to such entertainers as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Supremes. Sullivan entered icon status when he and his television show were worked into the plot of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie in 1960. The musical includes the song "Hymn for a Sunday Evening" which has a chorus that repeats Sullivan's name in a choir-like harmony. Hope made an appearance in the 1964 film version. The theatre on Broadway in New York City where Sullivan did his weekly show was named after him in 1967. He died in 1974.

Lucille Ball (Herself / Lucy Ricardo) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Desi Arnaz (Himself / Ricky Ricardo) was born in Cuba in 1917 and immigrated to America as a youngster. He was a musician who married Lucille Ball in 1940 after meeting her on the set of 1939’s Too Many Girls, which he had done on stage in New York. In order to keep him ‘off the road’ Ball convinced producers to cast him as her husband in a new television project based on her radio show “My Favorite Husband.” The network was convinced. In 1951, Arnaz and Ball began playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, roles they would be identified with for the rest of their lives. The couple had two children together, Lucie and Desi Jr. In 1960, Ball and Arnaz divorced. Desi became a producer, responsible for such hits as “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69). He re-married in 1963. Desi Aranz died in 1986, just a few years before Ball.

William Frawley (Himself / Fred Mertz) was already a Hollywood veteran when he was hired by Desi Arnaz to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” After the series concluded he joined the cast of “My Three Sons” playing Bub Casey. He did an episode of “The Lucy Show” in October 1965 which was his final TV appearance before his death in March 1966.

Vivian Vance (Herself / Ethel Mertz) was born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1909, although her family quickly moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was raised. She had extensive theatre experience, co-starring on Broadway with Ethel Merman in “Anything Goes.” She was acting in a play in Southern California when she was spotted by Desi Arnaz and hired to play Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s neighbor and best friend. The pairing is credited with much of the success of “I Love Lucy.” Vance was convinced to join the cast of “The Lucy Show” in 1962, but stayed with the series only through season three, making occasional guest appearances afterwards. She made a total of six appearance on “Here’s Lucy.” She also joined Lucy for a TV special “Lucy Calls the President” in 1977. Vance died two years later.

Harry Chesney (Himself) was the vice-president of Philip Morris, the tobacco company that first sponsored “I Love Lucy” in 1951.

Howard Dietz (Himself) was a lyricist who wrote over 500 songs in his lifetime. In 1954 he was a vice-president at MGM where he is credited with developing the Leo the lion logo as well as their slogan “Ars Gratia Artis” (art for art's sake). The Long, Long Trailer was an MGM picture.

Don Dixon (Himself) was a correspondent for INS, the International News Service. He was held captive in Communist China for 18 months.

John Hodiak (Himself) was a busy actor at MGM who had co-starred with Lucille Ball in their 1946 film Two Smart People. He was also seen in the 1944 film Lifeboat with Tallulah Bankhead.

Tex O'Rourke (Himself) was a toastmaster famous for moderating his “Circus Saints and Sinners” tributes.

Dusty Rhodes (Himself) was a member of 1954 World Series Champion team the New York Giants. He would return to “The Ed Sullivan Show” in April 1955.

Robert Taylor (Archival Footage from Bataan) acted alongside Desi Arnaz in the 1943 film Bataan. He never appeared on “I Love Lucy,” but during the Ricardo's stay in Hollywood, Lucy Ricardo mentioned meeting him at a farmers market and getting his autograph on an orange.

Keenan Wynn (Archival Footage from The Long, Long Trailer)

Marjorie Main (Archival Footage from The Long, Long Trailer)

Johnny Roventini (Philip Morris Bellhop, uncredited)

Julia Meade (Voice of Mercury Commercial)

This show was aired on CBS on October 3, 1954. Sunday nights were known as “Ed Sullivan Show” nights in the same way that Lucy and Desi “owned” Monday nights throughout the 1950s. This show was done live in front of a studio audience at (what is now known as) the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City.

The next day “I Love Lucy” began its fourth season on the air with “The Business Manager” (ILL S4;E1) co-starring Charles Lane (above) as Mr. Hickox. Two weeks later the series celebrated its 100th show.

The same night this show aired, “Father Knows Best” made its TV debut on CBS at 10pm. Prior to that the series had been aired on radio since 1949. On TV, it ran for one season and was canceled. The series was picked up by NBC, where it remained for three seasons. After a second cancellation in 1958, the series was picked up yet again, by CBS, where it aired until May 1960.

This was the second of Lucille Ball's dozen appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Ball and Arnaz had been on earlier in the year, after Ed Sullivan presented “I Love Lucy” with an Emmy Award in April 1954. Desi made eight appearances, the last being in 1960. This is the only time the full hour of Sullivan's show is devoted solely to Lucy and Desi.

“Toast of the Town” was not filmed in Hollywood, like “I Love Lucy.” It was broadcast live from New York and then kinescoped to the West Coast. Consequently, prints of this show are generally of poor quality.

During the run of “I Love Lucy,” Ed Sullivan and his show were mentioned several times:

Lucy: (about Fred the dog) “He learned obedience, but he’s not ready for ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’.”

~ “The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue” (ILL S6;E27)

Johnny Clark: (to Ricky) “I think I've got you planted on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ for next month.”

[Celebrities would often be asked to stand-up and wave if they were spotted on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”] ~ “Face to Face” aka “The Ricardos Are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7)

Lucy: (to a stoic Buckingham Palace Guard) “Wow, you make Ed Sullivan look like laughing boy.”

[Sullivan was known not to smile or laugh, something Lucy chides him for in the tribute.] ~ “Lucy Meets the Queen” (ILL S5;E15)

To kick off the hour, Lucy and Desi perform a sketch about their meeting with Ed Sullivan. Although the sketch feels like an episode of “I Love Lucy,” Lucy and Desi use their own names. It opens with Lucy knitting and Desi at home (in Beverly Hills), relaxing and reading the Sunday papers, which are spread out all over the room. Desi is looking for the “spor' session” [“sports section”].

The newspaper Desi holds is the Sunday, October 3, 1954, edition of the New York Daily news, with the back page headline “GIANTS CHAMPS”! The previous day, the New York Giants triumphed over the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series. Interestingly, this was not good news to Lucy's good friend Bob Hope, who was part-owner of the Indians.

Two years later, October 8, 1956, Lucy and Desi guest-starred on “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” which for the evening was broadcast in Ed Sullivan's time slot, a fact Hope acknowledged in his monologue. Like this Ed Sullivan show, it was the day after a world series victory and the MVP was invited to appear on the show. For this “Toast of the Town” that player was Dusty Rhodes of the New York Giants. In 1956 it would be Don Larsen of the New York Yankees.

When Lucy shows off what she's been knitting, Desi immediately jumps to conclusions: “Lucy! Again? We've already done that bit!” Desi is referring to Lucy Ricardo having a baby on “I Love Lucy.” Prior to that, in 1951's “Drafted” (ILL S1;E11, above), Ricky and Fred mistake the girls knitting them sweaters for a clue that they are expecting.

Lucy tells him to relax, that she's knitting it for Eve Arden's new baby. Arden, a friend of Ball's from her B-movie days, was currently starring in TV's “Our Miss Brooks” filmed at Desilu. On September 17, 1954, she gave birth to what would be her only biological child, Douglas Brooks West.

After arguing who should answer the telephone, Desi answers it, but can't quite figure out who it is on the other end.

Desi (to Lucy, covering the phone receiver): “I think it's somebody from a bakery. A guy called Solomon. Ed Solomon. He says he's selling toast in this part of the town.”

Lucy grabs the phone and it turns out to be Ed Sullivan who is coming right over, despite the fact that their house is a mess and they aren't properly dressed. Desi says they should let Ed see them as they really are, with no pretense.

Lucy: “The show is called 'Toast of the Town', not 'Crumbs of the Town'.”

She then implores Desi to put on his shoes, to which he replies, “What for? He knows I got feet.”

This is very similar to an exchange in “Men Are Messy” (ILL S1;E8) from 1951.

Lucy Ricardo: “Put your shoes on and pick up those papers. Company is coming.” Ricky Ricardo: “It isn't company, it's Fred and Ethel.” Lucy Ricardo: “Well, put your shoes on.” Ricky Ricardo: “They know I have feet.”

In the next scene, they are dressed to the nines, and Lucille makes her entrance to the strains of “A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody” by Irving Berlin. In 1955's , “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18) Lucy Ricardo gets a role as a showgirl, strutting down a staircase wearing a giant head-dress, while this song is playing.

Before Sullivan arrives, Lucy and Desi silently practice being acknowledged from the audience, just in case that is what Sullivan has in mind. This is visually similar to when Lucy and Ricky rehearse being surprised with a “Housewarming” (ILL S6;E23) party when they first move to Connecticut in 1957.

The phone rings again and Lucy talks to their agent Don Sharpe about the purpose of Sullivan's visit, while Desi hovers anxiously behind her:

Lucille (into the phone): “He is! He isn't? He isn't? He is! He isn't!” (she hangs up) Desi: “Well, is he or isn't he?”

This is another gag taken directly from “I Love Lucy.” It is possible that the “I Love Lucy” writers participated in the scripting of this sketch.

When Sullivan finally arrives at the Arnaz home, they rush him off his feet and pretend not to have already heard the news. Sullivan finally spills the beans.

Lucy: “'Toast of the Town' and the whole slice about us!”

When Sullivan asks Lucille for a cigarette, the Philip Morris bellhop Johnny Roventini literally pops out of the coffee table and gives him one! Although Philip Morris was not a sponsor of “Toast of the Town,” the gag acknowledges the company's initial support of “I Love Lucy.”

Vivian Vance just happens to drop by – and then almost immediately Bill Frawley. The just happen to be ready to regale Sullivan with a song, “Hullaballoo,” which Frawley says is an old vaudeville tune from 1913. He also claims that they previously performed it “on one of the old Lucy shows” but no such song was ever sung by Fred and Ethel on “I Love Lucy.”

A curtain then closes for their bows. Sullivan reminds Vivian that they last met when he presented the Emmy Award to “I Love Lucy” in Hollywood. He recalls first meeting Frawley in Leone's Restaurant. Jimmy Walker introduced him to Sullivan. Walker was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932, when Sullivan was a news correspondent.

Sullivan discusses the film Bataan featuring Desi Arnaz and Robert Taylor. Baatan (1943) was an MGM film about the World War II Battle of Bataan, a region of the Philippines.

youtube

After a Mercury commercial narrated by Julia Meade, Ed Sullivan introduces the trailer from The Long, Long Trailer, a 1954 color film based on a novel of the same name by Clinton Twiss. It is about a couple who buy a new trailer home and spend a year traveling across the United States.The film stars Lucille Ball as Tacy Collini and Desi Arnaz as Nicky Collini. The characters' names were changed from the book to sound more like ‘Lucy and Ricky’ (Tacy and Nicky, say it fast).

Desi Arnaz performs his signature song “Babalu.” He performed the song on “I Love Lucy” in "The Audition" (ILL S1;E6) and in "The Ricardos Visit Cuba" (ILL S6;E9), where Desi was joined by Richard Keith (Little Ricky). Other times it was partially heard or sung for comedic purposes, such as in "Lucy Hires an English Tutor" (ILL S2;E13), “Ricky's Life Story" (ILL S3;E1), "The Publicity Agent" (ILL S1;E31) and “The Young Fans" (ILL S1;E20). Desi Arnaz first recorded the song in 1947, although he had performed it as part of his nightclub act prior to that.

After Desi finishes singing, Sullivan tells his audience that Desi has had a fever of 101 all day, but insisted on singing “Babalu” anyway.

Finally, the "Circus Saints and Sinners Luncheon" begins, a formal tribute (the actual “Toast” of the town) with speeches from and about the Arnazes.

A clip from “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16), which first aired on January 19, 1953. This was Desi Arnaz’s favorite episode.This is the episode that made “I Love Lucy” a national phenomenon. It is estimated that 72% of the American public who owned a television tuned in to see the birth of Little Ricky. His birth was timed to coincide with Desi Jr.'s birth, that same day. This episode aired the day before the inauguration of President Eisenhower and five months before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. More people watched this “I Love Lucy” episode than either one of those televised historic events.

To kick things off, Ed Sullivan reads a letter from Bernard Baruch (1870-1965). Baruch was a financier and powerful political consultant who had served with Sullivan on a Government-appointed Entertainment Committee to bolster post-war morale in America.

Toastmaster Tex O’Rourke discusses Ball and Arnaz’s childhoods and their early work in show-business.

Baseball player Dusty Rhodes some brief comments of his own.

Lucille Ball is first to make her remarks, thanking the networks and production staff of “I Love Lucy,” and ultimately Desi:

Lucy: “This guy, who seems to be in all places at once, making like an actor, a banker, a politician – in short, a producer – gets my vote as the greatest producer of all time. And I have two little Arnazes at home to prove it.”

Desi Arnaz expresses his appreciation to Lucy and the United States of America for giving him the opportunities he has enjoyed.

Desi: “We came to this country and we didn't have a cent in our pockets. From cleaning canary cages to this night in New York is a long ways. And I don’t think there’s any other country in the world that could give you that opportunity.”

Both Lucy and Desi become visibly emotional while making their speeches. "Desi was very sincere about that," said Madelyn Davis, who along with her partner, Bob Carroll Jr., wrote every episode of the first four seasons of “I Love Lucy” with Jess Oppenheimer. "Lucy got teary and even Ed Sullivan. Desi wasn't kidding. They had nothing."

The show includes Lincoln Mercury commercials starring Ed Sullivan. Lucy and Desi had participated in such commercials in their first appearance on “Toast of the Town” in April 1954. During the sketch that starts the show, Lucy says the words “High dramatic” and Ed reminds her that on his show, it is “Merc-O-Matic,” which was Lincoln Mercury's own automatic transmission, introduced in 1951.

This Date in Lucy History – October 3rd

"Lucy Visits Grauman's" (ILL S5;E1) – October 3, 1955

"Lucy and Paul Winchell" (TLS S5;E4) – October 3, 1966

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illusivexemissary · 6 years

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Saved thread: Lucifer and Gabriel in snow

snappingnecks:

ψ ⑉ It was brittle outside, nearly twenty degrees Fahrenheit and dropping rapidly as the snow continued to fall. It was nearly Christmas, just a few weeks out, and snow had descended upon most of the country ;; especially in Kansas City, where the Devil had taken up residence. Still heavily weakened by the inter-dimensional travel, Lucifer himself had taken up residence in a small, but pleasant hotel at the edge of town ;; secluded enough not to be disturbed, but not so far away that his favorite weather was missed.

It was nearly midnight as entirely-bare feet crunched into the newly-fallen snow, unaffected by the cold that would’ve made most humans get a serious case of frost-bite. The sensation of the snow between his toes, dampening the legs of his jeans up nearly a foot, made him sigh not in agitation or annoyance, but in pleasant calm. Winter, while dark, had always had a special place in Lucifer’s heart – it had been that very season where he’d spent most of his time on Earth, walking through the snow with his ivory wings (matching its very tint) carving a second pathway behind him.

So engrossed in the beauty of the night, the ground illuminated by a brilliant azure hue from a full-moon above, the Light Bringer had not noticed the other presence until it spoke, until its pleasant voice added only to reminiscent sensations flooding his subconscious like a fire. “It remains my favorite… Do you remember, when you were much younger, the first time I showed you snow? I still remember how you started to cry, at first… but once I showed you how much fun it could be, how good it felt… I had to pry you away from it when Father called.”

Reaching down, he picked up a small handful of the white substance in his hand, which did not melt even in the slightest. His fingers clenched it into a small log of ice, eventually allowing it to return to where it came from. “Every winter, when it started snowing, you would get me from whatever I was doing… so we could be the first to walk through it.”

There was a pause, as icy-blue eyes rose up toward the sky. “I haven’t forgotten, you know… I remember all of it but sometimes…” His hand rose to tap at his temple, gaze shifting to find Gabriel’s form among the snow and darkness. “Something inside me mutes them, or takes them and shifts them… and I forget what I once was… who I was…”

Gabriel fashions a winter’s glow from the darkness, clear enough to see his face. His eyes are moist from the poignancy of the memories Lucifer recites: not only the memories themselves, but the fact that the Devil remembers them so vividly, and yet experiences moments of serene clarity when he can look back on them with fondness.

He is smiling, too, and he is ashamed neither of the tears nor the grin. His voice is very soft and very kind, in the winter dark, and in the solitude of only two brothers, without the rest of the world even existing: “Oh yeah. I remember. Every winter. I remember you.” Yeah, there you are, beloved hero. I remember you. Gabriel is happier than he feels at liberty to admit, even to his wife or younger siblings, certainly not to his children, that he found a way to give solace to Satan himself–even if only in the coasting snows of distant, distant memory. Perhaps that is God’s fault, for making a creature solely meant to illumine, and another creature solely meant to grant joy.

Kansas City has its share of churches, and irony, there’s one right by the pair of Archangels, across a street that’s far from the virginal evenness of those fresh snows of eons past, trailed upon by wings of ivory and wings of gold. Still a boy choir is singing the carol “Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree,” and while the words aren’t distinct at this distance, they drift over the two figures like banks of white.

Gabriel shrugs his shoulders, in his obnoxious Nordic reindeer sweater and his scarf and his beanie and a new feature: a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He looks thoroughly like a hot dad. An idea springs to mind, equally sanctioned by good memories.

He picks up a ball of that snow–he, an abundantly warm creature, one way in which he was never like his mentor, and therefore, with little time to spare–and lobs it at Lucifer’s head. It lands on its target.

He pauses, and peers impishly at Lucifer, anticipating either deadpan annoyance, or perhaps a flicker of bemusement. Either will do. Either are thee Lucifer who raised him. “Heh. Merry Christmas, asshole.”

#ic #lu

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upalldown · 5 years

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The National - I Am Easy To Find

Album number eight from the Ohio indie rock band recorded in Aaron Dessner's home studio features guest appearances from Sharon Van Etten, Gail Ann Dorsey, Lisa Hannigan, Kate Stables, Mina Tindle and the Brooklyn Youth Choir

11/13

Necessity’s the mother of invention, and just as U.K. racism gave rise in the late 1970s to the activist, mixed-race Two Tone scene, so has #MeToo informed a new wave of indie-rock. For a culture that likes to fancy itself woke despite an ongoing tradition of sexism and sexual predation, it’s heartening to see not only a new generation of women and non-binary artists up front, but cis bros evidently rethinking their work and privilege in gender-mixed contexts. This year, Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers teamed up as Better Oblivion Community Center. Ezra Koenig unveiled Vampire Weekend 2.0 on Father of The Bride with vocal help from Danielle Haim (and bonus points for the metatextual sample of Jenny Lewis singing the word “boy.”) On I Am Easy to Find, another standard-bearing indie dude brand has reconfigured itself with multiple women’s voices at the LP’s core, a portion of the roughly 77 musicians that temporarily explode the band’s quintet. The album was also conceived of a piece with a luminously sad and lovely short film of the same name, directed with emotive minimalism by Mike Mills (20th Century Women), and starring Alicia Vikander, who pulls off a heartbreaking and quietly astonishing hat-trick by aging from cradle to grave in 26 minutes with no perceivable changes beyond movements and mannerisms.

Evidently, as the African proverb suggests, it takes a village. But this art mobbing isn’t out of character for The National, a band that’s spent much of their career snowballing community, through festival curation (Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the Eaux Claires Festival), producing friends’ records (for a time at Aaron Dessner’s Brooklyn home studio), operating a label (Brassland), and marshaling outsized projects like a five-plus-hour Grateful Dead homage (Day of The Dead) and the ever-growing 37d03d (aka: PEOPLE) collective.

I Am Easy to Find is, however, the first time they’ve applied this approach to the band itself, and they pull it off without diluting their National-ness. It’s a balancing act. “You Had Your Soul With You” begins with a stuttering melody built of sample-shards and Matt Berninger’s signature baritone incantations, which outline a failed relationship. The third verse is sung by Gail Ann Dorsey, Berninger eventually joining her in rueful harmony. The lyrical and formal suggestion, explored throughout the record, seems to be that it takes two to tango, and despite the canyon that separates our perceptions, however gendered, we all share vast tracts of emotional territory, and are capable of deep empathy. Whether we act on it is another story.

Dorsey’s dusky contralto, once David Bowie’s foil, also melds with Berninger’s voice on “Roman Holiday” and “Hey Rosie.” Tracks featuring higher-register singers plumb different tensions. “Oblivions” begins with Berninger trading lines with French singer/songwriter (and Bryce Dessner’s wife) Mina Tindle, before their voices converge, with Tindle out front, singing about marriage and the fear it fails to erase (“It’s the way you say yes when I ask you to marry me/You don’ t know what you are doing/Do you think you can carry me/Over the threshold/Over and over again until oblivion?”). That Beninger hangs back in the mix is interesting, both because it’s ostensibly his show, and for how pop songs — in mixing and arrangements — have historically treated women’s voices as subservient to men’s, not unlike the way photographic technology favors Caucasian skin tones. Tonal balance and audio separation are small gestures, but they demonstrate the breadth of cultural sexisms that need dismantling.

The duet-centered songs are the strongest. In its poignant tick-tocking piano melody, the camera-shutter percussion, the bleep-blorp electronics, the brightly funereal brass, the elegant choral and string arrangements, the title track beautifully skeins almost every sonic byway the group’s been exploring lately. A Big Apple tale, Berninger sings about “towers,” lies, and the way city life can rip a union apart, with Kate Stables, of the idiosyncratic English folk-rock group This Is The Kit, matching nearly every word. “You never were much of a New Yorker / It wasn’t in your eyes,” the couple sing to one another, with equal parts accusation and resignation.

In a similar way, “The Pull of You” suggests the banter of arch, articulate, probably degreed lovers — New York Review of Books readers, in therapy, whose smarts, sensitivity and self-awareness can’t save them or their relationship. And “Not in Kansas” uses a list of the things we use to define ourselves — beloved music, movies, drugs — to pin its character like a butterfly:

Smidges of bad ecstasy Must have left it in my pocket With my Christianity and my rocket I’m binging hard on Annette Bening And listening to REM again Begin The Begin over and over

It’s a tragicomic song, and Berninger sings it mostly alone, though one wonders how much of it was written by his life- and writing partner, Carin Besser, who co-wrote the set’s lyrics along with Berninger and Mike Mills. The loss in the song is palpable, as it is in “Light Years,” which ends the record in a swirl of strings and flashbacks, soft regret and acceptance — that faintly bitter taste that grows strangely appealing over time. Like the short movie, it doesn’t offer any morals or profound truths. Just beauty, and an invitation to savor it while you can.

youtube

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-the-nationals-i-am-easy-to-find-836169/

#The National #i am easy to find

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greensparty · 7 years

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Happy Birthday Courtney Love

Singer, writer, Grunge icon, actress and Mrs. Kurt Cobain: Courtney Michelle Harrison was born on July 9, 1964 in San Francisco, CA. I’ve seen her with Hole three times, I’ve seen Love solo once and I saw her in the theater production Kansas City Choir Boy. Of all her music she’s created and recorded, Hole’s song “Awful” off of 1998′s Celebrity Skin, stands as one of my personal faves.

Happy 53 Miss Love!

#celeb birthdays #on this day in history #1964 #courtney love #hole #music nerd #alt rock

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courtneyscream · 7 years

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Courtney Love attends Press Event For 'Kansas City Choir Boy' Adrienne Arsht Center on November 30, 2016 in Miami, Florida.

#hole #hole band #grunge #courtney love #*

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kuyarexdelsdiaries · 5 years

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FOREIGNER: THE JUKEBOX HEROES FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC

There was a band which was formed by a British Guitarist and an American lead singer which scored a lot of hits including a #1 Power Ballad in the 1980s a band is called "FOREIGNER". Lou Gramm era (1976-1990) Since its beginning, Foreigner has been led by English musician Mick Jones (former member of Nero and the Gladiators, Johnny Hallyday's band, Spooky Tooth and The Leslie West Band). After the collapse of the Leslie West Band in 1976, Jones found himself stranded in New York City; West's manager, Bud Prager, encouraged Jones to continue his songwriting and rehearse a band of his own in some space Prager had near his New York office. Jones got together with New York keyboardist Al Greenwood (who had just played with former Flash members Colin Carter and Mike Hough in a group called Storm), drummer Stan Williams and Louisiana bassist Jay Davis (later with Rod Stewart) and began jamming. Another friend, Stories singer Ian Lloyd, was brought in to sing but Jones decided the chemistry was not quite right and retained only Greenwood as he renewed his search for players. During a session for Ian Lloyd's album, Jones met up with transplanted Englishman and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald and another session for Ian Hunter unearthed another fellow Brit in drummer Dennis Elliott. But after auditioning about forty or fifty singers, the right vocalist was becoming harder to come by until Jones dragged out an old Black Sheep album given to him backstage at a Spooky Tooth concert a few years prior by that group's lead singer, Lou Gramm. Jones put in a call to Gramm, who was back in his hometown of Rochester, New York after Black Sheep's break-up, and sent him a plane ticket to New York City. Gramm proved to be the missing piece of the puzzle and Brooklyn, New York bassist Ed Gagliardi completed the new sextet. A name, "Trigger", was tentatively agreed to and was the name that appeared on their demo tape, but it was passed on by all the record companies it was delivered to. John Kalodner, a former journalist and radio programmer who was working in A&R at Atlantic Records, happened to spot a tape on Atlantic president Jerry L. Greenberg's desk with the Trigger identification on it. Kalodner had just been to hear an outfit called Trigger and realized that this was not the same band. He convinced Greenberg that at least one of the songs on the tape could be a big hit and to look into signing this group immediately. Because the Trigger name was already taken, Jones came up with the Foreigner moniker from the fact that no matter what country they were in, three would be foreigners, because Jones, McDonald and Elliott were British, while Gramm, Greenwood and Gagliardi were American. In November 1976, after six months of rehearsals, the newly named Foreigner started recording their debut album with producers John Sinclair and Gary Lyons at The Hit Factory but switched to Atlantic Recording Studios where they finished recording the basic tracks and completed the overdubs. The first attempt at mixing the album was done at Sarm Studios, London. But, because of the band's dissatisfaction with the results, the album was re-mixed back at Atlantic by Mick Jones, Ian McDonald and Jimmy Douglass. Bud Prager signed on as the group's manager, a role he would continue in for the next 17 years. The band's debut, Foreigner, was released in February 1977 and sold more than four million copies in the United States, staying in the Top 20 for a year with such hits as "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". By May 1977, Foreigner was already headlining theaters and had already scored a gold record for the first album. Not long afterwards, they were selling out U.S. basketball arenas and hockey rinks. After a show at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on May 6, 1977, drummer Elliott injured his hand, prompting the band to call in Ian Wallace (ex-King Crimson) to play alongside Elliott on some of the dates until the hand was healed. After almost a year on the road, the band played before over two hundred thousand people at California Jam II on March 18, 1978 and during the following month, the band toured Europe, Japan and Australia for the first time. Their second album, Double Vision (released in June 1978), co-produced by Keith Olsen, topped their previous, selling five million records and spawned hits in "Hot Blooded", the title track "Double Vision" and "Blue Morning, Blue Day". The third album, Head Games (September 1979), co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, which was referred to by Gramm as their "grainiest" album, was also successful because of the thunderous "Dirty White Boy" and another title track hit "Head Games". For Head Games, bassist Ed Gagliardi was replaced by Englishman Rick Wills. In his autobiography, Juke Box Hero (named after the seminal Foreigner song), Gramm explains why the band parted ways with Gagliardi: "He was a little headstrong and had his own ideas that weren't always compatible with what we were trying to accomplish. Ed was obstinate at times, playing the song the way he wanted to play it rather than the way it was drawn up. Jones often had to stop sessions to get Ed back on track. After a while it became tiresome and slowed down the recording process." Gramm went on to say that he was disappointed overall with Head Games and thought it sounded unfinished. It ended up selling about two million fewer than its predecessor. In September 1980 co-founders Al Greenwood and Ian McDonald were sacked as Jones wished to have more control over the band and write most of the music (along with Gramm). In his book, Gramm goes on to talk about this difficult time: "The chemistry that made the band right in the beginning didn't necessarily mean it would always be right. I think a pretty major communication lapse appeared and I don't think anybody really knew what anybody was feeling—the deep, inner belief about the direction of the band and how we were progressing. We had reached a point where there was a lot of dissatisfaction". The band was now stripped down to a quartet, with session players brought in as needed to record or tour (see below for complete list of members). Greenwood soon joined Gagliardi to form the AOR band Spys, with John Blanco, Billy Milne and John DiGaudio. The band released two albums, an eponymous debut, and the follow-up Behind Enemy Lines. In the meantime, Foreigner began work on the next album at Electric Lady Studios in New York City with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, engineered by Dave Wittman (currently with Trans-Siberian Orchestra). 4 (released in July 1981) contained the hits "Urgent" (which includes the famous Junior Walker sax solo), "Waiting for a Girl Like You", "Juke Box Hero" and "Break it Up". Before releasing albums of his own, Thomas Dolby played synthesizers on 4 (he contributed the signature synth sound on "Urgent" and played the intro to "Waiting for a Girl Like You"). For their 1981–82 tour in support of 4, the group added Peter Reilich (keyboards, synthesizers, who had played with Gary Wright), former Peter Frampton band member Bob Mayo (keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Rivera (sax, flute, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, backing vocals). Mayo and Rivera had also appeared on the sessions for 4. Reilich was dropped in May 1982 but Mayo and Rivera continued with the band through 1988. Their next album, Agent Provocateur, co-produced by Alex Sadkin, was released successfully in December 1984 and gave them their first and only No. 1 hit in 1985 (in the US, UK, Australia, Norway, Sweden, etc.), "I Want to Know What Love Is", a ballad backed by Jennifer Holliday and the New Jersey Mass Choir. The song was their biggest U.S. hit. "That Was Yesterday" was the next single from the album in early 1985 and proved to be another sizable hit. During their 1985 summer/fall tour, Foreigner appeared at the very first Farm Aid on September 22 in Champaign, Illinois. In between his Foreigner commitments, Jones also started a side career as a producer for such albums as Van Halen's 5150 (1986), Bad Company's Fame and Fortune (1986) and Billy Joel's Storm Front (1989). In December 1987 Foreigner released Inside Information, spawning hits such as "Say You Will" and "I Don't Want to Live Without You". On May 14, 1988 the band headlined Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden, culminating with "I Want to Know What Love Is", in which the likes of Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Roberta Flack and other Atlantic artists joined in, singing in the choir. Later during the summer, the band went back on the road but the touring for Inside Information was limited to Europe, Japan and Australia. For this tour, Rivera and Mayo were not available, so Larry Oakes (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals) and Lou Cortelezzi (sax) augmented the quartet of Gramm, Jones, Elliott and Wills. Lou Gramm's first departure (1990-1992) In the late 1980s, Jones and Gramm each put out solo efforts on Atlantic. Gramm released Ready or Not in January 1987 and shortly after its release, rehearsals for Foreigner's next album had started but ground to a halt as Gramm's status with the group was uncertain. But after the promotion and concert dates for Gramm's album were finished, cooler heads prevailed and Lou rejoined Foreigner in the studio for Inside Information, which was out at the end of 1987. Jones had Mick Jones in August 1989, then Gramm followed with his second solo release, Long Hard Look (October 1989), and decided to leave the group in May 1990 while preparing to tour behind Long Hard Look as the opener for Steve Miller Band. After finishing this tour, Gramm went on to form the short-lived band Shadow King, which put out one eponymous album on Atlantic in October 1991. Meanwhile, Jones brought in a new lead singer, Johnny Edwards (formerly of the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Northrup and Wild Horses). Edwards made his first live appearance with Foreigner at the Long Island club Stephen Talkhouse on August 15, 1990, where he, Jones, Dennis Elliott and Rick Wills appeared, joined by special guests Terry Thomas (on guitar, who produced their next album) and Eddie Mack on harmonica. The new edition of Foreigner released the album Unusual Heat in June 1991. This was at the time their worst-selling album and only climbed as high as No. 117 on the Billboard 200, although "Lowdown and Dirty" was a minor mainstream rock hit, reaching No. 4 on that chart. In July 1991 the new lineup of Foreigner played some European dates then made its official U.S. debut on August 9 performing on the second night of a Billy Joel benefit concert at Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk, New York to raise funds for the preservation of Montauk Point Lighthouse. For their 1991 tour, Jeff Jacobs, who had played in Joel's band, was brought in as the new keyboardist and Mark Rivera returned. But during the fall leg of this tour, Elliott decided to leave the group after a concert at The Ritz in NYC on November 14, 1991 and embark on a career as a wood sculptor. Larry Aberman was then recruited as a temporary replacement until Mark Schulman arrived in 1992 to hold down the drum throne for the next three years. Scott Gilman (guitar, sax, flute) joined the touring band in 1992 and Thom Gimbel took over from Gilman and Rivera in late 1992 after they departed. When Gimbel went to Aerosmith in 1993, Gilman returned to handle the guitar/sax/flute duties until Gimbel came back permanently in the spring of 1995. Gramm returns then leaves again (1992-2003) During the Los Angeles riots, inside the confines of the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood, where Mick Jones had gone to meet with Lou Gramm, they both ended up sequestered by a city curfew. They decided to use their time together resurrecting their partnership. "I flew to Los Angeles, during the riots," says Gramm. "We got flown to John Wayne Airport instead of LAX because they were shooting at the planes. Mick and I were holed up in the Sunset Marquis in L.A., with armed security guards walking around on the roof. It was a little weird, to say the least." Gramm ended up rejoining Foreigner (bringing along his Shadow King bandmate bassist Bruce Turgon, replacing bassist Wills (who'd left after the band's 1991 tour after a falling out with Jones) and co-produced the band's second greatest hits album, The Very Best ... and Beyond (September 1992), which included three new songs. In October 1994 Foreigner released what was supposed to be a comeback album, Mr. Moonlight, in Japan. Featuring new drummer Mark Schulman and augmented by a fifth member, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs, this album was not released in the U.S. until February 1995 and fared even worse than Unusual Heat. It only peaked at No. 136 on the Billboard 200, although the ballad "Until the End of Time" was a minor hit, reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 1995 Ron Wikso (who had played in The Storm with former Journey members Gregg Rolie and Ross Valory) took over percussion duties from Schulman, and Brian Tichy succeeded Wikso in 1998 before Schulman would return in 2000. In 1997 Gramm underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. The medications he was prescribed caused considerable weight gain and weakened his singing voice. By 1998, the band was back on the road, but Gramm was visibly struggling and it would take him a decade to get back to the point where he felt comfortable on stage. In the summer of 1999, Foreigner went on tour as the opening act for Journey and the following summer, Jeff Jacobs had to leave the road for a short time during the band's 2000 summer tour while his wife was giving birth to their child. Keyboardist John Purdell (who had been co-producer of the new tracks on their 1992 album The Very Best of ... and Beyond) stepped in to sub for Jacobs until he was able to return. In 2001 the Warner Music Group selected Foreigner and 4 to be among the first group of albums from their catalog to be remastered, enhanced and released in the new DVD Audio format. In 2002 the 25th Anniversary Year brought affirmation of the enduring respect for Foreigner recordings with Rhino Entertainment reissuing the 1977 to 1981 multi-platinum albums in special enhanced formats. Foreigner, Double Vision, Head Games and 4 received the attention of Rhino's staff with new photos, liner notes and bonus tracks of previously unreleased material. New greatest hits albums were also produced in the U.S. and in Europe. The U.S. version reached No. 80 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. For the group's 25th Anniversary Tour in 2002, they were joined by former Heart and Montrose beat keeper Denny Carmassi. In late October/early November, then December, of 2002, Foreigner played in Belgium and Germany at the annual Night of the Proms festival. It was the last time that Lou Gramm and Mick Jones would play together until June 2013. Gramm would leave the group in early 2003. Jones stated that he and Gramm split because they weren't communicating: "I think we really tried hard to save it, but it got to the point when we both realized that to go on would be detrimental for both of us." Kelly Hansen era (2004-Present) Jones, the founder and only remaining original member of Foreigner, decided to take some time off before looking to form a new lineup in 2004. On July 25, 2004 in Santa Barbara, California at Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort, Jones appeared at a benefit show for muscular dystrophy dubbed "Mick Jones & Friends" that included: Jeff Jacobs, Thom Gimbel, former Dokken bass player Jeff Pilson, future Black Country Communion drummer Jason Bonham (son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and leader of Bonham) and Bonham singer Chas West. West was front man for that show only. Inspired by the event and further encouraged by Jason Bonham, Jones continued the search for a new frontman. He would eventually find former Hurricane singer Kelly Hansen, who had sent the band an audition tape and was invited aboard in March 2005, making his debut with the group on March 11 at Boulder Station near Las Vegas. Their 2005 BMG album, Extended Versions, featured the new line-up playing all their classic hits live in concert in one of the most "studio like, clean sounding" live album recordings produced. Foreigner joined Def Leppard along with Styx on tour in 2007. They also toured extensively in their own right in 2007—the thirtieth anniversary of the release of their debut. In late 2007, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs left Foreigner after 16 years and was replaced, first by Paul Mirkovich then by Michael Bluestein (in 2008). And in 2008, Bonham also parted ways with Foreigner. Bryan Head was then brought in to fill the drum chair. But his tenure was short and he also departed to be replaced by the returning Tichy. The band released a greatest hits anthology on July 15, 2008, titled No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner. The anthology included all of their greatest hits plus some new live recordings and a new studio track, "Too Late", which was their first new song release since the 1994 album Mr. Moonlight and the first recorded output of the new lineup. "Too Late" was released as a single on June 17, 2008. Foreigner released a new album on September 29, 2009, titled Can't Slow Down. It was one of several recent classic rock releases (AC/DC, the Eagles, Journey and Kiss being four others) to be released exclusively through the Walmart stores chain in the US, while in Europe the album was released by earMUSIC (a label part of the Edel group), charting top 20 in Germany (16) and Top 30 in Switzerland. Can't Slow Down debuted at #29 on the Billboard 200. The first two singles from the album, "When It Comes to Love" and "In Pieces" both reached the Top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. In 2010 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe. In early 2010, Foreigner teamed up with Styx and Kansas for the United in Rock Tour. On May 4, 2010 it was announced that Brian Tichy's replacement as drummer would be Jason Sutter. Jason Sutter's time with the band was short as he left by 2011. Mark Schulman then returned to Foreigner for his third go-round as drummer. On February 20, 2011 the band played for the first time in Bangalore, India along with sitar player Niladri Kumar. In June 2011 Foreigner (again along with Styx) co-headlined with Journey on their UK tour. After this, they joined up with Journey and Night Ranger on a triple bill summer/fall tour of the US. For some dates of this tour, Brian Tichy filled in for Foreigner's drummer Mark Schulman when he was not available. From August 19 to September 10, 2011, Night Ranger guitarist Joel Hoekstra did double duty playing for NR as well as subbing for Jones, who had taken ill. Right after this, guitarist Bruce Watson (ex-Rod Stewart) was brought in as Jones' stand-in for the tour's remaining dates and continued to tour with the group when they hit the road again in February 2012 after Jones underwent aortoiliac bypass surgery in Miami. On October 4, 2011 Foreigner released Acoustique, which presented their best and most famous songs, along with some newer tracks, recorded in stripped-down acoustic mode. In May 2012 after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, Bluestein was forced to take a leave of absence from the band. His stand in on keyboards was Ollie Marland. Bluestein was able to return to the group in August 2012 and Tichy once again rejoined in the interim until his schedule with Whitesnake called him away. In September 2012, the man Tichy replaced in Whitesnake, Chris Frazier, became Foreigner's new percussionist. On August 31, 2012 after over a year away, Jones returned to the concert stage at Atlanta's Chastain Park. Guitarist Watson, in the meantime, stayed on until Jones was able to return to full health. At this very same show, keyboardist Derek Hilland (ex-Iron Butterfly, Whitesnake and Rick Springfield) came on board to sub for Bluestein for the group's late summer/fall tour dates and again during the winter/spring of 2013 until Bluestein was able to return. On January 9, 2013 the band's original drummer, Dennis Elliott, joined Foreigner on stage at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, Florida to play on "Hot Blooded". In addition to touring small clubs and venues, the band frequently is engaged for private parties and conventions, including playing at SeaWorld in Orlando for an IBM Rational Conference (June 6, 2012), at the Gaylord convention center in Washington, D.C. for the Teradata Partners 2012 conference (October 25, 2012) and at SAP's Field Kickoff Meeting in Las Vegas (January 23, 2013). On June 13, 2013 at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Award Ceremony, Jones and Gramm were officially inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Billy Joel was on hand to induct Jones and Gramm, singing snippets of Foreigner's hits in his introduction speech. Jones said he was proud as the honor makes his work "legit". The duo then took stage one more time and, along with Thom Gimbel and the house band, performed "Juke Box Hero" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" with Anthony Morgan's Inspirational Choir of Harlem—a performance that brought the entire audience to its feet. In 2014 Foreigner teamed up with Styx and former Eagles guitarist Don Felder for the Soundtrack of Summer Tour. Original bassist Ed Gagliardi died on May 11, 2014, aged 62, after an eight-year battle with cancer. Although discussions of an original member reunion had been proposed, the original band had not performed together since 1979. On June 18, 2014 Foreigner teamed up with the Brockton High School concert choir at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, MA. They performed one of their greatest hits: I Want To Know What Love Is. On January 12, 2015 in Sarasota, Florida, Foreigner were joined on stage by original drummer Dennis Elliott and former bassist Rick Wills to play "Hot Blooded". In Hartford, Connecticut on June 24, 2015, Foreigner began a summer tour as the opening act for Kid Rock. Foreigner appeared on the "Today Show" on February 11, 2016 along with the choir from Our Lady of Mercy Academy to promote their Acoustic Tour and the release of their new album, In Concert: Unplugged. On Saturday September 24, 2016, Foreigner performed before an estimated 20,000+ people at the 100th anniversary of the Durham Fair in Durham, Connecticut. The encore song "I Want to Know What Love Is" utilized the local Coginchaug High School concert choir for backup—their performance having been rehearsed with the band via Skype during the previous months. In a 2016 interview, Jones talked about a possible 40th-anniversary reunion tour, featuring the Head Games-era lineup: "It's quite possible. We've actually been talking about it. I'm not at a point where I can say it's definitely gonna happen, but we're all working on trying to make it happen. It's kind of exciting. And hopefully it'll be feasible and possible to pull it off next year (2017). Lou (Gramm) and I have communicated and we've kept up a sort of loose communication as I have actually also with Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Dennis Elliott and Rick Wills. We're at the early stages, but we're trying to put something together to commemorate (it's scary when I say it) 40 years." On November 25, 2016, in celebration of their 40th anniversary, Foreigner released a limited-edition 10-inch vinyl EP, The Flame Still Burns, on Rhino Records for Record Store Day's Black Friday event. The EP's track listing contained the title song (which had previously appeared on Foreigner's Acoustique album and had earlier been featured in the 1998 film Still Crazy) plus live unplugged versions of "Feels Like The First Time", "Long, Long Way From Home" and "Juke Box Hero". Reunion of original members (2017-2019) On July 20, 2017, at Jones Beach Theater in New York, the current Foreigner lineup were joined for their encore by Lou Gramm, Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood to help celebrate the band's 40th anniversary and Greenwood and McDonald came back the following year to take the stage with the group for their Jones Beach show on June 22, 2018. Dennis Elliott likewise joined his old mates for two songs at Foreigner's show on August 2, 2017, at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida. Another reunion was announced for a pair of shows to take place on October 6–7, 2017, at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where the group was set to be joined again by Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills. The concerts were filmed for future release, appearing on PBS stations in the U.S. on June 8, 2018. In a July 2018 interview with OC Weekly, bassist Jeff Pilson said that Foreigner has no plans to record a new studio album anytime soon, but will continue to only release new songs periodically. On November 9, 2018, all surviving original members of Foreigner came on stage to play alongside the current line-up for a show at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, beginning a series of "Foreigner Then and Now" concerts set to run through the end of the year. Foreigner songs to be made into show by GMA Network Like Styx on the previous article, The songs by Foreigner can be made into a show placing on the Afternoon Prime and Telebabad blocks. If that happens, GMA will tap Mick Jones and Lou Gramm to co-produce the said show alongside Filipino producers. The three shows are: I Want to Know What Love Is, Urgent and Juke Box Hero. For more information on Styx see this article: https://kuyarexdelsdiaries.tumblr.com/post/180502770511

1.) I Want to Know What Love Is

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The first of the three series and one of the two shows placed on GMA Afternoon Prime is named after a song written by Jones from the 1984 album "Agent Provocateur" which charted at #1 in the UK and in the US. The show's genre is romantic-comedy series The show will be led by Gabbi Garcia (from Encantadia 2016, Sherlock, Jr., Pamilya Roces) and Derrick Monasterio (from Inday Will Always Love You). Other cast members include: - Kyline Alcantara (from Kambal, Karibal, Inagaw Na Bituin) - Jasmine Curtis-Smith (from Pamilya Roces) - Carla Abellana (from Pamilya Roces) - Andre Paras (from Sherlock Jr., Pamilya Roces) - Rayver Cruz (from Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko) - Marvin Agustin (from Inagaw na Bituin) - Sophie Albert (from Pamilya Roces, Bihag) - Laura Lehmann - Bembol Roco (from The One That Got Away) - Candy Pangilinan (from My Special Tatay) - Zoren Legaspi (from Sahaya) - Carmina Villaroel (from Kambal, Karibal, Kara Mia) The show will be directed by former Cain at Abel and Inagaw na Bituin director Mark A. Reyes while the majority of the writers and editors will come from Contessa. The said show will be created by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm and produced by Arlene del Rosario-Pilapil. It’s theme song will be sung by Lou Gramm and Kelly Hansen featuring the show’s cast as the choir.

2.) Urgent

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The second of the three series and one of the two shows placed on GMA Afternoon Prime is named after a song written by Jones from the 1981 album "Foreigner 4" which charted at #4 in the United States, #1 in Canada and #20 in Sweden. The show's genre is emergency drama which contains firemen, policemen and medical personnel. The show will be led by Mikee Quintos (from Encantadia 2016, Onanay) and Yasser Marta. Other cast members include: - Clint Bondad (former boyfriend of Catriona Gray, from Love You Two) - Denise Barbacena (from Legally Blind, Contessa) - James Blanco (from Impostora 2017, Onanay, Dragon Lady) - Rita Daniela (from Impostora 2017, My Special Tatay) - Gary Estrada (from The Stepdaughters) - Angelu de Leon (from The Stepdaughters, Inagaw na Bituin) - Marco Alcaraz (from Ika-6 Na Utos, Ika-5 Utos, Onanay) - Dion Ignacio (from Hiram na Anak) - Empress Schuck (from Hiram na Anak) - Angelika Dela Cruz (from Ika-6 Na Utos, Inagaw na Bituin) - Mika Dela Cruz (from Kara Mia) - Kate Valdez (from Onanay) The show will be directed by former Victor Magtanggol director Dominic Zapata while the majority of the writers and editors will come from Onanay. The said show will be created by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm and produced by Nieva Sabit. It’s theme song will be sung by Lou Gramm and Kelly Hansen.

3.) Juke Box Hero

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The third of the three series and the only show placed on GMA Telebabad is named after a song written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones from the 1981 album "Foreigner 4" which charted at #26 in the US and #48 in the UK. The show's genre is 50s Rock n Roll setting. The show will be led by Dennis Trillo (from Cain at Abel) and Rhian Ramos (from The One That Got Away) Other cast members include: - Migo Adecer (from Sahaya) - Miguel Tanfelix (from Kambal, Karibal, Sahaya) - Bianca Umali (from Kambal, Karibal, Sahaya) - Pauline Mendoza (from Kambal, Karibal, Cain at Abel) - Leandro Baldemor (from Contessa, Cain at Abel) - Melbelline Caluag (from Inagaw na Bituin) - Jerald Napoles (from Inagaw na Bituin) - Maureen Larrazabal (from TODA One I Love) - David Licauco (from TODA One I Love) - Rich Asuncion (from Ika-6 Na Utos) The show will be directed by former The One That Got Away director Mark Sicat Dela Cruz while the majority of the writers and editors will come from Cain at Abel. The said show will be created by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm and produced by Michele R. Borja. It’s theme song will be sung by Lou Gramm and Kelly Hansen. Reaction Foreigner including Lou Gramm hasn't performed in the Philippines yet including Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Dennis Elliott and Rick Wills. We will have to wait for Kelly Hansen and the current Foreigner lineup to perform with the original lineup live at Sunday Pinasaya and have concerts at Solaire, Resorts World Manila, MOA Arena or Smart Araneta Coliseum.

(DISCLAIMER: This post is for factual basis and is to be veirified at the soonest possible time by some sources at GMA Network. Don’t be assured yet, but it is just for the contributor’s point of view.)

(NOTE: The contributor of this post is Carl Veluz, a good friend of the EIC/Publisher of KRD.)

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