Lipstick on the Mic: The Andrews Sisters

 

Maxene, Patty, and Laverne - putting the woo in boogie-woogie

Drama from The Spice Girls? Tabloid fodder about Blackpink? People still sore that Beyonce split from Destiny's Child?

Girls, please: in-band drama isn't anything new, take it from The Andrews Sisters.

Laverne, Maxene, and Patty got their start in vaudeville and became successful during the Big Band era, performing their mix of pop, swing, and jazz but also introducing audiences to jump blues and calypso. They had huge hits with Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, Beer Barrel Polka, Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar), Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me), Rum and Coca-Cola, and of course their biggest hit, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Their style and energy are influential to this day, and can be seen generationally from the likes of Bette Midler, Christina Aguilera, and Sabrina Carpenter.

They were the most popular female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century. Some notable achievements, from wiki:

• 100 million records sold;
• 113 Billboard hits, including 46 top-10 hits;
• 17 Hollywood films;
• Record-breaking theater and cabaret runs across North America and Europe;
• Successful radio programs from the 30s to the 60s;
• Television show appearances through the 50s and 60s.

But then, there's the backstage drama.

Shortly after their parents died in '48 and '49, Patty decided to go solo but didn't tell Laverene or Maxene. Her motivation, while mourning her parents, may also have something to do with her husband leaving her for Doris Day.

Maxene, a closeted lesbian, also left her husband in 1949 to discreetly enter into a relationship with her business manager Lynda Wells.

Patty then sued Maxene for a greater portion of their parents' estate, which led to Maxene's suicide attempt. But not before Laverne and Maxene appeared on the Red Skeleton Show, performing a diss track - in 1954! - entitled "Why Do They Always Give The Solos to Patty?"

Oh no, you didn't!

Patty then sued everybody, including Skeleton, for that stunt.

They tried to make nice in 1956 with a new record but were up against Elvis and rock and roll. They tried to rock with their bobby socks out, but they were labeled last year's news and sent off on the big band/nostalgia circuit.

Then, peacemaker Laverne died in 1967 of cancer.

Maxene and Patty continued to perform separately after Laverne's death, appearing on sitcoms, game shows, concerts, and Broadway. Maxene tried to reconcile, but Patty kept her distance, even joking that the earthquake that occurred the morning they received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was the aftermath of a phone call she had had with her sister.

Maxene mourned the lack of relationship with her sister until she died in 1995. Patty did not attend the funeral.

The Fifth (and Sixth) Monkees, Boyce and Hart

That's some '60s groove baby

Who would The Monkees be without Boyce and Hart?

Individually, they are Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Together, they were a singing/songwriting duo who first hit it big in 1964, writing the song "Lazy Elsie Molly" for Chubby Checker. They wrote a string of singles for the Ikettes, Jay and the Americans, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Here's a tidbit for my mother-in-law: they are credited for writing the theme song for the soap opera Days of our Lives!

Don Kirshner brought them on board to produce and perform the pilot episode of the show, writing the theme song and "Last Train to Clarksville". Every original Monkees album (except for the Head soundtrack and 1996's Justus) includes a Boyce and Hart song.

On their own, Boyce and Hart had five hit singles, their biggest being "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight". 

They went on to write for movies and television and made cameos in 70s sitcoms like The Partridge Family as struggling songwriters. According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Boyce and Hart wrote over 300 songs and sold more than 42 million records as a partnership.

The duo worked together and separately throughout the years, notably reuniting and touring in the '80s after the Monkees revival. Hart was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the film Tender Mercies. Boyce taught songwriting in Nashville but struggled with his health and died in 1994. 

Typing Out Loud: Choices

What's right?

My heart is heavy for a childhood friend who lost his grandson to a seemingly random act of violence. And yet, my head is swimming with the story of the act that took his life - so many choices leading up to and in that moment where it didn't have to be this way. 

Playing with guns.

Drug deals. 

A teenager at someone else's house at 2am on a school night. 

Drinking. 

Cowardice.

Is it my privilege speaking, that I didn't have to make the decision in that moment? Am I looking at this from the perspective of having the luxury of better choices - I mean, the choice between a pillow and a rock is one thing, but what about a rock and a hard place? I don't really know, as I haven't been friends with him and his family for a long time. 

But I'm angry at the carelessness of it all.  

All I see of his mother's social media is a stream of anguish since he was shot, and his subsequent death. But her social media before was filled with worry and conflict. 

Sigh. 

The kid was 17, just over a year older than Will. 

I'm just sad. 

Project 3867: "Create a Spectacle" Special Events

Looks about right

I drive by 3867 West River so many times now that the vacant lot is just background noise. Last time I drove by the lot, it an interior hazard/vacant building sign in the window, so who knows what's next. But when I'm stuck at the light or at the train, I will throw a glance at it and wonder what else can happen there. 

This week, I recalled a college class assignment to brainstorm small business ideas. I came up with event planning, sparked by bombing my sister's car for her birthday: I had filled the interior with streamers and balloons, taped a banner to the windshield wishing her a happy birthday, and cued up the cassette player to play The Beatles' song Birthday once she started her car. It was a spectacle, and she loved it. 

So why not a small business focused on small, unique, special events? Small events allow more creativity, flexibility, and on-site negotiations. Surprise parties have a little more oomph when everyone is truly surprised. In my fantasy-filled head, I have countless insider connections from celebrities to florists to cut-rate deals on tents and bounce houses. It's PR-meets-advertising-meets-make-a-wish-meets-fantasy-island. 

In a hilarious call out, I'm binge-watching the sitcom The Middle, and Axl and his friends are actually doing this as a small business, first charging guys in their class to break up with girls before Valentine's Day, then doing prom-posals to surprise their girlfriends. It's a thing! 

Who knows... maybe one day I CAN negotiate a game of catch between Johnny Bench and Dave for his birthday. 

The Cereal Project: Free Stickers

I misread a marquee for a taco joint in Kalamazoo as Que Banana? and a fake band was born.

For my fake movie and my fake protagonist to promote my fake cereal, let's discuss why 'Gord' is a nickname for a girl. My childhood nickname was Mo, because my cousin Kevin couldn't say Melissa. Let's say Gord comes from her mispronunciation of "girl," when her grandpa would beckon her with an affectionate call of "little girl." That her dad's favorite hockey player was Gordie Howe is a nice coincidence. 

I've relied so heavily on her nickname in my imagination that I haven't thought about what her real name should be. I did love the name Gwendolyn as a kid. Gwendolyn Frye sounds regal and flows elegantly off the tongue, but also seems too heavy for a teenage girl, like she needs to grow into it; Gord is kind of tomboyish, a suit of armor. Typing this out helps shape in my mind who she is. 

Anyway, this month's project is about another freebie in the cereal box, stickers. I love stickers. The walls of our garage are covered in them, as well as my guitar case. 

Gord is in a garage band, and bands love to give away stickers to promote themselves. The stickers will be made up of the participating acts in the fictitious Battle of the Bands lineup!

lol, iykyk

One of my fictitious cover bands a couple of years ago.

Art school kids love being in prog rock bands. Maybe this one can be more bubblegum punk.

Gord and the girls.

My alter-ego open mic night persona - of course, I make a cameo in my fake movie. Already imagining an ironic, acoustic cover of The Knack's Good Girls Don't.

Lipstick on the Mic: The Runaways

How to always be badass

Cherie, Sandy, Lita, Jackie, Joan, Vicki, Micki - legendary band. Incredible talents at a very young age. Cherry Bomb is always on my playlist. Each individual has demonstrated through life exactly how to be badass. 

Cherie Currie - vocalist, writer, performer, woodcarving artist. 

Sandy West - drummer, bartender, colorful member, providing the steady heartbeat. RIP. 

Lita Ford - guitarist, vocalist, writer. Had some huge hits in the late 80s. I was particularly fond of her remake of Alice Cooper's Only Women Bleed. 

Jackie Fox - merit scholar at UCLA, JD at Harvard, went viral for her winning streak on the game show Jeopardy! 

Joan Jett - rock and roll hall of fame. She was everywhere in the 80s, from movies to TV to establishing her own music label when no one would release her records. Activist and riot grrrl. 

Vicki Blue - film producer, writer, director, and even got in on the joke and played Cindy in This is Spinal Tap. 

Micki Steele - bassist, writer, singer - left early in the band's career because she thought Kim Fowley was stupid. She was right. Went on to be a badass in The Bangles. Kept doing her own thing musically and retired to rescue animals. 

The Fifth Monkee, Vic Tayback

He's got tha' goods, boss!

Vic was a longtime character actor who, according to IMDb, debuted in 1958 in the TV show Buckskin. He played blue-collar roles throughout the 60s such as a miner, a guard, and a cop. This stretch included three stints on The Monkees playing different roles as Chuckie, Rocco, and George. 

In the 70s, it was his acclaimed role in the movie and television series as diner owner Mel that gave him his time in the spotlight. As the gruff but tenderhearted boss to the titled character Alice, Tayback earned Golden Globes and an Emmy nomination for his effort. 

Post-Alice, he acted in movies, commercials, TV, and voice-over work in cartoons, until his death from a heart attack at age 60 in 1990.