I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition of large-scale sculptures (using common building materials) focusing on the flow of water by Maya Lin— the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — will be at the Grand Rapids, Michigan Art Museum through September 8th.
May Lin: in Grand Rapids, MichiganCHEERS to the head football coach of Dartmouth College, Buddy Teevens — who eight years ago decided that his players would no longer tackle each other during practice (where many of their injuries took place). Instead, they would use swift motorized tackling dummies, virtual reality and other non-contact practices. The result? Their injury rate fell dramatically (as did concussions), the team had far fewer missed tackles in actual games ... and has won 76% of their contests since.
xHow to predict a coup https://t.co/RjysqPYv6M
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 29, 2019WHILE EUROPE has in recent years had only sixty bison (and all in captivity) conservation have replenished their herds, with re-population now taking place in Romania, where its meadows and old-growth forests provide an ideal habitat.
THURSDAY's CHILD is the late Jack the Cat— a seventeen year-old Scottish kitteh who was named (posthumously) as Britain’s Hero Cat of the Year for 2019 — able to alert a family when he sensed their biomedical engineering student daughter Marcia suffering from a disabling chronic illness (global autonomic dysfunction) was about to have a seizure …. alas, Jack died two weeks before the awards.
Jack the Hero Cat of 2019HAIL and FAREWELL to the long-retired Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle— who in 1963 was wearing a light-colored suit (handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald) ….
Jim Leavelle (1920-2019)… and looking alarmed as Jack Ruby fired his fatal shot on live TV in one of the 20th Century’s most famous photos — who has died at the age of ninety-nine.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Jeffree the Cat— an English kitteh who was named as Britain’s Cat of the Year — helping a thirteen year-old boy w/Asperger syndrome which made it particularly difficult to process his father's death (leading to him becoming depressed and withdrawn) come ‘back from the brink’.
Jeffree: 2019 Cat of the YearWHILE YOU MAY KNOW the Chicago comedy troupe Second City as a proving ground for aspiring stand-up comics (John Candy, Bill Murray, et al) — today, 1/3 of its revenues come from …. corporate clients, eager to pay for training their employees in improv, being able to converse freely and be more personable.
xWhen illiteracy becomes a characteristic of most of the communications from a particular group, it becomes significant https://t.co/TD7176P46v
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) August 28, 2019BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — TV crime show host Nancy Grace and English comic/actor Eddie Izzard.
Nancy Grace (born 1959), and Eddie Izzard (born 1962)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… the question of “What was the first all-female rock band?” can never be pinpointed — there was Goldie & the Gingerbreads, plus the Detroit-based Pleasure Seekers among others, and how well-known other such bands may have been are quite subjective — but the first one to (a) release an album on a major record label, (b) play all of their own instruments (without a back-up band or session musicians) and finally (c) perform (nearly all) of their own songs was the band Fanny — who existed from 1970-1975 in its original incarnation. Other female rockers have cited their influence, and just last year three of the early members have rejoined in a 21st Century version — and so their story needs to be told anew.
In 1961, a US naval officer who had married (per the band’s own website) a ‘Filipina socialite’ moved their family from the Philippines to Sacramento, California. The teenage daughters June and Jean Millington felt at odds in their new land, and saw music as a respite, with June on guitar and Jean on bass. They eventually formed a cover band called The Sveltes, with Brie Brandt on drums and guitarist Addie Clement (who previously played in the California Girls band).
Brie Brandt left the band in 1968 to get married (although would return in later years), replaced by Iowa City native Alice de Buhr. She and Addie Clement left to form yet another all-female band, Wild Honey — who went on tour in the Midwest. Eventually, they returned home to rejoin the Millington sisters in a new Wild Honey lineup.
Tiring of the grind, they settled in Los Angeles in 1969, deciding to either make-it-big, or go back to school. And it very nearly was the latter: going to play their final show at an open mike night at the legendary Troubadour Club in West Hollywood …...… when fate intervened.
For in the audience was the secretary of the record producer on-the-rise Richard Perry (who went on to produce Rod Stewart, Harry Nilsson, Art Garfunkel, Leo Sayer and Andy Williams among many others). Perry was seeking an all-female act and was able to have the band signed to Reprise Records without an audition (as the label thought they would be a novelty act). Seeking a new name, Perry brought-up a George Harrison suggestion of Fanny (which has a more sordid meaning in Britain) but they went along. Addie Clement left the band, and they recruited a keyboard player named Nickey Barclay to round out the group — who had recently performed as a choir singer on the famous Joe Cocker Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. (L-to-R below: Alice de Buhr, June Millington, Nickey Barclay, Jean Millington).
Fanny in the early 1970’sTheir goals were neither to be seen as a novelty act, nor as sex objects. This they pursued by opening for many well-known rock bands, and also appeared on numerous TV shows (including American Bandstand and the Sonny & Cher Show). Many fans who expected the worst when this opening act came on stage …. became true believers afterwards (especially in the UK). It also helped that both the songwriting and vocal harmony duties were shared among the four band members, thus able to avoid turf battles that are common in emerging bands.
Their self-titled 1970 debut album featured mostly their own songs and earned some radio play. It also led to session work on the 1971 album Barbra Joan Streisand (as she had wanted to record with a small group, rather than an orchestra and Richard Perry recommended Fanny). Their 1971 effort Charity Ball (with a cover photo taken by Candice Bergen) saw the title track reach the Top 40 — again, with nearly all originals (except for a lesser-known Stephen Stills tune).
Their 1972 album Fanny Hill— yes, after the book and film — received the best reviews and sold better than any other. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios (engineered by Geoff Emerick, who had worked with The Beatles), their cover of the song that Marvin Gaye made famous (Ain’t That Peculiar) reached #85 in the charts. One of their singles (Young and Dumb) was banned by BBC Radio 1 (and by being banned from playing live at the Albert Hall for being ... “too provocative”).
Their 1973 album Mother’s Pride was produced by Todd Rundgren, of which Nickey Barclay said was a much better experience for the band. Yet by this time, all was not well: as one writer noted, “Internal tensions, accumulated strains, and the ordinary occupational hazards of making it in a man’s world predicated on sex, drugs and rock and roll” led to both guitarist June and drummer Alice leaving.
They recruited Patti Quatro (of the famous musical family that will appear in a future profile) on guitar and their drummer from the Sveltes days (Brie Brandt). This lineup released one final 1974 recording, Rock & Roll Survivors— which garnered less favorable reviews for the overly-slick production (by now, they were on Casablanca Records) which the All-Music Guide’s Thom Jurek said “was clearly trying get the band to sound like Heart ... which didn't work”. It did have their highest-rated single of all, Butter Boy (with racy lyrics) that reached #29. But the end for the band would come in 1975, as Nickey Barclay felt that — while Patti Quatro was a most able guitarist — the band had changed too much, too soon.
The four individuals went into different fields: guitarist June released subsequent solo albums, went on to produce Holly Near and Cris Williamson and runs a non-profit organization dedicated to support girls and women in music. Her sister Jean was married for a time to David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick, became a herbalist and recorded with her sister. Alice de Burgh went into the record label business and Nickey Barclay — after one 1976 solo album— left music for a private life.
Their legacy was reignited in 2002 by the issuance of a boxed set including all album releases (plus unreleased recordings). In 2007, the classic lineup (less Barclay, due to health reasons) held a reunion concert at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where they received a Women of Valor award.
In 2016, their former drummer Brie Brandt joined the Millington sisters on-stage. This led to the release of a 2018 album called Fanny Walked the Earth— the first time the three together entered a recording studio in fifty years.
While they seldom perform (Jean suffered a stoke, so her son Lee filled-in on bass at a benefit show) they serve as a reminder of their importance. Any band that gets rave reviews from David Bowie and Lowell George of Little Feat, and were cited as influences by the Go-Go’s and The Bangles deserves their place in history.
Jean, Brie and June todayOf their work: I had to choose the one non-original from their 1970 debut album. It was from my favorite band (Cream) from their 1969 final album and was written by Eric Clapton along with “L'Angelo Misterioso” — a pseudonym for George Harrison (for contractual reasons). The song was untitled as of the initial studio take and Harrison wrote “Bridge” for the instrumental break on the chart — which Clapton mis-read as …. Badge. And below you can hear the version by Fanny.
Thinking about the times you drove in my car Thinking that I might have drove you too far And I'm thinking about the love that you laid on my tableI told you not to wander round in the dark I told you about the swans, that they live in the park Then I told you about our kid: now he's married to Mabel
Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down Don't you notice how the wheel goes round? And you better pick yourself up from the ground Before they bring the curtain down
I'm talking about a girl that looks quite like you She didn't have the time to wait in the queue She cried away her life since she fell off the cradle
x xYouTube Video