Tag: Ringo Starr

Watching The Grammys

For me the highlight was Kanye West’s electronic suit. The still photo attached doesn’t do it justice. The little lights raced up his chest. His glasses glowed as if they were pulled from the surface of the Sun.

kanye_suit.jpgI sat with Helaine tonight as she watched the Grammys.

These phrases, uttered by me, put my night in context: “Who is she?” “I don’t know that song.” “Never heard of him.”

Helaine, answering one query, said, “They don’t play him on NPR.”

Touché mon petit!

Yes, Tina Turner was on… and dancing. Just as big a deal, maybe bigger, was Keely Smith, still hitting the notes and staying on key with Kid Rock on the classic “Old Black Magic” (sans Louis Prima and Sam Butera and the Witnesses)&#185.

Ringo Starr looks great. So does Cher. Andy Williams looked old and pasty. Stevie Wonder looks heavy.

How many hits did Ann Marie Calhoun’s website get tonight? More than last night… or last year?

For me the highlight was Kanye West’s electronic suit. The still photo attached doesn’t do it justice. The little lights raced up his chest. His glasses glowed as if they were pulled from the surface of the Sun.

He would not have been able to bring his outift had he flown commercially, passing through TSA screening!

&#185 – Of course, Youtube has a classic, 50 year old Louis Prima/Keely Smith video. It’s easy to forget how talented she was. God bless the Internet and poor copyright enforcement.

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam was on with Jon Stewart tonight&#185. I know nothing about Dwight Yoakam except for the fact that he’s a country music star. There are country songs I like, but I certainly don’t gravitate there.

I don’t know any Dwight Yoakam songs. I could not pick Dwight Yoakam out of a police lineup.

This may all change. He’s nuts – in a very good way.

Stewart said something about Ringo Starr (last night’s guest) and Yoakam was off to the races, making the strangest connections. He was loaded with little nuggets… facts about the Beatles, Monkees and Mel Gibson.

He’s really bright. The connections were unexpected and to the point. You could hear the gears meshing as he thought it all through… and he was probably slowing it down to let the rest of us keep up.

Impressed? Yes, very much. Now, if I only knew what his music sounded like.

&#185 – I’ve never mentioned here what a huge Jon Stewart fan I am and how his show is recorded and watched by me every night. Now it’s been mentioned.

A Sign of the End of the World

Last night I turned on the TV and while tuning past CNBC ran into one of those 30 minute infomercials selling CDs of music from a bygone era. That in and of itself isn’t so unusual. What totally floored me was the host – Ringo Starr!

Ringo, are times that tough? Must we supplement the royalties from Yellow Submarine and Act Naturally with this stuff?

Obviously, he’s allowed to do this… but I wish he hadn’t.