Posts Tagged ‘Rita Coolidge’

Unsolicited Career Advice for… Beyoncé

For someone who doesn’t know a lot about hip-hop (as we surmised from his memo to the late Tupac Shakur), Uncle Donnie does seem to be well acquainted with certain hip-hop movers and shakers.   Apparently, he’s close enough with Mr. and Mrs. Shawn Carter to score an invite to their “did-they-or-didn’t-they” nuptials last year.  Of course, after receiving this missive, who knows if he’ll be invited back if they ever renew their vows? —RS

TO: Beyoncé Knowles
FROM: Don Skwatzenschitz
RE: Career advice

Hey, there, Beyoncé.  It’s been too long, I know.  Mitzi and I really wanted to be at the wedding last year, but the dress she bought for the occasion gave her hives, and she couldn’t recover in time.  We hope you liked the Macy’s gift card.  They had a great deal on table linens recently; we got some very nice vinyl place mats that look like tree branches.  If you’ve got anything left on the card, I highly recommend the place mats.

Anyway, I see that you’re riding high on the charts with I Am … Sasha Fierce, though I’m not sure who Sasha is, and I haven’t trusted the whole alter ego thing since Garth took my advice on the Chris Gaines thing back in ’99.  What’s going on?  I mean, you could be even bigger than you are right now, but I think you could use a little guidance.  Since we’re old pals, I thought I might offer you some advice:

  • Play more inaugurations. The video of you singing “At Last” at that Obama inaugural ball was outstanding—a real moment.  Have you ever been on the TV more often than you were the week after that ball?  I think not.  Imagine how much exponential publicity you could receive if you played more inaugural balls.  I think Iraq is having an election soon. And those eastern European countries are always going to the polls for something.  Your name could become synonymous with democracy, and you’d be in the news almost constantly.  It’d be better than playing Vegas.
  • Make a duet record with Jay-Z. You two are great together.  “Crazy in Love?” Are you kidding?  Mitzi still shakes her rump to that, and even has the rap down cold.  People will pay for more.  In the grand tradition of Allman and Woman, Johnny Cash and His Woman, you and your hubby could do HOVA and His Bitch. It’d be a little like those records Kristofferson did with Rita Coolidge back in the 70s. Remember them? Probably not—that was a bit before your time. But trust the Skwatzenschitz—they were awesome. You could be as big as Rita Coolidge.
  • Make an ass calendar. Gather a dozen photos of your badonkadonk—one for each month of the year—and put them on a calendar for 2010.  You might not even have to put your name on it—you have the most recognizable tookas this side of J-Lo, so people would probably just know it was yours.  You’ll make millions—I guarantee it.
  • Fake your death. What does America love more than a diva?  A dead diva, that’s what.  Think Marilyn Monroe.  True, she didn’t really sing, but she’s an icon.  And she’s dead.  You could be an icon, too.  Collapse onstage in LA, we’ll have you in a cottage up in Mendocino in four hours.  Do it in Miami, and you and Jigga are choppered out to a waiting yacht in minutes.  Get in a plane that is reported disappeared, and you don’t even have to go onstage—we whisk you off to the Alps to live out your days living off all the Beyoncé merch people will absolutely have to have.  Think about it.  It’d really be no work at all to get it done.

All the best,

Don

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CHART ATTACK!: 12/3/77

I know what you’re thinking: isn’t Popdose closed for the season?  What the hell is CHART ATTACK! doing here?  You raise a good point, but today’s post is here for two reasons.  First, I scheduled this CHART ATTACK! well over a year ago, before Popdose was even hatched, and second, today’s chart is by our good friend (and talented writer) David Eastman.  And we all owe a big debt of gratitude to David Eastman.  You wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for him.

You see, it was back in September ‘07 when our fearless leader Jefito had his website, well, pwned.  His web hosting company went under, and took all of Jeff’s hard work with him.  Jeff wasn’t so sure he ever wanted to bother doing a personal website again.  I wrote a post about it, and in the comments, Mr. Eastman wrote the following:

I humbly submit that Jeff and Jason join forces, divvy up the work, and rely on a growing cadre of eager submitters to build J-blog v. 2.0.

Jeff could be the editor and do whatever features he pleased, Jason could do Mellow Gold and post McD. pictures, and the rest of us could kick in other flotsam on a regular basis to help them build the bestest blog ever. It’d be like Voltron!

Well, it didn’t exactly happen just like that, but Jeff and I took David’s suggestion to heart, and a few months later, Popdose was born.  So this holiday season, when you’re either reflecting on how thankful you are for Popdose or cursing us for the Mellowmas dreck we’re putting you through, remember that it’s pretty much because of David.

On that note, enjoy one final CHART ATTACK! for 2008 and we’ll see you in the new year.  Take it away, David!  — JH

1977 was a monster. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was named top single of the previous 25 years. Punk spewed forth in the form of the Damned, the Clash, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Billy Joel planted his flag with The Stranger; Steely Dan gave us Aja; Fleetwood Mac unleashed a little collection known as Rumors. The Police, Van Halen, the Cars and Devo all signed their first record contracts. Led Zeppelin and the Supremes, meanwhile, performed their last US concerts. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down. Studio 54 went up. And Elvis Presley, the King of it all, died on his porcelain throne.

Yeah, ‘77 was huge. But man, speaking of toilets …

Ha-ha, I kid, of course! The pop charts of ‘77 were as good as the greater rock scene; bedecked in gems the likes of which we’ve ha-ha-ha-ha, I kid you again! A lot of this stuff sucked. Not all of it, but a lot of it. Really, there must have been something in the water that year. (Note: the obvious Jonestown joke would not be operative for another 11 months.) That said, most of these songs have long been lurking on my iPod, so you can’t trust me for anything but hypocrisy. Hey, speaking of awkward segues, let’s talk about the week of December 5, 1977:

10.  (Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again — L.T.D. Amazon iTunes
9.  It’s So Easy — Linda Ronstadt Amazon iTunes
8.  Boogie Nights — Heatwave Amazon iTunes
7.  We’re All Alone — Rita Coolidge Amazon iTunes
6.  Heaven on the 7th Floor — Paul Nicholas Amazon
5.  Blue Bayou — Linda Ronstadt Amazon iTunes
4.  Baby, What a Big Surprise — Chicago Amazon iTunes
3.  How Deep is Your Love — Bee Gees Amazon iTunes
2.  Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue — Crystal Gayle Amazon iTunes
1.  You Light Up My Life — Debby Boone Amazon iTunes

10. (Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again –- L.T.D.

L.T.D. was formed in 1968 by two former members of Sam & Dave’s backing group. Within a year they were fronted by drummer/vocalist Jeffrey “Wings of Love” Osborne. This song, the band’s second top 40 hit, was penned by Messrs. Zane Gray and Len Ron Hanks, who would later write hits for Tavares (”Never Knew Love Like This Before”) and Will Smith (”Da Butta”).

Hahahahahaha! I kid a third time! Wait, no I don’t. There really is a song called “Da Butta” by Will Smith. Damn. Well, in any event, L.T.D.’s little slice o’ funk is pleasant enough, and the echoes of Stax in the track start our Attack off pretty strong. Move to the groove with this Soul Train appearance, starring the USC Marching Band and 12 bolts of shiny red fabric:

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Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 20

I turned on the radio the other day for the first time in months and the first thing I heard was “more music, less talk,” so that’s what we’re going with this week. Well, okay, it’s the same amount of music but less talk. But you get my point.

NEW SOUNDS FOR THE COLLECTION:
Garland Jeffreys, Escape Artist
Krokus, Change of Address
Aleese Simmons, I Want It
Art in America, Art in America

We stroll on with our next-to-last week of artists whose names begin with the letter C, looking at songs that missed the first 40 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the ‘80s.

Rita Coolidge
“Fool That I Am” — 1980, #46 (download)

Many times it’s just so much more interesting to talk about everything but the music. What can I say about a boring track from some movie I’ve never heard of called Coast to Coast? Coolidge’s personal life is the story here — she dated Stephen Stills and then Graham Nash right after him, leading to the initial breakup of CSNY. But my favorite tidbit about Coolidge is that she starred in some television specials called The Christmas Raccoons and The Raccoons on Ice in the early ‘80s, which apparently led to the Canadian TV series The Raccoons. Here’s a clip from Raccoons on Ice, narrated by Rich Little and also starring … Leo Sayer!

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