Blast from the Past: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Cher!

The following is a special edition (rerun) of a previous Blast from the Past, in addition to the usual weekly feature. Why? Because it's Cher's 67th birthday! I had to edit a little, because YouTube videos tend to cycle out. But I managed to put a number of favorites in to take the place of the expired tracks. Enjoy, and happy birthday Cherilyn Sarkisian Bono Allman JustCher!

 ORIGINAL POST:

So, it's come to this. After having run posts on Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Paula Abdul, and other divas of the 80s, 90s and beyond, I realized that I'd left out Cher. Cher's career began before I was born, and who knows, she'll probably outlast me. She was performing in Las Vegas long before I moved here in the 90s, and has made return engagements, both on tour and as a semi-permanent act. Her shows are so popular, she can't ever retire, despite having tried. In her mid-60s now, she's still making music, with an upcoming collaboration with Lady Gaga (who can only hope to have such a long-lived career).

For all the talk of the reinventions and comebacks of other stars, no one touches Cher. She was a hit with Sonny Bono in the 60s, as one half of Caesar and Cleo, which became Sonny & Cher. When their music started to stall, they won their own variety show on CBS. During the program, she launched a successful solo act. When the Bonos divorced, Cher had her own show, and then again partnered with Sonny on TV. 

In the late 70s, Cher's music faltered, so she dabbled with disco, and Las Vegas. When that didn't go so well, she started seriously acting, and. . .was very, very good at it. Go ahead and watch her in Silkwood, The Witches of Eastwick, Suspect, Moonstruck, Mask: She's terrific in all of them. While establishing herself in Hollywood, she relaunched her singing career in the mid-80s, and struck gold again. A string of albums, each with a hit or two followed. Her risque videos flustered MTV, and Cher just kept going. She made a couple of odd detours, including a run as an infomercial queen, but she managed to make most of us forget that by making new music and movies.

Recently, Cher showcased her voice and acting skills in Burlesque with Christina Aguilera. While the movie didn't do particularly well at the box office, it isn't because of Cher. In fact, if you are inclined to watch this sort of picture (think Chicago or Moulin Rouge) you'll probably get a kick out of it. So, long story short (I know, too late) Cher deserves far more recognition than she gets. She shouldn't be a guilty pleasure at all, just a pleasure. And it shouldn't go unmentioned that Cher has had a number one song in each of the last six decades. Top that, Gaga.

Dr. Joyce Brothers Dead at 85

As a child of the 70s, I always knew who Dr. Joyce Brothers was. She was probably the first pop psychologist regularly on television. She could pop up on Chips as an actress, Sonny & Cher as herself, or as a huge portrait--on par with Jung and Freud--in a Mel Brooks movie. She was kind of randomly anywhere, any time. She was usually dryly humorous in her appearances and a bit self deprecating. I didn't realize until adulthood that her celebrity was a result of having been one of the first contestants to win on the 50s game show, The $64,000 Question. She was basically the first reality TV star, and parlayed it into a 60+ year media career! The Kardashians are going to have to live to a very old age to beat Dr. Brothers' record. RIP, Doc!

[Excerpt]

Popular psychologist, columnist and TV personality Joyce Brothers dead at 85

Joyce Brothers, the pop psychologist who pioneered the television advice show in the 1950s and enjoyed a long and prolific career as a syndicated columnist, author, and television and film personality, has died. She was 85. . .

Read more at: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Blast from the Past: Cher!

So, it's come to this. After having run posts on Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Paula Abdul, and other divas of the 80s, 90s and beyond, I realized that I'd left out Cher. Cher's career began before I was born, and who knows, she'll probably outlast me. She was performing in Las Vegas long before I moved here in the 90s, and has made return engagements, both on tour and as a semi-permanent act. Her shows are so popular, she can't ever retire, despite having tried. In her mid-60s now, she's still making music, with an upcoming collaboration with Lady Gaga (who can only hope to have such a long-lived career).

For all the talk of the reinventions and comebacks of other stars, no one touches Cher. She was a hit with Sonny Bono in the 60s, as one half of Caesar and Cleo, which became Sonny & Cher. When their music started to stall, they won their own variety show on CBS. During the program, she launched a successful solo act. When the Bonos divorced, Cher had her own show, and then again partnered with Sonny on TV. 

Image from Wikipedia

In the late 70s, Cher's music faltered, so she dabbled with disco, and Las Vegas. When that didn't go so well, she started seriously acting, and. . .was very, very good at it. Go ahead and watch her in Silkwood, The Witches of Eastwick, Suspect, Moonstruck, Mask: She's terrific in all of them. While establishing herself in Hollywood, she relaunched her singing career in the mid-80s, and struck gold again. A string of albums, each with a hit or two followed. Her risque videos flustered MTV, and Cher just kept going. She made a couple of odd detours, including a run as an infomercial queen, but she managed to make most of us forget that by making new music and movies.


Recently, Cher showcased her voice and acting skills in Burlesque with Christina Aguilera. While the movie didn't do particularly well at the box office, it isn't because of Cher. In fact, if you are inclined to watch this sort of picture (think Chicago or Moulin Rouge) you'll probably get a kick out of it. So, long story short (I know, too late) Cher deserves far more recognition than she gets. She shouldn't be a guilty pleasure at all, just a pleasure. And it shouldn't go unmentioned that Cher has had a number one song in each of the last six decades. Top that, Gaga.

Cher Turns Back Time at the VMAs

I'm old enough to remember Cher's second heyday, when The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was in its first-run on CBS in the early 70s.  My mom--who's only 18 years older than me--was a big fan, and so at 5 years old, I watched along.  After Cher divorced Sonny, she tried to go solo, tried again to team up with him, then faded into obscurity. Briefly.  She then turned up in many guises, in many venues, as a singer, an Oscar-winning actress, and as an infomercial queen.  She even remade herself as a dance floor diva in the early 2000s.

Through it all, Cher has been beset by slams about all the plastic surgery she's allegedly had.  Nobody--short of Michael Jackson or Joan Rivers--has taken so much ribbing for it.  But the weird thing is, she really doesn't look much different than she ever did.  Now, I realize that at the age of sixty-four, it's likely impossible that she hasn't had a little help.  I'm pretty sure she had some nose work and cosmetic dentistry. But geez, people.  Whatever she's had done, it's damned good work.  The pictures above are from 1987 and 2010, which happen to be the years in which she wore that "barely there" VMA outfit.  Looks like the same chick to me.  How many 64-year-old women could wear the same slinky outfit today that they wore twenty-three years ago?  She can probably still get into those 70s Bob Mackie outfits as well. So, cut the gal some slack, will ya?

[Excerpt]

Cher VMA appearance with Lady Gaga Meat Dress at Video Music Awards 2010 (Video)

MTV decided to "Turn Back Time" last night in the presentation of its "Video of the Year" award as once-controversial video star Cher's VMA appearance surprised many. That's because Cher wore the outfit that she made famous in the aircraft carrier video "If I Could Turn Back Time" and had people talking in whispers, years ago. Not only did she get a standing O, Cher also got to present Lady Gaga (wearing meat dress) with a major award and then hold her meat purse for her. Quite the honor. . .

Read more at: Gather

Star Wars: Attack of the Osmonds

Image from source, TV Squad

Earlier, I put up a couple of posts that bordered on the bizarre. After visiting a site called TV Squad, I think I found something that tops them.

Back in the 1970s (my Wonder Years), pretty much anything could end up on television and be a hit. One of the programs that made it big was Donny & Marie. The famous Mormon singing Osmond siblings were still in their teens at the time, and were given their own variety show produced by kid-TV mavens, Sid & Marty Krofft. The show eventually morphed from kid-silly to a more adult show, blatantly ripping off The Sonny & Cher Variety Hour--which was a little creepy since D & M were brother and sister, not husband and wife.

Anyway, the show was rather standard-issue for 70s variety. Interchangeable with The Captain & Tenille Show or even The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. And I never missed an episode. Still, I managed to forget this bit, not only parodying Star Wars, but clearly doing so with George Lucas' permission. Guest stars included Red Foxx and Paul Lynde!

NOTE: The first video's sound is terribly out of synch. Still worth a view if you're a Star Wars fan, and never knew this existed. Oh, it's terrible, but what the hell. . .






Posted specifically for friend and contributor, Stupid Monkey Planet.