Threesome
Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick & Some Guy Named Adam Devine
Let's alleviate some of the tax day stress with a fun menage a trois, shall we? That's correct here we have two of my favorites Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick pictured with someone I have not a clue as to who he is, Adam Devine. The three of them were snapped promoting their upcoming comedy, with the literal title: Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates at CinemaCon. Where they scored the Triple Crown as Stars of the Year, that's right, Stars, hey there is room for everyone. Efron and Kendrick in a comedy together is like a dream. They both have great timing and know how to work your funny bone. I am looking forward to catching this flick when it arrives. Now if only I had a handle on who the flip Adam Devine is... Need A "Wedding" Date? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2823054/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2
Cool Rider
Jason Walker Jason Walker has a new single out! Aren't you "So Happy"???
Two-time Grammy nominated dance producer Tony Moran and Out Music Award winner Jason Walker unite on the season’s most powerful pop-dance record, “So Happy”. Written by Tony Moran and Chris Willis – the American gospel singer turned electronic dance music phenomenon for his work with David Guetta - the epic single features an amazing vocal performance by Jason Walker, a superstar collection of remixes and a visionary music video by Karl Giant. “So Happy” is available now on iTunes.
So Happy
“With all that's happening in the world today, isn't that what everyone wants: to be happy and feel good,” wonders Jason Walker from his home in New York City. “The dance floor is my happy place. It’s where I can forget my troubles and let the music take over. For me, music is the universal truth and when a hard beat pulses through my body, there is simply no better feeling than that. My hope is that ‘So Happy’ lifts listeners to their own place of pure joy.”
When deciding on a location to shoot the song’s music video, videographer Karl Giant – who has shot videos for Cyndi Lauper, Ultra Nate, and The One’s - had in mind a destination that was a bit grander in scale than a dance floor. He whisked Walker to a land of breathtaking panoramas and transcendent realities.
“We went to the Salt Flats in Utah!” Walker explains. “It turned out to be one of the most exhilarating, life-changing experiences ever. Five days in the desert was insanely riveting.”
"I am the great Cornholio! I need T.P. for my bunghole!" - Beavis "Beavis and Butthead" Yes, Corn Hole is the first thing I thought when I saw this image of singer Michael Buble' at Disneyland. The second thing I though is: "He must not have tonsils anymore" or "Perhaps he is auditioning for gay porn" see how you can add any take you want onto this shot??? Apparently this has got certain segments of the web upset and freaked out. Because they obviously have nothing better to do. Me? I am posting it because I think it is hilarious and who does not love a man with a great sense of humor? I know I do. Obviously Buble' saw the paparazzi and wanted to have some fun with them. He also most likely figured the image would go viral and that there were enough gullible people in the world to actually not be in on the joke. Smart & funny, that's a pretty amazing combination! Trust me... Tweet about the corn to Michael at: https://twitter.com/search/michael+buble
Top: Billie Jean King & Bobby Riggs
Bottom: Emma Stone & Steve Carell
Emma Stone is quite the versatile actress. I actually loved her in Easy A and Zombieland. Although I have not caught her in anything past that. Hey you have to be in something I actually want to see for me to attend and The Help just didn't cut it for me. Neither did re-booting Spiderman. Even your turn as a part Asian woman, which drew some controversy for Aloha could not get me to watch. That film looked so D.O.A. in the commercials anyway and the protest groups were the most attention that piece of celluloid got. Next up for Emma? She will be out tennis legend Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes. The film focuses on her tennis match with arrogant male chauvinist pig and publicity whore Bobby Riggs played by Steve Carell. This actually has the potential to be interesting. I do wonder if anyone will protest Stone playing a Lesbian when she is not one though? To me that would be ridiculous, but.... Go To "Battle" On IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4622512/?ref_=nv_sr_1
You know the old adage: Damned if you do, Damned if you don't?
Carry on then!
Featuring Chrissie Hynde, Dave Gahan, Lemmy, Mick Jones, Billy Idol and more...
After packing cinemas and collecting rave reviews around the world,THE DAMNED: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead is coming to home video on May 20th.
Hailed as "excellent" by Uncut, "fascinating" by The Arts Desk,and "funny, fast-moving and gloriously chaotic" by The Hollywood Reporter, the film was directed/produced by Wes Orshoski, and is the first fully authorized documentary on punk pioneers The Damned.
Ireland's Hot Press raves: "Orshoski came onto our radar with the acclaimed Lemmy documentary in 2011 [which he co-directed/produced] and has once again created a tour de force, presenting an entertaining and searingly honest depiction of the grievously overlooked punk legends."
Filmed around the globe over three years, and world-premiered at SXSW 2015, THE DAMNED: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead tells the story of the third prong in the holy trinity of U.K. punk. In advance of both the Sex Pistols and the Clash, The Damned was the first U.K. punk band to release a single (1976's immortal "New Rose"), the first to release an album ('77's frenetic Damned Damned Damned), and the first to tour America (planting their flag at CBGB in April 1977). Now in their 39th year, The Damned are the only band from London's 1976 Punk Rock Big Bang still touring the world today.
In addition to Damned founders Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies and Brian James, the film includes appearances by such one-time bandmates as The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jones (The Clash) and Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, as well as such rock and/or punk luminaries as Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), JJ Burnel (The Stranglers), Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Billy Idol, Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks/OFF!), Dexter Holland (The Offspring), Jack Grisham (T.S.O.L.), and more.
Taking its name from the title-track of the Damned's 1979 album, Machine Gun Etiquette, the film charts the band's unique history, bitter infighting and legendary bad behavior (drummer Scabies is blamed for creating punk's "gobbing," or spitting, phenomenon); it takes viewers into the toilets once scrubbed by Captain Sensible and viewers follow the Damned on their world-wide 35th anniversary tour in 2011 -- with estranged band founders Scabies and James seen on screen answering that trek with a snarling celebration of their own. In a bizarre twist of fate, other former members find themselves being treated for the same form of cancer by the same doctor in the same Welsh cancer ward; elsewhere, the band's founding members are seen grappling with their legacy, and the fallout from missed and/or bungled business decisions that have kept them painfully working class for most of the past four decades.
"Damned" Trailer
The Arts Desk: "Where many music documentaries have a similar dynamic arc-rise, fall, rise again-Don't You Wish That We Were Dead is a fascinating, rambling saga that emanates a rich, sometimes morose, sense of what it's really like to have a whole life defined by the oh-so-brief explosion that was punk rock."
In the bonus features, Captain Sensible takes viewers on a tour of Croydon, the south London town that gave rise to the Damned, and he busks on the streets of Hollywood with actor/musician/comedian Fred Armisen, a huge Damned fan. Elsewhere, the full story of the band's involvement and eventual ousting from the Sex Pistols' fabled Anarchy in the U.K. tour of 1976 is told in detail for the first time.
In the film, The Damned is credited with helping to ignite the punk scene in America. In 1977, the Damned were the first of the U.K. punks to play in both New York (at CBGB) and Los Angeles (at the Starwood).
In 2010, The Huffington Post's Binky Phillips recalled the band's U.S. debut at CBGB in early April 1977: "I was down at CBGB with a chip on my shoulder. My town was Punk Ground Zero.... I was, in fact, without a struggle, reduced to fan boy within 30 seconds. It was as if the entire evening proceeding them had been in black and white and suddenly we were thrust into Technicolor Oz."
The Damned kick off a West Coast tour in April, which includes two appearances at Coachella (April 16 & 23), as well as stops in San Francisco (April 14, Great American Music Hall); Solana Beach, CA (April 19, Belly Up); Pomona, CA (April 20, The Glass House); and Los Angeles (April 21, The Roxy).
The band officially kicks off its 40th anniversary tour on May 20 with a sold-out gig at The Royal Albert Hall in London.
Today I chatted with Margaret Cho about her CD American Myth which will drop on April 29th, yes you will have to wait another week before you get to eavesdrop on the fun we had, so there! Margaret released the video for the song Anna Nicole from the upcoming album this week. Cho appeared on Smith's E! series, The Anna Nicole Show, and was friends with the starlet, whom she's praised in the past — as well as on this song — for changing the perception of bigger women in the beauty industry. Here is what she has to say about the late bombshell:
"American Myth is a lyric from the song, 'Anna Nicole,' about the American myth that certain people are too beautiful for this world,"Cho told A Plus. "They die young because they are too good for it. That is Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, the 27 Club — this is the same with Anna Nicole. I knew her and her death struck me very hard, and still does."
RAPH SOLO RELEASES LOVE LETTER TO HIS HOME CITY, “GOOD MORNING LONDON”
The second single from his album, THE ANONYMOUS ICON, out now
Raph Solo’s “Good Morning London,” the second single off of his new album, THE ANONYMOUS ICON, is a love letter to the city he calls home. “The song is about being yourself, no matter what they say,” says Solo. “Good Morning London” is available on iTunes today, along with his full-length studio album, THE ANONYMOUS ICON.
“It’s a metaphorical breakup song about finding your way home,” continues Solo of his sultry new single. “As a songwriter, I never sit down to write a song. It’s an organic process. When I feel inspired, the melody and the lyrics come out together as one.”
With a hit dance record under his belt, it’s intuitive that Solo never stops moving—not even to write a tender pop ballad. “I remember writing the song on the street, walking from my ex’s flat to my friend’s flat. My ex and I were living together at the time, and things had gotten so bad that I called up a friend to ask if I could stay over for a few nights until I found a new place to stay.”
Solo credits “Good Morning London” as one of the quickest songs he’s ever written in his career as a songwriter, while walking down the streets of London, no less. Nonchalantly, he says, “I wrote it in three minutes.”
Solo reunites with video director David Brant on the “Good Morning London” music video. “It was really nice to be asked to work with Raph again, for what is now our third music video together,” says Brant. “Raph always has a strong idea of what he wants up front. Visually, we're both into that quirky, surreal, cinematic, and epic look. We just have a similar aesthetic that seems to set the mood perfectly against his music.”
Good Morning London
olo likens baring his chiseled body on the set of “Good Morning London” to baring his soul as an artist. As the track hits full stride, Solo is seen with a big British flag wrapped around his otherwise-naked torso in a scene that’s become synonymous with the singer-producer’s mantra of authenticity and self-acceptance. Solo salutes a new day and a new chapter in his life, he says, with the words “Be you” scrawled on his back, and a bruised eye.
“Often we lose ourselves in relationships, and we end up saying ‘yes’ to please our partners because we love them, when really we want to say ‘no’,” Solo explains. “And sweetness gets taken for weakness, and the fairytale turns into a nightmare.”
“We should always remember to love and honor ourselves enough to stay true to who we are in relationships, romantic or otherwise.” The bruised eye, he says, is symbolic of the price he had to pay to learn that lesson the hard way.
The song’s standout lyrics, “City life is no piece of cake // that you can have with your cup of tea on your morning break,” speak to Solo’s state of mind and the vivacity of the city he loves. Today, he stands tall as a gay man and outspoken advocate for human rights, and he can have his cake and eat it, too.
Inspired by up-tempo 80’s pop and contemporaries like Burt Bacharach and Marvin Hamlisch, the combination of Solo's vocals, Alex Pacali's sweeping riffs, and David Brant's hypnotic stroke of the keys leaves listeners spellbound. His third record sees the full realization of Solo’s signature timbre, layered with new refinement with every passing year and release, akin to the evolution of any true pop powerhouse. Solo colors his second single with a burst of falsettos, putting his vocal range on parade.
Born to Lebanese/Chilean parents on the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria, West Africa, the singer-producer now hangs his hat in London, calling the second single a tribute to the city that’s helped to shape him. “‘Good Morning London’ speaks to exactly where I was — welcoming a new day and feeling like I was on my way home to somewhere I belong.”
