FANS WISH CULTURE CLUBS BOY GEORGE 'GET WELL'
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
Story By: G. H. HARDING
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| Boy George |
CLUB CANCELED --- Culture Club have canceled their upcoming U. S. and U .K. tour dates after a polyp was discovered in Boy George's throat. A doctor has ordered the frontman to refrain from singing as he may need to undergo an operation.
Ticket refunds will be available at the point of purchase, but the group hopes to reschedule the concerts for next year. In a statement on their web site, the band wished George a speedy recovery and said, "To our fans, we wish to thank you for your loyalty and know that we love you all."
Culture Club was scheduled to spend much of November and December on the road as they prepped for the release of their new album, Tribes, which arrives in early 2015 via the band's own Different Man Music label.
Last week, Culture Club released the album's first single, "More Than Silence," which they also performed recently on The View. The LP is available for pre-order on the band's PledgeMusic page.
In an interview in March, Boy George — who just released his first solo LP, This is What I Do, since 1995 — said the band had tried writing together a few years ago, but admitted that at the time, "my mojo wasn't quite in rhythm."
But the band regrouped and Culture Club announced their first album of new material in 15 years this May, saying they were working with producer Youth, the bassist and co-founder of Killing Joke and producer for acts like the Verve, the Cult and Primal Scream.
They were set for NYC’s Beacon Theatre later this month.
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| David Bowie |
BOWIE SUES --- David Bowie's "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" has been given a glaring nourish new video directed by Tom Hingston and Jimmy King. Filmed in London and New York, the clip features the song's bizarre lyrics, as well as footage of Bowie and the Maria Schneider Orchestra recording the track in the studio, superimposed atop shots of a dark, smoke-filled city. When I first saw it, it immediately reminded me of the labyrinth passages of the late-great NYC dance club mecca, The Tunnel.
Over a jazzy, jumpy track cut with bustling percussion and horns that warble and wail, Bowie bellows the tale of a husband and wife whose mundane life deteriorates amidst distrust.
As the song builds, the video grows even more chaotic and creepy, with numerous shots featuring the silhouette of a figure simply standing in this fallen world.
After a succession of lights pierce through a window, Bowie hits the song's climax and conjures a scene that would make even Raymond Chandler proud: "Sue, I've pushed you down beneath the weeds / Hopeless fate in hopeless deeds."
"Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" is one of two new tracks Bowie will release both as a digital single and a 10-inch vinyl, first in the U .K. on November 17th, then as a "Black Friday" Record Store Day release in the U. S. on November 28th.
The other song, "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" premiered on BBC Radio 6 earlier this week and was inspired by Vorticism, an art and poetry movement that took place in the U. K. around the First World War.
Style-wise, I can't really say that either of these tracks were expected from the artist. But, considering who the artist is, anything’s possible.
One of my all-time favorite Bowie tracks, is the drama-imbued “Wild Is The Wind” - a song written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, which was originally recorded by Johnny Mathis for the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind. So, go figure!
"Sue" will also appear on Nothing Has Changed, a new box set that presents songs from throughout Bowie's career in reverse chronological order. Nothing Has Changed arrives on November 18th, and also contains two songs from Bowie's unreleased 2001 album, Toy.
Face it: the only thing you can expect from Bowie … is the unexpected.
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| Julie Taymor |
LION'S ROAR --- Disney's The Lion King, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, celebrated its 17th anniversary on last night at the Minskoff Theatre.
The hit musical is the first show in Broadway history to pass $1 billion in cumulative gross, a threshold also crossed by the North American tour and, most recently, the Hamburg Lion King production.
Since its Broadway premiere on Nov. 13, 1997, 22 global productions have been seen by more than 75 million people. Having played 19 countries on every continent except Antarctica, The Lion King's worldwide gross exceeds that of any entertainment title in box-office history.
The New York cast is currently led by Gareth Saxe as Scar; Alton Fitzgerald White as Mufasa; Nteliseng Nkhela as Rafiki; Jeffrey Kuhn as Zazu; Ben Jeffrey as Pumbaa; Fred Berman as Timon; Aaron Nelson as Simba; and, Chantel Riley as Nala.
The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice's music from The Lion King animated film along with three new songs by John and Rice; additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and music from Rhythm of the Pride Lands, an album inspired by the original music in the film, written by Lebo M, Mancina and Zimmer.
Directed by Taymor — who became the first woman to ever receive a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical — The Lion King has become an international hit with productions playing all around the globe. In fact, the Elton John-Tim Rice musical has won over 30 major awards.
Those include six Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical; eight Drama Desk Awards; six Outer Critics Circle Awards; two Sir Laurence Oliviers; the Evening Standard Award for Best Theatrical Event; and three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.
I was there at opening night; second row, center, and I've never forgotten that moment. I had never seen anything like that ... and, may never again. Quite a ride for sure. Congrats!
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| Bette Midler |
CLOSING NOTES - In a recent interview award-winning actress and entertainer Bette Midler responded to questions about a sequel to the Disney Halloween comedy Hocus Pocus, which has amassed a strong fan base since its premiere 20 years ago, telling fans to petition Disney for a second film.
Midler told fans that the fate of a sequel was in the hands of the Walt Disney Company, adding that her co-stars, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimi, were willing to return to the roles of the mischievous Sanderson sisters.
"You have to go to send in your cards to the Walt Disney company. The ball's in their court," said Midler, who portrayed Winnifred Sanderson.
"Inundate the Disney company," she added, "because I have canvassed the girls and they are wiling to do it, but we have no say in it, so if you want a Hocus Pocus 2, ask the Walt Disney company. You have been SO adorable. This has been most enlightening. SISTAHS!"...
Author Kelly Crigger sums up his hit book Curmudgeonism by explaining the brilliant Curmudgeon Zone, which Crigger also describes as the “WTF zone - when you realize everyone is full of crap and you question everything you thought you knew about life. Ginsu knives get dull, a Dyson loses suction, and no pill in the world can keep your erection up for more than a few minutes," he says. “As you start to realize that there are very few genuine people out there and you begin to act accordingly, you're becoming a curmudgeon.” Curmudgeonism: The Surly Man’s Guide to Midlife (Graybeard Publishing) is available on Amazon.
All of the status speculation on guitarist Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi has finally been put to rest:
Bon Jovi said Wednesday night, "He quit. He’s gone. No hard feelings. Being in a band isn’t a life sentence."
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