Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
A few days before my 17th birthday in 1983, INXS was scheduled to play a 21-and-older show at the Park West, which left me in a quandary. On the one hand, I really wanted to check out this new band that had a sound like nothing I’d heard before. But I also was cowed by the fact that the only fake ID I had said I was 32. INXS won out.
The Kids in the Hall are comedy’s answer to matinee idols. In their native Canada, the young, smart and cute Kids attract groupies who would look at home at a Winger rock concert.
The Goo Goo Dolls make music loud enough to get a headache over, but melodic enough to dance to. But for all the noise the three-man Goos make onstage, their harmonies save them from being just another angry young group.
The Replacements made brilliant noise Saturday night at the Aragon Ballroom, performing a concert that was inspired in its unabashed celebration of music and unusual in its uncharacteristic professionalism. Their latest album, “All Shook Down,” may be a product of vocalist Paul Westerberg’s musical tastes, but at the Replacements’ concert, each member had his turn in the spotlight. The Aragon’s muddled acoustics make most artists sound foreign, and Westerberg’s raspy vocals at times fell victim to the venue.
A high school sophomore, Mayim Bialik more than holds her own in the title role opposite a cast of older, more experienced actors. Her co-stars include Ted Wass (of “Soap” fame) as her befuddled father and Eileen Brennan as their cantankerous neighbor. Bialik portrays 14-year-old Blossom Russo, the lone female in a household that includes two very immature older brothers. In tonight’s episode, Blossom’s coming-of-age is dealt with in a way that could make viewers uncomfortable. What could have been a touching and humorous look at how she views her first menstrual cycle with both amazement and fear is instead turned into a tacky lesson on what not to do in comedy.
When I first saw Tommy Conwell’s teen-idol face, I thought here was a guy who could win over the Tommy Page crowd with no problem. When I first heard him sing, I was shocked by what came out of that mouth. Make no mistake about it. Conwell is nobody’s pretty boy. He is a serious musician who happens to have a youthful, not-so-serious outlook on life.
Back in 1979, Cheap Trick didn’t have to beg anyone to want them. The power-pop quartet from Rockford was riding high on the phenomenal success of their fourth album, “Live at Budokan.” The hit album, recorded in Japan during a concert tour, spawned several Top 10 singles, including “I Want You To Want Me.” The buzz surrounding “Budokan” also taught the group that timing can be more important than substance. The studio version of the “Want You” song from 1977’s “In Color” album went nowhere fast.
Deee-Lite is a self-described “holographic house groove band” with three members, who have taken the musical influences they grew up with to create a sound that’s both nostalgic and new. They’re also a mini-version of the United Nations, with one young man from the Soviet Union, another from Japan and a young woman from the United States. All three are brave or outrageous enough to wear dorky-looking clothes, designed to look like the worst of everything from the 1960s and ’70s.
Not playing instruments, not singing and not dancing must have winded them, because after performing for a half hour, 2 Live Crew left the stage for almost that same amount of time. When they returned, they seemed refreshed enough to pick on some more women and encourage the men to call their dates “whores” and “bitches.”
Gene Wilder is sitting in a very demure-looking hotel room, sipping on an early-morning cup of coffee. Dressed in a pair of beige chinos, a blue polo shirt and a pair of well-worn Adidas, he ruffles his hand through his trademark mane of curly brown hair. Unlike his on-screen image, where he generally portrays wild and crazy characters, Wilder is genteel in person.
At 25, actor Blair Underwood has no memory of the Watts riots that tore apart Los Angeles in 1965. But after conducting intensive research and discussions with the former reporter he plays in the TNT movie “Heat Wave,” Underwood has an understanding of why the riots happened.
“If I had come to Hollywood three months earlier or three months later than I did, I may have been waiting on tables right now, or back home in New York,” Jennifer Aniston said. “Getting roles isn’t based solely on talent, unfortunately. Looks, drive and being at the right place at the right time seem to have as much, or more, effect on who gets what role. It’s certainly not fair, but Hollywood isn’t exactly a bastion of fairness.
He has the ice-blond good looks of a matinee idol, but Cary Elwes’ ability to totally transform himself into the character he plays is what has made him one of today’s most outstanding young actors. While many of his peers are guilty of accepting roles that don’t stretch them as artists, Elwes has taken risks throughout his career.
“Venus Killed the Moon” is Loey Nelson’s impressive debut. My interview with Nelson for Rolling Stone.
Don Henley is manning two telephones in his St. Louis hotel room. On one line is a reporter; a book publisher is on the other. He puts the reporter on hold. “I’m sorry about that,” Henley said, returning to the interview. “I’ve got this book coming out and I’m kind of frazzled. We’ve still got some last-minute details to work out.”
Lindsey Buckingham did not equal Fleetwood Mac. The gifted guitarist-vocalist-songwriter left the group three years ago to pursue solo projects, but to many people, his ghost lingers. “It’s quite true that Lindsey was quite architectural in the arranging of some of our songs,” said vocalist-keyboardist Christine McVie. “But by the same token, the rest of us weren’t sitting there twiddling our thumbs and staring at the ceiling. Very often, Lindsey would ask me what I thought should be done, just as I’d ask him.
Television actress Susan Lucci will be the center of attention again later this month when the 17th annual Daytime Emmys are presented in New York. But it won’t be because people are expecting her to win an award. Already a 10-time loser for best actress in a daytime serial, Lucci gets more publicity every year for not winning an Emmy than her peers do for winning.
When he was a child, actor Matthew Perry said, he had a major crush on Valerie Bertinelli. She was the co-star of “One Day at a Time,” a popular CBS sitcom. Years later, when CBS cast Perry to play the boyfriend of Bertinelli’s character on her new “Sydney” series, he was on Cloud 9. But after he had psyched himself up to kiss the actress, the producers told Perry they were changing his character from her boyfriend to her younger brother.
Nepotism may be a dirty word in some circles, but to comedian-actor Tommy Chong, it spells clout. When the credits roll listing the cast and crew of his latest film, “Far Out Man,” now playing at local theaters, it reads like a who’s who in the Chong clan. Daughters Rae Dawn and Robbi, son Paris, wife Shelby and son-in-law C. Thomas Howell are featured prominently in the raunchy comedy that Chong wrote, directed and stars in.
Craig Hurley had studied various acting techniques before he landed a starring role on NBC’s “Nasty Boys,” but none of his classes prepared him for what took place during the first week of rehearsals. A group of black-garbed men burst into the actors’ rehearsal room, threw them down on the floor, handcuffed them and read them their rights. Actors, meet the real Nasty Boys, an elite unit of the North Las Vegas Police Department trained to deal with criminals in an efficient, if unorthodox, manner.