The LuLac Edition #150, Feb. 10, 2007
PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE ANNA NICOLE SMITH ON THE COVER OF NEW YORK MAGAZINE IN 1994, FRANKIE LAINE, CIRCA 1958 AND
BEATLES, CIRCA 1964.
CELEBRITY
(LULAC GUILTY PLEASURE EDITION)
This week the media in this country had an intrusion from the nonstop coverage of the Iraq war, the premature predictions on the 2008 Presidential race, and the recap of Super Bowl XLI. The intrusion was called celebrity.
Thursday afternoon, the Cable networks were inundated with coverage of the passing of model Anna Nicole Smith. For a moment, the news of the blond bombshell’s demise blocked out every other story.
Smith’s claim to fame was that she was famous. And unlike others who get their customary 15 minutes, Anna Nicole had at least twelve years in the public eye. The photo above was taken from a New York Magazine cover in 1994. Oddly enough, the cover touted a cover story called “White Trash Nation”. The gist of the article said it was okay to salivate over the ex dancer, just like her 89 year husband did. Through the time period Smith had fame (and now after her death some type of immortality) standards of what the definition of famous actually deteriorated. Many pundits on the entertainment circuit have compared Anna Nicole to this generation’s Marilyn Monroe. Uh…….No! Monroe married and fornicated in an upwardly mobile style that Anna Nicole could only envy. Smith had the sugar daddy dollars but had to go to the Supreme Court to get her hands on the dough. Monroe hobnobbed with the Kennedy brothers, married a famous playwright and the most famous name in baseball at the time. She had the body but it appears she had the soul to go along with it too.
The only true comparison is how the two died. Beautiful, alone, pained, used and abused by the fame that made them a household word. And when the news came that their pain in this life ended, the world stopped for a few minutes to notice. Both would’ve been pleased to hear they stopped everyday traffic one more time.
FRANKIE LAINE
The death of Anna Nicole overshadowed the death of Frankie Laine, a 40s, 50s singer who died at the age of 93. Laine was famous for cowboy movie and TV theme songs like “Rawhide” as well as the theme from “Blazing Saddles”. Two of his songs were my personal favorites, (much to the chagrin of Mrs. LuLac) “Making Memories” and “Midnight Gambler”. The death of Frankie Laine leaves only one standards singer of that era alive, Tony Bennett. Frankie Laine outlived Anna Nicole by fifty four years. About two generations.
FEB. 9th, 1964
If you are over fifty, on that date in 1964 (if you had understanding and cool parents, or you locked them out of the house) you were in front of the TV set to see the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Black and white. Tinny sound. You wondered why all those girls were screaming but wished they were doing it to you. The Beatles became bona fide celebrities that night. The next day at school, a kid said to me “That music you heard last night is going to be like Bach or Beethoven’s. You’ll be hearing it into the year 2000 and it’ll be just as popular as it is today”. I thought he was nuts. Turned out he was correct. And I’m glad.
THE MOUNTAIN MAN
Looking for a mix of the music you grew up with played at a decent pace with local commentary on the news sprinkled in for good effect? Then tune in THE MOUNTAIN, Monday morning, 102.3 FM where Steve Corbett will become your new Mountain guide. You must provide your own rope, backpack, climbing shoes and pick.
This week the media in this country had an intrusion from the nonstop coverage of the Iraq war, the premature predictions on the 2008 Presidential race, and the recap of Super Bowl XLI. The intrusion was called celebrity.
Thursday afternoon, the Cable networks were inundated with coverage of the passing of model Anna Nicole Smith. For a moment, the news of the blond bombshell’s demise blocked out every other story.
Smith’s claim to fame was that she was famous. And unlike others who get their customary 15 minutes, Anna Nicole had at least twelve years in the public eye. The photo above was taken from a New York Magazine cover in 1994. Oddly enough, the cover touted a cover story called “White Trash Nation”. The gist of the article said it was okay to salivate over the ex dancer, just like her 89 year husband did. Through the time period Smith had fame (and now after her death some type of immortality) standards of what the definition of famous actually deteriorated. Many pundits on the entertainment circuit have compared Anna Nicole to this generation’s Marilyn Monroe. Uh…….No! Monroe married and fornicated in an upwardly mobile style that Anna Nicole could only envy. Smith had the sugar daddy dollars but had to go to the Supreme Court to get her hands on the dough. Monroe hobnobbed with the Kennedy brothers, married a famous playwright and the most famous name in baseball at the time. She had the body but it appears she had the soul to go along with it too.
The only true comparison is how the two died. Beautiful, alone, pained, used and abused by the fame that made them a household word. And when the news came that their pain in this life ended, the world stopped for a few minutes to notice. Both would’ve been pleased to hear they stopped everyday traffic one more time.
FRANKIE LAINE
The death of Anna Nicole overshadowed the death of Frankie Laine, a 40s, 50s singer who died at the age of 93. Laine was famous for cowboy movie and TV theme songs like “Rawhide” as well as the theme from “Blazing Saddles”. Two of his songs were my personal favorites, (much to the chagrin of Mrs. LuLac) “Making Memories” and “Midnight Gambler”. The death of Frankie Laine leaves only one standards singer of that era alive, Tony Bennett. Frankie Laine outlived Anna Nicole by fifty four years. About two generations.
FEB. 9th, 1964
If you are over fifty, on that date in 1964 (if you had understanding and cool parents, or you locked them out of the house) you were in front of the TV set to see the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Black and white. Tinny sound. You wondered why all those girls were screaming but wished they were doing it to you. The Beatles became bona fide celebrities that night. The next day at school, a kid said to me “That music you heard last night is going to be like Bach or Beethoven’s. You’ll be hearing it into the year 2000 and it’ll be just as popular as it is today”. I thought he was nuts. Turned out he was correct. And I’m glad.
THE MOUNTAIN MAN
Looking for a mix of the music you grew up with played at a decent pace with local commentary on the news sprinkled in for good effect? Then tune in THE MOUNTAIN, Monday morning, 102.3 FM where Steve Corbett will become your new Mountain guide. You must provide your own rope, backpack, climbing shoes and pick.
posted by David Yonki @ 1:50 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
There will be shows about Marilyn Monroe long after people have forgotten how to spell Anne Nicole Smith's last name.
Why ANS and that dead horse got such excessive coverage amazes me. Surely, there are other stories ("Yes, there are, but don't call me Shirley.") and these should fit in where their importance assigns them. Not as if the world stopped, the waters parted, and they passed through the Red Sea.
* * * * *
I was watching the night the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan's show. Wisely, he had them on last. I don't know if Sullivan was in color at that time, but I doubt that it mattered.
Trivia Mr. Tom:
The guests on that black and white Sully show/CBS didn't have color until '65 and then it was partial/ were Stiller and Meara and Davey Jones who danced and sang as the Artful Dodger.
Also Dave, Robert Goulet, Vic Dana and Al Martino are still kickin'.
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