RAIDS ON NEW YORK NIGHTLIFE IS A DISGRACE
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
By: G. H. Harding
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Mad Men's January Jones
A LONG GOODBYE? --- AMC announced yesterday that the final (and, seventh) season of their Mad Men will be split into two segments; airing in the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014. To do that, the seventh-season order of the show has been upped from 13 to 14 episodes — seven to air in spring of 2014 (“The Beginning”) and the final seven (“The End Of An Era”) airing in spring 2015.
“This approach has worked well for many programs across multiple networks, and, most recently for us with Breaking Bad which attracted nearly double the number of viewers to its second half premiere than had watched any previous episode,” said AMC’s Charlie Collier. One rather prescient fan said to me, “Looks like AMC is trying to buy themselves some time so they can find their next hit.”
“We are determined to bring Mad Men a similar showcase,” said Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. “We plan to take advantage of this chance to have a more elaborate story told in two parts, which can resonate a little bit longer in the minds of our audience.”
The other rather stellar MM news is that Weiner has announced the addition of legendary writer Robert Towne to his staff. Huh? Towne, the legendary writer of such classics as Chinatown (1974), for which he received an Academy Award; its sequel, The Two Jakes (1990); the Oscar-nominated screenplays The Last Detail and Shampoo; as well as the first two Mission Impossible films, is an inspired choice.
He has also a "stellar reputation" in the motion-picture industry as an uncredited script doctor, having worked in this capacity on The Godfather, Bonnie and Clyde, The Parallax View, The Rock and on dozens of other Hollywood films. That said, it'll be most interesting to gauge how he'll fit into Weiner’s vision on the show. Since the beginning, MM has essentially been Weiner’s voice; and, he has a reputation for not playing well with others. This has all the intrigue of a MM-episode. Stay tuned!
KAUFMAN HAS A HIT --- James J. Kaufman’s The Concealers, book two of his The Collectibles trilogy, skyrocketed to the top one half of the Amazon Legal Thriller 100 best seller list and received 16 out of 16 Five Star reviews. At the same time, The Collectibles, book one of The Collectibles trilogy, with a 4.3 rating and 188 Five Star reviews, and reached #42 on the Amazon Legal Thriller 100 best seller list.
Kaufman’s newest tome also received a terrific review in the pub-industry’s Kirkus Reviews: “The author also deftly manages the large cast of characters, so it’s easy to keep track of who’s who. Readers who like their fiction with a strong dose of inspiration and morality will like this outing.”– Kirkus Reviews.
DA-SHOW MUST GO ON --- Q104.3’s Ken Dashow ‘s Live At Five this week had two stellar performers: Monday, he featured guitar-wunderkind Jonny Lang, who was on tub-thumping his first new album in 7 years, called Fight For My Soul. This is his follow up to his Grammy Award winning 2006, Turn Around. He performed the title track as well as the song “What You’re Looking For” and both songs were just excellent. Currently out on tour right now; just a sensational performance. He also broke Ken up when he kept addressing him as sir!
Tuesday, he hosted Warren Haynes, and, again just stellar music. Haynes is from the Allman Brothers Band and the jam-band Gov’t Mule, who have a new album coming soon called Shout! Again, just a stellar performance. Bravo!
CLOSING NOTES --- I was at Steve Walter’s Cutting Room last night, supposedly at an event for New York Magazine, when the NY Board of Health suddenly appeared and started some sort of investigation. Steve said that these types of kamikaze raids were becoming more and more common ... and, totally predictable. The party went on as the Health-police moved stealth-like through the club. A source told me later that the only violation they found was excess water on the floor …. near the dishwasher! Methinks a scam is afoot here. For an establishment that employs over 30 people and is helping keep nightlife alive in NYC … this is a disgrace …
CLUB JUNKIES-- U. K. re-mixers, Club Junkies, after hearing the forthcoming ballad version of “Dreams Come True,” produced by multi-Grammy award winners Rudy Perez and Joel Diamond - performed by Rebecca Holden and Abraham McDonald - insisted on getting their hands on the vocal stems and have now come up with an outrageous Club Mix, certain to hit the top dance worldwide. Rebecca Holden, performer and TV personality –most notably from Knight Rider, with David Hasselhoff - and Abraham McDonald –winner of the Oprah Winfrey American Singing Competition judged by producer-David Foster; songwriter Diane Warren; and, label-exec L. A. Reid- have delivered quite a prize here. It'll be released worldwide on October 1, on Silver Blue/Summit Records. More from Rebecca in a week …. Look for an exclusive Graham Nash-interview on XM’s Brett Winterble next week, in honor of the Nashman’s new memoir Wild Tales … and, from Musician Magazine, five good uses for CDS; 1. Microwave awesomeness, 2. Roofing tiles, 3. Personal defense, 4. Superlative cat toy, and, 5. Listen to music.
We like the last. See you in a week
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