GEORGIA DOLENZ'S WE'RE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK

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THE GLORIOUS CORNER

Story By: G. H. HARDING

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Georgia Dolenz

PANIC ATTACK --- We're Having A Panic Attack is a sketch comedy group created and survived by Georgia Dolenz (daughter of Monkee-Micky Dolenz), Sheila Carrasco, and Rebecca Warm.

The three met during their Groundlings Writer's Lab, and all passed through to the Advanced Lab Level in 2013. They quickly bonded over the fact that they had all experienced panic attacks as children.

Perhaps dark, but also weirdly uplifting and hilarious, the three felt it only appropriate to call their new sketch group We're Having A Panic Attack.

The group’s first sold out show in March (We're Having A Panic Attack... And You're Invited) was a great success. They were subsequently invited to perform in the 2014 LA Improv Comedy Festival, after which they began creating a brand new show.

Their new show, which will be performed this Thursday (August 7) in L.A. is titled: We're Having A Panic Attack... And Everything Will Be OK, includes all new sketches and material.

Says Dolenz, “Our show travels from the inappropriate to the absurd, past some wigs and dry wit, landing back onto a pile of classic comedy crash mats.”

Directed by Annie McVey, and featuring Josh Stamell, Brandon Bales, and Burl Moseley. The show will be held at ACME Comedy Theater, 8pm @ 134 N. La Brea Ave on Thursday, August 7th. Check their site out at: www.havingapanicattack.com.

TIGER RISING --- The writer/performer of such classic hits as “Eye of the Tiger” and “Vehicle” reveals his life both on-stage and off, including having a chart hit as a 15-year-old, penning one of the great inspirational anthems of all time and touring with Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.

You may not recognize the name Jim Peterik, but the songs he’s written have made an indelible mark on pop music history, an incredible first-person tale he relates in his biography, Through the Eye of the Tiger: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Survivor’s Founding Member, published by BenBella Books on September 23.

It’s all here, from his beginnings as a 15-year-old in the Ides of March, which the Illinois-native playfully dubs The Beatles of Berwyn, scoring a #2 Billboard hit in 1970 with the horn-laden “Vehicle,” to being personally asked by Sylvester Stallone to write a song for Rocky III, which turned out to be “Eye of the Tiger,” the triple-platinum, Grammy-winning inspirational anthem that gives the book its name.

“This is my chance to connect the dots and put a face behind those songs,” says Peterik about writing the book. “I love the past, but I don't live there. And I'm not ashamed of it, either. I'll be playing ‘Vehicle’ until the day I die, but I would feel unfulfilled if I wasn't paying it forward, discovering new talent and writing with my heroes.”

Through the Eye of the Tiger offers a close-up view of the rock n’ roll lifestyle – its pitfalls and triumphs along the way, as Peterik’s anecdotes include The Ides of March touring with Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin (“I had to walk her home because she was too inebriated to get to her hotel”), the Grateful Dead (“I shared a deli tray with Jerry Garcia without getting dosed”) and the Allman Joys (the predecessor to the Allman Brothers).

It’s also a cautionary tale about the dangers of drugs and groupies, which Peterik carefully avoided during a 42-year (and counting marriage) to his wife Karen, whom he met when he was 17 and she was 15 during a Turtles concert at their high school. The two have a 24-year-old son, Colin, who is a musician himself.

“I don’t think I could have written this book 10 years ago,” says Peterik. “I've finally reached a point where I see a very bright future for all the things I'm doing, but I can also appreciate what I've done. I thought the time was right to tell my story.”

A world class tunesmith, Peterik’s songs have sold 30 million around the world, with 18 Top 10 hits, including “Hold on Loosely,” “Caught Up in You,” “Rocking Into the Night,” “Fantasy Girl,” collaborating most recently with Brian Wilson on the title track to the Beach Boys’ acclaimed album, That’s Why God Made the Radio. The artists Peterik has worked with over the years include .38 Special, Sammy Hagar, REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin, Buddy Guy, the Doobie Brothers, Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Dennis DeYoung, Reba McEntire, David Hasselhoff, Johnny Rivers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

As for his survival, he credits it to never losing his focus. “I’m a late bloomer,” says the 64-year-old. “I’m now the guy with the purple hair, red leather suit and striped guitar. It’s a delayed response to the fact I took a back seat all those years. I’m having the time of my life.

Later this year, Jim will mark the 50th anniversary of his still-active The Ides of March with a deluxe, 70-song, three-disc reissue of the seminal band’s catalog, including a DVD featuring a live concert from Chicago’s House of Blues, Rare footage, interviews with the band and videos of “Vehicle” and “Last Band Standing.”

This one sounds like it good be as good as Foreigner's Lou Gramm tome (Juke Box Hero-My Five Decades in Rock 'n Roll) was ... I’m looking forward to this one.

GO GUARDIANS --- Guardians of the Galaxy touched down with a dazzling $94 million this weekend, proving that Marvel-stamp is the new gold standard for movie brands.

That figure set a new record for an August domestic debut, easily trumping the $69.3 million bow of 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, and scoring the third biggest stateside opening of the year. Overseas, the film netted an impressive $66.4 million in 42 territories, including Russia, Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom. It has brought in $160.4 million worldwide and still has many major markets left to open such as China, Australia, France and Spain.

“It’s a testament to the momentum of the brand overall and all of the pieces just coming together in the right way,” said Dave Hollis of Disney Studios.

“We were able to heat things up to white hot levels and use those final days as a call to arms.”

Marvel’s adaptations of its comic books have been profitable for years, but following the $1.5 billion success of 2012’s The Avengers, their films have reached new heights. Iron Man 3 hit $1.2 billion, nearly doubling the previous film in the series; Thor: The Dark World reached $644.8 million, a 44% improvement on the first Thor film; and Captain America: The Winter Soldier is finishing off with $713.2 million globally, a 92% hike from the patriotic warrior’s big screen debut.

Having made $6.3 billion at the box office, since taking ownership of the films with 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel has become one of the most consistent hit-makers in Hollywood history. Its record of tapping into the zeitgeist is unrivaled by all save the animated Pixar movies.

Galaxy represented a roll of the dice for the studio and its corporate parent, Walt Disney. It arrived with a production budget of $170 million (plus whatever it cost to market the interstellar heroes from one end of the planet to the other), but without the brand recognition of a Captain America or a Thor. It also debuted in August, traditionally a slower time for popcorn films.

“The movie is irreverent, the movie is rebellious and the movie is not a slick Hollywood-produced wrap everything up in bow kind of film,” said Greg Foster, president of Imax Entertainment.

Blasting off at the tail-end of summer was also a calculated move. This summer has been a dreadful one for the movie business, with receipts down nearly 20% from last year’s record-breaker. But that meant that movie-goers were hungry for a broad, exciting, special effects-driven adventure after three months of blockbusters that weren't.

Go figure, Guardians is one of the biggest hits so far this year.

CLOSING NOTES --- Check out CBS FM’s re-cap of Scott Shannon’s 101th show at the station last Friday. Thanks also to producer-Louis Pulice for the getting us in and around the event. Shannon’s one of the best radio-voices ever and it was a pleasure to see him that day.

The legendary Leon Russell played at Stephen's Talkhouse in Amagansett this past weekend. heard the shows were terrific ...

Bill Murray has joined the cast of Disney’s The Jungle Book as the voice of Baloo the Bear.

Previously announced cast include Christopher Walken as King Louie; Giancarlo Esposito as Akela; Ben Kingsley and Lupita Nyong’o as Bagheera and Raksha, respectively; Idris Elba as Shere Khan; Scarlett Johansson as Kaa; and newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli.

The Jungle Book will combine live-action and animation with Jon Favreau directing from a script by Justin Marks. The film will be released in 3D and open on Oct. 9, 2015.

In Rudyard Kipling’s original book, Baloo and the panther Bagheera teach the law of the jungle to the boy Mowgli — and save him from Shere Khan the tiger.

Baloo’s character was popularized in Disney’s animated 1967 cartoon, thanks to the song “The Bare Necessities,” sung by Phil Harris.

Sightings: Joel Grey at Bar Pitti in NYC; PR-pasha David Salidor at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Brooklyn.