BETTE MIDLER HAS TOP STARS FOR HALLOWEEN

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THE GLORIOUS CORNER

Story By: G. H. HARDING
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Bette Midler Hullaween




BACK TO THE GENESIS --- On November 4, 2014, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Three Sides Live by Genesis.



Three Sides Live includes the hits “Turn It On Again,” “Misunderstanding,” “No Reply At All,” “Abacab,” “Man On The Corner,” and more.



Three Sides Live was filmed in November 1981 on the Abacab tour in North America and was originally released on VHS to coincide with the live album of the same name. It has only been released on DVD in the limited edition box set The Movie Box 1981-2007. Originally filmed in 16mm, the footage has now been fully restored and is being reissued as a standalone DVD and Blu-ray for the first time. The show focuses on tracks from the group’s Duke and Abacab albums and the tracks are inter cut with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the band members.



As always with Genesis, the show is visually stunning and it captures the band in their transition from their progressive days in the seventies through to the hugely successful pop/rock act they became from the mid-eighties onwards.



The line-up on Three Sides Live features Tony Banks (keyboards, backing vocals); Phil Collins (drums, lead vocals); Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass, backing vocals) with Daryl Stuermer (guitar, bass) and Chester Thompson (drums).



I also caught this week the terrific BBC Genesis-documentary on Showtime, called Together and Apart. Which begins with the great quote, "It's not country, it's not rock, it's not jazz... it's Genesis."



In 2007, the classic Genesis line-up re-united to play for the first time in 15 years. Throughout the docu, which is uniformly excellent, the band talks about … well, almost everything. From their humble beginnings at the Charterhouse School, to their start with original members Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips.



The band actually started out as a true progressive rock entity; as their songs often lasted more than 15-minutes. Bit by bit, the band tweaked their sound and soon developed their signature moody, introspective sound. Early hits like “Watcher Of The Skies” and “The Carpet Crawlers” are personal favorites, yet they really didn't hit their stride –and, worldwide success- until original singer Peter Gabriel left the band … to be replaced as vocalist by drummer Phil Collins. The rest is history.



The film is terrific as it doesn't shy away from the fact, that despite being a worldwide success, there was a point where it wasn't cool to admit you were a fan.



Keyboardist Tony Banks comes across as a bit of a stickler in everything; actually, something he even finally admits. Collins comes off as totally amiable and one who wants to please everyone. I worked with Collins and his version of the band back then and can attest he’s delightful. Funny, smart, you couldn't ask for a better collaborator. Rutherford is great too; realizing that when he started his splinter group Mike & The Mechanics, he would not and could not be the singer. Film maker Jim Yukich, who did dozens of video for the group and Collins is interviewed. Great to see him.



Gabriel, who I've always admired, is terrific and casually says that his whole thing of dressing up (be it as a flower or an old man) in the band, really started when the band did their long instrumental thing … “It gave me something to do.”



Always a great band, this film was very, very well done. Take a look at a preview here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p027f62l



NO VIEW FROM HERE --- ABC announced yesterday that The View would be moved from the network’s entertainment division to the news division.



The long-running chat fest underwent a drastic makeover this season, adding new hosts Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace for Season 18 in an effort to boost their free-fall ratings.



The new hosts didn't exactly mix and things reached a tipping point when Goldberg and O’Donnell came to verbal blows on a recent episode. There was even a rumor floated that there was a cooling off booth installed near the stage for whoever wanted to use it … or, needed it.



Personally, when O’Donnell was first announced as coming back, I knew she and Goldberg would not get along. I like both, but their mix wasn't in the cards.



Sad to say, but we predicted it before it even began this season. I'll say the show will be wound down by March.



SWIFT GIBSON --- I've seen Taylor Swift all over the media this week and especially in a terrific interview with David Letterman. She’s very well spoken and does make sense; much more so than many of the female singers of the day, but, in watching her, I could not stop thinking and reminiscing about Debbie Gibson, who was in many ways was the Taylor Swift of her day.



Debbie was inducted into the Long Island Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last week in Long Island (along with Ron Delsener and Mr. Golden Ears Clive Davis) and, hasn't really disappeared, but her career trajectory has sure undergone a shift of late.



She still holds the record as the youngest performer ever to have written, produced and performed a #1 record … so, her credibility is intact, but why does she not have a record out and why is that record not topping the charts?



According to a source who asked to remain anonymous, “She’s been the victim of bad management. Her original manager was let go about two years into the project. It was a move she'd never recover from.”



According to her biographer Mark Bego who released the bio Between The Lines on her in 1990, "Debbie Gibson, in her first 16 years, was able to achieve what most rock stars spend a lifetime trying to attain: Number One hits, million selling albums, and worldwide recognition."



Honestly, I'd love to see her teamed up with a great producer (hello Pharrell?); have her write some great new songs and back on the charts where she belongs.



CLOSING NOTES --- Next Thursday is the encore performance of Vincent Amelio’s How Alfo Learned To Love Women, directed by Robert Funaro, from The Sopranos. Charmingly written and directed; a must-see for sure …



Fred Schruers’ Bill Joel bio (Crown Books) seems terrifically fascinating. He sat with Joel for hours of interviews, then Joel decided to cancel the memoir. Apparently, he gave the writer the go-ahead to release what he had. Can we called this the memoir that never happened? …



Happy Halloween ... tonight: Bette Midler's 19th annual Hulaween-Gala ... should be fun with Earth, Wind and Fire performing ...




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