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 weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Sargent and Spain— more than one hundred works of oils, watercolors, and drawings that John Singer Sargent produced in his seven trips to Spain between 1879 and 1912 — opens at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. this coming Sunday (through January 2nd).
YOUR WEEKEND READS #1 & #2 are both from The American Prospect — first, from Harold Meyerson on how Putin’s conscription follies mirror (and differ from) both the Vietnam era — and also the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The second is from David Dayen (Dday) on a package of three bills that would update America’s antitrust laws for the first time in decades that should pass — and the strange bedfellows who will support (and oppose) it.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Winslow the Cat— so named since a Nebraska state trooper found her in a ditch near the town of Winslow …. recovering nicely at a shelter and now will soon be up for adoption.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in Der Spiegel on how the government of Serbia— which wants to join the European Union — sees anti-gay oppression as beneficial to staying in power.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Ian the Cat— so-named when he was rescued from the hurricane in Florida by this gent … and when his girlfriend posted this video of the rescue, one response was, “I’m sorry, Megan, but he is everyone’s boyfriend now. I don’t make the rules”.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS?— Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and humorist TV star George Hahn (“Sex & the City”, “Law & Order”).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… when I saw the list of inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame from 2020-2022 (with the ceremony postponed due to the pandemic) there was one name I did not recognize, nor was there a band name next to it. And when looking up the name Rick Nowels, I still don’t know a lot about him — even his own website does not have a biography section. He may fly-under-radar on purpose, but with over 60 Top Twenty hits in the US, it’s clear that musicians know him well: as a writer/co-writer, producer, side musician and arranger.
Born in Palo Alto, California in 1960, he is listed as having his first song at age thirteen. His first major breakthrough came in 1985 at age twenty-five: co-writing Stevie Nicks’ I Can’t Wait, which reached #16 in the charts. Two years later, he produced Belinda Carlisle’s album Heaven on Earth and two of the three songs he co-wrote charted high: Circle in the Sand (at #6) and the title track that reached #1.
In 1997 he had a chance meeting with Madonna at the (now defunct) Barneys department store in NYC — which led to them co-writing three songs on Madonna’s album Ray of Light— and she thanked Nowels from-the-stage after winning the Best Pop Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards.
The clearest indication into his versatility is to look at the list of stars who have recorded at least one song he wrote (or co-wrote). Besides those already mentioned:
Adele (Why Do You Love), Anita Baker (Body and Soul), Cee Lo Green (Cry Baby), Celine Dion (Falling Into You), Dido (White Flag), Dua Lipa (Lost in your Light), Gwen Stefani (You Don’t Know Me), Jewel (Standing Still), John Legend (Green Light), k.d. lang (Consequences of Falling), Nelly Furtado (Somebody to Love) and numerous tunes with Lana Del Rey (Young and Beautiful). Not all of these are my speed … but that’s some track record. And at age sixty-two, who knows what else.
Two songs of his I’d like to feature: (1) this 1998 track from the New Radicals, You Get What You Give— co-written with the lead singer Gregg Alexander.
Four years later, Alexander co-wrote with Rick Nowels The Game of Love— for Michelle Branch and Carlos Santana.