Yearly Archives: 2004

Forgotten Projects?

So yesterday’s on this day link took me off on a memorable journey to the Forgotten Project of the ultimate boyband CD – which, as a side diversion, for the stress of my working life at the moment, I have decided to invest some time in.

For those of you late to the party, here was the aim two years ago: to construct a CD’s worth of music from boy bands of any decade that will attempt to show that there is some longevity in the product. If you will, it’s an attempt to show that classic tunes can come from the manufactured world of boyband pop. This is what we had last time:

  1. N’Sync – Pop
  2. Take That – Relight My Fire
  3. Take That – Could It Be Magic
  4. F5ive – If Ya Gettin’ Down
  5. Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
  6. A1 – Same Old Brand New You
  7. A1 – Caught In The Middle
  8. Blue – All Rise

And you are – most definitely not allowed to call me shallow!

On this day…

2003: Return of the King
2002: Donnie Darko

The Whispering Years

You really do get to appreciate ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris’ love of music through his autobiography, ‘The Whispering Years’. You’ll read in the blurb that he’s been married three times, has had to restart his career from scratch several times, and almost lost his record collection to a fellow Radio 1 disc jockey. What you may not get from reviews is a feeling of the genuine passion he has for the music and how big a role some of the greatest musicians of the last thirty years have played in his life. You feel as uneasy as Bob appeared to be over the fame that The Old Grey Whistle Test brought him, and you will feel somewhat betrayed when Radio One removed him (I’d forgotten he was the voice launched round-the-clock Radio One in August 1990). Throughout his career he stuck to his passion – the music – and shunned the computer-generated radio that dominates the airwaves today. His interview technique was considered ‘less than penetrating’ in the past, but that gentle approach serves him well in book form. It’s not dull or bland in any way but, perhaps because there’s a little of the 60s hippy left in Bob Harris, you feel the measured approach is entirely appropriate. If you love music (and not just progressive rock) or enjoy his radio programmes, then The Whispering Years will be engaging, fascinating and inspiring.

Buy Bob Harris’The Whispering Years

On this day…

2004: links for 2004-11-01
2002: The Ultimate Boy Band CD (2) Aka The I Am Shallow Project

links for 2004-11-01

On this day…

2004: The Whispering Years
2002: The Ultimate Boy Band CD (2) Aka The I Am Shallow Project

The Producers

I went to see a preview of the London version of The Producers today and was, like last night, a little taken by surprise. This time, however, it was with disappointment, not pleasure. I’ve been talking to PY and trying to explain my disappointment, but he doesn’t get it: he loved the show. I did not know the plot, nor had I seen the film, so I wasn’t let down by the story, but I had read that Nathan Lane had taken Broadway by storm.

You can’t fault Nathan Lane: he’s superb, and his comic timing is excellent. Lee Evans seems born for his role as the sidekick Leo Bloom, and some of the songs are great. Others, however, feel weak, and parts of the story just aren’t engaging. James Dreyfus camps it up in John Inman style, while Ulla, the Swedish blond bombshell, is so lost in the stereotype that any humour is lost.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a good show. I can’t imagine Richard Dreyfuss in it, and I imagine it will be hard to replace Nathan Lane in January. If you’re going to see it, I would suggest trying to get tickets now because, without Lane’s superb performance, I am not sure where this show will go. The fact that it is one of the better shows on the West End right now possibly says more about the other shows.

Sadly, The Producers disappointed.

UPDATE: Well, the reviews are out, and I may be a lone voice expressing disappointment. I wrote an updated review for the Yahoo Group: Gay Boy Musicals Fans UK (you can read it here if you’re not a member of the group).

On this day…

2003: The gay team

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Forum

a funny thing happened on the way to the forum

I went to see A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Forum tonight and it took me a little by surprise. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I was thoroughly entertained. From the opening, A Comedy Tonight, you feel yourself pulled along by the way the cast at The National seem to be enjoying themselves. It’s a high camp farce set in Roman times featuring double entendres and mistaken identity by the bucket load (you almost expect a vicar to appear from a cupboard) but it’s joyful and not at all cringe-worthy as many farces are. Sondheim’s music isn’t the best you will ever hear (in fact, much of it isn’t memorable) but during the performance it’s entertaining. Such a shame it is coming to the end of it’s run. I discovered a US version of the soundtrack featuring Nathan Lane which ties in nicely with tomorrow – more then.

On this day…

2005: Gay Life Is More Fun: Official
2003: Side Bar Dermot
2003: Queer Eye?
2002: The World May Not Revolve Around Me

links for 2004-10-27

On this day…

2005: I Am In Oslo
2005: Audience Up
2003: Effect Xmas

Billy Connolly

I have to quickly post that I saw Billy Connolly tonight at the Hammersmith Odeon and, despite some recent newspaper comments, I have to say I have never laughed so much or so hard. Of course, I can’t actually remember any of the jokes, but I will remember this feeling of joy for a very long time. If you get the chance, you really should go and see him.

Of course if you want an alternative view read what The Times said this morning, although I imagine nobody else in tonight’s audience would agree:

He has become a frightful bully, willing to address only the converted and noticeably absent when it’s his turn to be on the receiving end. Connolly has become the patron saint of the truly humourless, one who is little more than three years shy of retirement age. Don’t you wish that, like the fanatics of Baghdad, he’d just hurry up and get on with it?

Well, he still made me laugh.

On this day…

2003: CD or not to CD?
2002: Community of UK Webloggers

Down With Love

Down with Love

Supposedly, the Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger romantic comedy Down with Love is an attempt to recreate the New York City of 1963 (some say to recreate Doris Day/Rock Hudson’s ‘Pillow Talk‘). As I haven’t actually seen Pillow Talk, it’s hard to compare the two, but most reviewers suggest the Doris Day comedy is considerably more sophisticated.

Still, for a Saturday night on the sofa this wasn’t so bad. It had amusing moments. Zellweger is Barbara Novak, in town promoting her smash-hit book that carries the same title as the film, and they’ve tried to make her look the part of a 1960s New York girl – I am not sure if they were that successful. McGregor is Catcher Block, the cad-about-town investigative magazine journalist who has a string of lovely ladies after him. Inevitably, he is to interview her for a magazine article, and the chase is on. Both performances are confident but certainly not great. David Hyde Pierce, as Block’s publisher, seems to repeat his role as Frasier’s Niles, but that’s no bad thing, as he puts in a solid, amusing supporting performance.

There’s a great payoff (which I shan’t spoil), but suffice to say Zellweger’s long monologue is impressive and, apparently, took six takes to get right. It’s one of those films where you need to watch the credits, as there’s a musical scene (apparently shot at the request of the actors) over the end titles, which is well done.

Down With Love is amusing for the most part, but it’s kind of predictable in many places; it was a good Saturday night sofa film. See it and smile.

On this day…

2004: Links for 2004-10-23
2004: Lucky Man: A Memoir
2003: Celebrities And The Media
2002: New Look
2002: Inspirational Eden