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 Hazel Belvo: Heart and Soul— a career retrospective of a prominent contributor to both the arts and feminist advocacy in the Upper Midwest region — will be at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota to July 28th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this essay in the American Prospect by the former NY Times legal analyst Linda Greenhouse— about the current US Supreme Court term and its fate.
I WILL BE OUT most of today …. so any comments directed towards myself will have to await my return this evening.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Fistopher the Cat— whose sad face (and loneliness) in a New Jersey shelter went viral, and has now been adopted.
QUOTE of the DAY— from the Baby Blue Cherub (Atrios), suggesting that Dems should relax about the closeness of the Georgia runoff (that a-win-is-a-win), plus:
As I've said many times, I'd vote for just about anyone for Senator with a D after their name (choosing between an awful D and a generic R).
I don't think I'd vote for the lefty equivalent of Walker for governor — I'd probably just sit it out — but governors have real power and real responsibilities. The junior senator from Georgia? Vote for Chuck and the job's mostly done.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Dirt the Cat— who has been the mascot of the Nevada Northern Railway’s cavernous locomotive shop since birth, a friend of employees and who greets tour groups (visiting the shop’s steam engine facilities).
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC, as well as the usually easier (less UK-oriented) New York Times quiz.
WORLD CUP NOTES— the two semi-final World Cup matches will be shown on free TV (the Fox broadcast channel, where you’d see The Simpsons& NFL games).
Argentina vs. Croatia — Tuesday, 2:00 PM Eastern (11:00 AM Pacific)
Morocco vs. France— Wednesday, 2:00 PM Eastern (11:00 AM Pacific)
The two winners meet in the title game next Sunday (10:00 AM Eastern)
Reader suggested (last in a series) SEPARATED at BIRTH from Audri— actors (who have both portrayed Superman): Henry Cavill (also “Man from UNCLE” ) and Matt Bomer (also “Fifty Shades”).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… although their heyday lasted only about three years, the band Ten Wheel Drive sought to carry-out what (the initial album of) Blood, Sweat & Tears sought to do, with a dash of theatrics and show tunes to accompany a horn-assisted rock band. With a captivating lead singer, and traces of Lauro Nyro and Janis Joplin they made a splash: only to have a revolving-door of personnel and a record label unwilling to gamble on a daring move have them fall-out-of-favor and ended a few years later. Yet they left a mark, and some of their musicians went on to other musical success.
Their story begins with lead singer Genya Ravan, who was born Genyusha Zelkovicz in war-torn Poland in 1940, with her family able to emigrate to the US in 1947 (her two brothers did not survive the Holocaust). She sang in a Brooklyn nightclub at age twenty-two, which led her in 1963 to found Goldie and the Gingerbreads (Goldie being her nickname). They were signed by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic in 1964, and a show of theirs was seen by Chas Chandler of The Animals, who convinced them to relocate to England where they remained for two years (then at that time, Chas Chandler was able to similarly convince Jimi Hendrix to come to London). They toured with many top UK acts and had a #25 hit in 1965 with a cover of the Herman’s Hermits tune Can't You Hear My Heartbeat.
After the Gingerbreads split in 1968, Genya Ravan was seeking a more professional band (able to read charts) to reflect the changing musical scene: and was introduced to a pair of musician/songwriters, looking for a singer. Aram Schefrin (guitar and lyricist) and keyboardist/composer Mike Zager (no relation to the Zager & Evans duo) agreed to form a band, with the original vision of Blood, Sweat & Tears (plus Big Brother & the Holding Company) as a model. They were spotted by representatives of the UK label Polydor (who were finally starting their own US distribution) and were signed in 1969.
Their first post-signing gig was at the Fillmore East, with Genya Ravan’s provocative clothing helping generate a buzz as well as the band’s playing, leading to a noted gig at the seminal Atlanta Pop Festival. Their 1969 first album Construction #1 featured Leon Russell’s Tight Rope, sung more like a Janis Joplin-like belter. They followed in 1970 with Brief Replies (with songs such as Pulse and Morning Much Better), then 1971’s Peculiar Friends (with more sophisticated arrangements) including the title track.
That same year, they performed a show at Carnegie Hall … with a symphony orchestra backing them up. This was for an oratorio that Schefrin & Zager had written … about the battle of the Little Big Horn. Yet not only did Polydor not want a live recording of such a provocative topic, they also did not want a studio recording. Genya Ravan was convinced this would have made the band famous, and — fed-up with the music business for other reasons (including the label unwilling to sponsor a European tour) — she left for a solo career. Ten Wheel Drive soldiered on for one final album, with singer Annie Sutton (who was in a later version of The Rascals) replacing Ravan … yet the band split in 1974.
Genya Ravan liked the fact that the band had numerous personnel changes (believing it made their sound fresh), an uncommon belief in an industry that prizes continuity. Among their members who went on to success elsewhere: bassist Bill Takas (LaBelle, Judy Collins), drummer Luther Rix (Bette Midler, Bob Dylan), saxophonist Dave Liebman (Miles Davis, Jack Bruce of Cream and a 2010 NEA Jazz Master award), trombonist Tom “Bones” Malone (Saturday Night Live band and the Blues Brothers), trombonist Bill Watrous (Quincy Jones, and leading an orchestra with Kai Winding) … and on the band’s final album: among the back-up singers were a (then-unknown) ... Hall & Oates.
Genya Ravan went on to record several solo albums and became a producer: with a range from a comeback album (by Ronnie Spector) to the debut album by the punk band The Dead Boys. Mike Zager has had an even more prolific career as a producer: Whitney Houston, the Spinners, Herb Alpert and Luther Vandross for starters.
The band has an excellent 1995 compilation album, and Genya Ravan released her memoirs in 2004, with the title being the name of the club where she first sang forty years earlier: Lollipop Lounge.
Of all of their songs: my favorite is Shootin’ the Breeze from their third album.