January 27, 1986 : Corey Hart in Edmonton

30 years ago yesterday, I was on my way to Northlands Coliseum with my mom and sister to see Corey Hart. I have included the above clip for those who weren't there or who have trouble remembering. For a time, Hart and Bryan Adams were running neck-and-neck in popularity in the mid 1980s, and the fact that Adams might be better remembered today might be due to the fact that Corey has ostensibly retired from the business to spend time with his wife and kids in the Bahamas.

But on this night 30 years ago, he was huge, and my sister and I bought into the music and hype hook line and sinker. We had been to Corey's Coliseum show the previous August, and my mom, seeing what a good time we had at that show, and after making sure that Never Surrender wasn't some punk rant against authority but rather a song about triumph over adversity, gave us tickets for Christmas. This was not easy for her to do as a single mother, and we appreciated it very much. The show was very much as represented in the clip above and the other two that go with it, and it was a blast.

So thank you Corey.

Thank you Mom (who, unbeknownst to me, added a few lines to a fan letter I had written to Mr. Hart, to better my chances of getting a response. Which I did, in the mail that night, from his mother Mindy.)

And thank you Jacquie.





MTMG

RIP Abe Vigoda : 1921-2016

Veteran character actor Abe Vigoda, best known for his role in the Godfather films as Sal Tessio, and on TV as Barney Miller's Detective Phil Fish, died this morning in his sleep at the age of 94 while under hospice care at his daughter's home in New Jersey.

Although throughout his career he had been plagued by various death hoaxes, which he always took with characteristic good humor, this time it's really true.

I can't claim to have seen everything Abe Vigoda ever did. I'm generally not one of those bloggers who spends an hour on IMDb or YouTube and comes away a world expert on anything or anyone. But both those resources are good for a quick fact check or a memory gap.

But I have seen the Godfather films, and I was always struck by the way that Vigoda as Tessio was able to express volumes of emotion with just a very direct stare and a few well-chosen lines, as Tessio wearily and resignedly accepts his fate for past sins.






Just a few years later Vigoda was back, employing that same direct stare, and even fewer well-chosen lines, as Detective Phil Fish on the groundbreaking sitcom Barney Miller. It was a role for which he was Emmy-nominated three times, and it is easy to see why. Fish lets his colleagues have all the wordy glory, then steals everything with just that look. It is a damn shame that, just as now, there was so much outstanding television being made in the 1970s that Abe Vigoda had to forgo the recognition of his peers for his stellar talents.

But the work lives on forever.

And that's all that matters in the end.

Rest in peace, Mr. Vigoda.

MTMG

RIP David Bowie: A True Artist

The world of music and entertainment mourns the loss of musician and actor David Bowie, who died late yesterday at the age of 69.



His music and films will be rightly be celebrated.



But for me, Bowie's artistic legacy almost boils down to this one 1983 clip, in which he criticizes MTV for not playing enough black artists while being interviewed on MTV by Mark Goodman, one of the channel's star VJs.



Consider that in 1983, Bowie was in the midst of a humongous comeback after shedding his Ziggy Stardust persona and attempting a poppier sound with the Tonight album. It was one of two albums that were all over the airwaves that summer, the other naturally being Michael Jackson's Thriller. MTV had been forced to almost begrudgingly place the Billie Jean video in high rotation to acknowledge Jackson's dominance, but were doing other black artists no favors by shuttling them to the 2 to 6 am graveyard shift. Bowie very calmly but firmly points this out to Goodman, who responds with  total going-through-the-back-door-around-the-issue generalities that the star lets the big hairy guy get away with. The label PR person we don't see but probably hear near the end was probably alternately turning apoplectic shades of red, white, and blue at that point, but Bowie does not seem to give a shit. Nor does he seem content to be letting Goodman off the hook with "I understand your point of view".



But at least David Bowie did not kiss PR ass. He said what needed to be said.



And that's what matters.



MTMG