An Open Memo

To: L. Nimoy, W. Shatner, P. Stewart, L. Burton, B. Spiner, H. Connick Jr., D. Day, S. King, M. Nelson, J. Hodgson

RE: recent excess of celebrity deaths

I really can’t take too much more of this, and certainly not any more this year. I ask of you the following: please watch your cholesterol, limit your alcohol and prescription drug intake as much as possible, travel sparingly, exercise regularly, wear your seatbelts, visit your doctors regularly, keep antibacterial soap at your sinks, take vitamins, and get flu shots.

I would appreciate it if you kept this up indefinitely, but I’m afraid I will have to insist that you do these things until, at a minimum, the end of calendar year 2010.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

I really thought if anyone could wrestle pancreatic cancer into the ground, rip out its throat, and kick it in the ear, it was him. You usually get weeks or months to live after a diagnosis, but he fought for a year and a half.

I loved so many things that he was in. Still haven't seen To Wong Foo or Donnie Darko, but still intend to. However, I watched every one of the like, 144 hours of North and South (up until they copped out and gave Orry Main the cheapest, sorriest death scene ever), saw The Outsiders in the theater 14 times (yes, 14), and saw Dirty Dancing - which I was dragged into unwillingly the first time - oh, I don't even know.

And Roadhouse, and Ghost ... and so many other things.

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze.

From Dirty Dancing:

Patrick Swayze - She's Like the Wind

Otis Redding - These Arms Of Mine

Bruce Chanel -Hey Baby

Otis Redding - Love Man

Solomon Burke - Cry to Me

Michael Lloyd - Johnny's Mambo

Representing Roadhouse:

MST3K - A Patrick Swayze Christmas

I'd put up Unchained Melody, but I don't have it, and I'd put up Van Morrison's (in the group "Them") Gloria for the Outsiders, but his people would just make me pull it in an hour. I used to have Stevie Wonder singing "Stay Gold," but I don't seem to anymore.

Feel free to add links to your favorites in the comments.

Michael Jackson / Jackson 5 Covers

It occurred to me last night that I have a few on my hard drive.

Bobby Shad & the Bad Men - I Want You Back (I've posted about this before; if you love jazz, download this!)

K.T. Tunstall - I Want You Back

Speak Low - Thriller (instrumental funk version)

The Communards - Never Can Say Goodbye

And for kicks, The Jackson 5's cover of Jackson Browne's Doctor My Eyes

R.I.P.

Wow, what a weird day.

So first, Farrah Fawcett dies, and even though I knew it was coming (when Ryan O'Neal started talking to the press a few days ago about trying yet again to get her to marry him, I figured the end was nigh), I guess I hadn't thought it was going to happen quite so soon.

As a lot of my readers are in their late 30s or 40s, I know a lot of you all are as familiar with the two celebrities who died today from as far back as I am. They were two people who defined a '70s childhood.

I grew up with Charlie's Angels front and center on my radar, but more importantly, I - like almost every other little girl back then - wanted her hair. Of course, our mothers gave us cuts inspired by celebrities whose hair we HATED instead; The Teneille and The Hamill.

But we dreamed, secretly or not so, of long, feathered, curled, sprayed blond hair.









TV Theme - Charlie's Angels

R.I.P., Farrah.



And a few hours later, an almost totally unexpected death; Michael Jackson.

Before I go on, let me just get the inappropriate joke out of the way: In memory of Michael Jackson, JC Penney will be running a sale this week - boys' pants half off!

Ok, sorry.

So, I have a short list of songs I consider absolutely perfect pop songs, and on it is this, the first Jackson 5 hit, from 1969: I Want You Back. I've heard various covers and remixes, and like or even love them all; it's just a damn good song, with good bones, and I'm not sure it'd even be possible to screw it up. Barring completely removing the guitar part, of course.

Another favorite from the J5 era (I'm keeping myself to two per era or this'll never get posted, and I could lose my electricity at any moment) is The Love You Save.

From there, on to well, wait ... too many people love this to skip right by it, so here it is:




Ok, now. On to Off the Wall, which is and has been, my favorite of his solo albums. Thriller was amazing, a phenomenon, to be sure, but man, Off the Wall was just plain excellent. The two biggest hits from it:

Off the Wall and Rock With You

Then, of course, Thriller. The biggest thing ever. Shit, people are still doing parodies of the title video at weddings and prisons, or they were just a few years ago, and the thing came out in '83 or '84.

By the time it came out, I was a huge huge fan; I was 13, had been a fan of his for a while, and was plastering my walls with posters of him. As I save posting "Thriller" itself for Halloween, here are two other tracks from it - I like the vaguely eerie sound of Billie Jean and I think Wanna Be Startin' Something doesn't get played into the ground anymore these days, so here it is.

Of the Paul McCartney duets (and ohh... let's not get me started on the Beatles catalog rights issue ... it was the first thing I remember thinking ill of MJ for), Say, Say, Say was my favorite.

And finally, the last song he released that I liked, from Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel.

After that, I was pretty much done with Michael Jackson going forward. But I'm willing to go backward and listen to the old stuff forever.

R.I.P. to you too, Michael.

Blossom Dearie, 1926-2009

Blossom Dearie, cabaret singer, dies at 82.

I'm awfully sorry to hear it. She only stopped performing live a couple of years ago; she was pretty impressive. I can't be the only one who hoped she'd do one or two more shows so that I could have even a tiny chance to go.

Here are some of my favorites of her songs. "Unpack Your Adjectives" and "Figure Eight" are the songs she did for Schoolhouse Rock.

Always True To You In My Fashion

Down With Love

Figure Eight

Unpack Your Adjectives

Tout Doucement

I Won't Dance

A Fine Spring Morning

Rhode Island Is Famous For You

Someone To Watch Over Me

And you can go see Davy for another.