Posts

Showing posts from December, 2013

Lost Stream Gem: "Valley Of The Dolls" (1967)

Image
"Breakdown nearly every day. Shoulda known ya couldn't get away." --> Cheap Trick <-- "Valley Of The Dolls" is a guilty pleasure. A favorite mistake that rewards in spite of itself. It's a groan-fest frothing with over-the-top acting and show-biz cliches. But I absolutely dug it! Partly because of the look and vibe...but mostly because the actors are so freaking sincere. Without spoilers, 3 young girls (one very sweet...one very ambitious...one not so talented) get schooled in the shag-nasty ways of show-business circa late 60's New York City. Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate, Patty Duke Barbara Parkins , I suppose, is the Dorothy on this yellow-brick road. Patty... "a hotdog makes her lose control" ...Duke is still a cutie. And Sharon Tate (who we all know from...well, you know) was considered a star on the rise. I've never been a huge fan of singer, Dionne Warwick , but she was the perfect choice singing the the

Lost Book Gem: "Twenty Years After" - Alexandre Dumas (1845)

Image
" Brothers fight or fall It's man for man and one for all." ~ Thin Lizzy ~ In the earlier classic, "The Three Musketeers" ...the swashbuckling Fab Four (D'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos, & Aramis) were reveling in the thralls of Musketeer-mania. But now,  "Twenty Years After" finds our beloved swordsmen thrusting their poniards in conflicting directions.  They're still like brothers, sure...but they're also different men with different interests, personal and political.    It's a confusing time in France.  Tense civil unrest has the country divided and the guys are smack dab in the middle.   Someone from their past is bent on inflicting some vicious sword-spanking revenge.  And a slimy adviser to the throne is  manipulating their Queen like a pawn on a Parcheesi board.    All of which finds the Musketeers with their  butts against the bowl. At nearly 800 pages, Alexandre Dumas weaves a suspenseful tale of  adventure   w

Lost Gem: "Hot Summer Day" - It's A Beautiful Day (1969)

Image
"And they told me that I looked a fool  And I said I'd let that go." ~ It's A Beautiful Day ~ A band often forgotten when discussing the  San Francisco hippie headspin... It's A Beautiful Day made some wonderful moments of  f rock trippage. However, IABD had a slightly more  prog vibe going on.  David Laflamme's unique  electric violin and harmonica play and s inging partner, Patti Santos'   vocal harmonies  created a haunting experience that blended smoothly like a Jefferson Airplane/Moody Blues milkshake. Life-partner Linda Laflamme's lava lamp organ riffs are magical and mysterious giving arrangements a smart,  edgier ride.   Listening to classic rock radio, one would think "White Bird" was all It's A Beautiful Day  ever did.    It wasn't.   Explore, my babies, explore. Lost Gem:-->   "Hot Summer Day" ... A dreamy coffee shop mind-hang.  Gorgeous harmonica and violin nicely weave around sm