July 11

Today, we tell the story of Tab Hunter, ex-teen heartthrob. His second film, 1952's "Island of Desire" made him a box-office draw, and the 1955 war film "Battle Cry" (where he was cast over James Dean) made him the box office king for the rest of the 50's. This period includes his most enduring role, in the film version of the Broadway smash "Damn Yankees"

Like any respectable 50's teen idol, Hunter began a music career: his first single "Young Love" hit number 1 in 1957. Hunter was such a cash cow for Warner Brothers, they blocked Hunter's recording contract and started Warner Bros Records, just so they could release his records. In 1960, he got his own sitcom, The Tab Hunter Show.
Five years later, he was on the dinner theater circuit. So, what happened?

Well, there's the whole 'growing up' thing, which usually ends a teen idol career all by itself. Then, there's the whole 'acting range of Paul Walker/Megan Fox' thing. His homosexuality may have also been a factor (Henry Wilson, the agent that named him, sold him out to the tabloids to buy silence about another Wilson client - Rock Hudson.) While it was never entirely out (until 2005), his other life was a persistent rumor, even at his career's height.
On the other hand, his reputation may have led to his resurgance.

He returned to the big screen in the 80's, starting in John Waters' "Polyester", then in such films as "Lust in the Dust", "Grease 2", and "Cameron's Closet". While he hasn't returned to A-list status, he seems to have become something else: a genuine actor.

december 11

Tis the season, so I can only imagine what Brenda Lee goes through. I mean, she was one of the 60's biggest stars: 37 chart hits, Rock n' Roll Hall o' Famer, her first number one at 16 years old, the BEATLES opened for HER...
But just like Billy Joel has "Piano Man", Brenda Lee has "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" haunting our radios forever, even if it is only for a few months a year. (By the way, she recorded "Rockin'" when she was 13 years old. It tanked during its initial release. Who knew?)

Anyway, didn't have much luck finding vintage Lee around the Tree. I found this telethon footage from a few years back...



-and this clip from the TV show American Dreams, with Kelly Clarkson playing Brenda Lee. Take your pick...

October 13

Okay, breaking a rule tonight, but it's too good a chance to pass up. If your baby was born on October 13, they have a better than average chance of being an exceptional singer. If they don't look the part, so much the better. Here's three examples:

Nana Mouskouri is one of the most popular singers you've probably never heard of. You may think this is my usual hyperbole, but how many other artists do you know in the 200 million sold range? On the plus side, she recently retired after a 50-year career, singing in 14 different languages (including her native Greek.) On the other hand, she has those 'substitute kindergarten teacher' glasses, and her songs tend to make soft rock sound like, well, rock. Plus, she was born with only one vocal cord; that's what makes the vibrato in her voice.
Here's a performance on a French TV show. Don't know why her entrance music is "Guantanamera":



The world sure could have used Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan after his death in 1997. Besides being Pakistan's biggest recording artist ever, he was the voice of Qawwali, from the Sufi branch of Islam - and the world could have certainly used a reminder that there's more than one way or another in Islam. His style garnered many Western admirers including Eddie Vedder, Alanis Morrisette, and Peter Gabriel.
Here's a duet with Peter Gabriel, live in concert:



Our third phenomenal singer born today is Paul Potts. Remember what I told you guys about Kurt Nilsson? (If not, click here.) Well, by the time Paul Potts auditioned for Britain's Got Talent, they got it right.
I'll explain in a moment. First, here's the moment that started it all for Paul...

The first ten times I watched this, I cried and laughed. I bet you did, too.
How do you sell a pop-saturated public on an extraordinary voice with an ordinary face? With a story arc I call the "three-minute underdog."
You don't have to be a music fan to appreciate this:
- a common schlub steps up to the spotlight, surrounded by jeers;
- Schlub opens his mouth and delivers something miraculous;
- the critics fall over themselves with apologies and praise.
It's the kind of story you expect in the movies, even makes your eyes roll when you see it coming. For some reason, realizing it's happening in real life (as real as a television program can be,) where it never happens, makes it ten times as potent. It worked for Susan Boyle the following season. It worked for America's Got Talent winner Neal Boyd, who not only won with the same story, but the same exact song. If I was a producer of American Idol, I'd be looking for a singer in a wheelchair with a five-octave range. Money in the bank...

september 29

Hello, and Happy Birthday, whenever it is. I've got more under-celebrated celebrities, one-hit wonders, and oddness. Actually, I'll start with the oddness, today...

Happy Birthday to Brian Ash, subversive animator. He cut his teeth on Internet animation before working on shows like "The Boondocks" and "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil." Here's one of his more notorious works, a promotional piece for the 2005 "House of Wax" remake, entitled "See Paris Die!" (Obviously, NSFW)

Slightly more family-friendly (but still kinda NSFW; it is promoting an R-rated film) was the award-winning prequels to "3000 Miles to Graceland." I heartily recommend checking out these clips; I wish I could have embedded them; they really feature Kevin Costner, Christian Slater, Kurt Russell, etc. from the film. If I'd seen these cartoons back then, I might have tried to see the film in theaters.

Oh, man; Kurt Nilsen is my hero. He's the guy who broke the Idol-making machine.
See, by 2004, the Pop Idol franchise had become a juggernaut, and almost every nation in the world was on its way to having their own Idol show. So, why not a World Idol? On Christmas Day, 2003, winners from eleven nations, including American Idol Kelly Clarkson, competed in a one-off globally broadcast special. In a monumental upset, Clarkson took second place to Norway's Kurt Nilsen, a victory so controversial that they never had a World Idol competition again.
Many reasons are bandied about (erratic voting, price gouging, not using Clay Aiken) but what's unspoken is the fact that the Powers That Be got a World Idol that they had no idea how to sell to the world. His songs have never been released in the United States.
Why? Because he doesn't look like a rock star. The nicest way to say it is, he paved the way for the Paul Potts and Susan Boyles of the world to start taking over. He looks very ordinary, but his voice is definitively not.
Had a hard time picking a video, because the produced music videos don't do him any favors (dressing him like Rascal Flatts,) and the concert videos have too much screaming (he is still a massive star in Norway.) But this clip of the Norwegian supergroup The New Guitar Baddies doing a live rendition of "Hallelujah" should do the trick. [Kurt's in the denim jacket, all the way to the left] Watch for him to sing the last verse, and you can see - and hear - what I'm talking about.

His last album, a team-up with Willie Nelson, had him back on top of every chart Norway has. The world just might be ready for Kurt soon, after all...

Here's another phenomenal voice that deserves better. Debelah Morgan was a vocal prodigy (as in, 5-octave vocal range) who became a one-hit wonder, thanks to the 2000 track, Dance With Me. In a decade-long recording career, she never found her footing, and disappeared from the business altogether by 2004. Seriously, if anybody knows what happened to her, let me know. I figured, she'd be on Broadway, or releasing a gospel album by this point...

The song suffers from sounding too much like a Marc Anthony tune, I know...

Finally, Happy Birthday to the Last Man Standing, Jerry Lee Lewis. A rock n' roll legend, Lewis is the last of "the Million Dollar Quartet:" the songs of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Lewis built Sun Studios, and rock n' roll itself. To this day, nobody tears up a piano like Jerry Lee Lewis at 74 years old, which says more about the sad state of the world we're in.

Now there's a piano man. Damn you, Billy Joel. Damn you, Elton John...