Segarini Presents – Celebrity Believe It or Don’t!

I have said it before, and I will say it again. The Mainstream Audience LOVES their public figures to be weird, quirky, odd, strange, possessed, mentally unstable, drug addled, alcoholic, Re-Hab invulnerable, mouthy, shallow, deep, oblivious, and/or strangely coiffed or have an artistic deformity. Why? Because everybody knows if you have green hair, dress like a Circus act, own a dolphin, go shopping driving a zamboni, or have a prehensile tail, you are a better singer, actor, or politician than all the others. If you can grow a third arm in the middle of your forehead …you will be destined to be the greatest whatever-you-are until the end of time.

Or until someone comes along whose genitals can recite the Declaration of Independence.

Roxanne Tellier – The Trappings of Fame

“Fame …  makes a man take things over …. puts you there where things are hollow”

If you were a baby boomer in the sixties, you most likely never knew anyone who was ‘really really’ rich. There was a kid in my school whose dad was a famous football player, but I didn’t know her well. And there was another friend who came from Texas;  they had a big house, and even had a maid, who let us make chilli and mess up the kitchen.

I had relatives who had oil patch money – they didn’t come around to many family parties, though. They likely got tired of being hit up for loans that would never get repaid.

When you think about it, one of the most famous, and presumably wealthiest, person with a high profile, back in those days, was Elvis. And by today’s standards, Graceland isn’t exactly the Taj Mahal. Not with all that shag carpeting. But for the time, it was high glam.

Roxanne Tellier – Sports, Armageddon, and Quincy Jones Oh My!

It’s Superbowl Sunday!  that day when two teams of very large men in very padded outfits will try to kill each other for funzies and a huge, gawdy ring.

I don’t watch sports – it’s just not my thing – but I do enjoy the half time shows, and the award winning advertisements that sponsors save up for this special day.

What’s a ‘lunk’?

Pat Blythe – Lights Out and the Power of Music….

Another week has passed and this stinking cold is still hanging around like a nasty smell (not that I can smell anything). It has wiped that smug “I haven’t had a cold in 10 years” look right off my face. I ended up with a high temp the other night so hauled myself out to see the doc. Lungs are, in her words, “crystal clear”. Damn!!!! It’s viral. So, here I sit, taste buds shot, no smell (not even burning toast), hacking and coughing and severely pissed off!! According to many, this nasty monster can hang around for weeks. I am NOT impressed. Tea with lemon and honey and curling up with my favourite sweater at night is all I’ve got. Okay, I’m done bitching and whining. This column will be another short one and a roundup of some of the upcoming music events.

JAIMIE VERNON – ALL THINGS MUST PASS

I was hoping to go a full week without reporting another celebrity death. But we’ve had half-a-dozen since the passing of The Eagles’ Glenn Frey including actor Abe Vigoda (‘Barney Miller’, ‘The Godfather’) whose website has finally been changed to no longer read the whimsical “still alive” message.

Roxanne Tellier: Speaking Ill of the Dead

We can now add “Where were you when you heard that David Bowie died?” to the list of other era defining questions. The world was stunned to hear on Monday morning that we’d have to struggle on without the Thin White Duke’s artistry and influence. And many wondered how this could have happened so soon after the release of his new EP “BlackStar” and it’s two videos.

Roxanne Tellier – Motown: the Musical

The sixties were a glorious time, unlikely to ever be repeated or rivalled. The fifties had been a cautious decade, where women stayed home after marrying to take care of their men, kids didn’t sass parents, and no one questioned authority in the family or in their country. Well, at least on the surface.

Doug Thompson: ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE MISSES THE MARK…..AGAIN!

Rolling Stone Magazine recently released their latest ‘list’, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters” rollingstone.com).  Let me repeat that title, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters”.  Their descriptive line states “From Brill Building tunesmiths to Punk poets, from Woody Guthrie to Max Martin, the visionaries who defined music history.”

Roxanne Tellier: Music- Like A Prayer

 

In Montreal in the sixties, growing up in a Catholic family, we were always encouraged to use our talents in religious gatherings. Even my Aunt Pat, blissfully unaware that she was tone-deaf, would raise her voice loudly and proudly in song.  I sang at mass, first in Latin as the organ wheezed, and later in folk masses, where the guitar was the instrument of choice.

Roxanne Tellier – The Eye of the BeHearer

MTV, and then Canada’s own Much Music, changed the musical playing field. Whether you loved it or hated it, suddenly being able to SEE musicians, actually playing, dancing, emoting, in living  colour or sepia and in unfortunate eighties fashion choices, and all in the comfort of your own home, impacted on the decades to follow.