This morning, The California Supreme Court will announce its decision on Proposition 8 Tuesday, May 26th. If it follows past practice, the court will make its announcement at about 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM, Eastern / 12 noon Central). Hopefully, things will go the way I would like them to go - or at the very least keep me married... but either way all across the nation and beyond the powers that love are holding a day of decision rally. You can check out what's happening around you at www.DayofDecision.org and here's a little more info:
Depending on what the court decides, we will either PROTEST or CELEBRATE We will PROTEST if:
-- The court upholds Prop 8, and invalidates the 18,000 same-sex marriage licenses that California already issued; or, -- The court upholds Prop 8, but upholds the 18,000 same-sex marriages already performed, which would be a cruel, but pyrrhic victory for equality. We will CELEBRATE if:
-- The court rejects Proposition 8 and says that same-sex couples are entitled to the marriage rights that heterosexual couples already have. So call, email, Facebook, Twitter your friends – DAY OF DECISION actions are TUESDAY NIGHT! Robin TylerAndy Thayer Co-founders, www.DayOfDecision.org
bubbaTUNESday - bub136 Lisa Hartman - Dreamer Of Dreams
Today's bubbatune brings you one of my all time fav gals of the world. She may be more famous these days as wife to Clint Black but there was a time when she was pretty damn popular on her own. There were tons of scantily clad pix of Lisa Hartman all over the magazines in the 80s when she was at the height of her fame if you will, which would've been the Knots Landing years and shortly there after. But like most people who do know who she is, Lisa Hartman Black, the singer isn't much more than an occassional duet partner for her husband. But it's actually music and a record contract that first brought Lisa Hartman into the world of celebrity.
Her first soft pop self titled album came out in 1976, followed by a one off single in 1978, a Motown inspired rock album called Hold On in 1979, then my favorite - her 1982 rock album Letterock and her theme to the film Where The Boys Are '84 and finally another rock album in 1987. All the while she stayed busy making TV movies and appearing on Knots Landing for four years. Now she shows up occassionally on record and in concert with Clint, but this little collection called Dreamer Of Dreams shows Miss Hartman doing what she had set out to do - make records... and though the elusive hit didn't happen until her marriage, that doesn't mean these songs don't deserve a good listen or ten.
bub136 LISA HARTMAN - DREAMER OF DREAMS(December 2008)
Years and years ago someone online sent me all the Lisa Hartman music they could get their hands on and I put them into the Bubbatunes collections (bub7) as a 2 CD set but since those days I have come up with the whole Lisa Hartman re-releases and a collection of rarities and felt it was time to come out with a one disc comprehensive collection of Lisa's best ofs.
I tried to incorporate every single 7" single she released but didn't quite make it as I had to have some favorite album tracks thrown on as well. We have all 3 of the Clint Black duets, and songs covering all four of Lisa's solo albums, plus some one off singles and even some "rare" "live" stuff from her films and Knots Landing.
Rather than do a chronological look at Lisa, I thought it was way more fun and just throw it all out there and see how it lands, so we start with the newest song available "You Still Get To Me" - the latest duet with her husband from last March, before going to the vaults and pulling songs and singles from her albums.
Some rare points include the 7" cut versions of "Where The Boys Are" and "I Don't Need Love" - two songs that should have been hits.
The majority of these songs come from what is my favorite album in her catalog - 1982's Letterock which should've been a hit if not just from the fact Lisa sang some of these songs on Knots Landing. Included in Dreamer Of Dreams, is the single "Hidin' From Love", "If Love Must Go", "Hole In My Heart", "New Romance (It's A Mystery)" and "Games" - the last four which were all performed on Knots Landing - (Games is performed during the scene when a drunken Gary wrecks Ciji Dunne's recording session by telling Abby they are 'ruinninnggg liiiives!'). Also from Letterock is Lisa's pseudo homage to gays with "Johnny's Always On My Mind"
1979's Hold On has some of my favorite Lisa songs and the ones included here include "Walk Away" (the one and only single released) and its B-side - an update on the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (which she also performed on Knots Landing), my favorite from that album "If You Want To Come Home" and the pretty ballad "Don't You Love Me Anymore" (incidentally also sung on Knots).
From her final album Til My Heart Stops, I threw on all three of the singles - the aforementioned "I Don't Need Love" plus the pop/rock ballady "The Dress" and the rocking "Tempt Me (If You Want To)".
The vault begins with her self titled 1976 album and from there comes the singles "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" and "Pickin' Up The Pieces" but I had to dump the final single "Kentucky Rainbows" for one of my fav album tracks, "Somebody Been Lovin' Her".
In the same musical vein as the Lisa Hartman songs is the 1978 single "Nobody Likes Lovin' More Than I Do (Dreamer Of Dreams)" which is where our title is sort of derived from.
The rarer songs come out with her cover of "Sometimes When We Touch" which was sung on Knots Landing, and "Waitin' For A Miracle" which our girl sang on the TV film The Great American Traffic Jam in 1980.
So even though these songs never made any chart dent, they left a huge dent in my life, and I love all of Lisa's songs and now maybe you will too, and of course we all know things worked out for Lisa but it would've been great if just one of these ditties had had some chart action, after all at the biggest time in her career Lisa told TV Guide, "I want to sing. I came out here with a dream and I still want that to happen." Alas, a dreamer of dreams.
bub136 LISA HARTMAN - Dreamer Of Dreams Track List: 01. YOU STILL GET TO ME (w/ Clint Black) 02. IF YOU WANT TO COME HOME 03. HOLE IN MY HEART 04. WHERE THE BOYS ARE (Single Version) 05. I DON'T NEED LOVE (Single Version) 06. NEW ROMANCE (IT'S A MYSTERY) 07. YOU KEEP ME HANGIN' ON 08. EASY FOR ME TO SAY (w/ Clint Black) 09. SAYING HELLO, SAYING I LOVE YOU, SAYING GOODBYE 10. HIDIN' FROM LOVE 11. THE DRESS 12. PICKIN' UP THE PIECES 13. WAITING FOR A MIRACLE 14. WALK AWAY 15. TEMPT ME (IF YOU WANT TO) 16. IF LOVE MUST GO 17. NOBODY LIKES LOVIN' MORE THAN I DO (DREAMER OF DREAMS) 18. JOHNNY'S ALWAYS ON MY MIND 19. SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH 20. GAMES 21. SOMEBODY BEEN LOVIN' HER 22. WHEN I SAID I DO (w/ Clint Black) 23. DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE
I always have so many favorite things kicking around in my head and this week isn't any different..
First of all, one of my all time favorite things is GREEN DAY. I have loved this band forever. Billy Joe is like a hero to me .. they had Pansy Division tour with them, they wrote and had a hit with a song about jerkin' off, they had a whole album now to be a musical based on their hatred for George W's America and now they have told Wal Mart to shove it when the big chain refused to sell their new album 21st Century Breakdown uncensored. It sucks as Wal Mart is now the biggest retail chain for carrying music but the band makes an excellant point saying the decision by Wal Fart will have negative effect on new artists trying to break out and not being able to say what they want... oh and the album still debuted at #1 anyway. OLD TV SHOWS ON DVD part 1,069 - I know this comes up a lot on my favorites this but come on they are finally releasing some great ones. Four years after releasing the Charlie's Angels season 3 DVD set the Powers that Be are finally releasing season 4 next month. Sure the Shelley Hack season is a bust because of her, but the cover shot is one of my all time fav Angels shots and I'm sure she's not that horrible, plus Cheryl Ladd really takes over once 'Bri is gone and finally it means there's only one more to go - the brilliant season 5 with sassy pants red head Julie Rodgers played by Tanya Roberts.. believe me when that is announced it will make this list too.
and finally BIRTHDAYS! I love birthdays, I love the look on someone's face knowing that this is their special day and pretty much only their day - no one else's. But I really like MY BIRTHDAY as it is my special day - MINE, NO ONE ELSE'S - and it's the only holiday where I don't have to reciprocate by giving someone a return gift.... and did I mention tomorrow is my birthday???
First I have some pretty cool news, so despite all the work and effort I put into my Bubbatunes to create some reissued albums that are no longer or never have been on CD, every now and then it's all for naught cuz some company up and actually puts out the CD. A few months ago, Wounded Bird released Lisa Hartman's Til My Heart Stops and I was ecstatic and now in really cool news a company called Cherry Pop released the first two Kim Wilde albums with bonus tracks and album art and next month they will release the third album.. so someone finally got it right! And now those Kim Wilde releases are officially out of print on Bubbatunes...
But what is in release from Bubbatunes are two brand new ones coming up in the next few weeks but before we can get to them, we have to look at the last two from 2008 - a couple of compilations that were made as gifts but really are a gift to myself as well... and our first one is a certified diva who has had some ups and downs, we are going to concentrate on the downs
bub135 CHER - MISSES(December 2008) When she's good she's really good and when she's bad - she's divine.. Cher has certainly had her ups and downs in her career but the beatch keeps coming back, but in between her numerous come back success stories there are a slew of lesser charting songs that are still very entertaining if not downright good. I decided with all the Best Of Cher albums out there it was high time there was a Worst of Cher sort of.. as these songs aren't bad, they just weren't hits.
So we have Cher Misses which spans most of her career lows opening with some great 60's gems - some which were on her excellant though overlooked album 3864 Jackson Highway which was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. These cuts are some of my all time fav Cher songs including her cover of "For What It's Worth" (you may not know the title but it's the Buffalo Springfield song 'stop children what's that sound/ everybody look what's goin down") which was a single but didn't chart, then there's a B-side "The First Time" about well you can guess, but boy is she ptent on it, "Classified 1A" is a super cool Sonny Bono Vietnam song that is apparantly one of Cher's favorite songs, and my favorite of the bunch, "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" is so cool you will just about wet your undies.
After this string of songs, Cher started to have some hits again both with Sonny and without catapulting to the early 70's with the Dark Lady, Gypsys songs. Then her variety show ended, she split with Sonny and signed on with David Geffen at Warner Brothers Records where she wanted to re-emerge as a rock star. It didn't really pan out.
1975's album Stars is considered by many Cher fans to be her best performance ever and it certainly does have its moments including the Indian Reservation vs. Government sting in "Geronimo's Cadillac" which was lifted as the first unsuccessful single from the album. Also her cover of "Bell Bottom Blues" is really, really good.
Since Stars didn't do much to promote Cher as a rock goddess, she upped the ante for the next album I'd Rather Believe In You in 1976 complete with hippy cool schtick looks on the cover, but alas the album didn't provide any hits or even bother charting but it gave us a cool single with "Long Distance Love Affair" (not the Sheena Easton song) and another cover, this time "Knock On Wood" done in a cool R&B stomp like the original and two years before Amii Stewart would rearrange it and create a disco classic.
Warner Brothers decided Cher's newfound rock woman wasn't fairing very well so they set her back up with Snuff Garrett who had delivered the Dark Lady, Gypsys etc. songs. So what we get from her album Cherished is a slightly watered down version of those story songs including the single "War Paint & Soft Feathers" which is basically a combo of "Half Breed" and "Gypsys Tramps & Theives" but its good, it just came out about four years too late.
Cher would record one more album with Warner Brothers Allman & Woman, a duet set with her then husband of two minutes Gregg Allman (also released in 1977) but it didn't chart and there weren't any songs that really jumped out at me to even bother putting on Missed... so we move to a more successful time.
1979 brought Cher another comeback when she signed to Casablanca and they made her make a disco album...she got a gold album and a top ten single with Take Me Home out of the deal but it was a little harder to follow up. The second single "Wasn't It Good" was re-arranged into both a 7" single and a 12" version and though it charted very low on the charts (enough to warrant being on this comp) it wasn't a hit and you won't see it on very many Cher compilations but it's just as good if not better than "Take Me Home."
Also from the Take Me Home album comes "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)" which was the flip side to a single released from the next album (we'll get to that) but it's just so damn good it should've been a hit... a little more rock than disco it's all about a lady from the Valley who follows the hottest axe in town cuz she really knows how to git on down... it's excellant.
The final Take Me Home release was the third single, a country/pop song that comes out of nowhere - "It's Too Late To Love Me Now" is actually a really good ballad but again it didn't come anywhere near the top 100 chart.
Following the moment of success with Take Me Home, our girl recorded another album right away Prisoner. An album that lunged between discofied pop and new wave pop and sometimes would be rock. It really isn't as good as I remembered it but it certainly has its moments including the lead off single "Hell On Wheels" which did score low on the charts but certainly didn't classify as a hit. The second single "Holdin' Out For Love" is super fun and bouncy and the Pointer Sisters would even record it as a Bside around 1980 but again Cher didn't score with this one though I think it would've made a more radio friendly single than "Hell On Wheels" still it didn't chart anywhere.
Our girl tried one more disco tune out for size with "Bad Love" produced by Giorgio Moroder for the soundtrack to the film Foxes in 1980. Though it wasn't released as a single it's a great song and needed to be a hit.
Cher's final Casablanca album found her as the front person to the rock outfit Black Rose. Once again she was after a rock goddess moniker and once again it didn't work out for her. The album, the would be tour, the man she was dating in the band - it all fell to crap but it didn't give us one kick ass tune to place on Misses - "Never Should've Started" where Cher starts singing and I swear you don't even recognize her - right away anyway.
Two years later Cher signed onto Columbia Records and gave us one of her own personal favorite songs "I Paralyze" produced by John Farrar, Olivia Newton-John's main go to man. The album fizzled, the single fizzled - the lead off single (girl groupie bop pop) "Rudy" failed... and to tell you the truth I don't know why. I remember Cher performing "I Paralyze" On Solid Gold like every week yet the song didn't chart at all. The whole album is pretty good and Cher says she still plans on re-recording "I Paralyze" one day, we'll see how that works out for her.
After I Paralyze, Cher hit the big screen and began making movies and lots of money, so she decided to try once again and be a rock goddess and this time it worked. Her 1987 self titled rock album was a big hit with three fairly big singles but one final single didn't quite do it for the radio world - "Main Man" was the final single released from Cher following the success of "I Found Someone", "We All Sleep Alone" and to a smaller extent "Skin Deep".
But because Cher is one of my all time favorite albums I had to include two songs that weren't singles but could've been huge - I just bet. "Perfection" is a rocking ditty that starts off with Cher singing with Bonnie Tyler and Darlene Love about how perfect life could be except love sucks, one of my all time fav lines ever is in the song - "when love is here to stay / then its gone today/ you've got a list of lovers lookin' like a resume" Ha!
The other song from Cher on our collection is "Give Our Love A Fightin' Chance" which is full of gun and fighting cliches but rocking and I love it and you should too.
Our final song on Misses is another one that is from this big height period of Cher's career but didn't score as high as her other singles of the time - "You Wouldn't Know Love" is another bitchy rocker from her Heart Of Stone album (which I believe is one of her biggest selling albums) and it did score on the charts but not in the way the other singles "If I Could Turn Back Time", "Just Like Jesse James" and the title track did..
So there you have Cher in all of her missed glory... I hope you enjoy it. Next week we look at our last compilation from last year and it's from a gal I like to think of as forever ciji - can u figure it out?
bub135 CHER - MISSES (2008) Track List: 01. I Walk On Guilded Splinters 02. For What It's Worth 03. The First Time 04. Classified 1A 05. Geronimo's Cadillac 06. Bell Bottom Blues 06. Long Distance Love Affair 07. Knock On Wood 08. War Paint & Soft Feathers 09. Git Down (Guitar Groupie) 10. Wasn't It Good (Single Version) 11. It's Too Late To Love Me Now 12. Hell On Wheels (Single Version) 13. Holdin' Out For Love (Single Version) 14. Bad Love 15. Never Should've Started 16. Rudy 17. I Paralyze 18. Give Our Love A Fighting Chance 19. Perfection 20. Main Man 21. You Wouldn't Know Love
I love "when animals go bad" movies - you know the giant shark in Jaws, the killer Piranha, and just about any of the crazed Sci Fi movies so imagine my complete shock when I came upon a trailer for what is sure to be one of new favorites - it has a giant shark that attacks not only the Golden Gate Bridge but a flying airplane and a giant octopus and wait wait wait frickin' Deborah Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas.... watch it if you can handle it!
Here's a little random video for you to enjoy - it's Ms. Deborah Harry performing with Miss Guy (of Toilet boys) earlier this month at the NIGHT OF 1000 STEVIES - though they aren't performing a Stevie song per se, they are doing an interesting version of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" in bleached out wigs that cover their faces...
Hey kiddies - things are moving for the new Swivek album... I think we have a track list and sequencing all taken care of, though I may want to do a little tinkering with some mixes but because you're all such good friends and fans, you can hear one of the new songs on our My Space page! That's right - head over to www.myspace.com/swivek and you can listen to the title track EVERYBODY HATES YOU..
also now up on our page are a couple oldies and re-dos - first our Rachel Sweet cover of "Billy & The Gun" from 2006's Army Fatigue album is up and so is a newly recorded version of "Outside" from the Mexican Gods album in 2002... so check them and tell me how much you love them!
This week's hot bastage is so hawt I can't even sit down. I'm not too familiar with his work but one picture did it for me and then I found an amazing assortment of more pix. He's some super model who's been in a billion ads and he looks good in or out of clothes -
Without breathlessness here's DAVID GANDY - the hot bastage of the week.
Location: West Hollywood, California, United States
SHORT VERSION: Bradley Jacobson is a singer/songwriter, sometime actor, sometime writer, audio engineer and producer, and all around happy dude. He was the singer/songwriter of the electronic trashy punky pop band Swivek, but is now a "solo" artist releasing music under his own name.
